“Although the negotiation mode of one speaking kindly and the other speaking harshly is indeed very practical, but you guys acted so poorly, it’s a bit disappointing.”

The experienced fraudster commented, “If that elven girl could make a few holes in my companion, we might feel a bit nervous. But you guys are so restrained in your conversation, not even willing to play some tricks on my companion, just talking straightforwardly. It actually makes me feel a bit relieved.”

“I’m probably not your companion, right?” Asho asked.

“Definitely not me,” Harvey said softly, “My companions don’t even breathe.”

Not to mention Igura, the fraudster who relies on harvesting intellectual taxes, and the necromancer who has been involved in the underworld and killing since childhood, even Asho, an inexperienced and innocent young boy, could see at a glance that these two were in perfect harmony. How could they possibly be fooled?

Tears welled up in Cleos’ eyes. “It’s fine if we can’t catch Serena… but I was actually mocked by a few foreigners… sob…”

Asho was dumbfounded. “It can’t be that bad, sis. And when you cry, can you please raise the muzzle a bit higher? I’m afraid you can’t control it…”

The girl in purple clothes laughed. “You guys are quite courageous, but if it were me, I would pretend not to know and gratefully sign the contract. Your lives are in my hands. Do you think you have the bargaining power?”

“We do.”

Igura said calmly, “Although we don’t know the specific value, there’s no doubt that you need us ‘foreigners’. If I’m not mistaken, foreigners are also extremely rare here. The three of us might be the only bargaining chips you can catch.”

“In other words, we are currently valuable but not marketable. If you want to use us, you must value our opinions, otherwise, you won’t find a replacement.”

“Forget about that slave contract. Just state your true needs.”

Cleos was right,” the girl in purple clothes smiled, “People like you who can quickly grasp the situation but haven’t been listening to the gospel since childhood will eventually become a huge threat.”

“Thanks for the exaggeration.”

“But it seems like you’ve forgotten something.” The girl in purple clothes revealed an evil smile, “I need foreigners, but there are three of them now, so I still have the right to choose—”

She took out a contract parchment and tore it in half. “I think I only need one less intelligent new slave. Beautiful girl, you’re out.”

Igura was so angry that his mouth twitched. “I’m a guy!”

“In that case,” the girl in purple clothes took out a second contract parchment and made a tearing gesture, “Although I only need one new slave, I don’t mind having two—if someone knows how to be sensible.”

Still, no one responded.

Asho and Harvey looked at her calmly, without a trace of fear on their faces, as if they were watching a poorly performed play. Even the girl in purple clothes couldn’t maintain her composure anymore and gritted her teeth, “Are you two some kind of inseparable brothers?”

“They just saw through your bluff.” Igura said softly, “If you really only need one foreigner, why don’t you let that elf girl open a hole in my skull to see if it’s good enough?”

“Forget about the others, but I agree with this statement.” Asho said, “I want to see if his brain can produce black juice.”

The girl in purple clothes looked coldly at the three of them, her beautiful face filled with a chilling aura. The atmosphere became more and more tense. Just when Asho thought the other party was going to lose her temper and disregard everything to save face, the cries of the children who were rescued broke the silence.

She sighed, “What kind of fallen kingdom can cultivate such cunning demons like you?”

“I prefer to call it wisdom.” Igura said calmly.

The girl in purple clothes took out a complete contract parchment from her pocket and lightly tapped it, revealing rows of text.

“This is my bottom line,” she said, “Sign it, or die here.”

Cleos quickly removed the miracle chains from Asho and the others, without harming them at all.

The stowaways had no intention of resisting. Not to mention the dozen or so red-hatted people around them, they still wore lock collars around their necks. And just the crying elven girl alone was enough to dispel any bold ideas—they probably had a high probability of being a three-winged sanctuary sorcerer!

With the level of a heresy leader like Asho, who had Jielade serving him, it was obvious that Serena was of a higher level than Asho. Cleos, who was responsible for capturing Serena, couldn’t possibly be worse than Jielade. Plus, Cleos seemed to be ranked tenth in the Red Hat Leaderboard. It was strange that she didn’t have the Seven-Colored Wings.

As for why a three-winged sorcerer couldn’t catch a seemingly weak heresy leader… with Asho as a vivid example, Igura and Harvey felt that this was a normal phenomenon.

They obediently picked up the contract and looked at it, strange expressions appearing on their faces as they glanced at each other without saying a word.

This time, the girl in purple clothes was truly angry. The emerald pupils in her eyes almost turned into a vertical line full of killing intent. “Do you guys want to push your luck?”

Asho raised his hand and said, “No, we just have a not-so-excessive request.”

“What request?”

“Can you give us a dictionary?” He gestured with the contract, “There are some words on here that we don’t understand.”

Actually, not understanding some of the words was already Asho being modest—almost half of the text was completely incomprehensible. The difference between those words and the Blood Moon text was not just simplified and traditional characters, but rather the difference between modern characters and Martian language!Interestingly, the other half of the text was identical to the script of the Blood Moon Kingdom.

After all, for different kingdoms that hardly interact, even if their scripts and languages share the same origin, they would inevitably evolve into two distinct systems over time. It was already extremely fortunate for Asho and his companions to barely understand the local language, and it was only natural that they could only comprehend half of the written text.

Asho suddenly remembered that Sword Girl’s accent was a bit strange too, but he later heard that she was from the countryside, so he assumed that was part of her character’s charm…

“Ah, my apologies, that was my mistake.”

The girl in the purple dress snapped her fingers, and a beautifully bound book made of purple crystal appeared in front of her. Perhaps because they had heard it many times today, or perhaps because of the book’s peculiar charm, Asho and his companions knew its name the moment they saw it – “The Gospel”.

“One for 1 point, it’s on me.”

The girl in the purple dress tossed them three golden seeds. Igura rubbed one, feeling its jelly-like texture, “What is this?”

“The gospel of mortals, the medium of knowledge, the foundation of omniscience, the enemy of ignorance, the seed of wisdom.”

The girl in the purple dress smiled, “Wisdom Golden Seeds. Eat them, and you’ll immediately become fluent in our language.”

……

…

Blood Moon Kingdom, outskirts of Camon City.

“It’s a pity we can’t go to the upper reaches of the waterfall…” Adra sat on a small stool, looking at the crimson waterfall under the glow of the Blood Moon, her face full of regret.

“Camping here is just as good.” Furia was much more open-minded. She lifted the lid of the pot with a pair of tongs and said, “The river-fresh pot is ready. I’m starving. I didn’t expect to eat only when the sky turned red. It’s all your fault, Adra, for not knowing how to fish…”

“It’s your fault for not knowing how to start a fire!”

The two bickered but didn’t hesitate to scoop up the food, blowing on it to cool it down before putting it in their mouths, letting out a satisfied moan.

It was clear that the two were camping. However, this method of camping was not quite right. The correct way to camp should be solo camping, as it is a part of the pre-training for Artificers.

Upon entering the Virtual Realm, Artificers need to travel alone through the Sea of Knowledge, enduring challenges such as loneliness, fear, and silence. Therefore, to train the will of Artificers in advance, apprentices can simulate adventures in the Virtual Realm through various activities in reality.

Camping is a great way to experience this. The risk of encountering bad people and even being murdered is not low, but this is exactly what camping requires: if there is no risk to life, there is no value in the experience!

So Furia and Adra’s camping is wrong – they can’t possibly travel together in the Virtual Realm, so camping together has no training value!

After eating and drinking her fill, Adra still couldn’t help but look towards the upper reaches of the waterfall, “What do you think happened there? Why was it sealed off as a restricted area?”

Their original camping site was supposed to be upstream of the waterfall, where it was said that bears, wolves, and dogs roamed, making it extremely dangerous. Adra, who loved gambling and excitement, had prepared guns, bombs, and various weapons, ready to play a game of ‘who’s the hunter’ with the animals at night. However, when they arrived, they found that the entire area had been sealed off by the Falconer’s Hall, and no one was allowed in.

“It might be a passage to the Virtual Realm.” Furia said as she began to undress.

“……You’re in the mood after eating?”

“No, I’m just going to take a bath.” Veela pointed to the river nearby and said, “Don’t worry, I can hold off for a night or two.”

“What about three nights?”

“Can you go three days without gambling?”

“You’re so strong.” Adra admired, “I can only quit gambling for a day at most.”

Watching Veela jump into the crimson river to play, Adra let out a sigh of relief.

Originally, Adra wanted to invite Furia to relax, but it turned out to be her own relaxation. She felt a little guilty, but since even beauty couldn’t tempt Veela, Adra increasingly believed that Furia was seriously ill.

After thinking about it, Adra decided to take her camping to experience nature. The reason was also very legitimate, camping and being harassed or even murdered by vagrants was a part of college life that had to be experienced.

Wait, she’s going to take a bath, then who’s going to wash the dishes?

Adra grumbled a bit, but obediently picked up the dishes and went to the river a little further upstream from Furia to wash them, trying to disgust Veela with the grease. Seeing this from afar, Furia knew her plot had been exposed and swam over in a flattering manner, “Oh, let me help you wash a dish–“

Splash!

Both of them looked towards the waterfall, Adra asked, “Did you hear that?”

“I heard it,” Furia nodded, “It sounded like something fell into the waterfall. A rock?”

“I don’t think so…”

Under their tense gaze, a lovable figure in a black dress, like a discarded child, appeared before them with the flow of the water.

“Kind big sisters, good-hearted big sisters.” The wet doll-like girl pleaded pitifully, “Can you save Serena?”