Chapter 177 - Lock Fan and the Dog

Chapter 177: Chapter 168 Lock Fan and the DogAfter Nono’s conquest, Yuanghua was transformed from a private dominion of the empire’s vassals into a directly governed dominion of the empire. The stable transfer gate to Yuanghua was officially completed three months ago. As a regular civilian transfer gate, it couldn’t transfer many people at once, only about twenty. As long as the fee was paid, one could directly reach Yuanghua’s main city, Gold City.

Due to the past chaos experienced by Yuanghua, there was a significant vacancy in the population within the dominion. Furthermore, for the revival and development of a dominion, the empire would also provide corresponding policies, under which many people were willing to willingly move to Yuanghua to live and develop.

Hu Feng City has seen a surge in the number of people it has accepted recently, and the City Defense Army is strictly registering and verifying the identities of people coming and going at the city gates.

"Where do you hail from?"

"Replying to the military officer, I’ve traveled thousands of miles from my homeland in the Kedadi dominion."

"Oh? Kedadi is quite far from here." The City Defense Army officer took the middle-aged man’s identity documents for a careful check, nodded, and said, "Must have spent a fair amount of money on the way, huh? Remember to register at the national supervision office once you get to Yuanghua, you can receive half of the subsidy."

"Aiyo, yes, yes, thank you for the guidance, military officer. Thank you for the guidance!" The middle-aged man quickly thanked the City Defense Army officer upon hearing the words. They were people from the lower echelons, and many of them didn’t know much about the many policies issued by the empire, such as this transportation subsidy; indeed, they were unaware, so many times such subsidies were secretly pocketed by others.

"Go on in, go on in, don’t delay those behind..." The City Defense Army officer looked up and felt an involuntary sense of wariness in his heart at the sight of the group of people before him.

"Who are you?" the chief officer of the City Defense Army demanded, "Please show your identity documents."

This chief officer had joined the imperial army long ago and had participated in many big and small battles. Enduring many hidden injuries over the years, he had retired from the front lines and was transferred to be the chief officer of the City Defense Army in Hu Feng City. Relying on his years of military experience, he could tell that the aura of death had not yet dispersed from the group of more than twenty who had just arrived, clearly having been through a significant slaughter just the day before.

"Lock Fan, of the black ancients." The leader of the group was none other than Lock Fan, who, after completing their mission in the desert, immediately used the Teleportation Scroll given to them by Lanza to save their lives, which took them straight to the vicinity of Hu Feng City.

The chief examined everyone’s identity documents carefully and asked, "Did you all graduate from Kains Academy?"

"Don’t believe it?" Lock Fan raised an eyebrow. "Please look carefully, the documents can’t be faked."

The chief examined the anti-forgery marks on the documents again, indeed marking the unique magic insignia of the empire, but he still pressed on uneasily, "If I am not mistaken, you’ve just killed someone before you came here, haven’t you?"

"Hey, are you annoying? Can’t you stop wasting our time?" Abe, who was behind Lock Fan, pointed at the chief and said, "We teleported back from the Death Desert, is it wrong for us to have taken down a few sand pirates’ dens before returning?"

"How dare you!" The City Defense Army officer was unhappy at having a finger pointed at his nose, and hundreds of soldiers simultaneously stepped forward, brandishing their weapons angrily at Lock Fan and his group.

Faced with the threat of the City Defense Army, Abe was not at all flustered but instead retorted with a cold laugh, "A fight? Heh! I haven’t had my fill of killing yet."

"Abe!" Lock Fan rebuked in a low voice, and Abe sulkily stepped back.

Once Abe had stepped back, Lock Fan addressed the chief, "My apologies, my brother lacks manners, I apologize to you on his behalf."

The chief waved his hand and said, "No matter, having just graduated from the academy and being able to venture deep into the Death Desert to slay notorious bandits, you do have the right to be proud. I am responsible for the city’s defense security, so please answer our routine inquiries truthfully."

"Sure, do you have any further questions?" Lock Fan nodded, understanding the situation mutually.

The chief gestured for his men to withdraw their weapons and then asked Lock Fan, "Are you in such a rush to return from the desert because you want to go to Yuanghua?"

"Yes, we have come from afar precisely to enter Yuanghua through the transfer gate at Hu Feng."

The chief nodded and offered a kind reminder, "If you are going there for upcoming missions, I’d advise against it. Yuanghua is a recently recovered territory of the empire, and it needs peace. Causing trouble there could lead to big problems. Orders have just come down from above stating that for dominions recovered from the Eight Great Families, there must be one hundred percent peace."

"Don’t worry, my lord, we’re not going there to complete missions, but to pay homage to our boss." In response to the chief’s friendly reminder, Lock Fan’s tone became even more respectful.

"May I ask who your boss is?" The chief was somewhat surprised, as Lock Fan’s current demeanor of stability was already befitting the leader of this group, so he was very curious who could be more outstanding than Lock Fan.

"Of course, our boss is the hero who saved the dominion." Lock Fan never lacked reverence and praise for Lu Hong.

"Are you speaking of that one?!" There was only one hero who had recaptured Yuanghua, Tu Kurulu. His deeds had spread widely within the military; after all, wars meant death, and by single-handedly annihilating the three major ministers of the Gold Family, forcing their surrender, he saved countless lives.

Once Lock Fan affirmed it, the chief stood upright with respect and gave Lock Fan a military salute, "Convey the highest respects to Baron Yitian on my behalf!"

"I will," Lu Hong promised.

"Let them through!" The chief no longer stood in the way, quickly ordering his men to clear the path into the city, then summoned a subordinate, "Take them to the central teleportation point, give them priority."

There were still a lot of people heading to Yuanhua; if they queued normally, Lock Fan estimated they’d have to wait until tomorrow.

"Thanks," Lock Fan thanked the chief again for his kindness.

"No need to thank me, just hurry up and go."

As everyone prepared to enter the city, a dog’s bark came from the long queue waiting to enter: "Woof woof! Little Lock, woof woof! Zi Dai, woof woof! I once, woof woof! Alone, woof woof!"

"Little Lock Zi ?" Who? Lock Fan was taken aback, as he had never been called by that nickname before. He turned around to see a big dog squeezing out of the crowd to come in front of him.

"Don’t remember, woof woof! Me, woof woof! ?" woof woof!"

Faced with a talking big dog, everyone at the gates of Hu Feng City was flabbergasted. One thought dominated their minds: Has this demon beast turned into a spirit? What’s happening here? Magical creatures evolving into something like cultivators?

"A spirit?" Lock Fan asked in confusion.

"Spirit, woof woof! You blockhead, woof woof! I am, woof woof! The old, woof woof! Great, woof woof! Beast pet, woof woof!"

"Ah!" Then, a group of people remembered: that nameless dog that Lu Hong had inexplicably tamed at the academy’s grand melee, the one that, at the beginning of the descent into hell, had carried Nono on its back.

"How did you get here?" Lock Fan asked, puzzled. "Didn’t Nono say you went missing?"

The dog looked at Lock Fan with contempt: "Missing, woof woof! You blockhead. If woof woof! the old man woof woof! wanted dog meat, woof woof! that young, woof woof! lady didn’t, woof woof! understand, woof woof! I wouldn’t, woof woof! search for food, woof woof! myself, then staying, woof woof! by her side, woof woof! why?"

"Hey hey, don’t bark like that, it’s exhausting listening to you, can’t you speak a bit more coherently?"

"You think, woof woof! I don’t want to, woof woof! ?" woof woof! I also, woof woof! don’t know, woof woof! why, woof woof! At most, woof woof! in one go, woof woof! I manage, woof woof! to spit out, woof woof! two words, woof woof! and can’t continue, woof woof! speaking human language without barking a few times, woof woof!"

What kind of setting is this? Everyone’s jaws dropped at the dog’s explanation.

Fortunately, the chief recovered quickly, urging Lock Fan, "You all go into the city first, there are many more people waiting to queue up."

Since the dog knew Lock Fan, the chief did not stop this enlightened beast.

After entering the city, with some difficulty, Lock Fan managed to understand the dog’s story.

The dog, while fleeing from hell, originally followed Lu Hong’s orders to protect Nono. However, when the Queen’s Knight Guard arrived promptly, the dog saw that their strength was formidable and that its protection was redundant, so it decided to leave. It sneaked away under the cover of night, found a small hilltop, and declared itself king. Having once savored the dog meat stewed by Lu Hong, the dog was haunted by its deliciousness and set up shop in a ravine, trading in the killing of dogs.

Specializing in slaughtering male demon beasts, it even took their mates for itself, thus becoming a bully among dogs. Its notoriety as a vicious dog that ate its kind spread through half the realm of dogs.

Naturally, the dog’s brutal reputation incited a collective retribution from the dog world. As the saying goes, one cannot fight against the many, and so the dog could not defeat the pack. It didn’t enjoy many carefree days before being hunted by the dog world, forced into a life of hiding until it accidentally heard hunters discussing Yuanhua and was reminded of its master.

Listening to the dog’s story, Lock Fan felt no sympathy, "So, you’ve come to find the boss for refuge?"

"Of course, woof woof! How could, woof woof! a demon beast, woof woof! live openly, woof woof! in a human, woof woof! city?" woof woof!

Lock Fan shook his head regretfully, "Then you’ve miscalculated, the boss is dead, he died at Yuanhua. We’re only going there to mourn."

"Dead my, woof woof! ass, woof woof! Dead! I and woof woof! him still have, woof woof! a pact, woof woof! If he really, woof woof! died, wouldn’t I, woof woof! know about it?" woof woof!

"What did you say?!" Lock Fan was taken aback, then shouted, "Say it again?!"

"He’s alive, he’s alive, the boss is still alive?!" Upon receiving the dog’s affirmation, not just Lock Fan, but all the academy students became excited, and even their steps towards the teleportation portal quickened from heavy to light.