"So you went out for a walk and came back with a big mission for us?"
In the side room of the Vixis Tavern, a weathered-looking Xu Yuliu asked helplessly: "When can you change your troublesome physique? We are already busy enough now..."
"We are just grasshoppers on the same task line. Which one should we catch?" Duan Qing took the hot tea from Ningyu Ninglan and replied with a smile: "If we have one more choice, the only choice for us is There are no advantages or disadvantages…”
"Then which side are you going to choose?"
"I'm such an open-minded person, so of course I brought it back for everyone to discuss... By the way, which side does Ninglan think it's better to help?"
"Of course a silly girl like Ninglan will listen to everyone, but if Ninglan is the one to choose, Ninglan still feels that the previous commission is more promising..."
"Okay! It's decided then."
Xuyu Liushang, who was patting the corner of the table, suddenly stood up: "Let's go to the throne war!"
"Hey, wait a minute, didn't you hear what Ninglan said?" Duan Qing replied angrily: "Originally, I thought you would all choose Oxon Trading Company..."
"This is a huge hidden mission, a hidden mission!" The blue-haired woman waved her clenched fists, and then said with a mysterious face: "It is a mission that is only triggered after accumulating reputation and meeting the city lord. Why? There’s no way it could be any worse than that…right?”
"That's true, but... if we can participate in that grand event in a peaceful way, I think it's better to be peaceful." Duan Qing said in a low voice: "Not to mention the throne war, we are still Don’t know anything…”
"The rewards obtained through peaceful means are definitely not as good as those obtained through fighting!"
The maid holding the tea tray covered her mouth and laughed secretly. She whispered and pointed at Duan Qing and said loudly: "Didn't you teach me this truth? Have you forgotten it by now?"
"But there is a winner in the battle. If we lose the duel, we will be embarrassed to continue to ask for other people's things..."
"Then do you think our rewards from Oxon are guaranteed? Judging from the ruins tour you told us before, that guy is the most terrifying existence, right?"
"Uh... you are right to say that, but..."
"Okay! It's decided!"
Reaching out and pulling out the Huayan from his waist, Xiuyu Liushang once again let out a charming laugh like a queen: "Let these arrogant guys take another look at how powerful we adventurers are!"
So you just have itchy hands, right?
Sighing and lying on the table in front of him, Duan Qing buried his hands in his hair. However, Anyu Ninglan, who was standing behind him, stopped his laughter, hugged the tea tray and whispered softly: "Don't worry, sir. , it doesn’t matter even if you lose, if Mr. Tristan is really in trouble...this is not the only way to solve the dilemma, right?"
"..."
"Since we came to the Free City, we haven't fought side by side." Ninglan continued to whisper softly: "Don't you always teach Ninglan to remember to enjoy the fun of the game? As long as everyone can be happy, no matter what Whichever method you choose...the final result doesn't matter."
"……you're right."
Looking at the blue-haired woman who was still in love with the weapon, Duan Qing slowly raised his head: "Maybe it's because I have played too much chess recently and even the most basic things have been forgotten. Our selection criteria can be... It's not about difficulty, it's about whether this line is fun..."
"Looking at you running around the city these days, I thought you knew what you were doing." Xuyu Liushang also turned around and said, "In the end, are you really just trying to make a living?"
"It's not because of his identity as the principal envoy." Duan Qing crossed his arms and sat up: "I heard that the Restorationists have infiltrated into the City of Freedom. My heart is about to jump out. These guys in the City of Freedom are I don’t mind any attack, but if the entire eastern part of the Free Continent falls into the hands of that third camp..."
"If they want to come, let them come."
Blinking his eyes, he whispered and said lightly: "If they want to assassinate the Free City, we will destroy their plan. If they want to seize the land of the principality, we will fight them all back... Cruhid's previous Didn't we do the same thing in those days? Now that a girl is your boss, have you changed your own style?"
"Don't try to encourage me to develop the guild. I have no intention of going back to the past." Duan Qing spread his hands and replied: "Resisting the attack of the restorationists is not something that our adventure group of less than ten people can do. Even if I risk my life, it is impossible. As for destroying their plan in Freedom City... If you really think about it from this perspective, it would be better to continue to carry out Oxon's commission and then penetrate into the enemy's interior. It’s a choice, right?”
"That old cunning guy, I didn't expect this to be a ghost! That commission of the invisibility potion... there must be a conspiracy that we don't know about!"
"The problem should be with Gardevoir, not Oxon. As for what needs to be done after completing this step of the task, he has not explained yet..."
"What else can you do with the invisibility potion? Of course it's to assassinate the city lord! Wasn't their routine the same in Tania?"
"I don't believe they would give such an important task to us, the initiators of a good thing, unless that Oxon simply went away with the intention of failure... huh?"
The increasingly heated discussion was stuck in mid-air as Duan Qing paused suddenly, like a tape that had stopped playing due to jamming. However, the blue-haired woman who was arguing with Duan Qing also noticed the other party's reaction and originally inserted the tape. The hands on his waist gradually dropped: "...What's wrong? What did you think of?"
"Considering Oxon's identity..." Duan Qing muttered, "He can't be..."
"He wants to ruin the Restorationist project."
A cold voice passed through the air in the room and appeared in the darkness in the corner: "Is this what you want to say?"
"……It is you."
Looking at the familiar face of Xue Ling Huan Bing, Duan Qing exhaled a long breath: "I was almost scared to death by you... No, when did you go online?"
"...You haven't eaten yet."
In the frozen atmosphere, it was Xueling Huanbing who was the first to break the embarrassment: "Do you want..."
"No, no, no, now is not the time to say that."
Duan Qing hurriedly interrupted the other party's words, and shook his arm to block the suspicious look in the eyes of Xiuyu Liushang: "You came just in time! We are discussing whether to participate in the Throne War."
"...Throne War?"
"The Tristan family has sent us an invitation to entrust us. They hope that we will serve as their family's thugs and participate in the throne war in a few days." Duan Qing introduced the current situation very quickly: "In order to win for their family A way out can also be regarded as a settlement of the previous grudges... What did you just say?"
"Fighting for the Tristan family...well, it seems to be a good idea." Ignoring the piercing look from the whisperer beside him, Xueling Huanbing replied in a deep voice: "But according to what I know According to intelligence...the restorationist operations will begin in a few days."
"What action?" Several people's eyes lit up at the same time: "Is the news reliable?"
"The company... is the news coming from within the guild. It should not be used to deceive people." Xue Ling Huan Bing replied in a low voice: "According to the orders from the senior officials of the Restorationists, they are about to shrink their presence in the principality. line of defense, then cross the mountains and assemble on the banks of the Hongshui River in the north, waiting for the pirates’ support.”
"In other words... they are going to fight from the sea?" Duan Qing asked in surprise: "Has their cooperation with the pirates reached this level?"
"The existing pirates seem to have many old grudges with the Free City, so their plan to attack the city coincides with the pirates." Xue Ling Huanbing replied in a low voice: "Although I don't know the specific details, the final mark of the plan is The time is four days later. Considering the relationship between the Throne War... the time to launch the attack is probably that day."
"It seems that the people in Free City are not the only ones who want to join in the fun." The whispers on the side said in a deep voice: "You actually want to catch them all..."
"The restorers may not have such a big appetite, so something that can be called an 'accident' will definitely happen that day." Duan Qing shook his head and replied: "In addition to the mission that Oxon gave us before... ...No, you said before that he would fail the mission, do you have any other basis?"
"I don't know how you put Oxen into the camp of the Restorers, but..." Xue Ling Huan Bing explained in a low voice: "Judging from the information our Wings of Freedom has received so far, the Restorers' Among the senior staff, there is no name Oxon..."
"He should be a member of the Restoration. Even if we don't take into account the auction...the previous incident of the Tallond crater is enough to illustrate his position." Duan Qing said immediately, and then shook his head. Shaking his head: "But... if everything is based on the perspective that he does not want to help the restorationists, many of the previous doubts can be explained."
"Including him letting you leave alive, and allowing the ruins to be blown up." Xu Yu Liushang also said: "But... as a member of the Restoration, why did he let us go, and even include us? What’s the plan to assassinate the city lord?”
"No, maybe the end of the commission was not to assassinate the city lord at all. All this is just our own wild guess."
Shaking his head deeply again, Duan Qing looked around at his companions: "It seems that we need to negotiate with the nominal president of the Chamber of Commerce again. There are many issues..."
"We need him to answer our questions."
*******************************
The following time gradually passed as several people took separate actions, and the movement from around the Vixis Tavern became more and more frightening like the calm before the storm. I don’t know where I heard it. The East Coast Adventure Insider World No. 2 later sent people to find Duan Qing and Xue Ling Huan Bing several times, but they avoided them all on the pretext of various actions, and then it evolved into several businesses. The dark war between spying and counter-spying will come. The leader of the Dongcheng Guild, Lu Banben, who was annoyed, later wanted to protest against them, but like other guilds, they were rejected. As the center of the aftermath of the underwater ruins incident, Duan Qing and other members of the adventure group were also rejected. They disappeared in the streets and alleys between cities. Their whereabouts became weird and unpredictable. They occasionally appeared in unexpected places in the intelligence networks of major guilds. Even the throne holders of non-player forces seemed unable to see them. Find out what these people are doing now and what they want to achieve.
In addition to the shadow mage Gardevoir who often interacts with Duan Qing, and Oxon himself who was visited by Duan Qing.
"We have completed Gardevoir's commission. You can confirm the specific situation with her, so... can you tell us the next step?"
"Really? Very good, but... for the next step, you should wait for my signal."
"Don't blame me for not reminding you. We are hiding from debts these days. If you can't find us by then... don't blame us for deliberately not completing the commission."
"It doesn't matter, Son of Destiny, this is the result you must face. No matter where you run... the center of the storm will eventually guide everyone to find you."
Regardless of the deeper meaning of Oxen's words, the increasingly deep storm is indeed getting closer and closer like the deep sky above their heads. According to Gardevoir, this is before the cold winter. It is possible that the last heavy rain could turn into a real storm if coupled with changes in tides. Duan Qing, who had been busy for days, also hurriedly accelerated the process of collecting materials, and finally handed her the other materials requested by Gardevoir before the heavy rain came. However, this woman wearing a mysterious black veil didn't say a word of thanks, just After getting the materials, he waved his hand lightly: "These are enough, you can go back."
"Uh...there's nothing to follow?"
"Follow-up? What other follow-up do you want?" The woman who had already walked up the stairs looked back at him, and then gently shook her head: "If you want any follow-up, at least you have to wait until this storm has passed. Now …”
"It's better for you to go get treatment for your injuries first."
Looking at the figure gradually disappearing into the depths of darkness, Duan Qing shook his head with a wry smile, then covered the still bleeding wound on his shoulder and left this mysterious place - as time approached, someone appeared in him There are more and more assassins in front of him, but what makes Duan Qing difficult to deal with is not their quantity, but their increasing quality and unexpected assassination methods.
Players even appeared here, as well as... people holding bows and arrows to attack from a distance.
"Archer..."
Looking at the long feather arrow held in his other hand, Duan Qing sighed deeply.
"I didn't expect that in this world... there are actually people who can practice archery."
