Thales and Quick Rope stared at the tavern owner, who was sitting at the empty table. He was sweating profusely, as if he was sitting on pins and needles.
What was the probability of running into the tavern owner and being robbed when they went out to dispose of corpses at night?
"Marina, where's your manners? Why don't you invite our two new friends to sit down?"
Ricky still looked easy to talk to. "Give them a drink while you're at it. Forget about the wine, I need them to stay awake."
When he said these words, he fixed his gaze on Tampa.
'Give them a drink and stay awake.'
Thales and Quick Rope stared at each other in surprise and bewilderment. They communicated their feelings with their eyes.
'What's going on?
'I don't know!'
The mercenaries around them still stared coldly at the two newcomers. They whispered and sneered at them, exuding their unique might.
Marina raised her eyebrows and gestured at Thales and Quick Rope with her chin. She kicked an empty table beside her.
"Did you hear that?"
Thales and Quick Rope looked at each other and wondered whether they should sit down.
Marina sighed.
She lowered her head and drew out two swords with a swoosh!
And when she raised her head again with a ferocious glare ….
Thales and Quick Rope had already appeared on the chairs beside the empty table.
It was as if they had teleported.
They propped their hands on the table and sat upright. They showed their white front teeth and smiled obediently.
Their speed, good attitude, and sweet smiles made Marina, who was ready to see some blood, feel slightly defeated.
The mercenaries behind them brought two drinks from the bar counter and placed them on the table without hesitation.
Thales and Quick Rope subconsciously shrank back.
They pulled their hands away from the table and tried to stay away from the two drinks.
"What, are you worried that it's poisonous?" Marina looked at them scornfully.
"We're not thirsty," said the obedient Thales.
"We're really not thirsty," said the obsequious Quick Rope.
Marina sighed again when she saw the sincerity in the duo's eyes.
"Is that so? Why do I feel like …"
She raised the sword in her hand, and the two mercenaries behind her quietly took a step forward.
"You'd rather leave your hands empty so that it's easier for you to hold your weapons at any time …"
Right after he finished speaking, Thales and Quick Rope stretched out their hands in unison. They extended and retracted their hands and swiftly picked up their wine glasses.
Both of them raised their heads at the same time and revealed friendly smiles.
"No, no …"
"You flatter me …"
His movements were smooth and fluid.
Marina's eyebrows twitched as she looked at the two giggling people.
She snorted in disdain and put away her weapon.
On the other side, the leader of the mercenaries, Ricky, looked at their expressions and sighed softly. "Judging from the expressions of these two new guests … I'm guessing that you were just bluffing earlier, Tampa?"
Tampa, the main character who was hijacked, coughed with an unpleasant expression.
"Listen up, the camp won't just sit back and watch."
Ricky, who was watching the two new customers with interest, shifted his gaze back to the owner.
"They're busy killing everyone in the desert, and this is just a personal grudge," Ricky said with a smile. "So, they really won't care."
Tampa's expression became more and more stiff. "You know that you're destroying Blood Whistle's reputation. No employer or referral will be willing to hire someone with a criminal record —"
"Reputation …"
Ricky said nonchalantly, "Don't you know that this is a one-time deal? We're prepared to leave Blade Fangs Camp and even quit this business."
Thales, who held his wine glass tightly, looked around at the mercenaries in the tavern. Their silence added an inexplicable sense of tension to the atmosphere.
'A one-time deal …'
These words made Thales extremely uneasy.
It meant that this group of people did not care about the possible consequences.
Then, he and Quick Rope, the two people who were dragged into this for no reason, what should they do to get out safely?
"I have no grudge against Blood Whistle!"
Tampa slammed the table, gritted his teeth, and pointed at Ricky. "Hey, before this, your people were the ones who were blind and touched the big shots' cheese. That's why they were captured by the camp. I've already tried my best to plead for you …"
While Tampa defended himself, the middle-aged man named Klein beside Ricky shook his head and could not help but laugh. He said to the masked man, "Are you blind?"
"Shut up," was Masked Man's blunt reply.
Thales watched their interaction quietly.
According to Ricky's introduction today, Klein was a swordsman from Northland, and Masked Man had a dangerous identity. They had just joined Blood Whistle.
But judging by their current behavior, they did not feel distant and distant from each other like when they first joined the team, just like Quick Rope and Dante's Greatsword.
It was as if they had known each other for a long time.
These two people had just arrived, and they sat at the same table as the leader of the team. The other mercenaries in the tavern, including the seemingly experienced Marina, actually did not have any opinion about this?
'There's something wrong.'
Thales made a mental note of his suspicions.
'This so-called mercenary team …
'It's not that simple.'
"If you blame this on me, or want to earn a fortune before you leave, then you're looking at the wrong people …" Tampa continued to defend himself.
But Ricky held up a finger, silencing all three of them.
"This has nothing to do with business, and it has nothing to do with grudges, old friend."
He said faintly.
Tampa froze for a moment.
"Then what do you want? Mercenaries? "
Ricky's lips curled up.
"What we want might be a little much …"
A hint of shrewdness and prudence appeared in his eyes.
"But first, you can answer a question for us."
Tampa frowned.
When he saw this scene and how Ricky did not hide his question from them, Thales immediately felt that something was wrong.
Ricky's expression became serious. "About twenty years ago, there was a mercenary team called the Nine Powerhouses.
"There's a mercenary team called the 'Nine Giants' that is active around the desert. You know about it, right? Just today, I heard you talking about it with that young man."
Ricky pointed at Thales. Everyone's gazes made the latter's smile numb.
'Nine Powerhouses?
What's that? Tampa talked about this thing? '
Tampa looked at Ricky suspiciously. "So?"
Ricky nodded.
"The leader of that team is a young man with pretty good skills. He's about forty or fifty years old now." Ricky placed one hand on the table and slowly rubbed his fingers, as if he was recalling something.
"His swordsmanship is very special. His offense and defense are independent, and his skills are a mixture of many different styles. But when he connects them, it is smooth and natural. When he fights against his enemies, he often surprises them and catches them off guard …"
Thales noticed that a few of the silent mercenaries in the distance had tense expressions on their faces.
On the other side of the table, Masked Man suddenly spoke. "Even when he faces powerful enemies or even attacks from all sides, he can withstand the pressure and not be at a disadvantage." His voice was old.
Ricky nodded slightly and looked into the distance. His gaze was profound. "Exactly."
He turned to Tampa. "Who is he?"
Tampa was stunned for a moment.
"Just because of this?"
"This is very important. You are the owner of this place. You should understand him," Ricky said quietly.
Tampa took a deep breath.
"This is a little too long ago. Twenty years ago, the Nine Powerhouses. At that time, I was just an idiot who lived a hard life …"
He shrugged. "How could I possibly know?"
Ricky blinked and nodded amicably.
"You might not be old enough, but …"
The leader of the mercenaries leaned forward, and a confident expression appeared on his face.
"This is my home."
Tampa looked baffled. "So what? This is a tavern, not the Secret Intelligence Department."
Ricky snorted coldly.
"You know, you have a pretty good signboard."
Tampa froze a little.
"More than two hundred years ago, the first Supreme Queen in Constellation's history appeared. Erica Jadestar, who succeeded to the throne and was crowned as the Crown Princess, once defeated the Eckstedtians so badly that they retreated in panic. They even had to shrink their borders and give up on Cold Castle.
"This is the origin of that joke: Constellation can only defeat Eckstedt under the leadership of women and children, regardless of whether it is Sumer the First who died at the tender age of twelve, Queen Asola who personally went into battle, or the Empress Dowager Iron Spike, Queen Erica, or the Fortress Flower.
As he listened to Ricky's words, Masked Man snorted in disdain.
'Erica the Conqueror of the North.'
Thales had heard of this history before.
Of course, it was from the perspective of the Northlanders who were "filled with righteous indignation".
It was said that Princess Erica was dissolute and had endless desires. Before she was crowned, it was difficult for her to marry because of her terrible reputation and the fact that her biological father was an illegitimate child whose father was a mystery. For the sake of power, she did not hesitate to use her beauty and body to seduce her enemies and instigate them to support her crown. She even seduced Sid Schuster in a sinister and despicable manner. The wise Common-Elected King of Eckstedt sternly rejected the queen's "flashy beauty and ugly heart" ("He said no," Thales' History Book Note 4). Despite sticking to the interests and integrity of the Northlanders, he was captured by the enraged "whore queen" ("He was captured across provinces from Fort Final to Eternal Star City," Thales' History Book Note 13). Unfortunately, he fell into her clutches ("His body was honest," Thales' History Book Note 15). He was locked in the castle, imprisoned all year round, tortured every night, and humiliated (Every time Little Rascal saw this, she would ask Thales out of curiosity why he smiled so strangely).
At the same time, the despicable and shameless Constellatiates gathered their troops in secret and seized the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. The Eckstedtians, who were worried about the king's safety ("Why is he not dead yet?" Thales' History Book Note 24), who were leaderless and disunited, resisted tenaciously. They fought bravely and built an unyielding line of defense in front of Cold Castle ("Then they lost Cold Castle," Thales' History Book Note 37). In the end, they crushed Constellation's' whore queen's' plot to enslave Northland.
Incidentally, the history book filled with Thales' nonsensical words and personal notes was eventually discovered by Ginghes, the female official. As the Archduchess' Guard, Lord Nicholas was filled with emotion after he read it. Impressed, he decided to let it join the firewood in the fireplace and contribute to the warmth of Heroic Spirit Palace during the cold winter.
Thales shook his head and pulled his attention back to what was in front of him.
Ricky continued, "But Erica's later years were not very happy. The 'Conqueror of the North' was usurped by her younger brother, and she had no choice but to go into exile in the Western Desert. She died of depression after being besieged day after day and being betrayed endlessly.
"The forces loyal to Queen Erica fled to Blade Fangs Dune. With the tacit consent of the Duke of Western Desert, they were not willing to serve the cruel 'Red King' and join his repeated conquests and suppression of rebellions. They were also not willing to go far away and be buried. Hence, they chose to continue fighting for the duke and the country at the western border in the name of mercenaries."
Ricky pointed at the door and said with a smile, "This is' Queen Erica's Last Wine Goblet '."
Tampa took a deep breath.
"This was also the glorious history of the Western Desert mercenaries, or what they thought it was. From then on, this tavern, 'My Home', became the command center for the mercenaries in Western Desert that they could not speak of."
Ricky stared at him without blinking. "It has been more than two hundred years. Politics have changed, and the throne has changed. But 'My Home' has always been the center for the mercenaries in Western Desert. It is the holy land in many people's hearts.
"And you, Tampa, are like the previous owners of this place. You took over the position of the previous owner and obtained information. You wander between the black and white, and you act as a middleman in this holy land of mercenaries. On one hand, you come into contact with the official forces in the camp, and on the other hand, you provide protection for the mercenaries who wander outside the kingdom and the law. You introduce jobs to them, and you have the right to be their guarantor.
"Every mercenary or group with even the slightest bit of experience who comes to Blade Fangs Camp will come here to greet the local tyrant and build connections. So, you know the general situation and even the details of almost every mercenary group. As long as they visit this place and look for business, they will leave a record."
Tampa exhaled slowly.
"In this chaotic camp, you might not be the one with the most authority and strength, Tampa, but you're definitely the one who knows the most." Ricky's gaze turned fierce. "Perhaps you know a little too much."
"See, we did not come to you without reason."
Tampa furrowed his eyebrows tightly.
"Now, tell me, Tampa."
"Who is he?
Where is he now? "
Ricky said softly, "The leader of the Nine Powerhouses who uses a sword."
Klein and Masked Man, who were at the same table, also turned to Tampa and stared at the tavern owner from both sides.
The mercenaries' gazes became even more terrifying.
Tampa clenched his teeth, and his expression twitched.
But he still shook his head. "No, it was more than twenty years ago. It was too long ago, and they disbanded a long time ago. I don't remember at all …"
Ricky's smile slowly disappeared.
"It seems that you don't understand our determination to come here today."
He said coldly.
Once he finished speaking, Ricky nodded slightly at Marina.
Marina flashed a mysterious smile and placed her hands on the shoulders of the two new guests.
Thales and Quick Rope turned their heads and looked at her in puzzlement.
'What is she trying to do?'
But in the next moment, Thales felt a bone-piercing chill come from the spot where Marina's palm was placed!
It went straight into his body!
Thales shuddered.
Cold.
Extreme cold.
It was as if someone had suddenly replaced all his blood with ice water.
It flowed through his veins.
At that moment, Thales' face turned pale.
'This is …'
Not only that, the cold also brought with it an unbearable dull pain. It was like a pair of brothers who charged forward without regard for retreat. It was violent and crazy, and it attacked his nerves inch by inch.
'Sh * t!'
Realizing that something was wrong, Thales shrunk his body and tried to resist the terrifying power.
Quick Rope reacted faster than he did.
"Ahhhhh —" the former Prince of Eckstedt screamed!
Quick Rope widened his eyes. His expression was terrified and pained, as if he had seen the legendary ferryman of Hell's River.
His face contorted in the strange cold.
Tampa stared at the two people who were being tortured, dumbfounded.
The mercenaries, on the other hand, looked calm. They even had smiles on their faces, as if they were used to this.
Thales also gritted his teeth in pain. The cold made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, but his whole body was numb, and it was difficult for him to get rid of it.
At this moment …
* Boom! *
A power that had been dormant for a few days suddenly woke up in Thales' body!
The Sin of Hell's River was like a beast that had been released from its cage, or a flood that had broken through a dam. It reacted with explosive speed and rhythm and filled Thales' body.
It charged towards the violent and cold power.
'What's wrong?'
Thales did not have time to react.
In the span of a breath, the Sin of Hell's River met that power.
Immediately, Thales could not stop himself from trembling!
But it was not because of the cold and the torment of the dull pain.
In fact, the feeling that the power gave him slowly disappeared, regardless of whether it was cold or pain.
But the other monster attacked without hesitation. The Sin of Hell's River surged and filled his whole body inch by inch, like an enraged beast. It rose and fell violently, and the speed at which it moved was second only to the few times he was on the verge of death.
Thales was shocked.
'What's going on?'
That was not all.
The Sin of Hell's River was like a bewitching potion that quietly climbed into his heart. Hell's senses were activated on their own without him needing to summon them. His eyes subconsciously focused on Marina's vitals: her eyes, throat, chest, armpits, lower abdomen …
That was not all.
Thales "saw" a lot of things.
The other party's Power of Eradication surged madly and gathered in Marina's hands and arms. It slowed down the fatigue of her muscles and nerves, and strengthened the senses on her skin so that she could predict her opponent's next attack. At the same time, it also had a terrifying aggressiveness that would spread madly with every violent collision. Thales suddenly realized that he knew all of this.
Thales shook his hands and felt the position of the dagger behind his waist.
'But …
'As long as I move properly … I can take her by surprise and kill her.'
An urge to attack spread in Thales' mind, making him want to attack immediately.
It was very comfortable.
This urge made him very comfortable.
'I really want to …'
Under the urging of the Sin of Hell's River, he subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch the dagger.
But at that moment, Thales felt a strange, piercing pain in his forehead.
What followed was an inexplicable coolness that spread in his mind.
'"May you …"
A strange and faint ringing in his ears rose.
'"Forever …"'
The coolness and ringing in his ears seemed to have some sort of effect. It almost instantly cut off the connection between the Sin of Hell's River and Thales!
The urge to attack disappeared.
It was only then that Thales came to his senses.
He took a deep breath, but immediately realized that something was wrong.
Many of the mercenaries in the tavern, including Ricky, Clay, and Masked Man, frowned and stared at him strangely.
He stared at Thales, who was panting with his head lowered.
It was as if there was something different about him.
On the other side.
"No, no, no!
Quick Rope's face was still contorted, and his screams were endless. He could not stop trembling, and he was drenched in cold sweat.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Marina, who was pressing down on their shoulders, looked at Quick Rope, who was in unbearable pain, then at Thales, who seemed to be completely fine. She became even more confused.
She let out a puzzled "huh?" and tightened her grip on Thales' hand.
"What …" Ricky narrowed his eyes and whispered to Clay beside him.
As Quick Rope screamed in pain, Thales instantly reacted!
Alarm bells were ringing in his mind!
Oh no.
Oh no!
'Quick Rope and I, we're different!
In the next second, Thales tried his best to imagine the worst, most painful, and most terrifying encounter he had ever encountered in his life. It was not easy, because it was very difficult for him to compare which was the "worst". He tried to replicate his own emotions and reactions.
Thales gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and howled at the top of his lungs, "No, no, no, argh —"
He pretended to be in extreme pain, learning to be as painful as possible.
This is also very difficult.
After all, acting could never compare to real reality. Thales had to put in a lot of effort and focus to force out Quick Rope's heart-wrenching, hysterical, and crazed trembling, as if he was being skinned.
Marina's eyebrows slowly relaxed when she saw Thales in pain.
That was more like it.
It seemed that … this sissy shorty was a bit slow.
She nodded with satisfaction.
The mercenaries slowly retracted their doubts.
"Enough!"
Tampa's roar interrupted Marina's torturous torture of the two men, whether real or staged, and made her let go.
Quick Rope collapsed on the table with a dumbfounded look on his face. He groaned miserably and twitched from time to time.
Thales imitated him and collapsed on Quick Rope's body so that he could move up and down as the latter trembled, and he did not have to force himself.
But he was extremely shocked and puzzled.
'What in the world was that just now?!'
"What was that?!"
Tampa angrily stared at the two miserable men. "Your poison? Bone-grinding skill? Or the legendary magic? "
"Just some small tricks to make you realize our determination." Ricky still looked at him politely.
"I know that you were a soldier before, Tampa, and you might be a tough nut to crack, but …"
"If they are really your people, then take it as urging and encouraging you." The leader of the mercenaries chuckled. "If not …
"Take it as an example."
He waved his hand at Marina. "Put more strength into it."
Thales and Quick Rope trembled at the same time.
Tampa stared at them in disbelief. His expression was bewildered and hesitant.
"Enough!"
Before Marina smiled and pressed her hands together again, Tampa spat indignantly.
He looked at Ricky in annoyance.
"The Nine Powerhouses. Yes, the Nine Powerhouses. I remember now."
Ricky nodded in satisfaction.
Thales and Quick Rope breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the tavern owner gratefully.
"Damn it …" Tampa cursed under his breath.
"Please say that again?" Ricky's smile was the same as before.
Tampa snorted angrily and said reluctantly, "More than ten years ago, I mean, during the Bloody Year, most of the Western Peninsula was at war.
The desert was in chaos, and the nobles and mobs in the south rebelled. In the end, Eckstedt's unprecedented army went south. Quite a number of famous mercenary groups in the Western Desert — Soul Ripper, Double-edged Sword, Moon Scar, Evil Punishing Army, Immortal Hunters, and Dawnlight Servants — were affected by the chaos of the war and met with great misfortune. They either died or were scattered. Some of them were even removed from their names. The Nine Powerhouses were no exception — "
The middle-aged man named Klein interrupted him rudely, "We know that part of history better than you do. Cut the crap."
Tampa immediately froze and cast a displeased look at Klein.
"But under the surface, only a few people in the circle know that the Nine Powerhouses survived the Bloody Year," he said indignantly.
Ricky's gaze focused.
"That's something I heard from Old Rooney's father … One night after the war, the Psionic who was in charge of settling accounts among the Nine Powerhouses knocked on the tavern door while carrying their leader on his back. He was covered in wounds and blood."
Tampa gritted his teeth.
"That night, Old Rooney's father found a doctor for them. He even helped the Nine Powerhouses get rid of all the assets they left behind in one night so that they could disappear without a trace."
Tampa snorted angrily.
"And the person you asked about? When he appeared again, it was already a few years later. "
The mercenaries from Blood Whistle looked at each other with solemn expressions.
"Some of the old people told me that during the past decade or so, a new and powerful underground gang in the interior and south of Constellation worshiped him like a myth.
"He became more and more powerful, even more so than when he was a mercenary. At the very least, he dared to go against Blood Bottle Gang, who were the pawns of the nobles, and he almost never lost," Tampa said coldly.
"And every time he appeared, he was like a legend. He had a head but no tail, and he left no traces behind."
When he heard this, Thales was shocked!
'A new and powerful underground gang …
'Went against Blood Bottle Gang …'
Tampa exhaled and glared at the other three people with hatred. "He even has a new name —"
He did not finish speaking.
Because another person helped him say the answer.
"Black Sword."
The only Masked Man clenched his fists, and his voice was as cold as ice.
Tampa was stunned.
At that moment, almost all the mercenaries in the tavern held their breaths.
They looked at each other as if they had found the greatest treasure.
"Is that right?"
Masked Man slowly said, enunciating each word, "Because he uses a black and swarthy sword that is extremely inconvenient to use. Whether it is slashing, slashing, stabbing, blocking, or parrying, they are all very strange …
"Ancient Demon Sword."
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