"Miss Shuangye," Xi Luo didn't show much surprise. He just calmly looked at the serene girl in front of him and said in a deep voice, "This trip is very dangerous…"
This Grand Chieftain of Fire Claw Territory had considered the importance of witnesses. He also knew that bringing Shuang Ye and Mo Tan, two members of Fenrir Squad, would increase their chances of success, but there were great risks involved.
Perhaps the Marshall Family wouldn't openly do anything to the negotiation team sent by Fire Claw Territory in the Violet Imperial Capital, but two commoners without noble titles, especially commoners who were also witnesses, wouldn't make them too wary. Shuang Ye and Mo Tan's strength was too weak, and the Violet Imperial Capital, which was about to become the center of a storm, was too dangerous. Any small mistake could cost them their lives.
Those people wouldn't dare openly kill Fire Claw Territory nobles, as doing so would essentially confirm their guilt. But two commoner witnesses wouldn't give the Marshall Family any reason to be merciful. Given the chance, they would absolutely not allow Shuang Ye and Mo Tan to leave the Imperial Capital alive.
"It seems your mind is quite clear." Shuang Ye was quite satisfied with Xi Luo's reaction and smiled, "Of course, I know that place is very dangerous for a small person like me."
Grand Chieftain Xi Luo shook his head, "I don't intend to let you put yourselves in danger. You two are Mr. Ned's friends, and you owe us nothing, so I don't recommend you go to the Imperial Capital with the delegation."
"You are not a qualified ruler." Shuang Ye shrugged and rolled her eyes, "Bad review."
Xi Luo sighed deeply, "Perhaps. Actually, even if you two go, our chances of winning aren't that high. After all, in many people's eyes, Fire Claw Territory is just a gathering place for barbarians."
"I reserve my opinion on that…" Shuang Ye gently pushed up her glasses and said seriously, "I have my own reasons for wanting to go, so please prepare based on that premise. Of course, I don't mind having a few extra bodyguards."
Mo Tan, no longer silent, stepped forward and asked Shuang Ye, "You didn't include me?"
The girl shook her head at him, "One person is enough. I suggest you focus on your own matters during this time. If something happens on my end, at least Fire Claw Territory will still have a witness."
"It seems you've figured out the calculations." Mo Tan gave a wry smile and spread his hands at her, "Alright, I have no objections."
Shuang Ye's decision was undoubtedly wise. One witness was enough, as her eloquence and adaptability were far superior to 'Black Vatican'. Moreover, as she said, if any unexpected situation arose, there would still be a witness left here.
Of course, Mo Tan also had his own plans. After all, it was only 'Black Vatican' who wasn't suited to get involved in this mess…
If his judgment was correct, the Marshall Territory's weaknesses weren't limited to 'slave trafficking' alone. But as for how to operate, that wasn't something he needed to consider right now.
"If you insist." Xi Luo nodded gently to Shuang Ye, then looked at the head of Fire Claw Territory's shadow unit, "Kasi."
The other party silently bowed slightly to him.
"Go back and pick a few trusted subordinates. After we set off, protect Miss Shuangye closely," Xi Luo said in a deep voice, "Ensure her safety."
Kasi nodded.
"Then I'll leave it to you~" Shuang Ye smiled sweetly at Kasi, "Elf cool guy."
"Beast Elf." Kasi said in a low voice, "I will do my best."
The two players, who had always felt something was off about this elf, suddenly realized, thinking that such a burly elf was indeed not a pureblood.
Just as The half elf are a mix of elves and humans, Beast Elves naturally have half their bloodline from Orcs. Their advantages are even more pronounced, possessing both the physical prowess of Orcs and the good looks of elves. However, their numbers are relatively small, and the reasons for this will not be elaborated on here.
"Alright, now for the second question." Shuang Ye turned to Xi Luo and asked, "Assuming the negotiations in the Imperial Capital fail, and the Noble Tribunal does not make a Justice ruling, and Fire Claw Territory is at an absolute disadvantage in the inevitable war that follows, what is your fallback plan? You can't just disband and divide the luggage, right?"
Considering defeat before victory, Xi Luo should understand this principle. Moreover, Shuang Ye could somewhat gather from the others' words that Fire Claw Territory did not have an advantage in combat power.
"We will request aid from Mount Sumir," Xi Luo replied. "It is located in the far north of the continent, our tribe's holy land. If the situation becomes extremely disadvantageous, Fire Claw warriors will die on the battlefield, and before that, we will cover the civilians' retreat as safely and orderly as possible."
Shuang Ye nodded noncommittally, "How will you notify them? The far north of the continent should be quite far from here, right? Will you use the methods of the Mage Guild?"
"Sumir doesn't have a Mage Guild." This time, before Xi Luo could answer, Le Wen, who was not far away, immediately shook his head and said, "Communication is indeed an obstacle. Even specially arranged messengers cannot ensure synchronized communication, and we are currently short on manpower."
The Dwarf named Tong Bing glared at the Dwarf Mage leaning in the corner, "So, why aren't you a space mage?"
"Why should I be a space mage?" The latter rolled his eyes.
"Because communication with Mount Sumir is a problem right now, you idiot," Tong Bing said.
Nigel, the head of the Bloodflame Mage Corps, was flushed with anger, "Why don't you go die! Using space magic to maintain communication with the far north of the continent, do you take me for a Sage?!"
"Cough, cough." Shuang Ye suddenly coughed lightly, then glanced at Mo Tan.
The latter immediately understood and smiled at Xi Luo, "Let me go, Chief. Although my strength is weak, I have some means to contact Shuang Ye."
Xi Luo was not pretentious and immediately said, "Good, I will prepare ample supplies and a mount for you, and send a few warriors to accompany you."
He didn't ask how Mo Tan could contact Shuang Ye, as there were too many things in this world that couldn't be explained by common sense. Moreover, there weren't many methods they could think of right now, so Xi Luo chose to trust Ned's friend.
"No need for an escort." Mo Tan shook his head, "It's more convenient for me to go alone."
Xi Luo didn't insist, only nodding, "No problem. However, relying on Mount Sumir is our last resort. You don't need to rush. On the way, your priority should be to protect yourself."
【You have accepted a side quest: Messenger. Quest Reward: Optional Experience 600 points】
The system prompt sounded in Mo Tan's ear immediately. The quest content was to notify Mount Sumir of the situation in Fire Claw Territory within one month of game time.
"Then let's discuss the details next." Xi Luo sat back in the center of the council hall and said in a deep voice, "We cannot act hastily. We need to be fully prepared."
And then…
Accompanied by a slight headache, Mo Tan suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground in front of everyone!
...
Five hours later
【You have been emergency disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect】
"Yes."
【Reconnection initiated…】
【Connection complete. Reading character information…】
【Welcome back, lawful good Mo. Loading Innocent World. Have a good night】
...
Tian Zhu Mountain First Outer Mountain, Grand Arena
Mo Tan appeared in a luxurious lounge on the first floor of the Arena, sitting on the bed in a daze.
What he wanted to do most right now was to immediately add the girl named Yu Cheng as a friend and then confirm with her if there had been any changes to the 'monster' that was previously captured!
Apparently, he had just experienced another nearly five-hour blackout, with his memory during that period completely blank. No matter how he tried to recall, he couldn't remember a single detail…
"But I can't ask now. I definitely can't tell others about my situation." Mo Tan sighed helplessly, "And I disconnected in front of so many NPCs earlier, I don't know what the consequences will be. If it's like last time, just 'fainting' in front of those people, that's fine. But if I vanish into thin air as a white light, then it's big trouble, and how am I going to explain it to Shuang Ye later…"
He was extremely melancholic, but he didn't choose to immediately exit the game, switch personalities, and log in as 'Black Vatican'. After all, several hours had already passed in the game, and even if there was trouble, going back now wouldn't help. So he simply decided not to switch for now and planned to send a message to Shuang Ye via email tomorrow during the day.
So what should he do now?
Mo Tan had logged off as the character 'Mo' in this Grand Arena's personal lounge. After Cordova was unfortunately blown up by a Gia Fei Cat, Lu Wei quickly returned and sent him back to the First Outer Mountain. After that, Mo Tan wandered around for a bit before returning to the lounge he was currently in to log off.
"Oh, right, I should take a good look at that thing Mr. Lu Wei gave me earlier…" Mo Tan mumbled, then pulled out something that looked like a ball of yarn from his satchel and threw it on the ground.
The thing began to rapidly expand at a visible speed as soon as it landed, and then slowly grew a head and four limbs!
Two seconds later…
"Meeh!" A leisurely, plump, fluffy, Dumb, fat sheep bleated at him, its two small black eyes shimmering with a faint blue glow.
【Lu Wei's Self-Destructing Sheep】
Category: Mount
Quality: Common / Excellent
Riding: Movement speed increased by 0-20% (depending on rider's weight)
Effect: Self-destruct
Usage: Activate / Deactivate / Detonate your Self-Destructing Sheep.
【Note: A reward for 1-5% reputation with Lu Wei · Feizierban. This Self-Destructing Sheep is one of Master Lu Wei's early works from his youth. Its original intention was to create a mount with a large-area attack, but it proved that this rune construct, which looks like a sheep but has an abnormal structure, is not very qualified either as a mount or as a bomb, because its self-destruct switch is designed on its back neck, the explosion range is only two meters, and the detonation time only takes 0.5 seconds. PS: This is a common mount whose speed is even slower than a grass horse, but its explosion power can reach the standard of an 【Excellent】 grade engineering bomb. When turned off, it can transform into a small ball of wool.】
"At least I'm a knight with a mount now." Mo Tan smiled wryly at the bright red lever behind the sheep's neck, stroking its head, "You wouldn't just explode randomly, would you?"
"Meeh…"
"Good answer." Mo Tan nodded, then powered it down and put it back in his satchel. After pondering for a while, he decided to experience the Grand Arena, which Leisade had described as a place where one could "rapidly improve one's strength."
Anyway, there was nothing else to do now. If he wanted to know more in Tian Zhu Mountain, he had to improve his strength, and as for 'that matter', he would have to wait until his Priest account was online to confirm with Yu Cheng.
So he immediately left the lounge and, after two turns (he wouldn't get lost as he had checked the map beforehand), headed straight for the work area in the center of the first-floor lobby.
"Hello, how may I help you?" A cute Dwarf girl stood on a pile of soft cushions and bowed slightly to Mo Tan.
【The 'locals' of Tian Zhu Mountain really come in all races.】
Mo Tan sighed inwardly, then politely asked, "I'd like to participate in an Arena match. I've already done the paperwork here before."
"Hmm, your name?" The Dwarf girl blinked.
"Tachibana Taki~" Mo Tan chuckled, "Just kidding, my name is Mo."
"Let me check… Ah, is this it?" The girl nodded, then fiddled with the magic crystal board on the desk, reading softly, "Mo, who, relying on an unknown connection with High-Rank Observer Leisade, directly skipped the beginner's league and obtained the right to challenge any Arena from levels one to five… Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't say that!!"
Mo Tan gave a dry laugh and nodded, "That should be me."
"Mhm, mhm, you're eligible to choose your challenge level freely." The Dwarf girl scratched her head and said, "Levels one to five are all fine, but if it's your first time, I suggest you try the Level One Arena first."
"Okay." Mo Tan originally didn't want to challenge anything too difficult, so he immediately nodded agreeably, "What's the procedure?"
The Dwarf girl handed him a light blue bracelet and smiled, "Just take this to the second floor! There's a very conspicuous large pillar by the Arena, just get close to it with this bracelet and it will automatically match you with an opponent!"
Mo Tan then politely took the bracelet, bid farewell to the somewhat clumsy girl, and went upstairs.
"What a truly unassuming person!" The girl looked at Mo Tan's retreating back and nodded, muttering, "At first glance, he looks like a noob…"
...
Ten minutes later
Mo Tan appeared before the girl again, shivering.
"Miss…"
"Hm?"
"What level exactly is the Level One Arena?"
"The lowest level."
"Is there anything even lower?"
The little girl looked at the tall Half-Dragon in front of her and scratched her hair, "There's also a noob… I mean, a beginner practice Arena. That's where all the first-timers go, but you can skip the noob matches."
"No! Just give me that one! Noob is fine!"
"Are you sure?"
Mo Tan nodded heavily. He had just seen two beefy guys, who were at least High-Rank Berserker, having an intense duel upstairs, and he was feeling a bit unwell…
"I'm absolutely sure!"
Chapter 89: End
