Trafford Buyers Club

Chapter 4017 The Song of the Purple Moon (68) — The Border, the Travelers on the Edge
In the void, on the borderlands, lies a planet called Oron... a celestial body where water and land are almost equal in size.

The coastline was being washed by pinkish-blue waves, and the mottled walls of the ancient castle on the shore were covered with purple leaves.

Black lightning suddenly flashed within the castle, tearing open a crack, and then Kim Bell and Cao Cao stepped out together.

Taking a sniff of the castle's aroma, Kim Bell casually shrugged. "It's definitely most comfortable when I'm home... This trip was quite tiring."

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao glanced at his companion indifferently, "Take a short rest, the war meeting will begin soon. Also, you've been away for too long this time, remember to get your [Holy Mark] erosion level checked."

After saying this, Cao Cao walked expressionlessly into the darkness of the castle corridor.

"Even someone who's hanging themselves needs to catch their breath, right?" Kim Bell shrugged and muttered under his breath.

—As for the [Stigmata]... I've already had all my [Stigmata] dug up, what am I supposed to pick up?

"Hey, you're back, Bell."

Then, a clear, boyish voice suddenly rang out behind Kim Bell—he knew who it was just from the voice.

A boy holding a wrench, wearing work clothes and goggles as a headband, standing about 1.3 meters tall... well, he was definitely a young boy.

Kim Bell chuckled, walked up to the young boy, and lifted him up by the back of his collar. "Isn't this Bino, who will never grow up?"

"You won't have your equipment for your next mission?"

“I’ll pray to the stars that you’ll grow tall and strong,” Kim Bell said sheepishly, since the other person was a tech whiz.

He quickly put Bino down, then shoved the other's shoulder with a forced smile and said, "It's been so long since I've been back. How about we go get something good to eat? And let me see what new works you've been up to lately?"

"No time!" Bino gave him a cold shoulder. "That Guevara guy dug up a whole [Stargazer] system from somewhere. I need to study it to see if I can fix it. I was just passing by and saying hello!"

“The Stargazer System, huh? I haven’t heard that name in ages. It’s really ancient.” Kim Bell shook his head. “As expected of a junk collector, it always manages to bring back all sorts of strange things.”

"It's better than some equipment that wears out quickly," Bino said casually, then left with his hands behind his head. Suddenly, he said, "Jinx seems to have gone out. Your [Stigmata] test will probably be a bit late. Go have some fun by yourself!"

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that.” Kim Bell shrugged, secretly relieved—he was still trying to figure out how to get past the inspection.

call……

He let out a soft sigh, then slowly returned to his private quarters in the castle.

A magic workshop filled with Kim Bell's props—but the most numerous items were all kinds of puppets, neatly arranged and densely packed.

The burning sensation was still there. Kim Bell placed the transplanted Cecilia flower on the table, lost in thought.

Once the pain subsided, Kim Bell snapped his fingers and changed his clothes—for a magician, changing clothes is as easy as drinking water.

Soon, the ugly black scars on his body were concealed—he looked in the mirror and was fairly satisfied.

"Golden Boy, temporarily close the workshop and disconnect all links."

Kim Bell suddenly said, "Golden Boy is the core of the magic spirit in this workshop."

After that, Kim Bell's expression turned serious. He then carefully took out a palm-sized, brass-colored ring from his tattered magic and placed it on the table.

Kim Bell hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and tapped a delicate gem on the ring.

Instantly, a beam of light was projected from the ring... and within the beam, the figure of a woman slowly emerged.

look at each other.

Kim Bell stared at the other person expressionlessly... until the other person spoke calmly: "It seems you have already come out of the courtyard. With your abilities, you should have taken care of everything by now."

"I almost lost my life, you know?" Kim Bell sneered. "You didn't tell me the danger level would be this high... That prince is truly terrifying."

"At present, His Highness's temperament is very good." The voice said calmly, "Unless you did something to anger him, I can only say that you deserve it."

Kim Bell would never tell anyone about her trash talk!
Kim Bell shook his head in disbelief. "Anyway, this is the last time I'll help you... After this, we're even."

"Is it really possible for us to be even?" The voice carried a hint of mockery.

Kim Bell said angrily, "Even my [Stigmata] has been taken away, and my connection with [Cicero] has been completely severed!"

"Your [Holy Mark] was stolen?" The woman's voice sounded surprised.

"That's right, and it was His Highness who dug it out himself!" Kim Bell sneered. "Do you know the reason? The reason was simply because I was kind enough to give that young lady some tips on using [Stigmata]! Do you know how innocent I am?"

The woman was silent for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Bell, tell me what happened back then... You'd better not hide anything."

Kim Bell crossed his arms and leaned back, placing his feet directly on the table... He would never talk about the trash talk, but he didn't go into the details of how he was tortured.

After all, he was that prince; it was already a miracle that he came back alive.

“…See, that’s it!” Kim Bell grumbled, “Anyone with eyes can see that I didn’t really use any force! She is, after all, a descendant of Cicero, how could I possibly hurt her? That would be too petty.”

Upon hearing this, the woman not only did not agree, but instead let out a soft laugh—not a mockery of Kim Bell, but a… well, an auntie's laugh?

But that smile was incredibly moving... Kim Bell was even momentarily lost in thought.

Kim Bell quickly composed himself, glanced sideways, and said somewhat bewilderedly, "...Your smile is weird."

The woman's captivating smile gradually faded, and she said calmly, "You did indeed do something unnecessary."

Seeing that Kim Bell looked a little embarrassed, the woman quickly added, "How about this, there's an abandoned laboratory in [Cicero] that should contain some initial samples of [Beyond the Holy Mark] that might still be usable. I'll give you the coordinates."

Kim Bell frowned, sensing there was something fishy going on... like this [Purple Moon], which was a huge trap that almost killed him!

"You can't hide the fact that your [Stigmata] was stolen for long, can you?" The woman's voice slowly rang out. "After all, among a group of [Stigmata] users, you'll become an eyesore."

Kim Bell suddenly felt uncomfortable.

The woman gave him a deep look. “Your connection with Cicero is unbreakable… from the moment he sponsored you.”

"Stop talking about it, he's gone!" Kim Bell shook his head. "Is it interesting to discuss someone who can only exist in memories?"

"These are the coordinates of the laboratory."

The ring then projected another beam of light, on which was printed a star map of the void... Kim Bell glanced at it subconsciously, but said nothing.

This thing, you can remember it after just one glance.

Kim Bell rolled his eyes and suddenly said, "By the way, there's something... This time in [Purple Moon], I think I saw the young lady from the [Agarai] family. However, she didn't seem to recognize me, as if she hadn't [Awakened] yet? Was her appearance also arranged by you?"

“The eldest daughter of the [Agarai] family?” The woman pondered for a moment. “I know, but I didn’t arrange for her to be here. However… I think I know who it is.”

"Who?"

"Angelica".

“…” Kim Bell gave a wry smile and slapped his forehead. “That’s right. The deputy of [Crimson Wings] is that princess’s direct subordinate. I should have thought of that sooner.”

It's a real miracle that I survived this time.

Kim Bell felt a chill run down his spine, realizing the perilous situation he was in within the Purple Moon.

“Then, let’s not contact each other for the time being,” the woman suddenly said. “If I need anything, I’ll contact you again… Little Bell.”

Kim Bell frowned immediately. "I said, have you forgotten something?"

The woman looked at Kim Bell expressionlessly.

The other party said in a deep voice, "It was agreed that as long as I did things for you on [Purple Moon], you would tell me about Boss [Ye]... You're leaving already? You really are forgetful, Lord [Ice Wheel]!"

The woman… [Binglun] finally gave Kim Bell a faint look, then waved her hand.

The ring projected another beam of light... transforming into a light screen.

On the screen of light and shadow, a mature man was seen sitting in a blue and white flying car with a unique design, speeding through the sky, looking to be in a good mood.

Kim Bell stared intently at the driver on the screen. "Finally, I've found you... Boss Ye! Where is he now? Judging from the situation, he hasn't [Awakened] yet?"

“Azure,” Ice Wheel said calmly, “a newly advanced golden world.”

"A newly ascended Golden World?" Kim Bell was taken aback upon hearing this, then suddenly covered his face and burst into wild laughter, "Hahahaha! As expected of you, Boss Ye... still as high-profile as ever, actually in a world like this! [Azure], huh..."

At this point, the light from the ring had disappeared.

……

……

……

……

【Purple Moon】...【Sea of ​​Flowers】.

In fact, Boss Luo has already explored some of the remnants of the Empire—of course, the one that has left the deepest impression on him so far is the testing ground that [Cicero] left in 003.

Or rather, the entire 003 sub-world is actually Cicero's testing ground.

Over time, the 003 Sub-World has become a place where true souls are relatively easy to be born, and high-quality true souls at that.

And what about this courtyard?
In the stillness, the three-person group of the shop's mistress and servants strolled slowly along the flower-lined path—perhaps because of Boss Luo's presence, the atmosphere here, though making the maid uncomfortable, was still bearable.

At the same time, she also had a destructive impulse in her heart—about this place.

However, it's still bearable.

Both sides seemed to be acting in accordance with Luo Qiu's presence, and were doing a good job of... or rather, trying their best to restrain themselves, maintaining a very delicate balance.

"If you feel too uncomfortable, wait for me outside." Boss Luo thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, I should be fine here."

The maid simply shook her head slightly, indicating that it was alright.

She immediately glanced at Bai Zhi—perhaps because her bond with the [Root] wasn't very deep, Bai Zhi seemed quite relaxed, even having the mind to look around, completely oblivious to the maid's condition.

After all, in Bai Zhi's eyes, the maid is the most powerful person besides the master... what could possibly happen to her?

"What's wrong?"

Sensing the gazes of the boss and the maid, Bai Zhi tensed up instantly, like a kitten whose tail had been petted.

Boss Luo suddenly chuckled softly, "Bai Zhi, if it were you, which way would you go?"

"??" Little Bai Zhi looked completely bewildered.

Boss Luo patiently explained, "For example, here, disregarding the presence of me and Youye, if you were alone... which way would you go?"

"This... I don't know."

"Just go with your gut feeling."

Since her master asked, she naturally had to think about it carefully... Little Baizhi pressed her finger to her lips, and after a while, she tentatively pointed in a direction, "This... way, is it okay?"

She had barely finished speaking when Boss Luo smiled and said, "Alright, let's go this way."

"Huh? Eek??? What's going on?" Little Baizhi panicked immediately. "No, Master, isn't this a bit inappropriate? What if..."

Why should I make the decision?
—Does it have any special meaning?
—Are you sure it's okay?
"It's just a simple test." Boss Luo smiled slightly. "Don't be nervous. I just want to see if... the person who brought us here will also include you in their calculations."

"I see..." Little Baizhi nodded as if she understood but not quite—as long as her master said it was alright.

Subconsciously following Boss Luo's steps, Bai Zhi took a while to react, her eyes widening in disbelief as she asked, "Master, are you saying that someone plotted against us? Who has the audacity to do that?"

She's not completely clueless; after all, she's been working in the shop for quite some time now.

"Bai Zhi." The maid looked at her with a hint of doting and said softly, "Have you forgotten who we came to [Purple Moon] for?"

"Miss Long?!" Xiao Baizhi's mouth dropped open. "She plotted against Master? How is that possible!"

This excitement wasn't about helping Xi Ruo clear her name; it was simply because she couldn't believe it. After all, she had witnessed everything between Miss Long and her master.

Miss Long seems easy to "bully," and doesn't seem very smart either?
The maid said calmly, "She definitely doesn't have such thoughts. A brain with more muscles than brain wouldn't come up with anything complicated. She came up here most likely because someone told her she needed to come here... or something like that."

Just then, a beam of light suddenly fell down in front, stirring up a gentle breeze that made the surrounding flowers and leaves sway.

Then a woman in a white dress slowly walked out from the pillar of light... accompanied by a floating sphere of light.

Testarosa.

"Oh, Manager Luo, what a coincidence, you're here too."

……

Sure enough, for the Lord of the Holy Land, there was no place she couldn't enter—her thought that had just popped into her head was instantly proven true.

However, the next moment, Testarossa was surprised by Rimbaud's actions.

Without a word, [Rambo] flew out from beside her and instantly flew to the front of Manager Luo, then landed flat on the ground!

Yes, rather than being respectful, it would be more accurate to say that Rimbaud chose an almost humble approach to present himself at this moment.

"Your Highness!" Rimbaud's voice carried a hint of fear, "I was unaware of your arrival. Please forgive me if I have been negligent!"

Upon hearing this, Testarosa's pupils flickered slightly.

—Angie, [Rambo] also addresses him as Your Highness...and this Manager Luo does too!

What exactly is their relationship?
"Lady Testarossa, come quickly to see His Highness!" Just then, [Rambo] suddenly sent her a rather urgent message.

Testarossa frowned subconsciously. She could accept being cautious, polite, and restrained when facing the new Lord of the Holy Land... even showing awe and fear was acceptable.

But what the heck is this "audience"?
—I never said I had accepted the identity of that so-called eldest daughter of a marquis.

In fact, she was skeptical of everything here at that moment.