"Let me think, maybe we could sacrifice a little lady named 'Tianlan's Fantasy' to Lady Roman to appease the wrath of Lord Goddess, that way we could breach the contract joyously?"

"Go to hell, you annoying Brother Ade!"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter. Although Lady Roman is often described as stingy and petty by people, sometimes unpredictable, she is after all one of the True Gods like Orlin, and would surely never accept a life sacrifice that only Evil Gods would be interested in.

Thus, Fang Hong's statement was merely a joke at Tianlan's expense, which everyone could obviously tell.

Yet, amidst the laughter, realizing that this task might not be so simple, everyone couldn't help but become more cautious— after all, they were fully aware of what kind of person the Alchemist was, indicating that this task might not have good intentions. Not to mention that it also involved the Dragonfire Guild, and this was not the first time they had encountered the actions of those cultists—

Furthermore, the sudden martial law at Tulip Fortress, coupled with the mysterious troop rotations and reinforcements, seemed far from simple in terms of underlying reasons. Fang Hong couldn't help but recall the apparent slip of tongue from that clerk earlier, constantly pondering over the issue:

What on earth happened in the Southern Region of Dulun?

In these past few months, he had been on a journey, assuming Sophie at Silver Weslan should have known about the cause and outcome of this matter, but he didn't expect that when he asked, even the princess of Silver Weslan wasn't very clear.

She only replied, "Perhaps it has something to do with the uprising a few months ago; the reason I headed south this time is indeed because Silver Weslan was entrusted by the military to investigate what exactly happened back then..."

But the southern uprisings before July were actually just a continuation of the series of power struggles of Colin Ishurian.

The main high-level figures of the Southern Alchemist Alliance and the local nobles were all strong supporters of Prince Coleman, and after the new king ascended the throne, with the support of the Prime Minister, he began to use the Artisan Association to take action against the Southern Region.

This action greatly intensified the conflict between the Southern Alliance and the Artisan Association, leading to several large and small uprisings, instigated by the local nobles.

These series of uprisings occurred around July and were collectively referred to as the July Uprising in hindsight.

However, these uprisings were quelled before the fall, seemingly not severe enough to justify road closures, unless there was some error in the intelligence at that time. But what truly shocked Fang Hong was that the military actually entrusted the people of Silver Weslan to go to the Southern Region to gather information—

Could it be that the Stargate Port side has lost control over the Southern Region?

His first thought was that it couldn't be possible, after all, the Southern Region also had a large number of Invokers, and if something really happened there, there should be related posts on the community.

But regarding this issue, Sophie could only shake her head, "Both the Invokers and the community are under the management of the Alliance; what connection does it have with Stargate Port? Remember the previous community regulation, what happened in Charter City is only one reason, there's more because of the south..."

She sighed lightly, "Silver Weslan has always stood with the Alliance, but this time in this royal power struggle, the Alliance has indeed crossed some lines, and there's also Mount Holy Pact..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong realized that perhaps the rumors were true, and that Silver Weslan might indeed have completely parted ways with V.E.M. However, he couldn't delve deeper into the matter as it had already touched upon guild secrets.

He actually didn't expect to hear such a secret under these circumstances, and moreover, from Sophie's words, it seemed like the relationship between the Alliance and the military was not as harmonious as imagined—

This undoubtedly coincided with what Miya had told him.

At this moment, Sophie looked up at him, "Ade, this is a conflict between Stargate Port and the V.E.M Alliance, there are some things that neither you nor I can control. If you don't want to get involved, it's best to leave the south as soon as you're done with your business... "

Fang Hong was silent for a moment, as he suddenly thought about the context Parker and Tianlan overheard earlier, about those people's discussions regarding the Southern Alliance and their plan.

He suddenly had a premonition that perhaps he had already been swept into this vortex for a long time.

Ever since Miss Atira's brother died at the hands of those people—

...

In Tulip Fortress, a young man was somewhat dissatisfied as he pushed open the door.

Inside the room, the plump Lord Baron was tidying his shiny mustache. Seeing someone push the door open and enter, he put down the mirror in his hand. He glanced at the Apprentice Alchemist and his clerk before speaking, "You've come just in time, I've already sent those people away."

"Sent them away?" The young Alchemist said with discontent, "Mr. Malando, why did you let them go?"

"Let them go?" The Baron was taken aback, "Or else, capture them here and imprison them, or kill them?"

He shook his head, used to these young people's petty squabbles, and didn't take it to heart. But who hadn't been young once? Indeed, the other's behavior was quite to his liking considering they were cooperating, so he ignored the slightly impolite tone.

"Don't forget they're the same type as you," answered the Baron, "I don't want to give military personnel a chance to intervene, and you also don't want things to get messy, right?"

The young man was slightly taken aback before realizing something.

"I see, you're right," he nodded, "So how do you intend to help me, Lord Baron?"

"I already have, haven't I?" The Baron shook his head.

"You've helped us?" The young man asked exaggeratedly, "Wait, when?"

The Baron looked at him with a bit of contempt, thinking the guy was beyond help. He shrugged, "Of course, didn't I say, I already sent them away— and now all roads in the Southern Region are blocked, they got in, but it's not that easy for them to get out."

"The rest is the matter between you young people," he spread his hands, "This is also your place, do you still need me to step in?"

The young man suddenly realized, couldn't help but slap his forehead, "Also true, right, the Ragnarok people are here, I'll go find them for help." With that, he hurriedly walked out.

The clerk frowned as he watched the other leave, and then turned back to say, "At such a critical moment, these people are still preoccupied with these trivial matters..."

The Baron shook his head, "Even the Holy Chosen are not a unified whole, that's quite normal."

"But won't it delay serious business?"

"Don't worry, those Ragnarok people aren't that unreliable, I've already instructed them that finding people is the top priority."

...

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