CHAPTER 246: 49TH SCENE: CATCH FISH IN MUDDY WATERS (PART 2)

In fact, the inspiration for her design of the Magic Conduction Device also came from a dusty blueprint in the family basement. Otherwise, with her not-so-exceptional talent, how could she have thought of walking down this path?

Antitina never thought of giving up on herself. The more destitute her family became, the more she wanted to revive the deeds of her ancestors. Unlike her petty noble father, she was a strong-willed girl since childhood.

But Batom’s words interrupted her thoughts. The red-bearded mercenary cautiously asked, "Where do we leave from, Sir Knight? We don’t know how many of these monsters are outside, nor how they managed to sneak in. The Limp Man said the underground trade fair was tightly guarded. Damn it—"

"We’ll go from the backstage." Brand took a look around at the smoky surroundings and replied. He had already made up his mind. It seemed that Madara’s target was the high-ranking nobles from Brags attending this auction, so their primary target should be the boxes upstairs.

However, what made him feel a bit chilly was that those three Spirit Statues earlier were clearly coming straight for him. He couldn’t understand what had attracted Madara’s attention to him. The young man thought it over and over again, finally locking down the suspicion to whether his leadership of those refugees had somehow been leaked.

But he had only killed one of their captains. Was Instarlon really so vengeful? To gather intelligence on him and his comrades and plan this operation must have been no easy feat.

One could even say it was an enormous undertaking.

Brand could only hope that he was merely an additional target in this operation. But in any case, he realized that his presence was already beginning to influence the course of history.

This gave him a greater sense of urgency.

Otherwise, his advantage would gradually disappear.

Char also agreed with Brand’s viewpoint, though his meaning clearly went further. This young Wizard Apprentice had obviously analyzed deeply the previous discussion with Brand about equipment, attributes, and experience. His suggestion was that going through the backstage would clearly be more conducive to taking advantage of the chaos; those auction items and money, which hadn’t yet been transferred, were obviously a huge treasure trove.

If Frey were here, she would certainly disapprove of Char’s proposal—unfortunately, this kind-hearted and righteous future Valkyrie was at the headquarters of the Silver Wing Cavalry Group waiting to be commended.

And Antitina, who replaced her as Brand’s deputy and staff, although she came from a noble family, the essence of nobility in this era often wasn’t too different from that of robbers—let alone this young lady was always a pragmatist. When she heard Char’s proposal, not only did she not stop him, but she also immediately supplemented it with her wisdom, striving to make the plan feasible.

As for Little Roman and Batom, the former couldn’t wait to participate in all kinds of thrilling and amazing adventures, regardless of whether the act was legal. Besides, the underground trade itself wasn’t a legal business.

And the latter, as Brand’s ’house servant,’ would not oppose either.

Not to mention the unconscious Limp Man, even if he weren’t unconscious, he would probably raise both hands and feet in approval. Just like the rumors and gossip circulating in Prague’s Bar described—if there was anything that made the Limp Man of Black Pepper Alley happier than getting a bargain, it would be getting an incredible bargain.

Seeing his nominal ’subordinates’ thinking about how to make a profit even in such perilous times, Brand couldn’t help but not know whether this was good or bad.

But to be fair, this style was quite similar to his behavior in ’Amber Sword’—back then, ’Sophie who risked his life for money’ had a well-known reputation for some time. Of course, that was also because he was too poor during the early game, leaving such an aftereffect—later, as Erune faded into obscurity, and he joined the Church Knight Country, this reputation gradually left him.

However, that adventurous streak in his behavior was deeply rooted in his blood. Whether it was Sophie or Brand, they were potential gamblers now.

And this behavior style, more or less, influenced Batom, Roman, and Char. But Antitina, he glanced back at this girl, had a character somewhat similar to his.

Once the group finalized their plan, they immediately headed to the auction platform below. But they quickly found out that there were not few people with the same idea. However, due to the obstruction by Spirit Statues, not many had a team like theirs, with two warriors of near Black Iron Upper strength and fifteen Wind Spirit Spiders opening the way, or one could say none did.

Therefore, they were the first to break through Madara’s ’assassins’ and reach the platform below.

Brand first saw the auctioneer and his assistant lying in a pool of blood. The place on the platform where the Torch should have been was already empty—the priceless treasure was long gone. This made him frown; there were two possibilities: either the Undead seized the Torch, or there was another scenario that needed more scrutiny.

He exchanged a glance with Char and saw the doubt in each other’s eyes.

The Torch was a priceless treasure to most intelligent beings but not to the Undead. Madara expanded its territory through Soul Fire and the Spirit Tower, making the Torch almost worthless to them. This information might not be known to ordinary people, but it couldn’t be hidden from a seasoned gamer and a Wizard Apprentice.

Such as himself and Char.

"There’s a problem," Brand immediately raised his sword to his chest and alerted the others behind him.

Char also guarded the rear of the team at the same moment.

"What’s going on?" Batom asked.

But before he finished speaking, a huge red figure descended from the sky with a boom, landing on the platform. With a ’crack,’ the massive figure crushed a huge hole into the wooden platform, causing a cloud of dust to envelop the area temporarily.

...

(PS: I’m feeling a bit better today, but I still can’t eat meat. What a tragedy. If I recover tomorrow, I’ll start catching up on the missed days. I hope everyone can understand.

It’s already the 30th, please continue to support with Monthly Tickets and Subscriptions.) (To be continued. For more Chapters, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, and enjoy legitimate reading!))