The silver moon hung high, barely illuminating this remote and dilapidated alleyway.

The only narrow slit leading to the outside was the flickering glimmer of a few torches.

Outside the alleyway, the rude and rude scolding made Tails wake up suddenly.

Although the journey through the underground made him a little dizzy, and the few corners and paths he passed after reaching the surface were a little complicated, it was clear to Tails that he had left the cover of the secret department and was exposed to the visible vision of Longxiao City.

He was in danger, and the only hope of getting out of the city at the moment...... It's the connector that Putile is talking about.

Tails focused, and the sins of the River of Hellwater welled up in time, enhancing his hearing.

More than a dozen different breaths appeared in his senses from two directions: one side was overwhelming, and the other was alone.

"You've been in Longxiao City for so many years," this was the cold voice from before, and when he spoke in the crowd, Tails faintly felt his impatience: "You should know how serious this matter is, and you also know how serious we are, this is not a battle of will." ”

The rude voice sneered disdainfully: "Hmph!"

Tails frowned slightly: Who are they? Where am I?

Where's the guy I'm supposed to meet?

Damn Putira, he clearly said he didn't want to be like Myko, but all that was left to me was a mystery.

The confrontation at the wall seemed to continue: the rude voice reacted to clearly upset his opponents.

A third voice rang out again, still trying to convince the rude man: "It's for our survival – from lockdowns to raids to arrests now, they've never interfered so brutally with gangs and underground business...... Listen, Valhalla is playing for real this time, and I don't think they even care about the jade burning. ”

Tails felt a pang in his heart.

From noon, Rumba was assassinated, and he fled Valhalla, until night fell at this moment, and a few hours passed, and the prince could probably imagine what Longxiao City was like now.

"I don't think so," replied the rude voice casually, "I'm doing well." ”

"Bang!"

"Hey," it seems that someone is angrily knocking on a certain plank: "You old ......"

But with another muffled sound, he was about to be angry, as if he was forcibly stopped by his companions.

Tails pushed his body closer to the rough wall in front of him, pricking up his ears and trying to grasp any useful information.

"Really?"

It was the cautious third man, who seemed to be more inclined to negotiate a solution than his cold companion: "From the afternoon onwards, all the goods we had scheduled to sell out of this month in the bazaar in the Sword District were detained; in the Dragonwing Square, the old black hand of Comas was directly raided; even the nobles in the Spear and Axe districts were imprisoned in batches, and even the subordinates of Kierkegaard, who were powerful vassals, were greatly implicated; as for us, as long as there were people with criminal records, the patrol team would arrest them and send them directly to the water prison without asking......"

"And you, do you think you're very special, that with your relationship with the old man who 'shook the ground', the poor people's shield and hammer areas can stay out of the matter, and the patrol and the Grand Duke's personal guard will always let you go?"

He paused.

A cold voice picked up his words: "You're wrong. ”

"And someday, you'll pay for it. ”

Tails' heart moved, and he heard a few key words.

The prince subconsciously looked left and right: the remote alleyway seemed to be some years old, the irregular masonry walls were so badly broken that they seemed to fall down at the slightest touch, and the house on the left to which it was connected had apparently been uninhabited for a long time—the half-house was even more miserable than the abandoned house where Tails had been, as if a third had been smashed off by someone with a giant hammer, starting from the roof and going straight down.

But Tails soon realized that the ground beneath his feet was also full of rubble, decaying log, and even a deep pit that had come out of nowhere.

It's like......

It's like a messy battlefield.

Is there such a place in Longxiao City?

Thinking of this, Tails immediately trembled slightly!

In the moonlight, he tilted his head in disbelief and looked around through the narrow cracks in the laneway and the few hollows in the broken walls: crumbling beams, crumbling brick walls, dirty paths, a fishy smell in his nose......

Tails froze.

He recognized the place.

He still remembers the rough and uneven texture of the dirt road under his feet, the low and scattered old houses, and the labyrinthine intricate lanes.

The only thing missing is the bustling voices.

Here it is......

Tails felt for the broken wall and stared blankly at the house with the roof smashed off.

This is the shield area.

It is the shield area of Longxiao City.

It was six years ago, under the frantic fierce battle between the two magicians with no bottom line, the shield area was destroyed.

It was he who fled frantically with a little slippery head, it was he who crossed life and death with tears, and it was the shield area where he followed the black sword to fight back.

This is it.

An inexplicable melancholy welled up in Tails's heart.

So many years.

He had finally returned to this place.

However, Tails wondered why Putile had come to this place by himself.

"Hahahahaha......"

The rude voice burst out laughing, drawing Tails' attention.

"'You'll pay', hahahaha......"

The laughter was bold and wild, but Tails could hear the unhappiness and anger in it.

In the senses heightened by the sins of the Prison River, Tails vaguely felt that the group of people were breathing thicker and thicker on the other side of the rude voice.

It seems that the scene is getting more and more ugly.

The laughter gradually stopped.

"You know," the rude voice paused for a few seconds, and then spoke in a low voice, even deeper than before:

"Six years ago, Urad couldn't get along in Longxiao City, so he played tricks and turned the bazaar and the black market into a mess, plus the disappearance of that Far Easterner, and the business in the Bow District was also blank, so for a while, all the scum who didn't think of themselves wanted to come and grab these bones......"

The rude man paused slightly, and his voice revealed a hint of danger: "And after several years of struggle, you who are still left really think that you are a person, and even speak like a big man......"

Urad?

It was six years ago...... Rumba's men, the man with eight braids?

Tails frowned, and he subconsciously shrank back, completely hiding himself in the darkness behind the wall.

"Enough. ”

The grim voice spoke again, as if he were the leader of the group.

"We don't know about your past grievances with Urad, cripple," his words still didn't have the slightest warmth: "We don't want to get involved, but everyone is begging for a living in Longxiao City......"

"Hah!" interrupted him with a rude voice.

"Begging for a living?"

Although this guy is only alone, he seems to have a special kind, in the face of so many people, he is not only not afraid, but his tone is even more arrogant:

"For several years, there have been examples of Urad in front of you, regardless of the water, land, and black roads, the more and more strict patrols have copied your goods more than a dozen times, and the money lost is enough to buy a Longxiao City, but you still persevere, as if the money is inexhaustible...... Hey, are you really just trying to make a living?"

The group didn't speak in the face of a rude question, but Tails could feel that their breathing rate was tighter and more frequent.

"Even so, you have never given up giving gifts to the nobles in the inner city over the years, as if the money is not exhausted...... Including the receptionist who was hanged for fornicating with the Black Sand Collar - I know that all his benefits were sent by you. ”

The rude voice coughed, spat out a mouthful of phlegm, and continued to say disdainfully: "Hey, neither for fame nor profit, and you still look worried about the country and the people? Tell me, which gang does this, just to 'beg for a living'?"

The group confronted him was still silent, but Tails could already hear the sound of someone clenching their fists.

"Look, I know your details very well," the rude voice snorted again, but it inexplicably chilled: "I know who you are helping to do, I know whether it is for self-preservation, or for other purposes......

"Hey. ”

"Urad is gone, but his stench is still in the city, and it hasn't gone away," the man's rough voice impressed Tails, and he felt more and more that he seemed to have seen this man at some point:

"If I report to the White-Bladed Guards, guess what?"

Silence lingered between the two sides for longer than ever.

White Guards.

It's terrible.

Caught in the middle of this confrontation, Tails only felt that the atmosphere was getting worse and worse - he looked around anxiously, but was disappointed to find that there were only two ways to get out of this alleyway: either to burrow out of the narrow gap and get in front of the two people, or to step on the gravel and break wood from the other side, and run over the wall in an earth-shattering manner.

None of these are good options.

After a long time, in the crowd on the other side, the cold voice sighed slowly.

"There are no more Whiteblade Guards for a long time, Grivo," he said, softly, but with bad intentions, "from the day when calamity strikes and the dragon returns......"

"The first king has died, the times have changed, whether it is Exeter or Longxiao City, it is not the same as in the past. ”

The words that sounded in the dark night made Tails slightly stunned.

He probably figured out the identities of both sides.

Their status probably won't be very high, but they should not be ignored in Longxiao City, affecting the lives of many people, and they are closely related to the official middle level such as the patrol.

For this kind of person, Tails has a sense of familiarity that he has not seen for a long time.

Sure enough, in the next second, the rude man known as Grivo said coldly:

"So you've got a new master?"

He snorted, with a thick disdain: "Why, Chaman Rumba's words are so delicious, you even have to line up to suck a bite when you passing?"

"Damn it......" One of them seemed to be unable to hold back his temper and took a step forward, but he was immediately stopped back.

"Quiet!" was the third voice this time, and he seemed to be the one who spoke the most besides the cold one.

His words were obviously much more cautious, and he only listened to him in a consultative tone: "I know, Boss Grivo, we usually don't interfere with each other and understand each other tacitly, but this time it's ......"

But Grivoy didn't seem to buy it at all, and his rough voice interrupted the other:

"Fuck off. ”

Grivo's rude voice was both ugly and harsh: "I don't care how important that prince is, I don't care who assassinated the relative, I don't care what bullshit Valhalla is playing again, I don't care whose balls you black-skinned dogs are licking, I don't care whose bones you take to get involved, I don't care if you want to pull the flag and rebel or want to be added to the rank and knight, I only care about one thing: you sons of bitches raised -"

Tails bit his lower lip: Sure enough, his disappearance has caused a series of chaos in Longxiao City, and even affected these ......

Only to hear Grivoy pound his fist violently and roar:

"-Stay away from me!"

This sentence immediately made the crowd on the opposite side fry.

"This old cripple ......" the sound of a blade piercing into the wood.

"We should give him some color to see ......," a few malicious sneers.

"You want me to say—" said one of them unpleasantly.

But all these people's words came to an abrupt end.

It seems to have been stopped by his leader.

Just when Tails breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that a conflict was over......

"Grivo, Grivo, Grivo, the famous Grivo. ”

It was the leader, the cold voice.

"Grivo, who is rumored to be able to compete with the 'Five Warriors,'" his voice came from outside the firelit alleyway, "You lost a pair of legs in the disaster six years ago. ”

"I can't stand up again. ”

Six years ago, lost a pair of legs?

Six years ago.

Tails grasped the word.

Grivo was silent for a few seconds.

"Ha, you said my leg was lame decades ago," the rude man said without showing weakness, and his laughter was still relaxed and easy: "Six years ago, I thought they were an eyesore, so I sawed them." ”

"Do you have an opinion?"

The breeze blew through the narrow slits of the roadway, creating a low whistling sound.

Only to hear the cold man continue: "Not only that, but you also lost an eye. ”

"I lost half of my eyesight. ”

"Eyes?" Grivo's voice rose abruptly:

"Hey, I think it's in the eye socket, it's too head-producing, so I just picked it off. ”

There were a few muffled sounds, as if he had flicked his forehead.

The cold voice laughed out loud.

"Also, you only have three fingers left in your left hand. ”

"Whether it's clenching your fists or holding your weapons, there's nothing you can do. ”

Grivo replied unconcernedly, "Hey, you haven't picked your nostrils, don't you think it's more convenient?"

Hearing these words, Tails frowned deeply.

The lonely figure outside the wall......

What kind of man is he?

The cold man ignored Grivo and continued, "Not only that, but you suffered heavy casualties in that catastrophe - count how many brothers you buried with your own hands in the shield six years ago?"

This time, Grivo was silent for a long time.

For a long time.

It was as if there was silence.

Another gust of wind blew, and the fire outside the alleyway trembled slightly.

The man named Grivo took a heavy breath, then slowly exhaled.

"My brothers are all made of iron. His words came from the air, which were slightly low, but still refused to show weakness.

Grivo's voice trembled slightly: "Cut, if you really want to fight, it's just a common thing to fight against ten." ”

He was only silent.

Tails listened quietly, sketching out in his mind the image of the man: he had lost his legs, lost an eye, and his left hand was crippled.

Rude, impolite and uncultured, full of arrogance.

However, he is also bold, stubborn and hard-mouthed.

After a while, the cold voice began to laugh deliciously: "Hum hum hum ......"

"Don't make me laugh, Grivo, look at the crippled way you look now - not to mention the Soul Killer, you can't even stand up, you have to walk in a wheelchair......"

In response, Grivo snorted disdainfully.

"Look around again, and look at this place that has been plowed by calamity and behemoths: poor, ruined, decaying, pitiful, despicable, shields that you are proud to have survived. ”

The grim man sighed: "Look at this tragic situation, not only has your shield area never recovered, but it is also getting worse and worse - I heard that you don't even have enough people to watch the brothel of Liuying? Not to mention that you also have to take care of the orphaned families of those brothers, maybe you should call your wife and daughter to help, you know, you can still earn some 'extra money' when you watch the show?"

There was a burst of laughter from the crowd.

This time, Tails didn't hear Grivo's rebuttal.

"Think it through. ”

"It's long past your time, old cripple," the cold man's words implied menace:

"Forcibly refusing to see the reality clearly, and going on, can only bring about self-destruction, and it will also affect the body. ”

Footsteps sounded, and it seemed to be the grim man pacing slowly.

Tails could hear Grivo's breathing getting thicker and thicker.

"We didn't go to war with you, but it wasn't because we were afraid of you—but you seem to look down on us?, why, do you think you're still the famous Arctic Heavy Sword Infantry, you think you're still the respected Boss of Grivo, or the light of the civilians who respond to the call inside and outside Longxiao City, or the hero who guards Longxiao City with a soul-killing spear?"

"But in fact, ......"

The man's voice was very flat, and there seemed to be no emotional ups and downs at all, but it was extremely chilling: "Since six years ago, you have been nothing. Gasping for breath beneath your incomplete shell, you're just a cripple in a wheelchair waiting to die. ”

This time, Grivo's gasps grew thicker and thicker, and he even let out a low grunt.

But his gruff voice didn't come again.

As if Grivoy had given up on fighting back.

The cold voice caught the other party's pain point, and he laughed slowly: "For example, now, if we are a dozen steps away and take a bow and crossbow to shoot you who can't stand up...... What can you do?"

"If we really want to do it to you, to the shield area, to the hammer area, to your poor men, to their wives, children, employers, and livelihoods, let them live a hundred times worse than they are now......"

The other party's words are getting slower and slower, and it is getting more and more chilling.

"Do you think that you can't even walk, can't hold a knife steadily, can't see the road clearly, and can only live in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, what can you do?"

Grivoy remained silent.

There seemed to be a real silence.

"See the situation clearly, choose wisely," the man sneered and stopped: "Since you know very well the people behind us, you should know: we are very energetic, we can do it, and the crippled like you can't stop it, powerless to stop it, unable to stop it." ”

"So I'll give you one more chance now, Grivo, and reconsider your answer......"

However, before the man's words were finished, Tails suddenly felt a heartbeat!

(End of chapter)