In the quiet and remote little house, the two of them looked at each other.
"What should we do next?"
Thales said worriedly, "I mean you."
Quick Rope shrugged. "Find a good explanation for this scene. Louisa and the others should be back tomorrow morning. I don't want to be caught red-handed by them."
"You're not leaving right away?"
"Dean is dead, and Quick Rope, who was in the same team, is missing." Quick Rope rejected him bluntly. "Do you think the people in the Secret Room are fools?"
"I need to find a cover, Thales. I need to find someone who won't be suspicious …"
Thales stared at Dean on the ground and said thoughtfully, "But a lie always needs more lies to cover it up, unless we can guarantee that this guy has mysteriously disappeared and no one knows about it, and that he will never appear again."
Quick Rope rolled his eyes and put on a fawning expression.
"Hmm, if you don't intend to kill me or capture me to do anything shameful, honorable Prince Thales …" Quick Rope rubbed his hands and looked like he was trying to sell insurance money. "Can you go to the Constellatiate officials in the camp and ask them to dispose of the body in secret? I'll be innocent, you'll go home, everyone will be happy … "
Thales snorted softly. "Do you think the people in the Secret Intelligence Department are fools?"
Quick Rope blinked.
"But you're a prince."
Thales frowned.
"What I mean is …" Quick Rope extended his hands and patted himself, then politely gestured to Thales. He smiled awkwardly and said, "The kind that can see the light."
'Prince …
'See the light?'
Thales sighed and refused. "The composition of the Constellatiate army in the camp is complicated. The main force is searching for me in the desert. The local nobles and the central forces of the royal family don't like each other. They give me a bad feeling. It's better not to count on them to keep their mouths shut for me."
Quick Rope raised his eyebrows.
"Oh my Bright Moon, do you see this? This is the chain of power." He shook his finger and clicked his tongue. "Be careful, Thales, you're already trapped in it."
Thales rolled his eyes at him without hiding it.
"How about this? You can tell your people half of the truth to cover for me." Quick Rope scratched his head.
"For example, this Secret Room spy is here to capture you …"
Thales shook his head. "You've been outside for too long, Quick Rope. You've underestimated how paranoid those people can be. The spy sent by the Secret Room has been lurking in the shadows for five whole years. As long as it's the connections he's in contact with, the places he's been to, the news he's concerned about on a daily basis, his unique behavior, and his intentional dressing … I don't think the Secret Intelligence Department would miss these things. Do you want to bet your life on the Black Prophet's carelessness, or on his pure kindness?"
Quick Rope's face fell.
"Phew, maybe I shouldn't have shown up." He leaned against the wall miserably.
"Indeed, I shouldn't have," Thales muttered.
When Quick Rope heard that, he protested, "Hey, I just saved your butt!"
Thales pursed his lips.
"How do you know that I will definitely suffer?"
Thales stared at Dean, who was on the ground, as he racked his brains for a solution. He did not forget to retaliate. "I'm the best at desperate counterattacks."
Quick Rope gave him a look that said, "I'd be a fool to believe you."
"Then, we can only deal with him ourselves."
Thales sighed in resignation.
"Alright." The young man stood up and picked up his luggage. "Where are we going to dig?"
"Digging? Just the two of us amateurs?" Quick Rope patted Thales earnestly and wagged his finger. "No, no, no, we'll definitely be discovered."
"What do you mean?"
Quick Rope looked like he had been through this before. He smiled mysteriously and said, "This is Blade Fangs Camp. We'll follow the rules here."
Thales put on a look as if he was all ears.
"We have to find a professional, the kind who will do anything for money and won't ask too many questions." Quick Rope shook his head, and his eyes became brighter. "He's experienced and has a lot of connections. He knows how to deal with a corpse quietly."
Thales thought of something. "A professional? You're talking about … "
Quick Rope snapped his fingers.
"Yes, that's him."
As he stared at Quick Rope's faintly smiling face, Thales suddenly had an ominous feeling.
Ten minutes later …
"We'll be there after we turn a corner … Wait, let's keep a lookout first … Alright, we can go … Hey, be gentler, gentler, this guy is so heavy …"
Under the dim moonlight, Thales and Quick Rope laboriously carried a sack the size of a man, one in front of the other, and turned a corner.
They bent their backs, tiptoed, and walked through the alley sneakily.
"Visiting him at this hour … Are you sure it's a good idea?" Thales panted.
They arrived in front of an inconspicuous wooden door.
Quick Rope gritted his teeth and nodded. "Don't worry, Tampa is definitely at home. Put it down first. You know, 'My Home' is booked tonight."
But Quick Rope's hand, which was about to knock on the door, stopped in midair.
"Strange." Quick Rope stared at the lock on the wooden door. "The lock is outside … Tampa didn't come back?"
"Ha, you're really reliable." Thales put down the sack laboriously and beat his numb shoulders as he said sarcastically.
"Next, we can only … What are you doing?"
He was stunned by Quick Rope's actions.
At some point in time, Quick Rope already had three iron rods in his mouth.
He still had two of them in his hands, and he was fiddling with the lock on the door.
"Picking the lock."
Quick Rope said in a muffled voice, "We can't just hide outside like this. We might as well go in and wait for him …"
"That's not what I meant!" Thales lowered his voice and said anxiously, "Are you sure you won't be treated as a thief and beaten up?"
"Calm down, calm down." Quick Rope was calm and composed. "You don't know the rules of the world. When it comes to this kind of business, you have your own ways. As long as you have enough money, you don't have to care too much about the other details …"
When he saw that the lock in his hand did not budge, he calmly switched to another iron rod.
Thales frowned. "Wait, where did you learn how to pick locks?"
"You know, when I first arrived in Camus Union, life was not easy." Quick Rope snorted softly and switched to a second iron rod. "I had to learn another skill."
Thales widened his eyes.
"A skill … If your father knew that his son was a thief in Camus Union …" he said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, I embarrassed Raikaru and Chara by being a thief," Quick Rope said sarcastically without any apologies. He impatiently switched to the third iron rod. "But seriously, damn it, Tampa must have gotten a new lock. This thing is even tighter than a virgin … What was I talking about?"
Annoyed, he clumsily shook the unmovable lock. In the end, he had no choice but to switch to the first iron rod.
"Do you really know how to pick locks?" Thales looked at him doubtfully.
"You don't understand, but I've been on the streets before," Quick Rope said nonchalantly. His hands did not stop moving, but cold sweat began to break out on his forehead. "You have to know that not just anyone can become a thief …"
Thales sighed. He could not bear to watch any longer.
In the next second, the Prince of Constellation snatched the iron rod and lock from Quick Rope's hands and pushed him to the side.
"Hey! Don't mess around. "
Quick Rope glared at Thales and protested in dissatisfaction, "Picking locks is a technical skill. Not everyone knows how to —"
During the time he spoke …
* Click. *
There was a barely audible sound of the mechanism.
Quick Rope froze for a moment.
Thales exhaled in satisfaction. He turned around and casually tossed the item in his hand.
Quick Rope caught the item Thales threw in a flurry, and he was immediately stunned.
* Clang. *
The iron rod in his mouth fell to the ground.
Quick Rope stared at the item in his hand in a daze. His mouth was so wide that an egg could be stuffed in it.
"Impossible …" His voice was laced with an aggrieved sob.
It was a …
Two iron rods stuck in it …
Something that had already been opened …
The lock.
Three seconds later …
"Why …"
Quick Rope held the lock. His face was filled with grief and indignation, as if he had been deceived. He said in a trembling voice, "Why are you so skilled?!"
The Prince of Constellation shrugged indifferently and opened the wooden door with a relaxed expression.
"Come on."
Thales pointed at the lock in a nonchalant manner. "Picking locks is something like …"
"Everyone knows how to do it."
Quick Rope froze.
Once he finished speaking, the prince, who was trying his best to hold back his laughter, bent down to worry about the sack.
Quick Rope was left alone, staring at the lock in his hand in disbelief.
He wanted to cry, but no tears came out. His emotions were complicated.
He looked at the lock, then at Thales' back.
"Maybe … no, definitely …"
"I must have pried it loose first," he said dryly.
'Yes, that must be it.
It must be. '
When he thought of this, Quick Rope's mood became much better.
'If that's the case …'
Quick Rope smiled and thought contentedly, 'My skills have improved.'
In the past …
'This kind of lock can't be opened.'
But just as the two princes bent down and were about to lift the sack …
Two light swords silently extended from the darkness behind the door, and were placed on Thales and Quick Rope's necks!
Both of them were shocked.
"Look, what kind of guest did we have?"
A face appeared in the house, but it was not Tampa's.
It was an unfamiliar young woman. She wore dark red leather armor, and her hair was braided around her forehead.
She held two swords at the same time, one on the left and the other on the right. There was a faint smile on her face.
"Two lousy thieves."
As she spoke, the sword in the woman's hand turned slightly.
Thales felt a chill on his neck.
He exchanged a frightened look with Quick Rope, and they fought to raise their hands.
Thales gritted his teeth and said to Quick Rope, "Are you sure we've pried the right door?"
Quick Rope stared at the woman behind the door in fear as well. He understood what Quick Rope meant.
He understood what Thales meant and said, "That's right, the last time I came …"
"Hey, stop chatting." The woman shook the sword in her hand and said scornfully, "Thieves, I didn't allow you to speak …"
In the next second, while the woman was distracted, Thales and Quick Rope swayed to the left and right in tacit understanding. They used the narrow angle of the door to dodge to the sides to avoid the blade!
"Wow." The woman was slightly shocked when her sword missed. "You're quite skilled thieves."
But the danger was not over yet.
Thales heard footsteps from his left and right through his hell's senses.
Again, he froze.
At some point in time, two unfamiliar men stood behind them expressionlessly.
One of them was burly, and the other was lean.
But both of them raised their swords and placed them against Thales and Quick Rope's lower backs.
Thales and Quick Rope had to raise their hands again.
'These three people …'
Sweat broke out on Thales' forehead.
With his hell's senses, he could sense that the three people exuded a cold aura. Their hands that held their swords were steady and powerful. Their muscles were tense and relaxed, and their breathing was rhythmic. The Power of Eradication in their bodies surged ceaselessly. They were obviously skilled fighters.
Thales glared at Quick Rope indignantly.
'What's going on?'
Quick Rope rolled his eyes in resignation.
'I don't know either.'
"They're just two thieves," one of the unfamiliar swordsmen behind them said coldly. "Tampa really knows how to exaggerate."
The woman in the dark red dress smiled faintly and raised her swords.
"Then hurry up."
Thales and Quick Rope trembled at the same time!
"Wait!"
Quick Rope blurted out in a moment of panic, "You must be the bodyguards Tampa hired, right? We, we're here to — "
"I'm here to discuss business with him!" Thales quickly finished his sentence.
The woman's swords stopped moving.
"To talk business with Tampa?"
She frowned.
"By picking the lock?"
"It's a shady business. Hehe, forgive me." Quick Rope forced a smile.
The woman in red and the two swordsmen exchanged glances.
One of the swordsmen kicked the sack on the ground, then frowned and said, "There's a person inside?"
"To be precise, it's a corpse." Thales nodded awkwardly. "So we had to pick the lock … Can you understand?"
The woman raised her head suspiciously.
"You … know Tampa?"
"Yes, we're very close. I'm his business partner …" Quick Rope was beaming with joy. At the same time, he did not forget to signal Thales with his eyes.
"Very good!" Thales nodded vigorously like a woodpecker. "We even drank together today …"
The woman in red and the swordsmen looked at each other again and nodded.
"Alright." The young woman snorted softly and walked out of the door. "Come with us.
Tampa won't stay here tonight. "
Thales and Quick Rope breathed a sigh of relief.
But the swordsmen behind them did not hold back. They still used the tips of their swords to force the two of them to follow.
"Carry your goods," one of the swordsmen said coldly. "Be gentle, don't play tricks. You don't want to alarm the patrols, right?"
Thales and Quick Rope looked at each other helplessly. They could feel the tip of the sword pressed against their waists, but they could only obediently do as they were told.
Under the watchful eyes of the four swords, the two of them carried the sack while trembling with fear. They purposely chose a quiet path and walked through the streets again.
They soon arrived at a new location.
'My Home' tavern. '
This made Thales and Quick Rope breathe a sigh of relief.
At least, this was indeed Tampa's territory.
"Looks like they're indeed from Tampa," Quick Rope said in dissatisfaction. "That stingy guy is really becoming more and more paranoid."
The swordswoman in red knocked on the tavern door four times in a rhythmic manner.
"Listen, I'll negotiate later," Quick Rope said in a low voice.
But as he stared at the familiar signboard above his head, the Prince of Constellation suddenly thought of something.
'If these people are bodyguards hired by Tampa to watch over his house …
'Then Tampa's house …
'Why was it locked from the outside?
'And tonight, wasn't' My Home 'tavern …'
The tavern door opened.
Before they could think further, Thales and Quick Rope were pushed into the tavern by the swordswoman behind them.
The moment Quick Rope and Thales walked into the tavern, dozens of pairs of eyes shot towards them.
The two people carrying the sack were stunned.
There were many people in the tavern. All of them were armed and ready for battle.
A suffocating murderous aura came at them.
"They …" Quick Rope mumbled.
There was no need for him to remind them. Thales recognized them.
They were Blood Whistle.
The mercenary group known as the One Hundred Men Group.
Yes, they had booked the entire tavern tonight.
But they did not have the drunken, relaxed, and partying scene that Thales imagined.
On the contrary, the tavern was eerily quiet.
Even the whispers of these mercenaries were low-key and quiet, showing that they were well-trained.
Thales' heart was filled with unease.
'What … is going on?
What happened to the tavern?
Where's Tampa? '
"Let's go inside." The swordswoman in red turned her head and said, "Tampa is inside, discussing business with our boss."
The mercenaries of Blood Whistle were either sitting or standing. Some were leaning against the wall, some were leaning against the pillar, some were propped up against the table, some were even sitting on the stairs, leaning against the railing on the second floor, and some were even hiding in the corner. Most of them were relaxed, but their gazes were bright.
'They're like soldiers guarding a bunker … No.' Thales shook his head in his heart. 'Based on the atmosphere, they're like soldier ants guarding an ant nest.'
When they saw the two princes enter, these people's expressions changed.
Their gazes were fierce, and they harbored malicious intentions.
Thales panicked and cast a glance at the equally surprised and bewildered Quick Rope.
'Um …
'Something doesn't seem right?'
Quick Rope returned him a glance anxiously.
'Don't worry.
Everything is under control. '
Under the dozens of cold and terrifying gazes, Thales braced himself. He carried the sack, ignored the malicious smile of the fierce man on his left, and followed the swordswoman forward.
A mercenary with a sword on his back and a shield on his back stood in front of them. He raised his hand to stop them from moving forward.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and sized up Thales and Quick Rope.
"Marina," the mercenary said coldly.
"They have weapons."
The swordswoman in red named Marina turned her head around to look at Thales. She looked at the daggers, machetes, and crossbows on their bodies, then laughed involuntarily. "Why, Shawn, do you think the boss and the others will be afraid of this?"
As Marina laughed, many of the mercenaries who were sizing up Thales also laughed.
But compared to Dante's Greatsword and the friendly and casual atmosphere, Thales could only feel waves of murderous intent and coldness from the people of Blood Whistle.
'These people …'
Thales looked around with an unpleasant expression. He felt that he had fallen into another pit.
It was filled with muddy water.
Shawn, the mercenary who blocked the way, laughed. He seemed to be amused by the joke as well. He patted Marina's shoulder and made way for them.
Thales and Quick Rope walked into the center of the tavern anxiously with the sack on their shoulders.
Here, the mercenaries maintained their distance, and they were scattered rather sparsely.
Only four people sat at an empty table in the middle.
Thales recognized the man with the scar on his neck at first glance.
"Tampa!"
Quick Rope's expression relaxed, and the sack rolled down from his shoulder. He endured the strange atmosphere around him. "Hey, I was wondering why I couldn't find you …"
But Thales noticed that Tampa's expression was extremely unpleasant at that moment, and his sitting posture was stiff.
"Quick Rope? And you? "The tavern owner frowned and looked at the two people who came in incredulously.
"Of course it's us! I say, you're really … "Quick Rope's expression was stiff, and his voice slowly became softer." Am I interrupting something? "
Tampa did not answer him, but his expression became even more unpleasant.
The other three people at the empty table turned their heads around.
A thought appeared in Thales' mind. He recognized the people in front of him.
Ricky, who had a smile on his face, the indifferent middle-aged Northlander, and the masked swordsman who had seen the vicissitudes of life.
'It's them.'
The first three people from Blood Whistle who came to the tavern and booked a table.
"I only met these two people just now." Marina put her swords back into the scabbards at her waist and pursed her lips at Ricky. "They were obviously picking the lock, but they said they wanted to do business with him."
Ricky nodded. His gaze moved back and forth between Thales and Quick Rope.
His gaze made Thales feel terrified, as if he had been seen through from the inside out.
"Thank you, Marina," he said politely. "You've been a great help."
Marina nodded in understanding and retreated to the side.
"I recognize you." Ricky sized up the two of them and chuckled softly. "Dante's Greatsword.
And you're new to it. "
Thales and Quick Rope forced a mournful smile.
"Listen, Tampa." Quick Rope was the first to speak, and he looked like a simple-minded fool.
"We're done with the business you asked me to do, and we're here tonight to report …"
He kicked the sack under his feet.
At the empty table, Tampa had a strange expression on his face.
Ricky turned to Tampa.
The tavern owner's face twitched, and he coughed. "Alright, I got it. Listen, Quick Rope, you go back first. I'll find time to talk business with you tomorrow. "
"Ah, I can tell." A thought appeared in Quick Rope's mind. "You're a little busy right now … It's fine, we can talk tomorrow …"
Marina giggled by the side.
Ricky was deep in thought.
Thales nudged Quick Rope gently. The two of them bent down in tacit understanding, ready to pick up the sack.
But Thales had only bent down halfway when a boot stopped on the sack in front of his chest.
"Listen to your mother and stand still, thieves." Marina sat on a chair by the side, raised her slender thighs, and hooked them against Thales' chest with a smile.
Thales and Quick Rope glanced at the two swords at Marina's waist, then at the mercenaries around them from the corner of their eyes. They could only straighten their backs in embarrassment.
'This is bad.
It looks like it won't be easy to get away. '
Ricky, the leader of the mercenaries, spoke.
"Oh, so they're the 'backup' you claimed to be? Your reliable 'security consultant'? "
Thales frowned.
Ricky sighed and lowered his arm. "You're so humorous, Tampa."
Tampa looked like he had met an unlucky victim, and he covered his face in pain.
Quick Rope put on a baffled expression, then forced a smile. "Actually …"
Thales coughed, and his words were stuck in his mouth.
"Alright, alright," the teenager said slowly.
He looked at Tampa, then at Ricky. He raised his hands to show that he was harmless while he said carefully, "I know, sirs, that we might not have come at the right time … But honestly, I don't understand, and I don't want to know what's going on with you right now, so no matter where you are …"
Tampa's face became more and more dispirited. He coughed loudly, and his tone was unfriendly.
"Then get lost!"
Thales and Quick Rope followed his advice and bent down for the second time to pick up the sack that was out of their reach.
But they stopped in the middle of the journey.
At some point in time, Marina's sword was placed horizontally in front of their chests.
"Ah, ah, ah."
The delicate and pretty woman opened her mouth playfully, waved the sword in her hand, and clicked her tongue maliciously. "If you don't listen to your mother, you'll be spanked."
Thales and Quick Rope straightened their backs again with unpleasant expressions on their faces.
Ricky sighed, raised his head, and smiled. "You really don't understand the situation, but it's okay, I'll tell you.
"The situation is very simple."
Ricky flashed a friendly smile at the two, then pointed at Tampa and said softly, "We, Blood Whistle …
Are in Tampa's tavern. "
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