From Prisoner to Si Chen..

Chapter 495 Old Enemy
"Ms. Baiou, let's go directly to the transaction location."

In the alley behind the bar, the bald man said.

The short-haired woman looked up at the sky. The sun was almost setting, floating on the city skyline, and the environment was becoming increasingly darker.

She nodded and said:

"'Moran's Bookstore' is more than ten kilometers away from here. Let's take a horse-drawn carriage and get the things for the gentleman as soon as possible."

"Okay." Weiner agreed.

So, the two of them left the alley together, hailed a horse-drawn carriage on the busy street, and headed straight for their destination.

The street scenes along the way are completely different from those in the Bremen Empire.

The architectural style, shop signs and pedestrians here are very different from the conservative and solemn ones in Bremen.

Several outstanding features are:
Gorgeous, beautiful and colorful.

Unconventional and unconventional.

The buildings on both sides of the road, whether high-rise residences or bungalow shops, have exterior walls in colors different from the gray and white commonly seen in the empire. Instead, they are colorful, especially golden yellow, royal blue, and deep red.

Even street graffiti can be seen everywhere.

The signs of various shops are varied, and it is almost impossible to find repeated styles in either shape or font.

And as soon as night fell, the signs all lit up, flashing continuously, colorful and quite eye-catching.

It is full of life and has a certain folk art quality.

The pedestrians, both men and women, were all dressed very fancy.

Moreover, most women wear sexy and revealing clothes, with black and white stockings everywhere, and their hairstyles, accessories and makeup are also very exaggerated and avant-garde.

If this happened in the Bremen Empire, it would definitely be "criticized" by the public.

There are obviously huge differences in culture and aesthetics between the two countries.

This is because the Owena Federation is an "open and free" country that greatly respects art.

The mainstream beliefs include the god of conquest and command worshipped by the federal officials and the military, and the "Blind General", the god of the November Hour, as well as the three major arts Hours.

Music and painting by "Miss Elegy" in April, dance, sculpture and architecture by "Mrs. Ya" in June, and literature and drama by "Poet White Dove" in October...

These seven arts are the "supreme creations of mankind" advocated by the Federation. Almost every person in the Federation has been cultivating their own aesthetic and artistic attainments since childhood. If they cannot master any art or do not have sufficient appreciation, they will not be able to integrate into this society.

Will be ruthlessly excluded from the group.

When Alevia and Weiner first arrived, they were quite uncomfortable. After all, the Bremen Empire had an "Art Order", which regarded any art as evil and any artwork as contraband.

They have little exposure to art.

What surprised the two even more was that in the Owena Federation, the movies directed by February "director" were also extremely popular with the public.

Film is hailed as the "eighth art" here.

Apart from the most mainstream and common libraries, opera houses, galleries and exhibition halls, cinemas are the most numerous.

Alevia and Werner always find something new in the Federation, and they both agree that it is far more vibrant than the Bremen Empire.

But they all had a strange feeling, that is, the artistic atmosphere of the Federation was indescribably weird.

If Bremen is compared to a stubborn old man who just sits at home playing Sudoku all day, then Owena is a pleasure-seeking young man who hangs out in dance halls at night, drinking and swaying, and being in a trance.

It’s hard to say which one is better or worse, but they are like two extremes that make people feel uncomfortable.

...

...

The carriage finally stopped in a colorful street. The driver, wearing a bright blue hat and a mustache, waved his hand and saluted to Alevia and Weiner.

"Oh, beautiful lady, handsome gentleman, the hardworking coachman 'Old Jer' has taken you two to 'Moran's Bookstore'."

The driver sang to the two men in a pretentious operatic tone, and said with a smile:

"The fare for this trip is 2 silver knives."

"Here." Weiner took out three oval silver coins and handed them to the driver. "It's a big tip, Mr. Jer."

"Oh! generous sir!"

The driver took the silver coin and was very happy.

He actually jumped off the carriage, started a tap dance, then took off his hat with one hand and bent over with his hand on his chest with the other.

“May art always be with you two.”

"You're good at chanting and tap dancing."

Alevia smiled slightly and clapped her hands in praise.

Hearing the praise from such a beautiful lady, the driver was immediately delighted and started dancing on the spot for joy.

After the two walked away, they could still hear the coachman humming a song as he drove away.

"Ms. Baiou, your deception skills are getting better and better."

Weiner shook his head and sighed.

Alevia rolled her eyes and didn't answer.

Black Snipe was still the same as before, unable to speak, making her sound like a bad woman who only knew how to lie.

Even Ji Lan can now say some cute jokes and know how to make girls happy, but Black Snipe is the only one who is still stubborn.

Coupled with that bald guy's fierce image, I'm afraid he will have even less popularity with women in the future.

Alevia secretly complained in her heart.

The two pushed open the door of "Moran's Bookstore" and walked in with a ding-bell sound.

Unlike the Empire Bookstore, there are many people who come here to buy and read books. Poetry, novels, and picture books are particularly popular, and even various works that explore love and in-depth communication between men and women are placed at the forefront of the bookshelf. From time to time, customers will take a book and check it out.

The level of openness in this regard is extremely high and is generally accepted by federal people.

Federal people also regard "sex" as an alternative art.

Weiner glanced at the covers of picture albums and magazines with proud and uncovered female models, then immediately looked away, controlling himself not to look around.

This made Alevia sneer at the side.

She walked over and calmly took away a whole series of "Graffiti Beauty" magazines, and also picked up a few "Mr. A Legend" comics. "This is the benefit of coming to the Federation..."

Seeing Weiner's shocked expression, Alevia waved her hand and said something.

"At least life is not so boring. There are plenty of works for me to enjoy. It's a pity that Mr. Gillan only watched one movie with me."

"Ms. Baiou, do you... like Mr. Gillan?"

Weiner hesitated and asked carefully.

Alevia suddenly lost interest in talking and threw all the magazines in her hand to him.

"Forget it, why am I telling you this? You don't understand... As a gentleman, please help the lady get it."

"Eh?!"

Weiner suddenly felt that the thing in his hand was hot.

He looked miserable.

When the two went up to the second floor, a woman who was entertaining guests turned around and looked at them.

Alevia nodded calmly and made a special gesture.

The woman smiled in response.

She came over and silently led the two to a private room on the second floor.

"I'm the owner of this store, Ianna Moran. Are you here to pick up 'books'?"

"Yes, that's right." Alevia nodded, took out a letter and handed it to Ianna. "This is a letter written by Mr. Gillan himself."

After Ianna took it, she carefully opened it and read it twice.

Then he nodded in confirmation.

She raised her hand, and seven "mini books" that seemed to have been shrunk several times and were only the size of a photo appeared in her palm, like small biscuits.

"This is the secret that Mr. Gillan Iros needs. Please keep it safe."

"Yes." Alevia took the seven small books and smiled elegantly. "Happy transaction."

Ianna nodded.

"Happy transaction, young lady."

After successfully obtaining the seven secret scriptures, just as Alevia and Weiner were about to say goodbye and leave, there was a knock on the door.

Tuk Tuk.

Ianna frowned.

"Who?"

But there was no response from outside the door.

Suddenly, the three people in the room realized something was wrong. After looking at each other, they couldn't help but become more alert.

Click...

The door, which was originally locked, made a crisp sound. Then, the door handle turned and the door opened.

Six or seven men and women dressed in gorgeous aristocratic costumes walked in slowly.

They all had a bright black rose pinned to their collars.

Seeing this feature, Ianna's pupils shrank.

"Withered Nobility?!"

As the old enemy of "Solidified Bookstore", "Withered Nobles" have been hunting down members of the bookstore for decades, forcing the bookstore to hide from the world, leaving only "Moran's Bookstore" as an external base.

But "Moran Bookstore" was very low-key, and there was almost no risk of exposure. Ianna really couldn't figure out how the other party knew about it.

"There is no secret that we don't know, Ms. Ianna. It's only a matter of time before we catch you."

The leading young man with slicked-back blond hair laughed.

He put his hands behind his back and held his head high.

"We also know that you just got a lot of 6th-level secrets from the bookstore... Secrets of this level should not be known to others, let alone kept by the Solidification Bookstore."

The young man with slicked-back hair spoke in a colder tone.

His eyes glanced and fell on the beautiful woman with short hair and long skirt.

"You two are the buyers? Hand over the things, and then you have nothing to do here. Get out of here if you don't want to die."

Hearing this, Alevia raised her eyebrows, and a hint of anger flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Weiner, who was standing beside her, looked serious and reminded in a low voice:

"Ms. Baiou, calm down... These people are all from the Kushigen era, and the man who was talking is even at the fifth level!"

"I know." Alevia said calmly. "But so what? We promised the gentleman solemnly that we would return the things to him intact."

"You can't take anything from me unless you kill me."

"Such stubbornness will only hurt others and yourself."

The young man with slicked back hair shook his head.

"Since you really don't want to hand it over, let us take it ourselves..."

Just as he raised his hand to gesture, ready for his companions to take action.

But he opened his mouth and suddenly stopped talking.

A pair of pupils shrank suddenly.

The scene fell into dead silence.

Because a figure, without knowing when, stood behind Alevia——

This was a man in armor, with disheveled hair and a scarlet cloak dragging on the ground. He exuded an extremely terrifying sense of oppression.

"Withered Noble, you dare to steal my things?"

The man said calmly.

(End of this chapter)