The black sun hangs high

Chapter 208 Gerald

A fist may not be able to solve all problems, but if the fist is big enough, it can make many things simple.

Hugh's trip to Iris Street was not exactly smooth sailing, but it wasn't particularly bumpy either.

As Hughes told General Boots, he didn't expect Iris Street to complete its preparation and transformation in a day or two, but at the very least, he needed the people of Iris Street to give him a clear answer.

If General Butz and his group continue to ignore the true situation in Seren and are determined to continue with their own methods, Hugh will naturally not mind using the most violent "communication methods" against them.

Hugh thought about it carefully and realized that he should probably thank the Black Sun Society member who was lurking next to General Boots.

The Legal Committee's blockade of Seren has clearly succeeded in cutting off communication and exchanges between these Black Sun Society members remaining in the city and the outside world. Therefore, they are now very likely continuing to carry out the mission they accepted in the past, namely, to disrupt and destroy the order in Seren as much as possible.

As a veteran who had worked his way up in the independent government for a long time, General Butz did not hesitate to show his true colors after witnessing the Black Sun Society's terrifying infiltration of his "territory".

He immediately grabbed Hugh and began questioning him, wanting to know if Hugh possessed any method or magic that could identify members of the Black Sun Society.

Hughes naturally wouldn't reveal the existence of the Black Sun Scepter. He simply told Boots that he had "studied" some magical rituals within the Black Sun Society, and therefore could sense the magical power of Black Sun Society members who had also come into contact with such rituals.

Upon receiving this answer, General Butts immediately made his request. He hoped that with Hugh's assistance, the hidden dangers within Iris Street could be completely eliminated. In return, he was willing to provide Hugh with a large amount of magic crystals, potions, or other alchemical materials needed by mages.

This request was exactly what Hugh wanted to hear.

From the moment he stepped into Iris Street, he already wanted to take action against these hidden members of the society. After witnessing the Black Sun Society's gathering, Hugh's tolerance for these people had become almost zero.

Hugh had no idea that he would get such a legitimate opportunity to strike.

It's even paid!
In a silent understanding, Hugh and the others sat down again in the reception room. This time, the atmosphere of the conversation had undergone a subtle but important change. Although both sides still maintained a considerable degree of caution and vigilance, the discussion was now about specific methods and measures.

……

Iris Street is most bustling at noon, at which time the area can even regain some of its pre-disaster appearance.

At the warmest and brightest moment of the day, many of the warehouses converted from shops in Iris Street will be temporarily opened, and all the residents living there will gather there. For them, this is not only the time to collect supplies from Iris Street, but also an important time for all the survivors to conduct "trading".

However, the transactions among all the survivors in Seren City have now completely reverted to the most primitive form of barter. As for money... in this apocalyptic situation, a single low-quality crystal bullet is more valuable than ten universal gold coins.

Various canned goods, magic crystals of different qualities, clothing of varying thicknesses, and other usable magical alchemical items are now the most valuable "currency" in this city.

As for the exchange and trading of weapons such as crystal guns, it must be conducted under the witness and registration of the Iris Street clerk.

The location for these transactions was set in a large shop, which used to be the largest Delan Royal Souvenir Shop on Iris Street, but has now been transformed into an ordinary warehouse.

Following the "guidance" of the Black Sun Scepter, Hugh arrived at the entrance of the store.

Listening to the voices coming from inside the shop and watching the swaying figures, he couldn't help but ask one of the Iris Street officers beside him, "I thought you would ban the arms trade and even confiscate the weapons of those survivors..."

"We've thought about it, but we simply can't do it."

The officer shrugged: "Not everyone trusts us, and we're short-staffed right now. If someone spreads this word, I'm afraid no one will dare to come."

"That's it..."

Hughes murmured something to himself, then his gaze fell to the side of the shop's entrance, where he saw a strange pattern painted with magical oil paints. It looked like a sneaky, thief-like giant-eared goblin.

Because of the painter's extremely poor skills, this giant-eared goblin not only looks distorted but also very lewd, and looks less like a goblin thief and more like a goblin bandit.

"Sir, is the target inside? Shall we go in with you?"

"No need. Seal off the store, don't let anyone else in, and detain anyone who leaves midway... You can come up with your own reasons."

Hugh responded with a comment, and then he walked into the store.

He had barely stepped through the door when his attention was drawn to the sounds of arguing coming from deep within the store.

Hugh easily recognized a somewhat familiar voice among the arguing voices, so he smiled, stepped aside a survivor carrying a pouch of crystal bullets as he walked out of the store, and then walked along the edge of the store towards the inside.

Soon, Hugh saw a familiar, extremely tall and muscular figure. The man was sitting in an oversized chair, but even so, he was still much taller than the average person.

At this moment, this incredibly enormous figure was supporting himself on the top of a long table, while opposite him, a disheveled man was roaring angrily.

"Is this how you deceive us? Look at these bullets, which one of them is usable? The crystals inside have no magic at all... Do you expect us to use bullets like these to fight monsters, only to be swallowed whole by them?"

As he spoke, he slammed a bag of bullets onto the long table, and a large number of crystal bullets immediately spilled out of the bag, scattering across the table with a series of crackling sounds.

Many people present couldn't help but gasp, because they all knew that these crystal bullets were mostly very dull, which meant that the magic crystals filling and embedding inside the bullets actually had no magic power.

Crystal bullets that have lost their magic power will be difficult to fire through a crystal gun. Even if they still have enough magic power to fire, they probably won't be able to produce a normal magic explosion when they hit a target.

This was indeed an extremely serious and egregious accident. Everyone who had managed to survive in the city of Seren knew that a small-scale magical explosion caused by crystal bullets was enough to damage and repel a certain number of "sludge" monsters, but if serious errors or omissions occurred during the shooting, then those who fired the shots were destined to pay a heavy price.

"Gentlemen, you'd better open your ammunition pouches and check them carefully!"

Under the influence of his excitement, the man's face began to flush. He shouted excitedly, "I counted them! Out of forty crystal bullets, a full twenty-eight have absolutely no magic! The rest are all defective products with only a tiny bit of magic!"

He raised his head and glared fiercely at the massive figure sitting behind the long table: "I knew it! You damned ogres can't change your nature! Even at a time like this, you still want to squeeze every last drop of profit out of us humans?"

Behind the long table, the massive figure reached out and deftly picked up a crystal bullet from the table, holding it up to his eyes for careful examination.

The man with an unusual physique, who had just been denounced as a "cannibal," was none other than Gerald, the former owner of the "Alchemy Thief" shop in the city of Seren.

It was this alchemy shop owner, who claimed to have some "ogre blood," who provided Hugh with some extremely important magical materials. The magical abilities he obtained in exchange for these materials helped Hugh get through the most difficult period.

Although Hugh had already learned about Gerald from the members of the Tricolor Brotherhood, he was still genuinely happy to see such an old acquaintance in Iris Street.

Gerald was unaware of Hugh's arrival; his attention was entirely focused on the crystal bullet in front of him.

He gently wiggled his large fingers, causing the bullet to slowly rotate between them. At that moment, Gerald displayed an astonishing level of focus that was completely different from his appearance and physique. This extremely focused posture even made some of the noisy people unable to help but shut their mouths.

About ten seconds later, Gerald lowered his hand, casually tossing the bullet aside so that it could rejoin its kind.

He didn't get angry or offer any explanation; instead, he scratched his head in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing.

Then, Gerrard asked in his deep voice, "How did you do that?"

"what?"

The man, who was busy venting his anger, was somewhat bewildered by Gerald's calm questioning, but before he could take any further action, Gerald had already slowly asked his second question.

He spoke very slowly, as if he was worried that the other person wouldn't be able to hear him clearly.

"What I mean is, how exactly did you manage to deplete the magic inside the crystal bullet without damaging it? You don't even look like a mage."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere inside the store became somewhat strange. A few of the quicker-witted survivors, acting cautiously, did not hesitate to walk out of the store.

The disheveled man hesitated slightly, but then he raised his hand and slammed it on the long table, roaring again, "Fine... I knew it! Not only do you not intend to take responsibility for this, but you also want to put all the blame and responsibility on me?"

Before the words were even finished, a startlingly loud bang echoed throughout the store.

People with ogre blood are naturally much stronger than ordinary people, and Gerard's speed is extremely amazing. Even with Hugh's current reaction speed, he almost failed to see Gerard raise his hand.

As for the man who used the crystal bullet to cause trouble, he was now stunned into place by the loud noise and the gust of wind stirred up when Gerald shook his hand.

Gerald slowly raised his hand, only to see a crystal bullet on the table embedded in it by his fierce slam.

“Many people in Seren know me… Even those who like to cause me the most trouble have to admit that I am one of the best alchemists in the city… Your little tricks won’t fool me.”

As he spoke, he slowly stood up from his large chair. His imposing figure stood in the sunlight, and the intimidating aura he exuded was self-evident.

Many people present burst into laughter at this moment. Gerald was not lying, and they had indeed not received anything questionable here. Therefore, in an instant, these people all chose to stand on Gerald's side.

Just as the conflict was likely to escalate further, a rather mild voice came from the side.

"General Boots would not want any transactions in Iris Street to go wrong... Any deception is not allowed here."

People turned to look, only to see a young monk slowly walking out, using his magical hands to push aside the people blocking his way.

The young mage, who had successfully attracted everyone's attention, walked to the edge of the long table. The mage's hand picked up a crystal bullet that had rolled to the ground and hovered it directly in front of him.

Hugh simply glanced at the bullet, then laughed under Gerald's extremely surprised gaze: "It's actually quite simple to do this. If a mage were to use these crystalline bullets directly as magical crystals to replenish his mana, he could easily drain all the mana from them..."

He paused, then turned his gaze to the man whose expression was rapidly changing: "However, this method itself is not very efficient or meaningful. After all, the crystals used in these bullets have not been purified, and the magic power extracted from them is chaotic and cannot effectively replenish magic power."

After saying that, Hugh casually tossed the bullet aside and took two steps forward, blocking the man's retreat.

Under the man's slightly frightened gaze, Hughes coaxed, "However, I know this is definitely not your problem, nor your idea... After all, you are not a mage, so naturally you have no way to exhaust the magic in those bullets."

"So, who exactly did this? Can you tell me?"

...

The signal is terrible in the mountains...

Pain
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(End of this chapter)