What era is it, still traditional card making

When Old Mok heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly.

"Boss, everyone knows that if you don't take advantage of an opportunity, you're a bastard. But the problem is that everyone is scared by those Shadow Gate demons! Where do you think those more than 20,000 demons came from? They wanted to take advantage of the Shadow Gate demons, so they owed a large debt and were forced to sign a slave contract."

"Isn't that right? The Shadow Gate Demon chose to flee and abandoned his property in East City. The houses left behind should be ownerless. What do you have to be afraid of?"

"It's not ownerless. The deed is still in the hands of Shadow Gate Demon."

"Then wait until they come back. At worst, we can just move out. Can they use this to threaten you to pay the rent?"

"Boss, it really works. The Shadow Gate demons once used a ritual to summon a special being. They sacrificed their own property and exchanged it for an extremely special book from this being.

As long as someone owes them something, they can use this book to collect the debt from the other party. If the other party is unable to repay their debt, they need to obey the orders of this group of shadow demons. "

After hearing this, Ye Qiong had a preliminary understanding of the so-called Shadow Gate Demon Clan.

No wonder this clan has such a bad reputation. It turns out that they always set up traps to make others owe them money, and then use that special book to forcibly collect the debt.

As for why no strong man was greedy for this book and tried to rob it,

The reason is very simple.

Just from the name of this clan, we can tell that

As long as the shadow door is opened, they can escape to other places in an instant. Who can do anything to them?

The strong ones were not interested in their little possessions, but the ordinary demons were tricked to death by this book.

There are no ordinary demons living in Dongcheng District now, and it is for this reason.

When the Shadow Gate Demon Clan comes back one day, they will definitely show you that book and ask you to pay the rent.

All I can say is that everyone is so scared of being cheated that they don’t even want to take advantage of a bargain that they get for free.

The doubts in Dongcheng District have been resolved, so it is the turn of the rich people in Nancheng District. Ye Qiong opened his mouth and expressed his doubts.

After hearing Ye Qiong's question, Old Mok showed a surprised expression again, as if he didn't understand why Ye Qiong asked this.

"Boss, disaster is imminent. If the wealthy families in South City don't donate a little, will their treasures be snatched away by the greedy dragons when the enemy arrives at the gates of the city?"

This is the truth, but Ye Qiong still doesn't understand the choices made by those wealthy families.

"Given their conditions, there should be other options, right?"

"other?"

After Old Mok asked back a question, he quickly understood what Ye Qiong meant by the rest.

"Boss, the others you mentioned probably mean fleeing to other countries, right? The demon world is so big, with their assets, they can make a living anywhere, but this is under peaceful conditions.

Now basically all the leaders of all countries have realized that this war will not end in a short time.

Either the dragons are annihilated or the demons are wiped out, otherwise this war will never end.

Therefore, in order to survive this war, all countries have adopted some extreme policies. "

"Does this include you?"

Upon hearing this, Old Mok burst into laughter and replied:

"That's right, boss. Why do you think those rich people didn't run away? Because they all owed a favor to the Duchess! The Duchess's favor can never be repaid in a lifetime!"

Ye Qiong slowly typed a question mark, how did this have to do with favors?

Seeing the boss's puzzled expression, Old Mok knew that it was time for him, the local boss, to play a role. He did not keep the boss in suspense and directly gave the answer:

"Boss, I just told you that some of the Shadow Gate Demons who were hoping for a lucky break were captured by the Duchess."

"And then what? These Shadow Gate demons worked for the Duchess and lent the power of the book to her. Because the rich families owed the Duchess money, the power of the book took effect?"

"Which of those rich guys has never done something illegal? They not only owe the Duchess, but also the country. So under the influence of the book, they can only stay and atone until they have paid off their sins."

As he said this, Old Mok smiled sarcastically, and it seemed that he liked the rich people in the South very much.

After what he said, Ye Qiong finally understood what the current situation in Hewan City was.

The poor people in the North City had no choice but to leave Hewan City and go to other cities, which would not change their current situation. The rich people in the South City were forcibly detained by the book. The Shadow Gate Demons in the East City fled, and the West City was preparing for war in full swing, waiting for the war to come.

It must be said that this Duchess who was in charge of the entire principality was indeed quite capable. She was able to make this place as airtight as an iron barrel, turning it into a high-speed war machine.

If that's the case, then their previous inferences can actually be overturned?

The abnormalities in River Bay City were not affected by any special force. Is there any trace of this?

No, there is another doubt.

That is the book that has the power to collect debts from others.

Old Mok did not directly say who handed the book to the Shadow Gate Demon, but only mentioned that it was a powerful being.

So is there a possibility that this existence is the seed of war hidden behind the scenes?

Ye Qiong threw out a gold coin as a reward. Seeing this, Old Mok took the gold coin with a smile and replied:

"Thank you, boss. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

"You said before that you knew the Duchess's personal preferences?"

"what?"

Old Mok looked surprised. He obviously didn't expect that this generous boss would set his sights on the Duchess.

After a brief moment of confusion, the expression on his face returned to normal.

What does the confrontation between these big shots have to do with him? He is just an information dealer, and he does things for money. It's that simple.

But that's it.

"Boss, I do know, but..."

"Are you worried that the Duchess will cause you trouble?"

"Yes."

"So what do you mean?"

"Get the price."

Ye Qiong didn't hesitate and directly threw out ten gold coins.

Old Mok smiled and took the gold coins without saying anything. It seemed that what he gave was not enough.

Another twenty gold coins were thrown out.

This time, Old Mok finally spoke. He also knew that if he was too greedy, these big shots might use some special means to force him to speak, so he didn't dare to be greedy for too much. As long as the money was enough, it would be fine.

He came forward and spoke to Ye Qiong in a low voice:

"Boss, what I'm going to say next is just some unfounded gossip. Don't take it seriously. I once heard from a friend that the Duke of Elena, who ruled our duchy, had actually died a long time ago."

Your gossip seems a bit wild.

Old Mok's first sentence aroused Ye Qiong's interest.

Old Mok glanced around and confirmed that no one was eavesdropping before continuing:

"Five years ago, on a stormy night, someone saw a black shadow passing through the sky and running into the castle where Duke Elena lived.

When the next morning came, Duke Elena seemed to have become a different person. She used to be very lazy in government affairs and would only convene meetings of her nobles every six months.

But today she went against her usual practice and gathered all the nobles together."

"Has she become diligent?"

Old Mok shook his head and replied:

"On the contrary, the reason why she summoned all the nobles here this time was just to announce one thing, that is, she would hand over the power of the principality to her nephew Sid. Unless there was something important that required her opinion, no one was allowed to go to the castle to disturb her.

About two years passed like this.

The Dragon War broke out, and as a neighboring country of the Kingdom of Elland, we were inevitably dragged into it.

At the beginning, Sid did not intend to disturb his aunt, but later, the intensity of the war became higher and higher, and he could not stand the pressure, so he could only ask Duke Elena to come out.

He originally thought that his rash interruption would anger Duke Elena, but he did not expect that his aunt would be so indifferent to this, as if she had already known that the Dragon War would break out.

Duke Elena regained power from Sid and then vigorously carried out reforms in major cities of the principality.

You have also seen the results of the reforms, boss.

The Shadow Gate Demons that were exploiting the citizens of the Principality were driven out, and the city's residents were united as one."

When he said this, Old Mok's expression was a little sad. After a moment of silence, he continued:

"The current Duke Elena is completely different from before, so some people suspect that she may have been replaced by some special existence. Boss, let me tell you in advance that these are just gossips, so don't take them seriously."

"I understand what you mean. Apart from this, do you know anything else about Duke Elena? For example, her personal preferences or something like that."

"The only thing I know is that she seems to be very friendly to the witch community."

"Witch-friendly?"

"Yes, she has basically never refused any meeting proposed by the witches. She seems to like talking to these witches with different personalities."

Ye Qiong nodded slightly, and then continued:

"Any more?"

"Yes, there is. Recently, there is a rumor that Duke Elena seems to have obtained the method to summon that being from the Shadow Gate Demon. Now she is constantly collecting sacrifices, preparing to summon that being and then conduct a transaction."

“Have you collected them?”

"Boss, I'm just a small information dealer. What I hear are basically gossips from other people. How can I possibly know such details?"

Seeing that the expression on Old Mok's face did not seem like he was lying, Ye Qiong did not pursue the matter any further.

After asking a few questions, he let the information dealer go.

Night came,

Ye Qiong returned to the hotel and found that Adas had already found Kelly.

The three of them met in the room.

Kelly placed the bottle of special gunpowder on the table, sighed softly, and then spoke:

"There are no other special substances contained in it. The materials used to refine gunpowder are similar to those we analyzed before."

"So we are overthinking it? The person who made the gunpowder formula wasn't an expert, he was just a novice, so he added the remains of the dragon slayer into the gunpowder?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe their purpose is just to drive out the dragons. Think about it, what if Elena never really joined this war from the beginning to the end?

She couldn't just slack off blatantly under the watchful eyes of other allies, right?

Therefore, she chose to refine this kind of gunpowder specifically for repelling dragons, to avoid direct conflict with the dragons, so as to ensure that her soldiers could survive the war to the greatest extent possible."

Adas seemed to disagree and retorted:

“No, with the pride of the dragon race, when they encounter this disgusting gunpowder, they will not choose to retreat. Instead, they will continue to attack the demons who throw gunpowder like crazy.”

Ye Qiong agreed with this.

"Given the nature of the dragon race, they might indeed do so."

Kelly has been with Edas for so many years, how could she not know what kind of temperament the dragon race is? Her words were just to make up for Elena. She shrugged and said helplessly:

"Then I don't know. Maybe the owner of the formula really has a genius idea."

After that, she looked at Ye Qiong and Edas and asked:

"What about you? What did you gain from this outing?"

Ye Qiong told them the information he had learned from Old Mok.

After listening to this, Kelly looked puzzled:

"Elena was possessed by someone else? Where did this rumor come from?"

"I've already said that these are just groundless rumors. There's no need to take them seriously. However, I think another rumor is true. The book may be in Elena's hands. She is preparing a ritual to summon that being."

Kelly nodded slightly and agreed:

"After all, we have seen the current situation of the wealthy families in South City. Unless they are under irresistible force, they will never be as obedient as they are now.

But I am a little curious, how did Elena capture those Shadow Gate Demons?" (End of this chapter)