A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

Kyoko moved back a lot of things again.

Now that she is a member of the team and a follower of everyone, of course the abilities of several people can also be borrowed by her; the witch Issandra threw her one of her "dimension pockets", which can hold Anything up to a few cubic meters, and the holder can't feel the weight of the contents at all.

Usually, this is enough for her to put in her entrusted weapons and drones, and then diligently collect the heroes' loot.

Today's situation is a bit special. In addition to the revived Countess, in the Tower of Forgotten, there is actually a large amount of treasures that she once collected... Not to mention that her dimensional pockets were filled with magic equipment, and there was also a large bag of gold coins.

After much effort to lug everything back to the clearing in the middle of the camp, she proceeded to the usual next step... trading.

Chasi the blacksmith and Gide, the general merchandise merchant, would occasionally pick out some magic equipment that they could use or sell to enrich their commodity arsenal; They will bring all kinds of things to exchange money and equipment, just to take the opportunity to replenish some basic materials such as food, drinking water, and clothing.

On the other side of the clearing, Issandra shared with her teammates the real harvest of the day... a set of magic runes.

"Unexpectedly, the Countess still has such a collection. This is a real ancient wonder, an invention of human beings themselves. There is no power from heaven or hell mixed in it...just pure magic. Every rune word has a special meaning. Magical effects, when inlaid on weapons and armor, they can obtain all kinds of wonderful magical effects."

Issandra said.

And just as she was explaining what she knew about runes to her teammates, an old and slightly weak voice sounded beside her: "...Except for what you said, mage, runes can still Arranged in a special order to form sentences with "magic meaning". We usually call them "rune words". It can turn ordinary weapons and equipment into precious weapons comparable to the magic equipment that once created legends .”

Several people turned their heads and saw Deckard Cain with a white beard and a black robe walking towards them.

He bowed to several people, leaning on a long staff with both hands, and continued: "That is the knowledge of the Horadrim... Thank you, friends, for showing up and saving me at the most critical moment of my life. I am Herad Ladim's last successor, Deckard Kane.

"Unfortunately, I'm just a scholar, and I can't do anything when Tristram is destroyed. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, took the hero's body, and he is no longer what he used to be... heading east The dark wanderer is Diablo himself! You must stop him, because no one else in this world can do it except you.

"Fortunately, my knowledge can still help you. Please let me appraise items for you for free, and use the knowledge I inherited from the Horadrim to support your adventures. From now on, Deckard Cain, for you Serve."

Of all those present, only the witch knew what the name "Hradim" meant.

Issandra rarely showed a serious expression, and asked this knowledgeable old man: "Diablo? What exactly is he going to do?"

Deckard Cain breathed a sigh of relief before replying: "Since the Dark Wanderer is heading to the east, he must be going to unseal the seal of his brothers. Baal, the Lord of Destruction, is being locked in Lugao together with Tal Rasha Because of the warlock canyon and the ancient tomb with many traps, if he is released by the dark wanderer, the whole world will be overturned!"

"We can't wait any longer, we have to directly counterattack the monastery." Paladin Jess concluded, "Hurry up and open the road between the east and the west... Didn't Warriv say that he was going to Lugain? After the monastery, we can just set off with his caravan."

Although Deckard Cain was very moved by the fearless temperament of these heroes in front of him, but out of the elder's prudence and sense of responsibility, he still reminded: "Andariel and her minions are not easy to deal with."

"Yes, sir."

Cassia smiled and said, "But we are not easy to mess with... The Rogues have completely changed their outfits, and I have engraved the symbols of the clan on their weapons. Now it seems that we are fully capable of counterattacking the monastery." the power of."

This was the inspiration for her use of the Storm Pulse Rifle as a crossbow during the Battle of Tristram.Although Charsi's hammer has not been found, and she cannot inject magic power into the gun for the time being, she actually has other ways to increase the lethality of the weapon...

The Amazons have a magical symbol, which is generally believed to be related to their beliefs.

When this symbol is engraved on a crossbow weapon, the shooting accuracy of the weapon holder will be greatly improved, and the lethality of the arrow will also increase accordingly.

Since the rifle can be considered "a type of crossbow", does engraving the symbol on the stock have the same effect?

She had already tried it with Kyoko, and she was of course very satisfied with the result.

During the period when Deckard Kane was unconscious, the Rogues in the camp had already carved the same symbol on their weapons.

"Speaking of... old man, you haven't actually seen our new weapon yet." Cassia continued, "That thing is very useful!"

Deckard Cain, who got the prompt, of course immediately noticed the rifles behind several people, and hesitantly said to himself: "Strange, I know all the weapons that have been used in combat in this world, but I have never seen this one... There is no way to identify it. What is it and where did it come from?"

Chapter 51 Arms Deal

Today, the tavern ushered in a long-lost guest, female pilot Ripley.

She held a memory stick in her hand, and put aside the wine that Xue Li poured her, but kept silent and didn't even move much.

Just two days ago, Duran Duran, who completed a "big order" by himself, was promoted, and finally had the opportunity to get in touch with a lot of information that the company classified as "commercial secrets".

Almost immediately he found what Ripley was looking for, a full set of surveillance footage from the KG348 orbital station.

The reason why this piece of data is so important to her is because her daughter Amanda Ripley had been there during her 57 years of sleeping, and also suffered from the alien invasion.This incident has never existed in any official records. Even in the records on the surface, Amanda has been working hard for the Wieland-Tangu company on the earth. Although she has no children, her family is happy and peaceful. , passed away peacefully.

Xue Li, who has heard all her stories, of course knows what she is thinking, but it can only be said that caring makes chaos... When this kind of thing happens to others, it seems that anyone can pretend to be very rational to give advice; But when it happens to themselves, few people can make a clear and correct choice.

"Don't like this glass of wine? How about some tea? Or... do you need a playback device now?"

Xue Li said this to the repeat customer.

Ripley recovered after hearing his voice, and shook her head: "No, thank you... I just don't know if I should open it. I know that what happened on KG348 will definitely not have any good results , and all that has already happened and cannot be reversed.”

Boss Xue expressed understanding: "It's like you missed the home team's game due to force majeure, and woke up the next day to find that the home team lost 0-9, so I don't want to watch the replay..."

"Don't make that analogy with a sports game..." Ripley gave him a glare, "I'll watch it eventually. I'd really like to know how Amanda suffered that fate, even if it meant nothing to me It doesn't do any good or change anything for your mental health."

As she spoke, she put the memory stick back into her pocket, and took a sip of the wine next to her.

Illusory happiness or real cruelty, which one to choose?Ripley definitely chose "real".

Unwilling to discuss this more personal issue, she changed the subject and asked Boss Xue: "How about those weapons? Can they deal with the 'unusual' enemies you call?"

"According to their feedback, the effect is not bad...the last time they came, they also said that they would order the next batch of ammunition, and they wanted to ask if they could directly 'import' an ammunition production line, and they were waiting for you to show up." Xue Li replied.

But... I remember that Ripley is actually an enemy of Wieland-Yuntani, which is now renamed "Alliance System", and has been holding back to make it trouble. Isn't the order from another world and a large amount of gold input Is it harder to help the company's business, indirectly calling her actions?

For this problem, Ripley explained: "...it's not that simple anymore."

It doesn't even need the old-fashioned cyberpunk story design of "big companies control public opinion", the public opinion has already left by itself.

After the company changed the direct and straightforward name of "Allied Military Systems", its business lines shrank in an all-round way, and it became a military enterprise focusing on military supply and research and development.

No matter what this kind of enterprise does, it is very far away from the lives of ordinary people. Under normal circumstances, no one will pay attention to it.

Ripley's initial media campaign also attracted a group of followers, who were particularly interested in the story of "intentionally sending its employees into the universe to conduct human biological experiments", but the company immediately announced that Wieland's crimes were all about me. The "Allied Army System" incident, once the board of directors was replaced, cross-shareholding, equity holding, and spin-off of business sectors, a set of operations has perfectly picked itself out.

It didn't take long, because the company remained silent and the focus of public opinion shifted to other events.

Compared with those events that are closely related to the vital interests of most people, how a military industrial company treats its employees is actually not that many people care about.Even rumors of the existence of alien life forms in the universe have spread, but the attitude of the people on the earth is "you have to be careful when traveling to the stars", and even the number of people who signed up to go to the colony for development has not decreased... As long as the coalition system gives If there is enough money, some people will work hard.

Before seeing that thing with their own eyes, no matter how terrifying the video data was, people did not believe that it could have a serious impact on the "human" race.

It's just that, of course, Rapley won't give up just like that... Whether it's on the surface or secretly, the actions against the company have been going on.

She even comforted Boss Xue in turn: "I have expected the difficulty of this matter and the time it will take."

While the two were chatting about this matter, the adventurer team, a high-quality customer from that cosmic weapon, walked in with Deckard Kane.

"...it's amazing, it's just mesmerizing."

Like the witch Issandra, Deckard Cain, who has a common sense of magic above ordinary people, quickly felt the deeply fearful nature of the tavern, even if it was only a small part that can be perceived by ordinary people. It's terrifying, just like Diablo at that time... No, it's more terrifying than the Lord of Fear.

At the very least, Diablo has a "personality". He enjoys the feeling of frightening humans, and he will show this emotion when facing humans, saying something like "When you see me, your fate has already been decided." Come to the end", "Your soul belongs to me", "I will tear your flesh and devour your soul" and so on;

But this tavern is silent and does not establish direct communication with humans. Only the power it exhibits at this level can be called a "miracle", and it is even many times stronger than the supreme power of any world. An overwhelming, irresistible "big" feeling.

Even in this tavern, all he can see and touch is this square inch of land, but Deckard Kane has a strong feeling that there are more complicated and unreasonable things outside this space. , so that it cannot be seen, everyone in the tavern actually only exists under the shadow of its projection in this dimension.

How can I describe this feeling...

By the way, "we took the liberty of imagining it as a tavern, so it's a tavern".

The only thing that can explain the existence of this tavern is the tavern itself, but obviously... it has always been silent.This is where the sense of fear comes from.

I don't know how the boss and the guests are used to this kind of thing, but... After all, he is the boss.

Before coming here, Paladin Jess, Witch Issandra and Amazonian Cassia had taken turns to give him psychological construction, which also gave him a basic understanding of everything in the tavern in advance, dragging The sick body came forward tremblingly, and greeted Xue Li: "Hello, boss."

"Hi, sir, please sit down, what would you like to drink?"

Deckard Cain said with a wry smile: "I didn't mind having a couple of drinks at first, but I just escaped from the cage... Sister Akara strictly forbids me to drink alcohol."

"Let's have some tea then."

Xue Li poured him a cup of tea and chatted briefly with him.

The old man in front of him has the temperament of some scholars, or he should be a scholar... Compared with fighting, he is better at telling some knowledge that no one knows, stories of the past, and the essence behind certain phenomena.

Regarding the status quo of that world, he gave the people present a basic impression in just a few words.

"The Sanctuary is actually an incomplete world... The entire human world was born from the creation of the World Stone, and the World Stone represents the binary balance of light and darkness, and is a neutral chaos. The history is too long to be verified. However, according to the historical records of the Vizjerei tribe, the demons were the first to discover the dark side of the human soul, and believed that the rule of the human world would give them an absolute advantage against the heavens, ending the evil that has been going on since the beginning of time. to the present 'eternal battle'."

"So, the human beings there are actually not chess pieces, nor chess players, but 'resources'?"

Boss Xue touched his chin and said so.

On the other side, Cassia came forward to shake hands with Ripley... Ever since she met, she has always admired this "female pilot" from another world, and felt that this ordinary, even not particularly strong body In the woman's body, there is an energy similar to that of Amazons.

"Your weapons are very good, but the ammunition is seriously deformed, and it is not easy to recycle... Recasting is too slow."

Amazonians say so.

Ripley took it for granted, how could anyone recover the warhead?These things are all produced on an automated assembly line by tens of thousands of pieces per hour. The ammunition production of the rail rifle is faster. After all, there is no need for charge and primer.Even if you want to reuse it, most of it is just swept up as scrap metal and melted into raw materials when cleaning the battlefield after the war.

However, the quantity needed by these customers is actually very small, and the few boxes of bullets from last time have been used up to now... It doesn't matter how many times they need to replenish the goods, she can agree to it for Duran Duran here.

"... I will ship another batch later. Thank you for your gold. Duran Duran must be very happy. The price you paid is much higher than the price of the goods."

"Hmph, let's treat it as an extra service fee...Since you like these things so much."

It was indeed Issandra who said this, and she took out a money bag from nowhere, put it on the bar counter, and heard the voice containing heavy gold coins: "Are there any new weapons?"

"According to the intensity of the war you mentioned... how about energy weapons? Recently, Duran Duran seems to have come up with a heat ray gun. If you can try it, he might not need money."

Ripley shrugged.

Chapter 52 Counterattack

Another morning, when the refugees in the tent woke up early and planned to start a new day of struggling for survival, a news spread throughout the camp: the Rogues are going to start a counterattack!

Sister Akara, the actual leader of the camp, explained to everyone this way: "Thanks to the help of the heroes, the leader-level demons and monsters around the camp have been wiped out, and the road to the monastery has been cleared. Soon, the heroes We will enter the necropolis and deal with Andariel, and we must take action!"

Of course... Speaking of action, in fact, these refugees in the camp who have no combat effectiveness can only prepare clothes and leather armor for the Rogues, make the arrows they need, and prepare dry food for them on the road.

Kasha changed into military uniform.

Her armor had fallen into it when she escaped from the monastery. The new set was sent to her by Kyoko, saying that the team members did not need this level of protection, and the ones that came with the "gun order" were light and The gray close-fitting armor that can defend against physical attacks was also distributed to the Rogues; she specially left a set of "Standard Individual Armor of the Colonial Star Exploration Armed Forces" that can cover the whole body, and gave it to the Rogues' mentors, watching Kasha, the female warrior who watched them grow up and taught them martial arts.

What I got in my hand was a special cloth with a plate-shaped carapace in the middle. The front and back, limbs, head and neck were all protected. Some kind of nano-material light armor plate had an extra belt than the ones on the Rogues. A helmet with a mask, and armor with extra arms and legs.

This thing needs Kyoko to guide her to put it on, and it's a bit stuffy after putting it on, but it's really light and the protection is really good.The monastery is now full of depraved Rogue archers, and this kind of armor can already defend against all arrows at their standard shooting range... unless it is a magic arrow shot from the opposite side.

As for the latter... It's hard to say who is better at the Rogues or their fallen sisters. It is even more questionable whether the magic effects can be exerted when the arrows cannot penetrate the armor.

Not only that, during the battle in the wilderness, the heroes also captured a lot of consumables such as magic equipment, potions, and other incendiary bottles that they looted, or sold or gave them away. In short, they are all armed now The Rogues have become the fighting power of the nuns.

After finishing her weapons, Kaxia walked out the door with the bow that Cassia gave her in her hand.

She really wants to fight with a real Amazon, hunt demons together, walk through forests and grasslands, and turn her javelins and arrows into a storm that destroys the enemy... But this time it still can't, Cassie Ya and the hero team have other missions.

They want to rush into the monastery's barracks while the Rogues are attacking the monastery, and get Horadric Malus back from there; they also want to break into the cathedral directly and kill the Queen of Pain, Andariel!

Such a miraculous feat was uttered from their mouths, as if it was really possible to achieve it.

Cassia obviously also knew the regret of Commander Rogge, so she gave her a hunting bow that she had used for a long time.

It was a bow with bright red arms, tight strings, and overall lightness. Cassia called it "the string of withering".The hunting bow is infused with magical power from the Skovo Islands. The arrows shot can penetrate deeper into the enemy's body, and it can also reduce the user's burden, allowing them to shoot more quickly and continuously, and to pass through mana more easily. Resonance inspires flaming arrows.

On the top of the bow arm, there is engraved the Amazon's message to Kasha: "Sharp eyes, thundering fingertips".

[135. No. 135]

"Rogues... not long ago, when we fled the monastery in a hurry, we didn't expect to return there one day. Like a pack of stray dogs, we escaped from the warm nest after being beaten by vicious sticks, and I don't think there's anything wrong with this...that's Andariel, the Queen of Pain! How can a mortal fight against the Demon King?

"But what the demons are chewing are our sisters; what crawled out of the catacombs are the bones of our ancestors; those who have been infected by the power of hell and turned into monsters, and unburied in the wilderness are the same as you and me people!

"Why do we have to run away in despair? Why do we have to live with nightmares on our backs?"

Having said that, Kaxia standing in front of his team had to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

What happened that night is still haunting her in her nightmares. When she closed her eyes, all she saw were the terrified and desperate faces of the nuns, the cruel smiles of the demons, and the blood all over the floor.

She knew all of them, every nun and every face in the monastery, from the beginning to the present, has been engraved in her heart and soul.

"We are not people with special skills like those heroes. But we also have weapons in our hands, armor on our bodies, and the courage to face demons! Even if we don't have the equipment that comes from the 'different world', we shouldn't fear them.

"I, Kasha, even if I die in the wilderness and be eaten by wild dogs, I will never put down the bow and arrow in my hand, and I will never stop fighting until I avenge my sisters!

"What about you, are you going to be brave enough to take the monastery back from the hands of the devil and let the dead sisters rest in peace, or are you going to hide in this leaky camp and linger on! You, Wendy, what is your answer? "

The Luoge archer whose name was called stepped forward and replied loudly: "I want to take back the monastery!"

"Okay." Kasha nodded in relief, and then turned to the other girls: "What about you? Are you going to fight or run away!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the Rogues shouted.

The commander just smiled and turned around to call his adjutant.

"Flavo... distribute the ammo."

Rogge gathered in the camp was carrying a storm pulse rifle strengthened by the guidance of the Amazons; with the range and shooting power of this gun, Kasha even felt that there was no need to prepare leather armor and "body armor", the monsters Its long-range attack simply cannot hit the front line here.