The town where Wu Xin and Seymour came is the largest settlement on the island of Malta, but it has a population of less than 3,000.

One of the more prosperous ones is just a part of the area around the main road.

As night fell, businesses around the main road closed.

Wu Xin walked into a closed store with his head down, the door was unlocked, and there was no one inside.

Five minutes later, when Sherlock walked slowly into his shop, he found that Wu Xin had found the tea and made it.

Sherlock looked tired, but Wu Xin was very relaxed: "There is such a good thing, Sherlock, is your business very good." ”

"It's just an ordinary gift, like soap, a necessity to open up people." Sherlock quietly responded to Wu Xin's temptation.

"Ah, indeed, indeed." Wu Xin took a sip of tea, it was not the familiar taste, but Wu Xin liked hot tea very much.

"You shouldn't have come, it's too dangerous." Sherlock's tone sounded very sincere, very considerate of Wu Xin. "I'll find a chance to enter the castle again."

"This island lacks everything, supplies and manpower, and I don't think I'm worthy of a dedicated tracker anyway." Wu Xin knew that Sherlock didn't show up at first to see if he had a tail.

"Don't underestimate yourself, my friend." Sherlock had just seen Wu Xin on the street and guessed that he would come back to find him, so he deliberately ambushed outside to see if there was a tail. "What can I do to help you this time?"

He decided that Wu Xin must want more benefits.

"There are two things, first, I can help you with the manure business, but I also need some soap, and I want fifteen thalers a month. Second, I've had some conflicts with the French group on the island lately, and I need spellcasting materials, right away. The previous words were completely expected by Sherlock, but Wu Xin's following words made him not shirk with the reasons he had prepared a long time ago. The conflict involves the division of power between the Knight of Cassano and the Siegel ** officer, and if you can win, it will be of no small benefit to you. ”

"That's great, promoting manure is a great thing that can benefit the people." Sherlock was pleased with Wu Xin's reply, then he put his finger to his lips and thought for a moment, he was not sure whether Wu Xin had touched a little bit of political mysteries, and he was not sure whether the young man and himself were of the same mind. "My purpose on the island is to take care of you, by the way, to do some business, I have no interest in political struggles. I advise Cesare not to get involved either, and to keep a low profile. ”

Of course, he had other missions, but Wu Xin did arrange to take refuge.

Wu Xin had been provided with some supplies just to show favor to Cassano, and he didn't think that Wu Xin could do anything to his target.

Wu Xin roughly knew his purpose based on the last time he heard their conversation: "No matter who you look for on the island, a garrison captain with enough power will definitely be able to help you, and Cassano's power is very insufficient at present." ”

Sherlock immediately frowned: "Hmph, Cassano told you?" He shouldn't have let you get involved in these things. ”

"I don't need a Knight of Cassano to tell me." The previous conversations were all spoken in German, and when he got here, Wu Xin suddenly changed to Latin.

"You understood our conversation that day?! You don't know Latin on the ship, and you've only been on the island for a few days and you'll be able to learn Latin?! Sherlock finally stopped smiling, his eyes widened in disbelief, he was quite conceited about his intellect, but he never had the ability to learn a language so quickly. Even if you are a native Italian speaker, you need a teacher. ”

Latin is ancient Italian, Italian is modern Latin, and they are father and son.

Spanish, French, and Portuguese are the other nephews of Latin.

However, after the destruction of the ancient Roman Empire, the Italian language, which had undergone several barbarian attacks, changed greatly, and it was still extremely difficult for those who knew Italian to learn Latin on their own, even if they were taught by a teacher, it could not be learned in a few weeks.

But the facts are right in front of him, and Sherlock can't believe it, so he corrected his original judgment and improved his evaluation of Wu Xin.

"If I'm like you, keep a low profile and be a dispensable servant, how can I help you connect with the relationships you need?" Wu Xin's words made Sherlock unable to refute, and without a series of battles with the French group, Wu Xin had no chance to establish a network at all.

Wu Xin then went straight to the heart of the question: "The Cassano knight has received too much attention, tell me, what are you looking for?" ”

Sherlock hesitated for a moment, but shook his head.

"I'm not sure if you're in such a state to take on that much responsibility." Sherlock was very tactful, but he still vetoed Wu Xin's request, but Wu Xin's ability to learn Latin in just a few days and the maturity he showed was completely different from that of a young man, which made Sherlock decide to invest a little more. "But I do have some spell casting materials for you, which faction do you want?"

"Spells, shapes, necromancy, illusions." Wu Xin said that it was necessary for him to make a little more request, and by the way, it could also play a role in secrecy, unlike mages, the range of magic that warlocks could use was very small, so it was necessary to keep it as secret as possible.

Sherlock no longer treated Wu Xin with a perfunctory attitude, and his obviously unreasonable request for Wu Xin was unambiguous, he unequivocally opened a cabinet beside him, took out a small bag from a grocery box, and then took out a balance to divide various materials.

His bag contained at least two thousand thalers worth of spellcasting materials, and that was without taking into account the price of everything on the island of Malta in its current state.

Then he gave about a quarter to Wu Xin, which far exceeded Wu Xin's expectations.

He put different materials into different color bags, and then handed them to Wu Xin: "It's better for me to come to you in the future, if you have to look for me, don't come here again, there is a bathroom on the street behind, you go in and say, you don't want a girl, you don't want a man, and you don't want to spend the night, someone will arrange for you to see me, and you can go there for the night today." ”

In addition to the spell materials, he also gave Wu Xin several more pieces of soap very refreshingly and put them in a bag together.

However, when Wu Xin was about to take the bag, he found that the other party was pinching it very tightly, Sherlock stared at Wu Xin tightly, and said to him with an unprecedented seriousness: "Be cautious about using the resources I gave you, this time it is not a gift." ”

He didn't use threatening language, but he said the meaning, it was not a gift, it was naturally an investment.

And investing always has to expect returns.

He did not hesitate to take out these materials, and his hand was very large, and with his attitude, Wu Xin understood that after this investment, the relationship between the two sides has undergone important changes.

This is a burden, but also an acknowledgement, only those who can bear the responsibility can be truly respected, Wu Xin has never been afraid of responsibility.

Wu Xin looked at Sherlock's eyes, his eyes were no longer sleek, but sharp as a sword.

This is the true face of this strange businessman.

He finally took his pocket and turned to the bathroom, thinking as he went, how much power this Sherlock had at his disposal, and the importance of his search for a target once again.

Sherlock watched Wu Xin leave, gently closed the door, and then took out a black notebook from his bosom and wrote it down: March 30, 1534, invest a thousand thalers in Cesare Cibé.

There were no candles in the room, but there was light.

Not only is the cover of the notebook black, but even the paper inside is black, and the oil used for Sherlock's writing is also black, but the words on it are very clear, and it is these words that glow in the darkness.

The next day, it was dark, and Wu Xin returned to the castle.

At the city gate, he saw that there were already several knight apprentices waiting for the drawbridge to be lowered, and after the drawbridge was lowered, the knights guarding the city gate did not say much, and after verifying their identities, they let them enter the castle.

As Seymour said, the rules of the Knights are still relatively humane, and in addition to training and fighting, there is no problem in finding some spices, as long as you don't bring unknown women into the castle.

Walking to the playground, Wu Xin saw Delia, who looked like she had been practicing for a while, she was sparring with a female trainee, and both of them were not using wooden training weapons, but were fighting with their equipment.

The female trainee was a sword and shield warrior, and she was sweating profusely, so she should have been practicing for a while.

When Wu Xin came, she was already at a desperate disadvantage, and her sword couldn't be swung at all, but she kept using her shield to resist the attack of Deliya's mace wave after wave.

After a few rounds of onslaught, Delia leaped to her feet and struck with all her strength with the momentum of her fall.

The quality of her shield looked pretty good, withstanding Delia's onslaught.

But the female warrior herself could not do it, she let out a scream, and then fell to her knees on one leg.

Delia followed and kicked her to the ground.

The female warrior who had lost her stability even crawled to the ground and retreated, but Delia did not give up and kept pursuing, not at all like she was training.

"Hey, save some effort, and you'll have a fight to fight later." Before Delia could hurt her practice rival, Seymour caught her mace in time.

Wu Xin looked at Delia's face, and the beautiful female priest looked at Seymour through gritted teeth,

However, she finally did not continue to swing her mace, and slowly regained her composure.

"I'm sorry." Wu Xin apologized to the female trainee who had been beaten badly, and then reached out and picked her up.

"It's okay, we all understand her, are you going to fight the French today?" The arms of this female warrior are not very slender, and the muscles on her body are also very strong, but they are still much worse than Delia.

Wu Xin was a little surprised by her words, but he just nodded: "I think the French guy's ass needs to be fucked hard again." ”

The female warrior was very excited about Wu Xin's foul words: "It's been a long time since the English team has seen a real man, good luck and kick those French ass hard, we all need this territory." ”

Today, all the apprentices in the English group have been given enough training ground, and they are all able to practice martial arts with relative comfort and dignity.

She also gave Delia a smile and signaled that she was fine, she had always been very respectful to Delia, even if it was obvious that Delia had gone too far.

Such a friendly gesture made Delia calm down a little, and she and the female trainee said a few more words together.

Seymour looked at Delia a little worriedly: "This is not a good sign. ”

"It's okay, she's dealt with a much more dangerous and complicated scene." Wu Xin was also worried about Delia, but he knew that the young priest was reliable.

"Of course, she's from the Fischer family, and Ser Sheila isn't a good-natured person, and she wouldn't be so polite if it weren't for Delia-Fischer." Seymour didn't know that Wu Xin had seen Delia's performance in the face of a life-and-death battle, and Serhira should be the name of the female trainee who trained against Delia.

Wu Xin didn't ask Seymour about the family directly, he felt that it might expose his secret, anyway, listening to Seymour and Serhira's tone, the background of this family should not be a secret thing, just collect information slowly.

"Alright, you take a sip of water." Wu Xin handed his kettle to Delia.

"You're in a good mood, several female trainees told me that you didn't get the spell casting materials in the warehouse." Deliya was calm with the lady just now, but looking at Wu Xin, her anger grew again. "But still in the mood to go to town last night? What are you doing in town? ”

Seymour looked at Wu Xin, who was a little surprised, and hurriedly waved his hand to explain, "I didn't expose your whereabouts." ”

His appearance almost confirmed that they had gone to have a good time last night, and several of the female trainees showed unhappy expressions.

Wu Xin ignored him: "Did the French female trainee tell you?" This is psychological warfare, and this kind of off-the-board trick is also used, and it seems that they are very serious. ”

Deliya was very dissatisfied with Wu Xin's words: "So, you really went to that kind of place?!" ”

Before Wu Xin could explain, Delia spoke again: "But it's none of my business. ”

"Haha, no." Wu Xin smiled, and he grabbed Delia and whispered a few words in her ear.

"Really?" Delia's face immediately improved a lot, and she suddenly said again without thinking about it. "But I said it's none of my business, and I'm dedicated to God and the cause he loves."

"Of course, of course, I know you're all dedicated to God, and so am I." Wu Xin agreed with the lady without any psychological burden.

Delia's face turned black again: "Hmph, I've never seen you in church, not even on Sundays. ”

The Knights Hospitaller were a highly religious military order, and almost everyone went to church every Sunday.

"I like to serve God in a more direct way than I do to go to church." Wu Xin looked at Delia's face and added. "And I've been looking to Father Ellan for spiritual guidance."

"That's a good point." Ser Sheila smiled and relieved Wu Xin, and then she turned her head. "Delia, don't be too harsh, you can't ask everyone to be as religious as you."

The relationship between Ser Sheila and Di Lia is actually very good, and after listening to her words, Di Lia snorted softly and let Wu Xin go.

Wu Xin then began to practice shooting, while Delia sat on the side to take a rest, as usual she took out a Bible to read, but she obviously had something on her mind today, and she couldn't even read the Bible, Wu Xin observed while shooting, she didn't turn the page for a long time.

Fortunately, the person they were waiting for came again in time.

"Yo, you're all here, you won a lucky win yesterday, so you thought this was a place you could stay?"

Bercott reappeared, still with his two henchmen from yesterday, neither of whom were seriously injured and had fully recovered after being treated.

There were also a few French apprentices who had apparently been waiting for this scene for a long time, and as soon as Belcott appeared, they immediately cheered.

"The British are afraid, if you are afraid, get out of the way."

"Fuck off the British, this is our territory."

"You Brits, you are only worthy of a dark and desolate island, and the fertile land under the sun is all our French!"

In order to stimulate Wu Xin to reluctantly fight without getting the spell casting materials, these French apprentices are all directed at the sore spots of the English.

Bercott was actually unhappy today, as d'Artagnan rejected the idea that he would win the battle on his own.

He is completely sure of victory, there is no need to make any off-the-board moves, last time was just a small accident.

However, d'Artagnan had already cut off Wu Xin's supply of spellcasting materials, and no low-level spellcaster would have too many casting materials in reserve.

Warlocks like Wu Xin, who have just stimulated their potential, are even more rare.

He expected that Wu Xin would not have any more spell casting materials except for the first dose.

What he is most worried about now is that Wu Xin chooses to back down, so that he will not be able to fully recover face.

In d'Artagnan's view, reclaiming the territory and letting the Englishmen roll back into a corner was enough to show the strength of the French, but for Belcott, the son, this did not satisfy his vanity, and would damage his prestige among his companions.

But he didn't dare to openly oppose d'Artagnan, so he had to pin his hopes on Wu Xin's youthful vigor: "Let's bet today, twenty thalers, this is enough for you to go to the town to pack the best woman for a month." ”

As he spoke, he threw a money bag to Villefort, and the temptation was also provoking Wu Xin.

Wu Xin glanced at Delia, the girl priest's mood was still not very good, but she nodded to Wu Xin and signaled that she was fine.

Then he looked around at the several English group trainees around him, and their expressions were complicated.

Several of d'Artagnan's subordinates had already told everyone about Wu Xin's lack of access to spell materials, and they all wanted Wu Xin to fight, but they were not optimistic about him.

Wu Xin smiled at Belcot: "Since you are so eager to fail, I really can't refuse, but twenty thalers is too little, how about fifty?" We're betting that we wouldn't mind the amount if we wanted to come to Villefort. ”

Wu Xin said and took out the money bag and threw it to Villefort.

"Well, it's fifty thalers, indeed, but since I'm guaranteed it, I'm going to take the winner's commission for one thaler."

Villefort took the money bag and weighed it a little, then confirmed the bet.

"One percent, that's a reasonable number."

Wu Xin accepted it without hesitation.

"Haha, you poor boy is really capable of pretending, fifty thalers want to scare you Uncle Belcott, it's better to do this, let's play a little bigger, I heard that you have a dull so-called rotten stone, I count you five hundred thalers in large quantities, how dare you bet?" The stone was requested by Kevin, and Belcourt was only worried that he would not dare to agree to the bet without the casting materials.

Villefort's heart jumped, he hadn't told anyone about the ruby, so he took the initiative to speak, indicating his attitude: "His dull rotten stone is certainly not worth five hundred thalers, so let's see that this mouse-biting robe on your body is not worth much, so it is better to use it as a bet." ”

"Haha, why don't I dare, just because he also wants to win my flying squirrel robe? Southern redneck, you're dreaming. "Belcourt is overjoyed, this time he made up his mind to use the arrow of life as soon as he came up, Wu Xin has no chance at all." How about it, British, do you dare to bet? ”

"Aren't rags and rotten stones exactly the same pair?" Wu Xin smiled and nodded to Villefort.

As soon as he finished speaking, a cheer mingled with whistles rang out.

Once again, the cheers of the French overwhelmed the others.