Dragon Gate Swordsman

Looking at the smiling Lemiaoan, Fiammetta's expression was a little complicated, "Zhongxiao... may really be able to cure you."

Well, it's possible!

Lemiaoan still kept smiling, "Is this really okay?"

"Wha...what?"

"Mr. Chongxiao, I have taken good care of you, right?"

Fiammetta was stunned, not realizing what she meant.

"Think about it, Feiya, you wrote a lot of things in the letter, but apart from fighting the Sarkaz, which is your duty, have you really done anything to help Mr. Chongxiao?"

"This...I..."

"And Xiaole, you told me that Chongxiao was also very kind to her and gave her a very precious weapon."

Lemiaoan sighed and said earnestly: "So... at least before we can repay Mr. Zhongxiao, we shouldn't trouble him any more, right?"

Chapter 169: Empathy Trap

Chongxiao returned to the hotel and couldn't sleep all night.

They lived at least hundreds of thousands of years ago, and most likely fed on giant beasts. They have not become extinct to this day... If that were the case, those demon insects would be nothing more than dangerous and powerful creatures.

The question is, is the previous generation of civilization, as confirmed by various signs, connected to them?

Chongxiao suddenly remembered the ruins outside Yumen City... Because the life-and-death duel with the demon insects was too thrilling, he ignored some of the scenes he had seen.

The artificial dome, the circular building structure, and the giant bottomless tunnel.

Although all of this had been completely destroyed when the demon worms broke out of the ground, leaving only the remains buried in the huge pit of yellow sand, but now thinking back, it looked very much like...

A strange name suddenly popped up in Chongxiao's mind.

Yogg-Saron.

Hmm...who is this guy?

Well, actually Chongxiao himself couldn’t figure out all the weird information in his mind, and what was important wasn’t Yogg-Saron, but the prison where this thing was held.

Yes, now that I think about it, that ancient ruins was like a giant prison.

In other words, someone... or something trapped or even captured the demon insect, and might even have done something with it.

The warm morning sun shone in from the window and sprinkled on Chongxiao, but he could not feel the warmth at all... Just a magic insect could fight against nearly three descendants of the year without being defeated, so what if they come back again?

Of course, we can be optimistic. For example, the magic insects are actually on the verge of extinction, so there is no need to worry.

But what if the opposite is true?

"Tsk... you still think it's not troublesome enough?"

Chongxiao pressed his head hard.

Just then, Mengling's doorbell suddenly rang a few times.

Chongxiao instantly felt his DNA moving and jumped out of bed. He quickly changed his clothes, then rushed into the bathroom and washed up as quickly as possible.

It was only then that he realized that this was Ratlan, not Longmen! The person who rang the doorbell was definitely not Xiao Longnv who came to call him on a mission!

Sure enough, the moment Chongxiao opened the door, Fiametta, who looked energetic and neat, appeared in his sight.

"Chongxiao, are you... still sleeping?"

"No, no, no, I am such a self-disciplined person that of course I get up early every day. I was just going to the bathroom."

Fiammetta's outfit today is a little different from usual. The silver and red uniform should be designed according to the military uniform, which perfectly highlights her heroic side. The long braids that originally hung behind her were tied up and pinned behind her head, making her look much more mature.

This outfit is definitely not suitable for shopping or practicing.

"At the Lateran Notary Office, we still need to sign a few more documents, and then Alderman Julius will hold a simple ceremony to present you with the Lateran Medal of Friendship."

The Lateran Friendship Medal is a certificate of honor awarded specifically to foreigners. The holder can freely enter and exit all ordinary checkpoints and entrances and exits of the Lateran city, and also enjoys certain citizen rights, which is better than the treatment of the Liberians who originally lived in the Lateran.

In addition, this medal can also be used to seek help from people such as the Guard in places outside of Lateran.

In addition to his own medal, Chongxiao had to accept the other two on behalf of Chen Huijie and Texas.

"Ah... no wonder you're dressed so formally."

"This is the honorary uniform of the garrison. It's actually very troublesome to wear, and not very comfortable."

"But it looks great on you, Fia...really!"

Fiammetta's expression froze on his face.

She opened her eyes wide and stared at Chongxiao blankly, her lips moving as if she was about to say something, but she suddenly turned around and walked towards the elevator.

“Hurry…come down quickly!”

Chongxiao: (⊙_⊙)?

A few minutes later, a custom-made platinum Mercedes drove up to the Rutland Notary Office.

Chongxiao, who was sitting on the passenger seat, was very curious about the car that Fiammetta was driving, because in his impression, the Mercedes-Benz GMA was an expensive luxury product, far inferior to another series from the same manufacturer in terms of practicality and cost-effectiveness. As a frugal person, Fiammetta should not drive such a car.

Not to mention the exquisite interior of the vehicle, which has a subtle sense of luxury, and several symbolic relics of Lateran are placed or hung in the interior of the vehicle.

But before he could ask...

"Chongxiao, please try not to damage the decorations on this car. It is my grandfather's favorite car."

No wonder no wonder.

At this time, Chongxiao had already learned from the Pope that Patrizión Aldrich, who took him to the Papal Palace, was Fiammetta's guardian.

Relying on its advantages in technology and trade, Lateran's living standards are among the best in the entire continent, and the Papal Knights who are qualified to hold revolvers are people of extraordinary status, and their income and living standards are needless to say.

But the fact that the old man actually gave his most beloved car to Fiammetta to drive is really...

"Your grandfather is so good to you."

"Hmm? Oh...you misunderstood, Chongxiao."

Fiammetta put his hands on the steering wheel and stared at the traffic ahead. "I drove out secretly. Grandpa went on duty."

What...did you say?

The corners of Chongxiao's mouth twitched.

"Well... as long as he doesn't mind."

"Grandpa never let me drive this car."

Chongxiao's body trembled.

"Then then why are you...doing this?"

Fiammetta didn't respond, just stared intently ahead, or into the rearview mirror.

She didn't drive like a female driver at all. She was almost halfway to achieving the exaggerated description of keeping her eyes and ears open, but it might be because she drove such a good car that she didn't dare to step on the accelerator.

"The Sakotas in the notary office, I don't want you to be looked down upon by them."

When he said the second half of the sentence, Fiammetta's voice suddenly became softer, and something strange appeared in his eyes.

Chongxiao felt a sense of unwillingness and helplessness... Of course, he was also a little moved, after all, Fiammetta was telling the truth.

But what does it mean to be looked down upon by the Sakota people?

After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't ask this question...

Twenty minutes later, Fiammetta and Chongxiao arrived at the special council room of the notary office.

This is where the middle and senior level staff of the notary office handle some special matters, such as conducting private talks to keep visitors confidential, discussing trial work with interpreters and arbitrators, and even assigning confidential tasks to executors of the notary office.

For countless years, Lateran has built a fairly complete social system with the strength of a single city, and has demonstrated extremely high operational efficiency and stability, which is vividly reflected in the daily work of the notary office.

As for the reason, it is probably due to the unique "empathy" of the Sakota people.

It not only allows the Sakota people to share their feelings with each other, but also maximizes the efficiency and accuracy of communication... In other words, any two Sakota people can do something like "give you an eye contact and let you feel it yourself", thereby minimizing the information loss caused by communication errors.

Of course, the premise is that the two Sakotas are not opposed to each other.

When Chongxiao first heard about empathy from Leimule, he felt a strong sense of familiarity. However, when he thought about it carefully, he found that something seemed wrong.

It feels like knowing something is wrong, so naturally you don't take it too seriously.

The city governor Julius mentioned by Fiammetta is a handsome and well-built gentleman. Even in middle age, he is still very handsome and free and easy. Even the halo on his head seems to be brighter than that of other Sakota people.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, Chongxiao understood why Fiammetta said that.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Chongxiao, for helping us solve a difficult problem. Without your assistance, it would be very troublesome to apply for a trial team from the Second Hall."

"..."

It sounds like Rutland can actually solve the problem, and my help is meaningful but not great?

Chongxiao was not a petty person, so he didn't take it to heart. However, the simple ceremony of presenting the Friendship Medal that followed was a bit strange.

In addition to Alderman Julius, there were three other Sakota people present, responsible for reading the documents and handing over the medals... Chongxiao tried to release his psychic energy to sense their emotions, and the feedback he got was excitement, appreciation, and affirmation.

Doesn’t that sound strange?

But what if these emotions are “confined” to the minds of the Sakota people, and have a rather “top-down” feel?

The whole ceremony was filled with a subtle but strange atmosphere: several Sakota people were happily doing what they were supposed to do, but they isolated the real "protagonist" Chongxiao.

Even Chongxiao couldn't help but doubt that even if he suddenly replaced himself with another person, City Governor Julius would not think there was anything wrong.

what is happening?

Chongxiao walked out of the council hall with three friendship medals and saw Fiammetta coming towards him.

As a special envoy, she needed to continue Arturo's handover work with the notary office, so she was not with Chongxiao just now.

"That's not contempt."

"……what?"

"I said, that's not contempt."

Chongxiao frowned slightly and said, "It should be... it can't fit in at all, right?"

Fiammetta's pupils shrank slightly, and then she nodded imperceptibly.

But the two did not talk about the matter any more, but drove directly to Stephen's District Central Hospital.

Along the way, Chongxiao was frowning and thinking about the concept of "empathy".

He could vaguely recall that some people he was very familiar with had almost suffered a catastrophic disaster because of similar things, and at the coronation ceremony of the Divine Capital four years ago, the Lateran delegation had the most violent reaction when they were eroded by evil spirits.

Somehow, certain trajectories seemed to overlap, leading to an unknown direction.

"……Fia."

"Ok?"

"What exactly is the Lateran law?"

Chongxiao asked a question that surprised Fiammetta.

The Lateran Law does not mean what it says literally, its concept is much more advanced...If we have to describe it in the simplest terms, then the Lateran Law is the foundation of everything in the Lateran.

Every Sakota learns this knowledge, but they never explain what the law actually is.

Doctrine? Belief? Code? Institution? Social system? Gun culture? Sweet tooth? Craving for the art of explosions?

Or, all of them?

Fiammetta naturally couldn't answer this question, but the suggestion she gave was that His Holiness the Pope definitely knew.

That being said, there’s no way he could explain it to me, right?

Chongxiao thought like this...

……

Seeing Lemiaoan again after several years, Chongxiao obviously felt a little strange about her (note)

This is actually normal. After all, the two people have only met a few times and have not left a particularly deep impression on each other, so how could they possibly feel familiar with each other?

However, in the letters between Mostima, Fiammetta and Remuel, Remuel had already "outlined" the image of Chongxiao.

"Long time no see? It feels a bit weird to say that."