Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

"It's also our luck, hehe~"

Elder Minghei laughed calmly a few times, but in fact, his appreciation for Banning increased a bit more.

He looked at the beads of sweat on Banning's forehead and his slightly damp hair, and believed what the young man said, that he had just gone out for morning exercise.

A young man with such strength and talent can actually maintain such a high level of self-discipline. Should we say that he is neither arrogant nor impatient, or should we say that it is because of his strict self-discipline that he has his current abilities?

·

After a few words of greeting, Banning invited Elder Minghei to come into the room and sit down to talk. Elder Minghei nodded in agreement, then waved to his subordinates.

The subordinates understood what he meant and quickly placed all the "things" they brought on the table in the room. Then they all left the room and waited quietly outside.

"Mr. Banning, I have brought the payment for this commission. May I explain it to you briefly?"

"my pleasure."

Elder Minghei walked into Banning's room with a smile, and Banning cleverly closed the door.

The following conversation will only be known to Elder Minghei and Banning.

·

After the two sat down, Elder Minghei told Banning straight to the point that he had already sent someone to inform the Task Union, and that the matter of the "Southern Mine Commission" would be handled by the Feiqi Family themselves this time.

As for the fact that "a young man has already revealed the commission", it will also be said to be a joke.

In this way, the news that Banning, an unknown young man, solved the problem of the high-level monster in the southern mine would not spread in Yanji City or even the entire Kingdom of West.

"Mr. Banning, if I'm not mistaken, you are deliberately not wanting to attract attention...right?" Elder Minghei asked Banning with a smile.

Banning nodded without much thought, confirming Elder Minghei's guess: "Elder Minghei is indeed very experienced. I didn't expect that my little trick could be seen through so easily."

After hearing Banning's answer, Elder Minghei breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he was 90% sure that his judgment was correct, this matter was still quite sensitive. If he misunderstood, Banning would think that the Scarlet Qi family was stealing his credit and reputation.

"Hahaha, after all... if Lord Banning was after fame, he wouldn't have come to our manor alone... But please rest assured, if Lord Banning ever wishes to reclaim this 'fame', our Feiqi family will return it in full."

Elder Minghei made a solemn promise, then stood up and opened the largest box on the table. Inside was neatly packed three hundred glittering Human Alliance gold coins. These standard gold coins can be used in any country in the Human Alliance of the Prison Star World.

"Mr. Banning, please take a look. This is the reward for the 'Southern Mine Commission': three hundred gold coins."

"Okay, I've received the three hundred gold coins from the Feiqi Family. Thank you, Elder Minghei, for sending them to me."

Banning just took a look, then took the box and closed the lid.

"Won't you take stock, Mr. Banning?"

"I believe the compensation paid by the Feiqi family can be trusted unconditionally."

Elder Minghei felt very comfortable hearing what Banning said, but he did not forget Banning's strength. With this guy's ability, he could tell almost everything with just one look.

"Thank you for the compliment. It is our honor to receive the recognition from His Excellency Banning."

As Elder Minghei spoke, he picked up another exquisite small wooden box with gold-rimmed edges on the table and placed it in front of Banning.

"Mr. Banning, last time in the 'Green Ghost Lair', the Scarlet Qi family owed you a great debt of gratitude. We have always remembered this. This time, I would like to take this opportunity of the 'Commission' to give you the thank you gift I gave you."

After he finished speaking, Elder Minghei opened the small wooden box, and inside it was a very mysterious-looking "talisman stone".

Elder Minghei told Banning frankly that their Feiqi family had invited many people to identify and study this rune stone, but in the end they only knew that this rune stone was a relic of an "ancient race" and they were still unclear about its specific function.

"I believe that with Lord Banning's abilities, you will one day be able to unravel the secret of this 'Talice Stone,' so I would like to give it to you, along with an additional 500 gold coins, as a token of gratitude for saving my life in the 'Maze Green Ghost Lair.'"

After saying this, Elder Minghei pushed the wooden box toward Banning and then handed him a scroll enclosed in a luxurious wooden tube. From now on, as long as Banning carried this scroll, he could always go to the Feiqi Family to withdraw his reward of 500 gold coins.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Banning, but we can't withdraw that much gold coins from our manor at once. So I'm giving you this scroll as a substitute. I hope you can accept it."

Banning looked at the talisman carefully for a while, then took it together with the box, and returned the scroll, which symbolized a huge sum of 500 gold coins, to Elder Minghei.

"My Lord Elder, I have unconditional trust in the Feiqi Family. So I think that even without this scroll, the Feiqi Family will still pay me when I need it. Am I right?"

Elder Minghei was amused by Banning's boldness and open-mindedness. He once again felt in his heart that Banning was really a talented person with great potential.

At this point in the conversation, the two matters of "life-saving grace" and "Southern Mine" were temporarily discussed. Elder Minghei coughed lightly and decided to talk to Banning about "what happened in the suburbs of Yanji City last night."

"By the way, Mr. Banning, I'd like to ask you a question. Were you involved in the battle that took place in Yanji City last night?"

Elder Minghei's question actually concealed a trap.

The actual location of the battle last night was in the suburbs outside Yanji City, but Elder Minghei deliberately asked about the wrong location. He wanted to test whether Banning would correct his mistake reflexively.

If Benning made a mistake, he would definitely be involved in the matter.

9.113 - Elder Minghei's Thoughts

"In the city? Was there a battle in Yanji City last night?" Banning asked in confusion.

"Yes, it was such a loud explosion. Could it be that Mr. Banning didn't hear it?"

"There was an explosion, but last night it sounded like it came from the outskirts of Yanji City, not from within the city."

"Oh, Lord Banning, you're talking about another, larger explosion. It seems the gap between the two explosions was too short, so you didn't notice the smaller explosion in the city."

Seeing that Banning did not fall into the trap, Elder Minghei cleverly covered up the language loophole he had set to trap him.

But does this mean that Banning is no longer a suspect?

No, Elder Minghei still suspected Banning, because last night in the entire Yanji City, there were only a few people who could have defeated the high-level monster.

Considering that no one else had any reason to deliberately conceal it, the most likely person is still Banning.

However, Elder Minghei had no intention of revealing this matter. Tacit understanding was a tacit understanding between adults.

——(Banning, Banning... I'm really getting more and more curious about why you keep such a low profile...)

When Elder Minghei looked at Banning, there was an added touch of appreciation for talent in his eyes.

·

After Elder Minghei arrived at the scene in the suburbs last night, he took a quick look at the corpse fragments on the ground and determined that the monster that caused the commotion was a fifth-level Great Forest Armored King Lizard.

Generally speaking, when one sees a monster from the Great Forest Armored King Lizard clan, one would think of the Green Lizard clan, but Elder Minghei did not think so, because it was really unbelievable that a precious fifth-level monster would come to raid Yanji City in the middle of the night for no reason.

It is no exaggeration to say that unless someone in the Green Lizard family goes crazy, such a thing will never happen.

Since this is the logical conclusion, Elder Minghei simply classified the incident as an attack by wild monsters, and did not complicate matters by linking it to the Green Lizard Family.

As a result of his decision, the poor patrolmen were severely scolded and punished, because allowing high-level monsters to penetrate into the core of the Feiqi family's territory without warning was a serious dereliction of duty.

As for the magic cores and monster materials, because the fighting methods used by the person who killed the monster were too violent, the remaining things had been blown beyond recognition and could not be recycled, which made Elder Minghei feel quite regretful.

At this moment, Elder Minghei looked at Banning, combining what happened last night with his understanding of Banning, and always felt that he had made a wrong judgment last night.

If the killer was indeed Banning, then could the final explosion have been the monster's own self-destruction? As far as Elder Minghei knew, Banning didn't seem capable of such a powerful skill. His skill set was more like that of an assassin, ninja, or shadow mage.

Furthermore, if we continue to investigate along this line of thought, there are many doubts about the battle in the southern mine.

A combat professional like Banning should be better at infiltration, assassination and other types of operations. When facing a large number of enemies, especially the thick-skinned and tough mineral monsters, he should not be able to exert much combat power.

So, how did Banning resolve the Southern Mine Incident?

Elder Minghei could only think that there must be a team behind Banning... no, it was a huge force, no less powerful than the Feiqi family or even the West royal family.

——(It seems...hiring Teruya Ryujaku was an incredibly correct decision.)

Elder Minghei secretly affirmed the decision made by himself and Elder Yuhong, and then asked Banning the last question he had prepared for this trip.

"By the way, Mr. Banning, do you need any help regarding the Snake Shadow Society's base? If so, please let us know."

·

Elder Minghei couldn't figure out Banning's past for a while, so he focused on understanding the "future".

Elder Minghei believes that understanding a person's action plan and its subsequent execution can also reveal a lot of information about that person.

"Thank you for your concern, Elder. I am making preparations very smoothly. If you need any help later, I will definitely visit you."

As Elder Minghei expected, Banning politely declined.

This rejection gave Elder Minghei the illusion that Banning was right in front of him, yet so far away.

"Okay, then I wish you all the best... Well, Mr. Banning, we have kept you for a long time. We will take our leave today."

Elder Minghei took the initiative to ask to leave. Banning politely tried to keep him and then sent Elder Minghei out of the hotel.

On the way back, Elder Minghei couldn't help but recall Banning's performance in the "Maze: Green Ghost Lair".

He remembered clearly that Banning's ability of teleportation and shadow clone was quite amazing. With these two rare skills, Banning would have a chance to escape even if he encountered difficult situations.

Therefore, even if the Snake Shadow Society's stronghold was full of dangers, Elder Minghei did not think that Banning would encounter too much trouble.

Before leaving, Elder Minghei had something stuck in his throat that he couldn't say.

What he wanted to ask was whether Viviana, who returned to the manor very late last night, went to find Banning at night.

Obviously, such words were not suitable to be mentioned in front of the servants, and even if only Elder Minghei and Banning were present, it would be difficult for him to say them out loud.

In the end, Elder Minghei chose to believe Viviana, chose to save face for everyone, and then left the hotel where Banning was staying.

·

·

"Huh... these uncles are finally gone."

Jiang Ran breathed a sigh of relief and took off his disguise as "Banning".

In the conversation just now, although Jiang Ran could not use his mind-reading ability on Elder Minghei, he basically understood more than half of it by observing his words and expressions.

Jiang Ran noticed Elder Minghei's several attempts and hidden meanings in his words, and the results of his responses were quite good.

If he could continue to maintain the relationship with the Feiqi family in this way, it would be a very beneficial thing for Jiang Ran.

As for the thank-you gift brought by Elder Minghei, Jiang Ran was not very interested in the box containing 300 gold coins, because he could clearly judge how many gold coins were in the box, whether there were any counterfeit coins, etc. with just one glance using his identification ability.

Among the thank-you gifts, it was the small talisman stone that aroused Jiang Ran's keen interest.

—(Artifacts from an ancient race? Then let me take a look at the interesting history of this Prison Star World.)

·

Jiang Ran reopened the exquisite small wooden box with gold-plated edges and picked up the fist-sized black stone called "Talisman Stone" inside.

At first, Jiang Ran was just curious about the stone and didn't have any expectations. However, it was this unintentional mentality that allowed him to gain an extremely important "guiding prop".

9.114 - The remains of the Wakono volcano

After Elder Minghei and his group left, Jiang Ran finally returned to his quiet and comfortable solitude.

He looked at the "talisman stone" in his hand. This broken stone, which seemed so ordinary at first glance, was actually placed in such an exquisite gold-plated wooden box. It was really over-packaging.

It is no exaggeration to say that no matter how you look at this gray-black irregular stone, it will make people think that it is just an ordinary stone that can be found everywhere.

If the person who "put the stone in the wooden box and gave it away solemnly" was not Elder Minghei of the Feiqi family, everyone would have thought it was a prank.

What made it even more difficult was that Elder Minghei had just said that the Feiqi family had invited many people to identify and study this stone, but in the end they only knew that this rune stone was a relic of an "ancient race", and their specific functions were still unclear.

In other words, unless Jiang Ran has abilities more powerful than the Feiqi family, it would be impossible to find out the truth about this stone in a short period of time.

·

In the Prison Star world, if an ordinary person encountered Jiang Ran's current situation, they would basically have no choice but to find an appraiser or an experienced old man to see if they could get lucky and get relevant information by chance.

Jiang Ran is different. He has the "identification ability" of the "super-dimensional divine eye" and may be able to find out the truth directly.

(Even the Scarlet Qi family can't figure out the truth behind this stone... What could be the truth behind the 'ancient race' Elder Minghei spoke of?)

Jiang Ran looked intently at the talisman in his hand. He had used the identification ability so many times, but he had never been as nervous as he was now... Whether the identification ability of the Super-Dimensional Divine Eye could identify the information that the Feiqi family could not obtain depended on the next second...!

(Oh? This is...?)

The tense moment passed quickly, and what remained was full of curiosity.

Jiang Ran clearly saw through the super-dimensional divine eye that the real name of this talisman stone was "Wakno Sensing Door Stone". It was like a key. As long as it was placed in the right position, it could open a secret door.

So, where exactly are these two things, the "right place" and the "secret door"?

Jiang Ran looked at the name "Wakno Sensing Gate Stone" and remembered a place that the two elders of the Feiqi family had mentioned last night: the ruins of the Wakeno volcano.

·

According to Elder Minghei, the ruins of the Wakno volcano are the symbolic headquarters of the Snake Shadow Society.