Chapter 71 Shameless
He stared coldly at the fat man in front of him and waved for him to move aside: "This is a matter for your Duchy of Ceperch. Post-disaster reconstruction and other such matters are not the obligations of the Holy See."
Hearing this, the fat man seemed to be provoked. He took a step forward, forced a smile, and sneered:
"That sounds nice, but you're the ones who interfere with the security and control efforts of various countries, and you're also the ones who regulate commodity taxes..."
Upon hearing this, a young man with long pink hair rode out of the group and stood respectfully beside the leader.
He glanced at the fat man with utter disdain, then pointed at him and said, "Just an uncrowned king. It's good enough that we haven't stripped you of your Grand Duke's rights. Now get out of here!"
Just as the fat man was about to say something, a sudden surge of pressure sent him flying hundreds of meters, crashing heavily against the wall.
At the same time, another young man stepped forward and quickly handed several sheets of paper to the team leader.
"General Qiongxiao, we've found out. The source of the blue and purple water can be roughly determined to be from Camedor." The young man pushed up his glasses and narrowed his eyes seriously.
Seeing the team leader nod to signal him to continue, his gaze immediately drifted towards the Adventurers' Guild not far away: "The morale of the advance team and the 16 Diamond Adventurers after their return..."
The team leader, called Qiongxiao, shrugged and glanced at him sideways: "What's wrong?"
The young man pursed his lips, pondered for a long time, and then looked at him with some suspicion:
"We can't rule out the possibility of an illusion; they seem to have encountered another version of themselves, both in appearance and power..."
"Perfectly consistent! The Dead Sea Scrolls obtained from Magellan's caravan point to everything..."
"The Twins of the End, and… Twin Cities…?" He muttered these two strange words, his tone gradually calming down, but his expression grew increasingly gloomy.
"..."
After a brief silence, Qiongxiao stroked his chin, staring intently at him: "It seems to be related to that swan egg. As for the news about those vampires?"
"Reporting to the General! It's related to Daedalus, but the more specific information all points to the missing Earl of Lorraine," the young man quickly replied.
With a shifting gaze, Qiongxiao sighed wearily, cracked his whip, and continued forward: "Never mind, it's on the way anyway, so I'll investigate while carrying out this mission."
"Yes..." The young man silently agreed and was about to return to the group.
He raised his hand to stop him, and Qiongxiao's gaze suddenly turned cold: "As for the matter of Shenba, let's talk about it after those 'barbarians' arrive on the mainland."
Having caught two key words, the young man's mind went blank for a moment: "General...should we...about the steam engine in Qiludu..."
Shaking his head, Qiongxiao waved again, signaling him to return to the group: "Just like the parable in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the South has already begun to industrialize."
"Perhaps this is fate; people are gradually abandoning obscure and difficult-to-understand magic and finding other ways..."
Looking up at the sky, he glanced at Qiongxiao and the other two who had been observing from afar.
"Let's go, don't keep some people waiting too long." With a final sigh, he signaled the entire team to speed up.
"Yes, General!!"
The large group quickly disappeared into the street, and amidst the long-awaited silence, some unnamed complaints soon arose.
They were undoubtedly angry about having to pay for their own house repairs.
Amidst the endless stream of curses, the two people on the top floor stared at each other in bewilderment.
"Sigh, being a hero means getting beaten up." Elro pulled out a large bag of herbs from his backpack and slowly ground them up.
He looked up and suddenly met Dongfang Qing's gaze: "Huh? You... why do you look so excited?"
He casually tossed the skewer aside, then propped his chin on his hands: "I never expected you to carry these things with you?"
Biting his lip, Elro looked like a victim, his face filled with despair: "I had no choice. I had to be prepared for dangerous missions for the money..."
After speaking, he turned and went downstairs, leaping from the height and landing directly on the ground.
He strode toward the fat man, while continuing to sort through the herbs.
Slowly getting up from the ground, the fat man rubbed his waist and grinned, "Ouch...it really hurts. These guys are really going too far."
As two shadows suddenly appeared in front of him, he looked up at Dongfang Qing and Elro.
"Huh? Who are you?"
He blinked and looked at the person in front of him with curiosity. Although he didn't recognize him, he inexplicably couldn't muster any wariness.
After a moment of hesitation, Elro remembered his business and handed over the powdered medicine with both hands: "Like you, I'm a Silver Adventurer."
Clearing his throat twice, the fat man pursed his lips and looked him up and down: "You poor wretch, and you just give me this precious medicine like that?"
"It's alright, I'm almost done learning healing magic, and I might not even need it in the future." Rolling his eyes in utter helplessness, Elro patted his chest.
The fat man frowned in confusion, then paused, "And? What do you mean? What do you mean by 'not needing it later'?"
"Just apply the medicine, don't ask so many questions."
He forcefully shoved the powder into his hand, then turned and left, saying, "I'm leaving. Next time you want to be a hero, at least have the strength to back it up—"
"flutter…"
The force from his heel startled him. Looking up, he saw the fat man grabbing his ankle: "What are you doing!?"
"Don't you think I'm being nosy?" The fat man looked up, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Pretending to ponder for a moment, Dongfang Qing chose to answer the question for him:
"How could that be? The duchy can't collect land taxes and has no money, so naturally it won't help these residents rebuild. This is originally the Papacy's problem..."
"You've only tried to put yourself in someone else's shoes, though it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot." With his hands behind his head, He leisurely took two steps forward.
His eyes flickered, and the fat man put his other hand on his leg: "Since you're a rising star too, how about we team up?"
"What kind of mission did you take? Let me see." The fat man curiously reached out to rummage through the scroll in his backpack.
He slapped his hand away and was speechless for a moment: "I suggest you don't team up with me, you'll probably die a horrible death."
"Hmm~?" A look of surprise quickly spread across his chubby face.
His voice suddenly turned sharp as he grabbed Elro's hand tightly: "What a joke! The word 'fear' doesn't exist in my dictionary, Groom's dictionary."
"Let me see it..." The fat man, who called himself Grum, reached out and grabbed the scroll