The blizzard lasted for two days and began to subside on the third day. On the morning of the fourth day, Fang finally saw the princess of Silver Vislan. She stood in the snow, carrying the sick Akane on her back, wearing a thick fur coat over her armor, her face still red from the cold.
The two were escorted by lumberjacks to the platform. The big cat man first lowered the hanging basket and picked up the mountain girl, then dropped the ladder and asked the latter to climb up as well.
Sylvester came over and put her hand on the mountain girl's pale forehead. Sophie looked at her nervously. Seeing her expression, the ship officer couldn't help but smile softly, shook her head and said it was nothing serious, just take a good rest for a while.
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her sincerely: "Thank you, Sylvide." The two had known each other when they were underground in Fenris, but when they really saw each other in person, Sophie couldn't help but marvel at each other's beauty. and temperament.
But Sylvide only smiled: "You're welcome."
Attila and Alyssa sent Akane to the infirmary. Sophie looked at the three people disappearing below the deck, then looked away, and said to Fang? and Sylvide: "Find a more private room, I have something to show you." Fang? There was also a bag on it, wrapped only in an old blanket.
"Go to the captain's cabin." Sylvide said proactively.
"Captain?" Sophie's eyes flashed, looking at Fang? with a bit of fun.
Fang?'s face turned red. This was the reason why he didn't want the captain's cabin: "Don't...don't care too much, it's just that everyone calls it that..." Fortunately, Sophie didn't mean to embarrass him. He smiled and said: "...It seems that your prestige is quite high?"
Fang? He coughed heavily again.
However, he quietly took the next step and asked Sylvide behind him: "When did you gain medical skills?" Sylvide's eyes were crescent like crescent moons, and she shook her head: "What did the captain say?"
"Before that?"
Sylvester smiled and glanced in front of her: "Miss Sophie is just confused if she cares. Qian just has a low fever. There are medicines on the platform, and Attila can cure diseases. What's the problem?"
Fang looked at her and wondered if this was just the legendary placebo? And it seems to be effective in people who are not sick.
However, he had already experienced the cunningness of the ship officer lady.
The three of them walked through the storage room and came to the workshop. Sophie looked at the place and was a little surprised. Although she had seen pictures of this platform before, seeing it with her own eyes was another matter - such a fully functional platform was rare even in Silver Weissland.
The space in this place is not large, but it is indeed comfortable. All the tools in the workshop are available in various sizes and are firmly fixed. There are also some wall cabinets and hooks on the wall, hanging small and large parts for easy access.
One side of the workshop leads to the captain's cabin, which is covered with thick carpets. The cabinets and desks are filled with a whole row of books. Brass heating pipes pass through the room, and the warmth makes the ice on the girl's eyebrows freeze. Dissolve.
There is a small flower bed on the desk, and a bouquet of green vines still hangs out of it in the harsh winter, which is pleasing to the eye. Sophie walked over and touched the rows of book spines on the bookshelf with her hands, feeling a little envious in her heart.
Of course, it's not that Silver Vislan lacks financial resources, but that it can't use them, because Silver Vislan has serious aerostats.
But she suddenly felt that such a platform also had certain practicality, and at least it was cheap-Silver Vislan had a floating ship, which was good, but only the elite team was eligible to enjoy it, and it had nothing to do with her youth training team.
"Your place is really nice." Sophie praised sincerely.
Fang was a little flattered to be complimented by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Silver Vislan, but he had not forgotten the business and couldn't help but ask: "What do you want to show us?"
"It's this thing."
Sophie then opened the cloth bag and poured everything in her hands onto the ground. Fang? Hearing the sound of metal colliding, he discovered that there was a pile of tattered armor inside the blanket, including breastplates, helmets, waist armor, skirts, and foot and hand guards. It should be a full-body armor. First.
"What's this?"
Fang? asked. He saw the magic guidance path on the inside of the armor and the sockets for installing different components, and realized that this was just an ordinary magic armor, not a valuable antique - or an ancient artifact.
Sophie clapped her hands and took a breath before describing in detail what happened that night to the two of them.
After hearing what she said, Fang couldn't help but be stunned: "You said you were attacked by an armor?"
He stretched out his feet and fiddled with the empty breastplate on the blanket. It was so rusted that it was almost in shape. When he fiddled with it, it made a worrying rustling sound like it was about to fall apart. There is a phoenix relief on the front of the breastplate, and apart from being particularly tattered, there seems to be nothing surprising about it.
It's really hard for Fang to imagine how it would look like when it was combined with other components of the armor to stand up and attack people.
"It's not necessarily an attack," Sophie replied: "To be precise, it staggered up to me and fell down. Then nothing happened."
"that's all?"
Sophie nodded.
She thought for a moment and added: "You may think I'm making a fuss out of a molehill? But I checked around the cave afterwards and there was no one else there. In other words, how could this armor go through a blizzard alone?"
"Even if this is a prank, would you do such a prank in such bad weather?"
It is indeed very suspicious. In the forests around the Big Valley, there are very few adventurers in the wilderness, not to mention that in the harsh winter, it is even more inaccessible. How could anyone come here to play pranks.
Fang? checked the armor carefully. There were some magical structures inside it, but they were only the necessary components for ordinary magical armor to transmit and use magic power. This is not a structural armor, because there is no internal transmission structure connecting the upper and lower parts, nor is there a power core.
"Could it be a binding spirit?" he asked.
"I'm a paladin." Sophie glared at him.
Fang? slapped his forehead and realized that he had asked a stupid question. If they were undead, the other party should have detected them already, so why would they come to ask them?
"But I do recognize the emblem on this armor," he replied: "This is the armor of the Dulon City Guards. The phoenix is the emblem of the city of Duron. The owner of this armor may be a knight captain, because most people can't afford it. Such full-body magic armor."
"There's a name on the neck brace, but it's so rusted that I can't see it clearly."
"I can solve this." Isn't it just rust removal? It's just an alchemist's trick.
Fang walked to the closet, took out a bottle from the second compartment, shook it, poured the translucent liquid inside onto the armor, then took the knife from Sylvide's hand and scraped it gently. After a few clicks, a bright metallic color was revealed under the rusty spots.
Sophie watched from the sidelines as the two of them cooperated seamlessly. Thinking of herself and Qian, she couldn't help but feel a little envious.
After the scratching, the metal still has a shallow layer of inscriptions on it, and you can vaguely see the letters on it: '——Roche Le Mordecais'. "Mordecais," Sophie's eyes flashed slightly: "I have heard of this family's name."
"Phoenix Family," Sylvide had already answered on her behalf: "Mordecais means 'Phoenix' in Ithurian. This family is the founder of Duron and still controls Phoenix. The overwhelming power of the city.”
The so-called Phoenix City is naturally another name for Du Lun. The aborigines prefer this name to Du Lun, but the other two people can also understand it.
"A member of the Phoenix family also holds a position in the city guard." Sophie replied, "I'm afraid this person's identity is not simple."
Sylvester nodded in approval.
Fang stood up and felt a little weird looking at the armor. "I always feel that this armor looks familiar," he asked the ship officer at the side: "Have we seen anything similar somewhere?"
Sylvide thought for a moment, then recalled it, and replied: "It should be in Dolifen's underground, Tianlan and Attila have seen exactly the same thing."
Fang? also thought of that piece of armor. It was indeed somewhat similar, but it was older. Thinking of that incident, he couldn't help but think of Hongye and Dict. The two had not been in contact with them for several months since one returned to Tapolis and the other to Elpaxin.
However, they actually had no means of contact, especially after his communication crystal was damaged. He added Hongye, but the other party never replied since he left for Charter City.
In addition, Dickert also gave him a letter of introduction, which was addressed to Sir Roban. But when he was in Grande, the latter seemed to be busy with some affairs between the palaces, and never got the chance to meet them, so the letter of introduction was actually of no use——
He retracted his thoughts and looked at the armor. If it happened only once, it could be said to be a coincidence, but when such things appeared one after another, it became a bit suspicious.
And the last time this thing appeared in Dolifen, that place was deeply influenced by the Dragon Cult. Of course, there is no evidence that the underground armor has any relationship with the Dragon Cult, but the possibility cannot be ruled out.
He looked at Sophie: "Did you find anything else at that time?"
"Other discoveries?" Sophie frowned and thought for a moment: "There seems to be some...but I'm not sure. At that time, I felt some strange sounds in the snowstorm, like footsteps, but also like whispers, like It’s the same as calling someone’s name…”
"Call to whom?"
"I am not very sure."
Fang? and Sylvide looked at each other. Attila also heard such a call at that time. It was for this reason that Dickert thought that the armor was an evil object and took it back to the Artisan General Assembly for inspection.
I just don’t know if there will be any results later.
He squatted down again to inspect the rust-free area. Sure enough, behind the luster of the metal under the rust layer, there was a layer of magic patterns faintly revealed. The strange magic patterns were exactly the same as the armor they had seen before.
But those are definitely not traces left by magic technology. The magic guidance path is clearly visible, and it will never leave such a colorful light similar to oil stains.
"Have you seen this thing?" Sophie couldn't help but ask.
"I've seen it," Fang? nodded without raising his head: "But we don't know what it is. We only know that it may be an evil object."
"Evil things," Sophie frowned: "There is a possibility." There are thousands of monsters in Aitalia, ranging from living creatures to undead, but most of them have written records in various documents.
Only evil things, those hidden existences, can be separated from ordinary people's cognition. They may be gifts from a dark god, or they may simply be the fallacy of divine power - divine evil.
This kind of thing is always creepy. Even though she is a chosen one, Sophie couldn't help but ask: "What should we do with this thing?"
Fang? was about to answer, but then there was a knock on the door outside.
Luo Yu's voice came from outside the door: "Captain, we're at Yujin Castle, but there's something wrong. They won't let us pass."
Fang? was slightly startled.
Turtle Castle is just a pass in the south of the Great Valley region. The Dulon City Guards stationed here are not guarding against humans, but the winter wolves and undead in the northern forest.
However, since there have been no major incidents in recent years, and the imaginary winter wolves and undead have never gone south, the size of the garrison here has become smaller and smaller. In the end, there is only a small team of more than ten people, and an old man. The Knight Commander is stationed here.
And since most of the caravans from the north have to pass through this place, Fang? He has inquired about this place before, and has never heard that the garrison would be embarrassed by the caravans. At most, they would ask for a little bribe and tolls.
This little money should be nothing to their team, right?
Moreover, it is usually Tian Lan and Miss Atila who handle this kind of matter. Both of them are very reliable in negotiations, so there should be no problems. He turned around and thought that the other party was also a branch of the Duron City Guards, so he whispered to Sylvester beside him:
"Put away the armor first, let's go out and take a look."
The ship officer lady nodded slightly.
…
Returning to the deck, Fang took a look under the platform and realized that the situation was more troublesome than he thought.
He heard that there was only a small group of soldiers stationed here, plus an old knight, but the old, weak, sick and disabled in his impression disappeared at first sight; there was only a small group of people who stopped Mr. Gray Rock, but not far away There are more than a dozen people patrolling under the castle.
And there are also cavalry——
He saw two heavy cavalry in harness, carrying a spear on their backs, looking at them warily on the mountain road - the magic armor equipped by these heavy knights, and the chain spear that could shoot, could It is said that it is the standard equipment of Kaolin-Ithurian heavy cavalry.
This is obviously a regular army.
what happened?
Fang? was slightly startled when he saw this scene.
Other news is true. The Yujin Castle not far away is actually just a small fortress. The battlements are not high, and even a little low - the size is far smaller than the Ai Mao Castle they have seen. There is a barracks inside. The building probably also served as the residence and office of the old knight.
The castle stands on the mountainside, blocking the mountain road. Below is a mountain stream that is not deep, but it is not easy to break through directly. What's more, if you really get through the barrier, you probably won't have to go to Dulan later.
But there are so many soldiers, looking serious. Did something happen in the Great Northern Valley?
But they didn't find anything unusual all the way south?
Tianlan was climbing up from the bottom of the rope ladder complaining. Fang? When he saw her, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Tian Lan shook her head: "They said the road was closed and we were not allowed to pass, but they didn't tell us why."
"The road is closed?" Fang Yu thought to himself, how could the road be closed for no reason? Even if it was due to a snowstorm, it would not be the case that so many additional troops would be suddenly sent to this small fortress.
"Those greedy guys," Parker said loudly as he hung on the side of the ship, "I guess it must be because of the money."
"Don't come here," Tianlan gave the Papalar man a white look: "They don't want money at all——"
"Where's Miss Aitila?" Fang asked again.
"Down there," Tianlan replied, "She wants to try to see if she can convince the other party."
Fang? lowered his head and looked down, only to find the elf girl among the city guards. The latter seemed to be negotiating something with the other party, but the soldiers were obviously impatient and were pointing their spears at Mr. Gray Rock.
He looked determined to let them leave.
Fang? frowned, obviously feeling a strong hostility from these soldiers. This is strange. It is normal for the two warring parties to be hostile, but why are these soldiers hostile to them?
Etila seemed to feel this as well. When she saw this, she could only sigh and walked back and climbed up the rope ladder.
"What's wrong?" At this time, Sylvide and Sophie also came out from behind. Seeing this scene, the latter couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
Fang Zheng stretched out his hand to pull Miss Elf up from below. Aitila let out a breath and said to the others: "I'm not sure, but we are not the only ones stopped here. Some caravans and adventurers also stopped in front."
"They don't seem to allow anyone coming through from the north."
"How can it be?"
"Then what should we do?" Box asked.
"Perhaps we can take a detour," Sophie thought for a moment: "I know a path that can pass through the south of the Great Valley, but if you want to go to the Ash Mountain Forest, you have to take some detours."
But Aitila shook her head. "If Miss Sophie also knows this road, the locals will know better. What if there are also troops stationed there?"
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other.
Tian Lan glanced down, frowned and said, "How about we leave this place first?"
Her proposal was unanimously agreed to. Although she didn't know where the hostility of the soldiers below came from, continuing to stay in this place did not give people a sense of security.
Just as Aitila was about to go down again and ask Mr. Gray Rock to turn around, the big cat man behind everyone suddenly let out a light sigh.
It was the tallest, so it could naturally see clearly. However, before the big cat man had time to speak, Baggins, who was in charge of the lookout in front, had already turned around and said to them: "Someone is coming."
Fang? Hearing this, he walked to the side of the ship and looked outside, only to find that a man dressed as a secretary separated from the soldiers and walked towards this side.
The other party walked under the platform, raised his head and asked: "Are you going to Du Lun?"
Everyone was slightly startled and subconsciously looked towards Fang?
Fang? pondered for a moment and then nodded - he thought that after passing through the Tulip Castle, the only destination was Du Lun. The team arriving at this place would of course go to Du Lun.
I don't know what the other party means by asking this question.
Unexpectedly, the secretary shouted: "It's not impossible for you to pass this place, but our commander wants to see you -"
…
