Chen Yu looked at the missing ring finger on the man before him. This guy really was Kane.
But wasn't he supposed to return to the Kingdom? Why was he still lingering in the Outpost Ruins?
He jumped onto the man's hand and conveyed his question.
Upon hearing this familiar "voice," Kane completely relaxed. He warily scanned the alley entrance and whispered, "Majesty, it's a long story. This isn't the place to talk. Please come with me to our temporary hideout first."
Then he looked at Yano, extended his hand, and introduced himself, "Kane. In the past... I was a mercenary."
Yano shook the man's hand and said, "Yano. A Knight Squire."
Hearing this, a flicker of surprise passed through Kane's eyes.
Anyone daring to call themselves a Knight Squire had at least participated in the formal Knight Training Camps of various Kingdoms. Even if they failed the final knight trial, they were no ordinary individuals.
The Slime Kingdom actually had a knight from a human kingdom.
He didn't rashly ask about Yano's identity;
it would be impolite. He simply suppressed this curiosity within his heart.
Carefully cradling the Slime Majesty, he led Yano through the maze of dark, narrow alleys, swiftly navigating, changing directions multiple times. After extremely cautiously confirming there were no tails, he finally pushed open a back door deep in the alley that looked like it was for storing junk, gesturing for Yano to enter.
Inside was a cramped but relatively tidy room. The air held a faint scent of herbs and old wood.
"Uncle, you're back?"
A slightly childish voice sounded. Little John poked his head out from the inner room.
The other two followers, seeing Kane had brought a stranger in, instantly grew tense, their hands instinctively moving toward their concealed weapons.
Kane immediately said, "Don't worry, he's one of us. This is Mr. Yano, a knight of the Slime Kingdom. He came with His Majesty."
After speaking, he carefully placed the small slime on the wooden table in the center of the room.
The two men, seeing the familiar slime on the table, finally truly relaxed, expressions of relief appearing on their faces.
After arranging for Yano to sit on the only empty wooden crate, Kane began his explanation.
"Majesty, we originally did plan to return to the Kingdom immediately. However, the situation is more complicated than anticipated. While most slaves from the Obsidian Mining Area were kidnapped from the White Horse Kingdom by the Rusty Key, there are also mercenaries like us, who come from the Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance."
He sighed. "The road back to the Trade Alliance city-states almost requires crossing the edge of the Dark Realm. The risk is immense."
"More importantly, the Goblin Army spent a fortune to place a bounty on us through the Blacktooth mercenary group. Blacktooth's eyes and ears are very sharp in the Outpost Ruins and even the surrounding smuggling routes."
"Before we can contact an absolutely reliable smuggling caravan that can avoid their surveillance, we dare not make any rash moves. We can only hide here temporarily to avoid exposing our tracks."
Seeing his boss seemed unfamiliar with the "Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance," Yano took the initiative to explain.
"Boss, you might not know. The Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance isn't a traditional kingdom in the usual sense. It's a loose alliance formed by several coastal commercial city-states, located southwest of the Dark Realm, bordering the White Horse Kingdom."
"It's a paradise for merchants and adventurers, a haven for exiles... a place where all sorts of people mix..."
After hearing Yano's detailed description, Chen Yu quickly gained a concrete understanding of the Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance.
The Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance, a nation led by merchants.
Its citizens are primarily the business-savvy Visaji people. It also includes the Sea-dwellers, who live intermixed with humans and excel at navigation and pearl fishing, and the Dwarves of the Artisans' Guild, who control the vast majority of the Alliance's high-quality weapon manufacturing and believe "a good hammer is better than a bad treaty."
The diverse ethnic composition also brings a rich tapestry of faith and culture. The mainstream beliefs of the Trade Alliance include the god of trade and wealth, "Gildor";
the goddess of the sea and storms, "Ethera";
and the god of war and conquest, "Usca," highly revered by mercenaries.
Besides these, there are many other miscellaneous deity beliefs.
In the Trade Alliance, the largest city is Misty Bay Harbor itself—a truly city that never sleeps.
The harbor is a forest of masts and sails, with exotic treasures from all over the world circulating here. The markets are forever bustling, the air mixed with the salty scent of seawater, pungent spices, and the metallic smell of Gold Coins.
Unlike the White Horse Kingdom, which emphasizes tradition and hierarchy, the Trade Alliance's border policies are more open and flexible. As long as you bring business opportunities, you are welcome.
However, this openness comes with high vigilance, especially towards mercenaries, wandering warriors, and the like.
All mercenaries wishing to enter the core city-states of the Trade Alliance must belong to a legally registered mercenary group and possess a reliable work record of over three years.
This measure is primarily to prevent infiltration by large bandit gangs from the Corrupted Miasma Mountains.
Therefore, many mercenaries and wandering warriors with complex backgrounds like Kane, if they want to settle in the city-states, have no choice but to seek out specialized "smuggling merchants," spending a fortune to forge a flawless civilian identity.
This process is not only cumbersome but also carries significant risk.
Chen Yu thoughtfully shifted his body.
So it seems, Kane and the others are stuck here out of necessity. This process is far more complicated than imagined.
Immediately after, he asked about Kane's earlier activities on the street, inquiring about the swamp.
Kane's expression turned serious. "That's exactly what I've been busy with recently. Ever since the Rusty Key was wiped out by that Kingdom adventurer named 'Miracle' Yano, the gray market operations here have almost been completely monopolized by the Blacktooth mercenary group."
"Recently, I've learned that Blacktooth seems to be colluding with some mages deep in the Dark Realm who research forbidden knowledge, and possibly even with Vampires."
"They seem to be mass-producing and testing a magical artifact called the 'Bloody Scroll.'"
"I felt something was amiss, so before sending Little John back to the Trade Alliance, I planned to collect as much information as possible about the scroll and Blacktooth's movements, to find a way to send it back to Anvil."
"But since Your Majesty has come personally, that's even better."
"Bloody Scroll?" Chen Yu conveyed a wave of confusion. That didn't sound like anything good.
"Exactly," Kane affirmed. "I hear it's an offensive scroll that's simple to trigger yet possesses considerable power. Most crucially, its production cost is reportedly quite low."
"The Blacktooth mercenary group seems to want to make a huge profit with this thing while also arming their own people."
"I'm worried that if the entire Blacktooth mercenary group is equipped with these magic scrolls on a large scale, their combat power would rise to a rather troublesome level."
Low-cost, mass-produced magical scrolls of destruction?
That sounds like they're trying to do an arms dump.
I never thought I'd run into a business competitor even in another world.
Kane then asked, "So, Your Majesty, you and Mr. Yano came here to personally gather intelligence on Blacktooth?"
Yano nodded and took over. "The Boss plans to investigate Blacktooth's forward outpost here, to get a feel for their situation."
Hearing this, Kane fell into deep thought, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table.
After a good while, he slowly spoke, "If that's the case, Majesty, you might be disappointed."
"You might not be very familiar with these gray zones around the Dark Realm."
He organized his words and continued explaining, "Places like the Outpost Ruins are absolutely seen as disgusting, festering sores by the surrounding Kingdoms, yet they are incredibly difficult to eradicate."
"The reason the Kingdoms tolerate their existence is, firstly, they don't want to force these lawless criminals to scatter everywhere, causing harm to the heartlands instead. Secondly... they genuinely can't completely wipe them out."
"In fact, this camp we're in now is just the tip of the iceberg of the entire vast gray zone that has surfaced—a public fence for stolen goods and information market."
"Deeper within, in the ancient tunnels and ruins of the Dark Realm, places even the undead are reluctant to inhabit permanently, there exist many mobile, secret temporary gathering points and small black markets. Those are the real places where large-scale illegal transactions and conspiracies happen."
"And the Blacktooth mercenary group, their foundation and main strength are hidden in those places. Their tentacles extend along those sunless passages, reaching almost everywhere in the Dark Realm, even spanning the 'important channels' that don't appear on official maps between the White Horse Kingdom and the Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance."
"Here in the Outpost Ruins, they probably only have a few small outposts used for handling miscellaneous tasks and keeping watch."
Chen Yu's gel body wobbled slightly.
"So, this Blacktooth mercenary group is like a cockroach of the underworld, everywhere."
Yano nodded in agreement. "Exactly. These filthy rats hide everywhere, their nests interconnected, making it hard to wipe them out in one go."
"If it weren't for the many ancient ruins deep in the Dark Realm, guarded by undead even they dare not easily provoke, forming natural barriers..."
"If the Goblin Army's forces were to fully spread in here and completely merge with the Blacktooth mercenary group, I'm afraid even the White Horse Kingdom's Border Garrison would have a massive headache."
One of the followers who had been quietly listening nearby couldn't help but chime in, "Brother Kane, remember the intel we got yesterday from that drunken Blacktooth periphery member?"
"They seem to have set up a heavily guarded temporary warehouse near the 'Skullcrusher's Trail' to the northwest. It's said to be stocked with a lot of the newly arrived 'Bloody Scrolls.'"
"Not sure if they're planning to hoard them for sale or... use them against the Kingdom."
Kane also nodded thoughtfully. "Right, that warehouse is indeed strange. The number of guards far exceeds what a regular supply warehouse should have, and the inspections are extremely strict."
Hearing this, Yano lowered his head to request instructions from Chen Yu on the table. "Boss, since we're already here, that warehouse sounds somewhat valuable. How about... we go take a look?"
Chen Yu decisively bounced up and down once, indicating agreement.
Kane looked at Yano, who spoke of "sneak attacking a heavily guarded Blacktooth warehouse" as casually as an after-dinner stroll, and then saw His Majesty agree without the slightest hesitation. He couldn't help but feel a surge of surprise inside.
Just what is the background of this Mr. Yano?
Is he terrifyingly powerful?
He suddenly remembered again: the legendary Kingdom adventurer who single-handedly wiped out the entire Rusty Key organization... wasn't his name... also Yano?
Could it be...
Kane's gaze towards Yano changed completely once more.