From Prisoner to Si Chen..

Chapter 421 Undercurrent
After the incident was settled, Duke Hawkes ordered his men to settle the survivors and block information related to the "mine incident" to avoid causing unnecessary panic.

As for Sheriff Kuole, the Duke did not take any close action with him. He just encouraged him a few words and then sent his men to send him back home.

Jilan saw it clearly from the side and saw that Duke Hawkes' eyes were full of concern as he watched Kuole leave.

It can be seen that he values ​​his eldest son very much, but due to the rules, he has to keep this secret.

It is late at night and the moon is high in the sky.

Gillan got on the carriage and returned to the lord's manor with Duke Hawkes.

Halfway through, he completed the mission "Stop the Nightmare" and, as usual, chose the reward of strengthening the body.

Along with a burst of heat, Jilan's physical strength increased by another 20%, making him even stronger.

Until they returned to the manor guest rooms to sleep, the members of the envoy group were still in sleep and had no idea what had happened that night.

The next morning.

While Gillan was dining with everyone in the restaurant, he received the latest news from Duke Hawkes.

"Mr. Gilan, support has arrived from the Royal Court. Desert Patrol has taken over the Rude Mine and is currently conducting an investigation..."

Duke Hawkes put down his glass and lowered his voice.

"The disappearance of the Nightmare Monument cannot be concealed. They may come to you for information later."

"Oh, I see."

Gillan took a bite of his bacon roll and nodded.

Duke Hawkes was quite indignant and sneered:
"When we needed them, no one was there, but now they seem to be doing their best..."

"Please rest assured, sir. This is my territory. They dare not embarrass you."

"The Duke's words are enough."

Jilan smiled and continued to eat breakfast.

Just as Hawkes said, not long after the meal, a team of carriages arrived at the lord's manor in a menacing manner.

Two dark-skinned men wrapped in scarves, wearing sunglasses and linen robes, brought more than twenty men and women to find the Duke and asked to meet with Gillan.

The Duke's attitude was cold. Although he arranged a soundproof secret room for them, he also asked to be an observer.

The hunting captain wanted to refuse, but Hawkes bluntly stated that Gillan was his distinguished guest and the leader of a foreign envoy, and he needed to be protected from unfair treatment.

Considering that they were in the Dukedom of Hawkes, the hunters had no choice but to give the Duke face and agree to this request.

Not long after.

Located in the secret room on the second basement floor of the manor villa.

"Mr. Gillan Iros, I'm sorry to meet you in this way."

The dark-skinned man spoke calmly.

Gillan and two hunting captains sat on both sides of the wooden square table. Duke Hawkes was smoking a cigar on the sofa at the side. The others did not come in and waited outside.

"I am Ed Carlrich, the head of the special investigation team for the Rude Mine Incident. This is also one of the leaders, Gunther Farr."

After the dark-skinned man introduced himself, he said in a deep voice:

"I need to ask you a few questions next. Please cooperate."

"Please go ahead." Ji Lan casually placed his forearm on the armrest, nodded and smiled.

"According to Duke Hawkes, a nightmare disaster broke out at the Rude Mine yesterday afternoon, killing 334 people... That night, you suppressed the nightmare monument and rescued the Duke's sheriff Kuole and the 13 surviving miners."

The patrol captain stared at the purple-eyed young man and asked:
"Is it true?"

"Indeed," Gillan said calmly.

"How did you do it?"

The two hunting captains looked at each other, frowned, and asked Jilan again.

Ji Lan chuckled lightly.

"Sorry, no comment."

"Mr. Jilan, this is a 'Level 6 Nightmare Monument', left behind by a Level Long-lived One, and is the most dangerous mysterious disaster... However, according to investigations, you eradicated it by yourself, which doesn't seem reasonable, right?"

Gunther on the side asked with narrowed eyes.

"Do I have reason to suspect that the appearance of the Nightmare Monument is related to you? Is this a trick you staged and performed yourself?"

"Heh." Jilan smiled and shook his head. He picked up the water cup on the table and took a sip. He raised his eyelids and said, "Then I also have reason to suspect that you deliberately triggered the Nightmare Monument in order to assassinate the Bremen envoy and undermine the diplomacy between the two countries."

Seeing the two hunting captains' faces darken, Jilan smiled even more and said jokingly:

"If you don't have evidence, you'd better keep quiet, lest I, an outsider, look down on your ability to do things."

"Captain Ed, Captain Gunther, please be mindful of your wording and tone!"

At this time, Duke Hawkes, who had been sitting quietly by the side, stood up.

He came to the table with a cigar in his mouth and a cane.

"Mr. Gillan is not a suspect, but a friend of the Barbaroche family and a distinguished guest of your Majesties... He was the one who helped after the disaster. Where are you?"

Hawks sneered and said bluntly.

"According to the original rules, Mr. Jilan needs to lead the envoys to the royal city today to meet His Majesty... I am willing to answer your questions, which is already a great honor for you. Stop making trouble, or get out!"

As he spoke, the Duke pounded his cane hard, causing a thumping sound to be heard in the secret room.

The scene suddenly fell into silence.

The two hunting captains looked unhappy, but they did not dare to get angry. After they looked at each other, Ed took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"Elder Hawkes, we are being rude."

Then, the two bowed to Jilan again.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gillan, if that was intrusive."

Jilan waved his hand and didn't answer.

Ed was silent for a few seconds, then asked tentatively:
"Mr. Gilan, we have one more thing we want to ask... After you destroyed the Nightmare Monument, are the things left behind in your hands?"

"Does the answer to this question have any significance for your investigation?"

As Jilan spoke, he looked at the two of them deeply.

"Cough..." Ed coughed, as if he didn't see Gilan's meaningful look.

After exchanging glances with Gunther beside him, he turned to Gillan and said:

"After all, the third-level nightmare monument is too rare, and the remaining spiritual secret disc stone is of great value... If it is in your hands, we are willing to pay a large sum of money to buy it."

Jilan sneered in his heart.

In his opinion, the shadow of "Winter Snake" is likely behind the "Desert Hunting".

After all, the person who wanted to get the mysterious disc stone of the "farmer" the most was none other than him...

"According to Duke Hawkes, the elder in charge of the "Desert Patrol" in the royal court is named Planck... This person may have a close relationship with the "Winter Snake." "

Gillan speculated silently.

At the same time, he raised his head, shrugged and said:
"Sorry, both of you, no comment."

"..."

Ed and Gunther were speechless for a moment. They were originally ready to put forward the terms of the transaction, but Gillan's simple and rude refusal had already made his attitude clear.

"In that case, we won't bother you any more."

The two hunting captains stood up.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation. I wish you all the best in Stuttgart." After saying that, the two of them bowed to Gillan and Duke Hawkes, then left the secret room and left with the other hunters.

After the desert hunting party was gone, Duke Hawkes turned to Gillan and said:
"Mr. Gilan, let's set off for the royal city of Klein to meet His Majesty Russell and His Majesty Amur?"

"Okay." Gillan smiled. "Thank you for your help, Duke."

...

...

Shortly after the envoys set off with the convoy.

Royal City Klein.

In a high-end luxurious private villa among the bustling high-rise buildings.

A hunchbacked old man in a white robe, supported by a servant, quickly went up to the third floor and stopped in front of a room.

Afterwards, the old man sent the servant away and knocked on the door alone. After waiting silently for two seconds, he pushed the door open without waiting for a response.

creak-

The old man walked into the house.

A man with his back to him stood by the window, seemingly overlooking the street scene outside.

The strong sunlight near noon shone through the window, casting a halo on the man's shoulders and body outline.

The old man closed the door and locked it.

Immediately, he took two steps forward, bowed respectfully behind the man, and said slowly:
"Mr. Winter Snake, the hunting patrol has sent back news... The nightmare monument in the Duke of Hawkes' territory has been confirmed to have been completely removed. No trace of it can be found in the Rude Mine."

"Got it." The man said calmly without turning his head, still staring out the window. "...It seems that the thing has fallen into the hands of Gillan Iros."

He chuckled.

"It's a real skill to be able to kill two 'Sonnets' in a row. It's just a pity that the time bomb that has been kept for a long time didn't play any role, but instead gave the peaches to outsiders."

"Sir, do we need to use informants to get the fanatics of the Church of Scars to take action?"

The old man asked in a deep voice.

"Hawks Barbaroche is traveling with the Bremen envoys. We can use this as an excuse to attack him...Hawks once violated the rules and secretly saved his eldest son's life by deception. He thought that no one knew this secret. Haha...Based on this alone, the church has reason to target him."

"No need." The man waved his hand. "No ordinary mystic can deal with Gillan Iros. This guy is very powerful."

"It's still useful to keep Hawkes alive. We can kill him at a more appropriate time... This way, the nobles on the moderate side will be anxious."

"Yes, Mr. Wintersnake."

The old man lowered his head and agreed.

The man groaned and spoke slowly:
"Planck, mobilize the other hard-line nobles, reject any proposals from the Bremen envoys, and leave them aside for now... As for Gillan Iros, I have a more suitable candidate. Take back what originally belonged to me."

"Yes, sir," said Elder Plank.

The man looked at the scenery outside the window, and a pale face was reflected on the shiny glass window.

He smiled, his green eyes flashing dangerously.

"Tari has already put you on his kill list. Now that you've come to my home ground, you have to show some appreciation..."

...

...

noon.

The carriage team arrived at the royal city of Klein and entered the palace.

Led by Duke Hawkes, the delegation successfully met the two kings of Stuttgart.

The meeting between the two parties took place at a luncheon. Gillan found this interesting. Whether in his previous life or in this other world, people would often choose to discuss important matters at the dining table.

It seems that this will make it easier to get closer.

The two kings gave Gillan completely different feelings.

The "Ocean King" Amur Eugene has long curly hair and a thick beard. He wears a dazzling crown, is serious, and has a pair of hawk-like eyes that are very sharp, giving people a feeling that he is not easy to deal with.

Russell, the "Sky King", has a bald head, no beard, and always has a gentle smile on his face.

The two kings sat side by side at the main seat, and on both sides of the huge square dining table sat the elders of the royal court, the chief prosecutor, and members of the envoy group.

"...Mr. Gillan Iros, the Kaiser sent you, the youngest and most outstanding foreign minister in Bremen's history, to visit us. I believe he attaches great importance to this matter."

At the main seat, "Sky King" Russell smiled.

He raised the carved gold cup filled with fine wine and gestured to Gilan.

"On behalf of Stuttgart, I would like to extend my welcome to Mr. Gillan and the envoys."

"Thank you, His Majesty Russell, for your kindness."

Jilan raised his glass with a smile and toasted back with the other members of the delegation.

Then he toasted a glass of wine to the "Ocean King" Amur, who nodded lightly and raised his glass in response.

"Mr. Gillan, I heard from Hawks that you are here to cooperate with Stuttgart?"

Amur took a sip of wine and said calmly.

"Yes, Your Majesty Amur."

Ji Lan nodded.

He gestured to Lanis beside him.

The latter immediately understood, and swiftly took out some leather document bags that he had prepared in advance, turned around and handed them to the royal court waiter.

The waiter then distributed the documents to the two kings, as well as the elders and chief prosecutor present.

"Recently, Bremen has made rapid technological progress with the help of the 'Mechanical Union'... One of the achievements may be helpful to Stuttgart."

Gillan Road.

"Ocean King" Amur took the document, glanced at it briefly, and said:

"'Water transfer terminal'?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Gilan nodded. "This machine is huge in size and can purify water efficiently and in large quantities, turning sewage, seawater, and rainwater into drinkable fresh water."

"Stuttgart is located in the west of the continent and is surrounded by deserts. Water resources are a difficult problem... Although the 'water purification terminal' cannot completely solve this problem, it can effectively alleviate it."

After saying this, "Sky King" Russell, who was carefully flipping through a thick stack of documents, showed interest.

However, the "Ocean King" Amur remained expressionless and seemed unmoved.

At this time, a white-haired old man sitting opposite Jilan put down the documents and said with a smile:
"Emissary Jilan, this proposal is indeed good. The shortage of water and the high price have always been major issues that trouble the royal court. But I have a few questions that I would like you to answer."

"Elder Planck, please speak."

Gillan smiled politely.

Looking at the white-haired old man across the table, he felt indifferent.

"First of all, this 'water purification terminal' is very expensive, and Bremen is far away, with inconvenient transportation and difficulty in transportation."

Planck said slowly.

"Secondly, the energy source of this mechanical creation is not ordinary oil or coal, but a special energy source called 'whale oil battery'."

"As far as I know, the technology of this 'whale oil battery' is monopolized by your Bremen Empire. If the royal court uses this machine for water purification, it will have to pay a high price and continue to purchase batteries from you..."

"Hehe, isn't this equivalent to delivering the lifeline to you?"

After these words were spoken, the faces of the elders and the chief prosecutor all looked unhappy.

(End of this chapter)