Enemy Attack

Joe nodded solemnly, thanked him, took the vial, uncorked it, and drank the pale blue liquid in one gulp.

A cool sensation surged into his throat, then traveled down his esophagus, like sweet rain falling on parched land, nourishing his lungs.

Joe couldn't help but make two "heh heh" sounds as his throat tickled, then coughed up a mouthful of phlegm.

The next second, he was surprised to find that his breathing, which had been becoming increasingly difficult, was now surprisingly smooth.

"This..." Joe was stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly looked up at Emlyn:

"Father White, this is absolutely amazing!"

"I swear I've never heard of such an effective medicine!"

"That's because you haven't seen enough." Emlyn straightened up, slightly raising his chin. "It's just a common potion I concocted."

"But that's not the case for me," Joe said with a smile. "Thank you, Father White, I will seriously consider your suggestion."

As he spoke, he took his wallet out of his pocket and unzipped it.

Emlyn glanced down at the stacks of banknotes being pulled out, suppressing his excitement, and looked away with difficulty. "The potion is free." Joe continued his work, a smile appearing on his lips.

"I know.

"But this isn't for buying medicine; it's a donation I made to the church, and I hope you can use it to help more people."

As he spoke, he rolled up the stack of banknotes, totaling one hundred pounds, quickly walked to the donation box, and stuffed them in through the entrance.

Having done all this, he turned to the two priests in brown Cleric's Robe and assumed the prayer gesture he had just learned during the sermon:

"Praise to the Mother Goddess."

Emlyn remained silent for a few seconds, then glanced at Bishop Utravsky, and together they crossed their arms, mimicking the gesture of cradling a baby.

"Praise the Mother Goddess!"

The two watched silently as the donor's figure disappeared.

Emlyn sighed:

"How generous! He must have slipped in at least a hundred pounds."

Bishop Utravsky glanced down at the Vampire and said gently, "This shows he has grasped the teachings of the Mother Goddess and begun to understand the preciousness of life." He paused, then added:

"With this donation, we can treat more patients."

I will turn them into herbs as soon as possible.

Bishop Utravsky doesn't make potions... which means I'll have to do this myself... Emlyn imagined a mountain of herbs, and his lips twitched slightly.

He suddenly realized that sometimes being too generous with donations isn't a good thing.

After leaving Harvest Church, Joe took Hired Carriage back to the Face Mask Factory and headed to the East Borough, accompanied by two strong male porters.

Pushing open the bar door, he took a few steps forward and looked around, finding it unsurprisingly deserted with only a handful of customers.

Behind the bar, the bartender, yawning and lazily wiping Bartender with a cloth, looked up, realized the other person had no intention of coming over, and quickly lowered his head again, continuing to kill time idly.

"Wait for me at the door," Joe said to the two porters, then strode towards the booth area and stopped in front of a middle-aged man who was lying on his side taking a nap.

--This was something he had found out through a middleman with a very good reputation and a strong network of connections. He had previously asked the middleman for help in recruiting bodyguards willing to go to the Southern Continent by sea.

The middle-aged man, who frequented the East Borough, was clearly very alert. Hearing footsteps approaching, he immediately opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. Seeing who it was, he breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"It's you..." Perfect timing, your request has made progress.

"And it's a progress you can't even imagine." He smiled, gesturing for the Client to come closer, and lowered his voice:

Have you ever heard of Beyonder?

"Those who possess supernatural powers."

Qiao paused for a moment, then nodded happily, before asking in confusion:

"The reward I offered... could it entice Beyonder?"

He used to travel between the Northern Continent for business. Although he wasn't extravagant enough to hire Beyonder as bodyguards, he had heard some rumors about them.

At least I know that most Beyonder are far more capable than ordinary bodyguards.

Of course, the compensation required is also much higher.

His financial situation wasn't very good, so he didn't make any further demands.

The middle-aged man scoffed. "Of course not enough."

"However, his situation is rather special. He happens to be planning to develop his career in the Southern Continent and doesn't mind taking the opportunity to earn some extra money."

Therefore, the requested compensation is not too high.

"My suggestion is that you reduce the number of regular bodyguards and use that money to hire this Beyonder."

Reducing the number of ordinary bodyguards and hiring Beyonder... but what if the other party harbors malicious intentions...? Joe hesitated, unsure of what to do.

The middle-aged man seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and chuckled:

"If you're not comfortable with that, you can pay a reasonable fee to sign a contract with me—a supernatural contract."

"In that case, there's no need to worry about unexpected events happening."

"The price is not high, only 50 pounds."

A supernatural contract... 50 pounds... Joe took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I'd like to consider it and get back to you within two days."

The middle-aged man shrugged and smiled, "Of course."

"However, you'd better make a decision as soon as possible. With the reward you've offered, it's unlikely to sway Beyonder of Tego's strength under normal circumstances. He might soon be snatched away by someone else."

"Tego?" Joe realized, "The Beyonder you're talking about?"

As the middle-aged man pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, he casually remarked, "He said his name is Tego, but who knows if it's true or not?"

For these people, a name is really just a label.

"Alright, let's get down to business—this is a list of bodyguards willing to go to the Southern Continent who are skilled in shooting and hand-to-hand combat. You also need to give a reply as soon as possible."

Joe took the list and nodded slightly.

"Clear.

I'll tell you the results within two days.

Norgar Island, an unnamed Inn.

Night fell, and the Crimson Moon rose slowly.

After a long day of running around with Danitz as Archaeologist, even someone as physically fit as Lorry couldn't help but feel a little tired. After dinner, he planned to go back to his room for a relaxing bath and sort out the day's findings. Just as he was waiting for the water to heat up, his Spirituality intuition suddenly kicked in.

He looked up abruptly and saw a burst of starlight shoot out from the void, quickly transforming into points of light before his eyes, followed by the clear, cold voice of "Vice Admiral Iceberg":

"Orpheus ' group was attacked; the number of attackers is unknown. They have temporarily escaped the enemy but are still being pursued."