[Ruth: Maguire’s childhood sweetheart and fiancée.]

The prostitute: "..."

Meanwhile, the Blood Loss Knight, Morey, was in his room, having an orgy.

Brother Sorrowful, Zhan Jiale, on the other hand, was reciting his emo monologues to a prostitute.

The prostitute showed her impatience several times, thinking, ’Come on, buddy, are you going to do it or not? If you’re not, there’s a line of guys who will.’

But when the Knight pulled out banknote after banknote, she swallowed her words and chose to listen.

"We are fated, and yet we choose each other..."

"Do you want to hear it? The not-so-romantic matters of my heart..."

’I don’t,’ the prostitute thought.

"It’s so quiet. I thought we’d always have something to talk about."

’I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that,’ the prostitute complained internally.

This was the first time in her long career that she felt so exhausted by a man.

By the time Brother Sorrowful had finished pouring out his emo monologues to the prostitute, the sky was already starting to lighten.

He thoughtfully covered the prostitute, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion, with a blanket. Then he called for the Blood Loss Knight from the room next door, who was still in his post-coital refractory period, and Zod, who was asleep in the downstairs hall, clutching a wine jug.

He also wanted to call for Maguire, but when Zhan Jiale looked around, he couldn’t find a trace of him.

He found the prostitute who had turtles drawn all over her arms and face asleep in a chair. After waking her up, he learned that Maguire had gone out alone the previous night.

He went outside the brothel to look for him and found Maguire sitting by the entrance, snoring.

Zod shook him awake and asked what happened. The reason left them all not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

It turned out that the prostitute had been playing cards with Maguire all night and couldn’t take it anymore. Wanting to get to the main event, she had asked if he had ever kissed a woman, hoping to build some atmosphere with a little teasing.

Unexpectedly, Maguire took this as an insult.

So he stormed out and sat sulking outside the brothel all night.

After hearing Maguire’s story, Zod was silent for a long time. He patted Maguire on the shoulder, a thousand words turning into a single, long sigh.

’Maguire might genuinely have something wrong with his brain,’ he thought, but after a moment’s consideration, he decided it was better not to say it out loud.

...

Blood Church. When the horizon began to glow red, Baron naturally opened his eyes.

He found that the Witch was already awake, sitting on the bed and flipping through a book about the local customs of Fude City.

Seeing Baron awake, she smiled at him naturally. "I’m KK."

Baron pinched his thigh to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He had been notified by numerous Law Enforcer agencies on the Inner Side that the Dragon Witch was indeed in Prole, and what’s more, she was in his room.

After his usual morning routine, he planned to go out and find Zod and the others to discuss matters concerning Ferdinand and the Iron Thorn Gang.

He had already come up with a rough plan on his way back last night.

The Iron Thorn Gang’s collaboration with the Immortal Church was an indisputable fact. Tate had once said the main reason for their cooperation was that Ferdinand needed to rely on sacrificial rituals to assimilate a Magic Potion and advance to Silver Tier.

And during last night’s raid on another warehouse, although they had captured many Undead Cultists, it was clearly just a "storage" warehouse, not the Church’s main base of operations.

As for their real base, if Baron wasn’t mistaken, it should be the place whose aura his Hunter Badge had sensed when he entered the city, though he couldn’t pinpoint its exact location yet.

Tate had said there was an Immortal Church contact in the underground streets. Perhaps they could start there.

Baron told KK to stay put in the room, but she jumped off the bed and said, "Let’s go together."

Facing Baron’s confusion, KK explained, "Wizards have very strong Perception Power. I have to stay by your side at all times to conceal my own Destiny."

"Don’t worry, I can pretend to be your maid."

As KK spoke, she used some unknown method to turn her rose-red hair as black as ink, and her eyes changed to match.

She was still beautiful, just not as strikingly so as before. She looked like a completely different person from the one at the City Lord’s Mansion.

Baron thought about it and decided to let her be. At least the Witch showed no signs of wanting to harm him, and more importantly, they had a deal to fall back on.

Arriving in the main hall of the Church, he saw people praying as usual. He asked the old Nun and learned that the Little Nun’s Blood Trial should be ending in a day or two.

He also learned from her that Zod and the others had been summoned by Yalilan’s people as soon as they returned to the Church.

So he took KK and headed to the Demon Hunter Association to find Yalilan.

The old Nun called out to him, "Mr. L, the young lady with you is..."

Baron was about to say something, but KK cut in first, "He’s the bodyguard I hired to protect me. My name is KK."

"Is that so," the old Nun seemed a bit taken aback by KK’s energy. "I had thought she was..."

Baron, of course, knew what she was going to say, but KK was tugging on his sleeve, so he had no choice but to play along.

KK smiled with satisfaction. "Alright then, bodyguard, I’m hungry. Take me to buy some steam cakes first!"

...

On the way, KK skipped and bounced along beside Baron, humming a cheerful little tune and carrying a bag of freshly baked steam cakes.

The cakes were shaped like Iron Dragons. Baron took a bite and thought they were nothing special, just ordinary honey cakes.

But KK was very happy. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She walked along the line between light and shadow, the sunlight highlighting the tips of her hair in gold.

If he hadn’t confirmed her Spiritual Power fluctuations were at the Silver Tier, he would have thought that this version of her, with her altered appearance, was a completely different person from the Carmen he had seen before.

She looked around at everything, wanting to buy this and that, just like an ordinary girl.

But Baron had no intention of becoming her personal ATM. Aside from the steam cakes, he didn’t pull out any more money, not unless the Witch was willing to Exchange some valuable information.

KK thought for a moment and said, "I like to eat pizza."

Baron said, "That’s not valuable information."

KK added, "I can tell you how to advance to Bronze Knight."

"I already know."

"Whether the Red Dragon is really dead or not."

"What do you want to buy?" Baron took a Silver Coin from his pocket.

KK pointed at a clothing store. "I want that red dress."

...

"That will be two Silver Coins in total." The shopkeeper politely saw Baron and KK out.

Baron watched as KK put the long dress into her Holding Ring—the Witch had one too—and asked, "You can tell me the details now."

KK nodded, but then she suddenly grabbed the corner of Baron’s clothes and hid at his side. "Constantine, Palmer’s Wizard is here. Act natural."

As soon as she finished speaking, a carriage sped past on the road. Baron recognized the crest on it as belonging to the City Lord’s Mansion.

In the instant it brushed past Baron, the carriage’s curtain was lifted, revealing a stern and handsome face with sharp sideburns.

He was a young man of about thirty, one of his eyes a strange, grayish-white. His gaze swept over Baron without a ripple of emotion, like a river in winter.

Only after the carriage had passed did the Witch let go of Baron’s sleeve and explain, "That was Fei."

"Fei? As in, your fiancé?"

When he said the word "fiancé," Baron felt a little uncomfortable, probably because of Freya.

"A Silver Mage, Kuman’s student, the next Master of the Wizard Tower."

The Witch nodded. Her tone was so cold and detached that she seemed like a different person from KK. It was hard to say when, but she had become Carmen again.

Baron was about to ask the Witch more about the Red Dragon when someone on horseback stopped beside him.

He thought they were just passing by, but a second glance revealed it was Yalilan.

The Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger was dressed in a Hunting Outfit, a Long Saber hanging at her waist, cutting a sharp, imposing figure in the city. Zod and Maguire were right beside her.

Her gaze paused on Baron and Carmen, her face showing little expression.

Baron nodded in greeting. "Lord Marquis."

Yalilan said, "I’ve received news that Ferdinand has secretly left the city. His whereabouts are unknown. The Guard Team tailing him lost him, so I came to discuss it with you."

’Ferdinand left the city?’

’Could it be...?’ Baron’s heart sank. He had already prepared for the worst.

’Leaving the city under these circumstances... besides fleeing, there was another possibility.’

’He’s about to advance to the Silver Tier!’

Yalilan asked, "What do you think?"

’The priority now is to find out where he went... In this situation, the Immortal Church’s ritual site...’

Baron immediately said to Zod and Maguire, "Let’s go!"

"Where to?" Yalilan asked.

"The brothel!"