Chapter 425: Chapter 289 Hunting Red Apples
After returning to the vineyard,
he happened to catch dinner.
However, Chen Lun, sitting at the head of the table, was quite uneasy.
“Cough, Floey, this… this isn’t right, is it?”
He looked at the table full of dishes that were either fried fish or fish and chips, the only other options being fish soup and Starry Sky pie, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Leader, what’s wrong with it?”
...
Maggie crunched on her fish and chips.
“It’s really tasty… It’s nice to change things up once in a while, and Miss Floey’s cooking skills are truly great, every dish is delicious!”
Noah, Golov, Barton, and Morey, the four men, stopped their eating, a look of puzzlement on their faces.
Only Connie seemed to know something.
After taking a spoonful of fish soup, she blinked her eyes, shifting her gaze back and forth between Mr. Jack and Miss Floey, hesitating to speak.
“The circus leader and the noble lady elope and live happily ever after… That’s how it goes in ‘Dumb Clown,’ right?”
With a smile, Floey muttered slowly.
Chen Lun’s expression stiffened.
“Aha, I’m full… Leader, Miss Floey, I’ll go out for a walk, it looks like the garden is missing a swing, I’ll go knock one together.”
Golov immediately stood up as if his chair was on fire.
After saying this, he quickly left the dining room.
He chuckled dryly, saying something about how “if there was a swing in the garden, it should be pretty comfortable to swing on.”
Seeing this, Barton and Morey understood something as well.
They both got up.
“Um, we are also full, Leader… Just now, Biebu and Dingding seemed to be fighting, I’ll go check on them before they hurt each other.”
“Dingding” is the name Chen Lun gave to the little hedgehog “Cautious Gardener.”
“Mr. Barton and I can each hold one back, they certainly won’t hurt each other, don’t worry, Leader,” said Morey as they hurriedly left, as if they would be in danger of their lives if they were even a second late.
Noah and Maggie continued to eat quietly, watching in confusion as the three left the table.
“Really strange, they’ve hardly eaten and they’re already full?”
Noah mumbled.
At that moment, Connie immediately ran over to them and started pushing them out of the dining hall.
“Hey, Connie, what are you doing?!”
“Don’t push me, I haven’t finished eating yet!”
Their voices faded away into the distance, allowing Chen Lun to quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
“Floey, cough, it’s not what you think… Today, going out with Miss Tracey was mainly to gather information about the local nobility.”
“I know…”
Floey’s ethereal voice replied.
The air fell silent.
Watching Floey sitting and staring vacantly in her chair, Chen Lun felt as if there were live fish crawling over his body.
“Although there wasn’t much substantial gain today, we did find some clues… Most importantly, while browsing the ‘Cruise Ship Museum,’ I saw a very interesting little item, and I bought it.”
Chen Lun laughed lightly, pulling out a crescent-shaped bronze pendant.
“I think it would look beautiful on your neck.”
Floey turned her head slowly to “look” at the pendant in Chen Lun’s hand and murmured:
“For me?”
“Of course.”
Chen Lun stood up and walked behind Floey.
“Let me put it on for you.”
Floey didn’t speak, but neither did she refuse.
Chen Lun bent down, gently gathered Floey’s cascading light golden hair, then draped the crescent pendant around her pale, slender neck and fastened it.
“Does it look good?”
Floey turned her head and asked.
“Yes, it looks very pretty.”
Chen Lun exclaimed.
A smile finally appeared on Floey’s face.
It was like the bright moon in the night sky, breaking through the clouds and casting a radiant light.
She touched the bronze crescent on her chest, then silently stood up and returned from the kitchen with a plate of fried rice.
“Eat, it’s still hot.”
Chen Lun looked at the steaming plate of exquisite fried rice and gave a knowing smile.
Floey had already prepared his dinner; she had just hidden it deliberately.
‘Such a lovely girl…’
*
*
*
Late at night.
Chen Lun sat in the chair in his study, under the glow of the vintage incandescent lamp on the wall, he took out the “commission menu” and began to carefully select from it.
‘Currently, there are no leads on the second and third opportunities, and as for the nobility’s clues, Miss Tracey seems to know something and has agreed to help search… I can use this time to take some commissions to earn some experience points, after all, the Aerial Acrobat’s upper limit is Level 40, and I am only at Level 20 right now.’
Chen Lun thought.
Although his total level had now reached 100, and the four basic attributes on his dashboard had all reached the threshold for a Sequence Six Transcendent, his main occupation still had much room for improvement.
At this stage, improving strength should be the top priority.
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Chen Lun’s gaze quickly scanned over the menu, performing round after round of selection.
‘With the Sequence ability of the Aerial Acrobat, distance isn’t an issue, but most of the commissions pertain to personal grudges or conflicts between family powers…’
He was not very interested in such a commission.
It wasn’t that Chen Lun was ashamed to be an assassin, but such commissions did not maximize profits.
‘Found it…’
Chen Lun raised his eyebrows, his gaze locking onto a page in the menu—the commission listed there:
“Commission target: Red Apple Church, Bishop Somphic in Fanglead City.”
“Commission number: YQ2414222. Requirement for assassin: no level restriction.”
“Commission reward: One bottle of Supernatural Wine. Wine Appraiser’s note: red wine, exquisite, sweet aftertaste, rich fruity aroma, temporary increase in jumping power and agility, redemption price 240 Gold Pounds.”
Chen Lun grinned, took out a piece of paper and a pen, copied down the commission number, signed his name, and dropped it into the black box.
As the paper slowly sank into the shadows, the information about this commission on the menu blurred and twisted, obscuring the entire page.
Chen Lun knew that the club had locked it down, and no other member could now take this commission.
‘With the Red Calamity spreading and the Empire in turmoil, countless people have sworn vendettas against the Red Apple Church… This is just the type of commission I need. In the long term, it would weaken their strength and continuously accumulate contribution to my main quest.
The short-term profit is also considerable, the commission reward plus mission bonuses are a bountiful harvest of resources for growth… plus the real-time reward for eliminating the target, which is an extra harvest.’
Chen Lun’s eyes were profound as he pondered with a slight smile.
He touched the Balag Necklace on his neck and slowly stood up. Leaning on his silver staff, he walked to the window, looked up at the purple crescent moon in the night sky, and murmured:
“Spade Knight Qiaoke, is about to hunt the Red Apple… ”
*
*
*
Fanglead City is located in Rock State’s Bronze City, two cities away from Peacock City, slightly inland.
Similar to the situation in Gem State’s Fossil City, the Empire had also deployed a heavyweight to stay in Bronze City to curb the spread of the Red Calamity.
However, due to the limited number of senior members in the Shelter and the Sun Church, it was one of the deputy heads of the History and Ritual Association from the Righteous God Church who was entrusted with this important task.
Yet, as a High Sequence Saint like those of the Sun Path, this deputy head was far less effective in suppressing a vast territory. Lacking numerous incarnations and spectacular constructs like the Daytime Obelisk for amplification, many cities within the jurisdiction of Bronze City still suffered heavily under the tyranny of the Red Apple Church and were desperately waiting for rescue.
Fanglead City was one such city in the Red Calamity Area.
Dilapidated and ruined, its streets were scarcely populated.
The original Righteous God Churches in the area were the Moon Church and the Red Apple Church, but ever since the Red Calamity descended, the Red Apple Church area had become a restricted zone in Fanglead City.
Countless man-eating monsters roamed near the Red Apple Church area, and many survivors saw with their own eyes red-robed monks leading squads of guards through the city, capturing people alive and taking them into the church area.
The Moon Church and the Shelter established a “safe zone” around their strongpoints, where most of the city’s survivors gathered and lived, receiving protection.
Outside the safe zone, fallen believers roamed, and chaos and slaughter prevailed, resembling hell.
If viewed from above, it looked like a gigantic maw slowly devouring two eggs.
At that moment, in the Red Apple Church area.
Hundreds of residents were being held in underground prisons; those who couldn’t fit were piled up in large iron cages in the ground-level courtyard, like livestock waiting to be slaughtered.
Bishop Somphic, expressionless, went on inspecting. Looking at these ragged, terrified residents, a brutal smile spread across his face.
“The number of living sacrifices is sufficient. Place them into the ‘Atonement Ritual’ in batches; this will greatly improve the efficiency of extracting Sin Blood.”
“As you wish, Bishop Somphic!”
The two red-clad monks following him responded respectfully.
“Praise the Rose.”
The group solemnly made a prayer gesture.
The iron cage was incredibly crowded, stuffy, and reeked of foul odors. The imprisoned residents were mostly fearful and uneasy, with a few glaring angrily at the clergy of the Red Apple Church.
But they dared not make any loud noises, as those who had done so were already slain on the spot, their throats cut and their bodies dragged away to some unseen place.
Bishop Somphic turned and walked to the other side of the courtyard.
There, on the marble floor, a large ritual array was drawn in fresh blood, with a statue of an elderly man placed in the center.
This statue, four to five meters tall, was dressed in a luxurious robe and a pointed coronet, holding the “Rose Bible” in one hand and a triangular candlestick in the other.
He was none other than Doromi Purness, the former Pope of the Red Apple Church.
The statue was splattered with fresh blood, surrounded by naked corpses, men and women, old and young alike. Impaled on the statue’s candlestick was a young girl who was still alive, struggling and screaming in agony.
Blood flowed slowly down the candlestick and statue, collecting in a groove below the statue.
A transparent Holy Grail was placed under the groove, gathering the congealed Sin Blood.
“Save me…”
The girl murmured breathlessly.
Bishop Somphic and several red-clad monks silently surrounded the ritual, quietly watching everything unfold.
Just then,
Somphic’s expression suddenly changed, and he swiftly turned around.
An unknown figure had appeared behind him, slowly walking toward them.
Thud, thud…
The figure dragged a massive broad blade sword, clad in ancient, rust-spotted armor decorated with twisting snake designs, a scarlet cape billowing behind him, fluttering loudly.
“Invader!”
“All hands, on alert!”
The red-clad monks shouted, and the church’s guards immediately swarmed from all directions.
Somphic stared intently at the figure, then shook violently.
“Spade Knight… Qiaoke! What do you want here?! ”
“What delicious prey… Today, none of you shall escape, hehehe…”
The knight slowly approached, his malevolent laughter emanating from the dark cross slits of his helmet.
“Retreat!!”
Somphic bellowed.
Clang!!
A dazzling silver slash suddenly appeared beside Somphic.
Four red-clad monks hadn’t even had the chance to react before they were beheaded.
Their heads flew up, expressions of shock frozen on their faces.
The headless bodies gushed fountains of blood and collapsed with a crash.