I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

This pleasant physical change did not bring Duke joy; on the contrary, it made him rub his temples, trying hard to recall what had happened before he lost consciousness.

"Could you two please stop fooling around for a moment?" Duke, having racked his brains for a long time without any results, could only turn around and ask Carol and Eve, who were still fooling around, "Could you tell me what happened first?"

"What happened?" Carol plopped down on her best friend's lap, pinning Eve down beneath her, declaring herself the victor in this sisterly battle. Only then did she have time to answer Duke's question: "Talia, a high-ranking officer of the Mute Ones, is suspected of kidnapping several legal citizens of the floating city, and this vicious criminal has her eye on you."

“I know that.”

"Do you know she almost succeeded? A legend with a complete body and soul... If she hadn't cowered like an idiot in front of you, Talia would have killed you and Annie long ago."

Carol rolled her eyes at Duke. Because of him, the elaborate trap she and Eve had laid in the floating city ultimately failed to capture Talia.

"She still launched an attack at the last moment. If Anne hadn't been there to save you, you would be dead, Duke! But in her place, Anne was taken away by her, just like the other victims, erased from everyone else's memories."

Duke looked at Carol with a serious expression. As she recounted her story, the scenes before she fell into a coma gradually came together like pieces of a puzzle.

Yes, it was Annie who saved him.

That stalker's special spell wasn't used casually; she practically paid the price of her life to save him, and afterwards, she was kidnapped by Talia in his place...

Not to mention that Talia also has Megan as a prisoner.

“To put it bluntly, I don’t know Jasmine and Joan well, and their disappearance has nothing to do with me.” Duke clenched his fists. “But Megan and Anne… I must rescue them.”

Eve, who was being sat on by Carol, struggled a few times. To be honest, this high-ranking witch, who usually had a rather aloof demeanor, was somewhat disheveled at this moment, but that didn't stop her from speaking up again: "Well said!"

“But before that, you need to know exactly who your enemy is,” Carol added. “Duke, do you know about the mute people?”

Chapter 139 The Mute

"Duke, do you know about people with aphasia?"

Duke has heard this question so many times he's practically worn out.

Led by the renowned riddle master, Saint, more than three people had asked Duke similar questions, making it seem as if they were about to introduce the Aphasia organization, but ultimately failed to do so due to various coincidences.

By the way, Eve, who is still under the Lord of the City's butt at this moment, once said something similar. It was as if she was teasing him. After piquing his interest, she said something like, "After you reach Hero rank, I will tell you everything in detail," which was a kind of idle play.

Are you trying to play mind games with him here?

Those who know will understand that this is a floating city, but those who don't might mistake it for Gotham City, as there are Riddlers everywhere!

So when Carol brought up the topic, Duke didn't seem excited at all, and even gave a perfunctory "Oh, awesome, so what?" response.

However, compared to the riddle tellers, Carol was much more direct—perhaps because she was a legendary witch who could command respect and therefore had fewer reservations.

"The predecessor of the Mute was called the 'Society of Common Hearts,' which was first established in the first few years after the construction of the Floating City. It was an organization secretly formed by several witches who were dissatisfied with the policies of the first city lord, Lady Scarlet. From the beginning, they were preparing to rebel."

Duke was slightly taken aback, not expecting to hear Ms. Fei's name here—he was even more surprised that Fei was the first city lord of the floating city.

"That's not right. Lady Fei's name isn't among the four legendary witches of the Floating City, is it?"

Duke looked slightly puzzled, but Carol quickly replied, "There are five of the four legends, that should be common knowledge, right?"

"It's definitely 5.5!" Eve finally struggled out from under Carol's bottom, winking and glaring at her best friend. "I can at least be counted as 0.5, right?"

“Even counting 0.5 people is too many. If you count like that, the floating city could probably produce ten more legends. Don’t interrupt.” Carol rolled her eyes. “Anyway, the predecessor of the Aphasic, the Heart Society, had a very clear organizational structure, extremely strong cohesion among its members, and an exceptionally clear organizational value—it was like, ‘That Fei did something absolutely inhuman, let’s all rebel against her!’ However, because of the limited number of members and their average strength, they didn’t manage to pull off anything particularly impressive.”

"What did Ms. Fei do back then to cause such widespread resentment?"

"Don't bother asking about that. Anyway, it's not a good thing. She herself reflected on her actions after the Aphasia incident became a big deal. I won't criticize her for her wrong approach."

Carol answered flawlessly.

“Okay.” Duke shrugged. “But it sounds like the Aphasia didn’t have a very good start, did it? What good is it if such a loose organization is very active?”

“That’s right. Before the first crash of the floating city, Ms. Fei and the leadership of the floating city at that time thought the same thing: these small organizations were springing up like mushrooms after rain and couldn’t be wiped out. Since nothing serious happened, they decided to leave it alone.”

As Carol recounted these stories, her expression became somewhat subtle, as these were histories she had never experienced. However, Eve beside her wore a solemn and nostalgic expression.

More than a hundred years older than Carol, she personally experienced that era; one could say she watched the mute community grow up step by step.

Eve picked up where she left off, sighing with nostalgia, "But soon, a mute joined the Covenant Society, and then this little organization underwent a complete transformation."

"It is precisely because of that mute girl that the Heart Society has become the infamous mute people they are today." Carol continued Eve's story, "That mute girl was a genius. In the thousand years of the Floating City, no one has been more talented than her. Even we, or even Lady Scarlet, are not enough. The insects of the Heart Society wanted to use this gifted child, but they never expected that she would use them instead, and they became the mute people themselves."

"Under the leadership of the mute, the Aphas rose to prominence at an astonishing pace, becoming a force that no one could ignore... However, the nature of the organization was much better than the previous Heart Society; it became a normal witch society, no longer focused on rebellion. This was originally a good thing, but then a major incident occurred in the Floating City!"

Carol's tone made Duke guess what was going on. He frowned and asked tentatively, "Were the first batch of alternate dimensions linked to the floating city?"

"Yes."

Carol gave Duke an admiring look.

"The first batch of alternate dimensions were linked to the floating city. At that time, the witches had not yet thought of such a wonderful idea as witch games. They could only painstakingly conquer the alternate dimensions themselves. Not only did they suffer heavy losses, but also the emergence of crown-level beings that could affect reality. For a time, the floating city was in deep trouble."

"Under these circumstances, Ms. Fei offered to step down in exchange for the mute man's help. Together, they severed the first link between the two dimensions, temporarily calming the situation. Ms. Fei kept her promise, and the mute people came out into the open, becoming members of the floating city... This was the only honeymoon period between the floating city and the mute people."

"But the second floating city lord, who was my predecessor, is someone I don't need to worry about too much since I usurped power from her—in short, she was a scumbag, far worse than Lady Fei."

"She betrayed the mute and the mute without hesitation, not only severely damaging the thriving mute, but more importantly, also seriously injuring the mute, bringing her to the brink of death."

"In my predecessor's view, this was the most rational and profitable choice, and normally she would have succeeded... It's just a pity that that scumbag overlooked the possibility of a top genius."

"The mute woman, dragging her dying body, forcibly ascended to the divine throne, losing all her mind and soul, and became a deity who protects the mute. Now, we can't even say her name."

"And after that, the mute people who were protected by the gods split into several different factions. Some factions became the most notorious terrorist organizations in the floating city, some factions infiltrated the research department, and some factions... even became the leadership of the floating city. Tsk tsk, in a thousand years, the floating city has been infiltrated by the mute people and turned into a sieve."

"Huh?" Duke was taken aback when he heard this, because Carol pointed at him and Eve behind her, "You guys... huh?"

“And Talia’s faction is the most outrageous one.” Carol curled her lips. “These lunatics want to wander in the witch’s game, and want to completely open up these different dimensions with different rules to the real world. In their words, it can bring about a great evolution.”

"Are you sick?"

“Yeah, they’re crazy!” Carol nodded quickly. “And Talia is the craziest one of those lunatics!”

Chapter 140 It hardened… The fist hardened.

Under Carol's explanation, Duke finally understood the relationship between the mute and the floating city... Simply put, it was the relationship between Soviet spies and British MI5—they were infiltrated to the core.

Oh, even MI5 might be a bit stronger than the Floating City. After all, even the current city lord, the core of the Floating City's management, is a member of the Aphasic. Great Britain hasn't lost face to that extent yet.

Of course, the actual situation is slightly different.

“Strictly speaking, we can’t really be considered aphasic, since our beliefs are different from those of the original Tongxin Society and the aphasic people when the mute was alive. We are just aphasic because we have received the protection of the gods.”

Carol was very self-aware of her background, after all, she had never met that genius mute, who had perished in betrayal before Carol was born, which is why she could narrate these things from such an objective perspective.

“Besides, that deity is currently the only one protecting the floating city. Why not believe if you have the means?” Carol said excitedly, her words even carrying a hint of disrespect. “Anyway, it’s free, so why not believe a little?”

On the contrary, Eve, who had actually met that genius, couldn't help but twitch her lips when she heard Carol's outrageous remarks.

As Carol recounted the past, her eyes remained fixed on a lingering sense of nostalgia, but she didn't say much until now, when she finally interrupted her: "That's enough. Aren't you afraid of divine punishment?"

“Oh, really.” Carol shuddered and quickly stopped talking. “In short, the mute people in the floating city have long since split into many factions. They not only do not cooperate with each other, but are mostly at odds with each other... They even beat each other to a pulp without knowing each other’s identities. It can be said that the only thing the mute people have in common is that they are protected by the gods.”

"So, what are you planning to do?" Duke frowned. "You and Talia are supposed to be enemies, right?"

“Of course, my presence here signifies this. Let’s cooperate, Duke.” Carol smiled and waved to Duke. “Let’s put aside our past grievances and work together to take down the Tarfist faction led by Talia!”

"it is good!"

Duke nodded firmly, but then asked somewhat strangely, "Let bygones be bygones? What grudges have we ever had?"

Carol's relaxed smile suddenly froze, and then she frowned: "Don't you remember?"

"Eh..." Duke, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, continued, somewhat strangely, "Have I offended you?"

"You! Don't! Remember! Anything! At All?!"

Carol's eyes widened, and she took a step forward, standing right in front of Duke, her face close to his, exclaiming in shock:

"Scumbag! Blockhead! Insensitive!"

Duke: "..."

Although this wasn't the first time he'd been called a scumbag, and he'd even gradually gotten used to his scumbag persona, this time Duke genuinely couldn't remember how he'd offended "Roll."

But as luck would have it, he added another question:

"It shouldn't be because I was exposed for cheating on five women at the same time, right?"

"hehe."

Seeing Carol's cold smile, Duke belatedly realized a few facts:

First of all, girls often have much better memories than men. They can remember small details that you might not even realize at the time, and remember them for a long time.

Secondly, if you're arguing with a girl and have no idea what you did wrong, it's advisable to slide to your knees instead of confessing to another mistake.

Finally, even if you absolutely must do the above, it's best to find a girl you can beat... or at least someone you can outrun, otherwise you'll end up in a very bad situation.

perhaps.

……

"In short, something like this probably happened."

Duke arrived at Amber's house. Although they had only been apart for less than a day, it felt like an eternity to Duke, who desperately needed to confide in someone—Amber was naturally his first choice.

After listening to Duke's story, Amber showed some worry and lingering fear. She reached out and touched Duke's chest with heartache, where Talia had supposedly stabbed a large hole with her Dark Erosion Dagger.

If it weren't for Annie's selfless act of healing the dead, Duke might have died in Talia's sneak attack.

"Thank goodness, it's so good that you're not dead."

Amber, with a relieved expression, pressed her head against Duke's chest and said in a slightly tearful voice, "We have to thank Annie."

"Ah."

Duke gently put his arm around Amber and patted her back. Her words made him feel both amused and touched—she really did have the air of a real girlfriend, treating his problems as her own and seeing them as a whole.

But soon, Duke became intoxicated by the fragrance of Amber's hair and the softness of her body in his arms. He lowered his head and happened to catch Amber raising her head, and the two looked at each other.

The atmosphere in the room became slightly heated and ambiguous. The newly formed relationship between the man and woman was evident as they embraced in the enclosed space. What would happen next was self-evident.

Duke looked down, Amber looked up, and the two got closer and closer... but just then, a loud bang from the door startled them both.

"Boom-"

Duke and Amber separated with a start, and together they peeked out the window, where they saw Cecil knocking heavily on the door.

Guangbao banged on the door while excitedly shouting, "Amber, I've come to play with you, Amber... I see you! Hey? Duke, what are you doing here?"

Duke turned to Amber with a blank expression: "She did it on purpose, didn't she?"