At high tide, when the delta waters flow through the Novigrad Canal, not a drop of normal water remains, just the stench of excrement, soap scum, oil, and dead rats.

The respectable people on the boat began to cover their noses in disgust. Lan glanced at Shani and found that she seemed to have a high tolerance for pungent smells.

"I've also heard rumors about the 'big bug'." Lann said, "You know we demon hunters are always interested in studying abnormal creatures. According to the rumors, the appearance of these animals is more consistent with a creature called 'dragonfly monster'."

"Dragonfly monster? You have researched it, so it is a demon?" Xia Ni's knowledge and experience were obviously extraordinary. She immediately began to draw inferences from one instance. "From the name, is it a monster from the category of 'insect-like creatures'? Is it from the intersection of the celestial spheres, or is it the product of a warlock's magic experiment?"

The medical student showed great enthusiasm for biological knowledge, and Lane was willing to answer his questions.

Before Lann left, Geron prepared a lot of books for him, including popular science books on magic written by Keldamer, such as "Natural Magic", as well as popular science books on monster hunting such as "Brother Adalbert's Bestiary" and other monster illustrations.

These days, Lan has been seizing every spare moment of rest to read, never putting the book down.

"The dragonfly monster was not produced by the intersection of the celestial spheres, nor was it created by sorcerers. It was first seen not long ago," Lann explained. "We believe that it is the product of some kind of environmental pollution, such as chemical waste in the water, or experimental residues that alchemists randomly discharged."

This explanation was obviously not as mysterious and romantic as the intersection of the celestial spheres and the sorcerer's experiments, which made Xia Ni feel a little disappointed, but then she became interested in academic discussion again.

At this time, she completely forgot about the legend of the Lion Knight, the nobles and the commoners. She became pure, rigorous, and very scientific.

"Your description of it reminds me of the giant water bug," Shani deduced, "but monsters of this size should live in large swamps or lakes. How do they survive in the delta?"

Lane recalled the contents of the book and explained: "Humans have rebuilt their food chain, replacing the swamp prey with other warm-blooded animals. Sheep, cattle, pigs, and even humans themselves. I guess the dragonfly monster thinks every barge, raft or three-masted sailing ship in the delta waters is a good meal.

It is not difficult for the dragonfly to drag large animals off the deck, especially for a large transport ship with a deep draft like the one we are standing on.”

Lan En stepped on the deck under his feet, and Shani cooperated by showing a hint of fear and taking half a step back.

Compared with science, Shani obviously thinks life is more important in a practical way.

The girl said nervously, "I seemed to hear the sound of water. Something big was swimming in the water, and it was getting closer and closer..."

Lan's eyes narrowed, he heard it too.

The demon hunter's lion pupils shrank, as if they could penetrate the fog.

With his ears pricked up, he could hear, besides the sound of the water, the creaking of the oars in the rowlocks. That was the boat the customs officers were on, and there was more than one. That was not the dragonfly monster they had just been talking about.

"Xiani, go back to your room. If you are really scared, go find the Cintra soldiers. They can protect you."

Afterwards, Lane pulled House and Levine up from the card table. The sudden loss of entertainment time did not make the two of them look regretful. Instead, they were eager to try.

"I'll gather the soldiers." House began to polish his sword.

Levin hesitated and advised, "We should have entered Redania. Maybe this is just a normal customs inspection? Wouldn't it be a bad idea for us to be so aggressive with the other party on the ship?"

House shook his head and pointed out Levin's mistake: "The ship hasn't docked yet. It is illegal to board the ship to check it in any country. Either they are bandits disguised as soldiers, or the soldiers have taken private jobs - private jobs that require swords."

Milva looked left and right and felt that both of them were right.

Lann made the decision: "Let the soldiers stand by and don't let them come out together. If it's a normal customs inspection, it has nothing to do with us; if they are disguised as robbers, we will lure them deep into our territory and then catch them all in one fell swoop; if they happen to be coming for us, we will show weakness to the enemy and extract some information."

The Earl made the decision, and the servants no longer needed to discuss the matter. They obediently asked the Cintra soldiers to stay on standby in the cabin, leaving three servants to accompany Lann.

Soon, a large ship and the transport boat came alongside, and seven or eight angry, noisy and energetic guys jumped onto the deck. They surrounded the captain, shouting fiercely, trying to make the captain pay attention to their status. Then, they eagerly pounced on the passengers' property and luggage.

"What's in the box?" The Redanian captain with a pair of disgusting triangular eyes shouted, "Hey, unpack it! Whose carriage is this? Is there any currency? I say, is there any currency? Temeria currency or Nilfgaard currency?"

Zoltan and the dwarves ran to Lan and his companions. Seeing this scene, he took the initiative to explain the behavior of the customs officials to Lan and his companions.

"It's because of the tariff war," commented the dwarf who had been doing business abroad for many years. "King Vizimir forced Novigrad to use the right of first refusal. King Foltest of Temeria retaliated by fully opening the right of first refusal in Vizima and Gos Velen. This was a heavy blow to Redanian merchants, so King Vizimir began to increase tariffs on Temeria's goods. Temeria is flooded with cheap goods produced by Nilfgaardian workshops, so these customs officials are so excited. If too many Nilfgaardian goods enter the country, Redania's economy will be in vain. Redania has almost no workshops, and their craftsmen can't compete with their foreign counterparts."

“Businessmen only care about profits, they don’t care about politics,” Lane commented.

"Nilfgaard is slowly taking over the lands he failed to seize by force with goods and gold. The kings of Temeria and Redania are powerless to resist. If they block the border, merchants will protest, and even the interests of the domestic nobles will be damaged."

The dwarf exclaimed: "I thought the nobles would not pay attention to these things. I am surprised by your knowledge, Lann."

"No." Lan shook his head. "The most surprising person should be the Emperor of Nilfgaard. His way of fighting wars surpasses the tradition of the entire continent. And I am destined to fight for life and death with such a person."

The captain of the transport ship was dealing with several disputes. A merchant was arguing with the customs that the silver fox skin he brought was an incredibly large cat skin, so that he could pay less customs duties; the family members of the nobles had a bad attitude and tried to exercise their privileges to be exempt from inspection.

The big ship sailed slowly along the wide channel, passing between the bush-covered islands. The bumblebees among the reeds made a frightening buzzing sound, and the turtles also issued sharp whistles from time to time; the crane standing on one leg stared calmly at the water, knowing that it didn't need to expend too much energy - the fish would swim over sooner or later.

Finally, the soldiers gathered in front of Lann. They looked at Lann's exquisite armor and noble emblems, and then looked at Lann's lion eyes.

Lann keenly sensed the hesitation of the soldiers on the opposite side. Their men gradually gathered around and seemed to have found their target, but their leader was hesitating.

House, who was also a soldier, looked cold. He was familiar with this feeling. Sure enough, this group of people were coming for them.

As for why he hesitated, it was probably because of some problem with the intelligence. These soldiers were all legitimate soldiers of Redania, and they must have been doing private work, but it was obvious that the person who paid them was hiding something, which made him afraid to act decisively against Lann and his group.

"Do you have any currency in circulation?" Perhaps the number of people gave him courage, the triangular-eyed captain looked at them with bloodshot eyes, "Do you have anything to report?"

"No." House said coldly, "You should be able to see that we are not merchants. We don't have any goods, so we don't need to pay taxes."

Although the soldier was talking to House, Lane could feel his gaze drifting towards him from time to time.

"I don't know what your master's name is, but judging by his attire, he looks like a knight?"

"It's the Earl," Howes corrected. "The Earl of Cintra, Lann Lannister Rhaanlon. Lion of Cintra, Lord of Brokilon, Griffin Rider of the Lady of the Lake."

This long list of titles seemed to confuse the leading soldier. He muttered a few words, and Lann faintly heard a commotion coming from the soldiers behind him.

"You are all wearing armor, full armor." The triangular-eyed Redanian captain frowned and pretended to be serious. "If you only carried some axes or something, I could turn a blind eye to you as mercenaries, but you are wearing full armor. You are all dangerous elements. We are sorry to offend the count, but this is our duty. We may have to trouble you to go to Niubao with us."

"One, two, three, four. There are only four of you, right? Don't worry. This is just a routine checkup. It will be fine soon."

The triangular-eyed captain spoke very skillfully, obviously very familiar with the process.

"Both Niubao and Novigrad are free city-states, and they do not prohibit armor. You don't seem to know much about the laws of your own country." Lan, who had been behind, finally spoke up. "Besides, I'm going to visit your king. Do you want to stop the king's distinguished guest?"

Lane slowly stood up from his chair. House and Levin, who were standing in front of him to help the count cut off the enemy, moved aside to make way for him, allowing Lane to face the Redanian soldiers directly.

The triangular-eyed captain stared at Lan for only two seconds before he could no longer bear it. He took two steps back and then felt offended and his face immediately turned red.