Chapter 193: Interrogation

“Hehe, mainly it’s because the Goblin Mines are power ful. They hadn’t seen them before, so they suffered a big loss!” Old Xie said with a smile: “It’s just a pity that landmines are too hard to make. The main raw material actually has to be imported from Dwarves. Next time I have a chance, I’ll trade with them directly. No more getting it from that old guy. It’s not only troublesome but also a waste of effort.”

“Yes, we are so close to the Dwarves here, it would be faster to import directly from the Kingdom of Dwarves.” Lan Fake also nodded and said: “By the way, what do you plan to do with that Siren? Hand her over to the Elves or send her back yourself?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Old Xie said helplessly: “She has a deep hatred for the Elves. She would rather die than be saved by Sun Elves.”

“But she has to pass through the Elves’ territory on the way home. Even if she is unwilling, she will definitely be received by them, right?” Lan Fake said with a smile.

“I know, but there’s no way around it. That little girl is stubborn. We can only see if there’s a chance to send her back by sea later!” Old Xie shrugged helplessly.

“Hehe, but what surprised me the most about this incident is still your damn luck!” Lan Fake then said with a bitter smile: “Who would have thought those bastards would dare to smuggle Sirens? In this way, your robbery this time not only has no trouble at all, but will also make a huge profit. It’s really a bargain. If I had known this earlier, I would definitely have been the first to strike!”

“Haha!” Old Xie also couldn’t help laughing: “Actually, I didn’t expect it either. I was just curious why there was the sound of water in that carriage, so I quietly went to check. I didn’t expect to be discovered by them. Resulting in this conflict. Luckily I made preparations in advance. Otherwise, if we started a war with these guys in a hurry, we would definitely have suffered a big loss!”

“So, you kid have good luck!” Lan Fake then said with a smile.

“Hehe, my luck is always good!” Old Xie said proudly.

Just then, Pars suddenly walked in and said to Old Xie: “Master, the captives and their goods have been packed up. Our people are just left to clean the battlefield.”

“Very good!” Old Xie suddenly asked, “What goods are they carrying?”

“They are all very valuable magic materials, specialty products of the Empire of Light. Obviously, they intend to sell them to the Dwarves, for the use of the Dwarves’ Master Smiths.” Pars immediately said excitedly, “Master, don’t be fooled by the fact that there are only a few carriages; they are worth a lot of money. According to my preliminary estimate, the value is no less than 200,000 Gold Coins!”

Pars was a Mage after all, and he was also proficient in Alchemy, so he was definitely an expert in this field. Since he said so, it certainly couldn’t be wrong. Hearing that he had made another fortune, Old Xie’s mood became even better. He then immediately ordered, “Excellent, take all the things and keep them safe for me, don’t damage them!”

“Yes, you can rest assured!” Pars hurriedly nodded. Then, seeing that Old Xie was in a good mood, he cautiously said, “Master, there are some materials inside that are needed for me to refine Number Four, and there are others I have wanted for a long time but could never afford. You see~”

Old Xie was extremely generous to his subordinates, so he directly waved his hand and said, “Go take them yourself!”

“Thank you, Master!” Pars was immediately incredibly moved when he heard this. You have to know, even with his original master, Pars had never received such good treatment.

Although Old Xie had captured him and forced him to become a slave, Old Xie really treated him well. Even though he was forced to manufacture Number Four day and night, whenever Pars had free time and wanted to do some of his own experiments, Old Xie never asked him what materials he needed, nor did he care how much was required; almost all of it could be satisfied. Although Pars knew that Old Xie was using the Old Mage’s things to supply him, he was still incredibly grateful. Because he knew that with so many valuable things, the reason the Old Mage was willing to give them to him was definitely due to Old Xie playing a huge role in it.

Furthermore, today, Old Xie didn’t even ask, just letting Pars choose those precious materials on his own. In fact, despite bearing the name of a slave, he was basically the steward of Old Xie’s Castle. In terms of status and treatment, Old Xie had never treated him unfairly, at least countless times better than his previous master. Having such a generous master who trusted him, Pars considered himself very content.

Old Xie didn’t pay attention to Pars’s gratitude; he just turned around and sat on a large chair, then ordered, “Alright, now bring that old guy here. I want to ask him what exactly is going on!”

“Yes!” Pars hurriedly agreed, then turned and went out. Not long after, Pars and the Cyclops King Shalas came in together. Shalas was carrying that old guy who was bundled up like a dumpling by spider webs. After entering, he directly threw the old guy onto the ground.

The old man had originally been scared into a coma by the Demon Explosive Spider, but being thrown like this, he woke up again. Then he looked around and immediately realized his situation was not good.

However, this guy was obviously a person of high status. After realizing his situation was bad, he didn’t panic. Instead, he took the initiative to speak first with a smile, “Your Excellency, you were able to defeat all of us without a scratch. Although we are opponents, I have to say, you are amazing!”

“Thanks for the compliment!” Old Xie said indifferently, “But saying that is useless. Let’s talk about something serious.”

“Very well!” The old man smiled slightly and said, “Then where should we start?”

“Let’s start with your identity?” Old Xie said with a smile, “Looking at your bearing and behavior, your background seems extraordinary! Judging by your strength, you should at least be a Vice-Bishop, right?”

“Hehe, sorry, you underestimated me!” The old man suddenly said proudly, “I am a Superintendent Bishop!”

When Old Xie heard this, he was slightly surprised. He finally understood that he had indeed underestimated the other party. You have to know, in the Empire of Light, the country was completely ruled by the Church. The country was divided into twelve provinces, and the chief official of each province was called the Cardinal. Under them were four Superintendent Bishops, who respectively managed religious affairs, finance, military, and general administration. Below them, the person in charge of each region was the Archbishop, and the Archbishop’s deputy was the Vice-Bishop.

Although the Archbishop and the Superintendent Bishop were only one level apart, there was a fundamental difference. You have to know, there were only four Superintendent Bishops in each province, but there were at least dozens of Archbishops. As for Vice-Bishops, there were at least hundreds in a province.

In other words, a Vice-Bishop was just an official in charge of a small area, but a Superintendent Bishop was a big shot who held real power in a province. Obviously, Old Xie had far underestimated the old man’s status. However, although the old man’s status was high enough, it couldn’t scare Old Xie. After all, Old Xie was a madman who didn’t even take the Emperor seriously. So after hearing the old man’s status, he didn’t show any shock. He just gave a faint grunt and continued to ask, “Then what is your name? Where do you serve?”

“Cough, cough!” The old man saw that Old Xie didn’t seem to be scared by his status, so he awkwardly coughed twice. Then, avoiding Old Xie’s question, he said, “Your Excellency, I don’t think knowing my identity does you any good. It might even bring you unnecessary trouble. In fact, I have a proposal here that is very good for both of us. I wonder if you are interested?”

Old Xie certainly wasn’t interested in this, because he could completely guess what the other party wanted to do; it was nothing more than bribing him. But Old Xie didn’t directly refuse, because he wanted to know where the other party’s bottom line was, so he could roughly infer the power and energy of the people behind them based on that. So he pretended to be interested and said, “Okay, let’s hear it!”

“Very simple. You let me go, and hand that Siren over to us, and guarantee that you absolutely won’t leak this matter! Then~” The old man said with a smile, “I am willing to pay you 100,000 Gold Coins as a reward! Your Excellency, even if you secretly sell this Siren, or return her to the Elves, they definitely wouldn’t give you such a generous reward, right?”

Giving 100,000 right away, even Old Xie, who had seen big money, couldn’t help but be slightly surprised. But he immediately asked another question, “Then what about that batch of goods?”

“Hehe, of course they all belong to Your Excellency!” The old man said nonchalantly. It was as if what he was giving away was not 200,000 Gold Coins worth of goods, but a pile of rubbish. The old man was so generous that even Old Xie and Lan Fake were somewhat moved.

Lan Fake couldn’t help but interject from the side, “My goodness, really rich. Adding it up, that’s 300,000 Gold Coins. You’re not playing us, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” The old man immediately said solemnly, “You must know how serious the crime of smuggling a Siren is. Once it’s exposed, not only will our families be executed, but the masters behind us won’t escape either. This is a big matter concerning thousands of heads. Would I dare to play you?”

Old Xie and Lan Fake looked at each other, and both saw the shock at this news in each other’s eyes. Obviously, from the old man’s tone, it was clearly stated that this was an extremely huge conspiracy, and the level of the participants must be quite high, otherwise so many people wouldn’t be involved!

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn’t dare to continue asking, for fear of inviting a fatal disaster. But Old Xie was not afraid of trouble. Not only was he not scared by this news, but it instead aroused his strong curiosity. He directly continued to ask, “How big of a disaster have you guys caused? A Siren shouldn’t be enough to cost thousands of heads, right?”