By the time Ian recovered from his stupe, half-asleep, Alphen was still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

The empty cup in his hand was crooked on his body, and it felt like it would fall to the ground in a few moments. Ian rubbed his face and squinted outside. Judging by the shadows of passers-by, it should have been afternoon - they had been drunk here for half a day.

A gust of wind blew in from outside, taking away some of the heat on his face and body, and it was much more comfortable. However, it also brought him to his senses immediately, remembering what Alphen had told him about what had happened outside Black Hawk that day.

The researchers were merely on orders, and the three lead researchers responsible for giving orders had all been secretly executed, but their research director, Dr. Samler, was still alive...... Yes, he is the one who started it. There was also the Hilfa Empire dignitary who supported them in this research, the archon Mason, his henchman Miró in the military department. And according to Alphen, they also had the Grand Duke Burley behind them...... Ah, and the falcons that hunt down their own for their leaders.

Falcon, the name echoed in his mind again. He thought of Regin, how many psychic combat experts were there like Regin? Even Alfin didn't know. But Ian alone has no chance of winning. Aside from these people, his ultimate enemy is exactly the same as Alphen's goal: the Emperor of the Empire, the Mad King Andrés Cesa Hilfa.

Without his instructions, how could these military and political dignitaries dare to study the restoration of spiritual power and start such an outrageous experiment?

Thinking of this, the mist of sadness and confusion in Ian's eyes dissipated, replaced by a bright light, like a fire.

"Hmm......" Alfen snorted in pain and woke up as well, "Ian?"

With a dry mouth, he got up and shook to the boss to ask for two glasses of water, and then walked back slowly. I couldn't wait to take a big sip as I walked.

"Ahh

"Hahahaha......" let out a long hiccup, and Alfen suddenly burst out laughing, like crazy.

Seeing Ian looking at him puzzled, he seemed to want to explain, but he couldn't stop laughing. Finally, he regained some control of his facial muscles a little, and said, "Ha...... You know what, Ian, hey, hey, it's so nice to be an exiled prince. Hiccups whenever you want, and no one is there to teach you how to maintain the majesty of royalty...... Fuck royal majesty!"

He said angrily: "The king is not like a king, he kills and takes away his children, but he wants us to behave like a dignified prince, don't you think it's funny?"

Alfin laughed dryly a few more times, and finally stopped. Ian knew that the prince had been completely reborn.

Alphen poured the remaining half of the glass of water directly on his head, then brushed his hair that had fallen from the running water, and asked, "What are your plans for next?"

Ian put down the glass and replied, "I'm going to the Mercenary Guild." Immediately, he simply told Alphen about the anonymous commission and his own conjectures.

The exiled prince rolled his eyes and smiled, "I don't think you can go." ”

"Because you've already told me the truth behind it?"

"Yes, you've found what you need from me. He looked at Ian keenly, "What are you going to do at such an unnecessary risk?" After all, do you go to check on him, or do you want to see if the other party is deliberately tempting, wants to contact you, what kind of deal to make with you? But what else do you need? ”

Ian pondered Alfin's suggestion, and it did make sense. If Sid had been around, he would have been advised to give up investigating the secrets behind this anonymous commission. But after thinking about it, he said to Alfin: "Let's go and see, and hand over the commission first." If it's really for me, whether I check it or not, I guess the other party will always come to me. ”

Alfin smiled faintly, noncommittal.

When Ian reached the door of the tavern, he followed, "I'll go with you." ”

Ian glanced at him suspiciously, and the prince smiled, "I haven't entered the mercenary guild yet, so I'll go with you for a long time." ”

The two of them reached the vicinity of the guild in a few steps, and sure enough, as Ian expected, it was crowded with people, far more lively than when he first registered as a mercenary. However, compared to the bustle in the guild, Ian also noticed that there seemed to be more and more beggars on the streets. The open gate of the Mercenary Guild was facing the main road, and by the door was an old beggar with gray hair, begging very cautiously to passers-by. The range of movements is so small that you can only hear him whispering to you when you pass by him.

Ian thought, this beggar is smart. It was bustling with people, but it was very low-key, unlike some beggars who spoke out about their suffering in order to gain sympathy. If he dared to beg like this at the gate of the guild, he would have been driven away a long time ago. As he passed, Ian couldn't help but look at him again, but his attention soon had to turn to the prince.

Alphen had already stormed the guild hall, pointing to the commission board and fussing out, "Look! so many?!"

Ian rolled his eyes in his heart and looked at the sound, but he was also taken aback, no wonder Alphen had little knowledge.

The original appearance of Ian's mind on the commission notice board has been completely subverted at this time. Originally, the commission was loosely posted on the board, but at this time, the power of attorney was pasted densely. Because there are so few gaps, the paper is stacked on top of each other, and you have to open the power of attorney stacked on top of it to see it clearly.

Ian squeezed over and glanced at it quickly, most of them were directly or indirectly related to Warcraft. Revenge, rewarding a certain material, recovering lost goods, searching for people...... The mercenary only reads the content briefly, and based on the time and place of the events described by the commission, he can almost conclude that it has nothing to do with Warcraft. Of course, there are also some mercenary missions in between, which require a whole team of mercenaries or even mercenary groups to assist in the battle, and most of these publishers are some big conglomerates, chambers of commerce or dignitaries.

Ian is not familiar with the intricacies of inter-regional border conflicts and religious conflicts outside of the Empire on the continent of Tihuak, so he usually doesn't care about these commissions. However, even he noticed that the number of such commissions was much higher than before.

Alphen takes the commissions much more seriously than Ian, sometimes reading them as stories, sometimes laughing and laughing at the stupidity of the client's tragic plight. Ian called him a few times, but when he saw that he couldn't move, he didn't pay attention to him, just quit by himself and went to the counter to deliver the anonymous commission.

When defeating the monster, Ian forbade others to collect the craft's materials, but it quickly turned out that the materials were almost impossible to collect. Because they hadn't walked far away, the corpse of this demonic beast quickly decayed and dissipated. Sid, however, remembered the Monster's footprints that he had requested—but he couldn't find them now. He collected a few of the remaining phalanges from the ground that had not been corrupted and disappeared, and brought them back with the intention of trying to use them as a substitute for the commission.

Now, Ian took the items out of the pouch on his waist and handed them to the receptionist behind the counter.

The receptionist took the pouch containing the phalanges, the power of attorney, and Ian's mercenary insignia, and proceeded with the registration quickly, efficiently, but with a cold attitude. Ian glanced back, and there were already more than a dozen mercenaries waiting behind him for a while. With so many people from morning till night, it's no wonder that these receptionists are blunt. It's just that...... The "special" event that Ian had been expecting didn't happen.

No one was watching him, and no one was approaching him. It wasn't until the receptionist handed back the badge and the money bag containing the honorarium that Ian realized that the formalities had been completed. The tall mercenary behind him was so impatient that he was about to lose his patience that Ian had to turn away in a huff.

When I turned my head, I found that Alphen was already waiting nearby, and I didn't know when he got out of the pile of "commissioned stories".

"How's that?" he asked, actually guessing seven or eight points based on Ian's expression.

Sure enough, Ian shook his head.

"And ...... the money," Alphen looked greedily at Ian's purse, "how about we go for a big meal?"

Ian and he walked out, dispelling his thoughts of eating and drinking: "I still have something to do, you can go back by yourself." ”

"No, no, no," Alphen snapped, "that's not going to work. I have a hunch that something special is going to happen to you today - except for me. You are my important ally, how can I leave you alone in danger?"

Ian was about to say something to shake him off, but suddenly stopped. Both of them heard a long, high-pitched whistling sound in their ears, as if a huge mosquito was flying around them, and it was getting closer. Immediately after, they heard a loud bang, and a house not far from them was hit by something, and a huge hole was broken in the roof, and dust and smoke were everywhere.

For a while, people on the street fled one after another, and the shouts of men and the cries of women and children came and went.

"Army!" someone shouted in the distance, "There's an army coming, it's the Federation!"

Immediately after, more huge rocks fell from the sky. Some of the stones sank into the building, crushing it entirely, while others were embedded in the pavement of the oak avenue, leaving long cracks in the stone pavement. The pole of the street lamp was knocked over, the lamp oil was spilled on the ground, and I don't know what ignited it, and the flames danced on the road. The streets were filled with hustle and bustle, some buildings were on fire, and the fire was raging in the smoke.

Alphen dragged Ian into a side alley, with his back against the façade of a three-story building.

He was out of breath, but laughed excitedly, "Look, I'm talking about it!...... hahaha" followed by a violent cough, probably inhaling the dust kicked up by the rocks and the collapse.

"Ahem......" he called in a hoarse voice, "Let's go, let's go to the West Gate!" and then leaned against the wall and walked away from the Oak Avenue.

In front of a tall building, he stopped, said, "I'll go up and have a look," and began to climb. Alphen walked along the collapsed porch of the house, turned over and climbed up to the place where there should have been a rain shield, and then climbed up to the roof step by step along the partition on the exterior wall.

Ian ignored the pain in his ribs and followed his example and climbed up the same route. When he climbed to the top, he saw Alphen dodge in front of him and leap onto the roof of the adjacent Helios Church. Ian's eyes lit up, there was a wind clock on the top of the church, and there was no staircase designed for going up and down when it was built, and if it was to be repaired, a ladder could only be erected from the outside. Because the bell tower is not made of bronze, it does not need to be struck by manpower. The wind clock made of white porcelain hangs in a small bell tower, and as soon as the wind passes, the swing under the bell sways with the wind, and it naturally makes a sound.

The Church of the Sun God is built very tall, and this small bell tower is considered the highest position in the vicinity. Alphen climbed straight up, jumped to the top of the bell tower, and looked to the west.

Ian reluctantly followed, staring into the distance.