Chapter 94: The Most Poisonous Scheme

The Nanmen district, bordering the dock area, was a modest civilian zone slightly better than the slums.

But for Li En, living here was comfortable—daily food was cheap, and getting to the dock area was easy.

He had no urge to move to a more central district or socialize with nobles and merchants; the living conditions here were sufficient.

The only hassle was traveling to the central Huiguang district, which required passing through at least four checkpoints, sometimes even being inspected by patrol squads—annoying, though even then, inspectors gave him minimal scrutiny, thanks to his status as a Holy Knight.

Sometimes, when bothered by inspections, Li En envied the noble carriages of the Sudar family.

At least they never stopped along the way, saving at least half the travel time.

But walking the distance had its own advantages.

Along the way, Li En noticed changes in his surroundings more clearly—even sensed the scent of an approaching storm.

Over these past few days, Li En observed that patrol squads had increased significantly in number and were far better armed; many knights had entered combat readiness.

Donning and removing armor was a tedious process; even walking in full gear was exhausting, and without direct orders, there would be no such large number of fully armed knights involved.

Notably, Li En also noticed the stark differences between patrol squads across districts. Each district maintained its own patrol force, with different structures and personnel, achieving de facto autonomy.

In this overly fragmented kingdom, such absurdly decentralized armed operations by district were perfectly normal.

Huiguang district was the safest—ordinary streets teemed with noble knights and city guards, and even smaller sub-districts had their own private militias.

For instance, security in the Huiguang Religious Quarter was handled by the Holy Knight Order; criminals were virtually nonexistent. A single criminal might spark internal competition among Holy Knights eager to eradicate evil.

The security force in Mage Street, however, deployed the luxurious Arcane Knights—fully enchanted magic knights.

This was an extremely difficult knightly branch to cultivate, a rare class capable of wielding both martial arts and magic, among the few armored spellcasters.

Just their daily training costs and specialized medium armor were exorbitantly expensive.

Supposedly, though lightweight, this medium armor offered defense comparable to heavy armor after spellcasting and had minimal impact on the wearer's spellcasting—something Li En found highly desirable.

But he couldn't afford it, nor did he have access to purchase it; the gear was considered a mage's technological secret.

By the way, many of them were former magic apprentices or former warriors—those with talent on both sides but not top-tier, who, with specialized gear, excelled at countering pure warriors and pure mages like Li En; if he were willing to join, he'd likely be trained.

Li En did plan to approach them once he'd built a reputation.

Not to become a hired thug, but to see if he could buy a set of armor.

Most of them served as "door gods" for famous shops, yet were also essential enforcers of Mage Street, arbiters of the frequent disputes along the street.

They owed no special deference to individual high mages, only nominally answered to the mages' collective organization, and were once renowned and formidable.

But clearly, they had failed grievously this time; the shame of being guardians and knights had filled them with fury.

Even at night, these elite knights patrolled relentlessly—the magic gems embedded in their armor glowed like LED lights from afar, unmistakable.

"Hmm, what's the point? Huiguang district is absurdly safe—if I were a criminal, even if still in the city, I'd choose another district."

Other districts were far more normal, relying mainly on militias, mercenaries, and city defense troops, though many patrol squads had now temporarily hired adventurers and warriors to bolster their forces.

Their strength varied—wherever there was a major guild or noble estate, security was stronger, sometimes even featuring noble spellcasters and magical hounds.

But judging from Li En's observations, the military power of Huiguang district alone likely exceeded the combined strength of all other districts.

"Some districts saw food prices rise by thirty percent. Tsk. Those merchants." Li En sighed; he knew food supplies were perfectly adequate, yet those merchants still raised prices.

As a result, many began hoarding grain, and this "inventory" made patrol squads far more diligent during their rounds.

But prices in Li En's area remained reasonable; Nanmen district, right against the outer wall, had no shortage of seafood, mid- and low-grade grains—more than enough.

On one hand, it was near the city gate, so many merchants traded here directly; on the other, it bordered the dock area, where cargo naturally piled up.

In a sense, it was a crossroads logistics hub, naturally overflowing with goods.

Nanming (Nanmen) district could just as well be called a warehouse district; its residents had modest purchasing power and couldn't sustain commercial streets—its main industry was logistics warehouses.

Food preservation technology in this world seemed primitive; near-expiry grains were sold here directly. Not only dock residents came to buy, but also civilians from other poorer districts, because prices here were truly the lowest in the city.

These everyday life facts were told to Li En by the maid. She often asked him to buy groceries and grain—Li En carrying goods home was far safer than a maid doing it alone.

Li En, the knight, had his own small trick for shopping: he'd cast Detect Evil in the market and buy from the stall with the faintest red aura.

Hmm, were there no silver-white benevolent vendors? Maybe there were, but Li En had never seen any.

Oddly enough, not only did he get good produce, but others who came to shop would eagerly wait for him to cast his divine spell so they could follow his lead.

As for whether near-expiry, cheap produce had issues? Well, locals didn't care much—if they could eat cheaply and fill their bellies, that was already a blessing.

Today was no different; Li En had grown accustomed to leaving in the morning with a shopping list and returning in the evening with a bag of goods.

"... bit late." As he walked, Li En had already seen stars.

After class today, Li En visited mage shops, bookstores, and goblin steam-engine shops—though he bought nothing, he at least enjoyed the spectacle.

As for what Kuku had been doing when it vanished, or why his storage bag suddenly felt heavier—he didn't know, and didn't care to find out.

Honestly, when suddenly inspected—even by a Holy Knight casting Detect Evil—Li En felt a bit odd.

But the next moment, the holy silver light radiating from his body blinded everyone nearby, forcing the Holy Knight to immediately bow in salute.

This made Li En feel slightly guilty.

Clearly, Holy Knights' Detect Evil was ineffective here—far worse than Law Knights' Judgment of Sin—but because certain races were inherently deemed evil, it was still useful for tracking them.

The Holy Knights at these checkpoints were likely reassigned specifically for this purpose.

For instance, those nearby dark elves and gray dwarves glowed bright red under Detect Evil—even if disguised or hidden in carts, they couldn't escape detection.

"Wait! How are they here?"

Li En instantly realized, drawing his sword—

"BOOM!"

Sudden, chained explosions shook Li En into daze.

"BOOM!"

One explosion after another erupted; within Li En's line of sight, fire broke out simultaneously in all four directions.

And the fiercest blaze? The grain warehouse he had just passed!

"Damn it! Smite Evil!"

—

Time rewound slightly. As a newly founded city, Huicheng possessed hidden infrastructure typical of ancient metropolises—a vast underground smuggling network hidden in shadows.

Unlike older, larger cities whose smuggling and black markets were rooted in sprawling sewer systems, Huicheng had no such infrastructure.

Those ancient sewers, once built to a certain scale, became underground labyrinths inhabited by goblins, gnomes, giant rats, and undead—but Huicheng, too young in history, had none of that.

Yet between Huicheng's districts, there were tunnels and smuggling passages.

This was the result of profit-driven interests and the inevitable consequence of each district's relative autonomy.

Where there was demand, there were passages; previously, patrol squads and militias turned a blind eye—but this time, that tacit understanding was exploited, and these underground routes were used for another purpose.

"It's time." In the smuggling tunnel, the dark elf Suelen checked his pocket watch and confirmed the agreed time had arrived.

Behind him stood a small team: two dark elves and one gray dwarf. Also lying nearby were the corpses of several unfortunate orc smugglers.

These unfortunate fools never imagined their former "brothers" in smuggling would turn on them so swiftly.

"Begin," said the evildoer, uttering a holy slogan.

"Create chaos in this city. Burn their food supplies." That was their mission.

If a food shortage arose, how could the legions and warriors responding to the Princess's call possibly leave the city?

As for deaths from the fire, or disease and famine caused by the food crisis—did that concern them?

These foreign races took this war far more seriously than the locals.

As dusk fell, the underground races launched their true war, teaching the people of Huicheng a lesson with the most venomous scheme.

The initial phase went smoothly; Nanmen's defenses were negligible. Local police and militias were third-rate at best, most easily bypassed.

"BOOM!" As the agreed moment arrived, explosions erupted one after another; the hidden squads exhaled in relief—their mission was nearly complete.

The warehouse complex nearest the dock and city gate had been set ablaze; vast quantities of supplies were now ash.

Suelen's target was the wheat warehouse before him; once ignited, the team's mission would be accomplished.

But he was doomed to fail.

"Smite Evil!" A silver-armored knight was already waiting for them!

(End of Chapter)