Chapter 474 The Duke’s Retinue
Chapter 474 The Duke’s Retinue
Cangwu Fortress, the alley outside the tavern.
The cold rain fell in drops.
An old man was dressed in rags and smelled foul. He seemed to be staggering due to being drunk for several days.
He stumbled to the outer wall. The tavern's main dish, Mirage Wine, was rice wine, so a lot of lees were thrown away every day. The old bartender was obviously not a hard-working person, so the lees were piled outside the back door, waiting for someone to come and collect them the next morning.
The old man squatted down and let the rain splash on his back. He reached out and picked up the lees and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing and squeezing out the wine with his teeth.
Feeling slightly dizzy, the old man couldn't help but squint his eyes, a hint of enjoyment appeared on his face. He simply sat down on the ground. This was the only tavern in Cangwu Fortress where one could get drunk regardless of one's strength. Everyone knew that the old bartender was unfathomable.
Chewing the lees mouthful by mouthful.
call!
A shadow slowly approached.
Several strong men kicked the old man to the ground and beat him up.
"Have you ever asked whose territory this is?"
"A robbing old dog!"
"The wine trough is food, you owe me ten taels of source gold!"
Several strong men beat the opponent for a while, but when they saw that the opponent did not resist, they gradually lost interest.
The old man climbed to the wall, turned around and leaned against it, laughing at himself.
During wartime, the importance of food is self-evident. These distiller's grains are far from being garbage and usually have owners.
"What should I say, long time no see?"
The old man suddenly looked up and saw a young man holding a wooden umbrella about ten steps away. The man had an extraordinary appearance, but unfortunately his expression was too cold, which was a waste of talent.
A crow stood on the man's shoulder, its eyes curious and alert.
"Jiang Wuyang." Merrick's eyes remained calm.
Jiang He bent his legs and sat down. Yao Yuansu cleared the rain water from under him. He took out a box of lemon mosquito coils and handed it over to signal.
Merrick shook his head and refused, saying, "How did you find me?"
Jiang He lit a mosquito coil and replied calmly: "Just a random guess."
The whole group was speechless. This was of course a lie. Merrick had fallen from a hero to the Golden Age. Given his current debt-ridden status and the inevitable conflict with the old forces when he was promoted to Duke, it was unlikely that he would continue to stay in Eternal Darkness.
Among all the fortresses, Cangwu Fortress lost its garrisoning lieutenant general a while ago. Due to the failure of two consecutive offensives, Duke Yu attracted the attention of the powerful families in the western border. Relatively speaking, this place has become the safest place.
Of course, the security of Cangwu Fortress may be just an appearance, and there is a high probability that there will be strategic arrangements to lure the enemy deep into the territory, but the target will no longer be Merrick, who has fallen to the status of a marquis. He is not worth rounding up.
Merrick smiled indifferently and reviewed his whereabouts, from the region to the fortress, and then locked onto this tavern. In his confused state, he had no intention of hiding at all.
"The first one to come to me was actually you."
Jiang He nodded and said, "You have lost your value."
Just like the realm, once the mythical form is shattered, there is basically no chance of recovery.
Merrick's thorn disaster had already collapsed when Duke Yu took back the Taoist fruit.
The mythical form is the culmination of the extraordinary system and the absolute core when creatures start from gold. It is conceivable how difficult it is to create something new based on the original context.
If you are preparing to start over again, it means your life level will fall, and the first thing you need to consider is your life span.
Merrick was quite young for a duke.
But living in the Silver Age, he was like half of his body buried in the ground, with difficulty in keeping himself alive, let alone making a comeback.
This complex situation trapped Merrick at the extreme level of the Golden Peak.
Facing the Duke, he was unable to defend his interests and self-respect.
For some golden forces, whether they are willing to take the risk of usurping their power is secondary. The key is that Merrick looks down on them.
Merrick said coldly: "So, you are here to laugh at me?" Jiang He replied casually, "I prefer to call it an opportunity."
"Chance!" Merrick flew into a rage and almost roared, "You are such a shameless fellow! You destroyed my fortress, killed my relatives, stole my Sword of Thorns, and ruined my last wildling army!"
"You have contributed greatly to my success today!"
Even when he lost the Dao Fruit, Duke Merrick was not so angry. He didn't even understand how the other party could so brazenly put on such an expression.
Jiang He said nothing, just snapped his fingers.
Within ten thousand meters, the final time ring is in effect.
As the power was activated, rays of light emerged on Duke Merrick's body, and the thorn factor began to surge again in his body, gathering and combining with each other, and finally changing into the Crown of Thorns, which once again made him a vampire duke.
In an instant, the rain retreated and the light disappeared.
Duke Merrick looked down blankly, staring at his powerful hands in disbelief.
"The survival of your great cause depends on my thoughts."
"This power belongs to time, and Duke Yu cannot take it away."
Jiang He said calmly: "Everything you gain has a price. My request is not high. You only need to serve as a guard for a maximum of half a year."
"This is a servant." Duke Merrick gritted his teeth.
"Actually, they are slaves." Jiang He gave a more precise range.
Wuhe couldn't help but chuckle a few times. The children of famous families have so-called protectors, but the boss doesn't have this condition. However, he can find one for himself. But even for the aristocratic families, the number of times they send heroes as followers is also very few. If the super genius Yan Liang had a peak gold player following him, the result would be completely different.
There was a long silence.
Duke Merrick suddenly raised his head and said fiercely: "Are you so confident that I will surrender!?"
"Of course." Jiang He stood up from where he was, threw away the useless wooden umbrella, and said disdainfully: "How many gamblers can turn back? Maybe there are, but it may not be you."
Wuhe flapped his wings and beckoned the duke to follow him. The other party had nothing now. Even if he didn't gamble, he would not give up the strength he had obtained. The gap between ordinary heroes and peak gold heroes was like heaven and earth. Otherwise, the boss would not have spent time on Merrick.
Duke Merrick suddenly said, "Give me three breaths of time."
"Sure." Jiang He replied.
He came to the entrance of the alley and waited for a while.
Not long after the second mosquito coil was lit today, footsteps were heard behind me.
Duke Merrick was carrying several strong men's heads, with blood dripping into the puddles and spreading. He made a special trip and beheaded the bronze creatures who had beaten him.
Jiang He did not comment on this.
The two men walked into the tavern from the main entrance one after the other. The drinkers were still cursing the fallen Lieutenant General Cangwu. Duke Merrick sneered inwardly, thinking that he was far from being able to confuse right and wrong at this level.
"Jiang Wu..."
Duke Merrick paused suddenly, not knowing how to address the other party. To be honest, the alliance between the two parties was entirely based on interests. If the other party died suddenly, he would only applaud, provided that it did not affect his own strength.
"Mo Ke." Jiang He spoke but did not turn around.
In the pub, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression leaned against the bar, looking straight ahead, quietly watching the two people approaching.
Yu Jianyue had already sat in the corner to avoid the situation. The old bartender stood behind the middle-aged man with his arms folded, looking cold.
The hundreds of drinkers in the tavern were unaware that three heroic creatures, rarely seen in normal times, had gathered in this small space.
"Let me introduce myself." The middle-aged man said, "My name is Jing Ran, a member of the Jing family, a powerful family in the Western Territory. I currently serve as the Governor-General of Investigation in the Western Territory, with the rank of Lieutenant General of the Empire."
"Now, Major General Mo Ke, you may salute."
(End of this chapter)