Oak Town is a medium-sized town with about 10,000 permanent residents. It is located on the main transportation route between Palomia and Delphi Fortress.
There are six or seven villages of various sizes scattered around Oak Town, making it a very prosperous town.
May 31st at 3pm.
Taran Zhu and [Bladetooth Druid] Dalia Bladesong appeared in the south of Oak Town.
Dalia and Zhu Talan are now in human form.
Seeing the walls of Oak Town appearing in her field of vision, Dalia breathed a sigh of relief:
"Lao Zhu, we finally arrived in Oak Town! If you hadn't wasted time on the road, we should have arrived four or five days ago!"
Zhu Taran and Dalia set off from Hetan Town 10 days ago.
Because he had plenty of time, Zhu Talan spent a long time in Jon City and Palomia.
Before leaving, Sean gave him 2,000 gold coins for travel expenses, and Zhu Taran used the money to buy a lot of information on the black markets in the two cities.
Moreover, Zhu Taran also tried out a few seedlings that could be cultivated as spies, and will slowly cultivate them in the future.
…
The method of training civilians to become spies is very simple.
Just find a bookmaker or bard who can write, dictate to them to write some words, and then say, "What you write is confidential, be obedient, or I will report you!"
One out of ten of these people was afraid, and there were a lot of gold coins to take, so they developed a spy.
Moreover, in this simple agricultural society, the speed of developing spies is very fast, and it is extremely difficult for "Shun Teng Papaya" to catch spies (except Anduin).
Therefore, Zhu Taran developed a lot of spies in two big cities, which delayed four or five days.
...
"It's okay, Dalia, it's time, isn't it?"
Zhu Talan smiled:
"But Oak Town is very special now. All the major forces in the principality should send people here to collect first-hand intelligence, so we have to be more careful!"
"I know!" Dalia shrugged: "You told me this several times on the way here!"
"Isn't that because I don't trust you too much? You are only in the middle of bronze..."
In the middle of speaking, Lao Zhu suddenly extended his index finger to his mouth and made a "shh" gesture, and then pulled Dalia into a fork next to the avenue.
Dalia didn't say anything and followed Zhu Talan obediently.
...
Zhu Taran waited silently in the fork in the road. He was relieved when a sneaky professional thief passed by and left.
Then, Zhu Taran kept walking back and forth on the path, constantly looking at the various houses around him.
Walking to a remote path in the north of the town, Zhu Talan stopped in front of a house with a very simple appearance and nodded:
"This is it!"
"Where is this place?" Dalia asked curiously.
Zhu Talan explained: "I trained a spy seedling in Palomia. This is his uncle's residence. His uncle is very greedy for money. We can buy the house."
As Zhu Taran spoke, he stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
There was a knock on the door, and the red head of an alcoholic stuck out from the door.
"I am a passing businessman and I want to buy your house." Zhu Talan said.
The drunkard didn't say anything and immediately wanted to close the door.
Zhu Talan held out five fingers: "500 gold coins."
The drunkard's expression immediately changed: "Ah, distinguished guests, please come in quickly! It's really too hot today..."
The drunkard quickly welcomed Zhu Taran and Dalia into the house.
...
Ten minutes later, the drunkard happily left the house with a large bag of gold coins.
Dalia looked at the land deed and house deed in her hand in a daze: "I didn't expect you to buy this place so quickly."
"This location is very good. It can be used as the base of our Shado-Pan in the future."
Zhu Talan looked at the old and disrepaired house and nodded with satisfaction.
Dalia used the druid's ability to communicate with the plants in the yard of the house. After making sure there was no one else around, she said:
"Lao Zhu, it's time you told me about that, right?"
"Which thing?" Zhu Talan didn't react for a moment.
"When I left Riverbank Town, I asked you, 'Why did my lord send me to come to Oak Town with you?' You said you would tell me after you arrived in Oak Town."
Dalia put her hands on her hips: "Now that we have arrived in Oak Town, it's time for you to tell me!"
"You're talking about this! I almost forgot." Zhu Talan scratched his furry head:
"Do you know why my lord asked me to come to Oak Town to collect information?"
"This...because you are good at gathering information?" Dalia guessed.
"That's not entirely true. The main reason is that our monk profession has an ability called [Soul and Body Dual Divide]. Let me demonstrate it to you."
([Double division of soul and body]
Instant cast, cooldown time 10 seconds.
Separate your body and soul and leave the body in place. The soul can move freely for 15 minutes. Use Soul-Body Dual Divide: Transfer to exchange places between your soul and body.)
Zhu Taran roughly demonstrated this skill to Dalia, and then said:
"After using this ability, my soul can leave the body and explore the surrounding situation. This is the best intelligence-detection skill.
With this ability, I can get close to two powerful men from the Holy Domain and eavesdrop on their conversations."
Dalia understood immediately: "Then you asked me to come with you, maybe because you are afraid that your soul will be attacked after leaving the body, so you want me to protect you, right?"
"Correct answer!" Zhu Taran nodded: "My body is extremely fragile when using [Double Soul and Body], and I will need your protection then."
"Don't worry! I will definitely protect you!" Dalia smiled.
...
...
In the following time, Zhu Talan and Dalia used the purchased house as a base and began to explore the surrounding area for news.
The principal intelligence agencies all know how important tomorrow's negotiations are, so Oak Town is full of spies.
Lao Zhu and Dalia even accidentally asked about their "comrades".
However, after spending some effort and gold coins, they were able to figure out the general situation.
Now Alexander Lane has arrived in Oak Town, in the military camp north of the town.
Alex Violet and the Camellia family's messenger will also arrive in Oak Town this evening.
Lao Zhu and Dalia returned to their base after investigating the information. After communicating with each other, they prepared to take action tonight.
"Tonight is a very important night." Lao Zhu said to Dalia seriously:
"Although formal negotiations will not begin until tomorrow, I estimate that tonight Alex Violet and the Shancha Family's envoys will go to Alexander Lane in advance to negotiate terms."
"What do you mean?"
Chapter completed!