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    su nan’s voice had just fallen when the grey-robed figure froze.

    after a long pause, she slowly spoke, her voice returning to its original sweet female tone.

    “.scepter? or player?”

    su nan touched the mask on his face and smiled slightly: “i’m a player.”

    “how did you recognize me?”

    rose was a little puzzled. she hadn’t worn the rose mask, and her voice was disguised. how did the player recognize her?

    “the staff you used just now.” su nan replied concisely.

    the staff that could fire magic missiles was an item that the scepter had brought out to trade at the second gathering.

    su nan clearly remembered that the staff had been traded to rose.

    therefore, the moment he saw the staff, he guessed the identity of the grey-robed figure.

    “.”

    rose was silent for a moment.

    she hadn’t expected her identity to be revealed because of the staff.

    fortunately, only people from the mysterious wooden hut could recognize the staff, not the enemies.

    “why are you here?” rose asked.

    “same as you.” su nan said straight to the point. “you want to enter the city too, right?”

    a flash of surprise crossed rose’s eyes, as if she hadn’t expected su nan’s purpose to be the same as hers.

    her gaze flickered slightly for a moment, and she suddenly said: “how about we cooperate?”

    “as you saw earlier, that island city is heavily guarded, and there are soul-eating hunters who can detect invisibility and illusions. none of us can sneak in alone. why don’t we cooperate, each getting what we need?”

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    “soul-eating hunter?” su nan quickly reacted. “you mean that black lion?”

    “that’s right.”

    rose nodded.

    “i interrogated it from a manticore. it’s said to be a rare beast raised by the manticore, capable of sensing soul energy. unless you can even change your soul energy, all disguises are useless in front of it.”

    “i thought the manticore was exaggerating, until i found out just now that invisibility and magical disguises are useless.”

    su nan suddenly realized, then felt a little speechless.

    the manticore was indeed cunning.

    the two manticores he interrogated just now had both deliberately concealed such crucial information, hoping to make him walk right into a trap.

    fortunately, rose had stepped on a mine for him first.

    “cooperation is fine. i also have a way to sneak into the city. but you have to tell me your purpose for sneaking into the island city first.” su nan stared at rose intently.

    rose hesitated, then gritted her teeth: “alright, but you must make an oath contract with me, promising not to tell anyone else!”

    “no problem.”

    the two then signed the oath contract.

    after that, rose slowly explained.

    “i found a wizard legacy in the underworld. according to my investigation, the key to unlocking the wizard legacy is hidden somewhere in that city, so i wanted to sneak in.”

    wizard legacy!

    su nan’s pupils narrowed slightly.

    there was actually a wizard legacy nearby?

    “you tell me this, aren’t you afraid that i’ll also want a piece of the wizard legacy?” su nan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

    rose chuckled and said, “if you’re willing, we can cooperate to explore the wizard legacy together.”

    “.will you be so generous?”

    “no choice.” rose sighed. “the guards there are too strong. the one guarding the entrance alone is a mithril golem. i can’t beat that thing alone.”

    mithril golem!

    su nan was a little surprised.

    this was a higher-level metal golem than a steel golem, and its combat strength wouldn’t be inferior to a hundred-armed monster.

    even for him, taking on a mithril golem wouldn’t be easy.

    “the one guarding the entrance alone is a mithril golem, so the guards inside will only be stronger. i can’t take down the wizard legacy alone.”

    “originally, i was going to wait until i got the key and then invite one or two people to cooperate at the mysterious wooden hut’s gathering. now that i’ve met you, it’s a stroke of luck.”

    “what do you say? want to cooperate?”

    rose looked at su nan expectantly.

    although she didn’t know the player’s specific strength, from the fact that he held so many resources and had once defeated hebb, he certainly wouldn’t be weaker than her.

    if the player could join the exploration, the chances of taking down the wizard legacy would undoubtedly be much higher.

    “how will we split the things in the wizard legacy?” su nan hit the nail on the head.

    he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to explore a wizard legacy.

    even if there were risks, it was worth it.

    moreover, he had many trump cards and was confident in his ability to protect himself.

    “i take two-thirds. after all, it’s my information.”

    su nan rejected without hesitation: “i want half.”

    seeing rose about to speak, he interrupted her: “i’ll figure out how to sneak into the city, and i can deal with that mithril golem, but it’ll cost me a lot. i have to take half of what’s in the wizard legacy.”

    “.nothing.”

    the manticore named angus shook his head and continued toward the city wall.

    after passing through the buffer zone adjacent to the city wall, su nan and rose finally entered the city proper.

    it was called a city, but it was actually just an island land filled with low, stone houses.

    this seemed to be the outer perimeter area where slaves lived. su nan saw many dirty dogheads and goblins poking their heads out of the low houses, looking towards the city wall.

    the air was filled with a stench, making rose wrinkle her nose involuntarily.

    “where’s the place where the key is kept?” su nan turned and asked.

    “up ahead.” rose pointed to the front.

    the two ran a little further, and soon entered a clean, wide street.

    it was quiet and gloomy, orderly.

    there were all kinds of taverns, shops, and entertainment venues on both sides of the street.

    the people walking on the street were mostly manticores. occasionally, there would be other races, but most of their hands and feet were chained.

    clearly, this area was where the manticores, who ruled as the city-state, lived.

    su nan looked up.

    in the center of the whole city, there was a towering stone pillar, about three to four hundred meters in diameter, connected to the cave ceiling. it was covered with numerous runes and filled with intricate holes, rooms, and vertical tunnels inside.

    that was where the manticore nobles lived, the palace.

    this was the information that su nan had interrogated from the two manticores earlier.

    “the key is kept under a manticore statue. i only know that the statue is in the upper city, which is here, but i don’t know the exact location.”

    “statue, huh.”

    su nan frowned slightly.

    although they had successfully sneaked into the city through the chaos, no one knew when the manticores would react. there wasn’t much time for them to search slowly, they had to find the location of the statue as soon as possible.

    thinking of this, su nan looked around.

    after a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.

    “this way.”

    he whispered, su nan rushed into a building on the side of the road and entered through the window.

    rose was stunned, but she followed immediately.

    after entering the building, the first thing she saw was su nan grabbing a short figure by the neck, his palm tightly gripping the man’s neck, preventing him from making a sound.

    “grey dwarf!”

    after seeing the man’s short limbs, grey skin, and long beard, rose’s expression moved.

    compared to other dwarves, grey dwarves had a generally bad reputation, often labelled “evil.”

    therefore, they were ostracized by other dwarves.

    judging from the man’s clothes and living environment, his status in the city was not low. he was most likely an adjunct to the manticores, rather than a slave.

    after a moment’s thought, rose’s eyes also lit up.

    unlike manticores, grey dwarves were included in humanoids.

    in other words, charm person could have an effect on grey dwarves.

    as expected, su nan then cast charm person, and the grey dwarf quickly stopped struggling, his face becoming dazed.

    su nan let go of the grey dwarf and whispered, “where is there a manticore statue in the upper city?”

    “there’s a huge statue in the center square.”

    “anything else?”

    “no, no more.”

    su nan and rose exchanged glances, and a gleam of joy appeared in their eyes.

    unless there was a surprise, the key was under the statue in the center square.

    after confirming the location of the center square, su nan directly twisted the grey dwarf’s neck.

    the two then left the house without delay and headed towards the center square.

    the location of the center square was only five to six hundred meters away from the towering stone pillar.

    looking down from the rooms on the top of the stone pillar, one could see the situation in the center square.

    su nan and rose soon arrived at the center square, but they both frowned immediately.

    because the manticore statue in front of them was extremely huge. its height alone was over ten meters, and it was made entirely of obsidian. just looking at it, one could feel its heavy weight. it was likely that even a great knight couldn’t lift it alone.

    such a heavy statue, whether it was moved or pushed over, would inevitably attract the attention of the manticores.

    “speaking of which, why is the key to that wizard legacy in such a strange place?”

    “.i don’t know either.”

    “i found the information about the wizard legacy in a biography, but the author wasn’t the wizard who left behind the legacy. i think someone else must have put the key here.”

    “well, he sure has a strange sense of humor.” su nan twitched his lips.

    he deliberately put the key in the manticore city-state. the person who could do this must be very powerful, but he also had a very strange sense of humor.

    he really couldn’t understand that kind of mentality.

    “what should we do?” rose asked.

    su nan sighed.

    “we’ll just have to do it.”

    (end)