"Won't you buy me something to drink?"
"If this is something that must be done for a lady, then I will be happy to do it..."
"Hu Lin, have a glass of frost blue. Net ≈"
"Sheng Hui, six hundred gold coins, sir."
"..."
The soft lights and atmosphere reappeared around Duan Qing as the nightclub returned to calm air. The peaceful music sounded vaguely in the corner here, soothing the hearts of others who had not yet calmed down. At the same time, it also adds a bit of beauty and pleasure of its own to this dimly lit place. Duan Qing, who had just been defeated by an army, smiled awkwardly, then turned his head pretending not to hear, and looked to the left and right of the shop, above the stairs hidden in the darkness. Several people seemed to be here. The guests were also hugging some beautiful and lovely girls, wandering up and down in the invisible dark depths. It seemed that the second floor of the nightclub was a deep place more suitable for entertaining guests. However, from Duan Qing's perspective, he couldn't see the scene on the second floor. What might happen behind the stairwell with a faint fragrance was beyond his ability to guess.
boom.
The sound of a glass hitting the glass sounded behind his head at the right time. He turned around and saw that a glass of cold wine with an icy blue aura had been handed to the woman with the movements of the iron-tower-like man.
"Well……"
Then Duan Qing's face turned green: "This, that, I..."
"The underground world without money is very difficult."
The woman combing her hair touched the wine glass in front of her with her right hand, then supported her cheek with her left hand and smiled softly: "Especially for a newbie like you."
"Ah hahaha, I originally had a lot of extraneous things like money, but it's a pity that the leader of our family is too strict, so..."
"...I really doubt how you got to this place."
The woman looked at Duan Qing sideways and raised her delicate eyebrows: "Didn't anyone remind you?"
"Yes... uh, no." Duan Qing hesitated for a while, but finally did not mention Hank's name on the table here: "I was just chasing someone, so I followed you here, and then I found that you have a unique appearance. A small shop with attentive service and good quality at reasonable prices...”
His voice became smaller and smaller, and finally he stopped complimenting her when the woman's smile became brighter, and scratched his head in embarrassment. However, the other person, whose legs were crossed and closed, did not seem to have any emotional disturbance due to Duan Qing's pretense. She stretched out three thin fingers, elegantly twisted the wine glass in front of her, and tasted it gently. After taking a sip, he opened his thin lips again: "So... have you caught the person you want to catch?"
"Oh, I got it." Duan Qing said with a low smile: "Right in front of me, although...she hasn't agreed yet."
Raising her eyebrows again, the woman laughed softly: "This method is really clumsy."
"Okay, it's just a joke." Duan Qing waved his hand in vain: "After all... I don't even know your name."
"Kasha, sir." The woman replied calmly: "Just call me Kasha."
"Okay, then Miss Kasha..." Duan Qing paused, then imitated the other party's posture, leaning sideways and raising his head: "Your sister once said that she wanted to find a guide and leader for me. I wonder if you can introduce me to...this place in front of me?"
"…Of course, sir."
The woman turned her head and took another sip of the wine in front of her. Then, while exhaling ice-blue breath, she slowly spoke in a voice like raindrops: "This is Maggie's nightclub, owned by Queen Maggie." The signboard, the purpose of this place...is to make every guest who comes here feel warmer than home."
"That's true." Duan Qing, who looked around, murmured in response: "They don't want to go home."
"Hehehehe." Kasha covered her lips and chuckled for a while, then put down her hand again: "Nearly all the guests here are regular customers. They have been staying in our place for a long time. A newcomer like you ...It’s hard to see in normal times.”
"Do you need me to promote it to you?" Duan Qing whispered: "I can guarantee... that after adventurers learn about this place, your business here will become much more lively."
"...No need, I don't want to see too many bad guys." The woman frowned her eyebrows, and then gently shook her head: "Compared to making money, we care more about the feelings of regular customers, after all... "
She hesitated for a while, but Duan Qing on the side understood what she meant: "They are not easy to mess with, right?"
"...Yes." The woman glanced at Duan Qing's face: "For example, the person you just hacked out, he is a member of the parliament, the deputy commander of the city guard, Mr. Zuoke Akilon, if you piss him off , if it arouses the resentment of the city guard... we may not be able to sustain it here."
"...Hey." Duan Qing raised his eyes, then curled his lips and shook his head: "The deputy commander of the city guard...has only this strength? And he was carried away? No wonder the principality is like this on the battlefield. The potential is weak..."
"Of course we don't want this." The woman sighed and said: "If possible, we hope that Tania will not be shocked again. This is not only not in our interests, but also in line with our inner wishes."
"...You are really a kind lady." Duan Qing smiled and comforted: "But...we are not the ones who can have the final say on the direction of the principality. You are so worried...it is just an excuse. It’s just a worry.”
"It would be great if I could do my part for the principality." Kasha's eyes fell on the wine glass in front of her: "It's a pity... Alas, even the underground far away from the light is not us. People can control it, let alone those nobles and officials."
"You..." Duan Qing looked outside the door and asked, "Don't you feel safe living here?"
"Of course." The woman's eyes flickered, and she finally traced the giant knife behind Duan Qing, looking to the northwest of the nightclub: "The Walia Tavern closest to us is relatively stable, and the relationship with us is relatively smooth. , but Kazzak in the west... relying on the noble power behind them, they will come here to make trouble every day, either asking for more gold coins or asking for more services, as if everyone in this world must listen to them …”
The woman stroking her head sighed lowly, and then showed a helpless smile: "We also resisted, but in the end we were helpless. Fortunately, he alone does not have the final say in the rules of the underground world, so... we We still managed to gain some space.”
"...Is Queen Maggie's power so weak?" Duan Qing spread his hands around and showed a strange smile: "The guards in this place are so tight..."
"They are already all the troops here." Kasha shook her head and said: "And... thugs are just thugs after all. Apart from the Queen, we still lack the backbone of the territory to protect the territory, people who can stand alone, such as..."
When she said this, her eyes flickered, and then she focused on Duan Qing again: "People like you."
"Me? No, no, no, I'm not an expert." Duan Qing smiled and waved his hand: "I'm just a small adventurer, a passerby who accidentally broke into this place. How can I be as powerful as you say... "
"You seem to have forgotten one thing."
The woman's voice became colder, and her eyes became serious: "The sword energy from before... it is difficult for even the captain of the city guard to achieve it."
"...You are referring to that Tusker?" Duan Qing shook his head slowly: "I met him once. He should be a very powerful person. How could he be so weak as you said..."
"There are many powerful people on the ground." The woman's finger rested on her lips again, looking a bit provocative: "But... like you just did, you can throw out the breath and turn it into a physical attack. Such warriors are rarely seen even in descriptions of the history of the Free Continent."
It seems that I accidentally stabbed something...
Duan Qing sighed helplessly in his heart, but on the surface Duan Qing still smiled dryly, echoing the invitation in the woman's eyes: "So... you mean you want me to help you?"
"No, we haven't fallen to this point yet." Kasha chuckled and shook her head: "Besides... the gaps in the underground world are not limited to this."
"Oh? Who else?"
"Sumaili." The woman raised one of her slender fingers and pointed to the south where they were: "Located southeast of Tania, in the underground direction of Yare Street. They are the spokesperson of another above-ground force, smuggling arms. , weapons, armor, and countless luxuries... they are doing many of these businesses, and as for the reason... you should be able to guess it."
"Cabinburg...is that right?"
"You are really smart, sir." The woman finally used a hint of respect: "Thanks to our position, we don't have many conflicts with them, but... maybe it is due to the conflict in the above world, we It has also become their goal.”
"You mean...them and Kazak?" Duan Qing asked in a low voice.
"Yes, in order to seize territory and squeeze each other out, these two forces instigated more than half of the conflicts here." The woman explained helplessly: "We, the original indigenous people, can only watch them fight. At the same time, people are constantly sent to harass us, each asking us to... stand on their own side."
"This should be a good thing, right?" Duan Qing lowered his head and muttered: "In order to win your help, shouldn't they give you a lot of benefits?"
"The way to ask for our consent is not the only way you mentioned." The woman shook her head bitterly: "There is another way, which is to threaten."
"...Is this okay? Do you want to be so ruthless?"
"It's strange... we can only blame us for being too weak." The woman whispered: "The result of being unable to resist... will eventually become like this."
"Hey." Duan Qing stretched out his hand to stroke his eyebrows, slowly closed his eyes, and finally said in deep thought: "So... you really want to get some help from other forces, right?"
"..."
"It is best to be a new force, a force that can truly cooperate with you." Duan Qing said thoughtfully: "For example... some of the recent refugees who came to the city and escaped underground because they were homeless?"
"...Is this what you want to inquire about, sir?" The woman twirled the wine glass in her hand, then tilted her head and showed a beautiful smile.
"You've introduced so much, I can't reveal anything." Duan Qing cracked his wrist, and then showed a clear smile: "I can't do such an unfair thing. come out."
"I'm sorry, about this... I have never heard of it." The woman wearing a lavender ribbon lowered her head slightly, and then replied hesitantly: "We have too much time to take care of ourselves, so regarding the changes in other forces in this place... We rarely know, at least compared to other people... we are certainly not the first to know."
"But you have your advantages." Duan Qing shook his head, and then stared closely into the woman's eyes: "For example...those people take the initiative to find you, what choice will you make?"
The woman did not answer, but looked at him quietly.
"Okay, I don't mean to tear you down." As if he sensed a hint of danger, Duan Qing pushed his hands and immediately got rid of the questioning attitude: "I just... um , you see, we have finally reached this point and established such a wonderful friendship, and you don’t want to give up on me easily, right?”
The woman still looked at him quietly, but after a moment she nodded silently.
"That's right."
Duan Qing snapped his fingers: "Well, as a professional adventurer, I will come here in the future to help you complete some commissions and tasks, even if it is to provide a little help for your safety... Correspondingly Yeah, you just need to tell me one thing, how about it?"
"...What exactly do you want to know, sir?"
"...There was an adventurer here just now, right?" Duan Qing lowered his voice, as if he was a regular customer dealing in dark business: "They also have some similar reasons, right?"
The woman looked at him intently, but finally showed a clear smile: "Yes."
"You see, we adventurers also have a sense of competition." Duan Qing rubbed his hands: "If this business... oh no, it is our friendly cooperative relationship, it can be taken over by our Fool Adventure Group alone. …That’s perfect, right?”
"what do you mean……"
"We don't need you to do anything. You just need to tell me the names, appearances, and detailed information of those people... We will do the rest ourselves." Duan Qing said mysteriously: "You... should understand Bar?"
"...Sounds really good." The woman chuckled and nodded, then wrapped herself around Duan Qing's body like a close lover: "I...agree."
Her low moan flowed slowly in Duan Qing's ears, and finally she slowly separated under Duan Qing's focused gaze and returned to him: "Do you have any more questions?"
"...I have to go." Duan Qing took a long breath, and then said in a deep voice: "Thank you for your help."
"Hey, your drink money."
Looking at Duan Qing who stood up without hesitation, the tower-like man behind the bar plausibly shouted: "There is no way we..."
"Put it on my account."
In Duan Qing's surprised eyes, the woman with her finger on the lavender lips interrupted the bartender softly, then tilted her head and looked at the man carrying a long knife: "You... will come back to pay the debt, right?"
"...It seems you know a lot about adventurers." Duan Qing looked at the other person for a long time, and finally showed a relieved smile.
"We always... keep our word."
