Category: The Azure Longsword

Chapter 64: Long-Range Sniping

“Does heaven really exist in this world?” Eleanor asked gloomily.

“Why are you suddenly asking this?” Asker asked in surprise. “And, weren’t you climbing the stairs with Sidlipha? Where is she?”

“Just asking.” Eleanor replied.

Failing to save that woman gave her a strong sense of guilt. If she told Asker, he might be able to comfort her with a few words.

But she didn’t want to be comforted, because it was her fault.

“If you’re talking about heaven in the Solomon sense, then probably not.” Asker said, chatting with her while climbing the stairs. “Our Furnace Island is essentially a fragment of the former Paradise Mountain – which is just a floating island.”

“But what happens after people die, Medea told you about it, right?” Asker continued. “After a person dies, their id remains in the body, their superego sinks into the sea of the subconscious, and their true self disappears completely.”

“So death is death, right?” Eleanor said in a heavy tone, thinking that whether the woman committed suicide or died because of her, she wouldn’t be able to see her dead husband and children.

Reuniting in heaven after death was just a beautiful illusion after all.

“Yes.” Asker said, “So work hard to become stronger, don’t die.”

“Hmm.” Eleanor responded sullenly.

They climbed to the top of the building and quickly ran down, then continued climbing from the first floor. After repeating this dozens of times, the almost overflowing supernatural power was finally digested a bit, and everyone’s physical strength was greatly improved.

The most obvious changes were in Medea and Nuo. These two originally had no foundation in martial arts, the kind who would collapse after running 1000 meters. Now they could climb twenty floors in one go and only breathe slightly heavily.

Asker sighed. The setting of supernatural power saturation was indeed beyond his expectations.

In the game world of his previous life, there was naturally no such thing as players being “blown up.” There was only the setting of “experience value reaching the upper limit, unable to gain new experience.” He didn’t expect NPCs to be so troublesome.

This body of his was, after all, still an NPC’s body.

Absorbing all the physical strength of a level 4 Transcendental with a level 2 body, saying that running up and down the stairs a few times could completely digest it would be cheating.

However, if they didn’t digest the remaining power, they wouldn’t be able to continue fighting.

Asker stood on the roof, looking into the distance, thinking that the original plan had to be adjusted significantly.

This residential building was located at the top of the Third Hill, which was the highest point in the vicinity. Therefore, from the roof, they could easily overlook the Sixth and Tenth Districts below, the Golden Horn in the distance, and even the Galata Peninsula across the Golden Horn.

From afar, they could see that the Frankish knights had already established multiple footholds in the main city.

To the east, towards the palace, the fighting between them and the defenders was the most intense; to the south were the Third Hill and the Second Hill, but because of the need to climb the mountains, few knights chose this direction.

To the west was the Tenth District, where many houses were already on fire. In the lakeside park along the Golden Horn, large swaths of landscape trees were being felled by the knights’ squires and made into crude battering rams or siege towers, intending to use them to break through the Constantinople defenders’ bunkers.

Asker sighed. As expected, this world was still a little different from his previous life. The difference was that there were no players here:

In his previous life, when the Frankish knights rushed across the Galata Bridge, the first thing they encountered was not the Constantinople defenders, but the players.

When the Frankish knights rushed into the Sixth and Tenth Districts and began to loot and massacre, the players in the city were also surprised to find that the supernatural power they absorbed from killing each Frankish knight almost doubled.

This was not an NPC enemy, this was an experience gift package from the game officials!

So the Frankish knights who rushed into the main city began to face the crazy resistance of the player army, especially the targeted sniping of the game guilds.

They didn’t dare to touch groups of Frankish knights, but they wouldn’t hesitate to attack lone ones. Dozens or even hundreds of players would pounce on them, using all sorts of dirty tricks like shooting from behind, grabbing their legs, and hitting them on the head.

Faced with the shameless tactics of the players trading dozens of their lives for one, the number of Frankish knights plummeted. Count Montferrat, seeing this, quickly adjusted his strategy, having the Frankish knights move in teams of three.

As a result, the players had already cultivated a group of elite troops with the supernatural power they plundered in the early stage, coupled with a large number of fearless low-level players who could respawn after death. They fought and killed all the Frankish knights who came, then occupied the Galata Bridge, counterattacked the Galata Peninsula, and fought their way to the other side of the Golden Horn.

In the end, of course, Count Montferrat and Doge Enrico hurriedly abandoned the Frankish knights who hadn’t boarded the ships and fled back to the West.

The Church was also merciless to these two culprits, directly issuing an excommunication order.

The latter was fine, after all, he still had some money in Venice. The former, however, was stripped of all his titles and territories by the king and was stoned to death by a group of devout believers when he passed through a rural area.

But in this world… without a large number of players, Asker was skeptical about whether Constantinople could withstand this attack.

If the Frankish knights couldn’t be repelled, would Zoe still, as before, schemingly seize Theodora’s power and imprison her in a monastery?

There was a popular saying on the forum that the reason why the two sisters fell out was because Zoe wanted to abandon the capital and flee to the Siris province to survive, just to survive.

Theodora was firmly opposed and advocated defending Constantinople to the death, waiting for Western aid.

As a result, they didn’t wait for Western aid, but a wave of Frankish knights’ invasion, which caused Theodora’s prestige in the Senate and the Church to plummet. Zoe took the opportunity to launch a coup, overthrew her, and incorporated the imperial guard legion that was originally loyal to her.

Hmm, he should still make Constantinople hold out a little longer. Otherwise, if the two Empresses were really scared and fled to the Siris province, then his idea of recruiting Theodora into the team would be dashed.

Asker turned around and saw that Miel had already run to the roof and was about to turn around and go downstairs to continue running.

“Miel, come here for a moment.” Asker called out. “Your special training has arrived.”

Miel: ???

She obediently walked over, her delicate little face full of confusion.

After getting acquainted with everyone, her originally indifferent and numb expression finally loosened up a bit, showing a bit more human touch – after all, she was still a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, she couldn’t keep a bitter and resentful face forever.

Asker motioned for her to lie down on the roof, then asked her to take out the Slaughter-III rifle, switch to sniper mode, and aim at the Galata Bridge opposite them.

“Measure the distance?” Asker said.

“From here to the bridge, about 1000 meters.” Miel replied. “To be more precise, about 980 meters.”

“This distance is a suitable combat distance for snipers.” Asker raised his hand and put it to his ear, motioning. “Do you hear anything?”

Miel held her breath and listened. With her keen half-elf hearing, she noticed that among the occasional bursts of gunfire in the surroundings, there was an occasional loud bang, as if it was coming from a firearm with a louder sound.

“Sniper?”

“That’s right.” Asker said, “In the urban warfare environment of Constantinople, it’s the perfect place for snipers to show their combat advantage.”

“The imperial military should have transferred all their snipers here. Their range is generally around 600-800 meters, and they are easily exposed after firing, so they can only fire when there is intensive gunfire nearby, and they have to change their position after each shot.”

“But you don’t have to do that. The Slaughter-III with the auto-aim module has a much longer range than normal sniper rifles, so you can directly snipe the Galata Bridge, or even the Galata Peninsula opposite. Even if the people over there are hit, they can’t find your position from two kilometers away.”

Asker took the Slaughter-III, set it up on the edge of the roof as a demonstration, and aimed it at the other side of the Golden Horn.

Outside the factory across the Golden Horn, the blind Doge Enrico sat in a chair, quietly waiting for the Venetian sailors to carry out piles of production materials and documents.

The Doge’s assistant was directing beside him, reporting the looting situation to him from time to time.

Whether this attack on Constantinople was successful or not, as long as they could plunder the Eastern Solomon Empire’s industrial production materials, Venice would have achieved its ultimate strategic goal.

Of course, local skilled workers and production experts were also indispensable. They would take away as many as they could, and those who couldn’t be taken away… would be killed on the spot, lest they stay and work for their competitors.

As a commercial city-state, Venice originally started by providing offshore finance and foreign trade transit for the Church. The reason why they launched this war was to plunder the Eastern Solomon Empire’s production materials, so as to skip the stage of basic accumulation in industry and manufacturing.

Currently, the low-end OEM production of the Church was mainly undertaken by the factories in the territories of the nobles of the Holy Solomon Empire, large and small. However, the hostility between Emperor Otto and Pope Innocent was known to the world. Once Otto officially launched a war against Italy, the Church would inevitably stop its technological supply to the Holy Roman Empire and would urgently need to find new OEM factories.

Venice could just take over this wave of industrial transfer, transforming from a purely financial and trade city-state into a powerful country with both financial and industrial productivity.

A country without basic industrial production capacity was absolutely not enough to protect itself in this world.

Just as Doge Enrico was lost in thought, he suddenly heard his assistant shout and push him to the ground:

“Sniper!”

A bullet, traveling a distance of 1,800 meters, shot straight at Doge Enrico’s head. The assistant quickly pushed him down and activated his domain at the same time.

Shadow!

Within a radius of five or six meters around him, it instantly fell into complete darkness.

The high-speed bullet shot into the Shadow Domain and disappeared strangely – the entire Shadow Domain was a black hole with infinite curvature, distorting the surrounding space and time, directly disintegrating the bullet.

This assistant by Doge Enrico’s side was actually a demigod with a Shadow Domain!

The sniper on the other side continued to fire, forcing this Shadow demigod to keep his domain active. He could only quickly expand the black hole, withstanding the bombardment of bullets one after another, and enveloped Doge Enrico into the Shadow Realm.

Then his spirituality extended, opening another white hole inside the factory next to him, spitting out Doge Enrico from the Shadow Realm.

After Doge Enrico was sent to a room where he couldn’t be sniped, the demigod assistant glared fiercely in the direction of the gunshot, trying to lock onto the location of this hateful sniper through the shadow of the high-speed bullets.

However, the gunfire stopped abruptly, and no more bullets came.

The Shadow demigod immediately turned pale – he realized that he had maintained his domain for too long, causing his spirituality to be overdrawn and causing irreparable damage to his own spirit body.

After quickly deactivating his domain, he clutched his head, trying to calm the violent fluctuations of his spirituality.

However, this spiritual fluctuation was too intense, so much so that he had to activate his supernatural power to forcibly suppress the urge to lose control.

Once he activated his supernatural power, in the current low tide of magic, it would inevitably intensify the consumption and fluctuation of his spirituality.

So he fell into an unsolvable vicious cycle.

On the roof of the residential building on the Third Hill, Asker casually put away the rifle, handed it to Miel next to him, and said, “Here, take it and snipe the enemies on the Galata Bridge, don’t save bullets – just treat it as your practical training.”

“How many people did you shoot just now?” Miel asked curiously.

She watched Asker pull the trigger quickly, firing six or seven bullets in the blink of an eye, and couldn’t help but guess the result.

“Didn’t directly kill anyone.” Asker said, “But, I should have killed a demigod.”

“Demigod?” Miel’s eyes widened in disbelief, thinking to herself, didn’t you always say “below demigod, all are mortal flesh”? Could a demigod also be killed with a sniper rifle?

Then she saw a boundless shadow explode on the Galata Peninsula in the distance.

At that moment, it was as if the entire Galata Peninsula had fallen into darkness, no light could penetrate it.

After a while, the vision disappeared, and the town below was bathed in sunlight again, as if nothing had happened.

“That was?” Miel asked in shock.

“The anomaly of a demigod’s fall.” Asker replied.

Chapter 63: Spirituality Full

The sword thrust out.

A simple thrust, aimed straight at the knight’s eyes under his helmet.

The Frankish knight tilted his head, trying to dodge. The sword shifted almost simultaneously, still aiming straight at his eyes.

He couldn’t dodge!

A great sense of danger rose from his heart. The knight hurriedly stopped in his charge, raised his greatsword, and attempted to block the thrust aimed at his eyes.

This block, however, obscured his vision. Asker swiftly raised his left hand, Desert Eagle!

The elephant hunting bullet shot out, with terrifying force, shattering the greatsword, helmet, and the knight’s entire skull.

Even with level 4 physical strength, he was still within the realm of mortal flesh and was still vulnerable to anti-materiel firearms.

Only one of the three knights remained. Asker, however, retreated instead of advancing, quickly reaching Sidlipha’s side, and calmly ordered through the radio:

“Retreat!”

The girls immediately turned and retreated upon hearing this. Sidlipha followed Asker, running at the rear, complaining:

“Why retreat? There’s only one enemy left, I can easily kill him!”

“Because reinforcements have arrived, you idiot!” Medea scolded mercilessly through the mental connection.

The so-called reinforcements were actually the Frankish knight who had been controlled by Medea at the beginning, and the two companions who had been holding him back.

After a beating from the others, the controlled knight finally regained consciousness and was now rushing towards them with his companions.

From the previous battle, the girls had realized the powerful strength of the Frankish knights. Even the charge attack of three knights had exceeded Eleanor’s defensive limit.

If they were greedy and tried to kill that one knight, they would be entangled by the three knights who were catching up, and the team would immediately be in the unfavorable situation of facing four knights at the same time.

There might be casualties.

“Medea, can you control another one?” Eleanor asked on the channel.

“No, they are already consciously avoiding eye contact with me.” Medea replied quickly. “I can’t control them.”

“Then what do we do?” Nuo exclaimed in panic.

She noticed that although the four knights behind them were wearing full armor, they were still running swiftly, and the distance between the two sides seemed to be closing.

They couldn’t outrun them, so naturally they couldn’t use the kiting tactic.

If they just ran away without fighting back, it would easily turn into a battle of endurance, and in this regard, the girls were really no match for the physically strong knights.

“Let’s use the Prism tactic.” Asker said, “Combined with the double wingman tactic, let’s create some distance first!”

The Prism tactic came from the classic game “StarCraft,” a Protoss tactic. When the enemy was about to kill a low-health unit, the transport unit Prism would quickly pick up the low-health unit to avoid being killed.

The “Prism” that Asker referred to was actually Furnace Island, which they could teleport to at any time.

Everyone quickly extended their spirituality, and their figures instantly disappeared from the spot – they went to Furnace Island in the semi-plane fragment.

Only Peggy and Mia were left on the scene. The latter rolled over and grabbed “Absurd Dreams,” then stepped into Peggy’s shadow and disappeared into the Shadow Realm; the former, relying on the high-speed movement of her vampire bloodline, quickly dashed forward.

The double wingman tactic was a tactic specially designed by Asker for Peggy and Mia.

Because Peggy was the fastest in the team, followed by Mia, so after everyone teleported to Furnace Island, the book was carried and moved by Mia.

Although Mia could enter the Shadow Realm at any time, the prerequisite was that she couldn’t be exposed to bright light, otherwise she would be injured.

Therefore, Peggy moved quickly in the main plane, while Mia stayed in the Shadow Realm, always stepping on Peggy’s shadow area when running, this was the so-called wingman tactic.

The four Frankish knights were both surprised and angry at the enemy’s collective disappearance.

They were angry that the enemy was completely disregarding the spirit of chivalry, running away without a fight; they were surprised that the other party could disappear collectively, not knowing whether they were Transcendents of the Invisibility or Illusion Sequence, or possessed some magical item.

After a brief hesitation, the Frankish knights decided to pursue Peggy.

Peggy quickly ran to the edge of the shopping street and dashed forward on the sidewalk.

There was a cafe on the street ahead, with outdoor seating and umbrellas. She ran through the shade of the umbrellas, and in the corresponding Shadow Realm, Mia stopped silently in the shade of the umbrellas, calmly watching Peggy run further and further away.

The Frankish knights chasing behind her roughly swung their greatswords, knocking away the tables and chairs that were blocking their way.

Now!

The moment the Frankish knights rushed through the shade of the umbrellas, Mia emerged from the Shadow Realm.

Immediately afterwards, everyone in Furnace Island extended their spirituality and instantly teleported back to the main plane. The whole process took less than two seconds. The Frankish knights had only taken five or six steps when they were suddenly attacked from behind.

Two gunshots rang out almost simultaneously. Asker’s Desert Eagle and Miel’s Slaughter-III rifle in sniper mode each hit the heads of two knights.

Under the power of the anti-materiel bullets, the knights’ heads exploded almost instantly. Their level 4 physical strength was like paper.

Sidlipha and Eleanor also rushed out at the same time, each entangling a knight.

The two cooperated tacitly. When the knight attacked, Eleanor blocked with her shield, and Sidlipha took the opportunity to swing her battle axe forward, preventing the knight from pursuing Eleanor.

Coupled with the need to guard against bullets and psychic spells from behind, one of the knights soon revealed an opening and was hit on the right shoulder by Sidlipha’s Mountain Splitter, shattering his entire shoulder armor.

Eleanor seized the opportunity and thrust her Dragon Spear, piercing his exposed collarbone through the broken armor, and forcefully threw him at the other knight.

This knight, with his armor, weighed over 100 kilograms, and immediately knocked his companion over.

Sidlipha stepped forward to finish them off, one axe per person, chopping off the heads of the two incapacitated knights.

Peggy, who had acted as bait, also rushed back. As the knights died, supernatural power surged from their bodies and slowly entered everyone’s bodies.

“I’m so full.” Nuo groaned uncomfortably. This almost overflowing spirituality made her feel like she had overeaten. “Asker, I feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s because you have absorbed too much supernatural power, exceeding the limit of your spirituality.” Asker said, “At this time, you need to transform it into physical or mental strength through actual exercise, which will affect your own attribute improvement.”

“How do we exercise?” Sidlipha asked, putting her battle axe on her shoulder. “Kill a few more knights?”

The girls were speechless. Since they got off the subway, they had already killed a total of more than a dozen Frankish knights, which meant that each of them had absorbed at least one level 4’s worth of physical strength.

For the girls who were still at level 1 or 2, their spirituality was already completely saturated. If they killed more knights… they would definitely be blown up by the supernatural power!

“Do we have to exercise here?” Eleanor frowned. If they couldn’t fight, they could only practice mechanically.

“See that residential building over there?” Asker pointed to the apartment building opposite them. “At least twenty floors, run up the stairs fully armed! Let’s exercise!”

So the girls could only run towards the residential building speechlessly.

After all, it was too dangerous to train on the empty streets outside. If they encountered a few more knights… If they lost, they would die; if they won, they would absorb power and then be blown up. That meant they would die either way, which was too uneconomical.

They rushed to the stairwell like a pack of wolves. Eleanor and Sidlipha, huffing and puffing, charged up the stairs two steps at a time in their full armor, and soon they were panting like bulls.

Next were Asker, Peggy, Mia, and Miel. These four were wearing light armor, so their burden was not as heavy as the two girls in front.

Asker ran at the front with a steady pace, his one-two, one-two rhythm extremely standard. Peggy and Miel followed behind him, also climbing the stairs with the same one-two, one-two rhythm, even their left and right feet stepping in sync with Asker.

Mia dashed up a floor with a whoosh, rested for a few seconds, and then continued to dash upwards, soon catching up to Sidlipha and Eleanor.

Running at the rear were Nuo and Medea, who had the worst physical qualities. After reaching the third floor, the two were already out of breath and could only barely climb the stairs while holding onto the handrail.

Although the physical fatigue made them uncomfortable, it was followed by the slow digestion of supernatural power – the mental pleasure brought by this spiritual relaxation made them unable to stop.

Reaching the tenth floor, Eleanor suddenly heard a piercing scream from the corridor next to her.

She vigilantly held her shield and spear and walked towards the corridor, where she saw one of the apartment doors wide open, blood flowing out from under the threshold.

In the living room behind the door, the body of a knight’s squire lay on the ground, blood still flowing out.

The bodies of the male owner and two children lay on the floor next to him. The female owner was kneeling on the ground, holding a bloody fruit knife, her whole body trembling like a sieve.

“What happened?” Eleanor’s voice rang out. The female owner immediately trembled in fear, raised the fruit knife, and screamed: “Don’t come any closer!”

“Don’t worry, I mean no harm.” Eleanor hurriedly put away her spear and said gently, “I’m a… mercenary from Constantinople, not one of those invading Frankish knights. I’m here to fight them.”

“Mercenary, mercenary.” The female owner muttered in a daze, tears streaming down her face. “Aren’t you the police?”

“No.” Eleanor replied.

“We…” The female owner’s eyes were blank, and she said haltingly, “When we went downstairs to take out the garbage, we met this man with a weapon. He chased us all the way into the house… If only I had run faster, I could have closed the door in time…”

Her lips trembled, almost biting them until they bled in regret. Eleanor came to the man and children, squatted down and checked them for a moment, then confirmed their deaths, shook her head, and said in a heavy voice:

“Please accept my condolences, I’ll call the police.”

“No, please don’t call the police!” The woman hurriedly rushed over, hugged Eleanor’s legs, and cried, “You’re a mercenary, right? I’ll give you money, all the valuables in my house! I only have one humble request…”

She raised her head high, her eyes filled with despair:

“Please kill me.”

“What!” Eleanor stepped back in shock.

“As you can see, my husband and children are dead.” The woman’s face was pale, as if she was extremely sad, and she choked with sobs. “The whole world I had has collapsed today. Do you understand? I have nothing left…”

Her throat moved slightly, with a pleading tone of longing for relief, and she continued:

“Instead of continuing to suffer in this world, it’s better to follow the souls of my husband and children to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven.”

“But the Lord does not allow believers to commit suicide, so I can only ask you, even if it’s just to help this poor woman who has lost her entire family…”

“…Let me be free.”

“Sorry.” Eleanor shook her head heavily, with an expression of disbelief and pity. “I can’t harm an unarmed woman.”

“And don’t be impulsive! Although the dead are gone, aren’t there still relatives and friends in this world who care about you? What about your parents?”

“My parents passed away many years ago.” The woman said almost desperately, crawling over to hug her feet. “A happy family was all I had, and it was all devoured by the devil… I beg you, help me! When the police come, I won’t have the chance to die!”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m sorry.” Eleanor could only retreat, fleeing the room almost in a panic. Just as she stepped into the corridor, she heard the sound of the window being forcefully opened behind her.

She hurriedly turned around, her gaze passing over the door and the living room, and saw the woman open the window and jump down without hesitation.

Chapter 62: Questioning and Slaughter

As they continued forward, they saw more bodies by the roadside.

The dead were all innocent citizens of Constantinople, most of whom had been stabbed to death from behind.

Many of the bodies had their wrists or fingers chopped off, for the sake of stealing their watches and rings, so the deaths were extremely gruesome and cruel.

However, none of them were as shocking as the bodies of the mother and child they had seen earlier.

Medea looked through the vision of the mental body and found that Sidlipha’s mental color was blood red, full of killing intent, while Eleanor’s was dark red, full of anger.

Peggy and Mia were blue-green, representing disgust and aversion, while Nuo was dark green, representing sadness and grief.

Even Miel, who always had an indifferent expression, had a mental body that showed a light green, slightly tinged with sadness.

Only Asker’s mental body color was always grayish, like a dull, metallic color.

Calm.

Even seeing this hellish scene, this man remained unshakably calm and rational, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

Medea licked her lips, feeling her curiosity about this man’s soul grow stronger.

Eleanor walked in front with her spear and shield, Sidlipha swaggering beside her with her battle axe on her shoulder.

Mia was already scouting 100 meters ahead, providing basic early warning for the team.

“Three enemies.” Mia’s voice finally came through the radio. “Sixty meters ahead, coming out of the store.”

Following Mia’s directions, the group quickly approached and saw three Frankish knights coming out of the store, almost each wearing colorful, beautiful clothes freshly stripped from corpses. Their pockets were stuffed with rings and watches, and they carried backpacks made of rags on their backs, filled with mobile phones looted from the store.

“Asker.” Eleanor’s low voice came through the radio. “Can you wait for me?”

“You want to do it yourself?” Asker asked.

“I want to ask them a few questions.” Eleanor said.

Asker fell silent. Out of professional habit, he subconsciously wanted to reject this naive and childish behavior, but Medea’s previous words reminded him.

A team bound by interests couldn’t last forever. If their values were incompatible, they would eventually fall apart.

A sense of belonging to the team… he still needed to cultivate it appropriately.

“Go ahead.” Asker said, “Be careful. Sidlipha, go support her.”

“Okay.” Sidlipha readily agreed.

The three Frankish knights walked over, talking and laughing, when they suddenly stopped vigilantly.

Eleanor stood in the middle of the road, looking at them coldly, the spear and shield in her hands reflecting a cold light.

“Do you…” Eleanor asked slowly, “understand what you are doing?”

“Mercenaries of Constantinople?” The Frankish knights drew their greatswords and sabers, but Eleanor’s next sentence stunned them.

“Are you still believers in God?” With Eleanor’s question, the three Frankish knights’ faces immediately turned pale.

“It was your Emperor who broke his promise first!” A Frankish knight shouted. “We are here to kill heretics! But your Emperor promised to pay for the passage, and then he went back on his word. Do you want us to just drift at sea?”

“That’s not an excuse for you to kill!” Eleanor swung her spear heavily, the fierce wind seeming to split gold and crack stone. “Unarmed civilians, mothers and children, you actually dared to lay your hands on them? What about the vows you made before God when you became knights? Aren’t you afraid of going to hell for judgment?”

One of the Frankish knights immediately fell to his knees, his forehead pressed tightly against the ground, his mouth trembling as he muttered words of repentance to God.

The other two Frankish knights looked at each other in panic and hurriedly defended themselves:

“No! We… have the permission of His Holiness! He allowed us to come and restore order in Constantinople…”

These words were impossible to continue. Was the way to maintain order killing and looting? They gradually became incoherent.

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” Eleanor raised her spear vertically, her gaze locked on the knight opposite her.

This was a declaration of war. The two Frankish knights swallowed and raised their weapons, assuming a fighting stance.

However, Eleanor didn’t attack them immediately, but said in a low voice:

“Asker, I’m done asking.”

“Oh.” Asker said, “Then clear the mobs.”

“Can we finally fight?” Sidlipha complained. “You Franks talk so much! We northerners don’t waste words on this kind of thing.”

She took her battle axe in her hand and said:

“Just kill them.”

The two girls instantly charged towards the other side, and the Frankish knights also roared and swung their weapons to meet them.

In an instant, blood splattered from the throat of the Frankish knight on the left, Peggy slashed his throat with a dagger from behind; the Frankish knight on the right raised his head, a bullet hitting his head.

If it were any two Solomons here, they would have already fallen dead.

However, Peggy’s dagger seemed to be cutting through crocodile skin. Even with all her strength, she couldn’t cut through the trachea.

Miel’s bullet was embedded in the knight’s skull, failing to penetrate it.

The physical strength of these two knights had already reached level 4 or above.

“Control the right, focus fire on the left.” Asker said quickly on the channel. “Seize the rigidity!”

Medea immediately looked at the knight on the right and sneered: “A mere Frankish knight is nothing more than this.”

The knight looked up angrily. The moment their eyes met, the knight’s consciousness was controlled, and he stood there in a daze.

His focus on physical strength made him extremely vulnerable in terms of mental resistance, and he couldn’t resist the attack from the mental level at all.

Eleanor and Sidlipha, one after the other, simultaneously approached the knight on the left.

He twisted his body and charged forward like a bull, swinging his greatsword down, Mountain Splitter!

The blade fell, the shield rose. In a split second, Eleanor had already swung her left shield to counterattack. The steel blade and the adamantine shield collided violently, and both of them were knocked back by the force.

Rigidity state.

During their usual training, the knowledge that Asker instilled in them the most was how to seize the opportunity for combos in group battles.

One was the rigidity state caused by blocking or parrying, and the other was the flinching state caused by being attacked.

At this time, seeing the knight’s body slightly leaning back, how could they miss the opportunity? Their bodies instinctively acted according to their training.

In an instant, Sidlipha’s battle axe, Mia and Peggy’s daggers, and Miel’s bullet all focused fire on the knight.

A large amount of flesh exploded from the unarmored areas.

The seriously injured knight swung his greatsword frantically, trying to force the surrounding enemies back. Suddenly another figure appeared in front of him and stabbed him hard.

You? The knight looked at his companion in shock, then fell into a dying coma. The controlled knight’s eyes were blank, and he struck the knight’s head again, killing him instantly.

Then he turned around in a daze, reversed his saber, and slashed his own throat forcefully.

The intense pain brought his mental body back to consciousness from the control. His eyes were full of disbelief as he slumped to the ground.

A large amount of supernatural power overflowed from the bodies of the two knights. Since there were no supernatural characteristics, this supernatural power couldn’t condense into a form, but was slowly absorbed by the others present.

So much! Feeling the abundant spirituality welling up in her body, Sidlipha was instantly excited.

She impatiently turned her head, looked at the knight still kneeling on the ground, and suddenly raised her axe and killed him.

The knight didn’t resist with his physical strength, but calmly accepted the axe blow, dying with a relieved expression as if he had been liberated.

“What are you doing!” Eleanor exclaimed in shock, scolding her.

“Killing the enemy.” Sidlipha replied.

“He has lost his will to fight!” Eleanor shouted angrily. “What’s the difference between what you did and killing an unarmed person?”

“He’s not an unarmed person.” Sidlipha defended herself. “Who killed all the corpses we saw along the way?”

“Those who committed those bloody crimes, can they be spared from being killed just because they suddenly repented and knelt down to confess before they died? Who was the one who said ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed’ just now?”

Eleanor’s face turned livid as she was refuted, unable to speak for a long time. Seeing that the two girls were about to fall out, Asker could only come out to smooth things over:

“Okay, stop arguing. Eleanor, look at the knight’s expression before he died, it’s clearly an expression of relief and peace. He probably had the intention of atoning for his sins with his death. Sidlipha killing him actually fulfilled his own wish.”

Eleanor looked down upon hearing this and indeed found that the knight’s face was calm and peaceful, clearly different from the grim faces of the other two who had been killed.

So her expression softened, she shook her head, and stopped talking.

They continued up the mountain and saw more corpses… and scattered Frankish knights.

These knights’ attributes were extremely unbalanced. All their supernatural power was converted into physical strength, so much so that even bullets could hardly pierce their bodies.

However, their mental strength was similar to that of ordinary humans, so they were easily controlled by Medea with a glance. Then came the merciless focused fire and siege.

At the bottom of a commercial building on the top of the mountain, they encountered the first real threat – a hunting squad of seven Frankish knights, specializing in hunting down nearby defenders and armed forces.

Then, this hunting squad was counter-hunted.

At the beginning of the battle, Medea controlled one of the knights by looking directly into his eyes.

The knight continued to charge forward by inertia, his greatsword spinning and slashing fiercely at his companion next to him.

The other knight was caught off guard and didn’t even have time to block. His huge head flew up into the air.

“Mind-controlling witch! Don’t look her in the eye!” The Frankish knights shouted and immediately split into two groups skillfully.

Two of them quickly engaged the controlled knight, while the other three quickly turned and charged towards Medea with their greatswords.

“Eleanor, move horizontally to intercept, shield block.” Asker ordered.

Eleanor quickly raised her shield and blocked the charge path of the three knights.

The knights raised their greatswords simultaneously and slammed into the shield with the force of their charge. The immense force sent her flying backwards with her armor.

“Sidlipha, Whirlwind Slash straight ahead.” Asker said quickly.

Whirlwind Slash! Sidlipha swung her axes and spun, like a tornado made of blades, quickly rushing towards the three knights.

The knights immediately scattered and dodged, skillfully avoiding her attack. Then Asker said:

“Shadow, left one, focus fire.”

The leftmost knight was retreating when a hand suddenly reached out from the shadow on the ground, holding a dagger and slashing at his ankle. The blade collided heavily with the steel greaves, and the knight’s retreating steps faltered slightly. Suddenly, his head was violently thrown back.

Headshot.

The timing was perfect, catching him the moment he stumbled, causing him to completely lose his balance and fall backwards irrevocably.

Peggy took the opportunity to rush under him at high speed and, with the help of his huge inertia, thrust her dagger straight into his back.

Directly above, Sidlipha had already jumped high with her axe.

Jump Slash!

The axe chopped into his skull, finishing off the Frankish knight. The remaining two knights immediately pounced on Sidlipha.

Miel’s rifle fired with all its might, bullets drawing crisscrossing trajectories in the air.

The knights continued to charge forward, enduring the bullet damage, determined to take down Sidlipha.

Then they saw Asker, alone with his sword, blocking Sidlipha’s way.

Chapter 61: This is War

The Celestial Ninefold Strike, this sword technique was simply a nightmare.

Both for those who faced it in battle and those who tried to learn it.

Peggy only remembered what Asker said at the beginning: “The Celestial Ninefold Strike is a sword technique that focuses on calculation and variation.”

“Every weapon has its own circle. From the shoulder to the hilt is the inner radius, which can draw an inner circle; from the shoulder to the farthest point of the weapon is the outer radius, which can draw an outer circle.”

“The line connecting the inner circle and the outer circle is the cutting edge of your weapon.”

“What Sharp Break of the Celestial Ninefold Strike studies is how to use calculation to make you avoid or block the enemy’s cutting edge while pressing your cutting edge onto the enemy’s body.”

“The inner circle is a circle with a variable inner radius. Its change comes from the rotation of your shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints.”

“Establish a polar coordinate system with yourself as the center, each joint has three parameters, namely the horizontal deflection angle, the vertical deflection angle, and the arm length…”

Peggy couldn’t understand the rest. She only remembered words like “coordinates,” “arc length,” and “quick calculation.” Countless mathematical terms buzzed in her head, almost making it explode.

“Well, how do we calculate this inner radius?” Eleanor was also struggling in this area, poking the ground with a branch in vain. “Do we just add them directly?”

Nuo looked at her curiously as she scribbled on the ground. As a healer, she was originally not interested in the so-called supernatural sword techniques, but when it came to academic issues, it was another matter.

After staring at the geometric shapes on the ground for a moment, Nuo said:

“Assuming the forearm length is x, the horizontal deflection angle is a; the upper arm length is y, the horizontal deflection angle is b.”

“Then, the final inner radius z is equal to the square root of a squared plus b squared minus 2 times a times b times cosine (180 minus a minus b), and the horizontal deflection angle is equal to 90 minus arcsine (y divided by z times sine (180 minus a minus c)).”

Eleanor: ?????????????????????????

“Nuo.” She said hesitantly and with a hint of shame. “Is my brain underdeveloped…”

“This is just the law of cosines and the law of sines.” Nuo said, “You just don’t know how to calculate because you haven’t learned it, it’s not a problem with your brain.”

“Why do I have to know math to learn a sword technique!” Eleanor said tearfully.

“Asker.” Nuo turned and asked Asker. “This theory of yours… unless it’s a Templar Knight with a built-in calculation chip, no ordinary person can calculate it mentally in battle, right?”

“Of course they can’t.” Asker replied. “But they can estimate it, practice makes perfect.”

…

The Galata Bridge of Constantinople had fallen.

As the area across the Golden Horn was occupied by the Franks, the consequences of the Eastern Solomon Empire’s disadvantage quickly became apparent.

Most of the industrial parks were located across the Golden Horn, causing Constantinople to immediately lose most of its ammunition production lines.

In terms of troop quality, the Franks were also physically stronger.

The Holy Solomon Empire and the West Frankish Kingdom were both agricultural countries that had not yet completed their initial industrialization. Most of their territories were undeveloped natural wilderness, a paradise for supernatural creatures to live and reproduce.

Frankish military nobles also had the habit of hunting supernatural creatures in autumn, so they had accumulated a lot of supernatural power in their bodies over the years.

Since the Church did not allow believers to take potions, although these Frankish knights were all level 0, their physical strength was almost comparable to that of normal level 4 Transcendents under long-term military training.

Bullets could pierce their armor, but they couldn’t kill them instantly.

Unless they were hit in the heart or head, these Frankish knights, even if they were sprayed with a burst of bullets, could still charge forward, bathed in blood.

In contrast, the Eastern Solomon Empire, which had long completed its industrialization, most of its soldiers had never even seen a supernatural creature in their lives. Their fragile bodies made them almost unable to withstand a single blow from a Frankish knight.

Therefore, in the battle for the Galata Bridge, it was basically the Constantinople defenders firing with all their might, suppressing the charge of the Frankish knights with a torrent of steel.

Due to the insufficient supply of ammunition, this tactic soon became unsustainable, and they withdrew from the Galata Bridge at six o’clock in the morning.

Subsequently, Constantinople began to urgently mobilize mercenaries, led by the Norman mercenaries of the Royal Shield Guard, and engaged in street fighting with the Frankish knights who had entered the main city.

Although Asker and his team had gained a lot from the arena incident, they were still in Constantinople after all, and it was not convenient for them to openly change their weapons.

Coming to the Mercenary Guild, they saw that all the quests on the big screen had been removed and replaced with quests to fight the Frankish invaders, issued by the imperial military.

“It’s time for you to experience the war storyline.” Asker said, “Unlike dungeons, the enemy spawn pattern in war is completely random, and there is no distinction between mobs and bosses, and there are almost no drops.”

“The only advantage is that killing enemies in war allows you to plunder a large amount of supernatural power from them, thus quickly improving your attributes.”

The girls were a little nervous upon hearing this, only Sidlipha, the war maniac, was overjoyed and kept urging:

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s go kill some people!”

“Don’t be hasty.” Asker knocked on the counter and asked, “Where is the fighting most intense now?”

“The Franks have crossed the Galata Bridge and destroyed the Drungarius Gate and the St. George Gate.” The guild receptionist had also been replaced by a military clerk, who said mechanically and quickly:

“In the northeast of the Seventh District, the Shield Guard is defending the Hagia Irene, preventing them from advancing towards the Great Palace. You can go there.”

“Then let’s go there.” Asker said, “What’s the fastest route?”

“Take the M2 military train line, get off at Zeugma Station, and then go east all the way.” The military clerk said.

“Can you support us with radio resources?” Asker asked.

The military clerk looked at him in surprise, seemingly not expecting this mercenary to understand command. He pointed to the quartermaster opposite and said:

“Military radio communication equipment, you can go to the opposite side and get a portable transceiver base station and a dozen walkie-talkies.”

So Asker went to get the radio equipment and distributed the walkie-talkies to the girls.

“No more mental communication?” Medea asked.

“After Eleanor puts on the magic copper armor, your mental communication won’t be able to penetrate it. How are we going to communicate on the battlefield?” Asker replied. “Use both military radio and mental communication.”

Everyone put on their headsets as instructed. Nuo adjusted the portable base station, and Asker’s rustling voice came from the headset:

“Listen up, we will now execute the team combat regulations. Everyone must strictly obey orders and keep the channel clear.”

“Every order issued must be executed immediately. Understand?”

“Understood.” The girls responded one after another on the radio.

“Let’s go.” Asker said.

Everyone went down to the subway station and saw that the tables and chairs in the waiting hall had been pushed aside, and all kinds of military green boxes of various sizes piled up half of the hall.

Mercenaries were lining up to board the special train, and several imperial soldiers were directing the queue roughly:

“The next train is here! Get on! Get on! Get on!”

The train doors opened, and the mercenaries immediately swarmed in. Asker and the others also hurriedly followed suit, crowding the entire carriage.

The subway started moving again, and the carriage was filled with heavy breathing and the smell of sweat. The girls frowned in discomfort.

As there were no stops in between, the train soon arrived at Zeugma Station.

The mercenaries got off the train in a chaotic manner and saw that the end of the subway tunnel had been blocked by military bunkers and heavy machine guns were set up – this tunnel led to the Galata Peninsula across the Golden Horn, which was now occupied by the enemy.

Back on the surface, the mercenaries dispersed, each looking for their companions.

The main force chose to head east along the road, while Asker led the girls south, detouring towards the Third Hill.

“Occupy the high ground first.” He said.

The Third Hill was a slightly elevated mound, with residential buildings and apartment buildings built along the slope. At this time, flames and black smoke could be seen rising from the upper floors of several buildings.

They walked up the stone-paved road and then saw a child’s body in the middle of the road.

The small child was lying on the ground on their back, probably only three or four years old, their black curly hair stained with mud and blood.

Next to them lay the body of their mother, her hands reaching out towards the child’s body. Blood trailed from five or six meters away, showing obvious signs of dragging.

Apparently, the mother had crawled five or six meters in a pool of blood before she died, before she could even reach her child’s small body.

Eleanor was the most affected by this tragic scene. Her azure blue eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief and shock.

Putting down her spear and shield, she picked up the child’s body, her throat choked with sobs, not knowing what to say.

The child’s body lay in her arms with its eyes closed, for a moment, it seemed as if the little angel was just sleeping, but the warm and sticky feeling quickly stung her hands, pulling her back from the illusion to the cold reality.

“Asker.” Nuo hid behind him in fear, grabbed his arm, and said tremblingly, “This… what a brutal act…”

“This is war.” Asker replied.

Eleanor carried the child and came to the mother’s body, gently turning her over. Everyone saw that the mother’s skirt had been roughly torn open, and there was sticky blood between her legs.

Placing the child’s body in the mother’s arms, Eleanor took out the cotton cloth used to wrap her spear and wrapped the lower half of the mother’s body. She turned around and said:

“Asker, let’s bury them.”

Asker sighed and said, “Bury them.”

Sidlipha went to the flower bed by the roadside and quickly dug a deep pit with her battle axe. Together with Eleanor, she placed the two bodies in the pit and then filled it back up with soil.

“Although the souls of those who do not die in battle cannot go to Valhalla,” Sidlipha said, “Cowards who wantonly kill innocent women and children will surely fall into the abyss of Hel, suffering eternal torment in cold and darkness.”

“Let’s go.” Eleanor said slowly. “Let’s not wait for judgment after death.”

“I want to see the consequences now.” She picked up the spear and shield on the ground and looked towards the top of the mountain.

Chapter 60: Sharp Break

“Say, wouldn’t it be great if Mia’s ‘plunder everything’ personality could be shared with Eleanor a little?” Medea chatted with Asker through their mental connection. “Every time she gets hung up on moral issues, it drives me crazy.”

“She’s the kind of person who believes in absolute good and evil.” Asker replied. “In her world, there is a clear line between good and evil.”

“Although such people can be too stubborn about certain things, at least in the same team, you can trust them to have your back, right?”

“In contrast, I’m not that trustworthy, am I?” Medea asked rhetorically. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have signed ordinary contracts with them and a soul contract with me.”

“That’s because you and I were temporarily hostile before signing the contract, so I added an extra layer of insurance.” Asker said frankly. “Actually, whether it’s a written contract or a soul contract, it’s not the only factor that holds a team together.”

“The most important thing is whether the team can bring enough benefits to everyone.”

“It seems that you and I are the same kind of people.” Medea chuckled. “Benefits are indeed the premise of cooperation. But besides benefits, are there really no other factors that can hold a team together? For example, feelings?”

“Feelings are unreliable.” Asker shook his head. “Even brothers who start a business together may turn against each other after they become successful, let alone ordinary friends.”

“What about girlfriends?” Medea asked meaningfully.

Asker: ???

“I’m just giving an example.” Medea said. “For example, a husband and wife starting a business together is more secure and stable than brothers starting a business together.”

“That’s because husbands and wives have joint property, while brothers go their separate ways after dividing the family property, which is why they are so meticulous about every detail, penny-pinching.”

“Now you are using supernatural power to win people over, simply because everyone’s level is still low, and they temporarily need you to guide them in the supernatural world. As their rank increases, the corresponding potion formulas and materials will become increasingly difficult to find, right?”

“Even you can’t take care of the upgrade needs of seven girls at the same time. There will always be a priority order. Naturally, those who are taken care of first have nothing to say, but wouldn’t those whose order is delayed have complaints?”

At this point, Medea sneered and continued: “At that time, they will inevitably think, since the team prioritizes supplying resources to others, why can’t I leave the team and go solo?”

“Maybe the efficiency of finding potion formulas and materials would be even higher if they acted alone.”

“Then, what will you use to maintain this team? Can you simultaneously provide high-level potion formulas or materials for everyone? Do you have that ability?”

“You mean…” Asker pondered.

“People come together for profit, and they will also separate for profit.” Medea chuckled. “However, if it’s a silly girl like Nuo, even if you stop supplying her with potions later, she will still follow you wholeheartedly, right? This is the advantage of using feelings to maintain a team.”

“My personal principle is to never bring feelings into work.” Asker said seriously. “Besides, manipulating feelings to control people’s hearts is even more unreliable than binding them with interests.”

“You misunderstood what I meant.” Medea said, “Although the Solomon Church advocates monogamy, secular laws cannot restrain Transcendents.”

“Seljuk men can marry up to four wives. If you work harder in this area, maybe our team will become one big family, and then there will be no talk of who comes first and who comes last. Everyone’s interests will be aligned.”

“Are you serious?” Asker asked after a long silence.

“No, I’m just kidding.” Medea’s voice echoed in the mental connection. “I just think it would be fun to see that happen.”

“A harem situation can only happen in novels.” Asker said. “It’s impossible in reality. Even secret lovers kept by wealthy families will fight for favor, let alone bringing them out in the open.”

“Yeah.” Medea sighed. “If any woman dared to steal my husband, I would definitely kill the adulterous couple.”

“The premise is that you have to have a husband first.” Asker said.

Medea’s face darkened and she said, “I will. That prophet said last time that there will be a lover in my destiny.”

“Then he must not be afraid of fire.” Asker joked. “Maybe he’s a blacksmith or a cook or something.”

“You damn Asker!” Medea shouted angrily. “When I overcome my androphobia, the first thing I’ll do is strangle you to death!”

She gritted her teeth and cut off the connection, stood there with a cold face for a while, and then a smug smile appeared on her face:

“Ending the conversation in such a hurry? So this is your weakness…”

About ten minutes later, the three girls who had taken the potions came back.

Eleanor looked a little tired, as if she had consumed too much strength and spirituality in the process of resisting losing control.

Miel’s little face was still indifferent, only Sidlipha was full of energy, as if she had just fought a hearty battle, her whole being invigorated.

“Asker!” She shouted, waving her battle axe. “Come and spar with me!”

“What?” Asker said, putting his hand on his sword. “After taking Strength X, you found that your physical qualities have become stronger?”

“My strength has at least tripled!” Sidlipha exclaimed exaggeratedly. “You’re definitely no match for me now!”

“Then let’s have a duel and see?” Asker said.

“Should we stop them?” Eleanor asked weakly from the side.

“Forget it.” Nuo shook her head. “Too much arrogance… It’s good for her to learn a lesson.”

Sidlipha’s eyes burned with a burning fighting spirit. She held the axe in her left hand horizontally in front of her chest, and dragged the axe in her right hand behind her, calmly approaching Asker step by step.

“Lower the left axe a little, the stance is mainly for deception.” Asker said, putting his hand on his sword.

“Oh.” Sidlipha subconsciously responded and lowered her left arm slightly… Then she suddenly reacted and shouted:

“That’s not right! We’re in a duel now, not training!”

“It’s the same for me.” Asker said. The girls around them burst into laughter.

Sidlipha immediately became furious, charged forward half a step, then jumped, and slammed her battle axe down.

Asker just lightly stepped back half a step and dodged her jump attack, saying:

“Miscalculated the distance, didn’t you?”

“Mind your own business!” Sidlipha swung her arms horizontally, Whirlwind Slash!

Asker rolled backwards, quickly retreating. As he got up, he suddenly thrust forward, aiming right between Sidlipha’s eyes.

His sword was too high, the Whirlwind Slash couldn’t block it, she would be hit!

Sidlipha judged in a split second and immediately stopped the Whirlwind Slash, raising her left axe to try to parry.

Asker’s sword thrust suddenly paused, dodging the battle axe with a strange change of speed, and continued to thrust towards Sidlipha at high speed.

Sidlipha hurriedly retreated, her right battle axe trying to block again.

Asker’s wrist vibrated slightly, and the angle of the sword instantly changed, barely grazing the top of the axe handle, and once again thrusting towards Sidlipha’s eyes.

God, what kind of strange swordsmanship is this! Sidlipha was shocked and hurriedly hopped back to dodge.

Asker stepped forward in pursuit, his sword thrusting straight at Sidlipha’s throat in mid-air.

She immediately swung her axe down, but Asker’s sword shifted horizontally again, narrowly avoiding the axe’s downward slash and piercing her left shoulder.

“What kind of swordsmanship is that?” Eleanor was watching intently when she heard Peggy ask beside her, her tone solemn.

“You don’t know either?” Eleanor asked in surprise.

“I’ve never seen it before.” Peggy shook her head. She had been with Asker the longest and was the most familiar with his fighting moves, so she could be sure that she had never seen Asker use this swordsmanship before.

“The sword movements are very simple, all straight thrusts, and the attack speed is not very fast. But why couldn’t Sidlipha even parry one attack? It’s like she’s deliberately letting him hit her.”

“It’s not the speed of the sword, it’s the timing.” Eleanor observed carefully for a moment and said, “Each of his thrusts changes at the last moment of Sidlipha’s parry, so her reaction speed can’t keep up at all.”

“Is this kind of swordsmanship something that humans can use?” Peggy stared for a long time, finally shocked.

Sidlipha retreated a few steps, blood gushing from her shoulder. Asker’s sword had pierced the gap between her chest armor and shoulder armor, the pain spreading from the wound, but it fueled her fighting spirit.

“You’ve already died once.” Asker said calmly.

The thrust just now, just a little lower, would have hit Sidlipha’s heart – if not for the armor protection.

“Again!” Sidlipha roared.

She lowered her body and charged forward, her two battle axes slashing alternately.

This was the “Mantis Cut” that Asker had recently taught her. She had been learning it for a long time but hadn’t mastered it. Now, in her rage, she used it smoothly.

Mantis Cut, the attack rhythm of the two weapons was completely staggered. When the left weapon was halfway through its swing, the right weapon had just begun to swing, thus forming a super high-frequency rhythm twice the normal attack speed.

Anyone present would be flustered in the face of the speed of Mantis Cut, except for Asker.

He held his sword horizontally with both hands, a simple thrust, and hit Sidlipha’s axe-wielding right hand.

Then the two passed each other, Sidlipha fell forward to the ground, a long, narrow wound blooming on her waist and abdomen.

“Nuo, heal her.” Asker sheathed his sword.

“It’s too dangerous!” Nuo anxiously helped Sidlipha up, pressing Healing Touch on the wound on her waist. “How could you be so heavy-handed?”

“It’s better for her to be injured by me than by the enemy later.” Asker said lightly. “At least I’ll hold back.”

“But…” Nuo looked at her blood-stained hands tremblingly.

“Although there’s a lot of bleeding, the internal organs aren’t injured, I know my limits.” Asker said, “She should be awake now.”

Sidlipha groaned, opened her eyes, looked at Nuo who was healing her, and said in a confused voice: “What… happened to me?”

“You took the Strength X potion and were affected by the heterologous emotions inside.” Asker said, “You became extremely combative and aggressive. This emotion must be vented in time, otherwise it will remain in your mental body and cause a permanent personality shift. Medea?”

“Checking.” Medea said with her arms crossed. She was the first to notice the abnormality in Sidlipha’s consciousness and quickly informed Asker privately. “There seems to be a little influence left, deep in her mental body.”

“Then draw it out, make it clean.” Asker said.

“Asker.” Peggy and Eleanor came forward and asked hesitantly, “What kind of swordsmanship did you use just now?”

“Celestial Ninefold Strike, Sharp Break.” Asker smiled. “Want to learn it? I can teach you.”

Chapter 59: Counting the Spoils

Inside Furnace Island, Medea was giving Nuo a lesson.

The alluring red-haired beauty crossed her arms, assuming the posture of a “veteran,” and said to Nuo with her chin raised:

“Men, you have to categorize them into different species. Most men are like stupid pigs, in heat 365 days a year, and can’t help but try to mount any beautiful female they see.”

“But there are also some rare species. For example, our esteemed captain, he’s like a proud feline.”

“It’s impossible to deal with felines by simply waiting for them to chase you because felines are basically lone wolves. But if you try to cling to them, you’ll only be seen as cheap.”

Nuo blushed furiously, wishing she could dig a hole and bury herself.

She and Eleanor naturally wouldn’t tell Medea about their personal matters. However, the latter had psychic abilities, and Nuo had been absent-minded these past few days, her thoughts practically written on her face. There was no way she could hide them from Medea, the veteran schemer.

“Then what should I do?” Nuo asked hesitantly.

“The important thing is to maintain a subtle sense of distance!” Medea wrote a line of words on the ground with a branch she used as a pointer. “Too close, and he won’t value you; too distant, and he will neglect you.”

“Only by using the methods of a female cat to deal with a male cat, first maintain a good distance, then casually flirt with him, making his heart flutter, and then quickly maintain a polite and distant attitude, letting him feel a sense of loss, then flirt with him again.”

“It’s like flying a kite, letting go and pulling back, letting go and pulling back.”

“This…” Nuo hesitated. It didn’t seem difficult to do this, but why did she feel like a scheming bitch?

Medea read her mind again and immediately scolded her in frustration:

“What do you mean scheming bitch? My God, Nuo, are you questioning the precious experience that love experts have accumulated over thousands of years!”

“Listen, directly licking his fur will never end well, confessing will only get you rejected, and being rejected will lead to being distanced!”

“Your current situation is already very dangerous, it’s like being hit on the forehead with a Lion’s Fang, and you’ll be split and cracked in the next moment!”

“Uh.” Nuo couldn’t help but laugh. “Your analogy…”

“How could I say such a thing?!” Medea also facepalmed in frustration, thinking that she must have been trained too hard by Asker before and brainwashed by his teaching content. She quickly corrected herself:

“Anyway, you understand what I mean. You can’t be too close to him, of course, you can’t be too distant either. The key lies in these four words: ‘keeping him at arm’s length.’”

Just as she was talking about her love secrets, she heard the girls’ exclamations from across the way.

The two hurriedly got up and ran over, and saw that countless boxes and cabinets had appeared on the open space, and more things were still being teleported in.

Asker walked to one of the cabinets and opened the door, revealing rows of neatly arranged potions inside.

Although they were all level I potions from the Gladiator Sequence and the Cornerstone Sequence, they were enough to solve the urgent needs of some members of the team.

“Wow!” The girls saw what was inside the cabinet and gasped.

Blunt Weapon I, Projectile I, Dodge I, Block I… Asker counted them with satisfaction.

For the “Weapon Master” bloodline, levels 1-5 were all potions from the Gladiator Sequence, which meant that he had all the potions before level 5.

He was the biggest beneficiary of this incident.

Of course, other girls also urgently needed potions from the Gladiator or Cornerstone Sequence, such as Eleanor’s “Crusader,” Sidlipha’s “Titan,” and Miel’s “Destiny Archer.” The former needed “Perfect Physique X” and “Block I,” while the latter two needed the Cornerstone Sequence’s “Strength X” and “Agility X” to lay the foundation.

Not to mention, after the team’s second expansion, they were about to enter the era of all Transcendents.

With a “whoosh,” Mia’s figure appeared from the air, she rolled and landed steadily, then stood up and let out a sigh of relief as if she was still in shock:

“That scared me to death, the demigod came so fast, I almost didn’t escape…”

Her eyes fell on the boxes and cabinets, and she immediately exclaimed excitedly: “Holy crap! We’re rich, we’re rich, we’re rich!”

“Everyone, move these things into the house.” Asker said.

So the girls excitedly started moving things, and in less than ten minutes, they had moved everything away. Then came the happy unboxing session.

“3,000 pounds in cash!” Mia exclaimed as she opened a folder.

“This armor looks very powerful.” Sidlipha circled a suit of armor on a rack, touching and squeezing it. “It’s quite heavy.”

“That’s magic copper armor.” Asker said, “Magic copper is a high-grade mineral, in addition to its hard material, its most important characteristic is magic resistance.”

“Wearing this full-body magic copper armor, all supernatural powers cannot affect the wearer inside, especially abilities like Mind, Spirit, or Desire.”

“Then who should wear this?” Medea asked, frowning.

Blocking her psychic abilities? This wasn’t a good thing, it felt like she had been cheating during exams all the time, and suddenly a classmate wouldn’t let her cheat anymore.

“Give it to Eleanor.” Asker said, “Control-resistant equipment should be given to the MT first. The meteorite armor can be given to Sidlipha to wear, stacking defense for the main DPS.”

After spending so much time together, the girls had more or less adapted to Asker’s strange terms.

For example, MT(Main Tank) mainly referred to the defender, responsible for attracting enemy fire; DPS referred to the attacker, focusing on dealing damage on the battlefield.

Everyone understood these terms, so they nodded in agreement with Asker’s allocation.

“What’s this?” Eleanor held a spear and a shield.

“Adamantine material.” Asker said, “Adamantine has similar strength to steel, but better toughness. Its main advantage is that it can be engraved with runes or magic circles inside, which can exert special supernatural abilities – however, they obviously don’t have any runes engraved, so they are just ordinary green-named weapons.”

“What about this?” Peggy picked up a short sword.

“The Church’s military titanium alloy material.” Asker said, “Both strength and toughness are better than steel, and it’s lighter.”

“Are there any battle axes? Are there any battle axes?” Sidlipha shouted eagerly.

“Dagger!” Mia held up a dagger. “Asker, what is this dagger?”

Asker took the dagger and looked it over and over again, then used a Spirit Identification Scroll. Finally, he concluded:

“It’s an ordinary dagger.”

“Eh!!!” Mia protested. “How is that possible? This dagger was also taken from that warehouse, how can it be an ordinary dagger? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake!”

“Do you want to identify it yourself?” Asker asked back.

Mia threw the dagger on the ground dejectedly and continued to rummage through the boxes.

“Potion formulas, potions, cash…” Nuo was sorting out the odds and ends, and the more she sorted, the more shocked she became. She couldn’t help but ask:

“Asker, Mia, did you two rob the warehouse of some secret sect?”

“The Grand Arena of Constantinople.” Mia replied.

The girls looked at each other. After a while, Eleanor stood up and said hesitantly: “This isn’t good…”

“What’s not good about it?” Medea frowned. “Eleanor, put away your unnecessary sense of justice. I remember your next potion is ‘Perfect Physique X’? There’s a bottle in that cabinet!”

“If the source of this potion is questionable, I won’t drink it.” Eleanor insisted.

Everyone was speechless.

Asker facepalmed helplessly and thought for a moment before saying:

“Eleanor, I understand your persistence. But…”

He stood up and said eloquently: “If this potion hadn’t been taken out by us, do you know what would happen next? Constantinople would be captured by the Seljuks, and all these things would fall into the hands of the Seljuks.”

“Yes.” Medea also “understood” what he meant and immediately echoed. “The Seljuks are a very brutal nomadic people. Their war custom is to kill men taller than a saber, kill older women, and only keep young women and children to strengthen their tribe.”

“Every extra resource you leave for them will help them train one more warrior, and more innocent civilians will die in the future.”

Asker looked at her speechlessly. Aren’t you, Medea, also of Seljuk descent? Isn’t this scolding yourself?

Eleanor was stunned. She subconsciously wanted to retort, how do you know that Constantinople will definitely be captured by the Seljuks in the future?

However, Asker had a long history of “being prophetic,” and he had also communicated with the fortune teller Zhang Sanfeng in private that day, so he might have already glimpsed some clues from the river of fate.

She didn’t have any evidence to question him now. If she did, she might be proven wrong in the future.

But Eleanor still had her principles in this regard, and she said stubbornly:

“This is consequentialism. Even if the result might be… uh, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, it was ultimately obtained through dishonorable means, I can’t drink it.”

“Isn’t this deontology then?” Asker said, both amused and annoyed. “How about this, this potion was stolen by Mia, so it temporarily belongs to her. Mia!”

“Huh?” Mia looked up from the box with a confused expression.

“I’ll buy this ‘Perfect Physique X’ potion from you for 100 pounds, how about that?” Asker asked with a smile.

“Okay, okay!” Mia nodded repeatedly.

Although she didn’t know why Asker had to buy the potion again when they already had it, as long as she got the money, everything was okay.

“Now this potion is mine.” Asker turned to Eleanor and said, “I’m giving it to you.”

“Asker…” Eleanor also had a dumbfounded expression. Are you treating me like a fool with this performance?

“In the end, it was still stolen…” She made one last effort.

“Come on, when you buy something in a store outside, do you ever worry about whether the store owner’s purchase channels are legal?” Asker said in surprise. “If something has changed hands a dozen times, and just one of those times was illegal, you wouldn’t want it anymore?”

“This is moral purity, Eleanor! It’s a serious mental illness!”

“I…” Eleanor was speechless.

Although there seemed to be nothing wrong with his logic, why did she still feel a little awkward?

She stared at the white bottle of Perfect Physique X potion, her heart in turmoil. To take it, or not to take it?

In the end, the desire to compromise and become stronger prevailed. Eleanor sighed and took the potion from the cabinet.

Medea, who was secretly manipulating Desire in her sleeve, breathed a sigh of relief.

The three girls went to take their potions. Sidlipha and Miel were both level 0 newbies, so there was almost no risk of losing control. Eleanor was level 1 and taking a different Sequence to advance to level 2, so there was a possibility of losing control, so Nuo went to look after her.

Asker looked at the list that Nuo had compiled, thinking about something, when Mia ran over excitedly and said:

“Asker! I just had a new idea! There are many places like the Grand Arena in Constantinople.”

“We can visit them one by one and loot everything. If a demigod comes after us, we’ll just escape to Furnace Island!”

“Okay.” Asker said, “Where do you want to go?”

“The Palace of the Golden Throne! The Hagia Sophia!” Mia shouted, “The Palace of Blachernae!”

This girl even wanted to go to Theodora’s bedroom… Asker silently sweated and said:

“First, the Palace of the Golden Throne and the Palace of Blachernae don’t have potions or supernatural materials. Except for the Grand Arena, which needs to give prizes to the champions every day, few places store a large number of potions or equipment.”

“Second, the Hagia Sophia does have them, but do you dare to go?”

“What’s there to be afraid of.” Mia said, “I’ll just hide in the semi-plane…”

“And leave the book behind?” Asker asked back. “A demigod might not be able to find it with a rough spiritual scan of the whole area. But if they focus their spirituality on this book, they will quickly find out.”

“Then they’ll take this book to the lab, set up a spatial confinement, and we’ll be trapped in the semi-plane and starve to death.”

“Then why didn’t that demigod just now…” Mia still wanted to argue.

“Because Sequence I potions and formulas are not valuable to demigods, they are just numbers representing wealth.” Medea said from the side. “Even in the supernatural gatherings outside, most Sequence I potion formulas can be bought as long as you have the money.”

“Sequence II will be a bit difficult, and Sequence III is almost impossible to buy directly, you can only get some clues.”

“If you go to the Hagia Sophia and steal their Sequence III and Sequence IV potions, the Church will definitely not let it go.” She sneered. “Wherever you disappear, the Church will completely seal off that place and search every grain of dust.”

Mia sat down on the ground dejectedly, sighing.

Chapter 58: Plundering the Grand Arena

History records that when the Venetian ships loaded with Frankish knights suddenly and unreasonably barged into the Golden Horn, the first reaction of the Constantinople defenders was bewilderment.

When the news reached the Golden Throne Palace, the two Empresses were also dumbfounded, and even subconsciously asked their ministers to confirm whether the alarm was mistaken.

After all, Constantinople had not been invaded for hundreds of years.

The Franks landed on the Galata Peninsula, which had no city walls for protection, directly across the Golden Horn from Constantinople’s main urban area, and quickly occupied the nearby industrial park.

The scattered police and magistrates were no match for these knights.

The remaining defenders could only retreat to the main urban area along the Galata Bridge and, together with the capital guards who rushed to the scene, began to set up a machine gun defense line along the Galata Bridge.

On the Thracian plain not far away, the girls were horrified to discover that black smoke was already rising from Constantinople behind the city walls.

“I have always been teaching and training you in martial arts.” Asker, walking at the front, said leisurely, “However, in real war, in addition to personal martial prowess, strategy is also a very important factor.”

“When you encounter such a sudden event, you must immediately adapt: 1. Quickly assess the situation; 2. Decide how to respond; 3. Immediately implement the countermeasures.”

“Now, everyone discuss these two questions: 1. What happened? 2. How should we respond?” He looked at the girls leisurely, throwing out two questions.

Seeing Asker’s calm demeanor, everyone who was originally uneasy also calmed down. Mia was the first to speak:

“What else could it be? There’s a fire, there must be unrest in the city! Maybe the Seljuks have arrived at the city and started to attack!”

“Impossible.” Medea immediately retorted. “We are so close to Constantinople. If the Seljuk army had arrived at the city, they would definitely send scout cavalry to patrol behind the siege formation – but we haven’t encountered any enemies along the way.”

“So rule out the possibility of the Seljuks attacking the city.” Asker said with his arms crossed. “Continue.”

“Is there a possibility of civil unrest in the city?” Nuo asked.

“That’s the most likely possibility.” Eleanor analyzed. “It is said that when Constantinople was first built, it was often attacked by hill giant tribes from the Thracian plain, so the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople were built extremely large. They are over 100 meters high, with three layers, and there are a large number of machine gun towers, mortar emplacements, and watchtowers distributed among them. Any location outside the walls will be simultaneously attacked by crossfire from at least three machine guns, so it is almost impossible for it to be successfully invaded from the outside.”

“Not necessarily.” Asker said, “There is no fortress that cannot be breached.”

“Another famous saying is that fortresses are always breached from within.” Eleanor added. “So I think the possibility of civil unrest in Constantinople is the greatest.”

“The possibility of external enemies is not impossible.” Medea offered a different opinion. “The Golden Horn coast has the largest container terminal in the world. The frequent flow of commercial goods in and out makes it impossible to cover this direction with city walls, nor is it possible to achieve perfect urban defense and security.”

“If there are external enemies invading, they will definitely choose to break through from the Golden Horn.”

“There are navigation locks outside the Galata Bridge, and iron chains can be raised at any time to block the waterway.” Eleanor retorted. “The defenders of Constantinople wouldn’t be unaware of this?”

“Come on, you’re also half a foot into the supernatural world, you should know that there are too many supernatural means to deal with this kind of situation.” Medea said disapprovingly. “Disguise as friendly ships to sneak in, use psychic powers to control the operators, etc. I can list 10,000 ways to make those navigation locks fail.”

Seeing that the two of them were about to have a heated debate, Asker hurriedly said:

“So, it’s obvious that there is unrest in Constantinople, the question is whether it’s civil unrest or an invasion by external enemies.”

“No matter what the reason is, the order in the city will definitely be out of control to a certain extent. So what should we do next to maximize the interests of our team?”

Everyone looked at each other. Eleanor and Medea thought of the key point at the same time and exclaimed:

“Potion materials!”

…

It was not only Asker and his team who had their eyes on Constantinople.

Almost all cities that relied heavily on mercenaries faced similar problems: in times of strength, mercenaries could greatly supplement your combat power; in times of weakness, mercenaries would turn around and bare their fangs.

The last emperor of the Western Solomon Empire was killed by a foreign mercenary leader, causing the entire country to collapse overnight.

With the deterrent power of the giant walls of Constantinople, most mercenaries still didn’t believe that the capital would fall, so they temporarily remained well-behaved.

Only a few greedy mercenaries – about a thousand people in total – began to loot the city wantonly.

Then they were basically all ruthlessly suppressed by the Paladin troops sent by the Church.

As the headquarters of the Orthodox Church, Constantinople certainly stored countless supernatural materials, but its supernatural power was also second to none.

Even if they could no longer manufacture powered armor, the existing stock was enough to crush these thousand mercenaries hundreds of times. High-frequency vibration swords and jet engine warhammers directly sent these lawless elements to meet God.

Every time Asker and his team walked a certain distance, they would see the corpses of dead mercenaries by the roadside, basically either beheaded or crushed to pieces, their deaths more gruesome than the last. In the mental channel, Nuo’s worried voice rang out:

“Asker…”

“It’s okay.” Asker replied. “Everyone, stay calm.”

So they could only pretend to be calm, passing by the vigilant gazes of the police on the roadside.

Constantinople was much more desolate now. Most of the shops were closed, and there were only a few pedestrians on the streets, wearing hats and masks, hurrying along, covering themselves tightly even in the summer heat.

Arriving at the Grand Arena of Constantinople, the nearby streets were surprisingly clean, without any debris, corpses, or bloodstains from the riots.

After all, the people inside the arena were all used to killing, and no hot-headed mercenaries dared to target the arena for now.

Except for Asker.

Staying in a nearby inn until late at night, Asker and Mia came to the street outside.

In the distance, in the direction of the Golden Horn, there was still fire blazing into the sky, and the faint sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard every few minutes.

It seemed that the Franks hadn’t broken through the Galata Bridge’s defenses yet, otherwise, the main city wouldn’t be as peaceful as it was now.

Walking into the arena with Mia, Asker skillfully climbed over the iron fence and walked towards the Hall of Honor.

Suddenly, he stretched out his arm to stop Mia and pointed to the ceiling with his other hand.

There were cameras.

Mia confidently patted her chest, meaning: Cameras are no problem, I have rich experience in dealing with them, you just go back to Furnace Island first.

Asker suddenly shuddered, God knows how he read so much meaning from her one action.

Had his thinking already synchronized with this little girl?

Asker, who had been here before, had already memorized the internal route, so he stuffed the map he had drawn in advance to Mia and then extended his spirituality, teleporting back to Furnace Island.

Mia tiptoed to the shadows in the corner, activated the Shadow I supernatural characteristic, and slowly “melted” into it.

In the Shadow Vision, her body had transformed into a gray spirit body, able to move freely in the darkness.

The light in the environment turned into countless dense clusters of lines, as sharp as blades. Once her spirit body touched these clusters of lines, she would suffer a certain amount of spiritual damage.

She bypassed the surveillance range of the cameras from the darkness. Ahead was a corridor, the moonlight outside the window spilling onto the ground, which, in Mia’s eyes, were countless sharp and dangerous lines, so she could only exit Shadow Vision and return to reality.

There was a surveillance camera at the end of the corridor, pointing towards her. If she moved forward rashly, she would definitely be caught on camera.

Mia didn’t dare to gamble on whether there was anyone in the monitoring room now, but she had rich experience in dealing with this kind of situation.

She took out chewing gum from her pocket, tore off the wrapper, put it in her mouth and chewed it hard a few times, then took it out with two fingers and applied superglue to the remaining part.

Throw!

The chewing gum stuck firmly two centimeters away from the camera. It missed… Mia silently sweated, fortunately Asker wasn’t here.

There were two more packs of chewing gum in her pocket, so she took out another piece and chewed it, repeating the process. This time, the chewing gum accurately stuck to the camera lens.

In the monitoring room, one of the screens suddenly went black without warning. The staff on duty stood up in confusion, intending to go to that location to check.

He thought the camera was probably broken…

Following the route on the map Asker gave her, Mia re-entered Shadow Vision and quickly arrived at the door of the Hall of Honor.

This was where the “Daily Champion” received their award every day, and the prizes were in the warehouse next door. The spiritual pressure generated by the many supernatural items piled together made Mia, a Transcendental, sense it from more than ten meters away, her heart pounding with excitement.

However, a bigger problem was that the warehouse was covered by a spiritual wall and an infrared monitoring network. No matter how she broke in, it would definitely alert the entire arena.

This wasn’t even the most troublesome part. According to Asker, the owner behind this arena was a demigod.

In the current magic tide stage, demigods generally wouldn’t take action because the spirituality they consumed couldn’t be replenished.

However, once his property was looted, the demigod of this arena would definitely not sit idly by.

Then they would have to face the pursuit of a demigod, as well as the city-wide search by the Church of Constantinople.

This was not a fun thing. In the “Iron and Fire” game world of her previous life, if you provoked a demigod, you might as well commit suicide.

Otherwise, if you fell into their hands, your account might be ruined.

Demigods had no shortage of means to permanently harm Transcendents.

Replaying the “strategy” plan Asker had formulated for her in her mind, Mia took a deep breath and took out the lockpicks from her bag.

People die for wealth, just as birds die for food. I’m going for it!

The lockpicks were inserted into the keyhole, and Mia skillfully fiddled with them twice. The door opened – at the same time, a shrill alarm sounded, almost alerting the entire arena.

Mia rushed inside, not even having time to see what was in the room. Her spirituality surged and swirled, teleporting everything she saw to Furnace Island.

Cabinet? Teleport!

Chest? Teleport!

Stool? No time to think, teleport!

In just five or six seconds, Mia had completely looted the entire room. Then she turned and ran out of the warehouse, just as someone turned the corner opposite her.

The enemy arrived much faster than she expected.

She leaped into the air, curled up into a ball, and slammed into the window!

The window shattered, and she jumped down from the third floor. Ignoring the damage from the moonlight outside, she entered Shadow Vision in mid-air, and then quickly extended her spirituality, teleporting herself back to Furnace Island.

Only the artifact ancient book, “Absurd Dreams,” fell with a thud in the Shadow Vision, landing in the garbage heap below.

The next second, the owner of the arena, the demigod Williams, appeared downstairs, his expression gloomy. He stretched out a hand, and his solidified spirituality quickly swept across a radius of several hundred meters.

No one, as expected.

He slowly closed his five fingers, and his spirituality began to scan the secondary planes that overlapped with this space, such as Shadow Vision, the collective unconscious, and so on.

Although his own Sequence didn’t have these abilities, as a demigod, he still had some accumulated supernatural items to deal with various situations.

Shadow Vision, no one.

Collective unconscious, no one.

…

How could there be no results at all?! Williams’ expression became even more gloomy, and he scanned everything again, unwilling to give up.

There were no living beings, not even spirit bodies or mental bodies in the surrounding secondary planes, as if the thief had never been here.

Williams continued to search repeatedly, but found nothing.

And in the Shadow Vision, an inconspicuous ancient book lay quietly in the garbage heap, mixed with other waste paper, mineral water bottles, and old socks.

If you didn’t focus your spirituality on it and scan it carefully, you wouldn’t find the entrance to the semi-plane fragment hidden inside.

Chapter 57: Destination, Constantinople!

“Your esteemed Majesties.” In the Golden Throne Palace of Constantinople, the Venetian envoy, dressed in a wealthy merchant’s robe, spoke eloquently.

“There was a slight problem with the bank loan for the shipping fee: Given the uncertainty of your country’s war with the Seljuks, our bank’s review team believes that your country may not be able to repay the remaining three installments of the loan, so we need to review the income flow of the royal family.”

“Go ahead and review it.” Theodora threw her fan on the table and said wearily, “But let those Frankish knights disembark first. Do you intend to keep them drifting at sea for a few more days?”

“Your country’s loan procedures have not been completed, so strictly speaking, the shipping fee has not been fully paid.” The Venetian envoy said politely. “Payment of the down payment is required before sailing, and full payment is required before disembarkation. This is our rule.”

“Aren’t you believers of the Solomon faith?” Theodora became irritated, feeling that it was extremely difficult to communicate with these money-grubbing merchants.

“Of course, we are devout believers of the Solomon faith.” The Venetian envoy said with a smile. “But with all due respect, even if His Holiness himself were to board our ship, he would not be allowed to pay a penny less – our audit rules are accurate to six decimal places after the copper coin.”

Zoe sighed beside her. The Venetian ship full of Frankish knights had been drifting on the Sea of Marmara for three days, but the Venetians’ loan procedures had not been completed. The two sides had been entangled in all kinds of trivial details.

For example, the time, place, and transporter for the delivery of gold, the specific time for reconciliation and the penalty for breach of contract, even down to what seal must be on each gold coin, and what measures should be taken for review if there was a wrong seal.

However, after all, the Frankish knights had already arrived in the outer sea, so the two Empresses barely managed to suppress their impatience and negotiated with the Venetian envoy patiently.

Another day passed, and the two sides finally reached an agreement on more than 60% of the disputed points they had been arguing about yesterday. The rest were just minor details that could be conceded.

After bidding farewell to the two Empresses, the Venetian envoy left the Golden Throne Palace and went to the Venetian embassy in Constantinople, where he called the ships on the high seas.

Doge Enrico, in the secret room, listened to the envoy’s report and then walked out of the cabin with his head bowed.

On the deck outside, Count Montferrat and the Frankish knights were anxiously awaiting a reply from Constantinople.

“Constantinople refused to pay.” When Doge Enrico said these words, the Frankish knights burst into a chorus of disappointed exclamations.

They had been drifting at sea for three days. The Venetians promised to communicate with Constantinople as soon as possible, but the result of each communication was that the two Empresses refused to pay.

The knights’ remaining patience was gradually worn away by this repeated disappointment.

Doge Enrico and Count Montferrat looked at each other, both reading the message of action from each other’s eyes.

The latter immediately slammed his spear on the deck and shouted angrily:

“Enough! We are here to kill heretics and defend the glory of God walking on earth, not to waste our breath with the Siris people of Constantinople!”

“The heretics are in Anatolia, in Syria, in the Holy City of Jerusalem! Yet these short-sighted Siris people are still stingy with their few copper coins, even delaying the expedition of the Crusaders, making us noble knights who are willing to give our lives for God drift on the ocean like lowly Sicilian sailors!”

His words perfectly vented the pent-up anger of the knights, so they all shouted loudly.

“If they are unwilling to sacrifice for a noble cause, then let us sacrifice! If they are unwilling to fight the heretics to the death, then let us fight!”

“But before that, we must settle our debt to the Venetians. Constantinople promised to pay the remaining 10,000 silver marks, but now they have shamelessly reneged on their promise.”

“Since they are unwilling to pay, then let us take it ourselves, with our swords and spears!”

Many knights echoed loudly, but more Frankish knights fell into a kind of terror, and some began to shout in panic:

“Are you crazy, Marquis? The Eastern Solomons are also believers in God, how can we attack them without authorization? Besides, Constantinople has three layers of city walls, even high-level supernatural creatures can hardly break into it, let alone us with so few people!”

“Shut up!” Marquis Montferrat shouted angrily. “If they truly believe in God, how can they haggle over this worldly wealth and break their promises?”

“Last night, I called His Holiness and condemned Constantinople’s hypocrisy and duplicity. His Holiness, with his discerning eyes, has issued a decree allowing me to act accordingly. Once we capture Constantinople, it will be the best time for the Eastern and Western Churches to reunite!”

He took out a printed document from his arms. It was indeed an authorization document from Pope Innocent, allowing the Crusaders to “temporarily” use force to “maintain” the order and stability of Constantinople, and it even had the Church’s unique encrypted watermark.

So the knights were in an uneasy commotion again. Although they all believed in Western Catholicism rather than Eastern Orthodoxy, after all, they belonged to the same religion. Rashly raising their swords against fellow believers would lead them to hell for judgment.

Pope Innocent’s authorization document slightly eased the knights’ doubts, but it was not enough to make them determined.

A few hours later, the Frankish knights on the deck were divided into two distinct factions.

One faction had enough of the days of drifting and bumping on the sea and was determined to follow the Marquis and the Doge to attack Constantinople, first to pay off their debt to the Venetians, and then to use it as a base to fight their way east until they liberated Jerusalem.

The other faction resolutely refused to be led by the nose by the Marquis and the Venetians, saying that Constantinople had nearly ten million Catholic believers, and attacking this city would definitely go against God, thus bringing terrible divine retribution upon them.

The two sides argued endlessly, almost drawing their swords on the deck.

At this time, Doge Enrico calmly walked out and said that he respected the opinions of both factions of knights, but the ships belonged to Venice, and those who were willing to attack Constantinople could stay.

As for those who were unwilling to attack, whether they wanted to go to Anatolia or return to the West, the Venetians would give them small boats, and they could row away on their own!

As a result, hundreds of hot-blooded knights actually accepted this seemingly ridiculous offer from the Venetians, rowing away in small boats.

What these knights, who were unfamiliar with navigation, didn’t know was that the flat-bottomed boats they were riding were specifically designed for landing, with a shallow draft and a very thin bottom, and couldn’t last long on the sea.

A few days later, their bodies were washed ashore nearby.

The majority of the remaining Frankish knights could only willingly or unwillingly follow the Venetian fleet and sail towards the Golden Horn.

Constantinople’s defenses in this direction were extremely weak. As long as the Venetian ships could successfully enter the Golden Horn, they could launch a surprise attack on Constantinople’s vulnerable flank.

…

“Ha!” Eleanor’s right arm holding the spear bent slightly, and the spear shaft spun rapidly, thrusting forward.

Spiral Thrust!

Then the spear shaft suddenly sank downwards, stepped on by Asker.

“What are the characteristics of Spiral Thrust?” Asker asked seriously.

“It is…” Eleanor bit her lip. “During the thrust, the spear shaft rapidly shakes and rotates, thus deflecting weapons that are stuck to the spear. It is generally used to break through the enemy’s block.”

“Since it’s an armor-piercing technique, why use it as your opening move?” Asker frowned and asked.

“I wanted to try to catch you off guard.” Eleanor said, pursing her lips.

Nuo had cried to her all night yesterday, making her feel extremely dissatisfied with Asker, and her desire to defeat him also intensified.

“Naive.” Asker shook his head. “Try using Dragon Spear as your opening move next time.”

On the edge of the cliff in the distance, Miel, in a prone sniping position, held the newly acquired Slaughter-III rifle and was aiming at a distant target.

“Distance 4.6, crosswind…”

“What are you mumbling about?” Asker walked up to her and asked.

“Trying to adjust the trajectory.” Miel replied.

“This gun has an auto-aim module.” Asker grabbed her rifle and demonstratively opened the switch on the receiver. “Activate the infrared emitter here, it will emit infrared light with a wavelength of 14um, which is invisible to the naked eye but can be seen through the rifle scope.”

“There’s one more.” Miel, maintaining her aiming posture, said, “A red dot.”

“Move the red dot onto your target, and then your firearm and the target red dot will be connected by this infrared beam path.” Asker explained. “After the bullet leaves the barrel, it will automatically adjust its flight path along the infrared beam path.”

“In other words, you don’t have to consider gravity deviation or anything, you just need to aim the red dot at the target, and the bullet will automatically track the red dot and hit the target.”

With a “bang,” Miel had already pulled the trigger. A burl on a tree trunk in the distance exploded, leaving a huge hole.

“Yes.” Miel tried it according to his instructions and commented, “Auto-aim is very useful.”

“For long-range sniping beyond 2000 meters, it’s almost impossible to compensate for errors with manual adjustments. Auto-aim is your only option.” Asker continued, “Also, this gun can switch modes – open the cylinder lock, rotate the lower barrel up, and it becomes an assault rifle, with a range of about 50-400 meters.”

“The assault mode and sniper mode use different magazines. The latter’s bullets are much more expensive, so when practicing, mainly use the assault mode, try to fire in bursts, don’t spray. For sniping, just aim more.”

“Okay.” Miel replied.

This little girl still didn’t talk much. Asker shook his head and continued to inspect the training status of the others. He saw Nuo walking by hurriedly with her head down, holding a notebook.

“Nuo!” Asker called out to her.

Nuo looked up in a panic, then took two steps back timidly and whispered, “What?”

“What’s with that ghostly expression on your face?” Asker said, both amused and annoyed. But he also knew why and quickly changed the subject. “How is the potion digestion progress of the team members?”

“Eleanor, me, and Mia have all finished digesting our potions.” Nuo said softly. “Sidlipha and Miel haven’t taken any potions yet.”

“That means there are 5 people who need to find potion materials next.” Asker pondered for a moment. “I understand.”

“Did you call me over just to ask about this?” Nuo said timidly.

“No.” Asker naturally wouldn’t be stupid enough to say “Of course,” but just smiled. “I just came to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine.” Nuo stretched out her fingers and uncomfortably tucked the stray hair by her cheek, then took a deep breath. “So, anything else?”

“Nothing.” Asker shook his head, tears welling up in his heart.

Since they had their talk last time, the relationship between the two seemed to have fallen into a “Schrödinger’s cat” state, neither ambiguous nor purely platonic. It was so awkward to communicate with her now!

No, he couldn’t bring emotional issues into work. He tried to clear his mind of distracting thoughts and smiled goodbye to Nuo.

Nuo hugged her notebook and slowly walked down the mountain. Arriving at a small lake in the forest, she squatted down by the water and looked at her pretty face reflected in the water.

Her brown hair was fluffy and soft, her delicate features small and gentle, the kind of pure and sweet beauty.

Apart from the graceful figure unique to female college students, just with this beautiful face, she could receive more than thirty love letters and confessions in a semester when she was studying at the Solomon Theological Seminary.

If she really wanted to find a boyfriend, where couldn’t she find one?

Why did she have to stubbornly hang herself on this one tree?

Nuo stared blankly at the reflection in the lake, tears unknowingly flowing down again.

“Asking me to wait for ten years… really… too much…” She muttered to herself, biting her lip. “Asker, you bad guy…”

Tears dripped onto the lake, creating ripples.

She stared at the tear-stained pretty face, silent for a long time, then wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and smiled wryly:

“Why are you crying again, Nuo? When did you become such a crybaby…”

She spoke as if blaming herself, reaching out and disturbing the reflection on the lake.

Behind a tree not far away, Eleanor looked at her with heartache, speechless for a moment.

Chapter 56: Celestial Ninefold Strike

“Could this guy be a fraud?” Looking at Nuo’s dejected appearance, Eleanor felt both sorry and suspicious.

The other girls were still chattering and discussing. Eleanor strode over and asked directly:

“Have you decided? Why don’t I go next?”

“Go, go.” The girls replied quickly.

They still wanted to argue for a while about whether the prophet was credible.

So Eleanor walked up to Zhang Sanfeng, took out a banknote, and asked:

“Are you the prophet?”

“Is that your question?” Zhang Sanfeng raised his white eyebrows. “One person can only ask one question.”

“No.” Eleanor said straightforwardly. “Then let me ask you, can I successfully inherit my father’s title?”

Zhang Sanfeng nodded, took out six copper coins and threw them on the ground, looked at the result of heads and tails, and smiled:

“You’re asking about career? Hey, interesting. This hexagram is Fire over Thunder, Shihe(hexagram), lower Li(Fire) upper Zhen(Thunder), biting through hard objects.”

“I don’t understand.” Eleanor frowned. “Just tell me whether I can or not.”

“The lower trigram is Zhen, the upper trigram is Li. You’re asking about your father’s title, but both Li and Zhen have a yang line at the bottom, which one refers to your father?”

Zhang Sanfeng stroked his beard, puzzled. “Your question is very strange. From the hexagram, the answer should be related to two men.”

“Whether I can inherit my father’s title, of course, only depends on whether my father is willing to hand over the family business to me.” Eleanor also pondered.

“A man other than my father… You mean Asker? As long as I become the strongest with his help, my father will acknowledge that I have strength no less than a man, and then he will be willing to let me inherit his career?”

“Don’t force it, don’t make things up.” Zhang Sanfeng shook his head. “The biggest taboo in interpreting hexagrams is to force the interpretation. Let me calculate again.”

“Lower Zhen upper Li, thunder and fire complement each other, you’re asking about career… Your career will have two peaks, the yin trigram represents that the first peak is illusory, the yang trigram indicates that the second peak is real, but why is there one real and one illusory…”

“I can’t interpret it.” He scratched his head and said with some annoyance. “My knowledge is limited, I can’t see through it. I’ll return the money to you.”

Eleanor didn’t refuse and took the banknote back. She told the girls who were waiting expectantly behind her what had just happened, and finally concluded:

“He’s a fraud.”

“See, I told you he was a fraud.” Mia hummed excitedly, crossed her arms, and said, “He doesn’t look like a prophet at all!”

“Eleanor.” Medea frowned. “You say he’s a fraud because he can’t predict your fate?”

“But if he really was a fraud, he would either deliberately tell you what you want to hear or talk nonsense, how could he admit that he can’t predict?”

“Uh.” Eleanor also had to admit that logically, this was indeed the case. The old man didn’t seem to be lying.

“I’ll go try it.” Medea said, taking a pound and going over.

“Girl, what do you want to ask?” Zhang Sanfeng took the banknote and couldn’t help but take a few more glances at this charming and alluring red-haired woman.

“My future husband and marriage.” Medea said with a smile.

After throwing down the six copper coins, Zhang Sanfeng looked at the result on the ground and said thoughtfully:

“This hexagram is Water over Thunder, Tun(hexagram). The wind blows the tangled threads without a head, everything is upside down and worrisome. If you proceed slowly and patiently, things will go smoothly, but haste will only lead to restrictions.”

“Lower Zhen upper Kan, thunder and rain together, it seems your childhood was very difficult. Both Zhen and Kan are yin trigrams, Zhen represents movement, Kan represents falling into a trap, full of danger, you must have some unspoken secrets.”

“You’re asking about marriage, and the young yang line indicates unfavorable relationships with men…”

He paused for a moment, stared at Medea strangely, and said: “But you look good and have a good figure? You have the beauty of Daji(Fox Spirit or Femme Fatale meaning), but unfavorable relationships with men, are you naturally infertile?”

Medea’s eyes twitched. From the other party’s shallow memory, she understood the meaning of the word “infertile” and her face darkened. She could only say in a harsh voice:

“Don’t worry about me! Just tell me the result.”

“The interpretation is simple.” Zhang Sanfeng stroked his beard. “Thunder and rain symbolize crisis, and after the rain, all things begin to grow. You just need to wait patiently and follow the time of heaven. There will be a crisis in your destiny, but you will be able to turn danger into opportunity.”

“At that time, if you actively strive and pursue boldly, then your marriage will be like the plants after a thunderstorm, sprouting rapidly, flourishing, and ultimately successful.”

“Oh.” Medea nodded, turned around, and returned to the girls, saying, “This guy has some real skills.”

“How was it?” Sidlipha asked.

“He guessed that I have androphobia.” Medea said concisely.

“Wow!!!” The girls immediately became excited. He could even figure this out, this guy must be a real prophet.

Sidlipha couldn’t wait to run over, stuffed the banknote into Zhang Sanfeng’s hand, and shouted:

“Ask about career! Can I be a lord?”

Zhang Sanfeng nodded, picked up the copper coins and threw them on the ground again, stroking his beard and saying:

“Earth over Water, Shi(Hexagram), advancing through danger smoothly. The general receives the decree and goes on an expedition, riding a fierce horse and drawing a strong bow, hitting the target with every shot at a hundred paces, the arrow hitting the coin, bringing forth joy.”

“You girl, you will be a warrior all your life, with great military fortune.”

“That’s right!” Sidlipha laughed heartily. “I’m really good at fighting!”

“From the hexagram, there are many obstacles and difficulties in your career. But you just need to maintain your brave and diligent attitude, overcome obstacles and break through traps, and naturally you will be able to turn danger into opportunity. Also, there will be someone to help you, you need to cooperate closely and not be overly suspicious.”

“Great!” Sidlipha ran back happily. “I’m done, anyone else want a prophecy?”

“I don’t.” Mia said, “I don’t believe in prophecies.”

“I won’t go either.” Miel said.

“Does Peggy want to go?” Asker asked.

“No.” Peggy replied.

“If you don’t want to ask, then I’ll go.” Asker said as he walked towards Zhang Sanfeng again.

Perhaps because they saw that the old man from the Dragon Kingdom wasn’t very interested, the Siris people in the pavilion also left.

Zhang Sanfeng stood on the beach by the sea, looking at the boundless ocean in the distance, his right hand constantly stroking his beard. Asker came to his side and cupped his hands again:

“Master.”

“Why are you here again?” Zhang Sanfeng glared and said, “One person can only have their fortune told once. Asking too much about heaven’s secrets will bring about divine retribution.”

“I’m not here for fortune-telling.” Asker said, “I just want to ask you for something.”

“What is it?”

“Celestial Ninefold Strike.” Asker replied seriously.

Zhang Sanfeng was silent for a long time, looking at him strangely. “How do you know I have the ‘Celestial Ninefold Strike’?”

Before Asker could answer, he immediately waved his hand and said:

“I see, I see, this thing has been waiting for you.”

“No wonder I drifted across the ocean and came to this distant western land. I didn’t expect that it was to deliver this.”

Asker: ???

“Here, take it.” Zhang Sanfeng took out a jade slip from his sleeve and stuffed it into his hand. “Do you know how to read it? Just probe it with your divine sense.”

“Divine sense, you call it spirituality here, just understand it.”

“You’re just giving it to me like this?” Asker asked incredulously. “Don’t I need to do a quest or something?”

“What quest? I said I’ll give it to you, so I’ll give it to you, what quest do you need?” Zhang Sanfeng said, blowing his beard and staring. “Foolish child, why are you still trapped in the illusion of perception?”

“The place you are in now is a completely real world, and the people around you are all flesh and blood! If you continue to be obsessed, you will regret it sooner or later!”

He turned around angrily, a flying sword already in his hand. “The thing has been delivered, the cause and effect are over, this old Taoist should also leave this world. If I stay any longer, I will be backlashed by the fate of this world, it’s too much to bear!”

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve, and the flying sword shot out a huge sword qi. The entire sea immediately parted, revealing a waterless path about three zhang wide.

Zhang Sanfeng stepped onto the flying sword, his whole body instantly turning into a stream of light, passing through the path in an instant and disappearing into the distance where the clouds met the sea.

The seawater quickly closed up, and the old man’s singing echoed in the air, his voice tinged with desolation:

“I thought I had seen all the plays in my life, but looking back, I am already a character in the play.”

“The Red Phoenix star moves, the jade drum beats, the Pojun star rises, the sword becomes a tomb.”

“I have never feared mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but the soft jade and warm fragrance have broken my heart.”

“When the day of Double Ninth Festival comes, a new emperor will have new ministers.”

What a crappy poem! Asker was both amused and speechless.

Although his literary accomplishment wasn’t very high, he could tell that this was just a doggerel, neither melodious nor meaningful, he didn’t know what it was singing about.

Turning around, he saw the girls all staring at the sea with dumbfounded expressions, their faces almost petrified with shock.

“That was… Asker, what was that just now…” Eleanor asked incredulously, her voice trembling. “Was it a miracle? Legend has it that Moses parted the sea to create a path with such a miracle…”

Asker: …

He immersed his spirituality into the jade slip and immediately obtained all the information about the “Celestial Ninefold Strike.”

As a supernatural sword technique, the “Celestial Ninefold Strike” had a total of nine specific sword techniques, divided into three levels: lower, middle, and upper, spanning three stages. The lower three sword techniques could be learned during the bloodline stage, and they were “Sharp Break,” “Heavy Break,” and “Grazing Shot.”

Sharp Break: Ignores enemy blocks or dodges, guaranteed to hit.

Heavy Break: Pierces through shield defenses, breaks parrying weapons.

Grazing Shot: High-speed slashes weave a sword net, intercepting all ranged attacks.

(The above descriptions are for reference only, the actual effects depend on the user’s skill level.)

Theoretically, as long as you mastered these three sword techniques, then apart from supernatural powers, there were almost no weapons that could hurt you.

Even when facing a siege of 10,000 soldiers with swords and spears, as long as your physical qualities could keep up, you could see through all the enemy’s attack patterns during battle and instantly know how to respond and counterattack in your mind. The rest of the time, you just had to follow the prompts.

It was like an elementary school arithmetic competition, everyone was struggling to memorize the multiplication table, and then during the exam, you took out a calculator from your pocket…

So let alone two-digit operations, even four arithmetic operations with 10-digit numbers were just a matter of pressing a few buttons.

In a sense, as a supernatural sword technique, the Celestial Ninefold Strike had a qualitative difference in realm from other sword techniques.

The only problem was that learning the lower three sword techniques was equivalent to building a calculator in your mind…

Inputting all kinds of attack moves, you had to output the corresponding counter moves. This was a job that relied purely on memory and understanding, there was no shortcut, you had to put in the hard work.

After learning the lower three sword techniques, you had to wait until you reached level 10 or above and had a preliminary understanding of laws before you could learn the middle three sword techniques, which were “Life Sever,” “Spirit Break,” and “Heart Burn.”

As for the upper three sword techniques of the demigod realm, “Law Break,” “Domain Sever,” and “Law Annihilation,” he had only just begun to master them in his previous life and was far from proficient.

Chapter 55: Gentle Rejection and Fortune Telling

“I don’t think ‘stupid’ is the right word.” Asker said lightly. “You just don’t have experience in this area.”

“Then why do you have experience?” Nuo moved closer to him, slowly wrapping her arms around her legs, resting her cheek on her knees, and looking at him with melancholy eyes. “Asker, you’ve never talked about yourself.”

“Do you want to hear it?” Asker glanced at her.

“Hmm.” Nuo hummed softly.

“I’m not actually from Constantinople.” Asker looked into the distance. “I come from a very distant plane. You can think of it as being a bit like the Dragon Kingdom, but very far away, almost impossible to reach by any means of transportation – it’s another world.”

“Oh.” Nuo smiled. “I often see this kind of plot in novels, where the protagonist inexplicably travels to another world and then starts to thrive, it seems a bit like you…”

She suddenly stopped awkwardly because Asker was not smiling, but just looking at her calmly.

“Where was I?” Asker was silent for a moment and continued. “Well, my family. My father passed away when I was very young, and I was raised by my mother alone.”

“I’m sorry.” Nuo said. “I didn’t know…”

“No need to apologize, it has nothing to do with you.” Asker shook his head. “My father… he lived a reclusive life, completely detached from society, making a living by drawing and submitting his work to manga websites.”

“My mother was a traditional rural woman. It seems they met through an arranged marriage. I’m still not sure if there was love between them.”

“Speaking of love, my father had real feelings for the 2D world. It was a strange and intense emotion that I still don’t understand.”

“He was obsessed with a virtual singer from a music game. I still remember her name was Orange.”

“My father often pointed at Orange on the screen and said that she was his real wife.”

“Every time he said that, my mother would smile helplessly and indulgently. She probably treated my father like a child who hadn’t grown up.”

Asker picked up a stone and threw it into the river ahead, creating ripples. “Then, when I was six years old, that music game shut down.”

“My father couldn’t accept Orange’s disappearance. He tried to redraw her on paper, but Orange was a 3D model, not a 2D character.”

“So he started learning how to make MMDs, begging netizens everywhere for character models. But the copyright of Orange was still in the hands of the game company, and posting it online casually would result in a lawyer’s letter, so no one responded to his request…”

“Then he couldn’t take it anymore and committed suicide.”

“You mean, your father committed suicide because of a fictional anime character?” Nuo said in shock.

“Yes, it’s ridiculous, isn’t it?” Asker picked up another stone and weighed it in his hand. “This is just the story of a cowardly man who was unwilling to bear family responsibilities, immersed in his own false world, and finally chose to end his life when the world collapsed.”

“He left freely, but never thought about the impact it would have on my mother and me.”

“From then on, our family’s situation took a turn for the worse. This dishonorable suicide brought a lot of mental pressure from our neighbors, so my mother chose to move.”

“Because someone had died in it, our old house couldn’t be sold or rented out. Later, my mother took me to rent a house on the other side of the city.”

“She sacrificed so much to raise me. When the financial pressure was the most severe, she even worked three jobs a day, leaving home at 6 am and not coming back until 2 am. Sometimes, when she got home, she couldn’t control her exhaustion and fell asleep leaning against the door frame. I had to help her back to bed.”

Asker let out a long breath and said, “She really did everything a mother should do.”

Nuo didn’t speak, her eyes were a little red, and she lowered her head.

“So I can’t be like the protagonists in those novels, who, after transmigrating, completely stay in that plane and cut off ties with their families in the original world, do you understand?” Asker looked at the mountains across the river and said seriously. “If I did that, what would be the difference between me and my father?”

“A mother painstakingly raises her son to adulthood, and then the son never comes back, leaving her alone in the world… That shouldn’t be her ending.”

“I have to go back.” He said resolutely. “Back to that world.”

“Asker.” Nuo’s voice trembled. “You mean…”

“100 kilometers south of here, there is a coastal city called Kavala.” Asker said lightly. “There is a fortune teller from the Dragon Kingdom there, you can think of him as a prophet. He is someone who can break the fourth wall, maybe he knows how I can return to my original plane.”

“Nuo, we are not from the same world.” He finally sighed deeply and said seriously.

“Then if I also go to your plane…” Nuo blurted out excitedly, but her voice stopped abruptly in her throat.

She thought of her father and mother, and her brother and sister. Just as Asker couldn’t abandon his mother in that world, how could she abandon her family in this world?

“If… I mean, if.” Nuo was silent for a long time, and then asked with a last glimmer of hope, “If that prophet doesn’t know how to send you back? Or if he tells you that there is no way to go back?”

“I will continue to try to find a way for a while longer.” Asker was also silent for a long time and replied, “Five years. If within five years, I still haven’t found a way to go back, then I will settle down in this world for the time being, and consider… what you are considering now.”

Nuo stared at him blankly.

After a while, she showed a sad expression and smiled wryly:

“You’re really amazing, Asker. I haven’t even said it yet, and you’ve already guessed it…”

She nervously twisted the corner of her clothes with both hands, her voice trembling with a hint of crying. “So you want me to wait for you for five years?”

“No.” Asker said, “I’m not asking you to wait for me. I’m just telling you my plans for the future so that it doesn’t affect your own choices.”

“Five years is enough to change everything beyond recognition.”

“Hmm, I understand.” Nuo said with her head down. “It’s good to be honest with each other, I’m glad you told me all this.”

Her slender shoulders trembled, as if she was suppressing the urge to cry. “I actually… surprised you too, right? I don’t know why, but I just fell in love with you…”

“Maybe it was that time on Furnace Island, seeing you draw your sword and charge towards so many enemies alone, I couldn’t help but feel a little moved… When I was young, I loved reading novels about knights and princesses, and I also dreamed of having a knight who would draw his sword and charge towards the enemy for me without hesitation. Maybe it’s the image I’ve always longed for and fantasized about, and it overlaps with you…”

Asker looked at her quietly.

Nuo gradually couldn’t continue speaking, and finally, she couldn’t help but ask with a choked voice: “Asker, we can still be friends, right?”

“Of course.” Asker answered seriously. “We’ve always been friends.”

“Hmm, good.” Nuo slowly stood up, patted her skirt under the moonlight, bit her lip, and said, “I’m going back. Then… goodbye.”

She turned around and left silently. Asker looked at her back, his heart heavy.

To be honest, rejecting a girl’s confession was naturally a difficult thing for him.

But morally speaking, this was the least he could do to respect her.

Huh? Asker touched “Absurd Dreams” in his back pocket, and an absurd thought immediately arose in his mind:

Isn’t the entrance to Furnace Island with me? Where is she going back to?

Nuo walked along the river, lost in thought, kicking the stones by the road into the water.

Ahead, Eleanor was squatting by the river in the night, boredly poking at the fish in the river with her spear.

“How did it go, Nuo?” Seeing Nuo approaching, Eleanor stood up and greeted her, only to notice the sadness on her face that couldn’t be erased. “He rejected you?”

Nuo shook her head.

“Then he agreed?” Eleanor looked at her in confusion. “That’s not right, how did he respond?”

“Can you turn around?” Nuo asked softly.

“Oh.” Eleanor turned around, and Nuo hugged her from behind. After a long time, sobs could be heard.

“Ellie…” Her uncontrollable crying became louder, slowly drifting along the river. “What should I do?”

“What should I do…”

…

Kavala, located on the north coast of the Aegean Sea, was originally a coastal city of the ancient Macedonian kingdom.

By the Fourth Epoch, the Macedonians, Thracians, and Siris people had almost completely intermarried. The outside world collectively referred to them as the Siris people, so Kavala became a Siris city-state.

Similar city-states, large and small, numbered about a hundred in the Empire west of Constantinople.

Logically speaking, this kind of city shouldn’t attract much attention from players, but in reality, Kavala’s fame far surpassed other city-states, even rivaling Constantinople.

Because there was an NPC from the Dragon Kingdom here.

For many players who were Western fantasy purists, having a Chinese name like “Zhang Daniu” or “Nicholas Zhao Si” in a medieval fantasy world of swords and magic was really a mood killer.

Although the “Iron and Fire” design team always liked to claim “I am your daddy,” they couldn’t do such a thing that would ruin the style of the product.

However, the general environment always brought about changes that were beyond their control. In the year when “Iron and Fire” officially launched its open beta, as the global economic environment continued to decline, the higher-ups finally turned their attention to the gaming industry to stimulate economic growth.

At that time, almost all the best-selling games in China were foreign-made, with large domestic companies acting as agents for distribution, while small companies directly copied and plagiarized, creating inferior versions of garbage web games to make money.

In response to this phenomenon of worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreign powers, the higher-ups issued a policy to support domestically produced games, proposing to “promote our country’s traditional culture and adhere to the core of independent creation.”

Then, during the implementation, for some reason, it ended up with a one-size-fits-all policy, declaring that “all games must have a point that can represent our country’s traditional culture.”

If there was no such point, they would deem it as lacking a core of independent creation and would not issue a game license number. Without a license number, the game could not be released.

For those classical Xianxia games like “Swords of Mount Shu” and “Legends of the Primordial World,” there was no impact at all.

However, for a Western-style game of swords and magic like “Iron and Fire,” it was simply a huge shackle. How could a Western-style game promote traditional Chinese culture?

There was no other way but to create a Dragon Kingdom setting out of thin air and put an NPC in Kavala. This NPC could even recite the “Tao Te Ching,” which was considered promoting traditional Chinese culture.

As a result, the comrades from the higher-ups who came down for inspection had discerning eyes and said, don’t think I don’t understand games.

In the open beta stage, most of the player traffic is in Constantinople. What’s the point of putting a Chinese NPC in a remote corner of the countryside? Put him in Constantinople.

The design team explained that Constantinople would fall in their main storyline.

Except for the two Empresses, almost all the other citizen NPCs would die. What would happen to this Chinese NPC then?

He couldn’t just summon a flying sword and fly away when the Seljuks breached the city walls, right?

The inspection comrade said, I don’t care, anyway, you have to make players pay attention to this Chinese NPC, and also create selling points and hype, preferably the kind that can make it to the news media.

Can’t you give him some kind of quest, or some fun setting, meme, or something like that?

So the design team had no choice but to add a “fortune-telling” setting to this NPC after consulting with the higher-ups.

Theoretically, this NPC knew all the game settings and often said things that “broke the fourth wall.”

(Breaking the fourth wall, which means that the characters in the play know that they are in the play and can even talk directly to the audience.)

The price for this NPC to tell fortunes was 1 pound each time, and each player account could only ask one question.

The more profound the question, the more vague his answer would be.

For example, if a player asked “Where can I get the potion formula for Fire IV,” this NPC would answer “Your destiny lies in the Plane of Fire,” meaning that they had to go to the Plane of Fire to get it.

As for where to get it specifically, no comment.

Of course, there were also some players who liked to have fun and ask him strange questions, such as “How can I marry Princess Theodora.”

At this time, the NPC would answer “Play games in moderation, stay away from addiction,” and so on. In short, he didn’t seem like an NPC, but rather like a customer service representative was controlling his speech behind the scenes.

If according to the game settings, then there should also be a similar omniscient Dragon Kingdom NPC in this world.

A few days later, Asker and his team arrived at the outskirts of Kavala and soon found this magical NPC in an ancient Siris pavilion by the sea.

He was a Chinese elder with a celestial air, looking a bit like Zhang Sanfeng from the 2003 Su Youpeng version of “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.” At this time, he was shaking his head and reciting in Chinese:

“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”

Next to him, a delicate Siris boy translated fluently in Siris:

“If a secret can be known, then it is no longer a secret.”

“That makes sense, that makes sense.” The people listening around were all Siris people, some wearing white philosopher robes, and some dressed luxuriously, obviously nobles or wealthy merchants. They all nodded in agreement.

A philosopher in a white robe stood up and said eloquently as if debating:

“The proposition of this master from the East is similar to Kant’s agnosticism.”

“Because the phenomenal world is what we perceive, while the noumenal world is the ‘thing-in-itself’ that exists independently of our cognition.”

“Between the phenomenal world and the noumenal world, there is an insurmountable gap in human cognition. Humans can only perceive the phenomena of things, but they cannot perceive the essence of things through phenomena.”

A Siris priest also stood up, devoutly crossed himself, and recited the scriptures as if praying:

“Between you and me, there is an abyss. I cannot cross to your side, and you cannot cross to mine.”

Asker looked at the lively scene with a dumbfounded expression.

How can you, an ancient Chinese person reciting the “Tao Te Ching,” communicate with these Siris philosophers and priests without any cultural barriers?

“Look, that’s the prophet I was talking about.” He pointed to the Chinese elder in the pavilion ahead, who was surrounded and praised by the Siris people, and explained to the girls, “He can answer any of your questions, but each person can only ask one question, and the fee is one pound.”

“Prophet? Really?” The girls frowned and said suspiciously, “Can he answer any question?”

“Yes.” Asker said, “If you don’t believe me, I’ll go try it out first.”

“Master!” Asker swaggered into the pavilion, pushing aside the Siris priests and philosophers who were blocking his way under their disapproving and disgusted gazes. He cupped his hands to the Chinese NPC and said, “I have a question, please enlighten me, Master.”

“Fortune telling with copper coins, one pound per session.” The fortune teller, who looked like Zhang Sanfeng, said with his hands behind his back.

One pound… you’re really fluent in quoting foreign prices. Asker silently took out a banknote and handed it over.

“Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed, come with me.” The fortune teller said, pulling Asker to an empty space next to him, and said arrogantly with his hands behind his back, “Ask away.”

“How can I return to my original world?” Asker asked respectfully.

“Let me calculate.” The fortune teller took out six copper coins from his sleeve and threw them on the ground. The copper coins rolled on the ground a few times and finally settled down, all six of them heads up.

“Hmm, six yang lines, Qian represents heaven.” The fortune teller stroked his beard and said, “The trapped dragon finds water, good fortune arrives, joy fills the brows, all aspirations will be fulfilled, and fortune will gradually rise in the future.”

“Since you are asking about travel, this hexagram is the best, indicating that you will be able to find your way back smoothly, it is best to travel with companions.”

“Qian represents heaven, follow the time of heaven, you should go to the place closest to heaven. What is the highest mountain peak on this northern continent?” The fortune teller said thoughtfully.

“The Alps, Mont Blanc.” Asker replied. As for Mount Everest… it didn’t exist in the world of “Iron and Fire.”

“Hmm. The Qian hexagram also symbolizes the dragon.” The fortune teller shook his head and said, “Heaven operates vigorously, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement, which indicates that you should challenge a dragon, make it submit and acknowledge you, and it will be able to help you go to any place you want to go.”

“Dragon?” Asker thought for a moment and was shocked. “The dragon’s lair on Mont Blanc, the demigod boss Bronze Dragon! And its supernatural characteristic happens to be the extremely rare Time-Space Sequence! In other words, as long as I can defeat that Bronze Dragon boss, it will help me return to my original world?”

“I understand, thank you, Master.” Asker said sincerely.

“Don’t be hasty, young man, do you know the principle of good fortune following misfortune?” The fortune teller chuckled and said meaningfully, “Everything that reaches its peak will decline, when yang energy reaches its peak, yin energy will inevitably grow, this is the law of all things.”

“You are so eager to return to your original world, but you don’t know that when your wish finally comes true, you may be eager to come back again.”

Asker wanted to ask more questions, but the fortune teller impatiently flicked his sleeve and urged: “Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed, go! Go!”

So Asker returned inexplicably. Seeing him back, the girls swarmed him, asking him all kinds of questions:

“How was it? Is that prophet really credible? What did he tell you?”

Looking at the girls’ excited expressions, it was like white-collar women discussing horoscopes and fortune-telling magazines, full of irrational enthusiasm.

“You can try it yourself and see.” Asker said helplessly.

The girls looked at each other, both a little uneasy and eager to try. Finally, Nuo was the first to bravely step forward and say:

“I’ll go.”

Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Nuo came to Zhang Sanfeng and said in a low voice with her hands clasped together:

“Master, I want to consult about love.”

“You want to ask about marriage, right?” Zhang Sanfeng said leisurely with his hands behind his back. “Ask away.”

“I want to ask: Can I eventually be with the person I admire and love?” Nuo said slowly, suddenly feeling the urge to cry, and silently wiped the corner of her eyes.

“1 pound.” Zhang Sanfeng said.

After taking the banknote Nuo handed him, Zhang Sanfeng took out six copper coins and threw them again. Then he stared at the result on the ground for a long time and said:

“Thunder over Lake, this is the worst hexagram.”

“Is there any hope?” Nuo said woodenly.

“Don’t worry, it’s a good thing you’re asking about marriage.” Zhang Sanfeng thought for a moment. “To seek fish, one must go to the water, seeking it in a tree is not in accordance with nature. After much hardship and effort, it is difficult to achieve one’s desires, and even with hard work, there will be no reward, and luck will be mediocre.”

“This hexagram has Dui above Zhen. Zhen represents the eldest son, and Dui represents the young girl, with the young girl following the eldest son. The person you admire should be a man older than you, and his abilities in all aspects are far superior to yours, which is why you are attracted to him.”

“Yes.” Nuo nervously interlocked her fingers, her heart already ten points convinced. “Then what should I do?”

“Marriage between man and woman is the great principle of heaven and earth, it cannot be violated. Although there will be twists and turns at the beginning and in the middle, the ending should be happy, but remember not to force it.” Zhang Sanfeng stroked his beard, pinched his fingers, and calculated for a moment. “What you need to do now is to let nature take its course and wait for the right time.”

“How long do I have to wait?” Nuo’s eyes lit up and she asked hurriedly.

“Ten years.” Zhang Sanfeng said, “If you can wait for ten years, there will be a good outcome. Judging from this hexagram, you must not rush your marriage. It is better to marry late than to marry wrongly, do you understand?”

Ten years?! Nuo froze as if struck by lightning, her mind in turmoil.

In ten years, I’ll be almost 30 years old, do I really have to wait that long?

She walked back in a daze, not even hearing what Zhang Sanfeng said to her at the end.

After returning to the team, everyone asked her all kinds of questions, but she just shook her head woodenly.

“Nuo, what’s wrong?” When everyone dispersed dejectedly, Eleanor hurried over to her and asked with concern. “Did you ask about you and Asker? What did he say?”

“Nothing.” Nuo shook her head and tried to smile. “He said that there will be a good outcome in the end.”

“Just, we have to wait for a while.” She whispered, gradually falling silent.