……

The little follower was instructed and immediately rushed out of the door.

The fat man with sweaty head hesitated and asked:

"What about another group of people who connect to three levels?"

Kratos waved his hand a little irritably:

"You take them to another VIP room, tell them to wait a little longer, and I'll talk to them later!"

The fat man nodded and walked away quickly.

Matthew looked at Kratos calmly, and for some reason, the bald, wealthy businessman in front of him gave him a very subtle feeling.

I can't say it's a danger or anything.

But Matthew just felt a little incongruous.

"If you think the 9,000 gold compensation is too little, then you can continue to the 4th and 5th level challenges, but I'll be foolish to say that even if you win all the challenges, you will only get one sapphire, not the one that was mistakenly shown at the beginning!"

Kratos warned, with an unkind face:

"Boy, don't think I'm a good talker, no matter where you're from, Riptide City is my territory!"

"Also, the time of Levels 4 and 5 has been rescheduled to 12 o'clock tonight - I did the entire Legend Challenge, and I have the right to change the time, as long as it is before 12 o'clock tonight!"

"Now, do you want to continue participating?"

Accompanied by his vicious warnings.

Two big men walked in outside the door of the VIP room.

At first glance, these two big men had barbarian blood, extremely burly figures, and the swords at their waists were also the style used by the Northland warriors.

"Participate, why not?"

Matthew responded calmly.

Kratos said three good words in a row.

The next moment.

He slammed the door angrily:

"You'd better just wait here, when Young Master Hood comes, I'll let you know the end!"

The two barbarian warriors also gestured to Matthew to wipe his neck before leaving one after another.

Seve frowned:

"How are these people doing this?"

"Didn't he run this contest himself? Why backtrack? ”

"It's shameless for them to do this!"

Matthew blinked.

He was actually quite speechless:

"It's not just shameless, it's just vulgar."

"Even if you want to make quick money and don't want to suffer, you won't be so bad, right?"

Seve chick nodded like a peck of rice:

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"And whispering in front of us, as if these words were meant to be said to us, is simply a threat!"

Hear here.

Matthew couldn't help but feel moved.

Truly.

If you think about it simply, Kratos's performance is a clumsy performance of a simple black-hearted businessman in a situation where he is about to lose money.

But can a businessman with such poor mental quality have such a huge asset?

This possibility cannot be said to be none.

It can only be said that it is not high.

"You wait here, I'll go out and have a look."

He said.

Seve nodded obediently.

Matthew immediately threw an eye of spell next to him, and then opened any door one after another, quickly appearing in the previous square.

At this time, there were already more people around the square.

He struggled to squeeze in.

I was surprised to find that in the box hanging in the center of the stage, the jewel in it had turned into a sapphire with blue light.

data bar.

……

"Hint: You have found the "Swift Gem" (a rare item).

Swift Gem: 1. Can be used to replenish mana.

2. With this gem in hand, you can perform three rapid movements per day.

3. When you wear this gem in the pocket on the inside or outside of your jacket, you will gain the ability to take off the sky.

Aerial Leap: You can take off again in mid-air at about 2/3 of your normal take-off height."

……

A pretty good magic gem.

But it was too far from the crown of the earth that Matthew had seen earlier.

"It's not so much that the value of the final reward is greatly reduced, but that the crown of the earth itself is not like a reward that a gem merchant like Kratos can get......"

Matthew couldn't help but wonder in his heart.

Previously, he just felt that Kratos didn't understand the true value of the Earth's Crown, and that he had just stumbled upon a chance to pick up the leak.

But that is clearly not the case now.

"Then why did he show it up?"

"Is it really a mistake on the part of the men under you?"

The more Matthew thought about it, the more wrong it became.

He began to ponder every detail of what had happened to him and Sif since they entered Riptide.

But after carefully brushing it up, he still found nothing.

Until a certain moment.

A flash of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind—

Crown of the Earth!

"Yes, the crown of the earth seems to be on the Druid Order's stolen list!"

Matthew hurriedly took the thick list out of his bag.

Really.

He found the note of the crown of the earth on the last two pages of parchment—

……

"Crown of the Earth: A powerful gem with the power of the earth, stolen the night when the three evil organizations attacked the Underground Sanctuary, suspected to have been stolen by the Brotherhood of Silverfrost......

……

I see.

This gem was lost to the Druid Order during its first attack.

Matthew had a cursory look at the list at the time.

But most of what he looked at was the second batch of stolen items.

That's why I don't have such a deep impression of the crown of the earth!

So the gem was stolen from the Earth Society by the Silverfrost Brotherhood and found its way into Kratos' hands?

Or.

Kratos, the so-called gem merchant, is himself part of the Silverfrost Brotherhood?

Matthew was suspicious.

He even suspected that this Kratos was an incarnation of the Traveler God!

But when you think about it, it's illogical.

If the God of the Travelers of the First Attack on the Earth Society had been involved, then there would be no need for him to do it again.

And the god of travelers is haunted though.

But he never hides it when he meets himself.

Not like this Kratos.

There is an incongruous energy all over the body.

"The next time I meet him, I'll have to try balanced perception."

Matthew realizes that Kratos is problematic!

There is even a possibility -

"He deliberately let me see this gem!"

"So what is his purpose? Draw me into some kind of dispute? Does it have anything to do with the Pentathlon of Legends? ”

If that's the case.

Then it means that Matthew was targeted as soon as he came to Riptide City.

It's not uncommon to be targeted.

Because he came in a hurry today, he didn't put on the star-weaving robe under the mage's robe to resist the sight of the gods.

The reason why I chose Rapids.

On the one hand, it is to test how important you are in the eyes of the gods;

On the other hand, it is also because the city is Hood's territory.

If something really happens, a trusted mage will come and take care of it.

"Not really."

"If it's all about me, there's no need for Kratos to be so impatient."

"Everything he said seemed to provoke me......"

Matthew rubbed his temples.

Right now.

He suddenly saw another entry on the first batch of stolen lists-

……

"Seeds of the Holy Oak: Extremely rare and rare, each seed has a chance to give birth to a complete natural dream, suspected to have been stolen by the Brotherhood of Silverfrost......

……

"Jeff ......"

Matthew's mind quickly conjured up the image of the merchant who had put the treasure in his hands.

It's strange to say.

Since that day Jeff gave himself the seeds.

It was as if the merchant had evaporated from the world!

And in the Cross City incident that I just experienced.

The seeds of the holy oak tree play a role.

Before, Matthew thought that this series of things was just a coincidence.

But that doesn't seem to be the case now!

"The Crown of the Earth and the Holy Oak Seed are the same stolen treasures, and they most likely came from the hand of one man, but who is that person? Why did he entrust Jeff's hand to hand me the Holy Oak Seed? ”

"If what he did before was judged to be a good act, then is it also a good thing to use the crown of the earth to lure me over this time?"

Matthew only felt like he was in a fog.

Surrounded by cobwebs that could not be seen clearly.

A certain moment.

He keenly sensed a pair of eyes on his back.

But when he turned around, he saw a vast sea of people.

It's a frustrating feeling.

But Matthew was very calm.

He knew that he was not a master of anti-reconnaissance or prophecy spells, but there were not a few such talents in the alliance!

I really can't figure it out.

He ruthlessly went to Roderick or Ekmond and asked them to help him divinate and the matter would be clear.

So he set his mind.

After wandering around and finding nothing more, Matthew quickly returned to the lounge.

After 5 minutes.

A series of impetuous footsteps sounded.

A richly dressed young man with an impatient face walked in from outside.

He was accompanied by a barrage of men and horses.

Half of them were Riptide guards, and the other half were dressed in robes, seemingly being members of some mage tower or outlying organization.

Matthew noted.

The young man's appearance did bear a slight resemblance to Master Hood.

But judging by age.

He may be Hood's grandson or great-grandson, after all, Hood is over 140 years old this year.

"Are you making trouble?"

As soon as the young man entered the door, he glared at Matthew very unhappily:

"Don't you know who Kratos is working for?"

"In Riptide City, no one has ever dared to mess with our Hood family!"

"You may have some skills, spellcaster, but my grandfather is a registered mage of the Seven Saints Alliance, and I'll talk about the ugly things first-those who know each other will take the money and obediently shut up and fuck me up, and if you don't know each other, I'll send you to the dungeons of Riptide City."

"Kratos is a fucking piece of shit, he can't even handle a wild spellcaster, damn it, I was going to hunt outside the city today!"

Seeing him cursing there.

Matthew didn't look at him, but glanced at Siv.

Seve was calm.

She seemed 100% confident that Matthew could settle the matter.

So it's when the young people speak.

She just looked ahead politely, her eyes looking a little hollow, not knowing what was going on in her little brain.

"The registered mage of the Seven Saints Alliance is indeed a very powerful character."

"So why don't you consider that I'm also a mage of the Seven Holy Alliances before you make a wild statement?"

Matthew asked lightly.

The young man smirked:

"How many mages are there in the Seven Holy Alliance?"

"How dare you pretend......"

The words are not finished yet.

A blue portal appeared in the center of the room.

Master Hood walked out of it with a spring breeze on his face:

"Matthew, you're looking for me?"

Matthew smiled and nodded.

Just as he returned to the VIP room, he used the token given by Hood to send him a spell message.

Hood came pretty quickly.

"Grandpa, grandpa......"

The young man stammered as he looked at Hood, who suddenly appeared, and his tongue could not be straightened.

"What's going on?"

See this scene at the scene.

Hood seemed to have guessed something, but he was also quite calm, and his tone was quite calm and calm.

"Grandpa, he wants to take advantage of me......"

The young man shouted in a hurry.

Hood was stunned.

The young man hurriedly changed his words:

"He wants to take advantage of our family!"

Hood didn't bother to look at him again, he just smiled and looked at Matthew:

"If you like this kid, how about giving it to you?"

The young man's eyes widened in disbelief.

He wanted to say something.

But Hood glanced at him coldly, and the latter was silent.

Matthew stood up with a smile:

"Not really."

"But I did run into something confusing in Riptide City, if it's convenient, the soundproof enchantment?"

Hood tapped his cane with a sharp movement.

A pure white light spread out quickly.

Everyone except Matthew and Hood were pushed out of the white light.

Matthew pointed at Seve Murphy:

"She's my friend."

Hood gave her a surprised look, said "yes", and pulled Seve in.

Matthew Xuan briefly recounted what happened to him in Riptide City.

"We were meant to be just entertained, but the value of that gem is considerable, and it would be a lie to say that I didn't bother."

"But what happened next makes me wonder, how much do you know about Kratos, the gem merchant?"

Matthew asked.

Hood frowned after hearing this, and he said with some embarrassment:

"Since I began to study the art of life extension in retreat, the Mage Tower and the family business have been handed over to the people below to manage."

"I have a slight impression of that Kratos, he is a little clever businessman, relying on a little help from my unknown grandson, to become bigger and stronger in Riptide City, he should have some magic gems in his hands, but he will definitely not be able to take out a treasure of the level of the crown of the earth."

Matthew nodded:

"If you look at it this way, that Kratos and the Silverfrost Brotherhood are inseparable."

"But I'm curious about what they're doing it for, and it's clear that someone is deliberately using the Diadem of the Earth to draw me to the Five Legends Challenge, and my participation in this challenge might lead you out."

"I don't know what he's doing this for, but the root of all this is definitely Kratos, there's only a small chance that he really got the gem I saw and the real bonus gem wrong, and the more likely is that he has a big problem!"

Hood immediately made a decision, he stepped out of the soundproof barrier, and commanded:

"If you still want to keep your place, call Kratos for me!"

The young man was not a fool either.

Knowing that he was afraid that he had really hit the hard stubble this time, when he heard this, he immediately rushed out as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

The rest of the men followed.

The VIP room suddenly became deserted.

Hood walked back into the soundproof barrier, he rubbed his hands, his expression a little embarrassed:

"I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter!"

"It's me who didn't take care of my men......"

Matthew waved his hand, stopping Hood's self-reproach.

A registered mage like Hood sits on an entire city, and his family power may even be more prosperous than that of the city lord's family.

When there are too many people, it is easy to have problems.

Hood is not a god, and cannot guarantee that every family member is clean.

And in this regard, the necromancer is far ahead.

After all, if the necromancer himself is immoral and corrupt.

It is also difficult for the undead under his command to take the initiative to make waves.

"Well, I'll ask them to bring Kratos and ask where the gem came from."

"In the meantime, I'll take you on a tour of my Mage Tower?"

"As for the Pentathlon of Legends, I'll have them give you another one if you're still interested."

Matthew smiled and shook his head.

Participating in this kind of challenge with his strength is completely a dimensionality reduction blow.

When the fat man showed the parchment to Siv, he directly used the soul projection, turned into a wisp of ghost through the glass tank, copied the answer openly, and then unlocked the lock;

Walking with the Beast and the Night of the Dead is even simpler.

Matthew's dragon slayer's majesty is enough to intimidate ordinary beasts, and temporarily rebelling against a few zombies and ghouls is a piece of cake for professional counterparts.

The remaining two projects are whatever the challenges.

He's probably also handy.

Completely losing the challenging challenge is naturally uninteresting.

He is now only interested in the crown of the earth and Kratos himself.

"There's no need to visit the Mage Tower, I'm going to go somewhere else after I ask that Kratos what happened."

He said to Hood quietly.

Hood glanced at Seve with a look of abrupt realization.

At that moment, he raised his hand to remove the soundproof barrier, and threw a few more sounding spells:

"Where's the Kratos!"

"Haven't you found it yet?"

There was a hint of anger in Hood's voice.

A moment later.

A guard and the fat man ran down the hallway in a panic.

The fat man said nervously:

"Master Hood, Master Kratos just said that he was going to talk to another group of contestants in VIP Room 3, but the people in VIP Room 3 said that they had never seen Master Kratos at all."

"We've just looked around the theater several times, and we haven't found his figure yet!"

"His whole person seems to have suddenly evaporated from the world!"

Hood said angrily:

"Nonsense, how can a good person evaporate from the world?"

"How the hell is your theater managed? Who is responsible for the final rewards of this Legendary Five Challenge? ”

The fat man said tremblingly:

"The final reward for the Legendary Challenge has always been a ...... that Master Kratos and Master Hood have discussed."

"Call me that little brute!"

Hood's teeth itched.

Not much.

The young man turned back with a dejected face.

Apparently he didn't find Kratos either.

Matthew was not surprised by this result, and when he sensed the abnormal source of the Earth's Crown, he was already prepared for this.

"What the hell is going on with the rewards for this challenge?"

"Why don't you let people get the final reward?"

Hood asked, with a grimace.

The young man said aggrievedly:

"The specific details are all Kratos is working on, I remember that the final reward this time is a sapphire, worth about 30,000 gold coins......"

Matthew looked at each other with scrutinizing eyes.

The youth did not seem to be lying.

Right now.

Suddenly, someone came running from outside:

"Master Hood, we found a very strange corpse in Mr. Kratos's office!"

Matthew and Hood looked at each other.

"Let's go, let's take a look."

Hood decisively took the lead.

Matthew pulled Seve along.

A few minutes later.

The theater is housed in an expansive and extravagant office.

A large bookshelf was rotated 75 degrees, revealing the chamber inside.

The secret room was cleaned.

Inside, there are all kinds of torture instruments.

There were even some black-red blood stains on the walls of the chamber.

An extremely strange corpse was randomly placed in a corner of the chamber.

Matthew just glanced at it, and his eyes became extremely serious.

The corpse had no face, no facial features, not even gender features!

He took a look at it.

He had a "sure enough" expression.

Hood stood beside him, his eyes also full of surprise:

"What's the matter with this corpse?"

"How can it seem that you have been stripped of everything by some evil force?"

Matthew nodded slightly:

"It's that all the elements are deprived of it during life."

"If I'm not mistaken, the Kratos I was talking to in the VIP room is probably a changeling!"

"Changeling"!

Hood had apparently heard of this particular race.

His face suddenly became very ugly:

"Is it really a Thousand Changelings?"

"I've heard some rumors that the bloodline of the Thousand Changelings is being revived, but isn't Gasley still sealed in the Eternal Song Forest?"

"Is there really a Thousand Changelings who can perfectly replace one person?"

Matthew shook his head.

He realized why he had always felt that something was wrong with Kratos.

The elements of the other party are not coordinated at all!

If I had used Balanced Perception at the time, I might have been able to see through the identity of the Changeling One in advance!

"My lord, when we found this corpse, this bookshelf was open to the outside......"

An attendant reported.

Hood's brow furrowed even tighter.

Matthew nodded slightly:

"He didn't even care if we knew who he was, maybe even — he deliberately let us know."

"In this way, Kratos's identity is no longer of value to the Changeling, and he may have become a different person."

Hood was a little puzzled:

"Then why did he make such a fuss?"

"First use the Diadem of the Earth to lure you into the challenge, and then disguise yourself as Kratos to cause conflict between you and me?"

"This is too ridiculous, even if there is no friendship between the two of us, it is impossible for the two registered mages to have a conflict because of this matter?"

Matthew looked pensive.

After a moment he muttered:

"Is it possible that he didn't do this to get us into trouble?"

"He just wants the two of us to meet?"

"Imagine what would happen between us if we met in Rapids, other than inviting me to visit your Mage's Tower?"

Hood thought for a moment:

"There's a banquet tonight that the city lord and several of my grandsons have hosted to celebrate my success in extending my life, and if you're willing to visit my mage tower, I'll be inviting you to that banquet next."

Banquet?

Matthew's eyes narrowed:

"Where's the venue?"

Hood looked at the young man next to him, who hurriedly said:

"That banquet was prepared by Danny, and it has nothing to do with me."

"The banquet was held at a manor in the Upper East Side, I have been there once or twice, there are many beautiful women in it, but there are also some strange people, I inquired curiously before, and Danny told me that it is a guest raised by the city lord, and I heard that they are all warrior monks from the Far East."

"Of course I wasn't interested in those bald heads, so I didn't ask much."

Matthew and Hood had a quick exchange of opinions.

During this time, he learns that Danny is another grandson of Hood, and during Hood's retreat, Danny held up most of the family business and was one of the few shrewd and capable people in the Hood family.

"You lead the way, let's go to the banquet venue!"

Hood scolded.

The youth immediately did so.

Matthew looked back at Siv.

He hesitated:

"Why don't I send you back first?"

Seve gently shook his hand and insisted:

"Agreed, you're going to stay with me this afternoon."

Matthew scratched his head.

At that moment, he recited a spell, quickly summoned the soldier, and ordered him to protect the queen Sif.

The group rushed in the direction of the Upper East Side.

Inside the theater.

Lounge 3.

Tyrani, the Wind Chaser General who has passed three levels in a row, is full of impatience on his face:

"What's going on?"

"Didn't you say that you would arrange the fourth project immediately?"

"Why is it that even a figure is missing now?"

Beanna pursed her lips and yawned a little boredly:

"These projects aren't a challenge for you at all, so why do you want to do it?"

Terrani said with a look of remembrance:

"It's about my father and mother, I ...... when I was a kid"

However, her words were soon interrupted by a hurried message:

"General!"

"When we were hunting down the remnants of the Silverfrost Brotherhood, we found that they had entered a very special manor."

"According to our investigation, the owner of the manor seems to be the lord of Riptide City!"

"What are we going to do next?"

Terrani was slightly stunned:

"How could the lord of Riptide be related to the people of the Silverfrost Brotherhood?"

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

The wood elf replied:

"Absolutely!"

"And we also found several suspicious warrior monks nearby......"

Terrani stood up suddenly.

He said to Beanna:

"I'll take you back to camp."

Beanna bit her lip:

"I thought I was already a qualified elven sword singer."

Terrani thought for a moment:

"Then you follow me in a moment."

"It shouldn't be such a big problem."

said.

The group left the VIP room one after another.

……

A few minutes later.

In a palatial estate on the Upper East Side.

A crow swept swiftly over the manor.

The scenery inside the estate is as far as the eye can see.

Matthew blinked.

The information on the data bar is jumping fast.

……

"Hint: You found the Moonseason Manor.

Warning: You have spotted several members of the Shadow Fist Sect!

Shadow Fist Sect: An organization of warrior monks from the Far East, notorious for their extravagance and intransigence, and their belief in the evil queen Babasha......

Warning: You have discovered the "Demon Labyrinth" of ritual fields from the Abyss!"

……

(End of chapter)