Chapter 127 Chapter 124 Thoughts in the Treasury
George agreed to the dwarves’ request and signed a contract with them. Ji Ma was even more proactive, opening the entrance to the Dream Palace in front of everyone. In front of all the dwarves, she stuffed the thick Book of Hatred into the wind-eye-shaped entrance.
She patted her chest firmly and assured them that unless she died, the Book of Hatred would be safe, and she was the one in the whole team most adept at “protecting oneself from enemy attacks.”
The horned helmet dwarf said bluntly, “Isn’t that just being best at running away?”
Ji Ma directly ignored his words.
After the conversation, the dwarves came up to remove George’s super Gothic rune armor and take it to the rune blacksmith. George and Ji Ma followed along.
The horned helmet dwarf said, “Are you conjoined twins? Why do you stick together wherever you go?”
George replied, “It’s a rule during wartime that no one should stray more than fifty meters from each other, except for combat missions.”
“Such a narrow-minded thought,” the horned helmet dwarf said. “Independent Dragon City is the safest place right now.”
Ji Ma interjected, “To prevent being ambushed when alone, everyone should look out for each other. Who knows if there are assassins watching us from the shadows?”
Upon arriving at the blacksmith shop, although the old rune blacksmith was unhappy about George cutting in line, he immediately began crafting and repairing as soon as he heard the words of the horned helmet dwarf, promising to have it ready by noon the next day.
Afterwards, the dwarves accepted the intelligence they had scavenged from the Ratman command post that day and promised to translate the information they were interested in into a more comprehensible universal language.
Everything was going smoothly.
Naturally, the team would rest within Independent Dragon City today.
On the way back, Ji Ma was in high spirits.
She was daydreaming. In the dwarven treasury, gold coins were piled high like mountains, gleaming brightly. She imagined herself lying on a mountain of coins, pushing wave after wave of coins down, the coins clinking merrily as they fell into the entrance of the Dream Palace.
Behind her, she didn’t know when Eve Frostleaf, dressed provocatively, with flushed cheeks and shoulders, playfully biting a whip, was trying to roll down the gold coin mountain with her…
George suggested, “Shall we go to the city walls and help the dwarves fend off the Ratmen? Let’s do something we can manage.”
Ji Ma replied, “I need to go to the treasury to collect our wages.”
“Together,” George insisted. “You are the one in the team who needs protection the most right now.”
As soon as Ji Ma heard this, her pleasant fantasy was instantly doused with cold water: “I won’t go! I want to go to the treasury.”
“Ji Ma, stop being stubborn.”
Saintly Jenna also chimed in, “The dwarves really need our help.”
“You being willing to work for free is your business. Why do you have to drag me into it?” Ji Ma retorted. “George, do I look like a kind-hearted, sympathetic person?”
“Like…”
Ji Ma was shocked. When did the holy knights start lying?
George continued, “I believe you will become a good person someday.”
“But not now,” Ji Ma countered. “Regardless, I’m going to the treasury to get the wages that belong to us.”
“That’s not safe.”
“Is it your definition of safety that matters?” Ji Ma replied. “If you think it’s unsafe, then come with me to the treasury and help me push coins. But you won’t; you’ll go to the city walls to work for the dwarves for free.”
George’s tone grew harsh: “Is there any point in hoarding so many coins?”
“What’s the point of killing so many Ratmen? At any rate, the Ratman army can’t be stopped. I can’t be bothered to argue about values with you,” Ji Ma stated. “Let me remind you, kid, we need to quickly reclaim the pieces of the Demon King’s crown.”
“And you decide to take the team to the city walls to waste magic.”
George said, “If I recall correctly, stuffing all that gold into your entrance will use up a lot of your magic.”
“Yes, just like leading the team to the city walls to kill Ratmen will also deplete magic, that’s an obvious reality.”
“We’ll assess the situation; it won’t delay tomorrow’s schedule.”
“I will too.”
“Are you sure?” George asked. “Given what I know about your greed, I’m quite skeptical.”
“You must have read too many fairy tales like ‘The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs.’ Why is it that you can carefully manage your magic consumption when doing good, but I can’t be rational about my greedy magic consumption? I may be greedy, but I’m not stupid, okay?”
The two of them argued for a while, refusing to yield, just as fiercely as they had on the bed. In the end, George couldn’t directly tie Ji Ma up and drag her to the city walls. He could only part ways and remind her to be careful.
Ji Ma said, “Fine, who knows what accidents could happen in battle? You don’t care, nor do you care how far the Everlasting Chosen have gone.”
Saying that, she flew away, flapping her wings in anger.
Meanwhile, the Everlasting Chosen Marus was still on his way to retrieve the pieces of the Demon King’s crown.
Compared to a few days ago, he had shortened the distance to his goal by a full five meters.
Because “the outcome was still undecided,” he was still locked in combat with the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan.
“This sword of yours is not bad; in the words of the Seris people, it can barely compare to a strike of my three hundred years of skill,” the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan praised. “No wonder you are now one of the four chosen.”
“You’re not bad yourself. Don’t be so modest; I’m sincerely complimenting you,” Marus replied.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve fought so thrillingly. I’ve battled for thousands of years, and as my opponent, you could barely rank in the top ten. The first has already died under my lance.”
“Too bad I’m just a bit better than you.”
“What was that saying? The old are still stronger.”
“Though I say that, I still had a bit more luck in this victory. It’s just luck—”
“Shut up!” The Everlasting Chosen Marus thrust his sword through the mouth of the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan. With a violent burst, Duncan’s jaw nearly detached from his face, unable to speak for a moment, standing on one leg because his left leg had already been severed, holding a black long sword with only his right hand, his blood-red armor in tatters.
In contrast, the armor of the Everlasting Chosen Marus had merely accumulated many small dents and pits.
The Everlasting Chosen Marus sternly asked, “I’ll ask you one last time: do you admit defeat or not?”
Marus had lost count of how many times he had asked. The hardest part of the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan was his mouth. No matter how many times Marus knocked him down, he just wouldn’t admit defeat and kept talking as if he were the one about to lose.
The vampire’s astonishing healing ability manifested vividly in the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan. He closed his jaw and politely said, “You haven’t used your full strength; you’ve been holding back.”
The Everlasting Chosen Marus raised his sword.
“Hahaha, it’s been a long time since I’ve fought so delightfully,” the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan hopped on one leg, picked up his severed arm from the snow, and placed it back on: “Since you’ve already shown the strength a respectable warrior should have, I’ll allow you to ride on my dragon’s back.”
The Everlasting Chosen Marus decided not to dwell on the other’s stubbornness to avoid potentially fighting for another day and night. He couldn’t kill the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan completely; he could only use violence to force a concession. Yet, recalling the previous duel that had made his head buzz, he understood that getting Duncan to soften his tongue would probably be as difficult as killing the four dark gods, if not more challenging.
“Quack, quack, quack, what an epic battle! The Everlasting Chosen must really enjoy this kind of fight,” a three-eyed penguin jumped out from behind a rock, flapping its little wings and bouncing on the melting snow.
The Everlasting Chosen Marus resisted the urge to skewer it on his sword.
“What a lively little penguin,” the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan beckoned to his zombie dragon: “Come, come here, my dragon.”
The battered zombie dragon approached. Indeed, this duel was one where the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan, along with his mount, faced off against the Everlasting Chosen Marus alone.
Compared to the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan, the zombie dragon wasn’t in any better shape either, but it still loyally stood next to its master. The Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan, having regrown new limbs, leaped onto the dragon’s back, patting the saddle beside him, saying:
“Come, hurry up! As a powerful warrior who performed admirably in the battle just now, you deserve to ride with me.”
The Everlasting Chosen Marus held back his feelings and sheathed his trembling sword, lifting his tower shield and leaping to land behind the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan.
The zombie dragon raised its nearly wingless wings and flapped clumsily without moving an inch.
The Everlasting Chosen Marus couldn’t help but take a deep breath and asked, “Can it not fly?”
“You know that,” the Blood Dragon Ancestor Duncan replied. “My friend, you were too rough with the dragon; it’s just a dead dragon. It needs proper care. Don’t hold it against you; after all, you had to face my fierce sword and terrifying lance. It’s normal for it to be scared and take some time to recover. In the meantime, how about I fight with you again and give you some pointers?”
The Everlasting Chosen Marus’s hand gripping the hilt was still trembling. He repeatedly pulled out the bright red blade only to sheathe it with force.
He dismounted the dragon and looked up at the starry sky, where among the stars, he faintly saw the strong silhouette of his loyal black dragon steed, Maw.
Meanwhile, in the dwarven treasury.
Ji Ma sat alone on the cold mountain of gold coins.
The light was dim, the mountain of coins wasn’t as high as she had imagined, nor did it glitter as she had hoped. The colors were dull, and coupled with a belly full of worries, pushing gold into the entrance of the Dream Palace, which should have been a joyous task, had become a dull affair.
She had worked hard to cast her worries aside, but she couldn’t help but regret the argument she had with George. How would the other two good-natured girls in the party view her now? And rolling gold coins…
No, if I think like this more, I’ll really be at a loss.
Ji Ma pushed the coins while pondering other worries.
I wonder how far the Everlasting Chosen Marus has gotten? As one of the four chosen, he must have gained great strength. Who knows, perhaps he’s riding a dragon, soaring over mountains and valleys, much faster than we foolishly walking on foot.
She thought of the pieces of the Demon King’s crown.
The pieces of the Demon King’s crown made her unable to resist thinking about herself. How wonderful would it be if she could get her hands on a piece of the Demon King’s crown? She could fix the disc and go home…
As she thought of this, her hand unconsciously brushed over her chest.
That way, she could personally take revenge and heal her soul’s wounds.
But what about George?
If he found out my true identity, he would surely kill me, just like what I saw in the glass ball.
Her hand went to her flat stomach, which had never been pregnant.
She thought again of today’s quarrel.
In terms of values, they were fundamentally opposed; neither would change for the other. Could they really be together? No, of course not; at most, they could only be temporary friends with benefits.
So why can’t I keep the pieces of the Demon King’s crown for myself?
