Chapter: Chapter 218
How many are needed?
This is indeed a good question, so good that even the man with glasses doesn’t know the answer to it.
“The progress on unlocking the seal is just over half; more sacrifices are needed,” he said plainly.
The mercenary lightly tapped his knuckles on the table, seemingly contemplating the man with glasses’ words.
After a long pause, he looked up: “You should know that we are not only being watched by those incompetent and weak bureaucrats.”
“That’s precisely why we need to speed up,” the man with glasses spoke unhurriedly. “Otherwise, if we really wait until those people unite, will we still have a chance?”
The Hero Association has already dispatched a team to investigate. The strange organization that calls itself the Divine Throne has also been operating secretly in the city recently. Even those distant and bizarre churches have sent informants here.
It is no exaggeration to say that the superhuman powers of the entire human world are now casting their gaze in this direction to varying degrees.
As the local forces, they possess the most intelligence but have the weakest strength.
For them, the only advantage is time.
Neither the Divine Throne nor other forces have yet figured out the situation. At best, they only know that something powerful is hidden in this city.
But unlike the man with glasses and the mercenary, although they don’t know what that powerful thing is, they have already found the door and are in the process of unlocking it.
“To be honest, a seal that requires such a method to be unlocked probably contains something not good inside,” the mercenary said coldly.
The man with glasses tapped the table displeasedly. “What, are you going to back out now? When I found you, you were so agreeable…”
“You didn’t tell me back then that there were so many complicated steps to unlock the seal.”
“Don’t worry, we are already on the right track, and I have special intelligence channels.” The man with glasses, at the right time, revealed some information he had previously concealed: “What is sealed is likely an extremely powerful weapon. With that weapon, even confronting the Hero Association head-on will be a piece of cake for us.”
However, the convincing power of this statement was not very strong. The mercenary was not a naive fool; he knew the capabilities of the scattered soldiers under his command.
If it weren’t for the Hero Association members stationed here being bought off by him, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
If nothing else, although the Hero Association here does not have S-rank heroes stationed, there are still a few A-rank heroes.
And one A-rank hero would be enough to crush the force that he had painstakingly built up for over a decade.
“Your expression suggests you don’t quite believe what I’m saying.” The man with glasses was not surprised by the mercenary’s reaction, but his conclusion was reached through extremely meticulous reasoning: “It is very likely that the sealed weapon is of the same type as that miscellaneous bird’s Misty City in the central city.”
Misty City? The mercenary’s pupils contracted. He was naturally not unfamiliar with the great reputation of this item.
Legend has it that the old Eagle in the central city relied on this item to carve out his own territory in the central city, where powerful individuals were common, and A-rank individuals were like street dogs.
Although there were bound to be exaggerations in the transmitted stories, one thing was certain: Misty City was indeed the old Eagle’s trump weapon.
Everyone knew about the existence of this weapon, but a few months ago, no one knew what it looked like. The reason was simple: those who saw it died.
However, a few months ago, the old Eagle’s forces suddenly collapsed, and even the whereabouts of that divine artifact were unknown. This made one suspect that perhaps the old Eagle was killed by other powerful figures in the central city due to his possession of it.
“Is our appetite enough?”
“If it were in the central city, then it would definitely not be enough, but here, I can tell you with certainty that it is more than enough.”
Seaside City is not comparable to the central city. There are not as many powerful individuals here as in the central city. Their combined strength is already considered the top force here.
As long as they can obtain the weapon before the Hero Association or the Divine Throne, everything else will be worry-free.
At worst, after obtaining the weapon, they can flee to the barren lands and hide for a while. When the heat dies down, they can make a comeback.
“All right, I hope your judgment is correct.” After a long period of silence, the mercenary nodded. “Since we need to speed up, our targets do not necessarily have to be limited to outsiders.”
Previously, the targets were limited to outsiders to avoid attracting the attention of others. However, now, there is clearly no such leeway.
If they continue to capture people slowly as before, by the time the seal is broken, it will be too late.
“What are you planning…”
“You don’t need to worry about these matters anymore. I will send enough people to the rendezvous point, and you just need to arrange for people to receive them there.”
The man with glasses crossed his legs. A hint of surprise appeared on his face, but this surprise quickly turned into admiration. “Good, I knew I chose the right partner.”
The two raised their transparent glasses on the table. The light brown liquid reflected a captivating sheen under the dim yellow light. They clinked their glasses, and with the crisp sound of glasses touching, the smiles on their faces appeared particularly terrifying.
…
“Haa…” Xiao Shuang, sitting in front of the computer, yawned. She rubbed her drowsy eyes, looking like she could fall asleep at any moment.
A recently popular movie was playing on the computer screen, indicating that Xiao Shuang was watching dramas until this hour.
Glancing at the time, the girl rubbed her eyes again. “Hmm, I’ll watch it tomorrow. Today…”
Just as she was about to turn off the computer, she was surprised to find that she had received a message in the game she had been playing.
Someone is messaging her at this hour?
Xiao Shuang glanced at the time again, confirming that it was already three in the morning. Most people should be asleep by now, right?
Even considering time differences, most people in their guild are in the central city, where it’s also the early morning. Could there really be so many night owls?
Clicking on the game interface, Xiao Shuang’s face showed a surprised expression. This message was actually sent by her friend Qianqian, whom she had met a few days ago.
“Xiao Shuangshuang, you’re still awake?”
Xiao Shuang thought for a moment and typed a message: “Yeah, I’m watching a drama. Are you also not asleep, Sister Qianqian?”
“I can’t sleep. I’ve been lying in bed for a long time but still can’t fall asleep, so I logged in to take a look.”
Insomnia… Xiao Shuang yawned again. But she was so sleepy.
…
“Shuang, your mental state doesn’t seem very good.” When morning arrived, Yang saw Shuang emerge from her room with two large dark circles under her eyes and bloodshot pupils.
At this moment, Shuang had to lean on the wall to walk. Her once bright and lively eyes were now almost devoid of spirit, making one wonder what could have happened to turn the girl into this state.
Xiao Shuang, who had been dragged by Leticia to play games all night, showed a look of horror. She covered her face and said with a choked sob, “I will never check messages before sleeping again.”
From now on, whenever she wanted to sleep, she would definitely not check messages, even if that person sent her one.
Yang’s expression froze for a moment. He couldn’t understand why Shuang would say this, but he could hear the regret in her voice.
It seemed something had happened last night.
“Why don’t you go back and catch up on some sleep?” Yang suggested. At Shuang’s current state, she wouldn’t be able to go out on missions.
Taking such a burden with him would only reduce his work efficiency. It would be better to let Shuang stay here to catch up on sleep and then act together once she recovered.
“I was thinking the same thing, but I need to have breakfast first.”
“Alright.”
…
“You’re saying you and Shuang played games all night yesterday?” Bai Ling picked up a small steamed bun with her chopsticks at the dining table. This was today’s breakfast, and it was also a specialty of this city.
Leticia, on the other hand, propped her chin with one hand and held a cup containing white liquid in the other. “That girl’s energy is truly abundant. I played with her for over four hours, and she didn’t show any signs of fatigue. I even suspect she’s from that western region.”
“Xiao Shuang is from the East. Although she doesn’t live in the central city, her city is not far from the central city.” Bai Ling popped the bun into her mouth, and the exotic delicacy made the young girl’s eyes light up. “These steamed buns taste really good.”
“Eat, eat, just eat.” Leticia took a sip of sweet soy milk and expressed her deep disdain for Bai Ling’s ability to shift any topic to food.
Bai Ling had long since learned to ignore such disdain. What was wrong with her liking to eat? She wasn’t spending anyone else’s money the way she did.
Even if she ate one portion and discarded another, no one had any reason to criticize her.
She picked up another bun, but this time, Bai Ling didn’t put it in her own mouth. Instead, she used the bun to stuff Leticia’s mouth while the latter was talking.
Leticia’s eyes immediately widened. She had absolutely not expected to be physically silenced by Bai Ling in this manner.
Although the bun used to stuff her mouth was called a steamed bun, it was larger than a typical steamed bun. Leticia had to put in a lot of effort to chew and swallow it.
“It really is quite delicious.” She took another sip of soy milk and then began to ceaselessly scold Bai Ling for her excessive actions.
Amidst this cute background noise, a hearty breakfast filled Bai Ling’s stomach, which had begun to growl after a night of digestion.
Popping the last bun into her mouth, Bai Ling reached into a paper box and pulled out a tissue, then handed it to Leticia.
“You have something here,” she said, pointing to her mouth.
Leticia wiped the spot Bai Ling pointed to with her hand and discovered a small oil stain that had splashed onto the corner of her mouth while eating breakfast.
Too lazy to use a tissue for such a small matter, she extended her pink tongue to lick away the stain, but it seemed her tongue was not long enough. She tried with great effort but couldn’t achieve her goal.
Finally, Bai Ling couldn’t bear to watch and got up to help Leticia wipe it.
“I was almost done licking it, why are you interfering?” Leticia was dissatisfied with Bai Ling’s actions, feeling it was a lack of trust in her abilities.
She had no idea how silly she looked trying to lick the corner of her mouth, so silly that even Miss Bai almost couldn’t help but laugh.
For the sake of Leticia’s image, Bai Ling helped her finish the task with a tissue, which was Miss Bai’s kindness.
But then again, Leticia’s tongue looked very cute. Its color was so alluring, and its flexibility seemed quite good.
Unfortunately, the last time it was too rushed, and she didn’t get to properly experience the taste of this little tongue.
That time, Bai Ling’s most profound feeling was a merciless slap, which truly hurt, not just her face but also her heart.
“Your tongue can’t reach that spot.” Bai Ling casually threw the tissue into the trash can. “If you really want to solve problems by licking, your only option is to let me lick for you.”
“Wow, you’re so perverted.”
“Perhaps I should say ‘you flatter me’ at this moment?” Bai Ling raised an eyebrow.
This person’s shamelessness was increasing. Leticia looked at Bai Ling with the eyes of someone looking at scum. “Heh.”
Ending this incredibly boring topic, Leticia stood up and asked about the day’s schedule.
“Today? According to the plan, we will continue the itinerary that was not finished yesterday, and then go out to sea tomorrow to experience fishing.” Bai Ling was quite clear about the schedule for the next few days.
Originally, today was meant to be free time for them, but due to the chance encounter yesterday, the itinerary originally scheduled for yesterday was moved to today.
“That’s fine too. Then let’s get ready to go.” Leticia stretched, and halfway through, she seemed to ask inadvertently, “Have there been any results regarding those missing person cases?”
After returning the night before last, she had told Bai Ling what she had found out, of course, merely relayed it.
She had little interest in these internal human affairs. If those few strong men hadn’t foolishly walked to their deaths that day, Leticia would have been completely indifferent to them.
Just a few bad guys kidnapping a girl, what does that have to do with Leticia the Great Demon King?
The Demon King was also a bad guy. It was already good of her not to help them.
Acts of chivalry were for heroes to do, not for demons Kings. If one day someone expected a Demon King to do good deeds, then the world should just be destroyed.
“No, I told the guild leader about these clues, and she is currently working hard to find them.” Bai Ling shook her head. “I believe in the guild leader’s work efficiency, and the results should be out soon… But why are you concerned about this?”
“Why, can’t I be curious? After all, these are things I found out. Can’t I be curious about them?”
“Of course, you can. I just find it a bit strange that you care about these matters.”
…
It’s the beginning of the month, shouldn’t I ask for a monthly ticket as usual…
