Lancelot Is Back

For a month-an entire month-Zhang Yao cultivated in his inn room without setting foot outside. Though it was dull and tedious, the gains were astonishing.

Zhang Yao's true qi had now reached 500. Both of his skills had also reached their limit-level 3. What delighted him most was that advancing Basic Battle Aura to levels 2 and 3 had each unexpectedly granted him an additional point of constitution.

"Character attributes."

Zhang Yao: Level 7, 1100/6000.

Attributes: Strength 17 (+1), agility 17 (+3), constitution 23 (+1), spirit 18.

Health (red bar): 290 (health = constitution × 10; each level gained increases health by 10 points).

True qi (blue bar): 502 (leveling up does not increase true qi).

Skills: Fetal Breath Technique (self-developed), Concealment Technique level 3, Basic Battle Aura (mutated) level 3.

Items: Gemstone Ring, Sharp Water Ghost Dagger, Sturdy Water Ghost Leather Armor, Concealment Technique, Gems × 8, Bewitching Siren Boots, Spyglass, Basic Battle Aura, damaged nautical chart, Bounty Hunter Badge.

Money: 1 Purple Crystal Coin, 19 gold coins, 90 silver coins.

Talent: Nine Netherworlds (first layer).

Concealment Technique: Rank D support skill, a beginner thief skill that conceals the user's form in shadows. Level 3, --/--. Special effects: Uses shadows to conceal the user's form, consuming 1 true qi every 3 seconds. Movement speed decreases by 80% while concealed. Attacking cancels the skill. Cannot be used in illuminated areas. Cooldown: 180 seconds.

Basic Battle Aura (mutated): Rank D combat skill, a beginner skill for warrior classes that increases combat ability and improves physical fitness to a certain extent. Has undergone some mutation after merging with the user's own true qi. Level 3, --/--. Special effects: Channeling battle aura during combat increases strength by 30%, agility by 30%, and overall defense by 30%. Consumes 1 true qi every 2 seconds. No cooldown.

Whenever Zhang Yao looked at the fruits of his cultivation, pride would swell in his heart.

While Zhang Yao spent a month cultivating without leaving the inn, Luo De had not been idle either. At first, Luo De had planned to keep Zhang Yao company at the inn, but once Zhang Yao entered his cultivation state, he shut his ears to everything outside the window and paid no attention to anything. Afraid of disturbing Zhang Yao's cultivation, Luo De could not even make a sound, so all he could do was stare blankly at him.

Two days. After staying with Zhang Yao in the inn for two days, Luo De simply could not take it anymore. After breakfast on the third day, he told Zhang Yao he was heading out and went for a stroll to relieve his boredom.

And so one cultivated while the other wandered outside. Zhang Yao made progress in his cultivation every day, and Luo De's daily outings were not wasted either. Over dinner each evening, Luo De shared the information he had gathered that day with Zhang Yao.

I've been in Rodos for a month already. Time really flies! New Year is almost here back home. Looks like I'll have to make a trip back! Zhang Yao glanced out the window at the sun sinking beyond the western hills and silently mused.

After a Chosen One entered Rodos World, the time they experienced there remained synchronized with time in their original world. In other words, if they spent a day in Rodos, a day would also pass in their original world. However, Chosen Ones did not need to worry about the inconvenience caused by their prolonged absence, because the rules of Rodos would find all sorts of reasons to plausibly explain it. When a Chosen One left Rodos World and returned to their own world, time still passed at the same rate. The only difference was that they had to find their own excuse for their disappearance.

Hmm, judging by the time, Luo De should be back soon! At dinner, I'll tell him I'm going into secluded cultivation and will disappear for a few days. Zhang Yao had already settled on an excuse for his upcoming absence.

Bang! The door was flung open. There was no need to ask who it was-it had to be Luo De.

Luo De rushed in, grabbed the water on the table, and poured it into his mouth. After taking a couple of great gulps of air, he finally said, "Whew, whew... Zhang Yao, Lancelot's back!"

"Really?" Zhang Yao stood up as soon as he heard this.

"Yes! I saw Lancelot's Sea King-class warship dock with my own eyes!" Luo De answered firmly.

Warships in Rodos World were divided into four classes, from lowest to highest: Sea Soul, Sea King, Sea Sovereign, and Sea Emperor. Doreze's Nightglow and Wells's Freedom, for example, were both Sea Soul-class ships.

"He's finally back! Andal Harbor is going to be in turmoil for a while now!" Zhang Yao murmured, rubbing his chin. He was no longer as ignorant as he had been when he first arrived in Andal. Through his nightly conversations with Luo De after dinner over the past month, he had gained a fairly thorough understanding of the situation there.

Andal Harbor was the largest port under the Dora Merchant Alliance's administration. The Dora Merchant Alliance was a commercial alliance formed by several major merchant associations and countless individual merchants. Together with two other merchant alliances, Parak and Kaidi, it formed the Free Alliance. Compared with other duchies and empires, the Free Alliance was undoubtedly free, without nearly as much cumbersome red tape. Yet that freedom also came at the cost of many other things, such as the dignity of a ruler.

Perhaps they had enjoyed that freedom for too long. Certain people had forgotten that the place they lived belonged to the Dora Merchant Alliance and had unconsciously marked it out as their own territory. The Ironblood Brotherhood of Andal Harbor was one such example.

The Ironblood Brotherhood had an impressive name, but it was nothing more than a criminal organization made up of local thugs and rogues, along with a few wandering warriors. Every place had gangs of this sort lurking in the shadows, so the Dora Merchant Alliance's administrators in Andal had turned a blind eye to them. Who could have expected the Ironblood Brotherhood to mistake the Dora Merchant Alliance's tolerance for fear? As a result, the brotherhood began growing ever more brazen.

At first, they merely fought other gangs over territory. Later, they began openly seizing the shops of Andal Harbor's many merchants. The Dora Merchant Alliance itself was an administrative system made up of merchant associations and numerous merchants, and Andal Harbor was the largest port under its rule. Even senior members of the Free Alliance owned shops there! The Ironblood Brotherhood's seizures immediately inflicted losses on many people within the Free Alliance, but more important than the material losses was the damage to its reputation. Numerous merchants began to question whether the Free Alliance could guarantee their personal safety and protect their property.

Now the people of the Free Alliance could no longer sit still. Those merchants were the very foundation of their power! They immediately ordered the Dora Merchant Alliance's official in charge of Andal Harbor to dispatch the Public Security Force to crush the Ironblood Brotherhood!

The outcome, however, caught everyone by surprise. A group of experts suddenly emerged within the Ironblood Brotherhood. With their help, the gang not only avoided destruction but battered the Public Security Force until it could not fight back at all. Had Andal Harbor's garrison not intervened in time, the Public Security Force would probably have been wiped out instead. Most surprising of all, even after the army stepped in, it could only fight the Ironblood Brotherhood to a draw.