Heart of the Castle

Chapter 768 The Luck of the One-Time Key
A few thin clouds floated high in the sky, the unwarming sun slowly slid towards the western horizon, and the oncoming wind began to become stronger, even the magic shield of the alchemy flying ship Aoyi couldn't resist it To live with that oppressive chill.

Maybe the chill came from the bottom of my heart.

The youngest guardian of the entire territory in the history of the Kingdom of Arthur, and the leader of the Griffin Knights, Levi Stone stood on the bow deck with a cold expression, holding on to the railing, and his eyes fell on the Sealand River not far ahead.Some time ago, there was a heavy rain in Beijing County, and the water in all the rivers rose a lot. As one of the two major rivers in Beijing County, the Xilan River became extremely turbulent, with surging waves, tumbling and rushing forward , It seems that there is a bit of the aura of Heihe natural danger.

In such a fast-moving river, it is very dangerous to take a boat, let alone swim. As far as the eye can see, several small ferries are tied to the ferry, and it seems that they have temporarily stopped operating.Some merchants gathered near the ferry, discussing a lot. Some people shouted something anxiously, but the ship owner and sailors all shook their heads in reply. A merchant had already quoted a rather high price, but he didn't convince anyone. Willing to risk sending him across the river.

After a futile argument, the businessman who hid his face with a heavy hood sighed and retreated from the crowd.If it was placed two years ago, as long as it was half of this amount, many sailors from the north would risk their ferry boats capsizing and scramble to send them across the river.But now the development speed of Beijing County is astonishing, and the opportunities to make money are several times, even dozens of times, as compared to the past. As long as you can work hard, supporting your family is no longer a difficult problem to solve.

Under such circumstances, it is simply an impossible task to hire people to risk crossing the river at the cost of unobtrusive money.

"It would be great if I could use my own identity, otherwise, it would be fine to prepare an identity in advance. But... the gods in the sky, who would have thought that the huge barrier of the Xilan River would collapse overnight?" The low-key businessman grumbled as he stepped away from the crowd. He was going to go upstream for a while to see if he could have better luck at another ferry.

His footsteps were soon forced to stop, because there were already two more knights in front of him, one of them was wearing a thick black full-body armor, with a sword hilt wrapped in linen strips slanting out of his right shoulder, and a skull-shaped face shield Armor flashed a ferocious and cold light in the twilight.The other knight looked very young, he seemed to be less than 20 years old, but his expression did not have the impulsiveness and childishness that usually appear on young people, but instead revealed an indescribable majesty.

The businessman's attire was no different from that of those merchants or travelers who did not have a lot of money. He was wearing a half-worn gray canvas robe. The hood was lowered to below the eyes. Jaw with livid stubble.An iron-headed cane in his hand and a leather sling hanging from his waist are all his self-defense weapons.

If it was two years ago, travelers without bows, crossbows and swords rashly appeared in the north of Dusk Forest, it would be a piece of fat to attract thieves and beasts, but in today's North Border County, robbers and beasts are worse than dragons. Rare, this level of self-defense equipment is considered redundant.

Even though the large canvas robe obscured the features of the figure, it was still possible to see that the merchant's body seemed a little stiff after the two knights appeared. "Salute to the two master knights." He muttered in an ambiguous tone, while lowering his head and voluntarily getting out of the way.

The black-armored knight remained motionless, while the young knight simply nodded in return, his eyes fixed on the merchant thoughtfully, "Are you going to the north bank of the Siran River?" Winterfell, Big Rock Town, Hughes Square, or... Greencastle?"

The last place name made the businessman's body tremble slightly, but when he answered, there was no tension in his voice. "Neither, Lord Knight. I have a small amount of debt that I want to recover. It was borrowed by Lord Harlan two months ago." His tone was still vague, as if he was born with a flaw in language expression.

"Is the lord you are talking about Sir Harlan Gauchak?" The young knight seemed to be quite interested in this, and continued to ask, "But I remember that the Gauchak family is not in any economic crisis, especially Harlan Gauchak. Sir Lun just talked about marriage with Viscountess Franklin, who was born in the royal capital..."

"Master Knight, please forgive me, but this is a private loan, and I am obliged to keep it a secret for Lord Harlan." The businessman seemed to muster up his courage suddenly, and protested, "I have something urgent, please bear with me. I take my leave..."

Metal clanging sounded, and the black-armored knight moved without saying a word, blocking the businessman who wanted to leave quickly, so close that he seemed to collide with each other in the next moment.The latter seemed taken aback, and hurriedly took a step back, "The patron saint of merchants and travelers, Saint Morata, Wings of Liberty, above you," his voice was a little tougher, "Master Knight, what are you doing?" What's the meaning?"

"It's nothing, Sir Rodriguez and I have no malicious intentions, but we are both curious about one thing." The young knight paused, his tone suddenly changed from relaxed to severe, "What we want to know is, Gaucha Lord Harlan of the Ke Family has borrowed a huge sum of money from President Conrad of the Dirk City Liquor Industry Alliance, and you need to go to him in disguise to ask for it back.”

Even though the expression was covered by a hood, the businessman's mouth could be seen wide open. After a brief silence, he let out a sigh that was almost a moan, and then reached out and lifted the hood.Li Weiston was not surprised to see President Conrad's clear face, but during this period of time, the torment of worry and uneasiness has made him forget to take care of his appearance, and his image appears to be better than last time He was much older when we met.

"Your Excellency the Regent, Lord Rodriguez." Chairman Conrad bowed deeply, his tone was almost hopeless, "seeing the two of you here really makes me feel terrified, but it also makes me feel Calm, there is no chance left. Although I have no position to say anything, please let Dong En go after my death, I can guarantee that the child did not participate in this matter, and he has no knowledge of it."

"You take yourself too seriously, Conrad." The black-armored knight's voice sounded cold and dull, and there was no hint of disdain hidden in his tone, "The Conrad family has considerable wealth. The city also has influence that cannot be ignored, but these are not worthy of too much attention from King Arthur, let alone our coming in person. A blood dagger from Sleepless Eye is enough to solve this matter. Now is your last chance , tell us the truth, and get a chance for yourself and the Conrad family."

Sir Rodriguez's words can be said to be blunt, but Chairman Conrad did not feel that his self-esteem was hurt in the slightest, and there was a taste of expectation in his eyes. "Is this true? Lord Rodriguez, do you mean that as long as I tell everything frankly, King Arthur will forgive my crimes?"

The black-armored knight snorted coldly, unwilling to answer, but Li Wei couldn't bear to see Chairman Conrad showing despair again, and explained, "The crime committed by force is not as serious as you imagined. , President Conrad." The young regent showed sympathy in his eyes, "And your actions have not caused any loss to Northern County, as long as you tell the truth and swear never to betray, you and the Conrad family will be fine. There will be no punishment whatsoever."

President Conrad looked at Levi Stone in disbelief, then he nodded and said frankly, "Your promise is more precious than diamonds, Your Excellency the Regent, I am willing to tell you everything I know. You." When he said this, he paused for a moment to organize his words, his eyes showed a thoughtful expression, "The gray ghosts of the Death Knights did find me, and threatened the life of that child of Dong En, asking me to deliver information for them , inciting dissatisfaction, and colluding with traitors. For the former, I can only tell them everything I know, but there is very little information that is really useful; His skills are unexpectedly clever, except for some disgruntled waste who once stole high positions, no one voluntarily joined the camp of traitors, let alone received the help of any powerful lord."

A gratified smile appeared on the corner of Li Wei's mouth, "The orthodox status of King Arthur's court is really deeply rooted in the hearts of the people." He nodded with satisfaction, "Compared to the puppet king supported by the Lord Gnat Eyes, Her Majesty Queen Frasier I can obviously do it." better."

"But isn't King Arthur the only one who follows your lead?" President Conrad swallowed this sentence down his throat. Although he didn't have many opportunities to get in touch with him, the president of the Liquor Industry Alliance, who has a businessman's cunning mind, can fully feel it. However, Li Weiston is not an ambitious person trying to replace King Arthur.Although he holds the military and political power in his hands, has a lot of talents under his command, and has a high reputation among the people, even if the territory is divided and the land is divided, it is no problem to establish a new kingdom.But when he was only one step away from the throne, he did not hesitate to put the king's crown on Princess Fleischer's head.

Such powerful ministers are rare even if you read the history of the mainland.

"Grey Specter's activities in Northern County have not been smooth from the very beginning. The Sleepless Eye's surveillance network is very tight, and the tendency of the people in the North is also very obvious. As long as their identities are exposed, no Gray Specter can escape from Blood Dagger. The gray ghost who once threatened me with Dong En's life is a captain-level character, and now he is hiding in a winery belonging to the Conrad family with more than a dozen of his subordinates. List of traitors and contacts If you need to catch them all, I am willing to provide you with all conveniences." After President Conrad finished speaking, he lowered his eyes silently, waiting for the young regent to tell him and Conrad The final judgment of the family.

Because the matter sounded very simple, Levi did not think for too long, "There is only one question, President Conrad." The young regent asked calmly, "Sir Harlan Gochak, what is he? What identity? The Sleepless Eyes didn't make him a key surveillance target, is it a shield you used to try to perfunctory us, or do you really have some unknown connection with the Death Knights?"

President Conrad shook his head with a wry smile, "I really want to say that he is also a traitor, but I don't know the actual situation. The gray ghost captain asked me to go to Sir Harlan's manor in disguise, and gave me a The badge was used as a token, but it didn’t tell me anything more.” He said as he took out an old badge covered with copper rust from the secret pocket of his robe, and held it in front of Liveston with both hands.

Sir Rodriguez took the badge in his hand first, and his cautious approach proved not to be overly vigilant, because just when the badge just touched the iron gauntlet, a gray-black light flashed on the surface.

The aura of the black-armored knight suddenly turned cold and ruthless, and the night-colored vindictiveness suddenly enveloped his right hand, tightly wrapping the badge. "This thing is a triggering magic trap!" His tone became hollow, and a chill came from the bottom of his heart when he heard it, "Master Li Wei, please step back a little bit, Kang Ladd, you too."

Levi Ston stepped back without hesitation, and at the same time he did not forget to give the stiff President Conrad a hand. The latter looked as if he had just swallowed a glass of deadly poisoned wine, and he looked ashamed. It seemed as if he would fall to the ground and die at any moment.

"Your Excellency the Regent, I...I don't know that is..."

"I understand what you mean, President Conrad, you really don't know, because you have been regarded as a pawn to give up by those gray ghosts." Li Wei sighed and said, "If it's just a magic trap for one person, Rodriguez Sir Gus didn't have to tell me to back off too..."

Before he finished speaking, Sir Rodriguez raised his arm suddenly, and he threw out the gray-black shiny copper badge, like a ray of black light, shooting straight into the distance.The huge roar that erupted afterwards made the earth tremble, the scorching air surged and overflowed, and the billowing thick smoke rose into the sky like a giant pillar.

Even with Sir Rodriguez standing in front of him, the engulfing air wave still made Chairman Conrad unsteady. If it wasn't for Levi Ston who helped him in time, he might at least fall hard. wrestle.When the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, the president of the Liquor Industry Alliance couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise. The entire forest standing in front of him was razed to the ground, leaving only a large pit with a radius of tens of meters. Still billowing black smoke.

Sir Rodriguez stood on the edge of the big pit. In fact, if you look carefully, you will find that the big pit is not round, and there is an obvious depression on the side facing the black armored knight.President Conrad took a breath. Without the protection of the black armored knight, his entire body would have been wiped out in the explosion just now.

"The power of this thing is comparable to the self-explosive battering hammer made by the little elves, or the full blow of the sword-wielding grand duke." When Sir Rodriguez turned his head back, there was a dark green flashing behind the visor. Obviously, the power of the explosion has made him use his power as a condemned knight, "If this explosion happened in Green Castle, I am afraid that it can really blow open the city gate with ancient magic."

"I remember that Sir Harlan Gochak joined the Knights of Embers a few months ago, and was one of the ten team leaders by virtue of his own strength. It wouldn't be his turn to guard the gate of Green Castle recently, right? Li Wei frowned, "President Conrad, it seems that you have become the key used by the Death Knights to knock on the door of Green Castle without knowing it."

"And it's a one-time key." Sir Rodriguez's voice was actually not malicious, but the cold aura from the source of darkness still made President Conrad shiver.

President Conrad's face was ugly, but his mind did not lose his flexibility. Almost as soon as Sir Rodriguez's voice fell, he grabbed Levi's arm, and his tone was anxious and anxious, "Your Excellency the Regent , excuse me, if the Knights of Death use this badge I carry as the key to knock on the door of the Green Castle - I'm sure there is not only one such key, then according to the time calculation, they may have already crossed the Zeilan River , and even arrived near the Green Castle to ambush..."

"Those guys may not have seen the blessings of the walls of Green Castle." Sir Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders, and as the undead flames in his eyes gradually extinguished, the cold and heartless feeling was slowly disappearing from him, " The Zeilan barrier is gone, just to prove it."

"But...Sir Rodriguez, your guess is not necessarily accurate. Is it possible that the Zeilan River barrier was destroyed by the Death Knights to stop the reinforcements?" President Conrad retorted, sticking his neck, "Your Excellency the Regent, in order to ensure nothing goes wrong, you should find a way to return to Green Castle immediately, unless...unless you can clearly find out the whereabouts of the Death Knights."

Li Wei did not answer right away, but turned his gaze to the roaring Xilan River. Just yesterday at noon, there were still five tall Weihe towers standing there, as well as the wide and flat stone stone under the protection of Weihe towers. Build a bridge.But now... maybe after diving into the water, I can discover part of the ruins of the five river towers.

"The whereabouts of the Death Knights may not be easy to find. After all, the scale of the teleportation magic circle has reached the limit that alchemy can control." These words echoed in the ears of the young regent, "I can only determine a general direction of transmission. As for which plane of the bottomless abyss to throw them into, I am afraid that only by asking the person concerned can I know. gone."

(End of this chapter)