Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Chapter 651 Kaidun City and the Watcher

Kaiton City, a forging city that dominates the south, is located in a wasteland of bones where beasts gather, but it has always stood firm.

Tall towers stand tall, black smoke gushes out; city gates open and close, and caravans come and go for transportation. This city-state is like a giant beast that swallows gold and iron, devouring all kinds of ores and then spitting out neat and sharp weapons and armor.

They were marked with different logos and transported to all parts of the world by ant-like caravans. If you look closely at the emblems above, you can even find many hostile forces: when they fight to the death, the weapons they wield are actually products of the same manufacturer.

Kaiton City, the master of scrap.

Unlike other city-states in the Southern United City, the status of the sword-bearing nobles is maintained purely by blood; it is also different from the north after the disintegration of traditional families, where the robe-wearing merchants determine victory or defeat based on the amount of assets.

In Kaiton City, only by controlling the weapons and armor production line and becoming a scrap master can you accumulate the greatest wealth; but only the most powerful and pure-blooded families in the city-state can participate in the forging business and form a monopoly.

For the first time, the identities of the United City nobles and the business nobles were so unified. It was also for this reason that, against the backdrop of the separation and confrontation between the sword-wearing nobles and the robe-wearing nobles, the Scrap Master Group of Kaiton City, although located in the south, was not very keen to participate in the position struggle.

Keeping to oneself.

In order to sell weapons and armor to the entire continent, they needed a complete transportation and trade network, so Kaiton City even maintained close ties with the Merchant Guild.

While the entire South United City was declining, Kaiton City, relying on its own strong technology, large-scale industries, and the right combination of all, was bucking the trend and thriving.

It's just that this is a situation where you have to eat from both ends.

It seems to be about to break.

Noble residence.

The lord of Kaiton City, Tenshin Shiro, is entertaining guests.

As a great lord, there are not many people and occasions worthy of his personal appearance, which means that the other party must at least be someone of matching status.

The status of the guest in front of you.

That's it.

A waiter stood respectfully beside him, reading out the long list of gifts in his hand, which included everything from pure coins, gold, silver and jewelry to carriages, cloth, land and servants.

In terms of its value alone.

It is definitely a great gift.

Lord Shiro listened, but there was no mercenary or happy smile on his face, instead he looked solemn.

Finally, as the gift list was signed and the waiter's sonorous voice ended, he finally exhaled a breath of foul air, leaned forward and looked at the person in front of him and asked: "Mrs. Grace, what do you mean by this?"

The person in front of you.

It was the great lord of the city of Colons, Lady Grace.

She was wearing brocade silk, which showed off her curvy figure. When she heard Silang's question, she laughed and said, "Isn't it a bit strange for you to say that, Lord Silang? When our ancestors founded the country with swords and worked hard, they were all comrades-in-arms. They trusted each other with their lives and deaths. Now their descendants are just getting together like this, and they are exchanging gifts. Do they need any special reason?"

"You don't have to go through all this with me." Tian Xin Shilang sneered, "If we were really as close as you say, we wouldn't have ended up like this - as for you, Grace, I know even more clearly that you are definitely someone who will not do anything without profit."

What's more,

A great lord of a city-state went to another city-state in person... Unless he was invited by a close friend or ally, or was crowned as the emperor of the empire, no great noble would easily leave his territory.

This is indeed a rare situation.

Seeing that the Lord of Kaiton City had no intention of playing coy with her, Grace restrained her businesslike smile and looked serious.

Shi Lang was waiting for the other party to explain her purpose, but he saw her flick her wrist, and a slender and beautiful short knife appeared in her palm.

The guards standing around were shocked.

They all held down their weapons and were about to draw them.

The other party was of noble status, so it was impossible for them to force a detailed body search when they visited. They also did not expect Grace to go against convention and carry a sharp blade when meeting with Lord Shilang, who was also a great lord.

Now they are sitting at the same table.

Could it be that the assassination attempt failed?

"Quiet." Shiro pressed his palm downwards to stop his subordinates' actions. He secretly clenched his other fist, but said calmly: "Grace, do you really want to fight? Among the three of us, only Meilin, the martial arts madman, has reached the legion level with his own strength. As for your little three-dimensional cat skills, you are not even as good as me..."

As city-state lords, they don't need to fight in person, but they have so many resources in their hands that they can have considerable strength just by fighting head-on.

In addition, the martial spirit of the sword-carrying nobles is still there.

Many people are able to protect themselves even when facing ordinary assassins alone - this makes the few successful assassinations seem more valuable.

Moreover, the reason why Shilang was fearless, besides his understanding of Grace's strength, was also because of the set of fine steel inner armor he wore under his luxurious dress.

It was passed down from ancestors of the Tianxin family.

It is said that each component was made by the most outstanding scrap masters in Kaiton City, and the owner of the house took great pains to ensure the quality.

Finally, gradually piece them together.

So far, only half of the full set of drawings has been completed, which can barely serve as a set of inner armor...and its quality is masterpiece-level.

It’s even harder to imagine what it will look like when it’s fully completed.

Shiro is confident.

Just sit here and let Grace chop.

It may not be able to break the defense.

However, the lady showed her dagger and then stopped taking any presumptuous actions.

She held the handle of the knife with one hand and the blade with the other.

It looked like he was offering a knife.

"Please." Grace said.

Shi Lang glanced at her, motioned for the guards beside him to come forward and fetch the knife, and handed it to him, while using words to cover up his confusion: "Is this also a gift from you to me..."

As the Lord of Kaidun City, he has seen countless famous swords.

It is already difficult for any weapon to make him excited.

Grace said nothing.

Just as Shiro took the knife and was about to continue playing with it, a badge flashed between his eyes and his movements paused instantly.

The dagger slipped from his hand.

It was about to fall.

The guards beside Shilang were quick to step forward to take it.

At this time, Shilang and Grace both reacted, but neither of them intended to move. The latter even had a smile on her face, watching the guard's outstretched hand with interest.

Chi.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

Then, accompanied by a scream, three fingers were severed at the root. The guard was merely scratched by the falling blade and his fingers were cut off.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Ding.

Then, the tip of the short blade fell to the ground.

It pierced directly through the white jade ground.

"...Get off." Shi Lang came back to his senses and looked at the guard who was covering his hand and gasping for air with disdain, "Do you think you can touch this inscribed blade casually?"

What he just saw.

It was the cross pattern on the inscribed blade. "...Yes."

The guard endured the pain, picked up his severed finger, and without even having time to bandage it, he put the wound on his palm into his mouth, cleaned the blood on the ground, and left in a vague voice.

He did this not to heal his wounds, but because he was worried that his blood would pollute the lord's land again.

The two nobles thought it was natural. Tian Xinshilang's attention was completely focused on the short sword in front of him: "...Is this the one that was passed down in your Colons family?"

The famous blade: Wakashi.

This type of secondary weapon, which can be used to disembowel and penetrate the gaps in the enemy's armor, is known for its extreme sharpness. Only their inscribed blades can cause people to be cut if they simply touch the edge.

"That's right." Grace nodded, and when she looked at Ming Ren, she also had a look of reluctance that was hard to conceal, "Such a gift... Lord Tianxin, do you dare to accept it?"

Shiro swallowed.

The Scrap Masters Group of Kaiton City excels in forging appreciation. Not to mention the grades and general merchandise named after the city-state [Kaiton City], they themselves can use weapons of the Skeleton Craftsman level, and Tianxin Shilang has also collected a lot of the relics of the Blade Walkers... but the Tianxin family just doesn't have a signature blade of their own.

Dating back to the founding of the country.

After all, Kaidun City is a rising star.

Those who can possess the inscribed blade are all true old-line nobles, and this may be the last threshold between them and becoming the top families in the empire.

However, Grace's question was heard.

Tian Xin Shilang did not agree immediately. He shook his head and then said, "Grace, if you had just told me who you wanted to see, why bother talking so much?"

The other party just called him by his family name.

Rather than the real name.

In fact, the purpose of the visit has been hinted.

"Then can I see him?" Grace asked.

Shiro thought about it and shook his head, "It's really not possible."

"Brother, he won't want to see you."

"But now," he then changed his words, "except my brother, no one else is qualified to accept such a gift."

"Follow me." Shiro stood up.

Go and meet the general who guards the southern region of the empire, who is considered a leader even among the war-level ones—

Heaven's will is to benefit and be righteous.

……

……

To everyone's surprise, the house where the famous General Tianxin lived was neither as luxurious as the noble residence of the city lord, nor as solemn and tidy as a military camp... If I must say, this place was more like a temple.

In order to develop the forging and smelting industry, all the trees and vegetation in Kaidun City and the surrounding dozens of miles have been cut down and burned as coal in furnaces. A scrap master said that weapons and armor made in this way have soul.

But outside the general's mansion, there are two ancient trees that stand tall and straight, with green leaves that provide shade for people.

Wisps of smoke drifted out of the lobby.

With a scent of sandalwood.

Here, there is indeed fireworks everywhere.

It was very quiet.

Until a man in a linen robe let out a long sigh, breaking the slightly Zen atmosphere.

He sat upright on a cushion, and his exact age could not be determined from his appearance, except that he seemed quite young - however, as the sworn brother of the current city lord, Tenshin Shiro, he had already started fighting in battle as a teenager when he was adopted, while his younger brother was still just a baby in swaddling clothes.

Today, the great lord Tenshin Shiro is already a mature middle-aged man, but Tenshin Risho's appearance still seems to be frozen in the past.

Young and sharp.

It's like time has stopped.

"Why is General Tianxin sighing?" Another voice was heard in the lobby - there was actually another guest here.

The guest noticed that the general of the United Cities had just withdrawn his gaze from the outside of the house.

"I feel like there will be trouble coming... It's a bit difficult to deal with." Tian Xinli said calmly, "But I can't help but help."

"Is there anything in this world that a general finds troublesome?" The guest thought the other party was joking and teased him.

"There are too many things I have to say..." The general's gaze drifted into the distance, as if blending into the void of green smoke.

The sinister schemes of Long En in the north are hard to guard against, and the machine in the east is extremely powerful and cannot be touched...but he still needs to use them to check and balance each other, and he cannot offend anyone.

Even not long ago, a secret agent from the South who had just returned was assassinated in the military camp, causing shock to the whole city, and he had no choice but to go out in armor.

The other party seemed to be afraid to engage in direct combat.

But I couldn't catch any trace of him.

I had to let it go.

This incident revealed another conspiracy of Long En's lackey, the noble attendant. Grace from Colons City might have come for this reason... But there seemed to be something strange behind it, which made Tian Xinli Zheng unable to make up his mind.

However, he certainly would not say these to anyone. The general just looked at the guest with a teasing look in his eyes: "If you want to talk about 'trouble', isn't there one right in front of me?"

"Am I right? The Watcher of the Swale Lagoon."

When the guest heard the other party referring to him, he scratched his head awkwardly and said, "So this is how the general sees me."

"Of course, if you don't leave, my brother and the foreign guests will find out that you, as a representative of the Southern Technology Hunters, have secretly colluded with the generals of the Southern United Empire, and that will be made public—"

"I thought we were just personal friends..."

"You know best whether it is a personal relationship or a personal motive." Tian Xinli said, "Besides, we can't even talk about friendship with someone like you."

"Don't make it sound so heartless," the guest smiled, but then changed the subject, "Although, in fact, I feel the same way."

Just as Tian Xin Lizheng said, it was hard to imagine that he, as a watcher of the technology hunters, would actually be in the general's residence in Kaiton City; and what was equally hard for outsiders to imagine was that in his conversations with Tian Xin Lizheng, he did not have the inferiority complex that he had when facing an extremely powerful person, and they were basically still in the same equal position.

Of course, if you carefully listen to the guest's tone, you can still read some deep-seated fear.

At this time, he also noticed that someone was rushing towards Li Zheng's residence. He was accompanied by a complete ceremonial guard and was of high status.

The guest stood up.

With his strength, it's still not too late for him to leave.

"Besides the deal, I have one last question... With your current status, you are still just a pawn." Behind the guest, the young-looking general was still sitting on the futon. He spoke from a distance: "Then why don't you want to be 'Arke'?"

The guest's figure paused as he was leaving.

Then he smiled and said:

"Being a sword master is so tiring."

"and……"

"The black scratch is not Alke's black scratch... but this will always be my depression lagoon."

Hearing the voice, Tian Xinli turned around and looked, but the guest had completely disappeared, as if he had never been there from the beginning.

Only blue smoke remained in the air.

Disturb secretly.

(End of this chapter)