Chapter 73: Factory and Pursuit

Emerald City.

An empty street.

No. 32 Dabu Street, South District.

The alchemical lamp facing the road directly emitted a blue faint light, extinguishing from time to time.

It lured a large flock of moths.

Moreover, it seemed no one had maintained it for a long time; the corner fixed to the ground had already loosened and come off.

Boom!!!

A huge explosion sound suddenly rang out.

The violent vibration directly flipped this already unsteady alchemical lamp, making it crash heavily onto the ground, shattering the lamp into pieces everywhere.

Reflected in the broken glass, one could see purple thick smoke rising into the half sky.

In an instant, alarm bells blared loudly.

Rod and Tally leaped between the rooms inside the house, fleeing outward quickly.

"Is this how the Hero Alliance does things? You blow up someone's factory just because you can't agree; weren't we here to investigate?"

Rod said helplessly.

After the three of them infiltrated the factory, they indeed discovered the manufacturing of counterfeit products.

They even mixed wall ash and a kind of alchemical waste called Hua Liu Li into it, just to increase the mouthfeel and reduce costs; this would kill people who drank it.

In a fit of rage, Tally directly detonated their alchemical machinery.

"This is the first lesson the Hero Alliance teaches you, Rod. Handing over evidence peacefully to the Security Hall is utterly useless; such factories all have backers, and a wealthy noble my lord can just dig them out."

Tally saw her speed gradually falling behind Rod's.

She frowned slightly, secretly applied a speed-boosting buff to herself, then steadily gained half a body length on the other party.

"Then hand it over to the newspaper?"

"No use. Plainly stated evidence with no suspense holds no meaning whatsoever in the eyes of news people."

Pausing for a moment, she added:

"What matters is public resentment. Make a big deal of the matter, then wait for it to ferment, ferment until it affects the tourism industry they take pride in, and finally, we hand over the truth to quell it."

"So you deliberately created that purple thick smoke."

"It isn't poisonous; it's just some little thing made from wisteria juice, but we will spread the word that it is harmful, you know; people are easily influenced by public opinion."

Rod felt helpless.

"You are truly bold."

Tally smiled arrogantly, pointed to the mask on her face that covered only the upper half, and said:

"So we need this. Though it isn't as good-looking as yours."

On Rod's face was a mask composed of purple scales, its appearance that of a lion with a resentful and malicious expression.

Baring its teeth and glaring with wide eyes, it was extremely fierce and terrifying.

This was a mask he had created by using part of the ability 【Gao Jie Yuan Zhen Tian】.

To conceal his size, Tally used the Xing De Fa spell on him, turning him into a small person of about one meter sixty.

"It's really not that I don't want to give it to you; this thing can only be used by me."

While speaking.

A large number of security officers and firefighters appeared on the street.

The two drank another bottle of invisibility potion and accelerated their escape from this area.

Rod's line of sight was occasionally blocked by those three spires that remained dazzling even in the dark night.

He knew they were just three mage spires.

It meant there were three Domain Mages of the seventh rank or higher inside Emerald City.

"But, won't those three Domain Mages intervene?"

"Them? They aren't here; the front line of the Heavenly Court Flower Kingdom is tight, so they were pulled over to help. But even if they were here, it wouldn't matter; Aethelorn separates military and politics, so they won't intervene."

"Don't Domain Mages only... within the range of the mage spires?"

"Who knows? Perhaps they have a Li De Fang Fa to maintain their magic power."

The two increased their speed and quickly transferred from the city's South District to the North District.

Looking from afar, one could see the purple thick smoke rising upward, and the busy crowds beside it.

"How was it?"

Tally put her hands on her hips, smiling arrogantly.

"Having witnessed the conduct of our Hero Alliance, do you feel a sense of relief?"

Rod smiled but said nothing.

It was also seeing something new; his curiosity was quite satisfied.

"The long night is long; why don't we continue? For instance, that blonde elf from the day; that guy specialized in luring human women over fifty, ruining several families' households; shall we go castrate him?"

"... Or we could hand him over to the proper elves of the Emerald Court."

"Right! Inside the Emerald Court, his kind of crime is severe; he might even be exiled directly. Oh wow, look there."

While speaking, Tally suddenly let out a low exclamation.

Rod was puzzled and looked along her line of sight.

There, on the factory street beside them, was a Banshee moving quickly.

"Emerald City does not welcome Banshees; this is the first time I've seen them in the city."

And behind the Banshee, a man and a woman were in pursuit.

What surprised Rod greatly was that he actually recognized these two.

They were precisely the dark-red-haired teacher and the black-haired student from the Magic Academy's study tour group.

"Oh—looks like she's being hunted."

"Those are students and teachers from the Bahadur Magic Academy; I met them at the Open-Air Labyrinth."

"Bahadur? Hmph."

Lili's face stiffened slightly, then she pouted quite displeased.

She had once applied to this academy; her scores in both practical combat and theory far exceeded those of her peers, solidly first place, yet unexpectedly she was rejected.

Later, hearing they were very discriminatory toward non-human races, she felt even less favorable toward them.

"I'm going to help her."

Lili decided immediately.

"Help who?"

"Of course the Banshee."

Having spoken, Lili drew her wand and weapon, holding the staff in her left hand and the magic short sword in her right.

Buzz—

A layer of magic array appeared beneath the halfling's feet.

In the next moment, she appeared on the street below.

"Spatial shift. Mana is crisp, used very cleanly; Lili's skill is not bad."

After all, those willing to travel a thousand miles to Jade City to advance their realm would not be mediocre talents.

Over there.

Rita suddenly sensed a surge of mana from behind.

She hurriedly pulled Rune over.

Boom—

A mana missile smashed into the ground, sending gravel flying onto their black robes, making a plop-plop sound.

"Who is it?!"

Rita shouted sternly.

Immediately, footsteps gradually echoed out.

A masked halfling walked out from the darkness.

She sneered arrogantly, saying, "I hate people from the Bahadur Magic Academy."

"Peak Fifth Tier? Who gave you the guts?"

Rita's dark-red hair fluttered as she raised her hand and threw an ice cone.

Ping—

The ice cone shattered against Lili's spell shield, trembling only slightly.

"A bit of skill. Rune, go chase that thing first; don't be stingy with the ring."

Rune glanced coldly at Lili and said to his teacher, "Be careful; finish this quickly."

"Who do you think I am?"

Hearing his concerned words, Rita's heart trembled involuntarily, yet she stubbornly retorted.

No sooner had the words left her lips than a magic missile crashed toward her.

Rune flashed, vanishing from the spot.

Meanwhile, Rita and Lili officially began an intense mana offensive and defensive battle on the deserted street.

Rod glanced briefly twice, then left.

Lili's level was even higher than he had imagined; even if she couldn't defeat the opponent, she could easily escape.

"Over there."

Tally poked her head out from the shadows, pointing out Rune's direction to Rod.

"Old plan; you hide first."

"A Fourth Tier novice; is that necessary?"

"This little one is a bit off; the feeling from 【Tree's Blessing】 tells me there is an aura of 'Wither' on him."

(End of this chapter)