Chapter 131

Night fell, and in Jie Ming's mansion in Elosia City, the study lights were still on.

Jie Ming wore a loose robe, his fingertips lightly tapped, and the last strand of secret brilliance sank into the wall. The aura of the entire room suddenly became integrated, without a trace of leakage.

After sensing it slightly, he withdrew his hand with satisfaction.

He had almost not rested since he came back from the banquet.

After confusing the group of monitors in his mansion, he busied himself enthusiastically, and finally constructed all the necessary arrays.

"First... test it."

Thinking about it, Jie Ming took out a metal disc, on which a palm-sized micro-space teleportation array was emitting faint light.

This kind of small array can only perform point-to-point short-distance teleportation and needs to set up nodes at both ends in advance.

He had long set up the corresponding other end in the underground laboratory of the Golden Port mansion.

He stepped into the array.

Space twisted, and the next moment, he was already in the underground secret room of the dilapidated mansion in Golden Port.

The air was filled with the smell of blood.

In the special steel cages next to the secret room, the three orc generals captured earlier were lying down, dying.

Their heads were lowered, and their bodies were covered in cuts and burns.

Jie Ming had been gone for more than half a month. These guys were not in a normal state to begin with, and they had endured for half a month without a drop of water. Now their life aura was as weak as a candle in the wind.

"Very good, it seems the space teleportation is running very smoothly." Jie Ming couldn't help but laugh, "In this way, even in the Royal City, my research can continue."

Jie Ming walked up and checked slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into an icy arc: "Not bad, truly worthy of being a legend. To be able to hold on in this environment, I was originally worried that you would starve to death."

"You..." The orc general raised his head angrily, but the weakness of his body left him only the strength to glare at the other party.

Jie Ming smiled and clapped his hands: "Don't worry, since I'm here, I won't let you starve to death. Although from your perspective, starving to death should be a good choice."

"Orcs... will not yield." Another orc general let out a disdainful cold snort.

Jie Ming looked at the silver-white magic puppet walking over after hearing the order, and spread his hands helplessly toward the three orcs: "It's a pity, I didn't need you to yield in the first place..."

He took out a few bags of nutrient solution he had just prepared and handed them to the puppet: "Inject them with nutrient solution, don't let them die."

After checking the state of the orcs in the cage and confirming that they still had "utilization value," Jie Ming turned and walked out of the basement, following the passage to the courtyard of the mansion.

He looked around leisurely.

At this time, Golden Port had long been captured by the orcs. This once luxurious city was now a ruin burned by the flames of war, with rubble everywhere, and the charred charcoal emitting the faint heat of embers.

Large swaths of buildings were overturned, serving as temporary camps for orc or human armies.

Only his mansion area appeared exceptionally abrupt—of course, this was looking from the inside out.

If looked at from the outside, this mansion, like other buildings, had also turned into a ruin.

This was exactly the effect of the concealment array Jie Ming carefully arranged before leaving Golden Port.

Besides the function of concealing the real information inside, this illusion array could also synchronize to form a "ruin" illusion completely identical to the outside environment according to the surrounding environment.

In addition, as a high-tier array, it could also weaken the sense of existence of this area.

At the same time, the subconscious repulsion technique implied in the array could also make those who approached here unintentionally feel inexplicably uneasy and uncomfortable, thereby subconsciously avoiding this place.

"Perfect." Jie Ming chuckled, "Although the investment in this laboratory is not small, it seems the effect is quite good."

A few days later.

With the space teleportation device, Jie Ming had been busily conducting research in the secret laboratory in Golden Port these past few days.

Suddenly, Jie Ming, who was immersed in experimental research, raised his head and looked at the alarm sounding beside him.

That was the arrangement he made in the mansion in the Kingdom's capital. Once someone visited, Jie Ming could immediately detect it.

Opening the monitoring light screen, the picture outside the mansion was displayed. The visitor carried the identification of a palace guard, and his attitude appeared a bit urgent.

He immediately stopped the experiment and reached out to touch his isolation suit, which turned into a loose soft robe.

Stepping into the space teleportation array, space brilliance flashed, and Jie Ming returned to the study of the mansion in the Royal Capital again.

He restrained his aura in time, pretending to have just finished reading, and pushed open the study door calmly.

Outside the door, the steward raised his arm to knock, informing him that a palace guard captain and a messenger were waiting in the living room.

"Consultant Jack!" The guard captain saw Jie Ming, immediately bowed and saluted, his expression respectful but carrying a trace of urgency, "His Majesty has an order, please go to the palace deliberation hall immediately to participate in the listening of the negotiations between the Kingdom and the orc and elf delegations."

Jie Ming was slightly stunned.

He was just a "Special Consultant," a nominal position. Such a high-level diplomatic negotiation shouldn't have his place by rights.

He was suspicious in his heart, but his face remained calm: "Oh? Does His Majesty hope I provide some insights on the orcs?"

The messenger said respectfully: "His Majesty did not say clearly, just said that this negotiation is of great importance and hopes to gather wisdom."

"Good, I'll go right away." Jie Ming nodded in agreement.

Being able to access more information was naturally something he was happy to see.

Deep in the palace, in Otto-Lei-Ke III's private study.

Otto-Lei-Ke III put down the scroll in his hand, his gaze falling on the bowing Chief Minister in front of him: "That 'Jack', has he gone to the deliberation hall?"

The Chief Minister bowed and said: "Back to Your Majesty, it has been done according to your order, and someone has been sent to summon him."

Otto-Lei-Ke III sneered, his body leaning back on the wide seat: "It's good to let him go, just to disgust the orcs."

"Humph, just a bunch of barbarians, even if they play a little trick, it's just like this." Otto-Lei-Ke III narrowed his eyes, "Let this 'discarded pawn' go to the negotiation table. If he can't help but contact the delegation, we can catch more intelligence favorable to ourselves."

He paused, a trace of shrewdness flashing in his eyes: "Even if he can really restrain himself and doesn't contact the delegation, as long as he sits there, he can also be like a thorn, stabbing in the hearts of the orc delegation, making them suspicious and even doubting their own trump cards. That's enough."

"Your Majesty is wise." The Chief Minister lowered his head, his voice as steady as if there were no emotional fluctuations.

Palace deliberation hall.

The atmosphere in the deliberation hall was tense and solemn.

On both sides of the long negotiation table sat the core ministers of the human kingdom and representatives of the orc delegation.

The elf and dwarf delegations also attended as mediators.

Jie Ming sat in a corner of the listening area, playing the role of an inconspicuous "Special Consultant."

The negotiations had been going on for several rounds but had always been in a stalemate.

"Humans, our orc requirements have already been placed on the table. You must compensate for the resources already agreed upon, and pay for the losses caused to our kingdom by the delay during this period!"

The leader of the orc delegation, an orc elder with rough hair, said in a muffled voice, his tone carrying unquestionable barbarism.

"Orcs! We are willing to compensate for the resources agreed upon earlier, but you must also pay a price for capturing our cities!"

"You fart! That's our war loot!"

"F*** you, you..."

"【Orc vulgarity】."

Seeing the so-called negotiation turn into a cursing match again, some people's gazes couldn't help but turn to the elf and dwarf delegations.

After all, the reason these two race delegations were invited was to regulate the contradictions between humans and orcs at critical moments.

Unfortunately, it would have been better not to ask for help.

In the elf delegation, the female elf whose abnormal aura Jie Ming sensed at the banquet stood up at this moment.

She had a tall figure and a cold and arrogant face, her tone carrying obvious disdain: "Both of your races only know how to take, not how to contribute. Forming an alliance with a vulgar race like you will only tarnish the glory of the elves!"

Listening to this outrageous remark, Jie Ming's eyelids twitched: "Is this coordinating or adding fuel to the fire..."

The most outrageous thing was that although other elves didn't answer, their expressions couldn't help but reveal a look of agreement.

Sure enough, the elf's outrageous remark soon received a response.

"Long-ears, I f*** you..."

The leader of the orc delegation took the lead, and the ministers of the human delegation immediately followed.

"【Royal Capital vulgarity】."

And the elves also fought back without showing weakness: "【Elf elegant vulgarity】."

As for the dwarves, those guys who were not good at words had no intention of expressing any opinions from the beginning, one by one drunk to the point of being dead drunk.

"Have you heard? The leader of the orc delegation fought with the patrol outside the city, saying something like 'Orc glory cannot be desecrated.' If it weren't for the timely arrival of the Magic Association, I'm afraid there would have been casualties." A servant whispered to another.

"And the elves' Seraphina, she is so high and mighty every time she speaks, simply belittling the orcs and us to nothing. Does she not want the alliance to be reached at all?" Another noble aide frowned and complained.

"The dwarves are the same. That female dwarf leader, besides emphasizing how important dwarf technology and mineral resources are, doesn't mention supporting the war at all. It's really stubborn to death."

Jie Ming heard these whispers, but felt something was wrong in his heart.

It sounded like the contradictions between the races seemed to have long been accustomed to.

But he always felt something was wrong.

He cast his gaze toward the alien delegations without changing his expression. He now knew that the three "abnormal" people he sensed at the last banquet were all leaders of these delegations.

That female elf sat there proudly and elegantly, as if she didn't care about the negotiation results at all.

The orc warrior was turning his head and cursing at the human minister.

The female dwarf was holding a wine bag, taking a sip from time to time, her gaze appearing a bit distracted.

Under the inaction of the three delegation leaders, the atmosphere of the negotiation became increasingly tense, and the smell of gunpowder became increasingly strong.

(End of chapter)