Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 461

When Anfey sensed Suzanna walking upstairs, he quickly put the stuff in front of him away. As Suzanna walked into the room, she looked worried, and he asked in surprise, “What’s wrong, Suzanna?”

“Anfey, you have to go and help. Alice and Christian are arguing,” Suzanna said hastily. “They are arguing in front of many people. No matter what I said, they would not stop.”

“What were they arguing about?” Anfey asked.

“About those businessmen. After Arlango donated 20,000 gold coins, those businessmen went to see Alice and wanted to cancel their contract with us and volunteered to donate their gold coins to us instead. Alice was still not happy with it. She wanted them to donate more. The businessmen went to Christian to complain. Christian thought Alice asked too much, but Alice did not want to give in and started to argue with Christian right there. Hurry up, you gotta go there,” Suzanna said.

“Were the businessmen there as well?” Anfey asked.

“Yes,” Suzanna said.

“Don’t be silly.” Anfey gently tapped Suzanna’s forehead. “They were just acting to try to fool the businessmen, but they definitely fooled you.”

Suzanna hurriedly covered her forehead with her hand. She asked suspiciously, “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Anfey said. “Unless something affects their bottom line, they would not argue. Even if they had a conflict, with you there trying to mediate, they would have stopped arguing.”

“Damn it!” Suzanna got pissed. “Why didn’t they tell me in advance? I was worried for nothing.”

“I guess,” Anfey paused, “they thought it was not easy to fool the businessmen, but everyone knows you are honest and upright, so it would look more real with you there with them.”

“They cannot do this to me. I am going to find them” Suzanna said, grinding her teeth. She turned around to walk out of the room. Actually, anyone would get pissed if he was in Suzanna’s shoes. She tried to calm both Alice and Christian for almost half day, but they actually set her up.

“Let it go.” Anfey immediately grabbed Suzanna’s hand. He said with a smile, “If you go there and argue with them, then you are selling them out.”

“It must have been Alice’s idea.” Suzanna still wanted to go and argue with them.

“Don’t blame her for it.” Anfey smiled. “If you had known the truth beforehand, would you have acted so real? The businessmen could have seen you were acting.”

“Do you think I am stupid?” Suzanna rolled her eyes at Anfey again.

“No, no. Who said you are stupid? You are the youngest top power on the Pan Continent!” Anfey realized he made the simplest mistake by giving unbiased suggestions. He tried to comfort Suzanna immediately. He saw Hagan trying to back away from the door out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, Hagan, you are back.”

“Good morning, Anfey.” Hagan greeted him with a smile.

“Morning? The sun is directly above your head. It is noon already. Hagan, you didn’t sleep last night, did you?” Anfey asked.

“I went to sleep late last night.” Hagan passed a light blue potion to Anfey as he talked. “Here you go.”

Anfey took the potion. “What is this?”

“I diluted the Sacred Potion. In a few days when the little unicorn starts to have more energy, you can feed him this potion, but don’t waste it. You can just put a drop of the potion on his tongue,” Hagan said.

“I got it,” Anfey said.

“Oh, Anfey, it’s better that you and Suzanna administer the potion to the little unicorn. Don’t give the potion to those maids. If you find anything wrong, you can see me immediately,” Hagan said.

“Suzanna and I will leave in a few days. What are we going to do with the little unicorn?” Anfey asked, frowning.

“I will take care of the unicorn,” Hagan said, “but I am not sure if he would listen to me.”

“It would be great if Niya were here,” Anfey said. Niya had spent a long time with the unicorn, so besides Anfey and Suzanna, it was only close to Niya and little Shally.

“I know.” Hagan hesitated for a second and asked, “Anfey, what did you do with that bottle of Sacred Potion?”

“I drank it all.” Anfey smiled. He had told Christian that he used the bottle of potion, but no one else asked about it. Of course, it showed that everyone trusted Anfey a lot. Hagan, as an alchemist, knew better than others how valuable the potion was. He had refrained from asking that question for a long time, but he could not hold it in anymore.

“Did you drink it all?” Hagan asked loudly.

“I was hit by a strange magic and I could not think of anything else but drinking the potion at that critical moment,” Anfey said bitterly.

“What did you say?” Suzanna snarled.

“When? What were the affects of that magic?” Hagan asked hastily.

“It happened a while ago. The magic,” Anfey tried to recall what happened to him, “made me feel like I was submerging in melting lava. Fire elements constantly burning my skin. I suffered great pain, and my skin even cracked at the end. I released Anti-magic Terra, but it only helped with my pain for a short period of time. When Anti-magic Terra disappeared, the fire elements came back.”

“I remember Hui Wei talked about it before.” Hagan went quiet for a while. “It must be Burning Forbidden spells. Anfey, did Archmage Michael hit you with it?”

“Yes,” Anfey said.

“I thought Burning Forbidden spells had disappeared a long time ago.” Hagan frowned. “But Anfey, you were so lucky. I cannot believe you survived Burning Forbidden spells and the Aging Curse.”

Anfey heaved a sigh. People with lower levels of fighting ability were scared of whooshing sword radiance and moving elements in waves, because those could easily take their lives. For two people with similar fighting abilities, they felt the material magic was a pain in the neck. It was especially true in physical fights, since their physical fighting abilities were increasingly affected. As a result, they could both end up dying.

“Why didn’t I know about this, Anfey?” Suzanna was worried and grabbed his sleeve as she asked. This was the first she had heard that Anfey had been hit by Forbidden Spells when they had been separated. Archmage Michael’s Forbidden Spells were never ineffective.

Anfey chuckled. “It all past. I am fine, right?” If Hagan had not asked, he would not have told anyone about it, in case they worried about him. However, right now he felt he had to give them an explanation, since he had to explain why he no longer had the valuable Sacred Potion. After his explanation, Anfey immediately switched topics. He took something out of his Dimensional Ring. “Hagan, I feel this ax is sealed with magic. Can you check it and see if you can break the seal?”

Suzanna gave Anfey a worried look. She looked like she was about to say something, but swallowed it. Her eyes were moist.

“What a big ax! Where did you get it?” Hagan commented. He reached both of his hands out to hold the ax.

“Can you hold it?” Anfey smiled.

“Yes, you can let go of it,” Hagan said.

Anfey let go as Hagan requested. Hagan suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure on his arms. He could not hold the ax anymore, and it was falling on Hagan’s toes. As the ax was about 15 inches from his toes, it stopped in the air. Anfey had grabbed the ax with his right hand. He knew how much this ax weighed, so he put a lot of force on it when he grabbed it. Pressure radiated to the surrounding area, with Anfey at the center.

“F*ck!” Hagan broke out in a cold sweat because he almost lost his toes. He seemed to lose control of his tongue. He muttered, “What is this damn ax? I am afraid it weighs a couple hundred pounds.” In fact, he had known the ax was heavy. That was why he tried to hold it with both hands, but did not realize he still could not hold it.

“I weighed it before. To be more specific, it is 445 kilograms.” Anfey skillfully swung the ax and passed it to Hagan again. “Do you want to try it again?”

“No.” Hagan shook his head as fast as a drum toy. “It is almost 450 kilograms? What is it made of? It is really heavy.”

“You are the alchemist. You need figure out what it is made of,” Anfey said. “I know this ax is very sharp. It can cut iron and steel like nothing. I chopped a rock with this ax and did not feel any resistance from the rock.”

“Strange people, like you, can use such a weird ax,” Hagan said.

“Hagan, what kind of people like to use axes as weapons on Pan Continent?” Anfey asked.

“Are you asking who the previous owner of this ax could be?” Hagan thought for a second and said, “Since this ax is so heavy, some barbarians could have used it. Some elite beast men and bear druids could have used it as well. Bear druids are strong enough for this ax, but they barely use any weapons.”

“I see.” Anfey was quiet for awhile and passed the ax to Suzanna. “Suzanna, can you try it.”

With Hagan’s experience, Suzanna was cautious. She performed combat power before she took the ax from Anfey. She swung it a few times. “It’s too heavy and will affect my speed.”

“It does not affect my speed,” Anfey said.

Ye and Black Eleven showed up at the door together. Ye gave Anfey a look, and Anfey said quietly, “Suzanna, can you take this ax to Hagan’s temporary lab? I need go out with Ye for a bit.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Suzanna asked. Anfey had become very powerful, and White Mountain City was pretty safe as well, but the story Anfey told Suzanna still made her worry something would happen to him.

“What is it?” Anfey asked. There were things he could allow other people to control, but there were also things he must see to himself. For example, Black Eleven only reported to him. What he did was out of everyone else’s jurisdiction, including Alice’s.

“Do you remember when Lady Suzanna was on the run?” Black Eleven asked.

“From Manstuly?”

“No, before that.”

Anfey frowned and turned to Black Eleven. “You mean…”

Black Eleven nodded. “His Majesty has been investigating ever since he found out Lady Suzanna’s back story. We finally found something useful.”

“They are in this city?”

Black Eleven nodded.

Anfey frowned and turned to Suzanna. “Can I borrow the ring?”

Suzanna nodded. She took off the ring and handed it to Anfey.

Anfey grabbed the ring and hopped into the carriage. “Tell me everything.”

“They are hard to track,” Black Eleven said, sitting down next to Anfey. “It is very hard to investigate them. We’ve been fighting Evil Mist for years, but we know practically nothing about them. These people…well, they are even more elusive than Evil Mist. They never leave anything valuable.

“Evil Mist may be elusive, but they always have plans and goals. As long as we know their goals, we can think of ways to deal with them. These people, on the other hand, are a mystery. Why were they chasing Lady Suzanna in the first place? How did they know she has the treasure map? Were they trying to protect the map or take it? Were they hired men or acting on their own will? We known nothing.”

“Suzanna said Trajan, the usurper, sent them.”

“If we know one thing, it is that Trajan didn’t send them,” Black Eleven said. “They were not working for Darius, either. They belong to an independent organization called the Rangers. They have several senior-ranking members and are a force to be reckoned with.”

“There are a lot of mysterious organizations,” Ye added. “They’re not the only one. But whenever a top level power mysteriously dies, or a nobleman’s heir leaves home to explore the world and disappears, it is usually the Rangers’ doing.”

“Interesting,” Anfey said. “How did you two meet, by the way?”

“A mercenary came to me and told me that someone attacked his group. When he returned to White Mountain City, he saw one of the men who attacked him, so he came to me and wanted me to find the killers,” Ye said. “Armin came to talk to me when I was about to leave with the mercenaries. He had a few portraits, and the mercenary recognized two of the men.”

“We found a few suspicious characters through our spies in Ellisen Empire,” Black Eleven said. “I heard they’ve already arrived at Country of Mercenaries, and I wanted to talk to Ye about it.”

“Where were they?”

“Dancing Night Tavern,” Black Eleven said.

“The one Blavi goes to?” Anfey asked. He vaguely remembered the name. Black Eleven nodded.

“I asked the mercenary about the attack,” Ye said, tapping on the seat. “Apparently, they weren’t attacked. They were the attackers. Because they saw two women among those people and thought they would be easy targets.”

“Are we going to Dancing Night Tavern?” Anfey asked, peering out of the carriage’s window.

Black Eleven nodded.

“Take your time,” Anfey said. “Make sure everything goes according to plan.”

“I’ve already made sure,” Ye said. “As soon as we send the signal, the entire city will go into lockdown mode. Unless they have a tunnel under the city, they cannot get away.”

“Good,” Anfey said, nodding.

By the time the carriage stopped in front of the tavern, it was already noon. Taverns usually have the least amount of business during noontime, which was why a lot of taverns were not even open. However, on that day, there were at least a dozen carriages parked in front of Dancing Night.

The bouncer at the door saw the carriage stop and pulled open the door with a wide smile. Ye nodded at the carriage driver and followed Anfey into the tavern.

There were about thirty people and a few performers in the tavern. The performers were dancing to upbeat music, and their movements were very in sync. The tavern patrons were chatting with each other.

Alice had banned alcohol in Stormenburg, but White Mountain City was different. Alice did not have as much power here, and she did not want to anger the mercenaries by taking away part of their lives.

Alice didn’t want to put Anthony in a difficult situation, and Anthony wouldn’t do anything to Alice. They coexisted in a delicate peace.

A young girl hurried over. She was grinning widely and said, “This way, sir.”

Anfey glanced at Ye, who shook his head. Clearly, the people he was looking for were not there. Ye turned to the young girl and said, “I need to see the owner. Anyone who doesn’t work here can leave now.”

Ye’s voice drew everyone’s attention. The dancing girls stopped and the music halted.

“Ah, I see,” the young woman said. “You’re here looking for a fight!” She turned and hurried off.

“Do they not know you here?” Anfey asked, curious.

Before Ye could say anything, a woman appeared. She frowned when she saw Ye. “What are you doing…” the woman began.

“I need to see the owner,” Ye said, cutting her off.

The woman frowned. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I need to see the owner,” Ye repeated. “Now.”

“I can get him,” the woman said curtly. “But I don’t know if you are worth it.”

Anfey frowned. Ye played the most important part in keeping order in the city. Ye’s orders were Anfey’s orders. Anyone who disobeyed Ye would be disobeying him.

Anfey had always focused on his personal strength, which was why he ignored the fact that Ye had restrictions as well. At least here in Dancing Night Tavern, Ye’s orders did not mean as much as they did outside.

Before Anfey could say anything, one of the patrons shook his head and said, “The owner of this place is not that easy to see.”

Anfey felt angrier when he saw people trying to stir up the situation. Anfey reacted to annoying situations in a unique way. The angrier he felt, the calmer he would look.

Anfey had a high position and powerful fighting ability. In White Mountain City, and even in Sacred City, no one would challenge him on purpose. Yolanthe even sent a letter to Anfey to ask him to entitle Anthony to be duke. He asked Anfey to make his own judgement on that. It was not an exaggeration to say that Anfey had become one of the most important assistants for Yolanthe. In addition, Anfey’s fighting ability had reached a level no one could match. No matter where Anfey was, he became the person that everyone tried to flatter.

The nobility in Sacred City was not arrogant as the people here. Of course, there were many bad people among the nobility, but it was undeniable that noblemen had more chance to get educated than regular people. Any noblemen who were not too stupid would only offend others if it was in their own interest. They would not offend others with bad words or manners for no reason. They were not that naïve to do so.

Anfey didn’t say anything, but he had made a decision. He waved his hand, and the bar door was forced open. A group of mercenary inspectors pushed through the two guards at the door. Those poor guards had two shiny swords against their necks, which was why they dared not make any noise to let people in the bar know what had happened.

“Commander Ye, it looks like you are serious about this.” Seeing the big group of inspectors knock the door down and rush in, the woman looked mad. She turned around and yelled, “Big bro, someone is looking to cause trouble for us. Bro!”

“What happened?” A deep voice was heard from upstairs.

“Some trouble-makers are here,” the woman yelled in a high-pitched voice.

“Who the f*ck are they?” Ozzic walked downstairs in just a few steps.

The whole bar suddenly became quiet. The woman and the customers all sneered and prepared to watch a fight. Anfey was shocked. He did not think the woman in front of him was related to Ozzic. Of course, Ozzic was even more surprised to see Anfey there. Ozzic stared wide-eyed at Anfey, Ye, Black Eleven and the big group of mercenaries.

“Bro, Commander Ye does not want to do you a favor.” The woman paid all her attention to the gazes of Anfey, Ye and others, but neglected Ozzic’s. She smiled, moved next to Ozzic and held Ozzic’s arm to show how close she was to him. “We are all friends. I do not want to give you a hard time, but you have to pay for my doors.”

All the customers in the bar laughed. Ozzic finally realized what was going on from the laughter. He shoved the woman away and slapped her hard. He snarled, “F*cking forget about your doors.”

The woman did not expect Ozzic to slap her. She stumbled and fell to the floor. “Bro?”

After the woman calling him bro again, Ozzic got madder and kicked the woman in the chest. He tried to shed any possible relationship between two of them, but the woman kept calling him bro and put him in a bad situation. Why did she have to involve him in the situation right now? Did she want him to die?

“Commander Ozzic, you look awesome,” Anfey said casually.

Ozzic could not recall Anfey talking to him with such a sarcastic tone since he had joined the League of Mercenaries. He was shocked and scared at the same time. His legs felt weak and he was about to kneel down before Anfey. Suddenly, they heard a snarl from upstairs. “F*ck, who dares to hurt my sister!” A person covered in bright combat power shot himself downstairs toward Anfey.

Often things happen with ridiculous or terrible timing. If that person had come downstairs earlier, he would have seen Ozzic hitting the woman, which would have stopped him from attacking Anfey. If he had come downstairs a bit later, he would have seen Ozzic kneeling down to Anfey, which also would have stopped him from attacking. However, he came downstairs in between these events, which made him doomed.

Anfey raised his hand and called out a Fire Bird. The Fire Bird shot from his hand at the swordsman. The combat power of the swordsman crashed immediately. The Fire Bird shot into his body, came out from his back with splashes of blood, and hit the bar wall. A big hole on the wall appeared, while the swordsman rolled on the floor. When the Fire Bird passed through his chest, the swordsman’s body was almost broken in half with only some skin and tendons connecting the parts.

The whole bar became quiet again because Anfey had shown how powerful he was. Moreover, patrons did not think anyone would dare kill someone in the bar.

“Master.” Ozzic kneeled down. He had been good at weighing people’s words and observing their looks to know what was on others’ minds. Of course, he knew Anfey was really mad now.

Sensing the magic surges, a few more people appeared on the stairs. Riska was among them. He did not look less surprised than Ozzic, especially when he saw the friend who had been drinking and hanging out with him dead in his own blood. Obviously, Anfey killed him. Riska stood there but could not mutter a word.

“Master Riska is here too? It looks like I am not a good chief commander since I did not give you enough food and clothes, and you have to come here to watch the bar as a side job. Do you know what ‘watch the bar’ means? You are watch dogs!” Anfey said casually.

Riska’s face was a little pale. He hesitated for a second before he slowly walked next to Ozzic and kneeled down. He wanted to argue, but he knew it was not a good time for that.

“Are you happy now? Do you think it is already time to relax and entertain yourselves? You are quite happy with the situation you are in,” Anfey said in a sarcastic tone. “Luckily, others are not like you. Shinbela and Thompson have been practicing swordfighting every day. Zubin and Feller have given up sleep time for meditation. I thought everybody should try hard and it would not be a big deal. I just realized how good they are compared with you two.” This was really how Anfey thought. No one had tried as hard as Anfey. Even after Anfey passed the level of Da Dao, he still practiced as much as before. That was why he didn’t think it was a big deal to see others trying hard every day. It was also the reason no one in the bar had seen him knew him.

Anfey barely experienced any entertainment. He delegated all the administrative and diplomatic work to Alice. Besides talking to Alice, Christian, Anthony and few others sometimes, and spending some time with Suzanna, he spent the rest of his time practicing. He was like a girl who only stayed home. It would be strange if people in White Mountain City saw him and knew him.

Ozzic blushed, and Riska felt uneasy, but they kept quiet.

He stopped interrogating Ozzic and Riska and asked, “Ye, when you came in, what did you say?”

“Me?” Ye was shocked for a second when he was called out. “I said this bar needs to be out of service for a while. We need do an investigation.”

“And?” Anfey said.

“And,” Ye recalled, “anyone who is not related to the bar needs to leave right away.”

“No one left the bar, so they must have something to do with the bar. Arrest all of them,” Anfey said.

Ye turned around to give the inspectors a look. Those mercenaries went over to take everyone in the bar. They never felt they had this much authority when they went out with Ye. Now they felt they could take anyone with them.

The situation changed too fast. Most customers were reasonable. They did not struggle when they were tied up by the mercenaries. Only one customer struggled a bit, but he only struggled, daring not to fight the mercenaries.

“Can’t your inspectorate control that guy?” Anfey saw five mercenaries struggling to control the one customer. Anfey sneered, “I asked you to take them, alive or dead.”

“Kill him,” Ye snarled.

The mercenaries pulled out swords and stabbed the customer until many holes showed on his body.

Ozzic and Riska were not stupid. Seeing that Anfey and Ye had brought a large group of mercenaries to this bar, they figured there must be something fishy about the bar. Seeing Anfey kill two people already, they dared not say anything.

Sounds of walking were heard upstairs. Two girls and eight young men walked downstairs. The girls were twins. They looked adorable, maybe not as beautiful as elves, but definitely good-looking for humans. The looks on their faces showed they must have thought there were fights downstairs, and they wanted to come down to give a hand. Seeing the situation, they dared not join the fight. They had their hands on the shafts of their swords. They gazed at the woman on the floor and the dead bodies. They looked a little angry and sad.

“It’s two of them,” Ye suddenly said.

“Which two?” Anfey said.

“The first and third one from left.” Black Eleven pointed. He saw the portraits too.

“Take them,” Anfey ordered.

Knowing their decent fighting abilities, Ye went to take them himself, accompanied by more than a dozen mercenaries. Seeing Ye and his team pressing down on them, the young men immediately pulled their swords out and released their combat power. The two mages behind them released magic dome, posing that they were ready for the fight. One of the young men asked loudly, “Master, did we do anything wrong?”

“You killed over a hundred mercenaries. It was not a mistake. It is a crime,” Black Eleven said coldly.

“Master, do you have any proof?” the guy yelled.

“They attacked us first,” one of the girls screamed at the same time.

“Good, at least you admit you killed over a hundred mercenaries,” Ye said. “You can say whatever you want to say. No one would know who started the fight anyway.”

“We are telling the truth.” That girl still did not realize her mistake. Even though her mistake would not change the result, mistakes were mistakes. No matter they admitted they had killed those mercenaries or not, they would be taken away.

“Truth? It would only be truth if I say so,” Ye said calmly and pulled his sword out.

The young men formed a circle around the two girls and the mages. Their attitude was clear. They would not submit easily.

Anfey turned to Ozzic and asked, “Is there anyone important above us?”

Ozzic shook his head.

“Alright,” Anfey said. “Leave us.”

Ye glanced at Anfey, then left quietly with his men. He waved his hand and the mercenaries in his inspectorate began shoving the patrons out of the tavern as well.

“This is your last chance,” Anfey said, raising his arm and summoning a raging storm of elements.

Even without the help of the ring, Anfey knew that the most powerful of the group should be the woman Ozzic had beaten. She was more powerful than Ozzic and was just pretending to be defeated. Even if he destroyed the tavern, she would still survive. He just needed to leave one person alive.

Anfey didn’t care if these people died or not. He founded an inspectorate because he needed a branch to keep the mercenaries in the city from violating the rules. Even though the inspectorate was new and its duties were still unclear, it was still very important and no one should disobey it.

The patrons clearly knew who Ye was and what kind of power he wielded, which was why Anfey was very angry. He could not allow Ye’s power to be questioned, because that would be an act of questioning his power.

Suddenly, a voice called out and Anfey stopped moving. “Wait!” a middle-aged man appeared and hurried over. “Wait.”

The young men all moved out of the middle-aged man’s way. “Put those away,” the middle-aged man said. The young men looked at him, then reluctantly put their weapons away. The middle-aged man turned to Anfey and said, “What is it you need with them? We will cooperate.”

“Finally,” Anfey said, “someone sensible.” He looked at the man while turning the ring in his hand.

“What did they do?” the middle-aged man asked carefully. “Did they… did they offend you, my lord?”

“They killed a hundred mercenaries and refused to cooperate with me,” Ye said, walking over. “I need them to come with me.”

“We were attacked first,” one of the girls argued.

The middle-aged man waved his hand and silenced her. He turned to Anfey and said, “I apologize, my lord. They are still young and too brash. Of course you can take them.” He turned to the young men and waved his hand. The young men sighed and began slowly moving towards Ye.

“And her,” Anfey said, tossing a cup towards the woman who was sitting on the ground.

The woman’s body suddenly twisted, and she jumped to the side. The cup hit the floor and shattered.

“Of course,” the man said, “of course.”

“And you?” Anfey said. “I need to search this place.”

The middle-aged man frowned. “I don’t recall breaking any laws, my lord,” he said.

“You were hiding fugitives.”

The middle-aged man sighed. “I do not know when I have offended you, my lord. Do you enjoy ruining people’s lives?”

“Don’t act too innocent,” Anfey said. “What would those dead mercenaries think?”

The man turned to the young men and said, “I’ve always said don’t be so brash. Don’t make a decision you will later regret.”

“Don’t try to do anything,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “Rangers.”

“Rangers?” the middle-aged man repeated with a frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.”

“Don’t play the fool with me,” Anfey said. “Treat others like you want to be treated. If you cannot do that, you have no right to talk about anything.”

“I am very confused, my lord,” the man said. “I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Let me tell you,” Anfey said. “My wife’s name is Suzanna. After Trajan’s rebellion, she left Gruce with her younger sister. She had a treasure map with her, but she was attacked, and half of the map was stolen.”

The man watched Anfey calmly. His expression did not change at all. The young men behind him clearly were not good liars. As soon as they heard Suzanna’s name, they turned to each other and began muttering under their breath.

“The treasure map belonged to her teacher and was a secret. I don’t know how you found out about it, but I want to know. I know you’re not peaceful people because you also resort to violence. If Suzanna were not as powerful as she is, there will be not justice for her or her sister.”

Ye watched in shock. Suzanna had never ordered anyone and had no officers, but she was still very important and held an important spot in a lot of mercenaries’ heart. The mercenaries began getting very angry when they heard Anfey say that these people once attacked Suzanna.

“You have no right talking about justice,” Anfey continued. “You only speak of it when you cannot fight your way out of a situation. You are part of the Church. I didn’t know anyone could be as despicable as you. I do not care what you say, but I will take you and those people with me today and I will search this place.”

The middle-aged man frowned. “You mistake me for someone else,” he said. “I really have no idea what Rangers are.”

“You will know,” Anfey said. “You either come with me or give me an excuse to kill all of you.”

“Fine,” the middle-aged man said, shaking his head. “We will go, since you choose not to believe us.”

Ye waved his hand and the mercenaries hurried over, tying up the middle-aged men and the young men. They even tied up the girls as they brought them out of the tavern.

When the supervision group of mercenaries took the people back to their station, Suzanna, Alice and few others had received the news and come over. They saw over 50 people arrested, including some elf dancers. Those elf dancers did not even have the chance to change their clothes. Their bodies shivered in the chilly spring.

“Anfey, what happened? What made you so mad?” Alice smiled.

“Mad? Not really.” Anfey said in a low pitch. He gave Ye a look. Ye understood what it meant immediately. He turned around and walked to those “criminals”.

“All of you follow me. I have something to say.” Anfey walked into the room first.

Alice and Suzanna looked at each other before they followed Anfey in. Everyone took a seat, but Ozzic and Riska did not dare to sit. They just stood in the center of the room.

“Can you guys tell us what is going on with you and that bar?” Anfey said with a serious look. “Riska, you go first.”

“Commander Ozzic invited me there. He said…” Riska looked like he did not know if he should continue.

“What? Too embarrassed to say? Ozzic, do you want Riska to continue?” Anfey asked.

“You can say it. Things have already gone sour. I do not want you to be blamed for nothing you have done.” Ozzic muttered.

Riska smiled bitterly. “Ozzic said he likes a woman and asked me to help him to check if she is good.”

“Is that it?” Anfey was shocked.

“Yes. Today is the first time I went to that bar. I did not think…” Riska said.

Anfey went quiet for a while and said, “Riska, I am sorry. I made a mistake today, but I hope you can understand that I could not ask you anything in that situation. I have to ask you when we are back.” This was the strength of Anfey. When he realized he was wrong, he would admit it right away without giving excuses.

“Does it mean I am ok now?” Riska shrugged. He patted hard on Ozzic and said with a suggestive tone. “Ozzic, now it’s your turn. Good luck.”

The complicated and dangerous situations had helped these rookies grow so much and so fast. Even though they matured in different speeds, but it was undeniable that they all changed a lot. How Riska reacted showed his intelligence. After Anfey apologized, he neither said “it’s alright.”, nor acted like he was wronged. Both reactions seemed inappropriate. If he said “it’s alright”, he seemed to agree that Anfey made a mistake on him. It would be even worse if he acted he was wronged. Ozzic actually was forgiving otherwise he could have argued with Anfey back in the bar. He chose to dodge away from Anfey’s apology.

Riska did not complain about Ozzic even though he was dragged down in this situation. He was half serious and half joking when he patted Ozzic’s shoulders. He tried to help Ozzic by reminding everyone in the room with his action and words that they were friends and fellows who went through thick and thin together.

“It’s your turn, Ozzic. What is your relationship with the bar?” Anfey could not help giving Riska a long look before he laid his eyes back on Ozzic.

“Master.” Ozzic said in a low pitch with a sad look. “Ye, you know me. I was an orphan. I was forced to become a mercenary when I was fourteen since I did not have any other ways to make living. I was only a swordsman apprentice. I could not join any mercenary groups. For the sake of my own safety, I could not join any of them either. That was why I was by myself.” Ozzic had been thinking about what to tell Anfey on the way back to the station. When Anfey asked him to talk, he was able to vividly tell his stories.

“Why?” Suzanna asked in surprise. “Wouldn’t it give you safety if you joined the mercenary group?” In fact, Suzanna asked on purpose. It was obvious that Anfey was interrogating Ozzic. Suzanna wanted to light up the atmosphere a little bit. She felt bad for Ozzic since he had been very respectful to her. Every time when Ozzic saw her, he always greeted her Madam. He was very helpful and royal to Anfey as well. She wanted to help him.

“Madam, when you went out to for your internship, you were already a senior swordswoman. That is why you did not know the nasty things for the lower level swordsmen.” Ozzic said sadly. “A decent amount of people registered to be mercenaries every year, but what happened to them later on? How many of them survived? If I were a swordsman, I could be very helpful for a mercenary group. They would respect me. I was only a swordsman apprentice back then. No one cared about if I was alive or dead. I could be humiliated by others as entertainments, or be used as a bait for magic beasts. In fact, I have done the same thing to lower level swordsmen after I built my own mercenary group.”

Anfey rolled his eyes. He did not think this had anything to do with the bar, but he did not care about interrupting Ozzic.

“I have done many things and suffered a lot since I was fourteen. I started to try to build my own mercenary group after I became a swordsman. I have worked very hard for the past 20 years. I am over 30 years old now. I want to have my own family now. I hope to have a woman who can take care of me and care about me.” Ozzic said with a sad face. “If I waited few more years, I probably could not even see my child growing up.”

“Anfey, what Ozzic said is a big issue.” Alice looked like she thought of something. “I have collected data. It showed that less than one third of the mercenaries married in the League of Mercenaries. This is so strange. Everybody knows that mercenaries are a dangerous profession. The male and female ratio is really imbalanced. In the White Mountain City, the number of females is twice as much as males. I do not understand why those mercenaries are not married?”

“Master Alice, there are many factors contributed to it.” Ye smiled bitterly. As a mercenary, he knew the limitations for being mercenaries.

“Tell me about it”, Alice said.

“It could not be explained with a few minutes. It is pretty complicated.” Ye said in a low pitch. “It is not a good time to talk about right now.”

“Ok, can you write a report and give it to me whenever you have time”, Alice said.

Ye was shocked for a second about Alice’s request. He wanted to slap himself for talking too much.

“Anfey, this issue needs to be resolved.” Alice said seriously. “Only if we could give mercenaries a family, they would feel settled. Our welfare system needs to be better as well. For example, if a mercenary died, we should give money to his family to help with their life. In addition, we could build magic and swordsmen academies to give mercenaries’ kids chance to learn.”

Everybody started to chat. Anfey could not help himself slamming on the table to get everyone’s attention. “We should be talking about the bar. We are off topics now.”

Everyone laid their eyes back to Ozzic. Ozzic said with a bitter smile. “Blavi and I went to that bar often. I got drunk twice there. Julie took care of me and…”

“Which one is Julie?” Anfey interrupted Ozzic’s talk.

“That one, that one”, Ozzic said.

“The one calling you bro?” Anfey asked.

“Yes.” Ozzic lowered his head and said, “She has been very nice to me. One time, she took care of me the whole night. When I woke up the next morning, I saw her nodding off at the bed. Master, you have no idea how I felt at that moment. I …”

“That is why you are willing to be her watch dog?” Anfey said coldly.

After noticing Anfey sounded cold again, Ozzic lowered his head even more. He did not dare to continue his story.

Anfey looked at Ozzic for a while and heaved a slight sigh at the end. His anger towards Ozzic had gone. Anfey had Suzanna and got his own personal happiness. He cannot just allow himself to have a partner and stop his followers to have their own. It was not wrong for Ozzic to date that woman or guard the bar for her. Anfey has said in the bar that he would treat others as he wanted to be treated. If Suzanna ran a bar and someone went over to mess her up, Anfey would definitely fight for her. He should not blame Ozzic for this reason. The mistake Ozzic made was he could not tell the real purpose in that woman. In fact, anyone, no matter men or women, once they fell in love, their intelligence seemed to go down. It was not fair to blame Ozzic for that. Ozzic was Anfey’s big helper. Now he started to talk about “having a family” on the table. Anfey felt bad for him and could not punish him for that reason.

“Ozzic, do you really want to get married?” Anfey said slowly.

“Yes.” It was hard to believe that Ozzic blushed after he said yes.

“There are girls in the League of Mercenaries. Why do you have to look for girls outside the league.” Anfey sounded calmer than before. “This time you are wrong about that woman. Break up with her. It would not do you any good if you keep seeing her.”

“Master, I know she is not the right woman for me”, Ozzic said.

“Do you really know?” What Ozzic said made Anfey angry again.

“Master, that woman is so bad. She tried to sabotage my relationship with Ye in front of my face.” Ozzic yelled. “What did she mean when she said Commander Ye did not want to do me a favor? I am not stupid. Not mentioning she is in trouble, even she is ok now, I would not see her.”

“Good, at least you still care about your friendship with Ye.” Anfey smiled.

“Anfey, I think Ozzic already knew he made a mistake. We should forgive him.” Suzanna tried to convince Anfey to let it go after seeing Anfey smiling again.

“No, I cannot just let it go.” Anfey said slowly. “Ozzic, it is lucky that we found it early. What would have happened if we did not find it early enough? You would have made a huge mistake. To make you learn, I will punish you with 10 whips. Ye, you will give him the 10 whips. Do you agree, Ozzic?”

“Yes,yes.” Ozzic knew the issue was finally resolved, at least became a history for him.

“Alice, I arrested a group of customers. Later, can you go and bluff them first and then release them?” Anfey asked.

“Why did you take the customers?” Alice asked.

“I did not only take them, but also killed one.” Anfey said in a low pitch. “They did not show any respects to the supervision group and dared to stir up in the bar. I think they must have a special relationship with the bar.”

“Then why are you asking me to release them?” Alice asked.

“We can arrest them again after I release them now.” Anfey smiled. “Ye, do you know what I meant?”

“What we know right now is that Alice was the one in charge of the League of Mercenaries,” Scarlet said, leaning back in her chair. “I do not know why they trust her so much, but I am sure that you know she is too ambitious to be in charge of just a few thousand mercenaries. With three top level powers, the League of Mercenaries will band together much quicker than we expected. What do you think, Your Royal Highness?”

Prince Jerrick sat next to Scarlet, staring off into space. He didn’t say anything because he did not know what to say. If he disagreed, than he would put Scarlet in a difficult situation. He did not want to do that because she was so loyal to him. If he agreed, it would weigh on his conscious. He was the one who suggested marrying Alice to ensure an alliance with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. He couldn’t allow Scarlet to kill her.

“Anfey is too powerful right now,” Scarlet said. “He fought with Desvidia and did not lose… we cannot do anything to him. Both Suzanna and Anthony are master swordsmen, which makes them unsuitable targets. Suzanna may be Anfey’s wife, but her death wouldn’t do anything to the League of Mercenaries. Anthony already handed Glory mercenary group off to his son, so there is no use killing him, either. If we kill both Anthony and David… then we risk Anfey reaping the benefits, and we cannot let that happen,” Scarlet murmured.

“We cannot take on a top level power, my lady,” one of the men said quietly.

“I know,” Scarlet said. She turned to Prince Jerrick and said, “Which means the best target is Alice.”

Jerrick’s hands shook. He knew that Scarlet said all that for him, in order to prove that Scarlet wasn’t going to kill Alice because of their personal conflict. Killing Alice was the best option for them at the moment. He also knew that Scarlet had already made her decision before the meeting began.

“The League of Mercenaries is still young, which means it still has a lot of flaws. That traitor Kumaraghosha is Anfey’s head of guards, but Alice doesn’t have a single guard. It is very easy to take her out.”

Jerrick pursed his lips.

“Alice is what’s keeping that league together,” Scarlet said. “As soon as she’s dead, the city will fall into chaos. Anfey wasn’t experienced enough to run a city, which means he would be tied to White Mountain City for a while. If he’s there, Suzanna will be there. Anthony, of course, will never leave White Mountain City. That will make our lives so much easier.”

“Can’t… can’t we…” Jerrick took a deep breath and said, “can’t we defeat them on the battlefield? I don’t like the idea of assassinations.”

“You don’t like it?” Scarlet repeated mockingly. “Really. Believe it or not, they are probably looking for ways to assassinate us at this moment.”

“Scarlet!” Jerrick said with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness,” Scarlet said. “They can’t touch me. Alice is a buffer between Anfey and Christian. A nation cannot have two kings. With Alice gone, Anfey and Christian must face all the difficulties that may arise when two parties vie for a certain position.” Scarlet stood up and began pacing around the room.

“What does that mean?”

“That means that they have to divide the power between the two of them,” Scarlet said.

“Which would result in more conflicts,” Jerrick said. “One of them will get less power and become upset. They’ll hate each other.”

“Probably not,” Scarlet said, shaking her head. “They are good friends. I don’t think they will ever hate each other. But one thing is inevitable. If they split power, the mercenaries will take sides as well. That will divide the League into two parties. Anfey’s party would be filled with powerful mercenaries. But the upper class will never know the struggles of the lower class, and vice versa. If the two sides fight, that will surely put a rift in their relationship. A rift is easy to create and hard to mend.”

“Christian doesn’t have his own men, does he?” Jerrick asked.

“He doesn’t because it’s unnecessary,” Scarlet said. “The League is working now because Anfey and Christian are working together. The mercenaries don’t have to declare allegiance to one of them because there is no need for that.” Scarlet paused and smiled at Jerrick. “If there is a rift in their relationship, if the mercenaries realize the two are not as friendly as before…then they will start choosing sides and Christian will have his own mercenaries.”

“Maybe not,” Manstuly said. “I’ve seen them. They are as close as brothers. Even if the mercenaries are divided, I am certain Anfey and Christian would find ways to mend their relationship.”

“Friendship can change, my lord,” Scarlet said. “For example, you and Bruzuryano.”

Manstuly frowned. Bruzuryano was once a very good friend of his, and the druids always say as long as he and Bruzuryano are alive, the druids will be powerful again. As time went on, though, Bruzuryano thought Manstuly was too violent, and he thought Bruzuryano was too indecisive. Their friendship did not end well.

Scarlet knew what she had to do to benefit herself and her empire, but she did not know what kind of people Christian and Anfey were. It seemed like Christian was kind and honest. He did not care about power. Even as Anfey tried to push him into positions of power, Christian was reluctant.

Anfey seemed to be good at analyzing a situation. He knew Christian and trusted him. He had been rejecting friendships, but the friendships he developed were more precious to him than anything.

Anfey may be an evil man, but he still had goodness in him. He still had kindness in his heart. Christian was kind, but he had his plans. He was not afraid of intrigue. Christian was ready to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

“Do you know what you need to do?” Scarlet turned and asked the men in the shadow.

“When you get to White Mountain City, you should try and contact Nishieva,” Scarlet said. “She will cooperate.”

“But,” one of the men said hurriedly. “She’s been saying some…inappropriate things. She already has Anfey and Anthony’s attention. If we try to contact her, we risk exposing ourselves.”

“Nishieva is Anthony’s wife and his son’s mother,” Scarlet said. “She is in a relatively safe position. She is not a fool. As long as you are careful, you will be fine.”

“Yes, general,” the men in the shadow said.

“Alright,” Scarlet said with a wave of her hand. “You may leave now.”

Manstuly smiled at Scarlet. He admired her tenacity and her brilliance. If Alice died, Anfey would investigate. What would he do when he found out Nishieva was involved? Anfey wasn’t the type to let the murder of his close advisor go, but if he did do something to Nishieva, it would damage his relationship with Anthony and David.

“Master!” Ozzic limped over.

“Keep it to yourself.” Anfey did not know whether he should cry or smile. “You were punished with whips instead of being hit with sticks. What happened? Your legs were not broken, were they?”

Ozzic complained immediately. “No, master. Ye did not do me any favors. He whipped with full force. I can take off my shirt to show you if you do not believe me.”

“I don’t care if he did you a favor or not. You do not have to worry about me blaming him for that.” Anfey gave Ozzic a playful look. “I punished you to set an example for others, not to test your friendship with Ye.”

“How could such a shameful thing be an example for others?” Ozzic asked bitterly.

“We will not talk about it.” Anfey signaled the front door with his chin. “Are those criminals ok? Did you get a chance to see your date?”

“Master, she has had nothing to do with me since that day.” Ozzic immediately put on a serious look. “She is just a criminal to me now, with bad intention towards our league.”

“Can you really control yourself that well?” Anfey suddenly smiled. “I heard about your story from Ye. I actually can understand you now.”

“My story? What story?” Ozzic was shocked.

“I heard you were starving when you were about 14 years old. You went to steal some food at a businessman’s house and got caught at the scene by the hostess. However, she neither reported you to the patrol, nor gave you a hard time. Instead, she took out a lot of food to feed you. In the end, you even had sex with her. Since then, you have had special interest in the women around 28 years old. Is that right?” Anfey smiled.

“Ye!” Ozzic stompled his foot out of anger and embarrassment. His face was beat red.

“Commander, I had to tell Anfey,” Ye said. “Master felt it was odd why you would like Julie when we have many prettier and younger girls in the league. Master kept asking me. I did not dare not tell him.”

Black Eleven, Zubin and few others standing behind Ye tried hard to hold their laughter. Anfey asked Ye in front of Blavi and few others. He did not like to gossip, but Blavi really enjoyed it. Soon, the upper level administrative team all knew Ozzic’s story.

“Master, you should not joke about it,” Ozzic said with a low voice, looking sad.

“What’s wrong?’ Anfey was shocked for a second. “Oh, right, didn’t you go to see her a lot when her husband went on business trips? Why did you stop seeing her? I asked Ye, but he did not know.”

“She was killed by her husband,” Ozzic said with a low voice. “In fact, she did not have to die, but she tried to signal me and asked me to run. After a few days, I heard she died from disease. She was not sick. Her husband must have killed her.”

Anfey was shocked and sighed, “I am sorry, Ozzic. It was such a bad romance. Forget about it. It’s history now.”

“It is not a secret anymore since everybody knows about it.” Ozzic looked up, and then around the room. He said slowly, “I just hope no one will joke with me about this.” This was the first Ozzic talked in such a serious tone since he joined the League of Mercenaries. It seemed that everyone had something they wanted to keep to themselves.

Black Eleven, Zubin and others all put on serious looks and apologized.

“Others say I am mean and bad, but it does not matter to me. I learned a lot from her. Whoever treats me well, I will return to that person even more. I could even pour my whole heart out.” Ozzic walked to the door, opened it and went outside.

From Anfey to Black Eleven and Zubin, they did not know how to respond. They felt they had better comfort him after Ozzic calmed down. Anfey walked into the jail, with Ye and Black Eleven right behind him.

This was a high-security jail. It was so secure that all the criminals had no privacy at all. A gigantic iron cage hung in the air with four mercenaries underneath to guard it, which completely removed the possibility of escape.

Over 20 people were kept in two iron cages. The cage with females seemed to be roomier, since there were only three of them in it, two girls and the so-called manager. The so-called manager was the woman Ozzic had been dating. Anfey kept dancers and waitresses in a better place, even though they were rude. Anfey did not want to vent his anger out on them. After the investigation, he would let innocent people leave.

People usually did not know how important freedom was until they lost it. Some people might disagree. They might think lives were more important than freedom, since without life, there would be no freedom. On Pan Continent, after people with weak telepathy died, their spirits would disappear quickly. It would be pointless for them to understand this principle.

Three women all looked tired and sad. They had enjoyed a good life, so they could not stand life in jail. They could not sit or lay down too long, otherwise their bodies would become restless. They could not even use the restroom freely. There was only a wood bucket in a corner without anything to block it. Whenever one of them walked to the wood bucket, dozens of mercenaries in the room would follow that woman. Of course, the other two women tried to cover her. It was undeniable that this was inhumane, but this world was developed in terms of magic, not in terms of humanity. It seemed impossible to talk about humanity in the slavery system.

Men did not have a good life either. People usually did not like to talk about height. They felt their height was determined by the genes from their parents and they had no control over it. It did not seem matter to them whether they were tall or short. However, the men like to compare the size of their private parts. One middle-aged man became the joke of the mercenaries. Mercenaries liked to call him “little birdie” at dinner. Even those three women knew what “little birdie” meant. The middle-aged man was a mentor, so the girls did not know whether they should laugh about it, be mad, or ignore it. They could only pretend they did not hear.

Seeing Anfey walk in, the middle-aged man suddenly stood up. He yelled in anger, “Master Anfey, what do you want to do to us? It’s been three days. When will you let us leave?”

“Little birdie, shut the f*ck up,” a mercenary yelled before Anfey could say anything.

Those young men did not dare to laugh, but Ye and Black Eleven did not have to hold in too much. Suddenly, people started to laugh. Someone even joked, “Little birdie, tell us how small it is.”

“This small.” The mercenary got excited when he saw Anfey smile. He held his little pinkie out and covered the bottom half with the other hand. He said, “As small as little kid’s snot.”

“Ok, enough.” Anfey waved his hands to stop everyone from laughing. “How could we let you go if you don’t admit who you are.”

“If we never admit it, would you keep us here our whole lives?” The middle-aged man was annoyed by the laughter and forgot to speak with respectful language.

“That would make it too easy for you,” Anfey said. “To be honest, the place you kept your secrets were highly secured. We sent out an alchemist and over 20 mages to find it. We did not open your secret chamber until three days ago.”

The man looked shocked. He sounded a little frustrated. “Master Anfey, I do not know what you are talking about.”

“Don’t worry. I will let you know later.” Anfey took a seat on the chair a mercenary carried over for him. Anfey took out a stack of papers from the Dimensional ring. He said slowly, “Really, my league has many talents. We have an alchemist and mages who can remove your magic defensive array. We also have a knowledgeable guy who helped us read those ancient languages. Last but not least, we have a person with super memory. She is our CEO, and she can memorize everything she reads in high speed. She helped me find out all the important and suspicious information. Now I already know who the rangers are.”

“Anfey, I am not that guy,” Hui Wei complained. “How could you give compliments in such a sh*tty way?”

“Who said I was talking about you?” Anfey smiled. He laid his eyes back to the middle-aged man. “In fact, I respect your courage and willpower. I even like your strategies, since this is a world that follows the law of the jungle. Unfortunately, you should not have attacked my wife.”

“Master, I really do not understand…” The man gave one last try, but he looked very desperate.

“Actually, it seems that we are meant to meet each other,” Anfey said. “You have two hubs. One is in White Mountain City, which I control now, while the other is in Violet City, which is also my feudal estate.”

The man’s lips were trembling, but he tried to keep silent.

“Don’t you understand? For the past thousand years, my loyal Minos servants.” Anfey suddenly looked sharp and cold. “Oh, my bad, the offspring of Minos servants.”

The middle-aged man looked pale. He felt weak and started to fall to the ground. Luckily, the young men held him up. Ye asked in surprise. “Master, which Minos?” He followed Anfey, but did not know what was written on the paper.

“It seems that there is only one well-known Minos,” Anfey said. “If your top powers were all in White Mountain City, I probably would not have been able to catch you.”

“They’re working with Evil Mist?” Black Eleven asked, shocked.

“Of course not,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “A long time ago, Minos was just a reclusive supreme power.”

“Like your teacher?”

Anfey nodded. “Yes.”

“How did you know that?” the middle-aged man asked.

“You didn’t invent that language, did you?” Hui Wei asked. “Of course we can read it.”

“What else do you know?” the middle-aged man asked, turning to Anfey.

“A lot,” Anfey said. “I know that Minos was living near Violet City. He built a secret palace, but he released all of his servants before his death and forbade them from speaking about the palace. The descendants of the servants are scattered all over the world, but you still maintained communication. But because the servants wouldn’t speak of the location of the palace, you have lost that knowledge.

“That is why you have two communication stations, one in Violet City and one here, because there are very few rules in the Country of Mercenaries. Your presence will be harder to detect.”

Ye and Black Eleven listened in shock. Not only they, but even the young men and women did not know much about the secrets of the Rangers.

Anfey glanced at Ye, who waved his hand and dismissed all the mercenaries in the room. “Minos had a special weapon, I heard. The Wheel of Fortune. With the Wheel of Fortune, he was able to find the wealth left by his predecessors, and that was why he became a supreme power. I didn’t believe in fate before, but I do now. If you hadn’t attacked Suzanna, I would have never noticed you. You know, that tavern has been around since the founding of White Mountain City. I’m impressed how well you were able to conceal your tracks.”

The middle-aged man looked at Anfey but did not say anything.

“Minos was a very powerful and brilliant man,” Anfey continued. “But he is also a lonely man. Perhaps because he was too lonely, or perhaps because he began practicing dark magic, he split into two personalities in his later years. Sometimes, he would be fighting himself.”

“Himself?”

Anfey nodded. “He knew a lot of things we do not. One of his personalities became convinced that fate is at work. Everything is predetermined. The other personality believed the complete opposite. That personality believed that fate wasn’t real and he needed to fight against it. I believe his mind was quickly deteriorating then.”

“You mean his mind power, sir?”

“No,” Anfey said, flipping through the diary in his hands, “his mind. I believe he was going mad. This is the diary of one of his maids. There are some important things in here.”

“What does it say?” Black Eleven asked.

“She said that before he dismissed all of them, he would often wake up during the night from nightmares. These nightmares were apparently so bad he would wake up screaming. He began sleeping with the Wheel of Fortune under his pillow. She would find him clutching the Wheel and shaking, as if he had seen some terrible things in it.” Anfey paused and flipped a few pages. “She said he once asked her what made her happy. She told him that serving him made her happy and asked him the same question. He told her that ignorance was a blessing and he wished that he had that. Minos was very kind to his servants, which was why the maid dared to joke with him. She said that dogs knew nothing about that world: Were they happier than humans? Minos, donning a serious expression, told her that ignorant dogs were much happier than he and he wished he was a dog.”

Hui Wei, Ye, and the middle-aged man nodded. Minos must have seen something horrible.

“Then the next chapter recorded Minos sending the servants away,” Anfey said. “Alice believes that Minos must have made an important decision, and sending the servants away was only the first step. Maybe he was just trying to die in peace.”

“Minos was a supreme power,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “He was a supreme power! What do you think scared him so much that he would have continuous nightmares and wish he was a dog?”

“Maybe he saw gods,” Hui Wei suggested. “He was a supreme power, which means he was closer to gods than any of us. Maybe he broke through the seal.” He was only responsible for translating and analyzing the text and did not know what Alice had said about those texts.

“I think it was himself that he was scared of,” Anfey said. “Think about it. Who taught Morgan, Desvidia, and Golman? Alice believes that Minos’ final decision, whatever it was, failed. After he died, he was somehow revived and became a necromancer.”

“You’re saying that… the future that terrified Minos so much will come true because of Minos?”

“I don’t know,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “I really hope not. But I know that Minos’ final attempt worked. Right now, Minos cannot remember where the Wheel of Fortune is.”

“How did you know?”

“Edy and Honna were looking for it,” Anfey said. He purposely withheld the information about the labyrinth Urter discovered under Violet City.

“What should we do?” Black Eleven asked. “Minos controls Greenwich Island. We can’t attack the island.”

“What we need to do is talk with the rangers,” Anfey said, turning to the middle-aged man. “Minos gave his most trusted servants an order. The order will come into effect should he ever return as a necromancer. He wants you to destroy him and he left a way to completely destroy his soul. But this spell isn’t written down anywhere. It’s passed down from generation to generation.”

The middle-aged man was staring at the floor, and the young men and women were staring at him in shock.

“In the beginning, you enjoyed peaceful lives. Minos taught you special ways to practice your power. No matter what happened, you would have enough power to protect yourself,” Anfey said. “But after the necromancer Minos the First appeared, you immediately began looking for him. You’ve been practicing and increasing your strength for thousands of years. You never gave up looking for him. This is why during every single War against the Dead there would be mysterious men and women appearing and fighting the necromancers. No one ever found out who these men and women were, but it was you, wasn’t it? They were rangers.”

“What is your goal, my lord?” the middle-aged man asked.

“You should know,” Anfey said. “I respect your resilience and determination, but you have to realize you are not alone in this fight. The entire world will band together against Minos the First and necromancers. Plus, this war must have done considerable damage to your strength and numbers. You can’t do this by yourself.”

“I…I can’t make this decision,” the middle-aged man said.

“Then find the ones who can,” Anfey said. “I need to talk to them.” He turned to Ye and said, “Release them.”

“Commander, why are you here? Where is the master?” Ye asked.

“Master and Madam are behind me,” Ozzic said. He pointed diagonally behind him. “You can go see yourself. I am not going to go with you. Master has been giving me lessons whenever he gets a chance. I do not want to look for troubles myself.”

Ye looked around and found no one was around them, except for Black Eleven behind him. He said, “Commander, that day…” Ye felt he owed Ozzic an explanation since it involved Ozzic when he surrounded the bar. Ye was promoted on Ozzic’s recommendation and treated him as a brother. He had been busy putting out fires for the past few days. He could not squeeze in any time until now. If he waited a few more days, his explanation would seem pointless.

“You do not have to explain. I know.” Ozzic patted Ye on the shoulder and smiled.

“No, commander, let me explain.” Ye tried to explain immediately. “I got a complaint from a mercenary that someone attacked him in the bar for no reason. I was ready to do an investigation on the bar and then Black Eleven came to see me. I did not know it was not an ordinary bar till then. Commander, you were very close to the people in the bar. I was worried they would sense something fishy and all escape if I let you know I was coming. If that had happened, I was afraid Master Anfey would be enraged.”

“I know. You did not have to explain. I said I knew.” Ozzic shook his head as he smiled. “In fact, I am not very talented, but I am good at evaluating people. Ye, we have been friends for a long time. How could I not know you? Don’t you remember when I wanted to seek help from Moramatch, you told me it would be wrong to seek help from others. You said no matter whom we seek help from, it would not be better than having our own freedom. How about now? Was I wrong?”

Ye went quiet for a moment and smiled. “You were right. I was wrong.”

“That is why I stopped you from explaining to me. I know you were in an awkward situation,” Ozzic said.

“Commander, back then, did you know Master Anfey would make such huge accomplishments in subsequent days?” Ye smiled.

“No. I would be a prophet if that were the case. I just knew Master Anfey was great. He was not a mean and unforgiving person, so …” Ozzic said.

“Did you say this to me?” Anfey pushed the door open and walked in. “Do you hate me for punishing you with a few whips?”

Suzanna followed Anfey and smiled. She understood Anfey well. If Anfey still joked with Ozzic, it meant he still treated Ozzic as his trusted brother. If he were disappointed in Ozzic, Anfey would act politely and nicely to Ozzic instead.

“Master, I do not dare,” Ozzic said bitterly.

“Why are you two here?” Anfey looked at the shiny silver ax as he talked. He sighed. Anfey felt lonely for not having an opponent to practice fighting with. He went to see Suzanna immediately after he got the ax back from Hagan. He wanted to check the power of the ax. After one strike, Suzanna refused to practice fighting with him. Of course, Suzanna did not worry about hurting Anfey. She cared about her sword. Anfey’s ax had the power to cut everything. If Suzanna held in there for a while in the fight and won, her sword would definitely be ruined no matter what.

Black Eleven stepped forward and said quietly,”Master, please forgive me. The issue concerning the rangers was so important that I passed the news back to Sacred City without your permission.” Black Eleven had the chance to ask permission from Anfey, but he did not do it. If he had asked permission from Anfey, but Anfey had not allowed him to send the news back to Sacred City, he would have been ruined. He still had the chance to try right now at least.

“Was it worth you reporting to me?” Anfey was shocked.

“Huh…” Black Eleven did not know how to respond.

“I said yesterday that wiping out Minos I is not only the rangers’ aim, but also mine. This is the common aim of all intelligent people on the Pan Continent. You should have let our king know about it,” Anfey said.

Black Eleven thought Anfey would get mad, or at least be suspicious of him because it was obvious Black Eleven worked for both the king and Anfey. He could not hide such a big issue from Anfey, so he chose to take the consequences after he reported to the king.

After hearing what Anfey said, he felt relieved.

“Ye, what’s up with you?” Anfey looked him over and smiled. “I noticed that you two have been so intimate. You guys are together all the time, no matter where you are.”

Ye did not know whether he should cry or laugh. “Intimate” should not be the word to describe the relationship between Black Eleven and him. It did not sound right. He pretended he did not heard it since it was from Anfey’s mouth. “Master, according to the roster on the paper, after a thorough analysis, we did not find them sharing anything in common. If there has to be one, they both lived a long life.”

“Long life?” Anfey put the ax back into his Dimensional ring and fell into thought.

“Yes. Take the maid who kept the diary for instance: she complained in the last few diary entries that she could not see things clearly after her 90th birthday. She even made a fool of herself a few times after that, which also proves she lived for more than 90 years,” Ye said.

“Anfey, Do you think those rangers will work with you? They are so proud,” Suzanna asked in a low voice.

Anfey shook his head. “I don’t know. In fact, I do not have any specific plans yet. I am just going to go with the flow for now. If they could be recruited into our league, I will definitely take them. If we could only work togethering instead of having them join our league, it would be a better choice for us anyway.”

“What if they are playing games with you?” Suzanna asked.

“Playing games? Do you think I would be taken advantage of?” Anfey smiled. “Their royalty and courage for the past thousands of years touched me, which is the reason that I am trying to work with them. If they gave up this last chance, nothing would hold me back. They have attacked you before. Now I am trying to work with them. In fact, I do not feel good about it. If they play games with me, it is it is exactly as I would wish.”

“Anfey, don’t think about me,” Suzanna said gently. “Without them, I would not have had a chance to meet you. Maybe I should thank them for that,” Suzanna said.

“Thank them? How do they deserve thanks?” Anfey looked cold and sharp. “No matter whether we are working together or fighting together, I will have to get what I want.”

“What do you want?” Suzanna asked in surprise.

“Minos is a great man.” Anfey said slowly. “With the help of the Wheel of Fortune, he received a lot of nice things, including the experiences, lessons and relics from ancestors. I remember when Hui Wei saw it, he was very angry. He said he had searched a lot of relics, but could not find anything useful. They were all emptied by Minos.”

“Neither Hui Wei, nor Minos were the only people who knew about the relics,” Ye said. “They could have been taken by others.”

“We do not know who else might have, but we know Minos did,” Anfey said. “It proves my guess is right, otherwise he would have become a saint. His stuff is not that useful to me, inspiring at most. However, to you guys, they could be…”

Before Anfey finished talking, everyone felt their hearts pumping fast. Did Anfey mean that their fighting ability would improve if they could have those things.

“Master, yesterday you said that most of the inheritance was lost in the battles. I think so too. Many of them were just on senior level, but none of them was a top power. How useful would their stuff be for us?” Ye asked.

“Have they had any top powers before?” Anfey asked.

“Well, yes,” Ye said.

“So, even if their inheritance was lost, it does not mean there is no value in their stuff,” Anfey said slowly. “Maybe they just could not understand them, or they did not know how valuable those things were.”

“I agree with master,” Black Eleven said excitedly.

Violet City was far from White Mountain City, which was in chaos. Sheriff Urter was gone for no reason, which became sensational news in the city.

The previous city master was sick in bed. There was no leadership in the city. Luckily, there were two people in high positions in the city. One was Miss Niya and the other was Miss Shally. Niya was the daughter of Archmage Saul, and Shally was the sister-in-law of Anfey. Any of them could turn around the city if they wanted to.

Even though neither Niya nor Shally had any experience managing a city, they had to take over anyway. Niya was a little better than Shally handling the job. She did not have a specific plan, but she worded her orders with “for whatever cost”, “even if you have to dig out the whole city”, “otherwise” and other forceful words. If Anfey and others were there, they might have found Niya funny and cute. However, she was very serious about this job, and the patrols and troops did not think the same way as Anfey.

Urter finally came out of his coma. He slowly opened his eyes. He tried to turn his head to see the magic Transmission Portal behind him first. When he turned his head back to see what was in front of him, he was stunned.

Urter found himself lying in a beautiful and gigantic room. It would be not be an exaggeration to say it was a palace. Dozens of magic Forever-Lasting magic lights were hung on the walls. About half of the magic Forever-Lasting magic lights were out, but even with less than half of them lit, the place was very bright.

“Your Majesty, this is a risky move,” the old man said quietly to Yolanthe.

Yolanthe frowned. He turned to Saul and asked, “What do you think?”

“This is the first time I heard about the Chameleon Unit, Your Majesty,” Saul said. “I am not qualified to give an opinion.” He paused and smiled. “I can, however, talk about this issue from another angle. Douminge has been serving Scarlet, and he is one of the most powerful mages in the world. His lightning spells are nightmares for all of his opponents. Anfey may be a two-discipliner, but…” Saul’s voice trailed off. Clearly, he didn’t think Anfey was qualified enough to take on Douminge.

“Scarlet has the Supreme Armor,” the old man added. “Even though it ranks after the Azure Armor, it is still not a good idea to underestimate it.” The old man paused and sighed. “I’ve seen that armor before. The only place not protected by Supreme Armor are the eyes.”

Yolanthe nodded but did not say anything.

“If Douminge is there, even if Anfey could get close to Scarlet, he will only have one opportunity. Scarlet is a senior silver knight. She won’t be sitting around and waiting for him.”

“Douminge won’t be the only one protecting her, either,” Saul said. “If Manstuly or Fernando is there…well, I believe that it is impossible for anyone to kill her if she is protected by so many top level powers.”

“I agree, Your Majesty,” the old man said. “We cannot use the Chameleon Unit right now. If Anfey fails, the unit will be exposed. We cannot allow that to happen.”

“We’re all old now,” Yolanthe said with a sigh. “The future of Maho Empire lies in the hands of the younger generation. If we can’t provide aid, the least we can do is encourage them.”

“You mean…”

“Tell Anfey about this,” Yolanthe said. “I want to him to make his own decision.”

“What if he insists on killing Scarlet?”

“Then we let him.”

“This is too risky!”

“We all did risky things when we were young, didn’t we?” Yolanthe said, shaking his head. “Anfey isn’t someone who would rush into a decision. I trust that he will plan out his every move before committing to the plan.”

Saul and the old man sighed and nodded.

In White Mountain City, Sam brought a man to the meeting room to meet Anfey. The middle-aged man who was referred to as Little Bird, Sam walked into the room and nodded at Anfey.

“This is the man that can make a decision?” Anfey asked Sam. White Mountain City had reopened its trade routes and became busy again. The merchants and mercenaries had clashed a few times since the reopening of the routes. Investigations showed that the merchants had done nothing wrong: The mercenaries had started the arguments. Alice wanted to punish them, but she needed to run the decision by Anfey.

Sam nodded. “This is Lord Robert,” Sam said. “Lord Robert, this is the head of the League of Mercenaries, Lord Anfey.”

“Sit,” Anfey said.

“I’ve heard rumors,” Robert said, “about your rudeness, sir.”

“You’re not that important,” Anfey said with a shrug. “You’re a guest. Isn’t it natural for you to respect me?”

“Such rudeness will not earn you any respect, sir.”

“Anyone who treats me with respect, I will treat with respect,” Anfey said. “Sit.”

Robert sighed. “Is it true that you have Sacred Inheritance?”

Anfey looked at Robert with a frown. “Are you questioning me?”

“No,” Robert said. “This is a question I need an answer to. It is vital to my response.”

Anfey blinked, then nodded.

Robert nodded. He sat down and dismissed Sam. Realizing that Robert wanted to speak alone, Anfey waved his hand to dismiss the mercenaries. Kumaraghosha nodded at him and ushered the mercenaries out of the room.

Kumaraghosha was standing outside the room when he saw Alice hurrying over. She smiled at him and was going to push open the door.

“Wait,” Kumaraghosha called. “Lord Anfey wants to be alone, My Lady.”

“Why?” Alice asked. This was the first time someone stopped her from seeing Anfey because she, like Christian, didn’t need to report beforehand to meet with Anfey.

“He’s speaking with the Rangers, my lady,” Kumaraghosha said.

“I see,” Alice said. Even though Anfey didn’t talk much about the Rangers, Alice knew how important they were to him.

“Do you want to wait here, my lady? Or come back later?” Kumaraghosha asked.

“Lord Anthony has an important guest,” Alice said with a frown. “Anfey needs to greet the guest himself.”

“Who is it?” Kumaraghosha asked, curious. Normally he wouldn’t be nosy, but he cared about Alice.

Alice glanced around and whispered into Kumaraghosha’s ear, “Batusimon sent someone over. They’re at Lord Anthony’s right now.”

“So Storm mercenary group wants to join the League as well?” Kumaraghosha asked. The League had already became Kumaraghosha’s new home and he cared very much about its health.

“Maybe,” Alice said with a smile. “Maybe they have further plans. Who knows? Kumaraghosha, you trust people way too easily.”

Kumaraghosha smiled. “My lady is wise.”

Alice shook her head. “What did I say before? Treat me as you would a sister.”

“Ah…yes, My Lady.”

Alice rolled her eyes. She saw Kumaraghosha as an older brother, but clearly Kumaraghosha didn’t see her as a sister.

“Why don’t I go talk to Lord Anfey?” Kumaraghosha asked.

“No need,” Alice said. “The Rangers are equally as important. I will wait.”

The wait was longer than Alice had expected. She grew bored and went to run some other errands. By the time Kumaraghosha sent someone to fetch her, it was already dusk.

Because Anfey was so interested in the Rangers, Alice became interested in them as well, but she didn’t want to appear to be reaching above her station.

Alice walked into the meeting room, and her attention turned to the stranger. She felt that he looked familiar, but she did not remember where she had met him before. Back when she was back in Shansa Empire, she would meet hundreds of people everyday. It was no surprise she did not remember who Robert was.

“Do you know each other?” Anfey asked.

“He looks familiar,” Alice said.

“No,” Robert said, shaking his head. “Just… she reminds me so much of a Shansa Princess. I almost made a mistake.”