The security officer's calm thinking made Chapelle sober up in an instant, and he decisively assembled all the armed forces of the Eternal Flame.
Most of these people were still enemies from before, but Shapet could see the eternal fire burning in their eyes:
“Many of you are sinners today, and now is the time for you to atone for your sins.
Let's go and protect our Novigrad!"
…
Novigrad Plaza.
There are several huge stakes set up here for the Eternal Flame, but these torture instruments have not been used for a long time since Chapelle suffered a stroke and recovered.
But today, they are being lit again, and the torches are not held by the Eternal Flame - but by the Mafia.
"As expected, the people of Eternal Flame don't care about us at all. We can make as much noise as we want!"
Hawthorne II's men laughed wildly. They put on clown makeup and danced excitedly as they listened to the screams coming from the stake.
Among those being tortured on the stake were members of their rival gangs, shop owners who usually opposed them, and homeless people they had just pulled from the streets.
"The Beggar King and the machete man didn't take action, but it doesn't matter. The underworld doesn't need cowards!"
"Everyone, go and plant the flags of the Ghost Face Gang in every store and casino you can see. From today onwards, there will only be one gang in Novigrad, and that is..."
With a "puff", the leader had not yet finished speaking under the fanatical gaze of his subordinates, when an arrow that came from nowhere pierced his neck in full view of everyone.
Kolgrim put down the crossbow in his hand, his eyes cold. Although the traditional equipment of the Snake Sect does not include a crossbow, the demon hunters who traveled far and wide always know a little bit of everything.
After killing the leader, Kolgrim no longer looked at the noisy Ghost Face Gang minions and turned away.
He moved between the rooftops as if it were flat ground. It was dangerous for a demon hunter acting alone to be surrounded, and he now had a more urgent mission.
The original mission of the three members of the Snake Faction was to stay on standby in the city of Novigrad to prevent any accidents from happening.
They had determined a day ago that the gangs would no longer be a problem and thought this would be an unremarkable mission. Oaks even clamored to find Reso to help Lane.
But who knew that the person who tried to prevent accidents would unexpectedly encounter an accident.
The riot started. And unlike the original plan to stay away from the Temple Island and avoid casualties among the believers, these gangsters with funny clown makeup were destroying almost everything in their sight.
After Hawthorne's death, Hawthorne II took over the power of the family. He was a terrorist who was even more cruel and shameless than his father. He released all the thugs and criminals in the family almost immediately, and then set off a carnival in the peaceful Novigrad.
The people of the Eternal Fire were busy fighting among themselves, and there was no order in the city. The Beggar King and the Machete were not prepared for a fight, and for a moment they let the Ghost Face Gang rampage through the city, and the situation deteriorated to the extreme in an instant.
Anticipating that something was amiss, the three members of the Snake Faction took action immediately and forcibly attacked and killed Hawthorne II, who was under heavy protection, without any plan, thus ending his one-day career as a gang leader.
But the riots did not stop as they had imagined, and there was no way to retract the knife that had been drawn.
"This was my mission, but I failed. The fault of this riot is all my fault." Serrit apologized to his companions with self-blame. His mission was to assassinate Hawthorne. He completed it well, but now the situation is very bad.
"No." Kolgrim shook his head. "This is our mission, and now we should make up for our mistakes."
The Hawthorne family's gang had been operating for a long time, with nearly a thousand thugs spread across most of Novigrad. The Snake Faction split into three groups, and they had no way to stop all the gang thugs. They could only kill their leaders to slow down their destruction.
"Lane, Chapelle, whoever it is, please finish your work quickly and come here—"
As if the voice in the Snake Faction Demon Hunter's heart was heard, a rumbling sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the avenue at the city gate.
At this time, there were more than a dozen gang members scattered on the main road, with Eternal Flame promotional flyers under their feet.
They were attracted by the rumbling sound of horse hooves, and when they looked up, they saw a column of fire coming towards them that almost filled the entire road.
These dozen gangsters were ignited and turned into torches in an instant.
——【Igni Seal: Explosion】!
Before they could continue screaming, a blond knight rode out from the guard of flames, followed by a large group of well-armed cavalrymen.
Swords swung together, and in an instant, these evil gangsters were silent. They fell to the ground, and the burning prayers of the Eternal Fire were scattered on the street:
[Eternal fire, you ignite our hearts and give us light.
Please give us warmth, wipe our tears, burn our enemies, and bless our friends. 】
"Lann!" The snake-faction demon hunter shouted happily, jumped over the roof with a few jumps, rolled on the ground to relieve the impact, and pounced in front of the cavalry team.
Lann had a brief exchange with Kolgrim. After learning the situation at the scene, he decisively gave orders to his subordinates.
"House, Levin, Milva, you each lead a squad of cavalry. Make killing the gangsters your first priority, and quell the chaos as quickly as possible. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lord Earl!"
After a pause, Lann added: "Under the banner of Cintra, display the lion emblem more prominently."
"Yes, Lord Earl!"
The cavalry team immediately split into three. These gangsters without even armor were no match for the fully armed cavalry. Facing them, the Cintra cavalry was even enough to fight ten of them at once.
"The cavalry can only run on the main roads. They can't run on the side roads. Kolgrim, please go find the Beggar King and Machete and ask them to cooperate with our operation. If they agree, tell them that Chapelle has a big reward. If they refuse, tell them that the Eternal Flame will liquidate all the gangs in the city and only keep 'friends'."
"Okay, leave it to me. I'll go find Oaks or Serrit!"
Finally, Lan turned and looked at Letho.
The bald man asked consciously, "What do you need me to do?"
"I don't know what the situation is like on Temple Island, please go check it out. If it's over, tell Chapelle about the danger here. We need quick support here."
Reso nodded and left.
Soon, only Lann and a few guards were left on the field.
Lan took a deep breath. This incident happened suddenly. He didn't expect that Hawthorne II, who had suddenly come to power, would be so crazy.
Compared to the original novel, this gang leader is younger, more cruel, and more reckless. Moreover, the original order forces in the city were not there, and he actually took advantage of the loophole.
That won't do. Lann needs a prosperous Novigrad as his friend.
However, this accident also brought some gains, and it could even be considered a good thing for Lann. After all, as a foreign army, there were not many opportunities to intervene in a city's defense forces to quell chaos, save civilians, and enhance reputation...
Not far ahead, a loud explosion suddenly sounded, attracting Lan's attention.
These gangsters actually used explosives.
Lann's eyes narrowed: "Let's go and help!"
This is a large courtyard south of Novigrad Square, with the gate locked tightly. After the Ghost Face Gang slaughtered innocent citizens who had no time to find a hiding place in the square, they finally set their sights here.
In theory, in order to incite chaos and expand the results of the war as much as possible, the gangs should not pay attention to the closed iron gates, but should look for those narrow alleys or low-rise houses that are easy to break into.
But no one knew what or who was inside the courtyard. At this moment, these gangsters showed amazing enthusiasm for the courtyard and even used things like alchemical explosives.
That is to say, in Novigrad, the underground gangs can really get any lethal weapons.
The people in the courtyard had long been trembling with fear from the noise outside. Now that the courtyard was breached, they were even more frightened and scattered. A quick look revealed that there were both men and women inside, and even quite a few dwarfs and disabled people.
But not everyone was fleeing, there were also brave ones: several men in strange costumes stood up with swords and tried to resist the gangsters. They were dressed like knights, but their armor was missing pieces, and they were holding wooden swords or knives.
These strangely dressed "knights" used awkward fighting postures and loudly encouraged themselves, but when they really came into close combat with the gangsters, their armor was easily broken, and they were killed by these vicious gangsters in a single encounter.
This was actually a theater, and the "knights" were wearing nothing more than costumes. It would have been fine if they had just made some gestures and danced on the stage, but unfortunately this time they were brandishing swords against real desperadoes.
Seeing the death of their companions, there were shrill cries in the theater, and the people of the Ghost Face Gang became even more excited.
小丑打扮的恐怖分子冲进花花绿绿的剧院里面，仿佛在上演一场血的舞台剧。
“我要找到依芮娜，我要让她穿上公主的衣服！”
“走开，她是我的，我要让她扮演成树精跟我度过最后的时候！”
“一个一个来，她是大家的！”
黑帮分子喊着不像话的口号冲进剧院。
这个剧院的主人心地善良，之前还接受了不少混乱初期在大街上无处躲藏的不同市民，这个时候却全都变成了瓮中的鳖，哭喊着却没有地方逃窜。
大人们都被黑帮分子的残忍所威吓，倒是有几个不知道天高地厚的少年人挥舞着刀剑冲了出来，想要保护剧院里面的女人们和无辜的市民。
一个三角眼睛的黑帮分子轻易地把一个孩子打翻在地，好笑地扯着一个金色头发的半大孩子：“哈哈，很有意思的游戏，小鬼，那你知道骑士的结局是什么吗？”
这个少年不住地挣扎着，似乎不知道害怕是什么，他的戏服胸口画着一头张牙舞爪的狮子，兀自大喊：“放开我，我是辛特拉的雄狮，不许你伤害剧院的同伴！”
可能是最近剧院在排练什么新的话剧让这个孩子入戏太深，这荒唐的话语引得一众恶徒哈哈大笑。
“辛特拉的雄狮？哈哈哈，他怎么可能管得了诺维格瑞的事情？”
一个棕发棕眼的女人挥舞着木棍，但是身娇体弱的她很快被打倒在地，只剩下了求饶的力气：
“不要伤害孩子，求求你们！”
剧团除了热爱艺术的人们之外，偶尔也会收养流浪儿为学徒。对于他们来说，剧团就是他们的家，这也是这些少年人此刻比大人还要勇敢的原因。
带着小丑面具的男人们眼中露出了邪恶的光：“不要着急，一会我们就要来伤害你了——依芮娜女士。”
恐怖分子们的目光都被剧团的女演员吸引，却没有注意到在一旁躲藏着的人群里面，一个孩子突然开始全身抽搐。
他的身体好似橡皮泥一样开始蠕动膨胀，在身边孩子惊恐的目光中变高、变壮，变成了成人大小；他的头发也渐渐变白、伸直、延长，最后披到了肩膀上。
他的身上的皮肤发出油亮的光泽，变成黑色的皮革覆盖到身上；他的肩膀和袖子上出现了银色饰钉和铁锁甲胄，红润的脸庞拉得细长而苍白，眼睛发出琥珀色的亮光。
他的右肩上方还出现了两把剑，胸口则摇曳着一枚狼首徽章。
倒在地上的女人清晰地看到了这一切，她惊讶地呢喃：“嘟嘟……”
“对不起，依芮娜小姐，在剧院的这些日子我一直很开心。但我其实是一名变形怪。”
名为“嘟嘟”的变形怪瞪开琥珀色的猫瞳，拔出背后宝剑就朝着愣住的黑帮分子扑过去。
他剑出如风，辗转腾挪，熟练的招式像是一名沉**杀戮多年的剑客。
他的反应迅捷，速度惊人，而且左手时不时地配合自己的剑招释放出惊人的冲击风暴，轻易地就能撕开黑帮们的包围，将他们逐个击破。
唯一美中不足的是他的剑招不够狠厉，面对很多足够一击必杀的局势他往往会迟疑一会，错失了不少的机会。
于是度过了被变形怪的变化骇住的初始几秒后，恶徒们的反击也接踵而至。
匕首刺不破变形怪塑造出来的坚硬甲胄，但是其中还掺杂着几把斧头。变形怪双拳难敌四手，很快身上挂彩。
“住手，那边的那个怪物！”
正当变形怪捉襟见肘之时，突然听见了一声暴喝。他用力挥剑避开眼前的敌人跳出战圈，一回头，却看见了令他惊愕难当的一幕。
原来就在前面的底层混混们没有脑子地用身体喂饱敌人长剑的时候，头目们早就后退到了安全的地方，并且扯了人质在手上。
除了开头的金发少年之外，他们还抓了一个不断祷告的永恒之火信徒，还有更多的黑帮在抓捕人质。
黑帮夺取胜利的手段是多样的。
变形怪见此大急，左手掐印，猛然在自己前方制造出一股念力冲击，随后他矮身持剑冲入人群，左突右砍又将这些恶徒逼了回去。
不是他不在乎人质，而是他现在这具身体的理智告诉他：如果此时被恶徒牵着鼻子走，那不但救不下人质，反而可能会让更多的朋友牺牲。
那些恶徒可能也是第一次遇到这么果断的战士。愣神一秒之后如梦初醒，他提起自己手中的金发少年，突然狠狠用匕首扎了他一刀：
“住手，你这肮脏的怪物！如果不想让着小鬼身上再多几个血窟窿，就住手！”
金发男孩被扎得一刀大叫起来。
另一名被作为人质的信徒也被捅了一刀，他口中祷告的声音都扭曲了：
“永恒之火不会放过你们的！”
人质们受到攻击，惨叫灌入耳朵。这一瞬间嘟嘟的变形怪思维又涌了上来，场中挥舞长剑大杀四方的男人顿时僵住了动作。
他的面颊不断抽搐，似乎在忍耐什么：“放下他，我可以饶你们一命，让你们活着离开这里。”
见到威胁有效，三角眼黑帮松了一口，大笑：“你们这个剧院居然窝藏怪物，还是变形怪！只要这个消息放出去，就算我们不回到这里，永恒之火也会把这里的一切化为灰烬！”
他打量着变形怪，眼睛中闪烁着狠厉而贪婪的光：“我有一个更好的主意……放下剑，跟我们走，今后这个剧院就是我们鬼面帮的地盘了……”
“嘟嘟，不要管我！”被三角眼抓在手里的男孩突然剧烈地挣扎起来，被匕首捅伤的地方在源源不断地往外面冒血，小男孩也痛得哇哇大哭。
但哪怕如此他也在用哭腔大喊：“我是辛特拉的雄狮！兰恩·兰尼斯特·雷安伦！不要管我！”
说完之后，他还趁三角眼黑帮不备，一口狠狠咬在对方的手上，痛得对方哇哇大叫。
“臭小鬼！”恶棍吃痛，勃然大怒就要再举起匕首给孩子的背上多个洞。
变形怪嘟嘟大惊：“住手！”
他挥舞长剑就要上前，速度眼看着就要来不及救下少年，却突然听到一声尖利的箭矢破空之声。
“噗嗤”一声，一个金属箭头就从三角眼的脖子上冒了出来，他的口中不断地吞吐血沫，显然是感觉到了疼痛。但是他此刻连低头看一眼自己的伤口都做不到。
黑帮成员们根本没有注意到自己的背后出现敌人，此刻他们才惊慌地回头。
在剧院的门口，一个金发的骑士放下了手中的十字弩，他背负双剑，盔甲上画着一头威严的雄狮。
场中的众人片刻间愣了愣，他们看了看掉在地上已经忘了哭泣的金发男孩，又看了看门口的金发骑士。
而此时，兰恩也才看清楚场中的局势。
一个模仿自己的小孩，还有一个……一比一复刻且没有疤的杰洛特？
“嘟嘟，快去救小莱！”
依芮娜尖叫起来，场中的众人如梦方醒。
但是兰恩可没有丝毫的愣神，在所有人的视线还集中在自己身上的时候他就果断一抬手，让迷胧的白光笼罩了一名黑帮分子的脑袋。
【亚克席法印】！
离男孩最近的一个恶棍当场变成了行尸走肉，而兰恩则爆发出了远超常人的速度，众人恍然只看到了一阵银黑色的风从眼前卷过，就有一把剑在剩下的恶棍接触到男孩之前把他们的手夺了下来。
一把抓住金发男孩的后领，头也不回地把他朝着“杰洛特”的方向扔过去，紧接着兰恩再度让符文长剑前伸，轻巧地挑开另一名俘虏身上的手，一脚把这个永恒之火的信徒踹到安全的区域。
视线之内再没有友军，而敌人却在此时聚集到了一起。这是兰恩现阶段最喜欢的迎敌方式啊。
左手前伸，魔力值向下跳水。
【伊格尼法印·魔力爆发！】
不逊于黑帮分子炸开铁门的热浪喷涌而出，瞬间将这些恶徒笼罩其中。
滚烫的空气倒灌而回让后面瑟瑟发抖的众人不由地蒙住了眼睛，只有那名刚刚被扔回去的永恒之火信徒死瞪着眼睛，趴在地上甚至忘了爬起来。
他的口中喃喃自语：“火焰洗涤污秽，就如同烧到起浓长疮的伤口，犯过邪恶罪行的灵魂也必须经过火焰净化……”
面前的敌人被兰恩两个回合之内击溃，随兰恩一起而来的骑兵四散出去，寻找这个院落里面有没有黑帮的其他漏网之鱼。
墙角躲藏着的孩子见此场景没有一点点的害怕，鲜血已经激不起他们的恐惧。他们此刻看着那耀眼的骑士双眼闪闪发亮。
看着“杰洛特”把孩子交给一旁的棕发女人后满眼戒备地打量自己，兰恩轻笑一声。
"I'm Lann Lannister Rhaanlon. Geralt told me that he once encountered a very interesting shapeshifter in Novigrad. It is said that the other party has turned into his appearance. If I remember correctly, your name should be - Toot?"
Of course, this story was not told by Geralt, but was read by Lann in his previous life.
The shapeshifter named "Dudu" in front of him is the one that Geralt has encountered. He was once hunted by Geralt, and later he changed into Geralt's appearance to fight the original witcher, but he was intimidated by Geralt's momentum before the fight even started. And Chapet finally revealed his shapeshifter identity in front of Geralt in order to save him.
When Toot heard Geralt's name, his body visibly relaxed a little, but the alertness on his face remained.
"You know Geralt?"
Lan nodded and tilted his head to gesture to the door: "There's still a commotion outside. I'm going to help calm it down. Do you want to come and lend a hand?"
Geralt's thoughts came back to him, and Toot was obviously moved, but then he turned around to look at the people in the courtyard and shook his head: "I want to protect everyone in the theater here."
Lan nodded and said nothing more. He turned around and called on the knights who had completed the search to ride away. They came quickly and left even faster.
The Foxon Troupe woke up from their dream and immediately went to check on their injured companions. Irena immediately organized everyone who still had strength to find everything they could to block the theater door again.
Toot's body twisted and soon changed from the image of Geralt into a bearded doctor-like man who helped the blond boy check his wound.
"Dudu?" The boy asked uncertainly, looking at the strange-looking shapeshifter. Not long ago, the bearded doctor in front of him was a playmate of the same height as him, but just now he turned into a white-haired swordsman who killed many gangsters.
Dudu remained silent and nodded.
The boy's eyes lit up: "Dudu, you are awesome!"
Dudu paused abruptly, and his silent expression finally softened.
"Yeah?"
"Hmm!" The boy's eyes twinkled, "Can I learn this?"
Dudu shook his head: "You can't learn it, and you don't want to learn it."
"Okay." The boy pouted. He suddenly thought of something and shouted excitedly, "That... that knight just now, did he say that he is the lion? He is, right?"
"Yes, that's what he said. He is the Lion, Lann Lannister Rhaanron."
"He grabbed my collar and threw me out." Although he had lost a lot of blood, the boy's face was flushed with excitement, "I think I'm pretty good too!"
Dudu looked at the boy and chuckled.
"Yes, you are also very good."