### Chapter 447: 64. Renee?
At this moment, the Royal Capital before me was like a world painted in ink. In the midst of the surreal scenery of pedestrians and elves, the voice of Duke of Peach echoed faintly from the sky once again,
“The barrier has not yet fully activated; this is just the starting point I saw earlier. You have not truly entered [Fate], so everything you see will be particularly blurry. Once you completely dive into the sea of fate, our connection will be completely severed, and you will only break free from fate when you reach the endpoint I have set. Do you understand?”
Hearing this, Gouwen quickly looked up at the sky and loudly asked,
“Um, what exactly is this so-called endpoint?”
As soon as Gouwen opened his mouth to ask, he scanned his surroundings and noticed that the black-and-white pedestrians were not only blurry but also that there was no response even when a group of strange people suddenly appeared on the road shouting at the sky. He wondered if this was related to what Duke of Peach said about not having “entered fate.”
“You’ll know once the time comes. The important thing is that once that Trans person enters fate, you will be able to communicate with the shadows of fate, which may give you some information even if you can’t see that Trans person.”
Duke of Peach’s voice became increasingly ethereal. At that moment, Fisher suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to bind to Duke of Peach.
As he opened the illusory panel before him, just as the panel of [Peach] appeared, something suddenly slapped his butt. In that moment of surprise, the illusory panel vanished, and the black-and-white world before Fisher abruptly filled with color, as if entering a whole new world.
He turned around angrily, only to see Hela hiding behind him, looking around as if searching for something fun, almost as if she hadn’t been the one to slap him.
“You…”
This guy.
Fisher was at a loss as to why this person suddenly did something so thoughtless, making him miss the opportunity to bind with the Elf race and complete the sequence. He couldn’t help but feel angry at this innocent-looking Hela.
Perhaps Fisher’s gaze was too piercing; Hela tilted her head at him, clearly acknowledging that she was indeed the one who just slapped him.
“Excuse me, everyone, please make way.”
Fisher shot her a glare, but he was reminded by an adjacent subhuman pushing a cart. Fisher turned in surprise to look at the pedestrian staring at their group, and only after a second did he step back to clear the way.
“How amazing, the fate barrier created by a Nineteen Rank ability can achieve such a level of deception. If I couldn’t see the three treasures within them, I’d probably really doubt that they are real living beings.”
Gouwen exclaimed in awe, watching as the elven carriages slowly disappeared along the main road. He then turned to his companions and said,
“So, what do we do next?”
Fisher pondered for a moment, glancing at the direction the carriages left, and said,
“Duke of Peach said that the Trans person has always been kept close to the Elf King. And since no one has seen that Trans person until now, it means she must rarely show herself outside. This also means we need to enter Jianmu Palace.”
Gouwen shook his head in distress, saying,
“This is troublesome; getting into Jianmu Palace is not an easy feat. Following Lord Bai into the royal palace was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Although this is Duke of Peach’s barrier, from the interactions we just had and the strength of the elves’ ranks, everything seems to lean towards reality. I just don’t know if dying here really means death. But I think it’s best not to try.”
Fisher fixed his gaze on Gouwen, stroking his chin, staring intently at him.
His gaze made Gouwen feel uneasy, unsure if it was because Fisher had discovered the matter that he resolved with his hands last night or if it was because he had been pressuring him over the elusive daughter of the future.
Just as Gouwen swallowed, feeling the need to say something, Fisher seemed to grasp a moment of inspiration and said with a smile,
“Weren’t you just saying that following Lord Bai into the royal palace was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? And you, the one who can treat illnesses, is in our group, right?”
Gouwen opened his mouth, instinctively nodding.
In the Elf Royal Capital, towering trees reached hundreds of meters high, and numerous buildings were constructed on top of them, but compared to the World Tree behind the royal city, these giant trees seemed diminutive.
After the elves entered the royal capital, their residences were mainly concentrated in one or two trees. Generally, the commoners and slaves lived underneath the trees, with only a few elves needing officials or servants allowed to ascend those tall trees.
Fisher and his group rented a room to rest below the trees. In fact, the commodity economy of the Tree Continent was highly developed, and to be fair, they had established a complete unified economic system. At least the currency was standardized, resembling hard coins shaped like leaves.
Neceria had a bit of money on her, and surprisingly, it could still be used in this barrier. Thus, they huddled in a room to discuss their plans ahead.
“Are you saying I should replace myself and then leverage the opportunity of treating illnesses to get you all inside?”
“Can you do that?”
Fisher looked at Gouwen, who was also deep in thought, and then added,
“There aren’t many ways to enter Jianmu Palace, and since the people inside the barrier have ranks equivalent to those outside, it makes it even more challenging. If this method doesn’t work… Duke Chuan seems to be in the royal capital during this period; I saw his flag at the end of the carriage earlier. As someone who is an elf but different from other elves, he might be able to take us in.”
Gouwen shook his head with a bitter smile, obviously disagreeing with Fisher’s view.
“Regardless, Duke Chuan is still an elf. He’s kind but wouldn’t do anything detrimental to the Elf race. There’s no reason for him to take a bunch of us into Jianmu Palace unless he’s gone mad. While I think replacing myself is a feasible plan, the problem is bringing all of you into Jianmu Palace is unrealistic.”
Gouwen carefully recalled the time he followed Lord Bai into Jianmu Palace and continued,
“I was supposed to enter the royal capital with Lord Bai, but I had to return to the Deep Sea midway because of some family matters. After addressing those issues, I met with Lord Bai in the royal capital. At that time, I should not have returned to the royal capital yet. Lord Bai heard about my exploits on the Dragon Continent and invited me to treat the Elf King, so he probably knows that I have a good relationship with humans. Therefore, I can say you, Tang Zeming, and Mikhail are my assistants, but I don’t know what to do with Neceria and Hela.”
Neceria, lounging against her spear by the window, interjected,
“Anyway, since it’s just to search for information about that Trans person in Jianmu Palace, I can’t be of much help. I’ll just wait outside.”
Fisher pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“Then what about Hela? Where is she?”
He scanned the room but noticed that the not-so-spacious room was missing Hela’s presence, and the window facing them was wide open, seemingly answering Fisher’s question.
“Um… Hela seemed very happy when she heard that she couldn’t go in, saying something about being able to ‘relax well,’ and then… she jumped out the window and escaped.”
The last to speak was Tang Zeming, who raised her hand first, reporting on the shameful rogue. Judging by her helpless expression, it was clear she couldn’t stop Hela.
Fisher’s old face darkened, too lazy to deal with that unreliable person.
That guy, aside from last night, was totally untrustworthy at other times.
“That’s fine; our next plan is to tie up Gouwen in the royal capital outside the barrier, then you impersonate yourself to enter the royal capital to meet Lord Bai, and then follow him into Jianmu Palace.”
“Although it sounds a bit strange, that’s indeed the plan.”
Gouwen smiled wryly and nodded. He glanced at the carriages still being arranged by a group of slaves outside and said,
“I should arrive on the third day after the elves enter the royal capital. Coincidentally, that day is when the elves offer their tributes. Then on the fourth day, I entered Jianmu Palace with Lord Bai. We’ll need to wait another three days. Before then, we can gather some intelligence in the royal capital. If there’s a traitor among the elves, it might be one of the dozens of elves currently in the royal capital. It would be great if we could know the tribute list and order of those elves.”
“Someone in the royal capital should be responsible for managing the tributes, right?”
Just then, Mikhail, who had been silent, spoke up.
Gouwen glanced at him and said,
“There are indeed such officials, but that official’s rank is very high, close to Mythical Rank, so regular tracking and stealing would probably be ineffective.”
Mikhail silently raised his right hand and then extended his left hand under his wrist, pulling out an extremely small round device and placing it on the table.
“What is this?”
Looking at the item on the table smaller than a pea, Gouwen, Fisher, and Tang Zeming leaned closer to the table. The next second, in their sight, that round device gradually transformed into black powder yet remained active and began to wriggle.
“A type of nanorobot, though it’s not the official version; I bought it from the black market previously. Its battery life is halved and can’t connect to the internet, but for me now, not being able to connect is an advantage.”
Seeing the three in front of him looking bewildered, Mikhail’s head started to ache even more.
Fisher and Gouwen came from a world of swords and magic, and Tang Zeming, being from the same world, still didn’t know anything, leaving him speechless.
“In summary, this thing can discreetly monitor others. You just need to bring it into those carriages, and then I can remotely control it with a microcomputer to track that official and know the specific list. I don’t know if the Mythical beings here can detect it, but those not at the Mythical Rank shouldn’t be able to find it.”
“Truly… amazing. The things from your other world are impressive too; something so small isn’t even a living thing, and even sacred artifacts would be of a high level.”
Mikhail looked at Fisher, placing the tiny robot in his hand.
“Fisher, could you discreetly throw the robot into those carriages? After completing this task, don’t come back immediately; circle around the city and return at dusk. Before you come back, I will determine whether we have been discovered.”
“Mr. Mikhail, you seem quite professional, like James Bond from a 007 movie.”
Tang Zeming looked a bit excited, sensing that Mikhail had transformed into a professional agent from a movie, but Mikhail sighed, seemingly unamused by such flattery.
“I was once wanted by my company in my original world for defection, and for a time, I lived in fear every day. Apart from various odd factors here, it shouldn’t be as nauseating as the surveillance network established by New Siberia. Fisher, I will monitor the robot here.”
“Okay, leave it to me.”
After their respective assignments were finished, Fisher held the pea-sized robot and walked out of their rented room.
Outside, every carriage loaded with treasures and various items was slowly lifted into the air by several subhumans with gray-blue wings, both male and female.
Fisher confirmed with the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans that they were a subhuman race known as “Raven Race,” which appeared to be one of the races enslaved by the elves.
Fisher did not rush to take action; he didn’t even draw near. He simply walked to the side of the street near the giant tree, quietly watching as each carriage was slowly hoisted up to the sky while also looking for the official responsible for this matter.
Expecting it to take a while to find, Fisher surprisingly locked onto his target in no time.
The reason was simple; the officials of the royal capital wore attire similar to that of the troublesome Qilin race outside the habitat of the Phoenix race, which Fisher could easily spot.
Upon seeing the elegantly dressed official coming over to inspect, Fisher silently approached the nearly finished carriage and tossed the robot to the other side of it.
Success!
Watching the robot tightly bound to the side of the carriage slowly disappearing into the surface, Fisher maintained his pace and steadily walked towards the other side of the street.
The officials behind him continued their checks, and the carriages were carried one by one into the sky.
No unexpected events occurred; nothing unusual happened.
Just as Fisher was preparing to comply with Mikhail’s suggestion to leave toward another direction of the royal capital until dusk to return, a deep and alluring fragrance suddenly surged into his nostrils.
His nose twitched slightly, and that scent, seemingly etched into his soul, instantly caught his attention.
His steady footsteps faltered for a moment as he subconsciously searched for the source of the enticing fragrance.
This uniquely profound feminine aroma was something Fisher couldn’t adequately describe in words, and sometimes, when he thought back on it, it felt almost surreal. However, as he searched for this scent, his keen eyes suddenly spotted something in the bustling Elf Royal Capital.
In the long corridor filled with lively activity, his gaze was suddenly captured by the figure of a slender, graceful woman in the distance.
She wore ordinary yet elegant attire, and her long, smooth black hair fell like a beautiful curtain of black silk.
But as he gazed at that figure, Fisher felt as if his breath had suddenly stopped. The more he looked, the more he felt that the woman’s silhouette was so familiar, so familiar that it seemed carved into his bones.
“Renee?”
How could she be here?!
This is impossible!
Fisher murmured to himself, then incredulously touched the mark left on his chest by the future sorceress, as if their heartbeats were synchronizing, but he was increasingly convinced that the silhouette ahead was indeed the source of the alluring fragrance.
Then, he could no longer control his steps, quickly speeding up and running after that figure, trying to find the woman and uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, in the room, Gouwen watched Fisher quickly run away until he disappeared from sight and couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned back to Mikhail, who was connecting to the microcomputer to begin monitoring.
“Don’t say it; Fisher seems quite skilled. He runs faster than a rabbit, and in no time, he’s out of sight. By the way, you haven’t had any issues with that broken eye, have you? It would be troublesome if you got sick here again.”
Mikhail connected his prosthetic eye, then linked it to the distant micro-robot, attempting to control its movements.
“The burden is light, still within tolerable limits. This carriage belongs to which elf? It seems to have much less in tribute compared to the other elves.”
Saying this, Mikhail instructed Gouwen to close the doors and windows. As the room gradually darkened, he gently tapped his eyes, and in everyone’s astonished gaze, a beam of illusory light suddenly projected from that small eye, displaying the scene seen by the nanobot onto the wall of the room.
“Impressive, very impressive.”
Gouwen was not new to being amazed by products from other worlds. However, amidst the astonishment, he did not forget to examine the scene in the image.
Within the projection, there were only a few jars of unknown liquid, several bundles of glimmering licorice, some furs from various magical beasts, and a few wooden crafts. Besides these, there was nothing else, making this carriage appear much lighter compared to others that were fully loaded.
While Gouwen and the others were scrutinizing the image, Neceria suddenly sighed. Rubbing her long spear beside her, she explained,
“These are Duke Chuan’s tributes. Those jars are a specialty wine from Chuan Kingdom called [Into Wood], which is fermented in wood. Duke Chuan does not offer slaves to the Elf King, and he has received quite a few slaves from other countries, so he isn’t wealthy. The tributes he offers to the Elf King are not valuable items either.”
(End of Chapter)
