Chapter 301 - News

Chapter 301: Chapter 56: NewsLu Hong had planned to leave the day he dealt with Rao Xue’s rebellion, but at Qing Ling’s strong insistence, he reluctantly extended his stay a bit longer.

As for Kaif and those who rebelled, Qing Ling, with a benevolent heart, gave them another chance and emptied her coffers to let Kaila travel through the ancient and still-functional portal for a multi-day tour of the neighboring plane.

Upon returning from Jilianaxi, the first thing Kaila did was kowtow to apologize to Qing Ling, constantly slapping herself and calling herself inhuman.

When Kaila shared her observations, the outside prices, and other details, Kaif immediately knelt down, followed by all the Rao Xue residents, who also knelt and kowtowed, reconciling the two sides.

After staying for about seven or eight days, Lu Hong couldn’t bear it anymore, since there were many more matters waiting for him, such as contracts he had signed, eradicating the Disaster Church, and dealing with the assassination of the Tower Master, all of which urgently required his attention.

The girl who repeatedly tried to make him stay saw Lu Hong’s determination and, puffing with anger, took him to the Rao Xue family’s forbidden area, the Twin Mirrors.

This was a very unique magic skill similar to a portal, yet different. It existed like a large mirror, allowing one to clearly see everything on the other side. By infusing a little magic power, one could travel through the mirror to the other side. However, this path was one-way; according to the girl, it originally was two-way, but as the Rao Xue family’s influence waned, the method of returning was forcibly cut off by their ancestors. This convenient method of exit was therefore not suitable for ordinary Rao Xue residents, who could leave but not return.

"Just walk through here," the girl activated the mirror, and in front of Lu Hong was a lush orchard whose fresh fruits and vegetables were tempting enough to bite into.

"The position of the mirror’s transport used to be a barren land, but as Jilianaxi developed, this area was turned into a fruit garden exclusively for the alliance’s high-level officials."

Alright, Lu Hong nodded, striding forward, half his body passing through before the girl forcefully pulled him back.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? It’s dangerous!" Lu Hong said in disbelief.

"You didn’t even say goodbye," the girl, holding Lu Hong’s arm, pleaded sorrowfully.

"Oh, bye!" Lu Hong said, and once again moved toward the other side of the mirror.

Good lord, the girl dragged him back again.

"What do you really want?!!!" Lu Hong exploded.

"You... you... you," the girl said plaintively, "can’t you leave me a souvenir?"

"I’ve got nothing left in my Space Ring that you haven’t sold! What souvenir could I give you?!"

"You... you, just figure it out," the girl looked as aggrieved as a young bride.

After thinking it over, Lu Hong took off his coat and threw it into the girl’s arms, "Take it, take it." He then quickly moved through, fearful of being pulled back again.

Once on the other side, the rich aroma of fruits filled Lu Hong’s nose from the soft soil.

Delicious! Lu Hong casually plucked two fruits and bit into them, finding them incredibly sweet, truly a tribute fit for the alliance’s high officials.

Tasty, he thought, might as well gather a bit more. With the Space Ring in hand, Lu Hong hastily harvested a large bunch, tossing it all into the ring.

Then he slowly made his way out of the orchard, soon spotting two patrollers.

"Look! Someone’s stealing fruits!" a patroller urgently blew a whistle, calling for reinforcements.

Lu Hong hastily took to his heels, chased down a long path. Luckily, he was fast enough to escape; otherwise, he wouldn’t even have money to pay the fine.

Having shaken off his pursuers, Lu Hong walked along the streets of Jilianaxi, which fell under Earl Bacon of the Eagle Alliance. The Eagle Alliance, unlike the Empire, didn’t have a unified legal code. In the Alliance, most planes had their own distinctive laws and city planning varied greatly.

For instance, in Jilianaxi, Earl Bacon favored vegetarianism, which meant that meat was a regulated food with restricted sales and exceedingly high prices. Similarly, alcohol was controlled too; no bars were allowed in the city, and private alcohol storage beyond a certain amount was considered disrespectful to the Earl, a crime punishable by death!

This messy array of legal statutes won’t be elaborated here, suffice it to say they sounded bizarre to Lu Hong.

With no bars, Lu Hong could only sneak into a teahouse, looking to gather some news about the Sacred Empire.

Upon entering the teahouse, he didn’t even need to search around, everyone was discussing matters concerning the Sacred Empire.

Weighing a few gold coins he had managed to snatch back from the girl, he could still afford a few pots of tea.

Lu Hong approached a table with three people, who seemed to have just started their conversation. Perfect timing.

"Would you mind if I join?" Lu Hong sat down and smiled, "I’ll treat you to tea."

"I don’t mind, I don’t mind," said the man in blue. "Coming to the teahouse is all about making friends and chatting, just to pass the time."

"Waiter! A pot of good tea!" Lu Hong called out, taking the initiative to fill the cups for the three of them. He then asked, "I just heard you mentioning the Sacred Empire. What happened there?"

"You don’t know?" The man in blue, who spoke the most, opened up his chat box, "The Sacred Empire was attacked by sea creatures a month ago, nearly leading to its demise."

"What?!" Lu Hong was shocked. Had the sea creatures finally appeared?

"Come, come, come, let me explain in detail," the man rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to dive into a long story. In his past life, he must have been a storyteller.

The Eagle Alliance was too far from the Sacred Empire. Even with intelligence coming in, most of it was held by the high echelons of the Alliance, and the news that reached the public was often exaggerated or merely speculation.

Lu Hong listened carefully all afternoon and managed to sort out a few key pieces of information.

First: Although the Empire suffered a great defeat, it had not been destroyed yet.

Second: Caesar appeared. The timeless emperor was pushed to the forefront of controversy. Some proposed that Konstantin abdicate, allowing the strongest emperor in history to revitalize the Empire.

Third: All seven Tower Masters were missing, leaving the Empire without the protection of any super-powerful beings.

Fourth: Plane rebellion!

The last point was the most terrifying. As the Empire faced severe distress, its subordinate planes began their rebellions one after another. This was undoubtedly like throwing a piece of bloody meat to the Eagle Alliance—a tiger lying by the river. How could they not be tempted?

With a heavy heart, Lu Hong left the teahouse. The sea creatures were immensely powerful. He had experienced this deeply in the game already. Back then, players had countless lives, able to die and respawn repeatedly. But this alternate world was different; every death was final.

The sea creatures had a weakness, just as they had in the game, and this world was likely no different. Holding this critical weakness in his own hands, only he could return to the Empire and expose it, giving the Empire a chance to turn things around. Thus... he had to get back as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the Eagle Alliance launched a major assault now, facing enemies on two fronts might indeed spell the end.

Leaving there, the teleportation array was controlled by Earl Bacon. Borrowing it would probably be difficult.

What to do then? Try borrowing it!

Visiting at night seemed inappropriate. Lu Hong found a cheap hotel to stay in, deciding to try his chances at obtaining a teleportation opportunity the next morning.

That night, as the Pure Steel Battle Energy uncontrollably burst from his body, his level broke through, congratulating him on advancing another step in his Great War Master profession.

After the breakthrough, Lu Hong took out the token to contact Caesar and tried to activate it. After a long wait with no response, he had no choice but to give up.

The night passed without events. The next morning, around ten o’clock, Lu Hong made his way to the side gate of Earl Bacon’s residence. S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

By then, the entrance was already crowded with people wanting to leave, each prepared with a large bag of money. These were the fees requested by Earl Bacon, at least thirty gold coins each.

So much money... How could he manage it? The thought of money made Lu Hong’s teeth itch. He wasn’t normally short on cash, but Qing Ling, that girl, truly hindered things!

Leaving Earl Bacon’s residence, Lu Hong had to start thinking about earning money. Outright robbery wasn’t an option; he was in the heartland of the Alliance, and it was best not to cause any major disturbances.

He ultimately decided to head to the Adventurer’s Guild. As for making money quickly, aside from going into trades, risking one’s life to earn money was the way to go.

Pushing the door into the Adventurer’s Guild hall, it was packed with adventurers receiving missions and continuously calling

out, seeking suitable mission partners to form temporary teams.

Lu Hong walked straight to the counter, his faced masked, attracting no attention. Adventurers were often odd; wearing a mask was hardly unusual.

"Please handle an adventurer badge for me," Lu Hong tossed a silver coin.

The female attendant at the front respectfully asked, "May I have your surname, sir?"

"Lu Hong, twenty-eight years old, profession Great War Master, level Second Transition, fifth grade."

After filling out the information, a bronze badge was pushed in front of Lu Hong, "This badge records your personal information. All task handovers must go through it. Please keep it safe."

"Thank you." Taking the badge, Lu Hong hurried to the mission column. The tasks available to a bronze badge were extremely limited, and the rewards were low, with the highest reward being only eighty copper coins. To earn gold coins, he’d have to at least work his way up to a badge with a gold stamp; continuously taking jobs day and night, it would still take nearly half a month to reasonably advance.

So annoying!

With no other choice, Lu Hong reluctantly took on a bunch of bronze-level tasks.