Volume 3: The Land of Mist Chapter 30 Morton

Walking on the broken wooden boat, the sailors carefully carried the boxes forward.

The things in their hands were not too heavy, but because the ships under their feet were too old, they often stepped through the rotten wooden boards and fell into the water after walking a few steps, causing a lot of shouting.

"You can find the Moon City Embassy here later. There is a teleportation array that goes directly to Moon City. But the teleportation is charged by weight, and the fee is not low. However, if it is not urgent, I still recommend hiring a few wildebeest carriages to go there. Although it may take an extra week or two, the scenery of Ava Continent along the way is still worth seeing..."

Looking at the wooden boxes being brought ashore in an endless stream, Hobbes suggested to William.

At this time, they had already passed the abandoned city on the sea which was connected by many ships and arrived at the shore.

"The embassy is now closed. Teleportation to Yuefa City or other cities cannot be used during this period."

The elf officer who had boarded the ship for inspection earlier suddenly spoke up after hearing Hobbes' suggestion to William.

He and his team continued to be responsible for accompanying or monitoring William and his group, so they followed them all the time.

Hearing this, William, who sensed something was wrong, immediately asked:

"Will hiring a wildebeest carriage be affected?"

The officer of the Blood Blade Family nodded and said:

"The entire Yinsu City is now under temporary lockdown, and all citizens are not allowed to leave the city."

"What about us?"

"Same here."

Hearing this answer, the expression on William's face changed slightly.

"Why didn't you make it clear at the beginning?"

William looked at the other person and asked with a serious expression.

"The lockdown won't last too long, at most one or two weeks. During this time, someone will take care of your food and lodging. As long as you cooperate with us, you won't suffer any loss."

"You didn't answer my question."

The other party sighed slightly after hearing this, and then said:

"If I had told you this at the beginning, would you have turned the boat around and headed back? Or would you have thought of some other way to get ashore?"

"So you chose to put us under house arrest in disguised form like this?"

Hearing this, Hobbes on the side couldn't help but ask.

The captain with a limp looked around and noticed that the members of the Blood Blade Guard had already scattered around them and surrounded them.

"We have been cooperating with your work before, but now you treat us like this? This is not how you do business..."

Hobbes looked at the Blood Blade Guards around him who were always on guard against them and said with half anger and half helplessness.

"We are soldiers, not businessmen."

The other party gave a brief answer.

"So, where did all those merchants go?"

William asked.

"Some were arrested, but most stayed quietly at home. Do you want to know why?"

The one who answered William's question was not the Blood Blade Guard officer, but another high elf who appeared behind William and the others at some point.

He wore dark golden scale armor and a blood-red short sword with a phoenix tail-shaped hilt on his waist. Compared to an elf, his figure was quite sturdy, and his proportions were closer to those of a human. But his face still had the soft beauty that was unique to high elves.

When several Blood Blade Guards saw this man, they immediately bowed their heads, crossed their hands in the shape of wings, and pressed them against their chests in salute.

This was probably the unique etiquette of the high elves based on the worship of the Phoenix Holy Fire - the Fire Phoenix Ceremony. However, William seemed to remember that this etiquette was abandoned after Ava entered the era of the Free City-State.

However, the information I looked up were all antiques from more than a thousand years ago, so it is normal that some things do not match the present.

"Lord Morton."

After the salute, the Blood Blade Guards shouted in unison.

The other party waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite, and then he looked at William and continued to ask:

"Are you very curious about why the Fengge family members did not wait for your arrival here as originally planned, why the people guarding the dock were not Yinsu City's garrison family 'Scale Guard', and why the city is so quiet now?"

As he spoke, he casually opened a wooden box beside him and took out a piece of crude ore the size of two fists. He lifted the ore slightly and looked at the silver pattern created by the faint sunlight on it, and couldn't help but marvel at it.

"What a good thing... I heard that during the marriage ceremony between humans, the woman's family is often required to send money and other things, right? What is that thing called... a dowry? I think it's called a dowry?"

William did not respond to the other party because he didn't know who this person who suddenly appeared was, nor did he know what the other party was talking about.

"Who is this person?"

William turned to Hobbes and asked.

"Just now those people called him 'Lord Morton', so he should be the Lord of Fenghuo City, Morton Bloodblade."

Hobbes replied, his lips moving.

But to be honest, Hobbes was not sure whether this person was the elven warrior leader whose skills were said to have reached the divine realm. After all, his ordinary smuggling ship would not attract the attention of such a big boss.

"It can be seen that the master behind you is very generous. In order to win people's hearts, he prepared so many things just for the dowry."

Morton said this, throwing the ore in his hand back into the box and then brushing the dust off his hands.

"What dowry... I'm selling all these things."

William was increasingly confused about what the other party was talking about.

"Sell? I think it should be bought, right? Use this shipload of stuff to buy Yin Sucheng's support and his loyalty."

William felt a little puzzled and asked:

"So who is this 'he' you're talking about?"

Morton looked at William, with an expression that everything was under control, and asked:

"Are you curious about where Ward Windsong went?"

"who?"

William asked doubtfully.

The other party sneered and moved his right hand slightly closer to the sword at his waist.

"Don't play such boring tricks in front of me. It's useless except wasting each other's time."

Seeing that the elf named Morton was unwilling to answer his question, William turned to Hobbes again and asked:

"Who is that Ward Windsong?"

"The Lord of Yinsu City."

Hobbes replied in a sweaty whisper.

The elf in front of him had already brought him great pressure just by standing there. From the moment he put his hand towards the sword in his hand, an indescribable bloody smell had been overflowing from his body. It felt like some fierce beast opened its bloody mouth and roared at him with a foul smell, or like warm and sticky blood was wrapping around him, then slowly cooled and condensed into a layer of blood scab.

But why did the person next to him seem to be fine under this momentum?

William nodded when he heard the answer, then turned to Morton again and asked:

"What does he have to do with me? I don't even know who he is."

This time, Morton was slightly stunned. The confused expression on the other person's face made him doubt whether he had found the wrong person.

Morton looked at the officer who had come aboard the Whalebone for an inspection.

The man immediately lowered his head and said:

"Lord Morton, we are very sure that the other party is a believer of the Eighth Holy Spirit. And we have also collected the residual reaction of the divine domain-level illusion [Shadow of Truth] on the ship. And more importantly, the canonized divine enlightener of the empire is also on their ship... It is her."

He pointed at Diana, who had been following William. Diana's body trembled slightly, and she took small steps to hide behind William.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

After getting confirmation from his capable subordinate, Morton looked at William and asked.

"Wait a minute... You guys are making my head a little confused. Is it true that there are followers of the Eighth Holy Spirit in Ava Continent and we can't follow the rules? Also, what does this have to do with the mayor of Yinsu City?"

Could you explain to me what's going on?

William asked sincerely.

Judging from their previous conversation, it was estimated that some conflict had occurred between Yinsu City and Fenghuo City. As a result, the forces of Fenghuo City have now taken over the entire Yinsu City.

The Fenghuo City Lord named Morton in front of him was a top-notch expert even in William's era, and he was definitely a top-tier expert now. Before he understood the other party's position, William did not intend to have any direct conflict with him.

"Is there anything else you don't know? Oh, yes, there are indeed some things you don't know..."

As he spoke, a smug smile appeared on his face, and then he began to explain to William the reason for his victory like a villain in a eight o'clock drama.

"The impeachment of Her Highness Remedios was unsuccessful. We have evidence of Ward's collusion with the Empire, especially with the Eighth Cult. We arrested him and sent him to Yuefa City to await trial. Her Highness Remedios is still the ruler of Ava. And those cities that attempted to overthrow her rule and submit to the Empire are now under our control."

After saying that, he actually laughed like a villain in a TV drama.

"Really?"

William asked in surprise, and then he felt a sense of emotion in his heart.

Sure enough...the interior of Ava Continent is not stable either.

When William was looking up the information about Ava, he was a little worried that the system of the seven independent free city-states would hinder his development. Ava was completely overwhelmed by the Empire in terms of national strength and resources. If they could not unite under the same flag, then they should just give up the war and surrender.

Now it seems that it is true.

On the other side, Morton looked at William's surprised and distressed expression, and couldn't help but smile smugly. After appreciating the other party's wonderful expression for a while, he immediately threw out the next bomb.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Haven't you imperial people always called Her Highness Remedios the Shadow Queen? After your client Ward is judged, she will truly be crowned the Mist King of Ava. By then, you scum of the empire will have to face a completely united Ava under the leadership of the queen. Do you remember the Piaoling Campaign eight hundred years ago? That will be the outcome of your invasion this time."

After delivering this explosive news, Morton focused on the changes in the other party's facial expression. Soon he could see the other party's wonderful...

“Snap, snap, snap…”

Under Morton's puzzled gaze, the envoy sent by the Eighth Order of the Empire to conduct a secret transaction with the surrender faction just started clapping his hands.

What does he mean by that? Is he being sarcastic?

"Don't you understand what I mean..."

"The only thing I'm confused about is..."

William interrupted Morton, his expression slightly complicated.

"Why didn't she do this sooner?"

Irony... this is definitely being ironic...

He felt that even if Lady Remedios had integrated the power of Ava sooner, she would not be able to stop the power of the Imperial Expeditionary Force in the end.

"Human, you will pay for your arrogance."

Morton said in an extremely dangerous tone.

As he spoke, his hand went straight to the hilt of the sword at his waist.

This time, William also felt the sharp feeling soaked in blood. He felt that if he made the slightest movement, he would be stabbed through the heart by the opponent's sword.

Even William felt the extremely strong pressure, not to mention the others around him. The sailors and crew members all felt weak in the knees and sat down on the ground, breathing heavily.

At the same time, the sounds of five sharp swords being unsheathed rang out at the same time. The five Blood Blade Guards who had previously surrounded them all drew their swords, cutting off their retreat.

William felt the unilateral tense atmosphere from the other side, thought for a moment and said:

"I think you must have misunderstood something."

"Don't you think it's a bit late to say it's a misunderstanding now?"

Morton said, and then he showed an expression like a cat playing with a mouse and continued:

"Then tell me where the misunderstanding lies?"

"I told that person before that I am not from the Eighth Order, nor even from the Empire..."

William answered carefully.

"Nonsense, you are not a member of the Eighth Order, how can you use [True Shadow] to summon a real dragon?"

Morton immediately retorted.

He then warned:

"Don't try to summon it now. We are very close. If I sense even the slightest fluctuation of magic, this sword will drink the blood from your heart."

"You must be joking. That's a black dragon. Who can summon one..."