Chapter 389 Storm (3)

As soon as Ciel's words came out, Winters instantly entered a spell-casting state.

But Kaman was faster than Winters. He jumped to the side of Ciel's horse with lightning speed and dragged the white-haired man off the horse.

The white-haired man fell heavily to the ground and let out a miserable howl. Kaman grabbed the white-haired man by the throat and pinned him to the ground.

Winters thought Kaman would kill him without mercy. However, after a few seconds, Kaman let go of his hand, stood up, and walked to where he was originally standing. The white-haired man struggled desperately and twitched on the ground, obviously still alive.

As he passed Winters, Carman said coldly: "He's not."

Winters nodded: "Untie him."

The ropes on the white-haired man's hands and feet were cut one by one, and the black cloth covering the white-haired man's eyes was also removed.

The dancing firelight pierced his pupils, and the white-haired man who had been trapped in the darkness for too long subconsciously closed his eyes. Soldiers with bright armor, tall and strong horses, and bright doors and windows flashed past.

Someone grabbed the white-haired man's shoulders and lifted him up, but the white-haired man himself couldn't stand and fell down softly.

Not far away, a drake voice spoke: "...Four carriages were parked by the roadside. I heard someone knocking on something... There were no marks or coats of arms on the carriages, only long and short muskets. And this guy... he was the one who led me over by banging his head on the car door..."

"Take a few more people over and drive all the carriages back."

"yes."

Feeling that he had adapted to the light, the white-haired man covered his forehead and carefully peeked through his fingers to look around. When he raised his head, he was met with a pair of dark eyes that reflected the firelight.

The white-haired man peered around, and Winters was also observing the white-haired man.

When an ordinary person is kidnapped, even an adult man will show some panic. The tall, thin, white-haired boy in front of him seemed to have quickly adapted to the situation. He pretended to be weak and weak, but in fact, his eyes were wandering around and looking around, giving off a sense of restlessness.

Winters likes clever people, but he hates cunning guys, and cleverness and cunning are often only separated by a pound of conscience.

The white-haired man was still wondering what lie he was telling, when he suddenly heard a chuckle.

"Ha." Winters patted Changfeng gently and patiently comforted the impatient war horse. He looked at the white-haired man and said, "I have seen this man before."

Charles was shocked: "Have you seen it?"

"He is a waiter at the hotel. He showed up once when he first arrived at Steel Castle." Winters narrowed his eyes: "Catch the hotel foreman."

…

The foreman of the hotel was caught in the courtyard without any explanation. He was about to curse a few words when he saw his nephew slumped in front of the horse. He turned around and saw human corpses filling the empty space.

The graceful foreman could no longer utter a complete sentence. His face turned green and white, and his lips kept trembling.

After standing there for a long time, the foreman stepped forward, grabbed his nephew's collar, and gave his nephew two loud slaps in the face.

The white-haired man, a boy named Roger, pursed his bloody lips and remained silent, his cheeks swollen.

After slapping him twice, the foreman stood for a while, then rounded his arms and slapped his nephew again as if he was angry. When he was about to slap the fourth time, he couldn't do it no matter what.

Finally, the foreman let go of his nephew, straightened his messed up hair and clothes, walked up to Wintersma, and saluted respectfully: "Are you going out? Your Excellency."

"You don't want to ask me why I arrested you." Winters stopped pretending to be an imperial noble and asked the foreman in Common Mandarin with a smile: "I want to ask you if I want to go out. It's interesting."

"It's not a skill to tell you everything you know." The foreman said without changing his expression, "It's a skill to be able to help you."

Winters passed the foreman and asked the white-haired man directly: "Green eyes, blond hair, do you have any impression?"

Two eyes were cast on the white-haired man, one from Winters and the other from the hotel head waiter.

Roger the Whitehead nodded reluctantly.

"What's that man's name?"

"have no idea."

"Go over and look at them one by one, and then tell me if there is anyone you know on the body."

Charles and another guard held the white-headed Roger and asked him to identify the corpses one by one.

Roger Baldhead was just a news dealer at the bottom of the steel castle. He had never seen such a scene with corpses everywhere. When he was brought back, his face turned pale with fright and his knees couldn't stop shaking.

"Do you know anyone?"

"No." The white-headed Roger swallowed his saliva, only to feel his hands and feet were cold, and his chest was filled with a deep chill: "I don't know them, and this is the first time I've met that green-eyed man. I only know a man with a black face, and I sold information to them. He is the one who tied me up."

"Meet you?" Winters raised his eyebrows.

Roger seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and nodded vigorously: "Mrs. Balboa asked me to deliver a message to Mr. Lucner. When I came out of Mr. Lucner's house, I saw a black face and green eyes together. Black face couldn't help but say I was knocked unconscious, and when I saw something again I was already here! Sir, I really don’t know anything!”

Winters found that this white-haired guy was a bit quick-witted. Although he was extremely scared when he saw the corpse, his speech became more fluent and coherent.

"Where did you meet those green eyes?" Winters moved his wrist.

"North City, Manner Street."

Winters stabbed the horse lightly in the ribs, urging Changfeng to walk out of the courtyard, pointing at Roger the White Head: "Take him with you too."

"Sir! Please..." The hotel foreman was shocked and hurriedly stopped in front of Winters' horse, reaching out to grab Changfeng's reins.

Changfeng had a violent temper and would get kicked by strangers who approached him carelessly. How could he let an old man of half a hundred years hold the rein? Seeing someone who dared to reach out to him, Changfeng immediately bit him down hard.

Fortunately, Winters had quick hands and quick eyes. He tightened the reins and grabbed Changfeng hard.

The hotel manager dodged in a panic, narrowly avoiding the two rows of front teeth. However, he just recovered and immediately rushed to Winters' horse again.

The hotel foreman asked anxiously and hesitantly: "Sir, are you going to Beicheng?"

Winters tilted his head and looked at the hotel manager without saying a word, waiting for the latter to take the initiative to speak.

"You can't get through the Old City!" The hotel foreman calmed down and told everything he knew: "Sheriff Dutton has sealed the road! All the 'free men' in the South City are rushing to Republic Street! Sheriff Dutton We must keep the mob out of Nancheng and prevent the mob from coming in to rob and set fire. You will not be able to get through!"

Winters was not moved, but still restrained Changfeng: "I want to go out, not go in."

"Even if you can pass through Republic Street, can you pass through the Old City? Who knows what the old city is like now? Even if you can pass through the Old City safely, how much time will it take to go around the Rose Lake in a big circle?" The hotel foreman gritted his teeth and said, "I have a way to get you to Beicheng faster, but... I just have to take some risks."

…

Fuller had a brief but wonderful dream:

In the dream, the embargo was overturned, and his ordnance business made a lot of money. But he did not stop there, but continued to expand and annex those small workshops.

Three years passed by in vain, and he suddenly became the largest workshop owner in Steel Castle. Whether it was Paul Wooper or John Servetus, everyone had to look up to him and look up to him.

besides! And that Baron Granach! The ordnance business of Steel Castle is all in his own hands. Whatever price he sets, Baron Granasi will have to buy it at that price!

Haha, isn’t he just a baron? I can do it too!

Wait, Baron...

Fuller suddenly woke up and looked around in shock.

There was no mansion, fragrant bed, or luxurious food and clothing. He was sitting in a carriage. The carriage drove over the stone pavement and made a rattling sound - like the sound of counting gold and silver coins.

There was a beauty, and she was extremely beautiful, but Fuller did not dare to think of any blasphemy.

"Are you awake, Mr. Fuller?" the beauty asked softly, "Do you feel any discomfort?"

Fuller stood up suddenly, but hit the roof of the car hard. Ignoring the pain, he twisted his body and bent down in a funny posture to salute: "Mrs."

"You should have noticed." Anna smiled and stretched out her hand: "I am not a baroness, you can just call me... Anna."

Fuller kept wiping his sweat: "I don't dare, I don't dare."

Anna asked with concern: "Are you feeling uncomfortable now?"

Only then did Fuller remember that he had been begging the baron to take him with him a moment ago, so how could he be in the carriage when he woke up?

"My head hurts a little." Fuller rubbed the back of his head, recalling the wonderful dream, and said with some embarrassment: "But to talk about other things, hey, I also feel a lot more relaxed..."

Ana smiled and nodded: "That's good."

"Madam, where are we going?"

"The hotel accommodation is no longer safe. Mr. Covilhã will take us to a safer, more secluded location."

"Oh... Oops!" Fuller was startled and exclaimed: "Baron!"

"You don't have to worry." Anna knew clearly what Fuller was thinking, and she comforted the latter: "Mr. Granach asked me to tell you that he will ask Mr. Schmid to take your family to the Schmid Mansion. Mr. Schmid takes care of it.”

Fuller listened silently, his eyes a little red for some reason, and he smiled bitterly: "I thought the Baron would simply let me go... Anyway, I have no value..."

"Actually." Anna let out an imperceptible sigh and said sadly, "Mr. Granasi is a very gentle person."

Fuller thought for a moment and couldn't connect the murderous Baron with the word gentle, but he still smiled along with him: "Yes, yes... Where is the Baron now?"

"He." Anna turned her head slightly and looked out the car window to prevent Fuller from seeing the emotion in her eyes: "He did what he thought he had to do."

…

Like muskets blowing out gunpowder smoke, two huge wolfhounds breathed out hot and humid white mist, spread out their four paws, and galloped selflessly on the surface of the icy lake.

The front half of the wolfdog was tied with a harness, and a rope extended from the harness, which was connected to an ice sled that had been dismantled to its skeleton.

Winters, who was only wearing single clothes, crouched on the small ice sled, struggling to maintain his balance.

Behind the ice sled where Winters was, there was another ice sled tied with hemp ropes. The ice sled behind was not occupied by people, but carried Winters' full set of armor weapons.

Winters' left hand was still wrapped with two ropes. The two ropes in his hands extended behind him, into the night, and were connected to Changfeng and the reins of another black horse with a white nose.

Two horses followed Winters twenty meters away, running with the sled.

The sound of hooves behind him was like drums, but Winters was more concerned about the long echo coming from under his feet.

The echo was different from the crisp sound of ice cubes breaking. Instead, it was like the vibration of a broken string, or like marbles rolling on glass.

Whatever it looked like, it meant death was approaching for Winters.

The ice groans.

Invisible to the naked eye, deep in the ice layer, the ice crystals finally produced tiny cracks due to stress beyond their limits.

The accumulated stress finally found a gap to release, and the cracks rapidly extended in both directions, even across the entire lake in the blink of an eye, making the already unstable ice even more shaky.

But Winters couldn't control that much. He couldn't decide whether, where or when the ice would break.

He could only concentrate his absolute attention, not missing any abnormal noise, and be ready to abandon the car or cut the rope at any time.

In addition to Winters, there are four other groups of sleds on the lake.

The other sleds may carry one person or two people, and the layout is similar to Winters's sled. People and equipment are separated, and the horses are placed far behind with ropes.

The difference is that the dogs used in other ice sleds are trained specialized dogs. But the hotel foreman found only six crow dogs, and Winters' two so-far unnamed wolfhounds had to catch up.

In order to avoid risks to the greatest extent, the five groups of sleds are so far apart that they can hardly see each other.

Only the constant sharp sound of ice blades cutting across the ice told Winters that his men were also approaching the north shore quickly.

Between two points, a straight line is the shortest.

The way the hotel foreman Covilyan said was to go straight to the North City through the glacial lake.

Taking a boat in the summer and riding a sled in the winter are common ways of traveling for the people of Steel Castle.

But it is now the end of winter, and the glacial lake may even collapse on its own when there is sufficient sunlight at noon, and then refreeze when the temperature drops at night.

In this way, the ice becomes extremely unstable and cannot bear the weight of the snowmobile.

So what Covilyan brought to Winters was an "ice sled", which was a square board on top and two ice blades set in wood on the bottom.

The entire sled is not much bigger than a washbasin. It is more of a toy than a vehicle.

But it was this toy-like gadget that sent Winters, Kaman, Charles, Old Schmid, two guards, and five full sets of armor and weapons to the north shore without any risk.

Also arriving on the north shore were the hotel foreman Covilyan and the white-headed Roger. In order to prove the feasibility of crossing by sleigh, Covilyan, who was over fifty years old, was the first to ride an ice sled into the glacial lake.

After a short and long journey, Covilhã dragged the sled ashore exhausted.

In order to lose weight, the people riding the ice sled wore very little clothing and had to endure the cold. The constant and terrible cracking sound of the ice also frightened the half-old man to death. He slumped on the lake beach and couldn't stand up for a long time.

The white-headed Roger was also shivering from the cold. He hurriedly found some clothes and wrapped them around Covilian.

Even though Covey had a thousand complaints and reproaches in his conscience, he couldn't say anything at the moment. The uncle and nephew looked at each other speechlessly, staring blankly at the lake.

Winters searched along the beach and soon found Covilyan and Roger.

When Covilian saw that the "Baron" was safe and sound, the stone in his throat dropped to the ground. He stood up and greeted: "Your Excellency..."

Winters supported the hotel manager: "You have helped me a lot, but I still need to borrow your nephew for a while."

Covilian hesitated to speak.

"Don't worry." Winters looked at the white-haired young man: "I will send him back intact."

…

[Gangbao North City District]

[Este Mansion]

Este Mansion has now become a battlefield.

The garden carefully maintained by six full-time gardeners is burning, and the flames are spreading in all directions with the help of the wind.

In the southwest corner of the garden, a towering spruce tree has been swallowed up by a red snake, like a huge torch, piercing the darkness in all directions.

The outer gate of Manor d'Este was easily breached, and the towering courtyard walls were ineffective.

White Eagle's guards wanted to use the complex terrain of the manor to ambush the intruders. However, when they clashed with each other, they were surprised to find that the intruders were no less familiar with the manor than they were.

There were gunfire from all directions and flames everywhere. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

"Where do you have the courage!" Outside the main entrance, a one-eyed guard shouted fiercely, fighting one against three: "How dare you attack the Esther family!"

A Saracen-style scimitar was danced by the one-eyed guard so much that wind and water splashed around him. The three assassins were unable to do anything to him for a moment. Instead, they were forced back step by step by the fierce offensive of the one-eyed guard.

But no matter how brave the one-eyed guard was, he couldn't stop the other assassins from smashing the high window and leaping into the main hall.

A masked man who had been holding back the troops from beginning to end walked towards the main entrance: "Get out of the way."

The three assassins who were fighting with the one-eyed guard quickly retreated after hearing this and distanced themselves from the one-eyed guard.

The masked man held the one-eyed guard in the distance, then tightened his grip: "[Ancient Proverb] Shatter your bones into pieces!"

The body of the one-eyed guard suddenly trembled, and the remaining one-eye was instantly stained red with blood. Then all the bones in his body made a jaw-dropping sound of deformation. The bones of his hands, arms, tibia, cervical vertebrae, and spine were like It twisted and twisted unnaturally like a collapse, and the originally burly and muscular body turned into a deformed monster in the blink of an eye.

The most frightening thing was that the one-eyed guard did not die immediately. His lips trembled, and horrifying wails came from his throat intermittently.

An assassin stepped forward and killed the one-eyed guard with a single blow of his sword - if that thing could still be called a one-eyed guard.

The masked man waved his hand, and the assassins blocked by the one-eyed guard filed into the main entrance.

The masked man walked up to the twisted body of the one-eyed guard and looked down at it. Is he feeling smug? Or are you mourning silently?

His face is hidden behind a mask and no one knows what he is thinking. When he puts on the mask, he loses his self and personality and becomes the incarnation and agent of another power.

The sound of horse hooves, like war drums, became clearer and clearer from far to near. According to the pre-arrangement, the manpower on the periphery should intercept and kill the incoming attackers.

However, the sound of hooves seemed to be unimpeded, flying across the long street without any delay, approaching Manor d'Este at lightning speed.

Within a few breaths, the sound of hoofbeats appeared behind the masked man.

The masked man looked back in horror. A white horse like a silver dragon leaped high into the sky and flew over the wall of burning bush fire. It rushed towards him like thunder and rapids.

The masked man stretched out his hand and chanted loudly.

However, what came back from the void was not power, but a terrible curse and phantom pain that exceeded the limit of what he could bear.

Fortunately, the phantom pain only lasted for a short period of time. In a flash of cold light, the masked person's head was separated.

At the last moment of flying into the sky, the masked man finally saw clearly:

There were two people sitting on the horse.