As the night passed and the heavy rain stopped, Lin Feng arrived at the quiet north gate of Monta City.
Before he could even savor the tranquility, at the very moment dawn broke, a large number of workers emerged from the city, dispelling the chill of the streets and transforming them into bustling figures.
After searching for a while, Lin Feng found the Fang Mercenary Group's insignia and walked towards the three carriages parked under the insignia.
In a corner beside the carriage crouched the orcs from the tavern the previous night, now clad in well-fitting armor, each dozing with their shields and axes in hand.
Two humans were crouching not far from them, wearing identical standard armor, with two long spears beside them.
After walking around the carriage, several yawning humans emerged from the Fang Mercenary Group's tent, swaying their shoulders as they leaned against the carriage.
Lin Feng waited a few seconds, and the man who had been in charge of recruiting mercenaries last night came out of the tent carrying a long sword. He squinted, slapped the sword against the railing next to the carriage, and pulled down his pants.
Just as he was preparing to waterproof the water, the man noticed a gaze behind him, turned around, and saw Lin Feng.
"My Lord Magician!" The urge to urinate suddenly disappeared, and the man hurriedly pulled up his pants and ran over: "You've come so early."
Lin Feng asked, "When do we depart?"
"About two hours. After the rain stopped last night, I sent people out to scout the way. We can set off once they return." The man said earnestly, "Sir, my name is Chuck. You can contact me anytime if you need anything on the road."
"How long does it take to get to Upper Dallas?"
“If all goes well, it will only take 10 days, but…” Chuck leaned closer and whispered, “Sir, we actually know a shortcut that can save us 2 days if the road conditions are good.”
"Hmm?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "What shortcut?"
Chuck didn't hide anything and said, "It was originally a secret passage leading to the mage tower deep in the mountains. Later, it was occupied by nobles. If the heavy rain hadn't washed away the mountain road, we could have bypassed the mountains and entered Upper Dales along the direction of the deep valley."
Normally, to get to Upper Dallas, you have to walk along the coastal cliffs to a plain, pass through two passes, and then it takes several more days.
The secret passage Chuck mentioned was a route from the mage's passage into the mountains, then around to a bottomless valley behind the mountains, directly entering Upper Dallas territory and avoiding various problems.
Lin Feng nodded, glancing at Chuck's slightly curious gaze with a puzzled look.
"Hey... sir, were the assassins from last night looking for you?" Chuck asked cautiously, and immediately added, "Sir, don't worry, I haven't told anyone, and my companions haven't mentioned it to anyone either!"
"It has nothing to do with me," Lin Feng denied outright.
“Oh…” Chuck nodded heavily.
But then, Lin Feng suddenly probed, "What if there's a connection?"
Chuck became a little more serious: "It's nothing. Actually, our captain also has conflicts with them. After all, these are extraordinary times. But if you are with the Allied Forces, then we can only say that we can't help you."
So that's how it is... Lin Feng shook his head: "I'm not a member of the Allied Forces."
"Yes, sir." Chuck put on his obsequious smile and pointed to a new van that was coming from behind: "This van is for mages. There will be two more mages coming later. You can go up and rest for a while."
"Um..."
Lin Feng did not refuse. After the carriage stopped, he opened the door and got in.
Magicians are noble, yet also cheap; 120 silver coins perfectly illustrate a magician's slightly elevated status.
A while later, two other mages found Chuck. They were clearly marked: one was a fire mage, and the other was a poison mage.
These two elements can produce a very violent reaction; once the toxins wrapped around the body are detonated, it's comparable to having a ring of grenades hanging all over a person's body.
"Hello, I am F. Rost, a fire elemental mage."
“Ka. Rost, a poison elemental mage.”
They are a pair of human siblings; the younger sister is more enthusiastic, while the older brother has a cold expression.
"Whatever." After the other person got into the car, Lin Feng simply transliterated "whatever" and exchanged a brief introduction.
The carriage is not large, with two rows of seats in the front and back, enough for six people to sit facing each other, or more than enough for three people.
Time passed slowly. Lin Feng watched the mercenaries outside getting busy, then pushed open the car door and leaned out.
"My lord, the empire has sealed off the pass, and Monta will soon be sealed off as well. We just received news from the mountain road that it is now passable. We're preparing to depart in five minutes." Chuck saw Lin Feng and immediately came over to deliver the message.
Lin Feng nodded, his gaze sweeping around before finally settling on the three orcs from before.
The entire mercenary group consisted of about one hundred people, including archers, cavalry, thirteen carriages that arrived one after another, and a woman wearing a veil and chainmail.
“That’s our captain, Ophina. She’s a healer,” Chuck said, slipping from Lin Feng’s side into the carriage. “Three great mages, I’ll take care of you on the journey. You can tell me if you need anything.”
Lin Feng glanced at Chuck, looked around again, and then sat back down in the carriage.
The mercenary group seemed normal. There were no orcs riding wolves, a few elves among the archers, a third of the mercenaries had a strong aura and were probably at the master level, and the rest were all elites. No legendary level mercenaries were found.
People in this world value honor. After reaching the legendary level, they will decorate their equipment, faceplates, clothing, patterns, and so on with gold to show their status.
Of course, this doesn't prevent some people from deliberately concealing information.
"Chuck, how much do you know about the Twin Flowers?" Lin Feng closed the car door and started a conversation.
“Twin flowers… I do know a lot about them, but it’s all hearsay. If you don’t mind, I can tell you about them.” Chuck began his narration with a rather serious air, under Lin Feng’s expectant gaze.
"It is said that when Upper Dalles was named Upper Dalles, people discovered an ancient tree with a canopy larger than the mountains, whose roots spread everywhere and even covered the deep valleys."
"The noble lord at the time sent people up to investigate several times, but after finding nothing, he regarded the tree crown as a peculiar ancient plant."
"As you all know, at that time, five such plants were discovered one after another across the continent. But later, for some reason, rumors suddenly spread in Upper Dales that there were monsters in the tree canopy, causing Upper Dales, which should have been prosperous, to decline."
"In order to quell the rumors, the noble lords sent people to burn down the tree canopy, but who knew that the flames that covered the mountain range burned for three days and three nights. Two magicians even used magic to destroy the tree canopy, but in the end the tree canopy was restored to its original state."
"Then it declined, but the huge canopy still attracted people to come and see it. Gradually, rumors spread that the canopy was a miracle of God, which kept Upper Dallas in a mediocre state."
"Later, there were rumors of various people climbing the tree canopy and seeing revelations, or discovering some treasure, until a few years ago when the canopy suddenly split open and two flowers sprouted..."
Chuck sighed: "I was in Monta at the time, and when I got back, many filthy giant insects had crawled out from under the canopy and destroyed half of Upper Dales."
Just then, Carlo Rost suddenly spoke up: "The Twin Flowers bloomed for three days in total. After the flowers withered, a filthy giant insect lord appeared under the canopy."
The cold voice dissipated, and the carriage began to move forward. Chuck nodded and sighed silently.
Now, the twin flowers have bloomed again.
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