Walking on the street, the two little girls followed Fang Zheng closely, without saying a word, looking as frightened as two kittens abandoned by their mother cat.

"Well...anyway, I should probably get you a change of clothes first."

Looking at the ragged appearance of the two little girls, Fang Zheng frowned. These could not be called clothes at all. Strictly speaking, they were no different from rags, and...

"Does it hurt?"

Seeing the two little girls walking barefoot on the ground, Fang Zheng couldn't help but ask. When the little raccoon and the little white tiger heard Fang Zheng's question, they were stunned and shook their heads vigorously.

"No, it doesn't hurt!"

Although their expressions were determined, one could draw the conclusion just by looking at their feet scratched by stones.

This made Fang Zheng think of the cursed children. Those children were the same. They would rather suffer themselves than let others think they were a burden.

After all, they are still children.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng walked over to the two of them, then picked them up, one in each hand.

"ah!"

"well?"

Faced with this sudden action, the two little girls were shocked, but Fang Zheng didn't say much, just glanced at them.

"Hold on tight, don't fall."

Then, Fang Zheng continued to move forward holding them in his arms.

A man holding two subhuman children walking down the street was naturally a very eye-catching thing, and many people looked at Fang Zheng with doubt and disgust. However, Fang Zheng didn't care about what these guys thought. After all, Fang Zheng had seen this situation many times when he first crossed over to the dark world.

Soon, Fang Zheng carried the two little girls to an adventure equipment store, opened the door and walked in.

"Welcome... Hey, isn't this the brave young man?"

The bald boss standing behind the counter greeted him and was stunned when he saw Fang Zheng clearly. However, he did not show the cold or disgusted look like other people on the street. Instead, he laughed.

"I never thought that a brave man would come to my shop... Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Give these two children a set of light and more suitable clothing for movement. Price is not an issue."

"No problem, leave it to me."

The bald boss didn't seem to have any idea about the two subhuman children in Fang Zheng's arms. He just nodded, turned around, and quickly took out two sets of clothes from behind the counter.

"How about this? Although it may be a little too big for two little girls, the adventure clothing itself still has some protection capabilities and is also convenient for movement."

"Can."

Fang Zheng took a look at the clothes that the bald boss brought out, nodded, and then motioned for the two little girls to each take a set of clothes and go to the dressing room to change. Although they were a little confused, the two little girls still picked up the clothes and walked into the dressing room.

"Boss, I just happen to have something I want to inquire about."

After watching the two of them walk into the locker room, Fang Zheng turned his gaze to the bald boss in front of him. This bald boss was different from the others, he was very generous. Seeing this boss reminded Fang Zheng of Agil whom he had met in the SAO game...

But then again, are all arms dealers bald and bearded?

Is this some kind of curse?

Anyway, I will never do this job in the future.

"Oh, brave boy, what do you want to ask?"

"The status of demihumans in this country seems to be very low. Is this also the case worldwide?"

"What? Don't you know, little brother?"

Hearing Fang Zheng's question, the bald boss looked very surprised.

"This country believes in the Three Heroes Religion, so they are not very tolerant of sub-humans."

"Three Brave Cults?"

Hearing this, Fang Zheng suddenly remembered the group of guys dressed like cultists when he was summoned.

"Yes, in the past, the demi-humans were slaves of humans. But according to legend, the previous generation of the Shield Hero helped the demi-humans rebel against humans and established their own country. Of course, as you know, there were wars during this period. Later, it became what it is now..."

"I see……"

Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded. Although his boss' words were very vague, he still understood the meaning. Revolution requires bloodshed and sacrifice, not just marching and shouting slogans. The previous generation of the Shield Hero helped the subhumans to establish their own country, which meant fighting, war, and killing with humans.

And along with killing, hatred will naturally breed and spread.

For human beings, it is unforgivable for a mere slave to dare to resist or even kill them.

For the subhumans, if they want to escape from the plight of being slaves, they naturally have to rise up and kill, and those humans who once treated them as slaves and exploited them deserve it.

Both sides think they are not wrong, both think they are righteous, and both think the other side is evil.

As for the Three Heroes Cult, there is no need to say much. There are four holy heroes, but the human sect worships three heroes. Combined with the attitude of that group of idiots towards themselves before, it is obvious that the humans regard the Shield Hero as a traitor or a plague god or something like that.

"So, this means that the demihumans now have their own country on this continent?"

"Yes, but how should I put it... Well, although I don't want to say anything, that country is not very friendly to humans. Brother, you should already know that in this country, the trade of subhuman slaves is legal, and in the subhuman country, the trade of human slaves is also legal."

At this point, the bald boss spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and looked like "What the hell is this?"

"……I see."

After hearing what the bald boss said, Fang Zheng was silent for a moment and nodded. From the perspective of the subhumans, their actions were not wrong. Both sides were seeking revenge on each other. Megmarro, who believed in the Three Heroes, was obviously a country that put humans first. For them, using subhumans as slaves was a "tradition" of mankind and did not need to be changed.

The demihumans were obviously seeking revenge for their former enslavement by humans, so they turned around and enslaved humans...

Fortunately, there is no such thing in the dark world.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng heaved a sigh of relief. Because of the rampage of the protostomes in the dark world, humans could only curl up in the gathering places to survive. The external survival crisis was far greater than the internal one, and the cursed children did not gather together to retaliate against humans.

However, I don’t know what will happen in the future.

After all, according to the boss, the previous generation of the Shield Hero was willing to help the demi-humans resist human slavery, so his original intention must have been good.

However, even he probably couldn't have imagined that things would turn out like this.

It seems that placing the cursed children in the Tiandao Palace is the best option.

Fang Zheng had also considered whether to build a home for the cursed children in the dark world, but the words of the bald boss reminded Fang Zheng. In this world, where there is power, there will be struggle. Perhaps now under the threat of the protostomes, humans will not care.

But after the protogastrics are completely wiped out, the humans of that world will certainly try to regain control of the entire earth, and at that time, they will inevitably come into conflict with the cursed children.

Indeed, the cursed children are all good children. However, even if they are good children, it does not mean that they will not fight back if they are beaten, or will not seek revenge if their companions are killed.

Did the previous generation of the Shield Hero not expect this to happen? Or did he expect it but was unable to do anything about it? Or did the demihuman nation forget its original intentions over the long period of time?

These are all very annoying things.

Originally, Fang Zheng was thinking about whether he should help the demi-humans in this world if they were the same as the cursed children. But since the demi-humans already had their own country, Fang Zheng changed his mind. The previous generation of the Shield Hero had already done what they were supposed to do, and there was nothing they could do about it now.

Then just mind your own business.

“Crash.”

Just as Fang Zheng was thinking, he saw the curtain of the dressing room being drawn open, and then two little girls who had changed their clothes came out.

The little raccoon was wearing a dark red adventurer's outfit, while the little white tiger was wearing a pure white adventurer's outfit. Although it looked a little loose, at least it had shoes and other things, which was much better than the rags just now.

"By the way, what are your names?"

It was only then that Fang Zheng remembered that he didn't know the names of the two little girls. When they heard Fang Zheng's question, the little raccoon and the little white tiger looked at each other, and then the little raccoon timidly spoke.

"My name is Raphtalia."

"My name is Lifana."

The little white tiger also spoke up immediately.

"Raphtalia and Lifana? So... um... what are your plans next?"

Fang Zheng thought for a moment, then asked. Facing Fang Zheng's question, the two little girls were obviously a little surprised.

"Master, Master...what do you mean?"

"You are slaves... Well, you were captured and made slaves, right? Then you should have your own home and family. Where are they? If possible, I will send you home..."

“Woo…”

However, Fang Zheng had just finished speaking when Raphtalia suddenly burst into tears, and Lifana beside her lowered her head without saying a word.

"Uh...what's going on?"

Fang Zheng scratched his head as he watched this scene. According to the classic plot, they should be crying tears of joy at this moment, but it didn't seem like that from the looks of them...

"That's right, Master."

At this time, Lifana spoke.

"My parents and Raphtalia's parents were there when the first wave broke out..."

“…”

Come to think of it, the idiot king did mention that a lot of people died when the first wave broke out, but Fang Zheng just took it as a background introduction at the time.

Now it seems that it is more than just a background introduction.

"What does it matter, little brother?"

At this moment, the bald boss also spoke.

"Just take them with you. It's hard for two demihuman children to survive here. Besides, you have to fight against the waves, so it would be good to have a few helpers."

"Isn't it said that demihumans are not good at fighting and heavy labor?"

It would be fine if the demi-humans had the same powerful fighting ability as the cursed children, but when Fang Zheng bought them, the boss with sunglasses told Fang Zheng that demi-humans were not good at fighting and heavy physical labor.

"I, we can do anything."

Perhaps she misunderstood this sentence as Fang Zheng's intention to give up on them, and Lifana suddenly became excited.

"Please let us follow our master. We are willing to do anything..."

"Okay...just follow me first."

Fang Zheng didn't say anything else, but just waved his hand.

"Come on, I'll take you to dinner first, and then... we'll leave the city."

After that, Fang Zheng took the two little ones to a nearby restaurant for a meal, then left the royal city and headed for the nearby wilderness.

The reason for coming here is naturally... to see what this broken shield is useful for.

To be honest, Fang Zheng didn't like this shield at all. First of all, this shield was silly and small, and looked stupid. What made Fang Zheng even more upset was that, perhaps because of the inherent "settings" of this world, he couldn't use other weapons with the shield equipped, whether it was Frostmourne, Restia, or Esther, he couldn't pick them up and use them even if he summoned them.

Fortunately, Fang Zheng can at least use his own spells and primordial fire...

It's just me. If I were replaced by a weak guy, I'm afraid he would be killed.

There is no way to equip weapons on your hands, you can only use magic and the First Fire. Of course, if you want to choose, you can also use the King's Treasure.

But as a mage, I always feel a little uncomfortable without a big sword in my hand.

Hmm? Something seems wrong?

Never mind, there's nothing wrong with it.

So Fang Zheng should at least test it to see what qualifications this shield has to make him give up Restia, Esther and Frostmourne... At least you have to have a weapon above this, otherwise what's the point?

Even the pillow is too hard.

If it's useless, just burn it.

However, during the experiment, Fang Zheng was surprised to discover the characteristics of the shield.

This shield can absorb everything and transform it into special skills and abilities.

For example, if Fang Zheng picked a herb and put it into the green gem in the center of the shield, he would gain the ability to "collect". If he put more, he would also gain the ability to "blend" the medicine. The same is true for monsters. The monsters killed will also give the shield various powers due to their characteristics.

That's interesting, but only interesting... huh? Wait?

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up.

Since this shield can absorb everything and transform it into characteristics and abilities, then... what about this?

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng immediately reached out his hand, searched in the inventory for a long time, and then took out a soul stone.

Although it was also a soul stone, it had completely lost its luster and shattered into several pieces. This soul stone was none other than the soul stone of the Star Forging Dragon King. After Fang Zheng had used up all his powers, the soul stone shattered and now turned into a pile of useless stones.

After that, Fang Zheng also wanted to summon a soul stone of the same level as the Star-Forging Dragon King. However, he didn't know whether his luck had been exhausted before or for some other reason, but Fang Zheng could not even summon a fantasy-level soul stone, let alone the Star-Forging Dragon King.

As for this fragment, it was an accident. When Fang Zheng designed the system, he had never considered what would happen to the soul stones after they were used up. After all, the system was only roughly constructed at the time, and details like this were originally thrown to the meeting for each group to work out.

What Fang Zheng didn't expect was that after using up the soul stone, the fragments remained in the inventory, which made Fang Zheng happy and he tried to restore it.

Finally Fang Zheng remembered...

Oh, I haven't figured out this setting yet.

So now this thing is just kept as a souvenir.

"Master, what is this?"

Seeing Fang Zheng take out a handful of soul stone fragments, Raphtalia and Lifana also hurried over. Although they were still a little afraid of Fang Zheng at first, perhaps because of Fang Zheng's very kind attitude, the two little girls were no longer so afraid of Fang Zheng.

"Let's do an experiment and wait and see."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng picked up a relatively small piece of debris and placed it on the green gem in the center of the shield. The next moment, the green gem emitted a bright light and quickly absorbed the debris, and then...

"drop."

With a slight sound, Fang Zheng soon saw a new branch option pop up on the skill tree of the shield in front of him.

It really works!

Looking at the branch in front of him, Fang Zheng nodded.

Then let me see what kind of skill this is...

“Boom!”

[Not high enough level, cannot be activated]

“Huh?”

Seeing this, Fang Zheng suddenly felt unwell.

Still need to upgrade?!