"Well, the one you got me to keep an eye on has arrived. The taste is the same as that of old-fashioned cigarettes, slightly harder to the touch, and the smoke effect is perfectly restored. One can be sucked for about a month. I've got four boxes here, so let's try them out to see if they fit the taste. ”

In the intelligence bar of the Phantom Society, Zheng Ming, who had just sat in front of the bar, took over the things thrown by No. 12.

It was a square wooden box with no decoration on the outside, and five black-gray cylinders the thickness of ordinary fingers were neatly placed inside.

Zheng Ming picked one up from it, put it under his nose and sniffed it gently. He regretted that there was not the slightest smell of tobacco.

No. 12 glanced at Zheng Ming, who was picking up a cigarette and observing it over and over again, and explained softly.

"You can just pick it up and smoke it like a cigarette. There are very few vintage cigarettes that can bring out the dungeon, which are homemade by the player. Yes, over there, with the lip pattern printed on it. ”

Under the guidance of No. 12, Zheng Ming put the "cigarette" in his hand into his mouth, and as he inhaled gently, the cold touch on his lips turned into warmth, and a clear air mass finally converged.

"Whew~~~"

With a long exhalation, white smoke sprayed out, and then slowly dissipated.

Zheng Ming looked at the ring of light on the cigarette in his hand, which slowly dimmed until it dissipated, and showed a satisfied look.

"Good. It feels like it. It's just that there is less of the smell of burning and tobacco. ”

"That's already a good job. You have no idea how popular this thing is among those smoker players. Since you're still satisfied, I'll give you the remaining three boxes. I still have some money left over from your payment, I can treat you to a drink, what do you want to drink? ”

"It's the same old way."

Number 12 moves quickly. Zheng Ming didn't have to wait long before the glass of wine named after him was pushed in front of him.

Zheng Ming picked up the wine glass and took a sip gently, looked at the busy back of No. 12, and asked softly.

"How many years have you been here on the 12th?"

"It's been about 7 or 8 years, right? I don't quite remember. ”

"Oh, you didn't think about going back? Is it because the task was not completed? ”

"No, I think it's good to look at the shop and have a leisurely time. If one day I get tired of the peaceful days, I may leave. ”

As usual, the two of them chatted with each other. In a sense, the two can be regarded as old friends, Zheng Ming will occasionally come over to talk, and No. 12 will listen quietly.

Sometimes Zheng Ming thinks that the reason why he can go through so many cruel battlefields and still be able to act like a normal person is that in addition to his own character, No. 12's silent listening over the years also plays a considerable role.

"Sure enough, I'm still different from them, and I can't really fit in. One by one, they all behaved to me as usual. But I'm not mentally retarded! I could feel the change in their relationship. ”

Number 12 didn't respond, he just silently wiped the glass in his hand until it sparkled in the light. It's not that No. 12 is impatient to snub Zheng Ming, but that he knows that he doesn't need to respond at all, and the other party doesn't need his advice.

He's just venting. It's like telling me that after a war, you're far more damned than those who eat their children.

Just as No. 12 secretly lamented Zheng Ming's rare vulnerability at that time, a faint voice came, disturbing his memories.

"I heard that the 2nd is going to open a bar in Starlanding City. How much does she like bars? ”

"Actually, when we first wanted to build a place for information exchange, we originally wanted to build a store, an auction house, or a laboratory as a package. But she wanted to open a bar, and in the end, the boss didn't beat her. Where did you hear that? ”

"Oh, I met a little guy named Kuka. She claims to be the number 13 of your Phantom Society. I remember when you invited me before, you said that there were only 12 people in the Phantom Society. ”

The next words of the 12th quickly dispelled Zheng Ming's doubts. I saw that No. 12 showed an embarrassed smile when he heard this, and said half-introductory and half-explaining: "Originally, there was indeed a lack of one person. Because of the lack of combat power, the boss has not agreed to the joining of the Kuka girl. Maybe I couldn't help the girl's soft grinding and hard bubbles later, so I agreed, right? ”

"Oh, I see. Is there a way for you to reach her? ”

No. 12 heard Zheng Ming's seemingly unintentional question, the expression on his face froze, and he looked at him with a cautious expression.

"Is there something you want to contact her?"

"No, no. I just thought that girl was funny, and now I have a good thing in my hand with a lot of rewards, and I think it's perfect for her. ”

"What if I refuse?"

"Then I might have some trouble finding her."

The two stared at each other tightly across the bar, but the difference was that No. 12's face was gloomy and implicitly wary, while Zheng Ming was smiling like a flower, looking like nothing had happened.

Just when the atmosphere between the two became more and more solemn, and the players who came to the bar to order drinks avoided it in a funny way, an inopportune voice sounded.

"That'...... Well, I heard that you have all kinds of information here? ”

The slightly weak faint voice finally separated the eyes of Zheng Ming and No. 12, and they looked at the figure who couldn't see the atmosphere clearly, standing in front of the platform and sitting uncomfortably.

This is a teenager, and it can be seen from the image of the other party's black hair and black eyes that this is a player who has descended from the character.

"Yes. We do have a business of collecting information here. ”

"Will you be paid? How much to give? ”

It's clear that the teenager is a new player. Otherwise, it is impossible not to even understand this kind of question, which is almost common sense in the player circle.

"It depends on the value of the information you give. If it's a treasure message, a special artifact message, or a hidden story trigger, etc., we'll pay you a lot of money. ”

"No...... Not like that. It's private life, gossip and the like. ”

No. 12 frowned when he saw the young man's slurring words, coupled with an unconfident expression.

"This kind of news is generally not cared about, so it is not very valuable."

"Yes...... But that's about the nobility...... No, it should be said that it is news about the royal family. This kind of private gossip that can be regarded as a big man here should be worth a lot, right? ”

On the 12th, when he heard the news about the royal family, he immediately looked at Zheng Ming. In his opinion, in front of Zheng Ming, who has a bad relationship with King Arthur, talking about the private life of the royal family is a bit of a class. Who knows better than the one in front of you?

And in front of Zheng Ming, he really didn't dare to ask directly, otherwise if it was really a secret that couldn't be known, then if the secret was known by others in the future, wouldn't it be the same as what he spread on the 12th?

"Oh? About the private life of the royal family? I'm a little curious. King Arthur was notoriously non-private, so what could he sell for money? ”

As expected on the 12th, Zheng Ming smiled wickedly after hearing the gossip about the royal family.

"Who are you? Is it also a clerk in this store? ”

Zheng Ming didn't care too much about the vigilance and vigilance of the young man, but explained it kindly.

"You may have just arrived so you don't know. Private trading of information is allowed here. If your information can interest me, it's not impossible for me to trade with you~. I'm a lot more generous than he is. ”

"Really?"

Seeing the young man looking at him with a puzzled face, No. 12 decided not to wade into this troubled water.

"Hmm. He's right. ”

"Alright. Let's change places. There's a secret room there, and we can go there and talk. If the transaction here causes the content to be leaked, they will not be responsible. ”

After speaking, Zheng Ming patted the young man's shoulder, turned out a magic crystal and threw it to No. 12.

"On the 12th, the third chamber is ours. The rest is kept in the accounts. ”

After leaving a sentence, Zheng Ming stood up and took the lead in walking towards the back room on the inside of the bar.

After entering the small room with the plaque of the No. 3 secret room, out of caution, Zheng Ming first carefully observed the unobstructed room. And as he observed, the black-haired boy squirmed and followed.

“em…… I don't think it's going to be a big deal, but I'm going to take precautions to be on the safe side. ”

After a rough explanation to himself, Zheng Ming stretched out his right hand. I saw that a black and viscous liquid kept coming out of his hands, and it quickly flowed to the four walls.

"What is this? What are you doing? ”

"Don't be nervous. I'll just wait a while. Remember to lift your feet. ”

Seeing the black-haired young man chanting nervously, Zheng Ming softly soothed. However, his appeasement did not have the slightest effect.

Seeing that the young man made a gesture of wanting to attack, Zheng Ming was forced to exert force under his feet, and suddenly appeared behind the young man, grabbed the back of his neck and lifted it up.

At the boy's frightened screams, the liquid magic stone formed by the "Vic's Final Feast" quickly spread a layer of the room, and then turned into a thin layer of black walls.

In the end, it wasn't until the liquid magic stone turned into two layers of black walls sandwiched between black flames and enveloped the room that Zheng Ming let go of the young man who had stopped struggling.

"Alright. This way, you are not afraid of someone peeping. Now we can talk. ”

Zheng Ming's mind moved, and three liquid magic stones suddenly appeared on the ground, which finally condensed into the appearance of tables and chairs.

The young man saw Zheng Ming sit down first and looked at himself, and hurriedly sat down on the chair opposite Zheng Ming.

"This is a magic stone alloy? Or is it mind-controlled? It can be liquefied to this extent. How much does it cost to have so many magic stone alloys! And you have to be at least level 30 or above to shoot just now, right? No, that feeling of powerlessness to struggle is likely to be level forty. Which Star Gamer are you? Or which one is the best player? Why haven't I heard your name? Will you be competing in the Powermaster tournament at the end of the version? ”

Seeing that the young man who was still scared of death just now, he asked excitedly after such a while, Zheng Ming sighed with a speechless forehead.

"Are you done? Can you get down to business? ”

As he spoke, he threw the magic hedron onto the table.

The sound of the magic crystal colliding with the table finally drew the boy's attention back, and he hurriedly sat down with a serious expression.

"These things are for me?"

The young man's eyes constantly drifting towards the table, and the joy on his face that could not be concealed, betrayed his heart. Zheng Ming looked at the simple and easy-to-understand young man in front of him, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"It depends on whether your message is valuable or not. Say it in advance, if it's that kind of bad street news. For the sake of you, I'm not going to pursue your actions, but don't think about it if you want to be paid. ”

"No way. It's a secret I've stumbled upon by accident, and no one knows about it. ”

"Nobody knows, it depends on whether it has value or not. There's no one here to pay for some worthless gossip. ”

"This is no ordinary gossip. This thing will definitely cause a sensation if it is worn out. ”

"Oh? I would like to hear about it. ”

The teenager's narrative is cluttered, uncombed and condensed, interspersed with a lot of inconsequential details. But it's better than the truth. Zheng Ming did not interrupt the other party's somewhat lengthy narrative, but patiently sorted out the information that might be important.

According to him, this happened a few days ago, and the time should be when Arthur had not yet returned to the royal capital. Although Zheng Ming didn't believe that Arthur had anything to hide from his private life, he was quietly relieved to hear this.

Late that night, the boy was originally on a mission to exterminate the gang, but when he tracked down the fleeing gang members, he found the corpse of the other party in the shadows that were inaccessible. Sensing that the duck with its beak had been snatched away by a horizontal knife, the boy was very angry. So he followed the clues to find the person who took the credit for him.

The content in the middle is not very important. It is nothing more than using the player's special means to find suspicious targets, and then using technology and props to quietly track them without being discovered.

Then, when he followed the black-robed man with a crescent dagger on his cuffs, he found that it was the backstreet of Lancelotchin's mansion of the Hand of the King.

"Wait. You said that you can't see your face clearly in a black robe, and the cuffs are printed with a crescent dagger pattern? ”

"Yes."

"What color is the crescent dagger?"

"Dark red."

Hearing this, Zheng Ming stretched out his hand to signal the young man to pause, lowered his head and groaned. This costume Zheng Ming is no stranger to, it is the costume of those court mages after joining the dark guard. There is also the dark red crescent dagger pattern, which symbolizes high status. There are only a handful of people in the entire Dark Guard who can have this status.

These court mages were nominally loyal to Arthur, but in fact they were left to Gwyna by the old king, and they were far more loyal to Gwyna than Arthur. This also explains why the boy said at first that it was gossip about the royal family. But why did Gwyna leave the palace in the middle of the night? Or is it there?

Thinking of this, Zheng Ming looked up at the young man who was a little at a loss.

"Well, that's fine. You continue. ”

The next direction of the story narrated by the young man was indeed moving away in the direction that Zheng Ming did not want to hear.

The young man who was hiding on the side saw that Queen Gwenna had come out of the secret passage by the wall, and that it was Lancelot himself who was beside him.

"Wait, do you recognize Lancelot and Gwynna?"

"Of course, I've seen their portraits. To be honest, they also have portraits and sculptures of you, King Arthur and others all over the place. ”

"Can you really see it so late?"

In fact, there are many ways for players to watch people at night, which is not surprising. But because he didn't want to admit it, Zheng Ming desperately wanted to find a place where he could, so that his thinking was restricted.

"I saw it with my own eyes. They were also seen kissing as they parted. They were reluctant to get tired of it for a long time, but the black robe went up and separated the two. ”

Zheng Ming didn't know how he left the bar. All he felt was that his brain was in a mess as if it had completely struck. When he finally came to his senses after returning to the mansion and meditating for a long time, he only remembered that the young man who had obtained the magic crystal happily promised to keep his mouth shut.

(End of chapter)