"Why else do you think there have been so many murders in Mays during this period?"
"When faced with the truly bad ones, he should know how to choose."
Chapter 21 Origin of the Dispute
Hitzfeld did not sleep all night.
On the one hand, although only half of the Chiglan artifact can still help her regulate her body, even if it is complete, it cannot eliminate insomnia. She still only has the opportunity to fall asleep 1-2 times a week.
On the other hand... she had just arrived in a foreign country and was unfamiliar with the place, so she didn't plan to sleep even if she could.
So she took advantage of this and asked the other three people in the team to move into a room. They rested while she lit a lamp and helped keep watch until dawn.
Xia Yibing had no objection to this, and neither did Xixus - although it was obvious that she was unhappy about sharing a bedroom with a man, everyone lay down with their clothes on... and no one slept in bed.
Mrs. Moss is a decent establishment for catering to the poor and the ruffians, for example they at least replace the bed sheets with new ones after the previous tenant leaves.
But that was all. Sixus lifted the sheet and found that the hard mattress was covered with all kinds of blood stains. She immediately gave up the idea of using this bed and chose to lay a carpet on the inside of the bed with Xia Yibing and half lean on it to rest.
Russell was even more careless. He spread a few newspapers on the floor on the other side of the bed and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
You can see that everyone is very tired.
After traveling for half a month to get to this foreign city, I thought I could get at least some help from the local organizations. But I didn't expect... Anyway, Hitzfeld didn't count on the Third Intelligence Agency.
Eugenie... Eugenie said at the beginning that he wanted to marry Jerry, so Jerry should be here now.
While flipping through the case materials that Russell gave her and reminded her to "remember to burn them after reading them," Hitzfeld recalled her experiences in Green Town.
Unless there are special circumstances, people usually don't hesitate to bless a newlywed couple. Hitzfeld is the same, she sincerely hopes that Jerry and Eugenie can be happy.
But looking at the current situation, Eugenie can hardly protect himself, so how can he protect his family... his family members... in Tariignan?
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Hitzfeld tried his best to put away those bad thoughts, cleared his mind, regained his calm, and began to browse the information wholeheartedly.
Russell had been to Talignan, as he had just admitted. He was not considered a "particularly valued" heir in the Igor family, but his family had some expectations of him, and he was able to rely on these expectations to come to the Western Kingdom and help manage the business of the Thorn Birds branch.
When he first heard him say that, Hitzfeld was wondering...was he chosen to join the royal camp before or after that.
She was inclined to the former, which was mainly due to the impression the old king had on her. If anyone could have planned all this in advance before the death tree erupted, she felt that only the old man could do it.
If you look at it this way… the Igor family was destroyed, but the Thornbirds Merchant Alliance was still there. There were still branches of the Merchant Alliance in Talignan, and these branches and their members were the most important sources of intelligence and alert eyes for Russell and himself.
In fact, she estimated that the information in her hand was also collected by the people of the Thorn Birds. It must be said that this move was very smart - Russell could perfectly use this identity to explain the source of his intelligence. Even if the enemy found out that he was working for Irwin, they would not connect him with the mysterious "Nightingale" for a while, but would only regard him as a rising star of the review team and an ordinary businessman with a little power - still in a foreign country.
The first thing she looked at was the royal family information.
As mentioned before, the royal power in Talignant changed frequently, and there were many families claiming to be descendants of the Dragon God, more than 200 in total.
Among these more than 200 "branches", there are 3 strongest ones. It can be said that no matter how the royal power changes, these 3 families can maintain their strong position.
They are--
The Frost Dragon of the Alliance's North, the Smurf Family.
The Dragon of Time in the Eastern Alliance, the Sally Family.
The hot spring dragon in the southern part of the alliance, the Deka family.
The King of Talignan of this generation, Queen Milanca, strictly speaking, belongs to the Deka family. Although she changed her surname to "Iler" after marrying the previous king, the old king did not leave any heirs. In a situation where his four daughters were unable to take on the responsibility, Milanca had to ascend the throne and take charge of the situation.
So this queen was forced onto the stage to be a puppet.
Hitzfeld couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he saw this. From the existing information, Milanka was a puppet supported by the Deka family - or the three Dragon Guard families. They just used her to stabilize the situation so that they could fish in troubled waters.
But these three families probably didn't expect that a party of undead would suddenly appear, and they didn't expect that the Dragon God's Tomb would be dug up by those evil followers a few years later.
The first time the Death Party officially appeared in public was five years ago, but at that time they were very small and no one paid much attention to them. Then they gradually expanded to the whole country in less than three years. For example, in the current Metz County, the information clearly stated that "the local police station, hospital and other institutions are controlled by the Death Party", and "it is very likely that even the county magistrate is their man".
Hitzfeld carefully read the relevant information about the Necromancer Party and learned that their slogan was transcendence of death.
Human beings are born with a fear of death.
As long as you transcend death, you don’t need to be afraid of anything anymore. Join the Party of the Dead - from now on you are death itself.
This is the propaganda slogan of the Death Party.
Hitzfeld couldn't help but curl his lips.
This kind of evil organization would be wiped out in Sara in a day. But Talignan does have soil for them to survive. The counties here have very poor control over the extraordinary people and organizations, and they can't control them at all in the early stages of their development.
By the time the "Three Dragon Guards" realized that things were going badly, the Undead Party had already become difficult to eradicate. They began to interfere in politics under the banner of supporting the royal family, including openly participating in political elections, manipulating public opinion to implement bills, and using various means such as framing and assassination to eliminate dissidents.
It was as if the entire kingdom had changed color overnight. The Undead Party was like a dark cloud hanging over the Fire Dragon Alliance. Non-party members were all in danger, and even the wealthy and powerful began to pursue a conservative strategy, fearing that they would be targeted and retaliated against by those lunatics.
As for Queen Milanka, it is hard to say that she has no ambition at all.
She should be very clear that there is no difference between the support of the Undead Party and the support of the Three Dragon Guards - she is still a puppet, and those people just want to use the authority she has given them to seize the Dragon God's treasure.
But she was willing to be controlled by them. Hitzfeld thought that either she had a long-standing grudge against her relatives, or she felt that this opportunity would allow her to become a real king.
Tomb of the Dragon God.
Dragon God's treasure.
She should also want to get what's inside.
Legend has it that the history of Talignan before the Grey Mist was far more glorious than people imagine.
It was a country founded by the "people on the back of dragons". They had a dragon rider corps that intimidated the world. In the entire continent, only Gutheran could compete with them, and the rest of the lords all bowed to the Dragon God.
Seeing this, Hitzfeld’s first thought was: How could his beliefs not be tampered with?
From Seran to Sara, the people of the Far East have experienced hardships that Talignan theoretically cannot escape.
Because their organization and cohesion are weaker, they are easier to control than the Serans.
But she soon figured it out: the dragon god of Talignan and the gods she understood were probably not the same thing.
There has never been a Dragon God Temple here, nor any so-called Dragon God sacrifices or Dragon God maids... The Dragon God here should just be a respectful title, and the carrier of that respectful title is still human.
Dragon God, Thunder and Fire Dragon King, and Fire Starter are all respectful titles for him. It is also because of these titles that Talignant has the nickname of the Fire Dragon Alliance.
"If Eugenie knew this place would be so chaotic a few years later, he would definitely not leave Green Town."
Hitzfeld shook his head again.
The Dragon God's Tomb has been discovered.
Even the first few levels of the tomb have been opened, and the Necromancer Party, Queen Milanka, and the Three Dragon Guard family have all received information about the treasure.
It was probably at that time that Queen Milanka sent out letters seeking help from famous detectives, rangers, and bounty hunters from other countries - the last level of the tomb had not yet been opened, and everyone was accumulating strength.
But they didn't expect the situation to change suddenly.
While they were arguing and trying to find out who was the true descendant of the Dragon God, someone actually slipped in.
Chapter 22: Strategy
At dawn, Xia Yibing was awakened by the noise coming from downstairs.
It was an extremely shrill sound, and it sounded a bit like a trumpet...but how could someone have the time to play a trumpet so early in the morning?
She hugged the long-barreled shotgun tightly in her arms, looked up at the desk, and found that Hitzfeld also looked disturbed and wanted to climb onto the table to look outside.
There was no one on the street.
This place is next to several dark alleys, and the people living around here are all poor. The sanitation is not good at all, so the streets are full of accumulated sewage, and a bad smell wafts in as soon as the window is opened.
Sixus was not awakened by the trumpet, but by the smell. She shuddered violently and muttered, "I'm really crazy... I actually had such a nightmare..."
"No one." Hitzfeld stepped back, closed the window and pulled the curtains, then turned his head to the left. "I can't see any living things. The person who blew the horn should have just passed the corner."
"That's the night watchman." Russell's voice came from behind.
The man with glasses had turned over and sat up, even putting on his glasses, and was loading bullets into a shotgun with the head barrel cut off.
"As you experienced last night, the people of Talignan have a tradition of staying up all night. During the day, someone will be responsible for blowing the wake-up call to wake up those who are asleep as soon as possible."
"Because of the nightmare?" Hitzfeld muttered softly.
She knew it could only be this reason - the locals might stay up late to prevent nightmares. She even felt that many people would choose to sleep in stages, such as moving their sleep at night to the daytime and using the few free time during the day to rest as much as possible.
But doing so can cause great harm to the body. Poor sleep can lead to many sequelae, including fatigue, anxiety, irritability, lack of concentration, and in severe cases, sudden death.
So she thought she might know why the locals seemed so menacing.
"This is the solution you mentioned." Sixus grinned and laughed, "Instead of solving the problem from the root, you just don't sleep. How interesting. Nothing has changed~"
"In the lands outside of Sara, there are indeed more superhuman organizations, but this does not mean that the total number of superhumans will increase." Russell said calmly, "Compared to the total population of Talignan, their superhumans can cover a larger area, but in the end, most people cannot enjoy that protection, so of course they have to find a way to save themselves."
"So we're just going to play these old-fashioned tricks?" Sixus was dissatisfied.
"You can help them come up with a better idea." Russell tilted his head, "When the time comes, if they are happy, they might push you to be the queen, and we won't have to rush to find someone, how great."
This made Sixus very angry. Hitzfeld was so noisy that he couldn't concentrate on the materials and could only watch from the side, thinking that Russell's ability to mock people was surprisingly good.
But she had almost finished looking at everything. Seeing Xia Yibing stand up and come over, she pushed the paper roll towards the woman and stood up to clean her mouth.
When I finished my work and came out, Russell just pushed the door open, looking like he had just come back from outside.
"Breakfast." He was holding a large tray with five or six bowls on it. "Ask Director Xia Sha to wash them. We have to send them down after we finish eating."
Breakfast was very simple, just some boiled chicken and hand-torn bread. The locals' cooking method was very primitive. Hitzfeld first thought that it was eaten with salt or pepper, but later found that there was no such condition.
"You've seen how much trouble it is to get here from Sara." Russell said while chewing a piece of bread, "... Most of the goods unloaded by the airship were used to supply the outposts. Only a small part was sold here, so we should just tolerate this condition for now."
"What about shipping?" Xia Yibing asked him, "The main production area of the seasoning is Goli, right? If it can be brought by water..."
"That's a benefit only available in the Hot Spring Territory." Sixus interrupted her, "There are only a few waterways, do you think anyone can get a drink of the hot springs? Food is considered a highly profitable business here, not to mention pepper, which is edible gold."
This description is quite correct. Even Hitzfeld knew how valuable pepper once was - so valuable that it was often included in legends related to pirates and treasure. This was because many people found treasure in shipwrecks only to discover that the boxes were empty, so they could only bring back the empty boxes. After looking up information, they realized that the treasure from the shipwreck might be pepper.
They have sunk into the sea for many years, and the seasoning powder inside has long melted away. But occasionally there are lucky ones who are favored: they will find those boxes, those boxes with seaweed, shells and other stolen goods on the surface, completely covering their appearance, and after smashing off those attachments, the essence inside is actually gold.
From this we can see that the value of pepper was once far greater than gold itself, otherwise no one would use gold boxes to transport it.
"I read the information." Xia Yibing swallowed the food in her mouth and whispered in the noise coming from next door, "Do you think Eugenie is exposed now?"
Hitzfeld glanced at her and then turned his gaze back to Russell.
The later whereabouts of Eugenie Copperfield were detailed at the back of the file. He was originally loyal to the Deka family among the Three Dragon Guards and had a non-hereditary baron title in Talignant. On the night of the incident, he was arranged to guard the tomb, but unexpectedly he met the descendant of the Dragon God.
It would be fine if he caught that person, since no one's eyes would fall on him anyway.
But he didn't catch it, so he immediately realized how dangerous his situation was.
Let's be clear here - there is no evidence that Eugenie saw the man's face, which means he didn't necessarily know who took the treasure.
But will others believe it?
Most of them don't believe it.
He also knew that the Deka family would not be able to protect him after this happened, so he did not even report to the Deka family and fled the capital with his newlywed wife overnight.
"I don't know." Russell shook his head.
"I haven't been back for a long time... I was working in Wayne before, and I thought I would never come back in this life."
"Two people. Are there only two people in the Copperfield family?"
Sixus stared at the pile of confetti and ashes, lost in thought.
"These two people have such a big target, and they are not locals in Metz. How did they manage to hide here all this time?"
She felt that the couple was probably doomed. Russell had received the news so long ago. How could the local thugs of the Death Party not move faster than them? It was not difficult to find the two outsiders if she was willing to dig deeper.
"He is not an ordinary person." Hitzfeld shook his head. "He... he has some special powers. He is not as simple as an ordinary extraordinary person. So it is hard to say."
She felt that they still had hope. After all, given the nature of the Undead Party, if they really caught someone, there would be no way there would be no movement at all.
"They have started playing politics after all. Will they be as clumsy as the evil organization?"
Sixus disagreed with her point of view at all.
"It was also mentioned that they were not the only ones looking for Eugenie. Maybe they caught him and they are deliberately hiding the news to buy time?"
She felt that everyone was wrong. The Undead Party's target might not necessarily be the Dragon God's treasure, but might simply be the hidden descendant - they just wanted to completely control the entire kingdom.
"These are things that need to be considered later..."
Hitzfeld had no intention of arguing with her.
The most important thing now is to confirm the situation, at least to find out whether Eugenie and Jerry have been caught.
