Chapter 123

Red Fox Castle, reception hall.

"Just as the devil will disguise himself as an angel to tempt the world, some seemingly ordinary herbs are actually the devil's bait. At first, they grant people heavenly fantasy dreams, but in the end, they drag the soul into an eternal fire hell."

Xia Mingyu tried his best to use medieval terminology to popularize the definition of opium to Rosa.

"Drinking Twilight Tea might just be falling into a fantasy dream at first, but gradually, the citizens' demand for tea leaves will become greater and greater, until they can no longer afford it."

"And the most critical point is, once you stop using it, you will fall into an incomparably painful hell. In order to fall into a fantasy dream again, they will spare no cost, even if it means losing their house, reputation, and even their own family!"

Xia Mingyu said with a solemn expression.

Twilight City is the heart's blood that Leo exchanged his life for; he absolutely does not want to see the miserable scene of countless families being destroyed in this beautiful city.

Hearing this, Rosa, who had originally had a calm expression, couldn't help but furrow her brows tightly when she heard such serious consequences.

If someone else had run in front of her and said this, it would be highly likely that she would have regarded it as nonsense and kicked them out.

But if it were the Highness with the blessing of 1.4 billion... even if he said the gods were already dead, she would be willing to believe it!

"Your Highness, what do you wish for me to do?"

Rosa said, deciding to leave the choice to His Highness himself.

After all, it would be very difficult for a young man protected by the entire world to make a bad decision.

"First, immediately prohibit the sale of Twilight Tea and control the whereabouts of that merchant. See if, after there are no more tea leaves, those citizens who have become addicted to tea will fall into unbearable pain."

"If it appears on a large scale within a few days..." Xia Mingyu's eyes turned cold.

"Then immediately destroy all the Twilight Tea leaves in Twilight City, and catch that merchant and interrogate him properly—where on earth did he get the tea leaves!"

Xia Mingyu gritted his teeth and said.

By then, whether that merchant was intentional or unintentional, he would definitely not let that guy walk out of the prison alive!

"As you wish, Your Highness."

Rosa bowed slightly and performed a salute.

Sunset Street, Twilight Chamber of Commerce, third floor.

Sunlight slanted in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, making the intricate patterns on the carpet look exceptionally bright.

Erkus was wearing a sophisticated dark blue silk robe, lying lazily on a chair by the window, his fingertips gently rubbing the teacup in his hand.

He squinted his eyes slightly, looking down at the tea-buying queue outside the window downstairs that wound like a snake and couldn't be seen to the end.

The crowd was pushing and shoving, and the linen clothes and straw hats converged into a gray-brown ocean under the sunlight.

From time to time, a cheer would come from the noisy crowd—"Long live Lord Erkus, the conscientious merchant!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Whenever he heard such cheers, Erkus would shake his head gently, make a few rather smug "tsk, tsk" sounds from his nose, and then take a sip of the mellow and rich tea in his cup.

"Hahahahaha!"

When the tea in the cup was finished, Erkus finally couldn't hold it back anymore; he leaned on the chair, his abdomen heaving violently, and clutched his stomach, laughing loudly.

This laughter was wanton and harsh, making people uncomfortable like metal rubbing against glass.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

At this moment, the shadows in the corner of the room squirmed slowly like thick ink, and three figures emerged silently.

Leading them was a handsome young man; his blonde hair was as bright as sunlight, and a pair of red eyes were as flawless as gems, but his skin was so pale that he looked like a patient who had never seen the sun.

On his right, a pretty girl was affectionately hugging his arm.

The girl was wearing a form-fitting dark red long dress, her long hair was as gorgeous as a violet waterfall, and her scarlet lips carried a hint of charm.

And on the left was a burly, bald man; his muscles were knotted, he was a full 1.9 meters tall, and his face was firm and silent.

The three of them had some commonalities, such as pale skin without blood, red eyes, no shadows, and the absence of any blessings on their heads.

"Lord Erkus, what is it that makes you laugh so much?"

The blonde young man asked softly.

"Of course, I'm laughing at these stupid citizens of Twilight City!"

Erkus, who was laughing until he was out of breath, pointed at the crowds outside the window who were lined up in long queues and even arguing over who would buy first, and shouted.

"Clearly, what I am about to bring them is an unceasing hell, yet they are actually cheering that I am a conscientious merchant."

"Raphael, you say, if the knight Red Fire, who once exchanged his life for the peace of the Southern Region with the King's Wish, saw this scene, would he be so angry that he would climb out of his grave?"

Erkus even laughed until he had tears in his eyes.

"My lord, those ignorant people don't know the mystery of your bewitching tea. Under your unprecedentedly low price of one copper coin per tea bag, they will naturally be grateful to you."

"As for the knight Red Fire... if it weren't for his sacrifice, how could the Southern Region have become the only pure land of Sosia? Lord Saimen wouldn't have sent you here to seize this rare opportunity for promotion either."

After quietly listening to the merchant's words, Raphael replied politely.

"Haha, that's true, I really have to thank that Red Fire." Erkus stood up from the chair and stretched comfortably.

"My lord, may I ask how much longer you need to be promoted to a Chamber of Commerce Lord?"

"I have already felt the opportunity for promotion; at most three days, and I can successfully be promoted to Crescent." Erkus said confidently.

"By then, when I return to the City of Slaves, Lord Saimen will accept me as his godson!"

Recalling the promise of Count Saimen when he set off, the corners of Erkus's mouth rose slightly.

Seeing that the merchant was about to make that sharp, harsh laughter again, the pretty girl beside the blonde young man couldn't help but hurriedly tug at the corner of his clothes.

Raphael nodded in a dilemma; just as he was thinking about what reason to find to make the merchant shut his mouth, his gaze suddenly caught a glimpse of the scene outside the window.

"My lord, there are guards driving away your customers." Raphael said quickly.

"What!"

Erkus immediately turned to look, and saw a team of guards led by a Transcendent Knight driving away the crowd lined up at the entrance of the Chamber of Commerce.

Facing the majesty of the knight, no matter how much dissatisfaction those citizens had, they could only leave obediently; in just a moment, a large section of the entrance to the Chamber of Commerce was cleared.

"Damn it, what on earth are those bastards doing? I have been paying taxes properly!"

Erkus panicked, hurriedly opened the door, went downstairs, and ran over.

After seeing him leave, the three people remaining in the room looked at each other, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"Brother, why is that guy Erkus's laughter so ugly! Every time I hear it, I feel like my whole head is dizzy."

The girl covered her ears frantically, looking pained.

"Latis, sorry, I don't know about this either."

The blonde young man looked bitter and could only touch the girl's head to show comfort.

"Latis, since Lord Saimen ordered us to protect Lord Erkus's safety, then you should be more respectful to him."

At this time, the bald, burly man who had been silent all along said faintly.

"That's true, Uncle Luon, but when I think that we could each easily kill him, yet we have to be bossed around by him, I'm really a bit angry..."

The girl made a "cut" sound, looking very dissatisfied.

"Don't let anger control you, Latis." The blonde young man said softly.

"After all, we are just low-level vampires transformed by Lord Saimen. Although we have Morning Star combat power, we have lost our blessings, and without Lord Saimen's grace, we will have no further progress."

"And since Erkus is about to be promoted to a Commercial Lord and is of the same clan as Lord Saimen, his future is limitless. We should indeed build a good relationship with him."

"Don't be willful anymore, my sister. At least in front of him, you need to show respect."

Raphael said solemnly.

"Alright, alright, I know, old brother." The girl rolled her eyes and said.

"Cut, still wanting to become Lord Saimen's godson... If it weren't for that Hagek Kesi refusing Lord Saimen, how would it be your turn..." The girl muttered in a low voice.

"Still talking?"

It wasn't until Raphael glared at her fiercely that the girl finally closed her mouth obediently.

Click.

"Damn it, damn it, that bastard Masha!"

Just at this moment, Erkus, who had returned upstairs, pushed the door open and entered, closed the doors and windows, and cursed in a rage.

(End of chapter)