Chapter 19 Worth the Trip

Suren and the others silently drank in the corner of the tavern.

They also felt that this trip to Atlantea was worthwhile, as they had obtained a lot of key information.

The sacrifice ceremony would be held in a few days. After the evil dragon roared again as a reminder, people would send the treasure and the sacrificial maiden out to sea for the evil dragon to enjoy.

Suren and his group still had plenty of time to prepare.

However, the information obtained in the tavern, although plentiful, was also limited.

It was difficult for commoners and adventurers to obtain very high-end information.

For example, when Suren heard about the "Helen" who had inflicted the petrification curse on the queen, he immediately felt something fishy. Eighty percent of the time, there was some kind of royal scandal or hidden secret.

But compared to the tavern-goers excitedly discussing the "Number One Beauty of the Pania Kingdom," Suren was more curious as to why the petrification curse, wasn't it a Medusa's innate ability, why was the Silver Dragon Kingdom's queen cursed?

Moreover, these were all secondary.

More importantly, Suren had confirmed that the Silver Dragon Kingdom's royal family did indeed have a formula to解除 (jiechu, remove) petrification.

Although he guessed that the materials required for the formula would definitely be hard to come by, there was a great hope for solving Tani's mother's curse.

…

Before long, the four of them finished their drinks and left the tavern.

They planned to find a place to stay first, and then spend the night in the city.

However, not long after leaving the tavern, Lolota suddenly noticed something and looked at Chi-Tiao, saying, "Teacher, it seems like we're being watched."

Tatu became a little nervous upon hearing this.

For the Naga, being discovered in human territory was not a good thing. In all likelihood, they would be captured, enslaved, and sold.

"Oh."

Chi-Tiao responded lazily, not caring at all.

Suren also remained expressionless.

In fact, he knew they were being watched when they were drinking earlier.

Although the adventurers in the tavern were dressed strangely, the four of them, even though they were in the corner and wearing cloaks, their attire still looked very odd upon closer inspection.

No matter where you go, there are always local snakes who want to take shortcuts.

The streets in the city were very narrow. When they left the tavern and entered a small alley, they could already hear footsteps approaching to surround them.

Suren thought about it and decided not to cause any trouble.

He formed a warlock印 (yin, seal), and a space channel appeared in front of him. The four of them stepped inside.

Almost at the same time, in that small alley, seven or eight sneaky-looking guys met at both ends of the alley.

The leader, a skinny, wretched man with a rat-like mustache, looked at the empty alley and said in surprise, "That's strange, where did they go?"

…

Suren and his group stepped out, and when they looked again, they had already appeared in another deserted alley a few streets away.

There were many adventurers and inns in Atlantea.

They didn't walk far before they saw an inn with a sign that read "Beast Knight Inn."

They rented a room, planning to stay for one night.

But they hadn't expected the living conditions in this Dragon Kingdom to be so bad.

The inn seemed to be one of the best in the city, but other than a few wooden beds, there were almost no other facilities in the room.

Compared to Luying's inn, this place was as crude as a stable.

Moreover, the people in the city didn't seem to have the habit of bathing, and the inn didn't have private bathrooms. Not to mention bathrooms, even the toilets were wooden buckets.

The windows embedded in the stone walls were very small, and the air circulation was very poor, which meant that the inn always had a strange, mixed smell.

In the room, the four of them frowned slightly.

Fortunately, for Suren, the inn was just a place to meditate, so the poor conditions didn't matter too much.

Lolota tidied up the bedding, and the four of them prepared to rest.

Chi-Tiao was very bored. She came to the inn wanting to take a bath, but was completely disappointed.

After sitting idly for less than half an hour, she picked up her knife and hung it on her waist again.

As if she had thought of something, her expression suddenly became excited. The gambling addict turned to Suren and said, "Suren, you guys rest. I'm going out for a walk."

Suren couldn't help but smile wryly. Of course, he knew her personality.

Lolota, her disciple, also guessed what her teacher wanted to do and asked, "Ah… Teacher, if you go to the casino, will you understand what they're saying?"

Chi-Tiao, however, had a knowing look on her face, raising her eyebrows and saying, "Watching the dice, you don't need to understand what others are saying."

She had been suffocating during this time on the ship.

Gambling is ultimately more exciting when you gamble with strangers. The thrill of betting your entire fortune is no less than gambling your life, which you can't experience when gambling with acquaintances, no matter how much you gamble.

Suren didn't say much, smiling and reminding her, "Okay. Remember, don't draw your knife first if something happens."

Chi-Tiao's current strength is already top-notch. Not understanding the language will only cause some trouble at most, not any real danger.

In the end, she only has these few hobbies for entertainment.

Chi-Tiao casually responded, "I know."

Tatu asked, "Miss Chi-Tiao, do you need me to accompany you?"

Lolota also said, "Teacher, do you want me to go with you?"

"No need."

As she spoke, Chi-Tiao had already slammed the door shut.

She had finally found a casino where she didn't know anyone, and she didn't want anyone to disturb her gambling mood.

…

After Chi-Tiao left, the room became quiet.

Suren and the others meditated, which was quite leisurely.

But the good times didn't last long. Just at midnight, seven or eight guys found their way to the front of the inn, sneaking up.

Suren's perception was always outward, and he immediately recognized that these guys were the same group that had been watching them in the tavern before.

He wasn't surprised that the local snakes could find their lodging.

But seeing that these guys had clearly let them go once and were still coming to seek death, Suren's expression wasn't pleasant.

When they reached the door, Lolota also noticed.

She looked at Suren, seemingly asking if she should take action.

Suren shook his head and continued to meditate cross-legged.

Hearing no movement in the room, the people outside probably thought they were asleep, and thought they hadn't been discovered. They quietly took out lock-picking tools and opened the door. It was clear they had done this kind of thing before.

A group of people barged in, and the lamp in the room illuminated a few flickering faces.

The leader, the skinny, wretched man with the rat-like mustache, was also slightly surprised that these people weren't asleep.

But he suddenly changed his tune and said, "Patrol checking rooms. Hey~ Where are you guys from?"

Because they weren't wearing cloaks, the seven or eight intruders looked at Tatu and Lolota's charming appearances, and a lustful look appeared in their eyes.

In Atlantea, outsiders without a background are all lambs to be slaughtered.

Tatu even tried to translate this sentence.

But Suren shook his head, not planning to waste time with nonsense, only saying lightly, "Tell them to leave the room now. Otherwise, die."

With his current level of mental power, he didn't need to talk to ordinary people at all. With just one look, he knew their intentions.

With those malicious gazes, how could Suren not know that these guys had the intention of killing and robbing them?

He had let them go once before, but now they were coming again. He felt that being targeted repeatedly was troublesome, so he simply planned to solve this problem directly.

Even when Tatu euphemistically translated the sentence, "My master doesn't like being disturbed. Please leave, or we will be impolite…"

But this euphemistic persuasion made the local snakes think they were easy to bully.

They pretended to be provoked and suddenly drew the weapons from their waists.

Seeing that Suren showed no fear, the skinny, wretched man guessed that he might have some skill. But he showed no fear, coldly bringing out his backing, "Heh heh, you dare to make a move in the city? Let me tell you, the deputy commander of the city guard is my brother-in-law, the city lord is also…"

But before he could finish his words, they watched as the figure of the man who was still meditating on the bed suddenly dissipated.

When they looked again, before the seven or eight people could react, Suren had already appeared behind them.

In the dim room, a strange black light spread out, and a cold, terrifying aura instantly permeated the air.

In an instant, a cold light pierced their backs, and their life force faded away.

In the face of death, life was as fragile as a straw.

In the last moment of their lives, the local snakes looked back in terror. In their terrified eyes was reflected the shadow of a cloaked figure with a scythe.

The strange black light disappeared in an instant.

Dealing with a few robbers around the third or fourth rank only took an instant.

Suren harvested the souls of the few people, without even making any noise, and without leaving any traces in the room.

After digesting the memories of the few people, Suren suddenly realized, muttering to himself, "So they really had something to rely on…"

He realized that these guys weren't stupid, but were used to being rampant.

In the eyes of this group of local snakes, those staying in inns were naturally not nobles.

If they were adventurers or merchants, they were used to bullying them on weekdays.

After all, the leader, the skinny man, really did have some connection with the city lord, and there was someone to protect him if things got out of hand.

It was just that they never expected to encounter a powerhouse from the outer seas.

Compared to those nepotistic relationships, Suren discovered a more interesting piece of information in those memories: the city lord of Atlantea was actually surnamed "Rodrigues"?

…

No matter where the nobles were, there seemed to be no difference.

They liked to constantly talk about the long history of their families to show their distinction from the common people.

So in the memories he had just stripped, Suren also learned that the city lord, Balder, was actually a fallen member of the royal family from one of the nine kingdoms of the Dragon Kingdom.

An ancient noble family that had continued for many years.

The reason Suren found it coincidental was that one of the six councilors of Luying was from the "Rodrigues family."

And even more coincidentally, after Suren harvested the memories of the old monster Augustus, he learned from the [Map of the Dragon Kingdom Sea Area] that the Rodrigues family of Luying had come from this area.

"Could they be from the same lineage?"

Some thoughts flashed through Suren's mind, and he felt that the possibility was quite high.

The probability of large figures sharing the same surname was extremely low.

Moreover, Suren had discovered some interesting memories in the skinny man's soul, which was that there was a secret vault in the city lord's mansion.

A lord with aristocratic power would have more useful information and intelligence.

Thinking of this, his eyes turned, and he said to Tatu and Lolota beside him, "I'm going to the city lord's mansion. You guys wait for me here."

The few ruffians had come secretly and died silently, so there shouldn't be any problems with the inn for the time being.

Even if there were problems, they wouldn't be big.

Lolota obediently responded, "Okay, Mr. Suren."

"Ah… oh."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Tatu reacted for a moment before snapping back to her senses when Suren spoke.

She was really stunned just now.

A few guys who looked like they had bad intentions had barged in. She originally thought there would be a fierce battle, but she didn't expect it to end so quietly?

This was the first time she had seen Suren take action.

She never imagined that Mr. Suren, who was always so elegant and composed, would actually have such a terrifying side, like the god of death.

Suren smiled, a spatial ripple flashed, and his entire person had disappeared from the room.

Watching him leave, Tatu finally felt the palpitating fear of being with death dissipate, and weakly asked, "Miss Lolota, how strong is Mr. Suren really?"

Lolota blinked and smiled, "I can't really say. Anyway, he's super strong."

…

There were no streetlights in the city, and the night was pitch black, with only a few candlelights illuminating it in patches.

There was no valuable information in the souls of the eight ruffians, but they knew the streets and alleys of Atlantea very clearly.

Suren teleported all the way and quickly arrived outside the castle, which was the highest point in the city.

The castle was completely separated from the commoner area by tall city walls.

Green vines climbed all over the white stone walls, and guards were constantly watching the walls from the arrow towers.

Sensing the spatial structure, although there were some magical warning measures, they were useless in Suren's eyes. He teleported directly inside.

As soon as he left, a few keen-smelling canine magical beasts ran over, sniffed around in place, didn't find anything, and walked away.

Suren didn't wander around the castle. Instead, he teleported directly to the study.

Unlike the simplicity of the commoners' houses, the study was decorated with extreme luxury, and all kinds of gold and silver objects were everywhere.

And there was a room full of all kinds of books.

Even if nobles were unlearned, they would collect all kinds of books in the study.

Suren casually glanced at them.

Because he had conveniently stripped the common language of the Dragon Kingdom earlier, he immediately saw all kinds of books.

《Beast Taming Techniques》、《History of the Nigunaya Civilization》、《The Nine Kingdoms》、《The Story of Rodrigues the Dragon Slayer》...

Seeing the same dragon-patterned noble emblem, Suren had already confirmed that the city lord of Atlantea and the Rodrigues councilor of Luying were from the same source.

The skinny ruffian was related to the city lord Balder's housekeeper's wife. Although he relied on the city lord's mansion for food, he also coveted the treasures in the castle.

That's why he learned from the housekeeper that the study might contain the entrance to the city lord's secret chamber.

There were magic traps everywhere in the study, so it wouldn't be easy to find the entrance originally.

But for Suren's spatial abilities, it was extremely easy.

He set his sights on the city lord's oil painting behind the mahogany table.

A fat guy with a noble outfit and a walrus mustache was the city lord Balder.

Suren ignored the sophisticated alarm mechanisms and sensed the location of the passage behind it.

He asked the black crow on his shoulder, and Mr. Crow indicated that there was no danger.

Suren teleported in.

When he looked again, there was a dark staircase leading downwards, and he sensed that the underground space was quite large.

"There's actually someone there?"

Suren sensed that there were more than a dozen spiritual fluctuations in a large space tens of meters underground.

He originally thought it was a secret prison or something, but when he teleported over, he found it full of scarlet.

In this space, there was an altar made of human bone skeletons, and scarlet flesh and blood formed the magic array patterns of the altar. A strong, bloody smell permeated the air.

The walls around were carved with the image of a monster like a hell demon. A disgusting and chaotic mental fluctuation could be clearly felt in the secret room.

"Evil god altar?"

Suren frowned as he looked at it, feeling more and more familiar.

He didn't understand where it was, this city lord was actually secretly worshipping an evil god.

Those more than a dozen people were sacrifices to the evil god, and they were being hung on the stone walls, slowly being drained of their blood. And the skeletons piled around, he didn't know how many commoners the Rodrigues family had harmed.

He thought it was just an ordinary noble, but he didn't expect to hide this scene.

Regardless of what that guy was trying to do by worshipping the evil god, just the act of sacrificing humans was definitely evil.

Suren wasn't in a hurry to destroy the formation and teleported down again.

Then he came to a magic stone door. He looked at the magic patterns on the stone door and gave a soft "Huh? There's a spatial restriction?"

The restrictions on the stone door were very high-level, which really showed the foundation of the former royal family.

Suren used the spatial power of the [Ouroboros Spacetime Ring] to teleport directly over.

When he looked again, he saw a dazzling array of gold and silver.

"So wealthy?"

Suren was slightly surprised when he looked at the piles of gold and silver treasures, and he had a new understanding of the lord of Atlantea, a city with only a few hundred thousand people.

The treasures here were probably worth more than selling the entire city ten times over.

However, Suren wasn't very interested in ordinary gold and silver treasures. He turned to look at those special items.

Ordinary gold, silver, and steamed agate were piled on the ground, about dozens of boxes.

And there were also some wooden shelves in the secret room, on which were placed some high-level magic cores, gems, battle aura secrets, knight breathing techniques, martial arts, and other obviously more valuable things.

But at a glance, Suren saw a long, sealed box placed in the most conspicuous position.

The box was about 1.2 meters long and had dense, gold-plated-like runes on it.

Suren was very surprised when he saw it, and thought to himself, "This is… a god-level seal?"

The seal on the box was very high-level, and it was obviously an alchemical sealing technique, not magic.

Did the Dragon Kingdom have an alchemy system?

When he identified it, it showed its name.

[Sealed Royal Treasure Box]

Details: A treasure box that once symbolized the royal power of the nine kingdoms of the Dragon Kingdom; a ninth-order blood demon curse seal, only the blood of the Rodrigues family can open it.

"Blood demon curse?"

Suren murmured in his heart.

From what he knew about the runes of this sealing system, they were usually used to seal something very dangerous.

A treasure box that symbolized royal power, did it need this level of seal?

Looking at this box, he immediately guessed that there must be some incredible treasure inside.

And looking at the "corroded magic patterns" on the box that hadn't been opened for countless years, Suren was puzzled again. This was the same as the dragon language magic box he had obtained in London before, which hadn't been opened for at least several hundred years.

But since the city lord was a member of the Rodrigues family, why didn't he open it?

Could it not be opened? Or could it not be opened?

Suren's heart was full of doubts.

But the Rodrigues family's bloodline was the blood medium to open the seal… didn't he just happen to have Augustus's corpse on hand?

Suren thought about trying it. If anything changed, this secret vault would be the best place to be.

As soon as he had the thought, he directly took out Augustus's corpse and smeared the blood on the box.

When he looked again, the magic patterns on the entire box lit up.

It was smoother than he imagined.

The box opened a crack, as if something very dangerous was about to appear, and a mysterious aura rushed towards him.

Suren's nerves were highly tensed, and he was ready to teleport away at any time, but Mr. Crow on his shoulder was very calm.

He continued to watch patiently.

However, the bad situation he had expected didn't appear, and the box opened smoothly.

Inside was actually a golden carved snake staff.

The snake was lifelike, and every scale was clearly visible.

Although it was just a short scepter, it revealed a kind of "sacred," "majestic," "supreme," and even a hint of danger.

Suren thought it was the most exquisite gold carving he had ever seen.

When he identified it again, it was actually a legendary cursed object!

[Medusa's Snake Hair Scepter]

Rank: Legendary

Description: The curse of the earth, this is the power of the gods;

Cursed properties: Accumulates earth power (9999/9999). Using this snake scepter can activate the 'Petrification Curse', causing all living beings not higher than the item's own law to fall into petrification; those who have not mastered the rank of earth law will be petrified by the curse backlash;

Details: A great alchemist, Martin de Rio, once killed a god-rank Medusa and refined its snake hair into nine royal snake scepters, which he gave to the kings of the nine kingdoms of mankind; the snake scepters symbolized power and strength, allowing humans to have the power to fight against dragons; releasing all the stored energy is likely to petrify an eighth-order dragon;

"Can petrify an eighth-order dragon? So strong?"

Suren's eyes went straight when he saw it, and the blood in his heart was faintly excited, "What a treasure!"

This snake scepter hadn't been used for hundreds of years, so its energy was full.

As for the curse backlash, others were afraid of it, but a living corpse wasn't afraid at all.

When Suren saw this snake scepter, he immediately saw that he had another super attack method.

He didn't expect that coming for a casual stroll would actually lead to such a treasure.

Since he was a follower of an evil god, there was no need to be polite.

He originally just wanted to see if he could find information about the petrification potion, but now it seemed he had to be a thief.

…

But just at the moment of opening the box, Mr. Crow on his shoulder cried "Caw," reminding him of danger.

Suren immediately realized that the danger didn't come from the scepter, nor from any guards, but from being watched by something in the dark.

"Strange… could it be that some pseudo-god related to this scepter noticed me?"

Suren guessed in his heart.

He quickly threw the scepter into the little void realm, and that feeling immediately disappeared.

While no one noticed, Suren quickly emptied the entire vault of its treasures.

Then, after going up, he rescued the dozen or so sacrifices, destroyed the evil god altar, and conveniently threw the stone tablet that collected power to Pandora as nourishment.

Then he went out all the way, searched all the books in the study, and then set a fire to completely destroy the traces.

When the city lord's mansion became noisy and started fighting the fire, Suren had already teleported back to the inn, as if he had never left.