The sky is like a layer of dark ashes falling down, hiding the afterglow of the sunset under the dark red clouds.

The streets gradually enveloped by twilight seem more peaceful than daytime. In a hotel in Terrast City, orange lights have just lit up. After working for a day, residents of the Outer Harbor often choose to come here for a drink.

There were not many people in the hall at this moment. Alisa was retracting her gaze from not far away and sat a few people at the tables in the direction she was staring. Most of these people were dock workers in the outer port, miners, farmers, soldiers or small workshop owners in nearby mines, or adventurers from other regions, looking to make a few mercenaries who work hard.

These people were worried at this moment, holding wine glasses, and whispering to discuss the situation where day was getting worse.

For this city, anyone with a little wealth has fled to the south at this moment, and even went to the farther Elpahin and Fenris. Those who are still here are nothing more than those with no way out, or those with a lower class citizen whose livelihoods are maintained here.

Not long after Fang Yu and his group entered the city, they found out the general situation in Gula Port.

There is no news in the four towns yet, and the adventurers sent by the Adventurers Guild to the north have not sent back any useful information. The rumored army in the north has caused panic in the port from beginning to end. There are riots outside the city, and bandits flocked everywhere, as if there were a scene of chaos everywhere.

Because of these reasons, production and life in the city have become half stagnant, and the chain reaction brought about is that ordinary people's livelihoods are getting worse day by day. Even these pastimes that should have been lively and noisy in the past seem extremely deserted now.

And the harder the days are now, the more people hope for the "Miss Lock Protection", as if as long as the barrier is opened, everything will return to the past.

In this case, it is not realistic to expect the citizens of Gula to recognize the true face of the Crow Claw Temple, so they can only find another way. The crystal last appeared in public three days ago, when it appeared in a museum in Wald District, closely guarded by the Grey Knight.

On that day, Gula's consul gave a speech there, as if to regain people's confidence.

That speech did have a certain effect.

After the speech, the crystal had a high possibility of staying in the museum, guarding by the Crow Claw Temple. But there was also rumors that the Grey Knight sent it to a safer place to be kept, perhaps the Housing Fort in the center of Gula, or the underground of the Town Hall.

These three places are the most closely guarded places in Gula Port today. It is almost impossible not to disturb anyone and easily sneak in, but fortunately Fang Yu had no plans.

In his opinion, the crystal was important, but the warlocks of Gula Port Star and the Moon Council, as well as the craftsmen of the Craftsman Association, must have carefully examined them inside and out. Even these masters could not see anything unusual, and he did not think that he was more special than others.

What he is really concerned about now is how this crystal was sent to Gula Port?

Judging from the news they received in Gula Port, it was basically consistent with the previous speculation that it was the Crow Claw Temple that escorted the crystal to Gula Port.

The Grey Knights claimed that this crystal was found in the Altoric region. Its origin was related to the kindness of the Lord of the Storm, Aidan Ryan, so they showed their ability to prevent dark minions.

Regardless of whether the Grey Knights told the truth or not, at least in their description, some details were mentioned - for example, the crystal was found in the Snowstone Castle, and the discoverers included a parish pastor in the Parish of Artori and the owner of the Snowstone Castle.

Both of these two people arrived at Gula Port at this moment, and the news surprised Fang Yu. Because he was almost certain that at least one of them had appeared in the underground illusion between the Patriarch and the owner of the Snow Stone Castle.

If they were all one of the many figures that appeared in that illusion, they must have known some of the truth, or at least participated in the inside story.

But the question now is how to find these two people.

The identity of the owner of Snowstone Castle is still a mystery, but the Patriarch is rumored to have settled in a certain temple. There are only two Aidanian zodiacs in Gula Port, one in the south and one in the north. However, the south is located in the slums of the outer port, with minimal conditions and almost exclusion.

The one in the north is located in a noble area of ​​the inner city. I heard that the Grey Knight banned the free entry and exit of the inner and outer cities shortly after Gula's lockdown. Now it seems that this Patriarch is likely to be in the inner city. However, it is not easy to enter the inner city at the moment. Fortunately, snakes have snake paths and rat paths. As long as you have money, there are few things that cannot be done in Gula Port.

Fang Lingxian asked Miss Nightingale to disguise herself as a merchant who wanted to open the joints and hang a mission in the Adventurers Guild in the city. Sure enough, someone volunteered to contact them not long after, claiming that they could help them enter the inner city.

The man made an appointment to meet them here, and now it was almost the time to agree on, so Alisa would patrol the hall with a vigilant look.

However, while she was inspecting, she suddenly heard someone knocking on the glass from behind. She turned around and saw a young man's face appearing outside the window not far away.

The other party was wearing only a thin coat, with a pale face. He looked at them vigilantly outside the window. He lifted up the window and asked, "Are you not businessmen?"

"We are indeed not businessmen." Fang Yu showed up behind Alisa and spoke to him.

He knew that he could not hide it from the other party, but he did not intend to hide his identity. After all, their group of people had nothing to do with the merchants no matter how they looked at it: "We are adventurers, but we now have a commission and need to go to the inner city."

But the young man only took a step back and shook his head: "Sorry, I can't help you, I don't want to get into trouble."

After saying that, he turned around and planned to leave.

"Please wait a moment," Silweid called out: "Since you have taken over that commission, how could you be afraid of trouble?"

The young man was stunned for a moment and turned to look at them, but because the noble lady had put on makeup, she looked just an ordinary female adventurer at this moment.

He hesitated for a moment before answering, "That's different..."

"Nothing is different," Silvede shook his head. She looked at the other person who was standing in the cold wind with a dish on her face and was trembling slightly: "You are just in need of money, we can pay you twice."

This sentence seemed to touch the young man, making him stand there frown, without saying a word for a while, but he had no intention of leaving again.

"Three Thousand Risell," Silweid directly raised the price to triple and hit the railway while it was hot: "Just take us into the inner city, the matter afterwards has nothing to do with you. Even if we get into any trouble, it will not have anything to do with you."

The young man raised his head a little incredible and looked at them. Finally, he bit his teeth, raised his hand and compared them with a deal gesture, and then pointed to the table in front of everyone: "Give me your food, and this is not a place for conversation, come with me."

Fang Yu looked at him a little surprised, but still nodded, picked up a basket of bread from the table, handed it to the other party, and signaled Tian Lan to go to the front desk to check out.

The young man then took the basket nervously, then picked up the kraft paper inside and wrapped the bread carefully, and handed the basket back. Then he stood outside the window waiting for the crowd of the Qihai Brigade, watched them walk out of the hotel, and waved in this direction, and led them in one direction without saying a word.

Fang Zhu and others followed the young man through two or three blocks, and then entered a winding alley. To be on the safe side, he released a clockwork fairy, and through the clockwork fairy's vision, it was roughly possible that they had left the original commercial area and entered the lower city area.

This is already the location of Gula Outer Port Area, close to the dock. Due to the large number of dock workers and the lower-level workers living in this place, this place forms the location of the largest slum in Gula Port. A factory area in the distance reflects everyone's vision, and Fangzhu can even see a towering chimney in the direction of the port.

Gula Port is famous for its mines. High-quality iron ore and coal mines have formed a natural coal-iron-iron consortium here, and a large number of steel plants are located here. In the language of the Elf of Elf, Gula originally represents the meaning of red rocks.

After passing through the factory area, everyone entered a low shanty town. Fang Ling knew that this was the slum of Gula. The young man led them around the shanty town and stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden house after a long time.

He stopped in front of the hut and then turned around to look at the people of the approaching Qihai Brigade. Fang Zhu was about to ask, but the young man suddenly raised a finger to them and placed it on his lips to signal them to silence.

While the other party looked in one direction, Fang Zhu also looked at him. The shanty town extended toward the port, forming stairs of different heights one after another. From here, Fang Zhu saw a group of gray knights wearing black and white battle robes in the shanty town below.

The Grey Knights were walking through the slums, and there were some conveners walking with them. The difference between the conveners and the indigenous people was almost visible at a glance. Especially the conveners of the guild, only they would wear unified battle robes.

"The man from the Crow Claw Temple." Tianlan recognized the other party's identity from a long time ago and couldn't help but whisper.

"There are people from the Silver Forest Spear." Hongye also recognized the identities of the summoners.

The gray knights below seemed to be checking something. They entered from house to house, and then left and put different marks on the door with pens. However, because they were too far away and the sky was dark, Fang Yu and others could hardly see what the mark was.

After inspecting the shanty town below, the Grey Knights and the Silver Forest Spear gradually moved away, but they did not find Fang Zhu and his group above their heads from beginning to end.

Fang Yu turned around and asked the young man, "What are they doing?"

"It has nothing to do with you," the young man stared at them and replied, "You wait for me here, I will put my things a little, and then take you to the inner city. Besides, I want money first, and not a single child is needed."

"Your request is too much," Bai Ye finally couldn't help but speak, "If you give you the money first, who will we look for if you run away?"

But the young man didn't say a word, just looked at them quietly.

Fang Yu saw the other party's insistence and nodded and said, "Okay."

Sanqianlisel is nothing, and with a clockwork fairy in his hand, he is not worried that the other party can slip under his nose.

However, Fang Yu looked at the young man in front of him who was dressed in rags and trembling in the cold wind, and he would rather believe in his heart that the other party was not planning to extort their money.

The young man nodded, then turned around without saying a word and walked into the hut behind him. Fang Yu looked at this scene and gently stroked with his hand to make the clockwork fairy in the air fly down, circle the shed area, and then flew into the window behind the house.

While pulling down his goggles and narrowing his eyes, the first thing that caught his eye was the dim scene inside the house. The house was dilapidated and there were almost no decent possessions. The young man walked into the house with a package in his arms, put the things on the table with one leg on the lame table, and then opened the door of the empty cabinet.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The other party turned around, carefully opened the paper bag, and transferred the food inside to the cabinet one by one.

However, the slight noise made by the young man seemed to alarm the others in the house. The next moment, Fang Yu heard a low voice coming from the room:

"who?"

The young man stopped, looked in that direction, and answered, "Uncle Varid, it's me."

"Cole?"

There was a rustling sound from the room, as if the sound of some heavy object mopping the floor. Fang Zhu turned the clockwork fairy in that direction and saw a tall middle-aged man limping out of it.

The other party supported one hand on the wall and the other hand on a chair. He stood on the ground with only one leg left, while the other leg was empty trouser legs hanging down. The previous sound was obviously the sound of the other party dragging the chair.

The middle-aged man stood at the door, looked at the things on the table, and couldn't help but be stunned: "Where did you get these foods?"

"I took a job," replied the young man, "I will get some more money. Everyone hasn't eaten anything for several days. With this money, we may at least survive this winter. Uncle Varid, you will distribute these foods to everyone later-"

"Cole, where are you going?" Varyd asked in a deep voice.

The young man was stunned and turned around and replied, "There is a group of adventurers who want me to take them to the inner city."

"The inner city is not stable now," Varid shook his head. "The Grey Knight does not allow anyone to enter and exit the inner city now, Cole, don't put yourself in for us."

"If I don't go, all of us will starve to death." The young man sighed: "And the Grey Knight has chosen me, and it is unlikely that I will come back alive. If I really don't return, I will ask you to take care of my sister and my mother."

Varid was silent for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, just nodded slowly to him.

The young man also nodded to him gently, then put down his things and turned around and walked out.

Fang Yu also took back his clockwork fairy at that moment and then lifted up his goggles. He raised his head and happened to see the young man with empty hands coming out of the shed. He looked in that direction and suddenly opened his mouth to ask the other party:

"What did the Grey Knight ask you to do?"

The young man was stunned and couldn't help but look at them unexpectedly, his eyes full of uncertainty.

"What is the purpose of those gray knights here?" Fang Yu asked again: "You said they chose you, where are they going to take you?"

The young man looked at him like a ghost, his face changed drastically: "...How do you know what I said just now?"

Fang Yu raised the clockwork fairy in his hand and shook it in front of the other side. "As you can see, I am an alchemist. Although we promised to pay you first, we must have some precautions. But please rest assured, I have no intention of interfering in your private affairs, but I am just a little curious about the previous scene."

The young man fell silent and looked at him with a complicated expression: "That's a clockwork goblin...? Are you... a craftsman?"

Fang Zhu nodded.

"... The gray knight is catching people," the young man thought for a moment before answering: "The army in the north is approaching Gula Port, and there are also dragon beasts, shadow men, and dark dragon minions... But the military strength of the defenders in the port is already stretched. In order to protect this city, the Crow Claw Temple requires all young and middle-aged people to be conscripted..."

conscription?

Fang Yu was slightly stunned?

In his imagination, the Crow Claw Temple could not have paid any attention to the army in the north. It can be seen from the news that they had fallen into the four towns until now.
To be continued...