The sun is high - #206 - Chapter 205 Various forms

While Xiuge was carefully assessing the “construction” level in Iris Street, he was also carefully observing the residents in this area.

As he had glimpsed in the memory of the deceased before, most of the residents here had a very typical appearance of the Goddess Plains. For a few moments, Shuge even thought he had arrived in the Kingdom of Delan or the Principality of the Plains. In an ordinary small town.

Including the middle-aged mage who is now leading the way, whether it is his facial features or the accent of the common language, he must be closer to the Goddess Plains area.

All of this is consistent with what Shuge obtained through the memory of the deceased and Felix’s narration.

Although General Boots’s recruitment order was issued to the entire city of Salem, it was obvious that he was more biased towards the plains peoples in this regard. For this reason, he even did not hesitate to target the people through their appearance, bloodline, language habits and other characteristics. The survivors who took refuge in Iris Street were divided into different groups.

From Shuge’s perspective, this is a very bad tendency at any time.

From a certain perspective, General Boots’s actions and tendencies can even be regarded as a continuation of the chaos before the Salem City Incident. However, now, due to the complete expansion of the disaster and the complete collapse of the old order, For this reason, it has also escaped the status of “chaos” and has become a potential new order.

In this environment, Xiuge’s typical appearance of a plateau aristocrat easily attracted almost everyone’s attention.

He was somewhat famous in Salem City in the past, and quite a few of the lower-class residents recognized him, or at least heard of his name. Even if they were not interested in the things Shuge wrote in the past, they all knew that there was something A young man of the Ernst family lived alone in that terrible old house.

Therefore, it did not take long for the name “Suge Ernst” to begin to appear in the mouths of the residents of Iris Street.

Shuge noticed that a considerable number of soldiers wearing the uniforms of the independent government of Salem City were looking at him with unfriendly eyes. He could even feel the hostility contained in these soldiers – obviously the method used by General Boots The strategy had a very significant impact on the soldiers who followed him, but because of Xiuge’s status as a spellcaster, these soldiers did not dare to make further expressions and actions.

Facing these strange looks, Xiuge acted quite calmly. After all, his looks alone could not cause any damage or influence to him, so he followed the middle-aged mage and asked: “Approximately how many people are there on Iris Street now?”

“Ha, this…I don’t know the exact number of people, but I’m sure that the actual number is probably close to, or even more than a thousand!”

There was a bit of pride in the middle-aged man’s tone: “Our soldiers have gone to many places in the city. Wherever there are people living, they will visit and send recruitment notices from Iris Street… so the number of people here will continue Increased.”

“Well, I can see… and I’m afraid the current houses on Iris Street are starting to run out, right? I see that you are very actively expanding the surrounding space?”

“That’s right.”

The middle-aged mage greeted several passing soldiers, and then replied: “That’s why we need more people to join, especially special talents like Mr. Ernst… If you all know, there is a If a powerful new mage wants to join, I’m afraid they will be very happy and excited.”

“Is it like this?”

Shuge let out an incomprehensible chuckle. At the same time, his eyes drifted to a store on the right that had been converted into a warehouse.

There, standing were several Iris Street soldiers equipped with crystal muskets. On their clothes, in addition to the iris pattern originating from the royal family of Delan, there was also a special logo.

It was an armband, a three-color armband.

There is some similarity with the logo used by the previous Tricolor Brotherhood, and the temperament of these soldiers wearing armbands is also very obviously different from other members of Iris Street. This feeling is very different from the traditional professional soldiers. difference.

“It’s more like a group of hungry wolves recruited by the army…”

Xiuge silently made a judgment in his heart, and then he quickly found the corresponding identities of these people from the memories of the dead he had obtained before – they could actually be regarded as General Boots’ confidants.

In other words, they are “special personnel” who are directly under the orders of General Boots and can interfere in all matters in Iris Street.

These soldiers with extremely special status and authority have a very strange title within Iris Street.

They are called “gardeners”.

These people are actually composed of some soldiers of the independent government and the Iris guards who were left behind in the Deran embassy. It is they who form the basis of order in Iris Street and the rule of General Boots here. cornerstone.

This kind of rule and management model is not unfamiliar to Xiuge. At least he can find many correspondences in the knowledge he has accumulated in the past. Although this is not a “healthy” model worthy of praise, in Salem City today, But it is enough to produce certain positive effects in the short term.

However, this was also one of the important reasons why Shuge was curious and confused about General Boots. He didn’t know why those Iris guards who were theoretically loyal to the only goal of the Royal Family of Delan would choose to join such a group. A general of an independent government?

Is it because the other party is politically biased towards the Kingdom of Delan?

Of course, Shuge does not think that the so-called political tendency has any practical significance in today’s Salem City…

In the face of those “gardeners” who seemed to have great hostility towards non-plain peoples, Shuge responded as a matter of course. He did not go too far, he just slightly mobilized his magic power and the energy accumulated in his body. The power of the dark abyss.

As a result, a streamlined and concentrated mental shock magic was thrown directly by Shuge towards his targets. The moment the magic hit, these ill-intentioned soldiers were horrified to discover that the The young man who originally stood under the sun and looked “harmless” seemed to turn into a huge shadow composed of a large amount of “silt” at this moment, as if it was about to move towards him in the next second. The direction is crushing over.

And this is exactly what all the survivors in Salem City are most afraid of seeing.

“ah!”

A soldier who was less courageous and obviously mentally weak took two steps back in the illusion cast by Shuge. His body hit the wall of the building behind him, and he felt a dull pain in his back. He took two sharp breaths and was about to pick up the crystal gun in his hand for defense when he saw some monster in the sunlight in front of him.

The young man with the metal cane was still slowly following the middle-aged mage. He seemed to feel the gaze from behind, so he turned his head and showed a gentle and friendly smile.

The middle-aged mage’s magic level was too average. He was not aware of what just happened behind him. Xiuge did not continue to entangle with these “gardeners”. He quickened his pace and followed his “tour guide” as he continued towards Iris. Walk deeper into the street.

As Shuge moved forward, he finally saw some residents of non-plain ethnic groups. Judging from their appearance, hair color and accent, most of these people were from the Kingdom of Walter, and a small number belonged to the two kingdoms of St. Steele and Haine. , and a very small number are elves or goblins. They should have been members of certain business groups in the past, and the changes in Salem City also trapped them here.

The living environment of these residents is obviously worse. They are concentrated in an area to the east of Iris Street. This was originally a commercial street mainly selling Delan specialty souvenirs, but now these are lower than two floors. The shops were vacated, numbered and transformed into residential areas.

Through feedback from the rats, Xiuge learned that each house actually accommodated twenty to thirty people. Some of the slightly more spacious houses even had more than forty people forcibly packed in. As for some basic facilities, it was even more difficult. Scarcity, Xiuge saw dozens of people queuing up in front of the alchemy water purifier with containers on the road. This was an important way for them to obtain clean water.

Inside Iris Street, there are relatively few elderly people, women, and children, and as Felix said before, Iris Street has “organized” a considerable number of slow-moving or weak people who are about to go out. Among the teams on duty.

Through the equipment and personnel composition of these teams, Shuge came to the conclusion that their goal should be to clean up the neighborhoods near Iris Street.

Shuge saw that a Walter boy about eight years old with dark hair was assigned to a team of soldiers. They took the boy towards the outside of Iris Street, and the boy was picking up the boy. The tasks that need to be undertaken when taking action are obvious.

He is the live bait used to lure the descendants of An Abyss to show up.

The middle-aged mage seemed to be aware of Xiuge’s gaze. He squeezed out a smile and said to Xiuge: “In special times, everyone must use various methods to survive…including this entire Iris Street. It’s the same, from time to time, people will die outside, we need their help, and they also need our protection, this is actually a kind of, uh… exchange?”

“Um……”

Xiuge responded softly, but did not express any personal opinions on this.

From a certain perspective, what this middle-aged man said can be regarded as a fact. For today’s Iris Street and all the residents living here, this has become a way to ensure that most people A practical and effective way to survive.

After a while, the two finally arrived at their destination.

That is, the “command headquarters” of Iris Street.

As Shuge knew, General Boots set up his general headquarters in the Nadelan Embassy. The so-called Delan Embassy can actually be regarded as a small manor, although it is restricted by the Saigon Embassy. The space in Lun City itself seems a bit cramped, but compared to those two-story buildings where dozens of people are often crammed into it, this place is considered spacious and luxurious.

And now, the Delan Embassy has been completely transformed into a strong fortress.

“Watch towers, walls, roadblocks…even crystal cannons and magic rituals?”

Shuge’s eyes quickly swept across the fully armed embassy in front of him. He could understand the magic ritual. After all, the Delan embassy always needed to take some precautions, but these guys were able to use the city defense. They must have spent a lot of manpower and time on transporting the crystallized cannons, and there were several of them at one go.

Here, Shuge finally saw the Iris guards who had been loyal to the Royal Family of Delan. What surprised Shuge was that these guards did not wear the same mixed uniforms as other Iris Street soldiers. Instead, they still maintained their past attire. Although their clothes seemed a little shabby, the sharp aura exuded by these silent elites was not comparable to that of ordinary soldiers.

The magic-killing silver swords and crystal blunderbuss they carried with them also showed that these experienced warriors were still ready to fight. When Shuge appeared at the door of the embassy, ​​these Iris guards immediately used their eyes to kill him. He locked on, perhaps out of intuition, or perhaps because the Iris guards wore some secret devices for identifying spellcasters. In short, Xiuge felt a clear threat for the first time after entering this neighborhood.

At any time, the guards who act in groups are a force that cannot be ignored in Van En.

Xiuge clutched the Black Sun Scepter tightly. In fact, after he stepped into Iris Street, he had been trying to “locate” the members of the Black Sun Society who might exist nearby. As he expected, the Black Sun Society members left behind The chess pieces in Salem City have now been completely integrated into this important force. There were as many as twenty association members successfully found by the scepter along the way. Even inside the embassy ahead, There were also fluctuations.

“Mr. Ernst, General Boots asked you to wait in the reception room. He will be here soon.”

The middle-aged mage led Xiuge into the embassy. There were more guards here. Even those responsible for daily affairs and standing guard were soldiers wearing tricolor armbands.

Xiuge was placed in an exquisite reception room. This reception room had obviously not been used for a while, and many places were dusty. Xiuge even found some residual blood stains in the corner. It seemed that in Some time ago, there was a bloody conflict here.

Before he could further explore the surroundings, footsteps could be heard along the corridor. Then, the door was pushed open, and a rather burly figure walked in under the protection of a mage and two Iris guards. .

He wore a heavy coat and a standard saber hanging on his waist. He did not wear a military cap, but there were several different medals hanging on his chest.

General Boots’s appearance has distinct military characteristics. He does not look like a nobleman or scholar from the plains at all, but more like the overseers in the mines. There is a hint of exuberant energy in his slightly wrinkled face. .

Just such a person, he sat heavily on the delicate soft chair opposite Xiuge that was covered with dust.

“Master Shuge Ernst…ha, I received your gift, thank you very much.”

General Boots’s voice was as rough as his appearance. He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, then grinned with a scary smile: “You came on time, which is rare. People who are punctual are now But it’s getting less and less!”