In a room on the third floor of the Knights Association's headquarters, Deron leaned lazily in his chair, his dirty boots on the table, and held a player's information in his hand. He was still exuding
It has a strong smell of wine and fat powder.
Du Wei sat opposite him, glanced at Knight Delon's boots, sniffed his nose, and frowned: "Where did you go last night? Which goblin den did you go to to fool around in?"
"Oh no no." Delong shook his head again and again, his expression obviously a little proud: "Thanks to you, my Lord Duke, I will no longer go to those cheap goblin dens in the south of the city than I did before...
Those cheap perfumes and powders smell like God, I can't imagine how I could tolerate them before. Now my status is different. Last night, a count invited me to the ecstasy outside the city. I have to say,
That place is awesome! If it were me, I would never get into that place, and even if I could get in, I wouldn't be willing to pay that price."
Du Wei smiled. He knew that he had been to the place Delong was talking about with Prince Chen.
"The girl in that place is so beautiful, so beautiful that it makes people intoxicated. Unfortunately, if you hadn't come to me early this morning, I really wanted to hold that little baby in my arms and sleep until noon."
With that said, Delong threw the booklet in his hand on the table: "Okay, my Lord Duke, let's talk about the serious business. I am a serious person, and I will never be perfunctory when it comes to doing business."
Du Wei whistled and thought: Serious person? Is there anyone more unscrupulous than you in this world?
"This Kakarot is the opponent of our beautiful warrior in the final." Deron sighed: "It's really disappointing. In fact, I hope we can have two beautiful warriors! Isn't it? The final
, watching two beautiful warriors fighting in the ring, the scene must have been hot... Lord Duke, in your words, well, how to put it... Ah, by the way, it has a stimulating effect on the box office.
'.Is that what you said?"
Duwei pouted: "If you are willing, you can convince this Kakarot to dress up as a woman."
Delong actually thought about it seriously and then shook his head: "Okay, no more joking, let's be serious. My Lord Duke, this martial arts tournament will be over soon, although I am very reluctant to part with it... it can give
We made a lot of money! If possible, I really hope to hold this kind of competition every year. But... the question now is. What should we do next? The candidates for the Knights of the Sword of Roland are all in this book.
Everyone’s wealth is very innocent, and they don’t have any special backgrounds... Well, according to your request, all the guys with special backgrounds will be found for us to keep out during the preliminaries."
Du Wei smiled, a little weirdly: Kakarot? It's really interesting!
I wonder if this guy will transform into a Super Saiyan? Or... he also has another name called Son Goku?
According to the information, this young man named Kakarot is twenty-three years old this year. He was born and grew up in the south. He started practicing martial arts since he was a child, learning skills from a well-known warrior in the south, and living in the south all year round.
That place in the southern swamp area is not a paradise suitable for living.
Quite the opposite.
In the remote southeastern part of the Roland continent, there is a large swamp. The climate is hot and humid, and it rains almost half of the year. There are also miasmas and toxic fog in the swamp that are difficult for humans to endure. There are also many poisonous places.
Plants... More importantly, the swamp in the south is a very rare place in the entire Roland continent where Warcraft can be found!
On the Roland Continent, it is recognized that there are areas with frequent activities of Warcraft. One is the frozen forest in the north, and the other is the swamp in the south. Of course...it is said that there are sporadic Warcraft in the Kilimaro Mountains. But they are very few.
It can almost be ignored.
The swamps in the south are the favorite place for mercenary groups besides the frozen forest. However, in terms of the quantity and quality of monsters, the swamps in the south are one level worse than the frozen forests in the north. Most of the monsters there are
Some low-level things, unlike the frozen forests in the north, where high-level monsters appear.
Therefore, if you are a poaching group, then the north may be more attractive to you, because it is difficult to sell the Warcraft produced in the south at a high price.
Therefore, the two main battle legions guarding the border areas of the empire, the Storm Legion in the north, are at a higher level than the legions in the south in terms of combat effectiveness, equipment, and treatment. The Storm Legion is stationed at the edge of the frozen forest and has a heavy responsibility.
.In comparison, the Southern Legion was responsible for guarding the southern swamps and was much more relaxed.
Haven't you seen that the Empire has repeatedly disbanded the Southern Army over the years?
But...even so, no one dares to look down upon the swampy area in the south!
There is only one reason, because the swamp in the south is the only area on the entire continent that produces a special kind of magical beast!
This kind of monster is the only one among all the types of monsters known so far that lives in groups! (Other than that, most monsters live alone.)
This kind of thing has sharp claws, powerful and terrifying physical strength, and... the ability to fly!
This kind of thing is a griffin!
This large monster has a huge eagle head, and its sharp beak can easily peck through a warrior's armor! The sharp claws on its limbs can easily tear a cow into pieces, and... they also have strong wings.
, when the wings are vibrating, the strong wind can knock down an adult strong man! In terms of strength, an adult griffon can easily grab a sheep, fly into the sky, and then drop it!
At the same time, you must not assume that you can use ordinary bows and arrows to deal with these things that come and go like the wind, because ordinary bows and arrows cannot cause damage to such things at all. When they fly, their wings vibrate with the strong wind.
Most of the arrows were swept away! What's more, this kind of thing is covered with feathers... The strength of those feathers is comparable to the Empire's light armor!
Most adult griffins also have wind magic, although it is a low-level wind blade technique. Moreover, the roar of griffins has a dizzying effect.
...Considering that this kind of thing is a social creature, if it encounters a group of hundreds or thousands of griffins, even a division of troops will definitely choose to retreat and avoid them!
Therefore, although most of the monsters produced in the southern swamps are of inferior quantity and quality, the empire still maintains a legion of troops at the edge of the swamp just to defend against this large and ferocious aerial overlord.
If he had to count, Du Wei should have "seen" a griffin, just before he met Vivian outside Banjiao City in the south. However, the griffin he saw that time was...
The illusion that the fearful phantom monster transformed into.
But even so, the griffin's ferocity was enough to leave a deep impression on Du Wei.
In fact... Du Wei has been thinking about this kind of thing a long time ago.
That was when Duwei established the Decepticon Air Team and began to conceive of the future air force of the empire!
There is no doubt that the griffon, a ferocious aerial monster, is the most suitable creature in the world to serve as an aerial knight's mount as Du Wei knows!!
They are ferocious enough, powerful enough, and fly fast enough. And... their own power is very powerful.
However, after studying the nature of this magical beast, Du Wei quickly gave up this plan.
The reason is very simple. Monsters like griffons are cruel and... cunning by nature!
Moreover, they live in groups and cannot move alone. Therefore, it is very difficult to capture such a cruel big guy!
If faced with a group of griffons, even a group of warriors would have no choice but to flee, let alone capture a group of them!
Of course, if you can have a strong saint-level person in charge, you can capture a few of them. But the problem is that this kind of griffon has another characteristic, which is: it is extremely difficult to tame!
Extremely difficult, very, very difficult!!
Du Wei found a record in some ancient documents that interested him very much: Du Wei's previous life, during the reign of the empire's founding emperor Aragorn, had organized a large-scale griffon hunting operation.
.
With Aragorn's powerful strength and his experienced founding army, he finally succeeded in capturing hundreds of griffins.
After Du Wei read this news, he immediately understood: This person in his previous life had the same idea as himself, wanting to tame this kind of thing to form an air force! Moreover, after adult griffins proved to be untamable,
Aragorn obviously wants to tame the gryphon cubs from birth...
It's a pity that none of the captured griffins can be tamed! No matter whether they are big or small! After being locked in a cage for a few days, all of them starved to death, even the magicians of the empire.
There is no way to solve this problem.
Because most of the Warcraft, magicians can sign soul contracts with them and tame them as magic pets... of course griffins can also be used. However... griffins must be in groups to be intimidating!
But only magicians can control griffins, ordinary soldiers have absolutely no way!
We can't let all the magicians in the empire change careers to become aerial cavalry!
This ferocious creature is the recognized overlord of the southern swamp areas.
As for people living in the swamp areas of the south, people there have a custom that many local warriors will carve gryphon patterns on their weapons, such as shields or swords!
If you are in the south and see someone carving this pattern on a long sword or shield, then you must respect this person! Because according to the customs in the southern swamp areas, you are qualified to leave this pattern on the weapon.
The iconic warriors are all true masters who have experienced life-and-death battles with groups of griffins and come back alive!
In the south, those who can encounter groups of ferocious griffons and are lucky enough to come back alive will be considered a sign of strength!
Another reason why Du Wei is suddenly very interested in this griffin is that the information in his hand shows that this young man named Kakarot has lived in the southern swamp area for many years, and he is
Someone who is qualified to print gryphon patterns on weapons!
In the previous competition. In the preliminaries, Kakarot did not even use weapons and defeated his opponent with bare hands. In the rematch, the weapons he used were...a short spear and a shield. On the shield,
I got a tattoo of a leaping gryphon!
Du Wei looked at the hourglass in the room and suddenly said to himself: "It's time... I hope this guy won't be late. I don't like guys who don't stick to time."
Just as Du Wei finished speaking, the old servant Dov's rude voice came from the courtyard outside: "Delong, someone is looking for you!"
The person brought into this room on the third floor by the old servant Dov was none other than the mysterious contestant, Kakarot.
Because of the cartoon that was popular among a generation in his previous life, Du Wei had a very fond impression of this young man named Kakarot.
When he saw this guy walking in, his expression was very cold, but his eyes still showed a bit of the embarrassment of a young man. Du Wei smiled gently: "There are chairs in the room, you can sit down wherever you want. Don't be nervous.
."
Deron frowned and glanced at Duwei. Obviously, it was Duwei's idea to call Kakarot here. He had not told Deron beforehand.
"Sir." Kakarot did not really sit down, but gave a serious salute to Du Wei. Du Wei noticed that this was a courtesy for a commoner to meet a noble, not a knight's ceremony.
"Why don't you give knighthood?" Du Wei said with a smile.
"Because I'm not a knight yet. I don't have the title or rank of a knight." Kakarot's voice was neither humble nor arrogant.
"Why don't you have the title of knight?" Du Wei still smiled calmly: "Your strength is enough to obtain the title of knight."
Kakarot was silent.
His appearance is very delicate, but his complexion is a little dark, and his hair is as messy as straw. This hairstyle inspired Du Wei's wonderful memories of "Dragon Ball".
Kakarot's thin lips were pursed tightly, and Du Wei could see that the young man was hesitating whether to tell the truth.
"To be honest." Du Wei slowly reminded the other party: "You should know my identity. It's not a bad thing for me to come to you. What I hope you understand is that now there is an opportunity in front of you. As for
Whether you can catch it or not depends on whether you can satisfy me... I like honest people."
"Yes, sir." Kakarot nodded: "Of course I know your reputation, sir. In my heart, you are a strong man worthy of my respect."
Du Wei smiled noncommittally. He knew that his status in the hearts of many young people in the empire was like an idol.
"Sit down and talk." Du Wei pointed to the chair in the room again: "There is tea on the table. You can pour it and drink it yourself. You are welcome here and don't be formal. I don't like people who are too formal."
Delong never spoke. He just glanced at Du Wei curiously. He didn't know why Du Wei treated this boy so favorably.
In fact, Kakarot felt extremely uneasy. Because at least he could talk to the world-famous Duke Tulip face to face, and the Duke spoke to him so amiably, with such a gentle tone, without any airs of a big shot... In fact
, for young Kakarot, Duke Tulip has always been an object of worship in his heart.
"I can't get the title of knight." After hesitating for a while, Kakarot finally said the answer: "My father and mother are slaves, and I am a first-generation free citizen, so... I am not qualified to become a knight.
Unless it’s an amnesty.”
A smile line appeared at the corner of Du Wei's mouth, and then he used encouraging eyes to signal the young man to continue talking.
"My father was a slave in a mine... He was found guilty when he was young and became a slave. He was deprived of his status as an imperial citizen and sent to the south to mine. My mother is..."
Du Wei suddenly smiled and glanced at Kakarot's dark skin: "Your mother is a Nanyang, right? Your skin color is a bit dark, which is characteristic of Nanyang people."
"...That's right." Kakarot nodded, trying his best to hide his inferiority complex in his eyes.
Du Wei could understand his inferiority complex: after all, in the hearts of most Roland people, Nanyang people were equal to slaves and synonymous with lowliness.
"Originally, as the son of a slave, I should also be a slave. My father worked in the mines all his life and finally redeemed his sins... He saved the life of an overseer in the mine, but he was stoned
I was smashed to death. The overseer was a distant relative of a nobleman. In return, he gave me a chance to be pardoned, and I became a free man, from a slave to a free citizen...I was eight years old at that time."
It was a simple statement with a somewhat indifferent tone. However, both Du Wei and Delong could imagine the trace of misery hidden in these seemingly indifferent words.
"The empire has laws. My parents were both slaves. In my generation, although free people were restored, because I am the first generation of free people, the laws of the empire do not allow people like me to obtain the title of knight.
Even if you join the army, you can only be a soldier for the rest of your life, and you can't even become an officer." Kakarot shook his head: "That's why I didn't take the knight level test."
This is indeed the law of the empire. According to the law, people of Kakarot's generation who have just escaped from slavery are not allowed to engage in any "noble" professions, unless his descendants can escape from this imprisonment.
Although a little cruel, this world is a feudal world with strict hierarchies.
Du Wei smiled: "Who did you learn your martial arts skills from?"
"My teacher, he used to be a mercenary. After he got old, he returned to his hometown to live in seclusion. He took me in and started teaching me when I was eight years old..."
When he said this, Kakaro's tone was obviously a little vague.
After all, he is still a young man... Du Wei sighed, not knowing how to hide it.
With that said, Du Wei took out the booklet from the table, gently placed it in front of Kakarot, and opened to one of the pages.
"Kakarot, male, twenty-three years old, warrior. No rank. Real strength is estimated to be the empire's seventh level standard. The son of a slave. He left slavery and became a free citizen at the age of eight. A native of Purple Leaf City on the southern border. Learned from:
Kusa-Lima. Kusa-Lima, a sixth-level martial artist from the mainland. A southerner who served in the "Red Snow Mercenary Group" for sixteen years and twenty years later. An adventure of the Red Snow Mercenary Group in the Nanyang Swamp.
During the massacre, only one person from Cusa-Lima escaped and lived in seclusion and returned to his hometown to farm. He owned a house and four acres of land. He died two years ago due to alcoholism and a fight with others. Before his death, he owed a total of four gambling debts.
One hundred and sixty gold coins, all the family property has not been returned, and there is no inheritance."
The black and white words on the paper are clearly written, and all of Kakaro's origins, life experience and apprenticeship are written clearly!
The young man raised his head and looked at Du Wei in surprise.
Du Wei smiled: "Don't be nervous, I'm not targeting you. But... since you have entered the finals, you are likely to become the leader of the Knights of Roland's Sword in the future... We can never let the person responsible for guarding Longchinu The leader of the Knights of the Spear is a person of unknown origin! The reason I show you these is to tell you that although you concealed something when filling out your resume when you signed up, in the face of our power, your This childlike concealment is just a joke. If I want to investigate, I can even dig out all the things you did when you peed your pants when you were a child!"
Kakarot's eyes immediately became wary.
Du Wei could clearly feel that this child seemed to have some hostility in his eyes.
"Also, you seem to be hiding something..." Du Wei smiled: "You seem to be in some trouble yourself."
He tapped his fingers on the paper twice: "I am very curious about you, and since you are about to become a member of the Knights of Roland's Sword, I have to check your origins... Of course. , there is no doubt about your personal background, but...your teacher, Mr. Cusa-Lima, seems a little...well, how should I put it, complicated!"
Du Wei said slowly while looking at the young man's expression carefully: "The Red Snow Mercenary Group...a second-rate mercenary group. So when they were adventuring in the southern swamp, the group was destroyed. This news It won't attract too many people's attention, right. But I'm very curious. In the southern swamp, except for griffons, there are no other powerful monsters that can wipe out a mercenary group. So obviously, They encountered a group of griffins. This is the only explanation...but..."
Du Wei sighed: "A few days ago, the people I sent to the south came back and told me an interesting thing. Your teacher was the only person to survive from that mercenary group. Among his relics, there were actually None of the weapons have gryphon patterns! Isn’t this the custom there? He should have encountered a gryphon and escaped, so he should be qualified to do that, but he didn’t do it!”
Du Wei was unhurried. He had accurately captured a hint of nervousness in the young man's eyes.
"This is the first doubt. The second doubt is... your teacher died in a drunken fight two years ago... I'm curious, a bunch of drunkards were fighting, and your teacher was also a sixth-level warrior after all... ...Of course. I guess your teacher's strength may be more than level 6. But the question is...how could a level 6 warrior be beaten to death in a drunken brawl? This is almost like saying, a knighthood The leader of the regiment fell to death while riding a horse...a joke!"
Du Wei's tone became more and more severe.
As for Kakarot, the boy's hand on his leg had been tightly squeezed into a fist, and it was still trembling slightly. His expression was cold and his lips were tightly pursed.
"The third doubt." Du Wei said lightly: "You, as your teacher's apprentice. You were adopted by him when you were eight years old. It can be said that he can even be regarded as your father! He raised you and taught you Your martial arts skills and training you as an adult. What a great favor is this? It stands to reason that he was beaten to death by a group of drunkards. As his apprentice and adopted son, you are a young man with strong blood. You should not be like that kind of coward. You weakling, if it were another person, he would have taken a knife to seek revenge on those people! But you didn't!"
Kakarot's body began to tremble, and he seemed to be trying his best to endure it.
"The fourth doubtful point is that after your teacher died, you mourned him, and then you disappeared! According to the records, you disappeared for two full years. Where have you been during these two years? Not in your hometown
, there is no record of any work... Where did you go? In the southern swamps? Live like a savage for two years?" Du Wei smiled softly.
"The fifth doubt is that your current strength is much stronger than when you disappeared two years ago, right? Your teacher was only level six, but the strength you showed in the ring should have reached level seven or above.
Of course. Maybe you are a genius. Your achievements exceed those of the teacher, which can barely be explained... However, I feel that things are not that simple."
"The sixth doubt is even more interesting to me." Du Wei smiled, raised his eyebrows, and then stared closely at Kakarot, staring into the young man's eyes: "That's it.
About three months ago, you returned to your hometown, but just three days later, the local garrison commander of Ziye City in the south, the hometown of you and your teacher, encountered an assassination attempt by an enemy! Although he was later assassinated
It failed, but six of the guards of the garrison commander died! Of course... I'm not saying that it was you who did this... It's just that after this happened, you disappeared again! And then
You have arrived at the Imperial Capital."
After finishing speaking, Du Wei looked at the young man with a smile: "Dear Kakarot, you won't tell me that all this is just a coincidence."
Kakarot stood up suddenly, took a few steps back quickly, widened his eyes, and stared at Duwei: "Your Majesty, what do you want!"
Du Wei was still sitting there, looking at the young man with a smile.
It was probably Du Wei's eyes that put too much pressure on Kakarot. The two looked at each other for a while, and the young man finally couldn't bear the pressure from Du Wei's eyes.
Turning around, he pulled out a short spear from under the warrior robe at his waist, and held it tightly with both hands...
Fortunately, he still had some sense left and did not point a spear at Du Wei rashly.
Du Wei sighed and looked at the young man: "It seems... you were the one responsible for the assassination. Your reaction has proven my suspicion."
"Then what do you want to do? Catch me!" Kakarot said proudly, with the stubbornness and unyielding characteristic of a young man on his face.
"No, no, no." Du Wei shook his head, smiled lazily, and stretched: "I'm not from the Imperial Supervision Office. This matter is not my responsibility...and..." He stretched out his finger.
Pointing at Kakarot's short spear, he nodded and smiled gently: "If I were you, I would put this iron rod away. You should know very well that you are not me at all if you are holding this thing.
If I want to capture you, I don’t need to call you here, I can just send a team of soldiers to capture you.”
"You...what do you want!" Kakarot glared at Duwei.
"It's very simple." Du Wei picked up the tea cup in front of him and blew on it: "You are one of the future leaders of our Knights of Roland's Sword, so it is necessary for me to fully understand you. It's that simple."
As he said that, he pointed to the chair in front of him again: "Now, sit down and talk, young man, tell me your story, maybe I can help you."
Kakarot hesitated for a while, the young man was struggling internally, but in the end, he finally sat down. After all, he was not facing an ordinary opponent, but the world-famous Tulip Duke! A man with both magic and martial arts skills.
An equally outstanding player!
"I...my teacher, he did not die in a drunken fight." Kakarot gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with grief and hatred: "You are right, how could a sixth-level warrior...
Killed by a group of drunkards! He was murdered! The culprit who killed him was the garrison commander!"
"Very good, you finally told the truth." Du Wei smiled: "I like honest people, please keep talking."
"Also... my teacher, there is indeed no gryphon pattern on any of his weapons!" When Kakarot said this, a proud expression suddenly appeared on his face: "Because... he put the lion on it.
The eagle pattern is tattooed on my body!”
Du Wei was surprised for the first time.
"Tattooed on the body?" Du Wei thought for a moment: "It seems that you don't have this kind of custom locally, right? I only know that your locals will carve this kind of pattern on their weapons."
"My teacher got it tattooed on his body because...he is qualified to do it!"
When Kakarot said this, his eyes were shining!
Du Wei's heart moved, and he had a vague hunch that he was going to get something unexpected!
"Everything starts from the teacher's last adventure of the Red Snow Mercenary Group... The teacher told me that all the people in the Red Snow Mercenary Group were wiped out, but it was not because they encountered groups of people.
Griffin...but because they discovered a secret of great value...and in the end, everyone killed each other because of internal strife! To be precise, it was my teacher who discovered the secret, and the others wanted to kill him
He took away that secret!"
"Go on!" Du Wei whispered, and glanced at Delong subconsciously. But he found that Delong's legs that were originally crossed on the table had been lowered at some point, and his face was full of wrinkles.
Somewhat solemn.
"That secret... has something to do with the gryphon." Kakarot's expression showed some sadness and anger.
Suddenly, he put down the short spear in his hand, threw the weapon on the ground, then stretched out his hands to grab the skirt of his clothes, and pulled hard!
With a sneer, his upper body clothes parted, revealing the young man's strong chest.
He is very strong, with two strong chest muscles and eight-pack abdominal muscles, showing that he has undergone rigorous training.
What surprised Du Wei and Delong was that there was a blood-red tattoo on the young man's chest!
The color of the tattoo was red, as if it had been tattooed with blood!
And that pattern, with the head of an eagle and the body of an animal, vibrating wings, sharp claws, and extremely ferocious!