Imperial Crown.

Chapter 189 Crystal Palace

The crossbow lay on its side in the box, emitting a bright silver light.

Although the overall lines are as simple and smooth as before the transformation, the crossbow body and crossbow string have all become mithril structures, making them appear more slender and delicate.

It is about ten centimeters long and only about eight centimeters wide when not strung up, so it can be completely hidden in the wide sleeves of a men's suit.

After the mithril cools naturally, it will have frost-like patterns on it, and it feels icy when you touch it with your fingers.

The crossbow case is still made of the original material. At the junction of the crossbow body and the crossbow case, mithril has seeped into the jet-black star iron. There is no trace of welding and it feels smooth, as if it were originally one piece.

The curvature of the crossbow handle fits the palm of Raven very well, giving him an excellent touch, so light that he can hardly feel the weight.

Then his eyes fell on the crossbow arrow in the box. He reached out to pick it up, and a cold and heavy feeling came over him.

Sohei explained: "The crossbow body and crossbow string are reconstructed with mithril, so the strength and output are guaranteed. The replaced materials are used to cast these three crossbow arrows!"

Mithril is strong but too light, and the crossbow arrow must be heavy enough to pour all the energy it carries into the target.

Using star iron to forge crossbow arrows is a very clear and correct idea.

No matter how good the words are, they are useless without testing.

Raven placed the crossbow arrow in the groove and pulled the crossbow string with two fingers, but it didn't work the first time!
You know, Raven’s current strength is no worse than that of a third-level knight.

Still following the old way, use your knee to support it, and with a slight click, the crossbow arrow is fixed in the groove, and the stringing process is completed.

A sharp light flashed from Raven's eyes. He raised his crossbow, aimed at the armor on the wall, and pulled the trigger.

The crossbow string suddenly went from being bent to being tightened, creating a cloud of dust, and the dark crossbow arrow disappeared almost instantly.

If the passage of time was slowed down dozens of times, one would be able to see that after the crossbow arrow left the string, it rotated under the action of the tail fin, tearing through the armor almost unhindered, then passing through the back and nailing into the wall, chiseling out bursts of dust, and drilling through the one-foot-thick wall, revealing half of the arrow body before it barely stopped!
Sohei hurried outside, holding the crossbow in both hands and placing it back on Raven's desk.

Raven smiled, "Sohei, you did a great job."

It is worthy of being a crossbow made from fifth-level materials. It has such strong penetrating and destructive power without any enchantments!

With this crossbow in hand, if the enemy is caught off guard, even a third-level transcendent would probably die on the spot!
Suo Hei said: "Please peel off another layer, below is the equipment I made for you with the remaining materials!"

This surprised Raven.

The box itself is not big, what can be put in the space underneath?
Lifting the top layer, one could see a piece of silver silk placed inside.

Holding this silk in the hand, it feels as cool as silk, but very tough and dense. Lifting it and shaking it open, it turns out to be... a vest?
"This is the close-fitting soft armor I made for you with mithril!" Sohei's eyes were filled with enthusiasm. "Although it is only a thin layer, it has excellent protection capabilities. I once did a test and found that even this newly modified crossbow could not penetrate its defense at close range!"

If the modification of the crossbow was still within Raven's expectations, then the appearance of this mithril soft armor was a surprise.

Metal has a strong interference with spellcasting, so no mage would ever wear heavy armor. Raven himself would only wear leather armor when going into battle.

Mithril itself has the property of conducting magic. Now, as a close-fitting soft armor, it will not affect Raven's magic success rate, and can also provide good protection.

"You've put in a lot of effort." Raven tapped the table with his fingers. "Your forging results this time have exceeded my expectations. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

Sohei swallowed his saliva and seemed to have made up his mind: "My Lord Baron, I hope you can reward Boweier's jewelry store!!"

Raven was stunned for a moment. This was the second unexpected thing today. "You have always looked down on Bo Weier, why are you suddenly speaking for him?"

Sohei was a little embarrassed: "That guy usually speaks too pretentiously. I really don't like him, but I also know that he wants to create a better living environment for us gray dwarves who have left home."

"His skills in jewelry processing are no less than my attainments in forging. It is really unfair for him to stay in the workshop as my assistant."

"Besides..." Suohei fingered his beard, "He's always giving orders, it's really annoying!"

This was a bit of self-pardoning. Raven chuckled and said, "Of course I can agree to this request, but you have to think it over. If you build a jewelry store for Bowell, you can't make any other requests!"

"I've thought about it. This is the request!" Suohei nodded heavily.

"That's strange. Just for Bowell, are you going to give up your dream of becoming a master blacksmith?" Raven asked.

"Of course not!" Suohei grinned, "My Lord Baron, you are not an ordinary noble. You will go further and further and stand on a higher stage, and the equipment you use is all made by me!"

"My reputation will rise with your achievements! As long as I keep following you, I believe that one day, I will be able to achieve my dream!"

These words made Raven look at him with a new respect.

But on second thought, although Thor is considered young among the gray dwarves, he has lived for more than two hundred years. He is also the leader of this group of black dwarves. How could he be so simple-minded that he can only bicker and quarrel?

Raven was about to say a few more words of encouragement when there was a knock on the door. Fiona was standing at the door, obviously having something to report.

Upon seeing this, Suo Hei immediately bowed and left.

"My Lord Baron." Fiona came in and closed the door. After saluting, she whispered, "There's news from the Crystal Palace that a group of strangers have stopped here and are behaving strangely."

Crystal Palace is a clubhouse in Eagle Town that provides a variety of "intimate" services.

Nominally it is personally owned, but in reality it is directly controlled by Eagle Castle, and its controller is also selected by old Gordon himself.

"Weird? How?" Raven asked.

"That's it..." Fiona's face turned red. She walked forward and placed a document in front of Raven: "Please take a look."

Picking up the document, Raven opened it and just glanced at it. His expression was a little strange, and he knew why Fiona blushed.

Because what is written on it are the original words of the Crystal Palace's leaders and technicians, they are extremely truthful and contain a lot of specific content.

For example, it describes what kind of requirements each technician received from the customer and how they implemented them, and the details are written very well.

It clearly states the position to which the hands are raised, the angle to which the feet are opened, how much time is spent, the personal experience of the female technician, and customer feedback.

Although the writing is not very good, it has a simple and direct impact and can be called a text version of a teaching film.

As for being "strange", it was because although these guests had already lived in the Crystal Palace for four days and were generous with their spending, their lives were unusually regular. Apart from being served, they hardly interacted with anyone, and did not seem like guests seeking pleasure at all.

Raven rubbed his chin. "It seems that I need to pay personal attention to this."

Raven himself had not been to the Crystal Palace since it opened.

Fiona gave him a strange look. "Ahem!" Raven cleared his throat and met her gaze: "You come with me!"

"Oh..." Fiona replied smoothly, and then she realized: "Ah!?"

"What? Go get ready." Raven said without question, "I'll wait for you in the lobby."

This order made Fiona's mind confused. By the time she thought of refusing, Raven had disappeared.

As a last resort, Fiona had to go back to her room, change her clothes, and go to the hall.

Seeing this, Raven almost spat out the Angel Tears in his mouth.

It was only mid-September and the weather was still hot, but Fiona had wrapped herself in a thick wool coat with the collar pulled very tightly together. She also wore a thick woolen hat on her head, so that even her nose could not be seen, revealing only a pair of glasses as thick as the bottom of a bottle.

"...I think your image now is much more suspicious than those guests." Raven said.

"Um..." Fiona opened her collar and exposed her mouth: "What did you say?"

I didn't hear it at all.

Raven rolled his eyes. “I say, go change into something more normal!!”

After some more trouble, the two finally went out and came to the Crystal Palace in Eagle Town.

It is called the Crystal Palace and is decorated quite gorgeously. The sign at the door is made of a whole piece of natural crystal, and even uses magic lamps that change in seven colors. It is quite eye-catching even in the daytime. If it were at night, it would turn into dazzling neon lights.

Fiona was extremely nervous. She had never been to such a place in her life, and had never even thought about it.

Looking at the guards standing at the door, Fiona felt herself sweating. If they asked her questions later, how would she answer?

However, to her surprise, when she followed Raven into the gate, one of the guards opened the door respectfully, while the other guard looked straight ahead, and no one even glanced at her.

While this made her feel relieved, she also had many more doubts in her mind - I'm not dressed as a man, am I so ugly that outsiders can't tell my gender?

Then she lowered her head and saw that her vision fell on her feet without any obstruction, which made her feel even more inferior.

I followed Raven and sat down in confusion, and then I heard Raven ask, "What are you thinking about?"

Fiona woke up with a start: "No, nothing...it's just, Sir Baron, am I ugly?"

Raven looked her over carefully.

The silver-gray hair was scattered behind her head, looking a little messy without being deliberately groomed; her head was slightly lowered, her eyebrows were delicate and soft, and her lips were thin and lacked some blood color, which would make people unconsciously feel a desire to protect her.

She was wearing a Ferrari suit, which is common nowadays, with her shirt buttoned up quite tightly. Her hands were nervously placed on her knees, her legs were together, and her toes were pointing towards each other on a pair of gray high-heeled shoes.

He looks like a newcomer in the workplace.

"It's not ugly, what's wrong?"

Fiona shook her head slightly, and finally had time to observe the layout of the Crystal Palace.

In the center was a dance floor with several wooden sticks standing on it. It was still afternoon, so there were no dancers.

Next to the dance floor is a circle of scattered seats, and on the east side there is a counter serving drinks.

Further out is the box where she is now.

It's not entirely correct to call it a box, because there is no door. It is just surrounded by three wall panels. The view is very good and you can directly see the hall below. Privacy is taken into consideration when designing it. When you are in one box, it is difficult to see what is going on in another box.

A small box can accommodate about five or six people, while a larger one, such as the one where Fiona and Raven are, can accommodate more than a dozen people, and there is a high platform with wooden sticks built in the central open space.

Just then, two women walked past her arm in arm.

This would have been nothing, but the next moment, she saw the two men actually walked into another private room and shouted loudly for the waiter.

They are here to consume! ?
"My Lord Baron, why is there a female guest here?" Fiona asked incredulously.

Raven replied as a matter of course: "It's not just women who provide services here."

Fiona's pupils trembled violently, and she felt that her world was collapsing. She had never thought about what Raven said!
When Fiona thought of that scene, she felt a chill all over her body, and even felt that Raven's nickname "Little Bee" was quite good.

Raven was surprised to see Fiona's face turning red and white. He couldn't help but chuckle, ordered two glasses of wine, and turned to look into the hall.

He came here mainly to personally confirm the identity and strength of those suspicious people.

As for why she brought Fiona here - of course it was for her own reputation. If she came alone, or brought a man, whether it was Eric or Volaf, or any of her personal soldiers, people would think that her intentions were impure.

But Fiona is a very good companion, and Lux ​​would never think that Fiona would fool around with her.

Time passed little by little, and soon it was four o'clock in the afternoon. More and more guests began to arrive, and the music started. The dancers jumped onto the dance floor and began to show off their figures. At one moment, whistles were heard everywhere, and copper and silver coins flew onto the dance floor in arcs. Occasionally, even golden light could be seen.

Whenever the golden light appears, the dancers will work harder, making the limited fabric on their bodies even thinner.

Fiona's eyes widened as she pointed at the stage in the box and asked, "Is this also used for dancing?"

"Private dances are generally more expensive," Raven replied, "Want to see one?"

There was a hint of desire in Fiona's eyes. She almost agreed, but finally shook her head.

I really can't read people's subtext.

Raven complained in his mind.

You said you wanted to see it, so can't I see it too?
A waiter came over, brought a snack, and whispered, "Baron, someone is coming down the east stairs."

Raven nodded, looked casually in the direction the waiter said, and quietly opened the Eyes of Truth.

A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Hand of Death!?"

……

(End of this chapter)