Chapter 417 Chapter418-A Thrilling Adventure
Whatever Red Eye's demands might be, as long as Lilianne's safety could be assured, Harry was confident nothing was beyond his capability to resolve.
But this action had vanished without a trace, eliciting no response.
Red Eye seemed utterly indifferent to his plight, devoid of any suggestive contact or message.
Or perhaps Red Eye's aims were never about this at all; maybe he simply relished watching Harry's desperate floundering?
Closing the ledger, Harry glanced at the flickering lamp on his desk, his eyes clouded with gloom.
Suddenly, a chill ran through him, and the lamp swayed.
Turning around, he realized the window had been opened at some unknown moment.
Instinctively rising to close it, Harry froze in front of the window.
He saw a vague figure on a distant rooftop.
Who was it?
Red Eye?
"What are you looking at?"
A stranger's voice echoed in Harry's ear!
Startled, Harry whipped around to see a young man standing in the study, seemingly materializing out of nowhere.
"Who are you!" Harry's eyes sharpened, a possibility flashing through his mind.
The young man quickly confirmed Harry's suspicion.
"Haven't you been looking for me? And now that you see me, you want to drive me away?"
"Red Eye!"
Harry stepped forward, his palms pressing down on the desk, his knuckles whitening with the force, "Where is my daughter! What are your demands! Return my daughter to me, I'll agree to anything!"
"Don't be so hasty, the current situation is quite interesting," Red Eye chuckled, shaking his head.
"That girl won't be easily returned to you. For her, I've lost a valuable subordinate. Though not the brightest, he was quite handy, and such people are hard to come by."
"If you're looking for a puppet, I'd make a good choice."
The feigned desperation on Harry's face vanished, replaced by reason and composure.
He was never one to act on impulse; his earlier anxiety was a ruse to gauge Red Eye's stance.
Valuing his daughter greatly, he understood that blind panic and recklessness would only complicate her rescue.
As long as he remained useful to Red Eye, his daughter wouldn't be harmed easily.
Though unsure if he could destroy Red Eye, cornering him would ensure he wouldn't escape unscathed either.
"It seems you understand my intentions well." Red Eye's face always bore that controlled smile, as if nothing could surprise him, "It appears you've notified the folks in Breeze City, hoping to use those nobles against me?"
"Correct. Though they initially disagreed with the decision, I persuaded them," Harry nodded.
"A clever strategy, using bait to pit the lion against the hyena, with the vultures waiting on the sidelines. Quite the scheme you've concocted," Red Eye roamed the study, picking up a hardcover book from the shelf and flipping it open.
"What was Breeze City's response?"
"They said they'd verify the truth of the message and decide on support based on the severity of the situation.
More specific arrangements are yet to be made," Harry said, betraying the other three without hesitation.
After a pause, Harry asked, "What's your contingency plan? You're not planning to confront those people from Breeze City head-on, are you?"
"You don't like straightforward methods?" Red Eye looked at Harry curiously.
"Different positions call for different decisions. Whether it's through honorable means or dark, treacherous tactics, they're all just means to survive and win."
Harry looked into Red Eye's eyes, speaking calmly, "Now that Lilianne is in your hands, I also don't wish for you to die over some trivial matters."
"It's better for you to stay alive until Lilianne is returned."
Red Eye paused, then burst into laughter, closing the book and returning it to the shelf.
"Fascinating! I indeed made no mistake in choosing you!"
After a moment of laughter, Red Eye composed himself, his gaze intense as he looked at Harry, "Since you're a sensible man, I won't beat around the bush. Lorinda is my target, which isn't hard to deduce. But by saying it outright, consider it a statement from me. As long as you obey, your position as a puppet won't change."
"I'm loyal to those I'm familiar with, and I prefer using people I know well."
"As long as you don't mess around, your daughter won't be in danger!"
Finishing his statement, Red Eye approached the desk and pulled out a piece of paper, writing something on it.
Due to the angle, Harry couldn't see what Red Eye was writing, but he could guess the length of the message.
It didn't seem like a complex message; the length looked akin to a name or an address.
"From here on out, you're on your own." Red Eye gave a sinister smile, "Those few people outside, I'll take care of them."
A gust of cold wind blew suddenly, hitting Harry in the face.
Instinctively, he raised his hand to shield his eyes.
The eerie wind came quickly and left just as swiftly; almost the moment Harry shielded his eyes, the cold gust ceased!
"What's going on!"
Harry muttered under his breath, and when he looked closely, the study was empty, save for himself; Red Eye had vanished into thin air.
Turning back to the window, the figure he initially saw was also gone.
"Howard!" Antalya's voice suddenly rang in Howard's ear, startling him for a moment because it wasn't Antalya's usual tone.
It was the same tone she used when she killed Blindman—a tone one would never forget after hearing it just once.
It was as if all emotions were stripped away, leaving only a primitive urge to kill, a chillingly mechanical coldness.
Antalya had once again entered that state.
This was a mode Antalya unconsciously slipped into upon entering the battlefield.
In this state, Antalya was no longer the gentle and kind shopkeeper, but a bloodthirsty maniac with an extremely vicious temperament.
Such a transformation at this moment meant only one thing: Antalya had spotted her target...
And there was only one person who could excite Antalya to such an extent.
Red Eye!
"Do you want to embark on an adventure thrilling enough?"
"Just the two of us... taking down Red Eye!"
Howard paused, aware of Antalya's boldness, but he hadn't anticipated her willingness to take such a risk.
Just the two of them tracking down Red Eye? Even if Red Eye was alone now, there would surely be people ready to assist him along the way.
Just the two of them against a band of bandits...
Moreover, Howard was still half-baked in his skills.
He hadn't yet adapted to the magic of the New World.
In such circumstances, if they made a single mistake, escaping would be as difficult as reaching the heavens...
Howard responded to Antalya's call, saying, "Just... the two of us? Shouldn't we inform Ali?"
"Though I worry she might act rashly, it could still be useful to have her on standby, right?"
"No, that's not possible!" Antalya rejected Howard's suggestion almost without thinking.
"We don't have the time, and the situation is too unpredictable. We don't even know how things will unfold. Where do you suggest Ali waits for us? If by any chance Ali learns about our true intent and gets wind of Red Eye's whereabouts... who knows what she might do!"
"Make a decision quickly! If we lose track of Red Eye now, we might not get another chance!"
Although Antalya was urging him, Howard didn't detect any anxiety in her voice.
Despite having worked under her for less than a month, he knew she had completely seen through him.
Perhaps Antalya didn't know his past, but she understood how he reacted to most external events.
To control a person, that knowledge was enough.
He was an adventurer at heart, especially after having been a king for so long; it had been ages since he last felt his heart pounding with excitement.
The front lines were always manned by his soldiers.
Though Howard loathed admitting it, he was indeed that kind of person now, heating up at the prospect of a gamble, unconsciously smiling at the sight of danger.
"Go!" Howard commanded.
The time was edging close to midnight, with the moon's glow growing increasingly blurred by a layer of thin mist that had settled between heaven and earth.
Despite it being early autumn, the weather in Lorinda was far from dry.
This was due to its location on the side of the Rockwhite Mountains nearest the sea, where the cold, damp air masses from the Endless Sea were halted by the towering Rockwhite Mountains, lingering there instead.
With the advent of autumn, the temperature in this region would begin to drop, accompanied by the moist and cold air, making fog a common occurrence at night.
Gazing up at the crescent moon, now rendered even more indistinct by the fog, Red Eye curled the corners of his mouth and halted Soma, who was trudging forward beside him.
"What do you think is the best thing to do in this kind of weather?" he asked.
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