Nicol Bolas's shadow hadn't been seen since it left the Belbogo Valley, as if it had been just a phantom, and the group had been searching the Ash Mountains for days without finding anything.

The weather was getting colder and colder, and the induction of the Golden Flame Ring had completely died down after that, Fang Yu placed it in the palm of his hand, and the ring was like a dead thing, becoming inconspicuous at all, and even the gold in appearance became very dull.

If you don't know the origin, others may think that it is just an ordinary gold ring.

However, only when Fang Yu held this ring in his hand, he could feel a faint sadness in his heart, as if it was a lingering sorrow. When he held the ring, he was always depressed.

At first, he just thought it was his own delusion, because he was too worried about the great changes in the south that would affect the rest of the party's itinerary. But in the next few days, Fang Yu gradually realized that the problem was, and when he took the ring away from him, the feeling immediately diminished a lot.

So he showed the ring to Sylvid and the box, and asked them to talk about their feelings, and everyone experimented with each other, and they all got about the same feedback. It's just that different people have different reactions.

Among them, Miss Shipmaster and he felt it most obviously, followed by Luo Yu, Sky Blue, Alyssa and Kita, and Shesta and Baggins again. As for Parker and the box, the two of them were holding the ring, one of them asked him heartlessly if the ring was worth much, and the other looked at it twice and threw it aside.

When Miss Elf took the ring, she frowned slightly and put it down. Attila told him that she could hear a muffled voice in the ring, but Fang Ou held the ring to her ear and couldn't hear it.

The ring was cold, and there was no reaction at all—

Seeing him, Attila couldn't help but shake her head: "Druids are very sensitive to nature spirits, Eddard. ”

Fang Ou heard the implication of her words, that is, he did not have this talent, and was destined to miss the path of the druids, and the beautiful deer in the forest, the spirit of the forest, and the protector of the sacred tree, Lady Ameya, would never guide him.

As for the big cat man paladin's evaluation of this ring, it is obviously much more accurate.

He picked up the ring with his pointed paws, examined it carefully for a moment with a monocle perched on the bridge of his nose, and said, "I have seen a ring of this kind of workmanship in Rotao, it is the handiwork of a goblin, and it should be very valuable." ”

"Mr. Red—"

The big cat man laughed before he said, "There seems to be some kind of longing lingering on this ring, and it is especially obvious here." ”

"Missing?"

"You should know that in Aitalia the soul is real." The Lion Paladin lowered the ring and asked.

Fang Yu nodded.

"This kind of historical object often carries feelings and memories...... It is associated with the Dragon Witch, who died here, and whose mighty soul may have left something in the valley that resonates with the ring. ”

"Therefore," the big cat man handed the ring back to Fang Yu, "you can feel such feelings from it-"

"Mr. Red, you're saying that this feeling actually comes from Nicol Bolas, the dragon witch?" Fang Yu was a little surprised.

But that faint sadness was far from his impression of Nicol Bolas, the dragon witch of Dorifin, who was arrogant and arrogant, a dark dragon with great power, and did not take anyone in the slightest.

Even life itself, it has no reverence.

It is hard to imagine that such a cold woman could have such a feeling in her heart—if it were Miss Misu, it might be more convincing. But Fang Yu knew very well in his heart that in the era of Nicol Bolas and the hero Josud, Miss Misu should not have been born at all.

He had some doubts in his heart.

Curiosity alone won't solve the problem - three days later, the Nanami Brigade passed through the pass known as the Emerald Gate, and finally crossed the Ash Forest. The area is almost close to the northern mountains of Dulun, and snow-covered woodlands can be seen in the distance.

But so far, they still haven't found a clue about the Golden Flame Ring, and the girl with black hair and golden eyes seems to have disappeared without a trace since then.

Fang Plover counted the days, and in a few days it was the dormant day of Aitaria (January 21), and when the weather turned colder, the next blizzard could come within a few days.

He checked the map before he finally made up his mind to leave the place for a while. After all, although he had promised Sir Duke to come here with the Ring of Golden Flames, that was not the main purpose of their trip.

What's more, after the resolution of the South, the time left for them is getting shorter and shorter.

What's more, Mr. Graystone's back is starting to run out of supplies, and Ms. Quesu's lumberjacks are a little overwhelmed. After nearly half a month's trek from the Masonke Creek station to the ash mountain forest, especially in such bad weather, even these mountain rangers who walk outside all year round are a little unbearable.

In fact, these days, the injury rate among the adventuring group has continued to increase, while the Paparals are still limping, and Sky Blue accidentally catches a cold, and continues to have a low temperature and fever, and joins the ranks of the sick with Akane.

Although Sky Blue was not an official caller, this was obviously a bad omen, and Fang Yu had to consider ending the adventure early so that he could find a safe place for the team to recuperate.

His original plan was to go to Dulun for supplies and news—one of the largest cities in the southern part of the Great Creek Valley, where commerce flourished—at least until the north-south passage was blocked. Therefore, it is not difficult to find a place to stay.

However, after the battle with Ragnarok's people, this plan is a bit out of place, although the other party may not recognize the appearance of each of them, but it is too much for the other party to recognize such a huge target as Mr. Graystone.

Fortunately, in the hills and forests of northern Dulun, it was easy to hide the next Grey Ridge Negative Hill Beast and their huge platform. And after leaving the Ash Forest, there is no more danger in the mountains and wilderness - at best, there are a few wild animals, and they pose no threat to the group.

So it didn't take much for Fang Yu to find such a suitable place, and stopped Mr. Limestone in a basin surrounded by mountains.

It is located in the north of Dulun, not too far from the agricultural reclamation area around the city. On the outskirts of a large city like Dulun, there is naturally a large agricultural area, dotted with farms and wineries, as well as temples and monasteries.

So he, along with Sylvede and Elisa, rented four or five caravans from a nearby farm, which in fact did not cost much work.

It is also thanks to the favor of the goddess of commerce, and it is precisely because of the presence of Lady Roman that these local farmers dare to trade with these strangers so generously. In fact, more than half of the credit for Aitalia's strong sense of contract goes to this business-minded goddess.

It's just that Fang Yu is a little heartbroken and spends the money.

The locals, apparently tainted with the inherent cunning of the mountain dwellers of the area, were in a hurry to need the wagons, and at once increased the rent several times over. At that time, Alyssa was a little reluctant, and looked back at the two of them and asked with her eyes if they wanted to go to another place.

But Sylvid only shook her head secretly, signaling that time was more of a priority for them now—

However, it was about the face of the money, and when the farmers handed over the wagon to them, they carefully maintained the wagon and pack horses, and the horses were carefully fed, which saved them a lot of trouble.

Since Mr. Greystone was unable to enter the city, Fang Yu naturally had to rely on this convoy to enter Dulun to purchase supplies and medicines, although most of them had obvious targets, but the people under Ms. Quisu were different.

It is obviously unlikely that the other party knows these lumberjacks.

And when it comes to procuring supplies alone, Ms. Quesu is obviously up to the task.

Therefore, Fang Yu's plan after the change was to let Ms. Quesu go to Dulun to purchase necessary supplies and medicines on her behalf, and then inquire about the news by the way. Once the convoy had returned, and the group had almost finished resting, they could head straight south around Dulun, over the Cave Bottom Mountains, and into the warm brown redwood forests of the south.

There, they split in two, with Lady Quesu leading her men to cut down wood in the reclamation area, while the others went deep into the leveling area of the cave bottom mountain range to improve their strength. It's one of the best leveling areas in the entire South, with plenty of elite monsters, bosses, and plenty of wild resources.

The day the convoy left for Dulun coincided with Aitalia's dormant day.

And the 21st of January was actually Fang Yuan's birthday, but he didn't tell anyone, only that he smelled beautiful in his room—the big boy was a year older.

He looked left and right at a small mirror, and felt that he had matured a lot, before he changed into his coat for going out, opened the door, and then shook his head—Fang Ou looked up and was surprised to see Sylvid standing outside the door, looking at him with a smile.

It's just that today's ship's master lady seems to have dressed up carefully, rarely changing into a snow-white trench coat and wearing a fox fur shawl.

And this aristocratic daughter is amazingly beautiful on weekdays, and at this moment, Fang Yu couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the other party's bright eyes and bright teeth.

Sylvid smiled and gently shoved one thing into his arms.

It was a cardboard box with a pine leaf pinned to it, and it was heavy to start with.

"...... this?"

Fang Yu paused for a moment.

"Birthday present, Captain," Sylvid smiled slightly, "In Aitalia, evergreen pine leaves represent growth, and nobles tend to give each other gifts on this day of the year, but the Captain remembers to return the gift on my birthday." ”

“……”

Fang Yu was completely stunned.

He looked at the gift in his hand in a daze, it wasn't that he had confiscated the birthday gift, but apart from his uncle, aunt and cousin, it was the first time he had received a birthday gift from someone else.

But he raised his head again, and his heart was more curious: "Miss Sylvede, you—how do you know that today is my birthday?" ”

"Miss Tata told me."

Fang Yu slapped his head.

He and Miss Tata had no secrets, and most of them sold themselves out to Sylvid when asked.

Because in Miss Fairy's opinion, birthdays are probably no different from any other day, and it is impossible to understand mortals' attachment to birthdays.

"The others know," Sylvid said with a smile, "Azure and Kita, and the chest, they have gifts for you, and Miss Attila has a honey cake for you—but she's already half-eaten for Parker, and she's looking for him all over the boat now......"

Fang Ou can imagine how miserable Parker will die.

However, he was more slightly moved in his heart.

He looked at the palm-sized cardboard box in his hand before asking, "Can I open it and take a look?" ”

Sylvid only nodded.

Fang Yu opened the box at this time, and after opening the package inside, he couldn't help but take a light breath. Inside the box was a silver pocket watch, his original watch had been damaged during the battle with Fenris, and he had never had time to buy a new one.

And this pocket watch is not an ordinary pocket watch, he has seen so many magic items, and he can also tell that the craftsmanship on the silver pocket watch comes from the handwriting of dwarves and goblins, and this pocket watch is probably also a magic ornament.

He looked up at Sylvid.

"This pocket watch is called 'The Law of Cause and Effect,' and it's my grandfather's work, and it can help you get through some dangers." The girl explained in a whisper.

Fang Yu has actually seen the attributes of the pocket watch through the system-

The watch of the sea, the law of cause and effect, (pocket watch, quality, A+)

Evasion +25

Causality: Consumes mana and increases evasion by 200% (performance bonus) for five seconds -

Weight: 0.15kg

Required Level: 15 Any

The 25 evasion value added by the watch itself is not much. However, the built-in skill 'Law of Cause and Effect' is definitely a super practical magic skill, and the 'performance bonus' on it means that this skill changes its own attributes, rather than affecting evasion through the environment.

The latter is often much easier to target, and in the case of the former, there are only a handful of abilities and spells that can be countered against the Elector's own abilities and spells. With this skill, this pocket watch can definitely be regarded as a rare piece of fine equipment.

But it's clearly more than just its attributes.

Fang Yu flipped through the pocket watch and saw a small line of text engraved under the silver cover:

'To my beloved daughter-'

The inscription was a family name of the Cillin-Sbicca family, and it obviously would not have been Sylvid's father, Sir Marwey. Almost instantly, Fang Ou understood the origin of the pocket watch, and it could only be a gift from Sylvid's maternal grandfather to his daughter.

It was also a gift from Sylvede's mother.

Fang Yu only felt that the pocket watch weighed more than a thousand pounds.

"Miss Sylvide......" he looked up, looking at the other in surprise.

"Don't think too much," the aristocratic daughter smiled lightly: "After all, my mother was born in an alchemy family, and such little things have given me a lot, but this one is especially suitable for the captain." ”

Fang Yu was not hypocritical, but silently put away the pocket watch and put it close to his body. Sylvide watched his actions, and the smile in her eyes intensified, but she did not continue to speak, and there was a moment of silence between the two.

The two of them seemed to recall the conversation they had a few days ago at the same moment.

Although there were some jokes at the time, between the boy and the girl, there was inevitably some inexplicable ambiguity at this moment.

Fang Yu couldn't help but sneak a glance at his ship's officer, the sunlight was falling through the porthole and falling between the corridors, and the girl's eyes were bright and clear. But she only smiled slightly, and only asked:

"The captain is going to Dulun?"

Fang Yu came back to his senses and nodded, although it was Ms. Quesu who was in charge of procuring supplies, but as the head of a group, of course it was impossible for him to stay out of the matter completely. If he goes alone, the goal will not be too big.

Judging from the news that Alyssa and Miss Atila had inquired about from the nearby farm, it seems that there is no news that the Dulun side wants their group, and of course it may be that the chain reaction caused by the Southern Border decision has caused no one to pay attention to them.

And he had another thing to do when he went to Dulun, and that was the legendary ring he had obtained from the lich before, and if he wanted to find someone to appraise it, only in such a big city could he find a qualified appraiser.

Sylvid seemed to see through his thoughts.

"Take me with you," she said, "and I'll take you to meet someone, the captain." ”

Fang Yu was slightly stunned when he heard this.

……