The City of Marronligar

The Silver Bay Tower Library records almost all the knowledge that humans have acquired, and thus obtains unquestionable sanctity.But knowledge itself is neutral, and we cannot predict the possible consequences of knowledge.Take bliss tobacco, for example, as a dangerous banned drug with a long history, the works compiled by pharmacists and doctors naturally record its source of materials and production process.

The raw material of Bliss Tobacco, "Bliss White Leaf", grows in the foothills in the northwest of the mainland. The production process is similar to that of ordinary tobacco, but it has a strange and strong fragrance when it burns.Bliss White Leaf itself is not toxic and addictive, and it can also be used as a common spice. The key to the final "special effect" is the medicine added when making cigarettes.

——Miscellaneous Notes of Yinwan Tower·The Temple of Knowledge

Late the next night, Adrian and Louis meet at the edge of the Blackfang turf.Abandoned wooden boxes are piled up in the dark corners deep in the alley, and the rusty iron nails fastened to the wooden boards have been loosened. Sitting on them always feels a precarious sense of crisis.

Adrian looked down at the claws he had brought from the Flying Lion Mansion, to confirm whether every inch of the rope was strong, but his eyes kept drifting in the direction of Louis—this bounty hunter played his cards out of the ordinary and actually wore a suit. The light armor of the City Watch, the chain mail gloves and the white coat of arms on the red uniform stand out.

"Master Cormac, where did you get this suit?"

Louis shook the long neck holding the wine bottle: "It's better that you don't know."

Adrian stared at the bottle of spirits, feeling himself starting to have a headache: "Are you still planning to drink at this juncture?"

Louis smiled: "We didn't discuss it. This is an infiltration tactic that requires camouflage. Don't worry, this little wine is not a problem at all."

Adrian had to trust Louis' judgment.He also sat down on the crate, resting the heel of one boot on the edge of the crate.

They were waiting for a signal from the Black Fang Gang.

The doping workshop in the old shipyard didn't start until midnight.It has been more than a day since the death of the scribe, and the owner of the workshop and the investors behind it do not seem to have responded.One-armed Glenn said that the owner of this workshop is a pharmacist, and he will supervise the workers in the workshop to complete the pharmaceutical process.

For Adrian and Louis, this is a great opportunity for "precision strikes".

Louis took a sip of the wine, the air poured into the bottle, and there was a muffled gurgling sound, which made Adrian feel uneasy.

Instead, Louis glanced at Adrian, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and asked casually, "What do you think of Glenn and the Black Fang Gang?"

Adrian tilted his head: "Did you ask me?"

"Is there anyone else here?" Louis asked back.

Adrian thought for a moment as if he was taking an exam, and then he tried to answer accurately: "Except for the crimes you said of 'extorting money' and allowing the existence of Bliss Tobacco Factory, I respect part of their moral orientation."

"Are you a sympathizer?" Louis showed a playful expression.

"For individuals, maybe yes; but for gangs... I can only say that its existence is inevitable. If there is no organization like the Black Fang Gang, the harbor area may be even more chaotic."

One-armed Glenn may not be a good person, but he at least completed revenge for the trafficked girl.

Louis sat up straight, looked into Adrian's eyes in the dark, and suddenly spoke in a serious manner: "Adrian, you can choose a direction of thinking. 'They are villains, but they also have their own justice', and 'They have a sense of justice, but are still a bunch of villains', what do you prefer?"

Another difficult question to answer.

Adrian couldn't help but think of several conversations he had had before.He knew that he and Louis didn't always agree, and Louis didn't want Adrian to give up his position and compromise with an older "authority".

Louis does not seem to intend to directly change Adrian, but tends to awaken Adrian's self-awareness.

Therefore, Louis directly relieved Adrian of the obligation to answer: "You don't have to answer me, what you think is your own business."

Adrian nodded, hiding his answer in his heart.

Louis picked up the wine bottle again, but this time it was not for drinking, but sprinkled the wine on the armor, allowing the strong smell of wine to penetrate into his collar, cuffs and chest material.

He stood up, spread his arms, and lowered his head to confirm that his "alcoholic disguise" was natural enough: "How about it, isn't the smell strong enough, do I look like a drunk who may get down at any time now?"

Adrian couldn't help frowning: "Indeed, I can no longer smell anything other than wine."

Louis chuckled twice, and patted Adrian on the shoulder: "Let's go, it's time to act."

The midnight bells of Marenliga drift slowly from the central city to the harbour.Tobacco factories hidden deep in the harbor area can also hear the echoing bell and take it as a signal to start work.

Members of the Black Fang Gang also started to act at the same time.

They deliberately chose the location of the "covenant" in an open space near the old shipyard, rolled up their sleeves, poured spirits, and hastily swept away the snow on the ground.

The participants were divided into two factions, and both of them put on a posture, cursing and swearing, as if they were really fighting because of some personal grievances.Although they are deliberately creating chaos now, if they really get angry under the pretense, it may be unavoidable.

The onlookers were very supportive, waving the empty wine bottles in their hands and yelling loudly, looking like spectators who were afraid that the world would not be chaotic.The one who yelled the loudest was the fifteen or sixteen-year-old "scout" boy. He sat the highest, with the captain's cap on his head and his newly changed voice both eye-catching and ear-catching.

The movement here also attracted the attention of the workshop guards.

Whether it is the ordinary guards on duty by the workers, or a few bounty hunters hired separately, they are already tired from the tedious work late at night, and a little alcohol-scented chaos will naturally cheer them up.Due to the presence of the workshop owner, they dared not leave their posts without permission. At most, they walked a few steps towards the noisy place and found a place where they could watch the excitement from a distance.

Taking advantage of the attention of the guards being attracted by the chaos created by the Black Fang Gang, Adrian quietly sneaked to the rear side of the old shipyard and found a place to throw the claw.Adrian was dressed in black for the convenience of nighttime movements.He felt like a crow armed to the teeth, a rare breed that couldn't call.

After choosing the sneaking position and preparing to throw the claws over the high wall of the shipyard, Adrian looked at the noisy open space again.

In his field of vision, Louis was carrying a wine bottle, staggering towards the main entrance of the shipyard.The uniform of the city guard smelled strongly of alcohol, his slightly long hair was scratched in a mess, and there were drops of alcohol on his stubble. His expression was dull and dull due to "drunkness". Even the bounty hunters in the association could hardly recognize him. Lewis who appeared.

——Is it really okay for the master to look like this?

Adrian complained a few words in his heart, but he still focused on his first task.

There was a lot of movement from the Black Fang gang, mixed with smashing wine bottles and unrestrained shouting, which just covered up the sound of the claws grabbing the wooden frame.The metal claws rest on the lower edge of the side windows on the roof of the shipyard, which is equivalent to a rope used for climbing.

Adrian tested the firmness of the equipment, then grasped the rope tightly in his hand, and under the cover of night, he climbed up the high wall on the southwest side of the shipyard lightly.

This side window should have been a top-hung window, but the shading boards have long since fallen off, leaving only the empty window frame.The flat-heeled soft-soled boots stepped on the edge of the side window without making a sound.Adrian bowed his waist, retracted his claws, quietly passed through the window frame, and successfully entered the old shipyard from the roof.

The beams on the roof of the workshop are covered with planks to form a walking platform.Adrian hid in this darkness, and had a panoramic view of the forbidden drug workshop hidden here.

In order to facilitate the built ships to enter the sea, the terrain of the shipyard is inclined, and the sunken dock stretches all the way into the sea.In the current workshop, a part of the dock is filled up to line up the equipment needed to make Bliss Tobacco.

The workshop has just shipped out a batch of finished tobacco, and is currently processing the raw materials delivered.Several supervisors who looked like pharmacists walked back and forth among the workers, and Adrian couldn't tell which one was the workshop owner himself.

On the other side, Louis, who was disguised as a drunken guard, had a face-to-face meeting with the guards of the workshop.

Louis muttered drunken words, plunged into the crowd of guards blocking his way, raised the wine bottle and took a sip, drunkenly said: "I want to see you, hiccup—Master."

The bodyguards who stopped the intruder looked at each other.One of the bounty hunters heard the sound and looked up and down at the drunken guard who probably came here from the tavern. He only thought it looked familiar, but he didn't recognize who it was.

Louis, disguised as a city guard, yelled again: "Didn't you hear what I said! Go and tell your masters that Lord Lucien of the Marenlica Guards sent me—hiccup—to collect protection money."

The workshop guards who couldn't figure out the situation began to whisper.

"Protection fees?"

"Wait, didn't we pay the Black Tooth Gang? Why are guards involved?"

"Is there someone named Lucien in the garrison?"

"You really don't know. The immediate boss of those guards is indeed called Lucien. He will appear during public trials and public executions, standing next to the governor."

If it was just an ordinary hooligan who doesn't know how to flatter and asks for trouble, they only need to reward the other party with two knives, and then find a secluded place to throw the body; but now they are facing a city guard, even if they are too drunk, that's okay. A member of the city's armed forces, I'm afraid it's not easy to offend.

The existence of the workshop is supposed to be a secret. The guard may have come here by mistake, using Jiu Jin to extort the name of his boss to extort money.Of course, if Lucien, who is in charge of the city guard, knows that someone is producing banned drugs here, he deliberately instructs his subordinates to come over to make trouble, and ask the workshop owner for a hush money, which makes sense.

If this is the case, the workshop must treat it with caution.

The bounty hunter who was in charge of guarding the workshop thought for a moment and decided to bring the drunk guard who behaved outrageously to the workshop owner.He frowned, raised the heavy arms of the "city guard", and led the man into the main gate of the old shipyard.

Wearing the disguise of a city guard, Louis was directly "invited" into the tobacco workshop by another bounty hunter, and an imperceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Adrian, who was hiding in a high place, also saw Louis.

He also successfully sneaked into the workshop, and was even brought to the workshop owner by the unwitting guards.In this way, Adrian finally identified who was the real owner of the workshop.

Everything is going according to plan.

The bounty hunter, who was kept in the dark, explained to the workshop owner: "Boss, this... um, Mr. Guard? He said that he came to collect the workshop's 'safety deposit' under the orders of Lord Lucien."

The low-key workshop owner wore a dark robe and hid valuables such as money bags under his coat.He looked at the strange guard in front of him suspiciously, and his brain was spinning rapidly, thinking whether the guard's actions were conveying some kind of signal.

The merchants who invest in workshops are basically in the Chamber of Commerce, and have a good relationship with the Governor's Mansion. How could the city guard force be suddenly involved?The workshop owner was confused.

"Please come with me, we'd better talk about this privately." He decided to talk to the "messenger" sent by Lucien.

The workshop owner led Louis to the corner surrounded by wooden boxes and discarded boards from the shipyard, ready to deal with him.But before the negotiation started, the drunken guard in front of him immediately changed his face as soon as he was out of the sight of others.

"Don't move around, and don't scream."

Louis' voice was frighteningly cold.A sharp blade lay across the workshop master's neck, and the blade was pressed against the artery.The strong killing intent prevailed over the smell of alcohol and the grassy smell of blissful white leaves, and the "city guard" who was just drunk suddenly turned into a dangerous assassin.

"What, what's going on here?" The workshop owner trembled.

Louis adjusted the knife in his hand. This small movement was enough to scare the workshop owner out of breath, and his heart almost stopped.

"Someone entrusted me to liquidate your crimes and destroy this damn workshop, that's all." Louis whispered. "You should keep the account book with you, right? Ah, I don't mean 'exchange the account book', and I don't intend to negotiate terms with you, just a casual question."

The workshop owner immediately understood a fact: the one who held him hostage was probably not the city guard, but a killer hired by others.

Facing the desperadoes who took control of their own lives, the owner of the workshop did not dare to say: "I can give you money! Enough money! I will close the workshop now and leave the harbor area—no, I can leave Ma Lunliga, as long as you let me go first!"

"Money?" Louis sneered. "I'm not short of money."

On the other side, Adrian pulled out a light crossbow from under his cloak.There was a medicine bottle on the arrow. When the arrow was fired, the medicine bottle hit the beam on the top of the workshop, and the pottery shell shattered. cigarette.

Immediately afterwards, Adrian replaced the small oil bottle and the flaming arrow successively, and ignited the firewood and wooden boxes piled up in the corner of the workshop.

The dry air in deep winter allowed the fire to spread rapidly.The workers realized that there was an attack, but they couldn't see the attacker, so they had to run away. The three bounty hunters outside the workshop heard the sound and inevitably bumped into the workers who were running out, making the scene even more chaotic.

In the chaos, Louis held the workshop owner hostage, and walked step by step to the area that had not been affected by the fire, and confronted those strange bounty hunters head-on.

Louis' knife was still on the workshop owner's neck, so he naturally had the confidence to negotiate.He had restrained his drunken look, stared coldly at the bounty hunter in front of him, and asked sharply: "You tell me now, what is the relationship between the association and the workshop?"

"Tell him quickly! Otherwise I will die!" The workshop owner's legs were weak.

The three bounty hunters had drawn their weapons, but they seemed to have no choice but to answer Louis, who had a hostage in his hand.

One of them hesitated to speak: "We are subject to—"

Before he finished speaking, a sword suddenly pierced his heart from behind.Before the body fell completely, the sharp long sword swung at the other two bounty hunters who hadn't reacted yet.

Louis took a closer look and found that it was none other than Chu De, the current president of the Bounty Hunter Association.

The author has something to say: Commanding the Fury - Marcin Przybylowicz