He watched everything with cold eyes, fully understanding that the Wanderer had no good intentions. Even the Praetor, and the Great Elder, in his opinion, were full of deliberation.
Unfortunately, he could not intervene in this phantom, and could only watch everything silently as an observer. He continued to walk forward, and finally, the image of the young girl disappeared. This time, he saw three people.
The Wanderer, the Praetor, and the Great Elder.
The moment these three appeared in the phantom, Fang Hong felt a sense of finality in his heart. He was not surprised at all, but rather felt it was expected, for he already had a realization.
Understanding who was playing what role in this place.
The three of them stood at the entrance of the dark prison, and the first to speak was the praetor, a mountain of flesh:
"How much longer, Alte? If I hadn't believed your nonsense and the so-called Ailin Green Family behind you, do you think I would have been involved in this? The man asked a bit crossly, "In fact, I have already sent someone to ask, and the Ailin Green Family has long disowned you."
"You killed your own wife, and escaped to the Blood Thistle Woods thinking you could hide it from me? The Rogsel Family is investigating your whereabouts everywhere. Guess if I sell you to them, will I get a large sum of money?
"And your red-hot nephew, the future head of the court mages, whom His Majesty the King values greatly, Kalatu Ailin Green. Guess if he will come to take you back to ease relations with the Rogsel Family?"
The man walked a couple of steps, rubbed his hands, and said, "Of course, I have kept all these things under wraps for you, just hoping you can bring me some good results. Benefits are the most important, isn't that what Lady Roman taught?"
"The core divine office of Lord Goddess is Order," the Wanderer replied calmly: "Commerce arises in mortal production activities, essentially an exchange of rules, otherwise wouldn't it be robbery?"
"Do you think Lady Roman is the goddess of bandits?"
The man's face flushed: "Your seriousness almost made me think you're a theologian; alright, Mr. Bandit. Your actions are no different from a bandit's—actually, I was wrong, no bandit is as cold-hearted as you."
"It's us."
"I couldn't be cold-blooded enough to treat my wife and daughter like this."
"In the face of the Eternal, what do personal feelings count for?"
The man shivered: "I am not after the cold, icy Eternal; otherwise, what's the difference from becoming a stone? What I want is benefits and advantages. Beauty, power, and wealth, these are what I'm after."
"Let us each take what we need. Do not preach your philosophy to me."
The Wanderer glanced at him and replied, "In the desert, stones also erode and decay."
He paused: "So you truly do not understand what is immortal."
After talking for a while, the Great Elder finally could not hold back and interrupted: "Alright, now is not the time to argue about these things. Alte, what I want is the power of the Dragon's Golden Eyes."
There was a tinge of fear in his voice: "When you brought her to the Dragon's Land, you promised me. I don't care who you are, what you've experienced, or what family is behind you, I have only one goal—"
"Legend has it that the Dragon's Golden Eyes can resolve our family's curse; is this true or not?"
The Wanderer turned around and said, "You should know the source of the Dragon's Golden Eyes, right?"
"That is the power of Lifegard, the root of all Dark Giant Dragons, and also the source of your family's power. Tracing back to the origin, all power of the Dragon Blood comes from the primordial Lifegard."
"It is the only Dark Giant Dragon transformed from Verdant."
"I understand," the Elder's voice trembled, "but what I want is not power, I want relief, complete and absolute relief, do you understand? You don't understand what this curse means for our family, you must answer this point for me clearly."
The Wanderer looked at him, nodded, and said, "You will find relief."
He added: "Forever."
The elder nodded: "Alright, I will believe you one more time, I have already prepared the final ceremony. As for the troubles on your side, solve them yourselves; we do not interfere with your kingdom's internal disputes."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Only the Wanderer and the Praetor remained.
The praetor, a mountain of flesh, then said: "The business we made in Idus must be resolved before that Yoshude fellow returns. I don't care how you plan to face him in the future, but this has nothing to do with me."
"I heard he snatched a Floating Ship from the Ancient Tower single-handedly and returned to Golande, and is now north of Dulun. Guess who he's coming back to trouble? Behind him are also His Majesty the King and your ambitious nephew Kalatu backing him up; I'm no match for him."
"You have at most one more week; otherwise, I can only let the girl go."
"What a pity."
A subtle light flashed in the Wanderer's eyes.
"You're not interested in her, are you?"
"Why, she's a beauty," the man replied with a cold smile, "if you're willing to hand her over to me, I might help you drag it out for a bit longer."
"She is a Dragon."
The smile on the man's face became even more apparent, almost making Fang Hong on the side unable to resist commanding Energy Angel to slash that detestable face with a sword. But unfortunately, the other was just a phantom, and he even smiled sinisterly, saying, "That's exactly what intrigues me."
The Wanderer looked deeply at him.
Finally, he nodded: "Alright, but not now. I need another week and a half. As long as you can secure that much time, she's yours."
He paused, specifically emphasizing a sentence: "But before then, if you can't keep a handle on your lower half, you'll have to let Yoshude handle your remaining years. You get my drift; guess how you'd die?"
The man shivered and couldn't help but nodded.
"So be it," he replied, "this will be the last time I trust you, Alte, there will be no next time."
With that harsh word, he left the place in resentment.
Only the Wanderer was left, silently watching his back, sneering and saying in a low voice:
"Foolish."
...