Does the Butterfly Effect Really Exist? (24)

"Kelsu, will he side with us? (Goodpes)"

"It should be fine! (Kelsu)"

"I doubt it. Perhaps he'll do what he did last time, reject our offer, and continue to serve those selfish humans wholeheartedly." (Delsd)

"Kelsu, Delsd is right. We'd better not have too high expectations of him." (Shideweig)

"Hit should have seen him by now. Whether it works out or not, we'll know soon enough. Let's wait patiently!" (Kelsu)

Seeing the strategist's insistence, Goodpes and his two companions could only shut their mouths, becoming a quiet mountain peak, and wait patiently for news.

In a mansion in Peterburg City

In a dimly lit hall, a lake-blue sphere emitted a bluish-green light, the interplay of light and shadow creating a series of images. Before the sphere stood two rather burly figures, silently observing the scenes unfolding within. After a moment, the figures abruptly stopped, transforming into beams of light and flying back into the sphere.

"General, you've seen it yourself. Even humans who have lived alongside dragons for decades will turn against them given the chance, let alone ordinary humans. Why would you risk your life fighting your own kind for these selfish and foolish creatures?" (The lobbyist)

"This is just an isolated case and does not represent all humanity. Besides, Sage Dragon and Her Majesty Irene have treated me well. I cannot put them to death for my own selfish reasons! (General)"

"My lord, this is a matter of great importance concerning the fate of the entire Ishgar dragon race. How can it become a matter of personal gain? Furthermore, when did we ever say that we wanted to kill the Sage Dragon Lord and Her Majesty Irene? We only asked you to cooperate with us in taking control of Peterburg City and crushing the resistance forces among humans!"

"Hmph! Do you think I'm an idiot? Once you enter Peterburg City, do you think you'll let Her Majesty Irene and Sage Dragon go?"

"General, if you don't believe me, you can come with me out of the city to see Kelsu, and let him tell you whether we will harm Sage Dragon and Her Majesty Irene."

"There's no need to leave the city. You just need to convey my conditions to Kelsu and have him write a guarantee!"

"Alright! I'll head out of the city to find Kelsu. I hope the general will patiently wait for my return."

"You're the ones who're anxious right now, not me. Of course I have time to wait for you to come back!"

"In that case, I shall take my leave!"

The lobbyist's voice still lingered in the air, but his figure and the lake-blue sphere on the table had vanished without a trace.

Peterburg City, outside the West Gate

"Kelsu, Hit is back!"

"Bring him here quickly!"

"Yes!"

A moment later, a faint black shadow followed a moving mountain peak and drifted to the front of four small hills that were connected together.

"Hit greets the four lords!"

"Hit, how is it? Has he agreed to our terms? (Kelsu)"

"Kelsu, the general has demanded that you assure him that you will not harm Sage Dragon, Irene, or the others after entering the city. Otherwise, he will not only refuse to help us, but will also tell Sage Dragon about our plans."

"Hmph! Has this guy forgotten his place? How dare he make demands of us?" (Delsd)

"Delsd, he may forget his identity, but we cannot forget our own identity and situation! If we cannot break through the enemy's defenses as soon as possible, our situation will be quite passive, so I think we should agree to his request. (Goodpes)"

"What? Agree to him? Goodpes, are you crazy? (Delsd)"

"I also think we should say yes!" (Shideweig)

"Shideweig, how come you're here too... (Delsd)"

Seeing Delsd staring at Shideweig and his companion with shock, anger, and confusion, Kelsu, who had been listening for a long time, said calmly, "Delsd, Shideweig and his companion only said they could agree to his request, but fists and feet have no eyes. We can't guarantee that we won't accidentally kill them!"

Although Delsd was a bit simple-minded, how could someone who had become a powerful figure be stupid? So after Kelsu a proper hint, he instantly understood his old friends' plans.

"Haha! In that case, let's agree to it!" (Delsd)

"Since all of you gentlemen agree, then please, Kelsu, begin writing!" (Hit)

"Alright! I'll get started right away! (Kelsu)"

Moments later, Hit, having received Kelsu's letter, once again disappeared into the night.

However, this time he did not go directly into Peterburg City, but instead took a detour to meet someone else.

"Boss, everything is as you predicted. That person has agreed to help Kelsu and the others!" (Hit)

"I'll definitely agree, but that person will never agree unconditionally! (Boss)"

"Boss, I'm really impressed! That's right, although he agreed to help Kelsu, he set conditions."

"If I'm not mistaken, his condition should be that after the city falls, Sage Dragon and the others must not be harmed."

"That's right, that's the condition!"

"Heh! The dragons on Ishgar have been with humans for too long, their minds have even been assimilated by those guys, how pathetic! Alright, hurry up and deliver the message, I should also send this news to our allies!"

"Yes, sir! I'll take care of it right away!"

In a small town in the Principality of Saint Dreo

"Buzz!"

"Bang!"

An explosion suddenly erupted from a dilapidated house on a street in the small town, followed by wisps of pale purple smoke rising from the roof.

"Pooh!"

"Zeref, didn't you say you'd definitely succeed this time? How did things turn out like this again?"

Looking at the purple elf in front of him, Zeref said embarrassedly, "Well... I just accidentally messed up. I promise, this will never happen again!"

"Next time? How many 'next times' have passed? But did your experiment succeed? Forget it, I'll just head straight to Peterburg City!"

Seeing that the 'purple elf' was about to leave, Zeref hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed her.

"Doctor, you have to believe me, this time it really won't fail again!"

"Heh! When haven't you said the same thing before? But when have you ever succeeded?"

"Doctor, I..."

Zeref, who was trying to defend himself, suddenly stopped speaking and looked eastward with a serious expression. After a moment, Zeref turned to the doctor and said urgently, "Doctor, I don't have time to explain to you now. You need to leave this town immediately, as far away as possible!"

"Zeref, what happened? Why do I have to leave here?"

"There's a reason why I'm letting you go, why ask so many questions!"

"No way! If you don't tell me your reason today, I'm not leaving here no matter what!"

After spending a few days together, Zeref knew that the doctor wouldn't leave unless he told him the details. So, Zeref had no choice but to tell him what he had discovered.

"Doctor, I just sensed a giant dragon rushing towards us at an extremely fast speed, and it seems to be very hostile towards humans, which is why I told you to leave here immediately."

"If I leave, what will you do?"

"Don't worry, there's no one in this world who can kill me, not even a dragon! Besides, I have something to entrust to you, so you must leave here."

"Is there something you need me to do? What is it?"

"I need your help to evacuate the people in town to prevent them from getting hurt if we start fighting later!"

After Zeref finished explaining, the doctor quickly came to him, looked into his eyes and said, "I can evacuate the residents, but you must promise me that you will survive!"

"Okay! I promise you!"

Above the sea

After several hours of effort, Old Suo and his team had finally searched the area surrounding the ambush site thoroughly, but with very little success. Looking at the few survivors around him, Sordil was about to expand the search area when he suddenly felt a tremor coming from his storage space. Old Suo immediately conducted a thorough inspection of the storage space and quickly located the source of the tremor—a glowing Communication Magic Crystal.

"Huh? Isn't this the one I gave to that guy?"

After recognizing the source of the Communication Magic Crystal, Old Suo ordered his men to wait in the air, while he himself embraced the Magic Crystal and disappeared into the sea.

After confirming that the surrounding area was safe, Old Suo activated the Magic Crystal.

"What's going on with you? Why did it take you so long to answer my call?"

"I was just leading my men on a mission, so I couldn't answer your call right away. By the way, what did you need me for?"

"Just now, I received news that Kelsu has successfully turned a dragon named Xizhalansa in Dragunov to the side, and they are preparing to launch a surprise attack on Peterburg City tonight!"

"What? Xizhalansa has betrayed us?"

"That's right!"

"Okay! I understand, thank you!"

"Hmph! No need to thank me, just remember our agreement!"

"Don't worry! I won't forget!"

"That's good! Now that you know the news, I won't chat with you any longer!"

"Alright, goodbye!"

After ending the call, the fire Great Captain swam towards the sea while Mind Talk instructing his subordinates to cancel the search and rescue operation and to assemble urgently.

When Old Suo emerged from the sea, Yelibell, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately came to greet him.

"Brother Sordil, what exactly happened? Why did you ask us to cancel the search and rescue mission?"

"Sister Yelibell, I know you have many questions, but we don't have much time left. So please keep these questions to yourself for now, and I'll answer them for you one by one when we get to our destination. Okay?"

"Good!"

After calming Yelibell down, Old Suo immediately began Teleportation Array in preparation for his return.