Phoenix Flower (5)

Alex and Inger continued their conversation, leaning against the headboard.

"When I checked the coast, I found that the navy's defenses were very lax. In fact, we passed through the formation and reached the islands and reefs without anyone noticing."

Even the island chains controlled by Legolas were more vigilant.

"So Duke Harenga must withdraw." Inger continued.

Alex was lost in thought as he looked at the roof beams of the boathouse, which had turned red from being soaked in moisture all year round.

They both knew the reason.

The southern territory is also part of the first line of defense against the demons.

The year is 1891.

There were still nine years until 1900. Only nine years.

During these nine years, he had to work extremely hard, thinking every moment about how to increase the chances of human survival.

However, traveling during this period always makes him forget all these, as if he has really returned to the carefree age of fifteen.

I thought of it again when I was lying in bed at night. My body seemed to be weighed down by a heavy weight called guilt, and I couldn't breathe.

Inger took a book from the bedside, another magazine he bought on the street, and read it attentively under the light.

Alex turned to look at him.

Gradually, all the tense nerves in my body relaxed, my mind became empty, and sleepiness came over me.

This has been the case every night for the past few months.

Inger's voice lowered, steady and elegant: "Have you decided who to replace?"

Alex turned his head towards him, half-closed his eyes, and said vaguely: "Think about it later..."

Inger glanced at him, gently put his hand on his head and pushed it, covered him with a blanket, and said, "Go to sleep."

Alex nodded, completely bewitched by the god of sleep.

The next day, Alex was woken up by Inger.

Inger always woke up earlier than him, but seldom called him. He always let him sleep until he woke up naturally.

"Hmm? Ying?"

Inger's voice sounded a little excited.

"Get dressed! Get up and go outside!"

Even with the dim vision, one could see the fluttering scarlet flames outside the window, which were definitely not the color of the morning glow.

Alex put on his clothes in a few seconds, climbed out of the cabin, and saw patches of soft little flames flickering on the ashes.

Different from a raging fire that consumes everything.

This small flame is fragmented but warm, showing a hint of vitality, with vermilion, orange and yellow complementing each other, and the tone is gentle.

One after another, the blooming fire lilies ignited the fire of life on the remains of the sea lilies.

Where the red flames passed, fine and tender green stubble emerged.

"It's really the flame of the phoenix..." Alex couldn't help but exclaim.

I believe that within a few months, the island will return to its wild growth state.

"But how can I bring the flower back? Once it blooms, it will turn into flames, right?" Inger looked around, trying to find a fully bloomed flower.

Alex followed him, "We have to stop for a while, right? Let's go find the biggest one."

However, it is not that easy.

They searched for a long time but didn't see a single intact flower. The flowers were either buds or had not yet formed stalks, scattered on the ground in twos or threes.

And the flowers are so small that they have to explore very carefully.

Finé also flew low and patrolled, searching with his all-round eagle eyes.

Finally, they saw a fire lily on a hill with its core emitting red flames.

It seemed different from the others and was not in a hurry to transform into flames.

The shape is also larger than any other plant.

Inger looked over and almost mistook the flower shape for a fire phoenix.

The petals have graceful curves, like the red feathers of a phoenix, spreading its wings as if ready to fly.

He knew he had found the right one.

The soil was very soft, and he carefully dug out the plant with its roots.

The flowers were so thin and soft that when he touched them it felt like he was holding a piece of paper, as light as a feather.

“How do I save it?”

Inger did not take out his wand. He cast a levitation spell on the flower, held it lightly in his hands, and chanted a spell.

〈Vacuum Storage〉

As long as it is a plant, it will not oxidize if it is removed from the air.

The magic light turned into a transparent light shield, trapping the Phoenix Flower inside. The flame did not go out. It seemed that this fire was indeed not an ordinary flame and did not require any combustible material.

This is similar to magic fire, energy particles that deviate from the laws of physics, and removing oxygen will not extinguish it.

The magic of this vacuum cover only needs maintenance from time to time.

Inger held the flower in his hands and sighed, "I never thought I could find it."

Alex crossed his arms and smiled, "Didn't you say you wanted a wand of your own? Even if you don't use it in combat, it's worth the effort to find the materials, right?"

[It really added some fun to the trip.]

Inger put away his things and said, "Let's go. Uncle Mingna will be here soon."

***

The leader of the knights of Duke Neka forcibly requisitioned two large ships with the eldest princess's order and arrived at the first large island in the chain of islands.

"Captain! Look up!"

The stern-looking middle-aged man raised his head, his brows knitted together, "What is that? A monster?"

He was still fully armored, standing at the front of the deck, drawing his sword and shouting, "Be on guard!"

A giant snow-white griffon lifted up half of a man's body, waved his hands and shouted, "They are coming!"

Mingna let go of the sword.

In the backlight, the man's face could not be seen clearly, but judging from his voice, he should be very young, but he was not his son.

Ming Na sheathed his sword, waved his hand backwards, letting his men relax their guard, and said calmly, "It's His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince."

Inger was originally lying on Finne's back taking a nap. When he heard Alex calling him, he turned over.

Finne landed on the deck, and the whole ship swayed twice on the sea.

Finé couldn't stand steadily on his paws, and he fell to the deck with a thud, his wings tilted, and he cried out in grievance.

Alex jumped down laughing.

Inger slid down the wings, stood still, and raised his arms: "Fine, become smaller."

Finne quickly shook his body, suddenly became smaller, and landed on Inger's shoulder.

Before he could say anything, Ming Na walked up to him, patted his arms, and looked him over from head to toe.

Inger smiled and said, "Uncle Mingna, long time no see."

Mingna couldn't help but smile, even though his face looked a little stiff.

"Young master! Our captain heard that you needed people, so he was too busy to ask the Duke for permission and came over." The young knight next to him came out with a smile.

Ming Na scolded: "Shut your mouth!"

"Hahahaha, he set off before the release order even arrived!" the bearded old knight also laughed.

[This child really grew up surrounded by love...]

This was the first time Gu Shu wanted to see someone's memory.

It must be a memory as sweet and happy as honey, right?

Ming waved his hand and asked the accompanying knights to line up. He brought a total of 10 regular knights, 15 lieutenant knights, and 8 trainee knights.

The 10 regular knights are all masters above level five.

It was more than enough to escort more than a hundred people who had no ability to resist.

"Second Young Master, the Duke has given orders. We must obey your orders." Mingna put his fist on his chest and knelt in front of Inger.

Inger looked at Alex, then helped him up and said, "We also need the knights to help search the Harunga territory for any remaining strains of poison. We cannot leave any of them behind."

Ming Na smiled and said, "Okay, that's why we're here with the eldest princess's execution order."

Inger nodded. "I heard from my father that the eldest princess has summoned Duke Harunga to the capital to report on his duties and will set off on a chosen day. But we must not be too explicit about our actions in Harunga in the next few days."

"We will follow your orders, sir!" the knights responded in unison.

"But...how did you know the information so quickly? It would take several days for a postman to deliver a letter, right?" Ming Na asked.

"I have my own way." Inger made a gesture to keep the secret.

Mingna's eyes flashed: "Young Master has grown up." He has his own secrets.

Inger broke out in a cold sweat.

I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional, but Mingna was always indifferent to Alex, not very respectful and not saying hello.

Alex didn't care much. He was concerned about something else: "What about those people?"

Inger immediately knew who he was referring to, and he said decisively: "Withdrawal reactions are indeed very difficult to get through, but no matter how difficult it is, we must force them to go through it. Lock them all in a room and force them to withdraw from drugs. Otherwise, they will be worn down by the poison bit by bit."

Alex nodded and said thoughtfully: "What is withdrawal reaction... I understand what it means..."

Inger: “…” He really didn’t know how to explain.

Ming Na had already tied up the person, and did not remove the magic chain. He shouted, "Master, let's go!"

Inger took the opportunity to brush it off, "Don't ask these irrelevant questions, let's go!"

Alex smiled and ran after him.

A group of people arrived at the shore by boat, and a group of fishermen and guards surrounded the shore.

"Come down! Who are you?"

Ming Na took the lead and showed the royal token: "We are here to arrest people under the order of the eldest princess."

"Grand...Grand Princess..."

"Today, your lords should receive the princess's order to report to the capital. Get out of the way!"

The leader of the guards came out to check the token. The token of the Neka royal family had a shield, two swords and a winged wand crossed in the middle. In this country, no one dared to forge the royal token.

The guards looked at Mingna and other knights with grim expressions as they took away their young lord.

Inger and Alex, wearing cloaks and hats pulled up to cover their heads, hiding their faces, followed a group of trainee knights.

They quickly split up according to the plan, with one team escorting people out of the city on freight wagons, and the other team disguised themselves and dispersed to various places to begin secretly investigating Qing Mo.

Alex and Inger had already told them all about Qingmo's characteristics on the boat and returned to the hotel where they had originally stayed.

Just before they parted, Alsophila and Inger said, "I agree to your deal." This made Alex very concerned.

When he got back to the hotel, the first thing he asked was this.

Alex wiped his face and asked, "What did Alsophila mean by that? What kind of deal did you make?"

Inger changed his clothes and lay down on the bed exhausted. "Althaea, she is immune to all poisons, so I asked her if she wanted to do the poison testing. In exchange for her life, she would have to work for you in shackles for the rest of her life. She finally agreed."

"..." Alex was choked for a moment. He immediately remembered the incident of Inger being poisoned and became dejected.

If this was a golden retriever, its eyes and ears would probably have drooped.

Inger raised his head from the pillow and said, "Aren't you worried about her? Now she will stay with Uncle Mingna to help him investigate Qingmo. When she is taken to Nantes, I will sign a magic contract with her when I return. She dare not betray you, so you have to make the best use of her."

Alex's voice was still weak: "That's not what I meant... Isn't it good for her to test the poison for you..."

Inger saw that Alex was poisoned too many times in the comics, and he was tired of fighting against different kinds of poisons every time. In addition, many people were killed because of this. The fewer cannon fodders like him there were, the better.

So he said, "What are you talking about? Don't you think about how many times you've been poisoned before? You've made this decision."

Alex seemed to remember all the unlucky people who died after taking poison for him. He became even more depressed and had no reason to refuse.

Inger knew what he was thinking as soon as he saw his expression, and said with a curled lip, "It's not your fault."

Alex clenched his fist and looked at Inger: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Inger lay on the bed, resting his head on his arms and legs, and said, "The search in Harunga will take a long time, so let's leave it to Uncle Mingna and the others. Two more of us won't be of much help. Leave the rest of the political affairs to your sister and my father. We'll leave for the East tomorrow. We've been delayed for a long time."

Little did they know that some fishermen in the South China Sea looked up and saw the miracle of the water flow above the upstream and the rain of fire falling from the sky while fishing near the coast. Within a few days, the news spread throughout Harunga, was written about in the territory's newspapers, and even reached the central news local edition.

Many people have speculated whether there is a powerful wizard hiding in the South China Sea.

Some people also think that this is a miracle.

Some people also think that magical creatures emerged from the bottom of the sea.

In short, there are many different opinions.