From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 347 What’s in Novigrad?
"Did you have a good time, Vilgefortz?"

Vilgefortz's eyes suddenly widened.

He was almost too damaged by the potion to think, but Lann's words still aroused his instinct.

"Are you... humiliating me?"

Lan stared at Wilgefortz, trying to find some of the remaining top warlocks in the north from this body.

He is the first human warlock in the mainland to study ancient blood, and his research on genealogy even surpasses that of elves;

He has been using Emhyr to plan his own goals more than 30 years ago, and his strategy and forbearance are far beyond those of ordinary conspirators;
He is a natural source of magic, and is now one of the top five warlocks in the mainland. He also used the Civil War to usurp his reputation as the top warlock, and he is unparalleled in the limelight.

Before he took the initiative to expose his thoughts, everyone thought that he was a just, calm, and heroic man who would be the leader of the northern warlocks in the next era.

Lan stared at him.

"I did not humiliate you, Vilgefortz."

"If you think about it carefully, we have never really met each other, right? You did cause a lot of damage to Brochlon Town, but those losses were later repaired by the Dijing you brought here."

Lan En's face was cold, but his voice was calm: "There is no irresolvable hatred between us, is there?"

The potion entered his brain, making Wigefortz feel dizzy.

"We are not...enemies?"

"We... are not right!" Vilgefortz raised his head suddenly, "I have already told you about Pavetta and Emhyr!"

Wilgefortz's body suddenly twitched, foaming at the mouth, and his limbs twisted in pain, as if a hundred ants were biting inside his body.

He howled horribly.

Lann raised his eyebrows helplessly, and inserted a tube of injection into Wigfortz's neck with his backhand.The magic potion gurgled into his veins, and the warlock quickly became quiet.

"What's in here?" Lann raised the syringe in his hand and asked to the side.

"Some extracts of ghost needle grass, red corpse mushroom, and mandrake grass." Mossak looked at Wigfortz coldly, "Just understand it as a strong hallucinogen with a slight toxin."

Lan nodded affirmatively: "Good stuff."

Lan pointed to the other injection in Mossack's hand: "What about this one?"

"You can understand it as doping."

Another potion was pressed into the prisoner's veins, and Quiet's body began to twitch.

Lann and Mossack walked out of the prison cell, closed the door, and observed Wigefortz's condition through a palm-sized surveillance window.

Wait until the warlock prisoner stops twitching.

After observing for a while, Druid nodded towards Lan, indicating that it was almost done.

"Crack-"

The sound of the iron door opening and footsteps woke Wigefortz out of his coma, and the light that followed into the compartment made him curl up and tremble slightly.

"Did you have a good time, Vilgefortz?"

……

"We... have no grudges that cannot be resolved." Vilgefortz repeated.

"That's right." Lann said warmly, "You know that I am different from Queen Calanthe. Cintra, where I am in power, is particularly friendly to warlocks. I even asked my attendant to learn magic with you - his name is Ai Si, do you remember?"

"Cintra welcomes anyone who can help." Lann tapped the side of Vilgefortz's face, watching the inch of skin dent under the pressure of his fingertips, "And I think you are that kind of person. .”

"I can help Cintra... No!"

"Lannister, you!!"

The warlock began to twitch.

Another needle was inserted.

Mossack lowered his head and said: "This time I increased the proportion of mandrake, and the effect should be better."

……

"I think we can still build a friendship." Lan took a deep breath and gritted his back molars, "For a greater future."

"A greater future..."

"I can even share the power of the ancient blood with you."

"Ancient...blood of the ancients!" Wigfortz's eyes suddenly burst into light.

This was the first time he had such a violent reaction.

"That's right." Lann used a skill point to open a new [Follower] column and was about to say something.

When he turned around, he found that Wigefortz's body began to twitch again.

Lann let out a long sigh.

Seeing the old druid skillfully pressing into Wigefortz's blood vessel again, he said helplessly: "Are you enjoying this process a little, or even a little deliberately?"

Mossack roughly pulled out the needle, causing blood to drip from the warlock's neck: "I don't deny it."

The druid pondered for a while and then asked: "Does he really have to be alive?"

Lan nodded: "He still has a very important role to play before he can retire. Philippa cannot be a one-man show in the coup on Thanede Island. She needs a strong opponent to reasonably tear the Brotherhood into pieces - —And that person can’t be me, at least not in the eyes of the northern warlocks.”

The druid stared at Wilgefortz: "I understand."

……

"I am disgusted by the kings in the north." Lann said softly, "Why are they so superior?"

"The blood of the ancients is the power that can rule the world, and I can share it with you. If you and I unite, there will be no more opponents for us in the world..."

"Ancient... blood of ancient times..."

Wilgefortz raised his head: "How do you want to share?"

His voice was muddy and his eyes were muddy: "How do you want me to help you?"

Lan looked directly into the warlock's eyes: "It's very simple. There will be a grand party on Thanede Island soon. I want you to tell Nilfgaard the news, and then do what you want to do."

"What do I want... to do?"

"Yes. Something a northerner with deep friendships with southerners would do," Lane repeated.

Vilgefortz lowered his head, then raised his head: "The blood of the ancients...good!"

Lan put his left hand on Wigefortz's forehead, "Look, this gives us a basis for conversation."

"This power can be regarded as a deposit. After the stage is built and everything we expect is performed..." Lann said softly, "You will get more."

The experience value began to decrease, reaching hundreds of digits in a short while.

As if he felt power pouring into his body, Vilgefortz narrowed his eyes greedily.

Lan frowned fiercely and withdrew his hand under Wigefortz's stunned eyes.

The experience points spent are a bit too much.

"You don't consider me a friend, Vilgefortz."

"No, no, no..."

Vilgefortz felt the coveted power, and his brain and body were cheering for that moment.He couldn't bear the power that was right in front of him to leave him again.

So he struggled to stretch his neck and reposition his head on Lan's palm. "Blood of the Ancients...again." Vilgefortz said with his mind that was destroyed by the magic potion, "Again, not anymore."

Lann sneered, his fingers slightly closed, and his fingertips were slightly embedded into Wigfortz's scalp.

The warlock began to tremble in pain.

The experience value jumped downward again, and this time it stopped before it even reached the ten digits.

Lane nodded with satisfaction.
-
The fiery red portal opened in mid-air, and the storm that rolled up messed up the manuscripts in the laboratory.

The high-spirited Vilgefortz stepped out from the middle.

His clothes were in tatters, his appearance was in tatters, and he smelled bad.However, his appearance was unexpectedly without any scars, and his spirit was extremely high.

"Lydia!" shouted the warlock, "Lydia!"

There was lightning and thunder outside the secret laboratory, and wild waves were crashing on the rocks.

The female assistant did not respond, indicating that she was not in this secret laboratory.

This is unusual.

Vilgefortz frowned and strode to a magic contact device.

Magic power was injected into the empty crystal, lightning danced between the metal poles, and soon a transparent light curtain appeared in front of him.

What is revealed in that scene is Vilgefortz's laboratory in Aretuxa, his base in the face of the Warlock Brotherhood.

The sound of the magic contact device being activated disturbed the people on the other side, and soon Lydia hurriedly appeared from the light curtain.Vilgefortz guessed correctly, his assistant was indeed in Aretuosa.

The female assistant lost her vocal cords due to the magic experiment, but there was still surprise in her eyes when she saw Wigfortz.

"You should wait here for me to come back." Vilgefortz directly scolded.

Lydia lowered her head.

"Why did you run back to Arethusa? You know this will cause risks to our operations." Vilgefortz's words contained dissatisfaction, "You should always be here waiting for my news."

Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration and thought of something.

"Is it for that Lannister squire, the apprentice named 'Ace'?"

Lydia couldn't make a sound, and she didn't want to use magic to make a sound.

He just lowered his head.

For the sake of an apprentice, you actually created such a big risk for our actions!

Wigefortz originally wanted to reprimand his female assistant like this. She should not have made such a stupid mistake.Throughout their decades together, Lydia had always acted with caution.

But inexplicably, Vilgefortz suddenly remembered that the apprentice was Lannister's squire.

Lannister...

"It won't happen again." The anger in his heart suddenly lost its fuel and could no longer burn. In the end, he just said lightly.

Lydia suddenly looked up, as if she heard something incredible, her eyes were full of shock.

Vilgefortz ignored it and just strode to the side of the teleportation circle.Along with the chanting of magic spells, the gems full of primitive chaotic energy light up like the sun, and also light up the surrounding runes.

The portal opened and Lydia stepped out.

"I'm sorry, I was a little impatient just now." Vilgefortz softened his tone again, "Please help me prepare for a physical examination. I was captured in Sintra and used a large amount of hallucinogenic potions. I I need to determine whether they caused any damage to my body."

The illusion used to disguise the wound on Lydia's face trembled, and a worried voice immediately filled the air.

"is it serious?"

Vilgefortz nodded, then shook his head.

Vaguely, Wilgefortz felt that he must have been seriously injured, especially the scars on his face that were scratched by high-level vampires that were enough to disfigure his face.

[But now I don’t have any scars on my body. 】

[Did Lannister treat my injuries with the so-called "sharing the power of ancient blood", or was I not injured at all? 】

[Are there really high-level vampires in Cintra?Would a creature of that caliber turn to the Lannister? 】

Vilgefortz faintly felt that his head was starting to feel dizzy again, and the dreamlike feeling caused by the magic potion entering his brain hit him again.

He remembered that he seemed to have revealed a lot of his past conspiracies due to a mental breakdown when he was captured, but why did Lannister let him go?
Could it be that those were just hallucinations caused by the hallucinogenic potion, but actually nothing was found out during the interrogation?
Inexplicably, Vilgefortz felt that Lan was very trustworthy, and perhaps he had really survived the interrogation of those potions.

"In addition to the physical examination, use magic to sort out my memory." Vilgefortz suggested, "My mind is very messed up right now."

"Okay." The air shook slightly, and Lydia replied immediately.

Vilgefortz breathed a sigh of relief and fell down on the laboratory chair.There was lightning and thunder outside the window.

He listened to the sound of raindrops hitting the wall outside, and suddenly felt that he had not done something very urgent.

"Has Nilfgaard contacted me during this time?"

"Yes, but you're not here."

Vilgefortz pondered for a moment: "Tell them that now there is a wonderful opportunity to catch all the northern warlocks in one fell swoop, and I need their cooperation."
-
Wilgefortz's panel didn't give Lan any surprises.

His talent is [Demon Source], but this talent has been shared with him by the ice giant Jotun before.

The skill also happened to match the [Transformation Device Sealing Technique] that I had learned by myself before, and in the end it just returned one skill point to myself intact.

Unknowingly, the top spell caster in the mainland was unable to give him any help after contracting a follower.

Lan shook his head and returned his thoughts to his eyes.

The thread-bound book with a black cover was spread out in front of him, and Lan wrote and added "Nilfgaard" after "Coup on Thaned Island".

The sixth party enters the scene so that Philippa can continue to sing.

Lane nodded with satisfaction.

Yesterday, Triss had officially invited herself to attend the Thaned Island meeting through the Warlock Brotherhood, and the official time of the meeting had been set.

There is still some time before the start, so I can just deal with the things at hand recently, and then I can go to Temeria on the way.

"House!" Lan shouted towards the door, "Has Temeria received any reply recently?"

"Not yet, my lord!"

Ok.

Lan En knitted his brows, wondering if it was affected by Xili's previous announcement of her engagement.

Let’s see if there are any surprises in Novigrad first.

"Then help me find Keyan!"

The red-eyed cat-sect witcher came quickly, and he looked at Lann who was sitting in his seat with some excitement.

He was sincerely happy for Lan's current achievements.

The only fly in the ointment is this: "Why don't you let me participate in your war to restore the country? Our cat sect is better at killing people than hunting monsters!"

Lann chuckled and comforted: "You are my trump card hidden in Redania, and now I need you to help me."

"How did you do what I asked you to do before I left?"

Keyan thought for a while: "Don't tell me, Novigrad is really chaotic. In addition to Shapet and the circus guy, I also found a shapeshifter and a nightclub." There is a demon, a 'dream diviner' who can make predictions through dreams."

Lann calculated the combat effectiveness or other functions of these people: "Are there any more?"

(End of this chapter)