Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 298 The appearance of Hecheng is exactly the same.

Lu Mingfei remained outwardly calm, merely raising an eyebrow:
"It sounds like you trust me, the 'Lord of Stoneville', quite a bit? Are you so sure I won't just kidnap you, this 'heretic,' and send you to the Round Table Hall just to curry favor with Twofinger?"

Roger met Lu Mingfei's scrutinizing gaze, his smile remaining composed:

"A person who can understand the 'nature of the unborn' rather than simply viewing them as monsters, a person whose first reaction upon hearing the word 'heretic' is mockery rather than panic... I trust my judgment. Besides."

He added meaningfully:
"If you were truly the kind of person who follows the rules, you probably wouldn't have gotten to where you are today."

Lu Mingfei shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the matter.

He continued to ask:
"So, you think there are 'dead roots' in Stoneville? How did you come to this conclusion? There must be some concrete evidence."

Lu Mingfei paused, then added:
“I have never had a dead being here.”

Roger gently shook his head:
"I'm afraid the situation is more complicated than that."

"I'm not asserting that there are definitely materialized Death Runes or Dead Roots within the city, but rather making inferences based on two clues."

He extended his gloved fingers:
"Firstly, I have heard that during Greke's rule, there were unexplained riots in Stoneville, which led to the long-term lockdown of parts of the city."

"Secondly, and more importantly."

Roger said:
"Among the items your soldiers confiscated, there was a very worn leather shield. Please send someone to retrieve it."

Lu Mingfei stared at Roger for a few seconds, and after confirming that the other party was serious, he stopped asking questions and directly gave an order to the door.

Not long after, a guard came in carrying a rather old-looking leather shield, handed it to Lu Mingfei, and then went back out and closed the door.

Lu Mingfei took the leather shield in his hand and examined it carefully.

He recognized the design; it was the kind of leather-covered round shield commonly used by Stoneville soldiers, with metal edging.

But the situation here is extremely bad.

The once tough leather of the shield was now tattered and worn, with unnatural, corroded blackish-gray patches on its surface. The edges of these patches were also strangely covered with twisted patterns resembling dried thorns.

The entire shield exuded an ominous aura.

This aura might be difficult for ordinary people to detect, but for someone like Lu Mingfei, whose "sensing" ability far surpasses that of ordinary people, it is as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the dark.

He could even feel a faint stinging sensation in the fingers holding the shield.

"This taste...and this feeling..."

Lu Mingfei frowned deeply and said uncertainly:
"It's like... the erosion of some kind of force."

He turned his shield toward Roger, his tone hardening:

"Where did this thing come from?"

Roger looked at the shield, his expression serious:
"That is precisely the crux of the matter, Sir Lu Mingfei."

"I acquired this shield by chance; it came from within the city of Stoneville."

"Moreover, according to my recent investigation, the presence of such marks on the shields carried by the soldiers in the city is not an isolated case."

For the first time, Lu Mingfei felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety.

As the de facto ruler of Stoneville, he was completely unaware of the obvious and ominous corruption lurking within the city.

This is no coincidence; there must be a core source of pollution continuously emanating from within the city.

An image flashed uncontrollably through his mind.

That was the day he succeeded as the leader of the Storm Knights.

Compared to his previous life, it wasn't a grand ceremony; it was just in the castle square, in front of the soldiers who had entrusted their lives to him.

They wore repaired armor, perhaps still tattered, but the light shining in their upturned faces and eyes was one of trust and expectation.

He once thought that possessing power, defeating strong enemies, and occupying cities meant "rule." Only now, holding this shield that symbolized potential disaster and feeling the breath of death, did he truly feel the responsibility on his shoulders and his dereliction of duty.

These soldiers entrusted their lives and loyalty to him. And he nearly allowed this strange power to spread among them.

He must protect the city and the people who have entrusted their fate to him.

This was his response to those gazes, and also his inescapable duty as the Lord of the Storm.

He stared intently at the shield in his hand, which exuded a chilling aura.

Lu Mingfei had never felt such a strong urge as he did at this moment for those mysterious "words" that often appeared in his mind next to important items to give him hints and help.

But he also knew that those words were not omnipotent; they would only manifest in specific objects or situations that contained sufficient "value" or "meaning."

As if responding to the urgent call in his heart, a few familiar lines of handwriting suddenly appeared in his mind.

【Erosion Shield】

The leather shields carried by Stoneville's soldiers.

The shield was eroded by black spots and thorns.

It looks exactly like the city.

People were speculating: Was it a curse caused by limb reattachment?

Or perhaps, somewhere within the city,

What could be even more terrifying lurking within?

Lu Mingfei gently placed the shield on the table, not immediately responding to Roger, but instead speaking in a deep voice towards the door again:

"Let the man who delivered the shield in."

The guard quickly pushed open the door and entered, standing respectfully to one side.

Lu Mingfei pointed to the leather shield on the table, which exuded an ominous aura, and looked at the guard, his tone calm:
"I ask you, have you ever seen a shield like this... with these strange black spots and thorn patterns on its surface in the city? Are there many people carrying such armor or weapons?"

The guard was taken aback by Lu Mingfei's serious expression and the question he asked.

He examined the shield carefully, a look of recollection and uncertainty on his face, and hesitantly replied:
"My lord... shields like this... I have indeed seen them before. Mainly in... the shields used by many brothers in the patrol team on the west side of the city wall and the squads responsible for guarding the old warehouse area, they all have similar... um, similar blackened and dirty marks."

Everyone assumed it was just dirt or mold from prolonged use and didn't think much of it..."

Although the guard's answer was not clear, the information he revealed corroborated what Roger had said.

Lu Mingfei's heart sank.

This is not an isolated case; it may even have affected a considerable number of soldiers.

He waved his hand, dismissing the bewildered guards once again.

After the door was closed again, Lu Mingfei did not speak immediately.

His gaze fell once again on the words that had surfaced in his mind, especially the phrase "exactly like the city."

Black spots and thorny erosion?
Lu Mingfei immediately thought of the western city wall that the guard had mentioned earlier.

Of course he remembers that place.

That was the place where, when he was weak, he sneaked into Stoneville like a mouse to avoid the dangers of the main battlefield.

That section of the wall was indeed badly damaged, riddled with holes and cracks. At the time, he assumed it was due to Stoneville's long-term neglect or the result of a fierce battle.

But now, a very vivid detail has surfaced from my memory.

(End of this chapter)