Almost at the same time, far away on the shores of Marmara, Ezio's expression suddenly became grim, and the sharp eyes of the Master Assassin swept over the little Assasin one by one, "And you just watched him be captured?" ”

"He did it of his own free will." A little Assasin hurriedly said: "He commanded us to disperse and flee, not to look for him." ”

Paula nodded, "I understand, we were still in Topkapi Palace at the time, and he was trying to avoid arousing the suspicion of those people and ruining our plans - after all, a group of merchants who only know how to leave behind their companions and run away is very different from a group of assassins who draw their weapons and fight back," she folded her arms, "and then, you just let him go, don't you have anyone to follow those people?" Has no one tried to find out whether he lived or died? And you just threw an innocent man into the mouth of the wolf and came to me as if nothing had happened? ”

She asked sharply, and the little Assasin all lowered their heads, but some pouted in disbelief.

"I know what you're thinking?" "You think Duarte is just a businessman, not your companion, not your blood relative, not a warrior worthy of your admiration, so you abandon him - maybe you are ready to leave Istanbul with us, what about Duarte?" Florence, and indeed all of Italy, was a merchant, and he was not an indispensable existence in the first place. ”

He stepped forward, because he had just left the sea, his hood hung down from his shoulders, his hair was close to his forehead, and his clothes were constantly dripping, and he looked very embarrassed, but everyone he looked at couldn't help but look away, and did not dare to look at him: "Yes, gentlemen, Duarte is only a merchant, not an assassin, not a warrior, his hands can barely lift a stabbing sword, but because of this, his courage is more admirable than anyone else's—in the face of the Ottoman scimitar, You can wield a Hidden Blade or a dagger, and what can he do? But he still came to Istanbul again and again, searching for information and hearing news for us, which was no safer than facing hundreds or thousands of enemy soldiers, because once his identity was revealed, the whole of Istanbul would be his enemy. ”

"I don't want to blame you," Giulio continued, "but contrary to what you think, Duarte is a companion I must not lose, and I will not let him stay in Istanbul - I do not ask you to act with me, but I will ask, did none of you really notice who took him away?" ”

"But ......" a little Assasin could not help but say: "If we don't leave Istanbul now......"

"It will be dangerous," said Ezio, "but when will we be afraid of danger?" Paula, you take them away, Giulio and I will be enough. ”

Paula looked disapproving, but turned to the little Assasins: "In that case, let's leave as soon as possible, the city will soon be blocked." ”

A little Assasin hesitated for a few seconds, and at Paula's inquiring look, she took a few steps forward in the surprised gaze of her companion: "I went," a little girl with light brown skin and round eyes, "I followed the group." She said quickly, "I followed them and watched them enter a two-story mansion, I remember there, because it was between the Grand Bazaar and a temple, and I can take you there, and I remember the way there!" ”

"Well done." Paula complimented, then turned to look at the increasingly embarrassed group of children, and shook her head slightly: "Okay, you guys come with me, if you have anything to say, let's talk about it when we get out of here and go back to Italy." ”

The Assasin Assassins were divided into two teams, and under the guidance of the round-eyed little Assasin, Ezio and Giulio came to a palatial mansion that was no less than the inn of Fatis, with high walls, and a small room for the guards to live on either side of the grand gate, and an empty square courtyard behind the small room—they were able to get a glimpse of this, because the gate was now open, and Janissaries in white hats were constantly coming and going, and they were not waiting to do so. A large crowd of men, armed with torches, brought a bearded, well-dressed and disheveled Ottoman with a servant to the door—a slave leaned down to stomp his feet, while the man known as Kazak simply kicked him away impatiently, put his hand on the saddle, and jumped on his horse—and a man hurried from behind, and said something to him, and the Kazak suppressed his impatience and said something to him, and then rode away.

"It is him," the round eyes whispered, "it is he who pointed to your friend and said that he was his slave and took him away." ”

In the flickering light of the torches, the man's face was also intertwined between light and darkness, he was not ugly, even heroic, even old, but his courage was still far superior to that of many young people, only the crocodile-like eyes revealed his evil heart.

And as the Assassins looked at him, he seemed to sense something, and looked into their hideout, but before he could ask the soldiers to come and search, a fat yellow wildcat leaped out from behind the Assassins, followed by more cats, mixed with a dog or two, which screamed and trampled over the Assassins, ran from one end of the street to the other, and soon disappeared into the darkness beyond the reach of the torches—not only the Assassins, but also the soldiers were taken aback. Because there are at least hundreds of cats and dogs running here.

And then, like a tidal wave, rats that were normally hidden in the ground crawled out of the cracks, their eyes glowing a terrible red glow in the darkness, and they looked like some evil creatures, and the Assassins endured and listened to the movement outside—the soldiers also shouted in disgust, and someone ordered them in Ottoman to close the door so that the rats would not run into the courtyard—as Giulio had told Ezio with a gesture.

When the street was quiet, they looked out and saw that there were only two guards left in front of the door, Ezio made a gesture, Giulio and Round Eyes swept to the sides, and he stood up from their hiding place generously, revealing his body, and the two guards saw him and immediately pressed their hands on the scimitar, and Ezio's wrists moved so fast that the two throwing knives pierced their throats accurately, and they fell backwards without even having a chance to shout - they were gently caught by Julio and Round Eyes, leaning against the wall, did not alarm the people inside.

The walls of the mansion were about nine feet, an impassable height for ordinary civilians and thieves, but for the Assassins, it was as simple as stepping over a step - Ezio clasped his hands together, palms up, round eyes immediately ready to step on, and his weight of less than a hundred pounds allowed Ezio to lift her up with ease, and she only looked down, put her hands up, and lifted herself up.

When it was Ezio and Giulio's turn, they only took two steps back, and with the slight momentum of the short distance, and a strong, silent step, they flew over the wall like winged birds, and landed gently in the courtyard at the other end, without touching even a larger area than the palms of their hands or their toes.

Round eyes looked with shiny eyes, and she made the right decision! If she could go back, her friends would envy her!

Although the mansion was more opulent than the inn of Fatis, the general structure was unchanged, the same square courtyard, surrounded by arches and columns, and behind the corridor were rooms, the guards were busy chasing away mice, cats and dogs, and snakes that had crawled out of nowhere, but they were still spotted, and Giulio and Ezio stretched out their arms and met them without fear—they had each chosen a man, and they were only guarding against the other soldiers out of the corner of their eyes—but the man they were watching closely, They would never be mistaken for the eyes of a hunter, enough to make any prey fearful.

The round eyes could not even catch their movements, as if in the blink of an eye, they flashed in front of their chosen target, and the dagger or hidden blade pierced the other's chest and throat, and then, before their first prey could fall with a wail, they drew their weapons and cast their terrible gaze on the other.

Their expressions were extremely calm, and although the Assassin walked in the dark, he never took it as a pleasure to kill, but it was this look that made people even more frightened - their lives, whether their own or someone else's, seemed to have no effect on them, and they all stabbed one of the guards in unison, this time the wounds were all in the neck, and blood gushed out, then the third, then the fourth...... More and more guards and servants spotted them, but they didn't dare approach Ezio and Giulio, who had descended into the courtyard like the Grim Reaper, taking the life of a man with every step.

A man threw a torch at Ezio, who only slid sideways - the attack that had completely missed his head in fear not only did not work, but saved Ezio from the trouble of finding his next prey, and Ezio came in front of him with a single stride, his Hidden Blade stabbed into his abdomen, then pulled to the side, and the internal organs immediately fell out of the crack.

Seeing this, the servants in the courtyard immediately lost the courage to continue confronting them, and they turned and fled, only three guards continued to bravely meet them, Ezio pushed his round eyes forward and met her with her, and Giulio spotted a man who was obviously more flamboyant than the other servants, and threw a throwing knife, which pierced his thigh, and he fell to the ground, screaming loudly, Giulio stepped forward and put the short sword on his neck, and he immediately closed his mouth.

"Your master's friend, where is the captured Italian merchant locked up?" Giulio asked in Ottoman.

The man only shook his head in horror, and when Julio lowered his dagger, he did not dare to shake his head any further, for if he shook his head again, his neck would be cut.

"I can't say," he gasped, "my master will kill me." ”

"If you don't say I'll kill you right now." Giulio said briefly: "I won't kill you if I say it, it's chaos outside, there are no guards at the door, you can run away at any time." ”

"In ...... in the second courtyard. The man said, "The room on the east side." ”

Julio withdrew his hand, flipped his wrist, and gave him a slap on the back of the neck in the man's incredulous eyes, knocking him unconscious: "I kept my promise." He muttered, and by this time, Ezio and Roundeye had already dealt with the three guards, rushing over to join him, and Giulio pointed to the door that led to the second courtyard.

The door was open.

Ezio and Giulio exchanged a look, and they rushed to the second courtyard with blightness, but not so unexpectedly, they were greeted by a dense barrage of arrows, and in a moment they saw three archers, overlooking the courtyard from the platform on the second floor, and the man who had captured Duarte was directing them and some of the other guards.

If he hadn't faced two true Master Assassins, he might have succeeded, but as soon as Ezio and Giulio stepped into the second courtyard, they sped up and the arrows fell behind them, and they flipped and flashed into the corridors on either side, facing no less than five guards each.

The first guard rushed at Giulio with his spear, and as soon as Julio raised his hand, he grabbed the hollow above the arch, jumped into the air with his strength, kicked him away, and he hit the pillar, broke his neck, and died instantly. The second guard watched in horror as the Assassin landed beside him, and before he could drop his spear and draw his scimitar, Julio's dagger passed under his arm and stabbed him in the waist, the sharp pain draining him of all his strength, and he also fell, right next to his colleague - the two guards behind him rushed up side by side screaming, but they ignored that the narrow corridor not only limited the Assassin's dodge, but also prevented them from changing their movements, they could only watch as the Assassin bowed his head and gave way to their spears, a pair of Hidden Blades that popped out also pierced their lower abdomen.

The fifth guard hesitated—a hesitation that was undoubtedly fatal in front of the Master Assassin, his throat sliced open and blood gushing from between his fingers.

Giulio had only time to look to the other side, and Ezio had already done his job—he grabbed the first guard, threw the poor man at the second, then swung the spear he had taken from the first, threaded them together, calmly stabbed the third with his short sword, kissed the fourth by the throat with his Hidden Blade, and then wrenched the fifth with his bare hands.

"They fled!" Round-eyed cried as she climbed up the colonnade before the people were noticing, and shot down two archers with her crossbow, while the other fled with Duarte's former master.

Giulio waved his hand, and their mission was to find Duarte.

The servant was not lying, they found Duarte in the room on the east side, fortunately, except for a few whips and a few fists, he was not too injured, and he was able to walk on his own without the help of others, but for some reason his eyes were full of indescribable anxiety.

He seemed to want to say something, but when they reached the courtyard where the torches were lit, he saw the wounds on Giulio, his master, the archbishop, and the heavy breathing of him and Ezio, though they were trying to suppress it—he knew that the Sultan was dead, for his former master was about to begin torturing him, when the Kazak ran in crying and told his best friend the terrible news.

They had assassinated the Sultan and then come to his rescue.

Duarte hung his head, maybe this was fate. At that moment, the ground in front of him suddenly shook - he thought it was a hallucination due to too much weakness, but the shaking became more frequent and more violent, and he looked up and was shocked to find that the mansion was like a doll house in the hands of giants, swaying wildly.

"It's an earthquake!" Julio shouted, "Let's go to the streets!"

At this time, there were no more guards and servants in the first and second courtyards, and the screams of some women came from the houses, but now they could not care about them, and the stone bricks in the courtyard were broken, arched and twisted, and there was a shrill sound like the howl of wild beasts from the ground, and they rushed into the streets, and the streets were dark, except for the Grand Bazaar, where some scattered lights were still trembling, whether it was houses, trees, or ground, they were all undulating and rolling like a tide, Even the Assassins were unsteady on their feet and fell to the ground.

A barn for storing grease or other flammable materials caught fire in the vibration, and it burned like a great torch, illuminating the catastrophe - most of the buildings around them were torn, no exaggeration, first up and down, then swaying from side to side, the invisible giant was clearly not satisfied with a Kazak mansion - all the buildings were maliciously destroyed as far as they could see, the shining gold frames, the clean glass, the delicate blue and white tiles, all gone, gone, Giulio saw a tower of light, at least three hundred feet high, slowly falling, and below it, a dense mass of dwellings, the collapse of which might have shattered hundreds of families, but people had no chance to run away except for desperate prayers.

And at this time, most people are still asleep.

The collapse of the Tower of Light seemed to be a symbol of temporary rest, and the rising smoke and dust had not yet fully fallen, and the undulation of the ground stopped, "Let's go," said Giulio, "and this is not the end." ”

They walked down the streets, strangely, there was no one to see but them, there was a dead silence all around, no sound could be heard, no life was seen, not even birds, cats, or dogs, there was no cry for help or crying from the collapsed buildings, and the round eyes could not help but grasp the hem of Ezio's clothes.

Then, a distant roar came, "Is it going to rain?" The round eyes muttered as if talking to themselves.

Giulio frowned, it wasn't like thunder, or rather, it was several times louder than the sound of an old-fashioned steam train running on the tracks...... Dozens of times...... Hundreds of times...... He looked up and looked into the distance, where there was a flash of light, a thin one, below the clouds. He stood abruptly, and Ezio looked over inexplicably, seeing a look of horror he had never seen on Giulio's face.

"Tsunami!" Julio shouted sharply, and extreme fear swept through his body: "It's a tsunami!" Run to the heights! With all his strength, he shouted, "Run, run!" ”

For a moment, Ezio and the others couldn't even understand what he meant, but out of trust in Giulio, they immediately turned around and ran in the direction Giulio pointed out - Giulio grabbed Duarte and put it on his shoulder, Ezio saw it, and also grabbed the round eyes, Duarte was a slender guy, and the round eyes were still small, and their weight did not affect the two master assassins in a short distance.

They ran as fast as they could, but not fast enough, and Ezio only felt that the light around him was getting brighter and brighter, and the rumble behind him was so loud that it was like someone beating a drum in his head, and he couldn't help but glance back—he saw a magnificent and terrible sight that he could never forget in his life—the wall of the sea that monopolized all vision, it swelled, climbed, and obscured the sky, and at a glance, even a man like Ezio could not help but despair.

"There!" Giulio shouted, and Ezio looked over, and Giulio was referring to the broken tower of light, which had been standing on a high place, and had broken off and left a pedestal about a hundred feet high, but wouldn't it collapse a second time?

"God will bless us!" Giulio said firmly.

"But it's the tower that the Ottomans built for their true god......" Duarte said quietly, leaning on Giulio's shoulder.

The round eyes couldn't help but grunt out laughing.

Ezio's heavy heart suddenly vanished.

They rushed up the Tower of Light, up the spiral staircase, all the way to the top, where there was a guard who, upon sight of them, raised his bow and arrows, and no doubt Ezio graciously sent him to his true god.

And at this moment, the tsunami finally came, and nothing could stop it along the way, and nothing could gain its mercy.

They finally met people...... Swept up, beaten, and pushed by the sea, the Assassins couldn't even tell if they were calling for help, but even they couldn't do anything about it, and the force of the water crashing against the remains of the Tower of Light was like a thousand battering rams crashing into the water all the time—bricks and stones falling into the water.

Duarte suddenly straightened up, and Giulio followed his gaze and saw the gray-haired man—probably the former owner of Duarte, the Janissaries officer, who was proudly half-kneeling on a wide couch, like a horse, drifting with the tide, and not suffering the slightest damage—Duarte saw him, and he saw Duarte, and he smiled mockingly, and raised the small glass bottle in his hand to Duarte, The silver chain used to tie the small glass bottle glistened in the faint light of the sky, and Duarte couldn't help but clench his fists.

"Let's go."

Duarte looked behind him in surprise, and Giulio raised the bow left by the guard—the tide was fast, and in the blink of an eye the distance between them was more than a hundred feet or more, "Let me see if the Ottomans' bows and arrows are as strong as they boast." Giulio said.

He let go of his fingers, and the long arrow whizzed away, nailing the Janissaries officer to the couch.

And the last thing the Janissaries officer did was to throw the little glass bottle into the water.

。 m.