Chapter 71
Cough cough, I shook my head. Although Reynold is no longer in mortal danger, I shouldn't be calculating against him like that! After all, he's still being tortured by the kidnappers.
"If we don't see Federation currency..."
As the kidnapper spoke, he flicked his wrist, and the knife in his hand slashed through Reynold's clothes, leaving a bloody gash on his pale chest. Reynold struggled violently, making whimpering sounds just like before. However, it was clear that this time Reynold was trying to control himself. His nose was red from the pain, and he was breathing heavily through his nostrils, but his body was still trembling, and the locks rattled as he pulled on them.
"We're patient enough, so we're not setting a time limit," the kidnapper said. "However, we'll be live-streaming the dismemberment of the Speaker every day, and this time there won't be any kind souls treating him. So, how many days do you think it will take before the Speaker can't hold on?"
As he spoke, he pulled open Reynold's clothes and began to fully display the still-bleeding wound.
"Because His Majesty the Dragon Emperor's status is far more noble, he will be addressed after the Speaker. In the meantime, everyone in the Holy Dragon can consider how much their own emperor is worth. It would be better to just send him over directly, then we wouldn't have to go through all that trouble!"
After that, the signal was cut off.
The clear trail of blood still seemed to linger in our vision.
This made our relaxed mood heavy again— Reynold is so weak, if he's really slashed to pieces, can he even hold on until we come to rescue him? He's not me, I can withstand thirteen curses and kill my teacher, he... he fainted from fright when he saw my teacher, how can we compare?
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in my video. Lady Crow Angela pushed aside the dignified Madam Christine and shouted at me, "Master Field, hurry and rescue poor little Reynold... Speaker Reynold! The entire ransom of one hundred million will be yours as a reward!"
"Deal!" I answered quickly.
Hmm... I think I heard the sound of something heavy falling over from the other end of the video, and... who's shouting... "spendthrift woman"? That's some really vulgar language!
Mel quickly covered Ruiduo's ears.
Chapter 71
We didn't get much information from this call, but we were told that the kidnapping case had caused a huge uproar online. Reynold alone was fine, as the reaction was only intense within the Federation. But the Dragon Queen Agnes was a world-renowned movie star with fans all over the world (Moli said she was actually just a popular young actress, but she had powerful connections, so international film festivals had to give her the Best Actress title to prevent evil dragons from knocking on their door in the middle of the night). The news of her being kidnapped was truly extraordinary.
Moli read the online comments to us word by word, with great expression:
"Those heartless kidnappers actually locked my sister Ai in a cage! How awful! I wish I could be a kidnapper! (Just kidding, I hope my sister Ai is safe!)"
"My sister Ai works so hard in her acting, and yet she has to suffer this kind of undeserved misfortune. It breaks my heart!"
"We hope the Grand National Defense Coalition can rescue Sister Ai quickly!!!"
"Grand National Defense Coalition? It's not like Magic Creature are launching a massive invasion of the main plane. How could any country possibly organize Grand National Defense Coalition? The person upstairs is obsessed with celebrities!"
"Supporting Agnes's new film # Transmigrated into a Beautiful Princess Adored by All #, her new work # Love on a Dragon's Back # airs every night at 8 PM on major TV stations. Follow 'Demonic Dragon Video Website' to watch the first two episodes! Send a donation to pray for Actress Agnes! The novel adaptation of the same name will be serialized on Jinjiang Literature City!"
After reading it aloud, Moli clicked her tongue and said, "Oh dear, this kind of story would probably flop on Jinjiang City!"
... Is that the website where you and Anna wrote pornographic content?
I silently blocked Moli's screen... Kid, are you looking at the entertainment section?
After I asked, Moli nodded. It really was the entertainment section. But she said it wasn't her fault because only the entertainment section was paying close attention to the Dragon Emperor. Then she showed me the current affairs news section...
"The world's most powerful and mysterious dark mage, 'Flame of Fury,' has reappeared and will represent the Federation to rescue Speaker Reynold!"
Will the return of the legendary dark mage bring a new wave of Black Magic fever?
"The 'Flame of Fury,' whose true form is unknown, is suspected of being secretly supported by the Federation and is quite valuable!"
That's ridiculously wrong! I only earn three thousand yuan a month!
Aside from the various entertainment news accounts, all the other serious news outlets were flooded with this topic. The kidnapping of the Dragon Emperor was only briefly mentioned, and one relatively influential media outlet even published an article questioning—"Who exactly is the mysterious Black Mage? Why has no one known for so many years?"—which startled me so much that I quickly grabbed my phone and read it from beginning to end. Thankfully, my real name didn't appear, which relieved me a bit. The entire report was about my possible identities, but none of them were correct.
Another theory, a guess, is that I might be the same person as Mel!
... If we weren't actually two people, his analysis would be quite insightful.
I really didn't expect that my popularity would actually surpass that of the Dragon Emperor and the Speaker combined? This... this puts a lot of pressure on me!
After packing our things and temporarily entrusting Ruiduo to the care of the dragon manager, we boarded the "Dragon Ship" and prepared to head to Kojinier City —a bustling city located on the border between the Holy Dragon Empire and the Duchy of Leo, where the tracking signal on Reynold disappeared.
This was my first time riding on a dragon boat, a unique mode of transportation in the Holy Dragon Empire, much like the magical teleportation devices commonly used in our Federation. The price wasn't high, the only problem being that first-time travelers often misinterpreted the name and eagerly anticipated seeing dragons—but in reality, it wasn't pulled by dragons. The proud dragon race wouldn't be used as a means of transportation. It's called a dragon boat because the elder dragons of the Holy Dragon Empire developed a magic array. They imitated the principle of dragons using Magic Power to ascend into the air (I learned this in biology class; dragons appear to fly by flapping their wings, but their bodies are so enormous that wings alone cannot achieve flight; their primary power for flight is their innate Magic Power). The magic array's power came from the dragons themselves...
It's dragon feces. It's said that feces burn most efficiently when someone is constipated, but I don't know if that's just a rumor.
Therefore, it is unavoidable that the Holy Dragon Empire needs to import large quantities of fragrances from the Elven race every year to mask the indescribable smell of burning dragon dung, after all, this is a public transportation vehicle, not a mobile biological weapon.
The dragon boat is faster than the Federation's airships, and the aerial scenery is unique; you can enjoy it during this time.
... Hopefully, the beautiful scenery along the way will make me forget the burning excrement in the engine room beneath my feet.
Fortunately, the Elven perfume was truly remarkable. Once on the dragon boat, I leaned against Mel and dozed off. Long journeys like this always made me sleepy. Meanwhile, the two apprentices were excitedly whispering to each other on their phones—because there was Wi-Fi on the dragon boat.
... So sleepy...
What's wrong with me? I get sleepy as soon as I sit in modern transportation...
I rolled over, Mel simply let me lie on his lap. Although it wasn't as comfortable as a bed, it was still better for my neck than sleeping sitting up... He stroked my hair and gently caressed my lips. I closed my eyes and kissed his fingertips, but I was too sleepy and soon drifted off to sleep...
I think I heard Moli and the others talking about something weird, and their tone... um, they were saying, "What's so cute?"
Sheep?
Rumble--
Startled by the sudden loud noise, I sat up reflexively, only to have my forehead collide with Mel's chin with a thud.
"Mel! Did you hurt yourself?"
"Xipei, how are you? I was asleep and didn't notice..."
We said it at the same time.
His hand covered my forehead, and my hand touched his chin. The position was extremely awkward. Then we looked at each other and laughed, both of us blushing. We had been startled awake from our sleep and hadn't paid attention to our position, so we bumped into each other.