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Amon found another map and marked the area east of Stone Desert City that Hai Bodong had explored, where a different fire might exist.
Of course, he didn't use a flame mark but just drew a circle casually.
After receiving instructions, Shaluo put in all his effort, personally leading people to block off that area and search everywhere with great fanfare.
Their actions aroused the curiosity of other mercenary groups, and many people were dissatisfied with them.
After all, the Sand Mercenary Group domineeringly included the roads in and out within the blockade, and if others wanted to pass through this direction, they had to go around a large circle.
Because it had interfered with normal business traffic, the City Lord's Mansion had to intervene.
A man dressed in animal skin soft armor, looking over half a hundred years old, with slightly graying temples, came to Shaluo's tent, which served as a temporary residence in the blocked area.
His name was Mu Lei, the City Lord of Stone Desert City, a nine-star Great Fighter at his peak.
"Captain Shaluo, what do you mean by this? Blocking off such a large area has made it impossible for the east of Stone Desert City to pass normally. I have received many complaints from merchant groups."
Mu Lei didn't want to offend the Sand Mercenary Group, the largest mercenary group in Stone Desert City, so his words and attitude were quite kind.
"I won't interfere too much with your blockade for the mission, but at least leave the normal roads open, otherwise, it will be difficult for me to explain to them."
Mu Lei thought that Shaluo would give him this face, but he never expected that the other party would refuse very directly.
"I'm sorry, City Lord Mu, this mission is no small matter. If something goes wrong, I can't afford the responsibility… so don't even mention asking us to lift the blockade," Shaluo replied in a calm but firm tone.
"Are you really going to do this?" Mu Lei's tone turned slightly cold.
Shaluo said in a low voice: "The person who issued this mission is a big shot that neither you nor I can afford to offend. If you are willing to bear the consequences of the mission failure, then go and tell that person yourself."
Because there was a Snake-People tribe not far from Stone Desert City, Mu Lei had always been friendly and united all possible forces to deal with possible wars, and his relationship with the various forces in Stone Desert City was fairly good. Seeing Shaluo so solemn, his expression changed.
"Can you reveal who that big shot is?" Mu Lei asked softly.
Shaluo shook his head, "He didn't even tell me what he was looking for, do you think I would dare to talk nonsense? I can only tell you that this time, my reward is that he can refine a Tier 4 medicinal pill for me."
Refining a Tier 4 medicinal pill… Mu Lei couldn't help but gasp. This meant that the client was at least a Tier 4 alchemist. In the Jia Ma Empire, apart from Pill King Gu He and the president of the Alchemist Guild, Tier 4 was the peak.
A Tier 4 alchemist was someone who could be ranked in the entire Jia Ma Empire.
Mu Lei immediately stopped mentioning lifting the blockade. He didn't want to provoke an alchemist.
He thought for a while and then said: "Can you introduce me to that alchemist? If there are not enough people, I can also send the city guards to help search."
Shaluo pondered for a moment, not directly refusing, appearing somewhat hesitant.
The area marked by the map given by Amon was not small, and this area was all flat sand, with no special features to be seen.
Although he also said that there were traces of Fire Spirit Snakes living there as an additional clue, they had not found this either, and the current search progress was zero.
Shaluo was worried that if he didn't find the so-called "fire attribute abnormally rich land" in the end, he would also anger Gu He and be used as a vent for his anger.
It seemed good to have someone to help share the burden… as long as it wasn't the Motie Mercenary Group, otherwise, he would have to worry about them getting the benefits and turning around to suppress the Sand Mercenary Group…
…With such thoughts, he nodded slowly, and said somewhat hesitantly: "I'll mention this matter to that lord, as for whether it will work or not, that's not something I can guarantee."
"Let him come over," Amon's voice sounded from behind.
Shaluo smiled at Mu Lei: "Good luck, seize the opportunity."
Mu Lei came to the tent behind with a trace of apprehension. After seeing the middle-aged man wearing an alchemist robe, he was shocked.
He had the honor of seeing this figure at an alchemist conference… "Pill King" Gu He, how could such a person appear here? What is there in this small Stone Desert City that even Gu He is tempted by?
With such doubts, Mu Lei bowed to Amon, who was posing as Gu He.
"It just so happens that relying on Shaluo and the others alone is still too inefficient. If you can mobilize the city guards to help, that would be great. My reward to you is the same as Shaluo's, helping you refine a medicinal pill no higher than Tier 4, or a Mysterious Middle-Rank combat skill," Amon said with a smile.
"Thank you, sir," Mu Lei seemed very excited. He had been stuck at the peak of the Great Fighter for a long time. If he could have a medicinal pill to help him break through, then there was a high probability that he could step into the Dou Spirit realm.
...
In an oasis in the desert, rows of domed, windowless, semi-subterranean houses were scattered around.
Snake-people like shade, so this kind of semi-subterranean house is very popular among ordinary residents of the Snake-people.
In the very center, near the water source, there was a much larger domed building that was built entirely above ground. This was the residence of the leader of this Snake-people tribe.
"You said that the humans in Stone Desert City have abnormal behavior?" A slightly old female snake-person with a white wooden hairpin inserted in her head was coiled on a stone wide chair, her tone calm.
"Yes, they have blockaded an area in the east, not returning day and night, and they have dug holes in the ground, as if they are looking for something," a male snake-person replied respectfully.
"Looking for something?" The female snake-person with the white wooden hairpin raised an eyebrow.
Recently, she was a little sensitive to "finding things," because of Queen Medusa's order, all the Snake-people tribes had been mobilized.
"You said, what they are looking for, could it be the same thing we are looking for?"
"This… I don't know," the male snake-person shook his head.
"I will take people to see tomorrow. You guard the tribe. If I don't come back, do you know what to do? Jiang Wu."
The snake-person called Jiang Wu scratched his head, "Avenge you?"
"Stupid, of course, hurry up and notify the commander, tell her that powerful people have come to Stone Desert City and are still looking for something."
"Oh, okay," Jiang Wu nodded.
Walking out of the leader's home, a snake-person with triangular eyes that looked a little gloomy swayed his snake tail and swam over.
"Captain Jiang Wu," the gloomy snake-person with triangular eyes greeted, "What is Leader Jiang Yin's attitude?"
"Sister Jiang Yin said that she will take people over to test it out tomorrow… Speaking of which, you are about to break through to Dou Master, right? Keep it up," Jiang Wu encouraged, and then left.
The gloomy snake-person raised his right hand, pinched his right eye socket, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.
...
"Brother, what exactly is the City Lord doing? Didn't he say he was going to negotiate and let the people from the Sand Mercenary Group open the road? Why did he join in instead, and transferred so many soldiers over?"
A young man wearing mercenary attire, with a tall and straight figure, full of strength, and a bit of fierceness revealed in his dark eyes, asked with some confusion. His name was Xiao Li, the second leader of the Motie Mercenary Group, and also Xiao Yan's second brother.
The young man he called brother was wearing a white robe, his eyes bright, revealing a bit of cunning. This was Xiao Li and Xiao Yan's eldest brother, Xiao Ding, the leader of the Motie Mercenary Group.
Xiao Ding supported his chin and guessed: "There may be some common interests driving them to do so, but if Shaluo really has mastered some clues about the ruins of his predecessors, he will definitely not want to share them. And at the beginning, the City Lord's purpose was only to let him open the road…
"So the Sand Mercenary Group's blockade of the eastern part of Stone Desert City is likely to be because of someone's mission, just as they have spread.
"And City Lord Mu's actions are probably because the person who commissioned the Sand Mercenary Group offered a price that he couldn't refuse… This shows that the mysterious person has a great background, so much so that City Lord Mu has to compromise."
"Should we go and take a look too? Maybe we can get a share of the pie," a look of eagerness appeared on Xiao Li's face.
Xiao Ding hesitated for a moment, feeling a little tempted, but still shook his head in opposition: "Going over now will only be jointly targeted by the City Lord and Shaluo. Just pay close attention to the movements over there. If there are not enough people and we need to continue recruiting, then we will go over and try."
...
In the eastern part of the Magical Beast Mountains, after Xiao Yan and the mercenaries entered the forest, they had successively encountered several waves of attacks. Without exception, the magical beasts that attacked them all had a white circle on their right eye sockets.
Looking at the mercenary wearing a monocle made of crystal on his right eye, and the magical beasts with white marks that seemed to be wearing monocles fighting fiercely, in a chaotic mess, Xiao Yan seemed very confused.
He thought that "monocle" was a mysterious force, but the current scene overturned his guess. No matter how unharmonious the internal forces were, they would not start a war within their own ranks for no reason like this.
In one chaos, he broke away from the team. Secretly followed a crow with a circle of white marks on its right eye.
He quickly rushed forward, subdued the crow in one fell swoop, and pressed this poor little bird, which was not even a Tier 1 magical beast, to the ground.
"Say, what the hell are you guys?" Xiao Yan strangled the crow's neck tightly and asked fiercely.
The crow turned its head, its eyes full of confusion… Just when Xiao Yan thought that he was being too sensitive and too suspicious about the monocle thing, the crow's confused gaze suddenly became agile. Showing a slightly mocking look at Xiao Yan.
It "caw"ed, its voice indescribably cheerful and playful.
Although it was subdued by Xiao Yan, it seemed that it was the one who had the upper hand.
Then… the crow died.
It turned its head too much and broke its own neck.
Xiao Yan's eyes were blank.
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