Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 338 Connector

Sweating profusely, Thales coughed as he inhaled the rare air as if it were water in the desert, his whole body trembling.

But Griveaux did not release him; his confinement remained as difficult to break free from.

“Really, whether it’s a thousand or two thousand gold coins, I’ll give you double,” Thales said, regaining his composure slightly. He was panting and sweating profusely, looking weak and exhausted. “The Starry Sky Royal Family is very wealthy, and Starry Sky is also very prosperous… The Secret Society’s assets in Dragon Sky City alone are worth over a hundred thousand…”

Griveaux raised an eyebrow.

"very good……"

"Wait a minute," but a second later, the man's face darkened: "You mean, you're going to go to the Star Kingdom to get it?"

“Secret department, secret department will do,” Thales blinked hard, his eyes still calming down from the sight of Venus. “They will definitely give it to you…”

The next moment, he felt another heavy pressure on his neck, and his trachea was blocked again!
"Shut up, do you really think I'm stupid?" This was Grevo's voice, filled with embarrassment and anger. "Listen, I only take cash!"

Thales took a difficult breath of air.

Damn it... that bastard...

Do I look like I have any cash on me?

“If you… hand me back…” Thales pleaded desperately for a chance:

"Qiyuan City...is at war with the Freedom Alliance, and Xingchen..."

Greaver interrupted him impatiently: "Shut up, I don't understand politics!"

Thales, who was seeing stars again, felt a surge of anger.

Who are these people!
"Forget it, let's go find Deadface, it's safer there..."

Griveaux muttered to himself as he increased the pressure, trying to knock Thalesler unconscious.

Thales knew something was wrong. He racked his brains, fighting against the air and his enemy, while desperately shouting out the word:
"Shield Zone!"

Just seconds after the word was uttered, Griveaux's arm loosened again.

"What?" he asked, frowning.

Thales took a few deep breaths to clear his head.

Yes.

Shield zone.

“I heard… your conversation just now,” the prince said painfully, turning the back of his head slightly away from Grevo’s chest.

Just now, no matter what kind of insults and contempt he faced, Griveaux remained unmoved.

But only when the enemy begins to use shields, begins to threaten him with his brothers and brethren...

"This is the Shield Zone, right?"

Thales, panting, began to speak more fluently: “And you’re probably in charge here… Look around you, it’s dilapidated… A thousand or two gold coins won’t be enough to rebuild it, you need more, and not just money…”

Griveaux remained silent for a long while.

But in the end, he snorted and shook his head: "Shut up, I'm content and have no interest in causing trouble."

Seeing that Griveaux was about to tighten his grip on him again, Thales quickly spoke up:
"And I heard that too!"

"Those people who died in the Shield Zone six years ago, they were your brothers, weren't they?"

Upon hearing this, Thales felt Griveaux tremble slightly behind him.

"Over the past six years, their surviving families have also needed compensation and a livelihood. You must be very worried... I guess Dragon City doesn't have any disaster emergency fund to compensate for the losses in the Shield Zone..."

While Thales was speaking fluently and effortlessly, he was racking his brains for a way to escape.

Griveaux emitted a dull, dissatisfied growl.

"Shut up!"

This time, the veteran's words carried a hint of displeasure.

But he was immediately taken aback: "Disaster... Gold, what is that? Can it compensate for the losses in the Shield Zone?"

Thales had a sudden realization; he felt he had found a breakthrough.

“That’s not important. What’s important,” the prince took another breath and gritted his teeth, “is that as the leader, you bear a lot of responsibility. You can’t watch Shield District, your brothers, and your territory remain mired in poverty and threats…”

Griveo's breathing gradually became rapid.

“Shut up,” Greaver’s voice turned unusually cold. “Don’t interfere in other people’s affairs.”

But Thales didn't pay attention to his tone; he was already tormented by the events of the night: "But now, I, a wealthy and powerful prince, can help you. You have a chance to save the neglected Shield District, to rebuild it, and not just to rake in a hefty sum from the Meteorites, as long as you take me..."

Griveo let out a low growl.

"Shut up!" he said through gritted teeth.

Thales greedily inhaled the next breath of air, thinking he should drag him over first and dredge up all the information in his mind related to the shield zone and the area that this wheelchair warrior cared about:
"Six years ago, I was there when the disaster struck. I saw... the people in the Shield Zone. They were so innocent, yet they had to endure such a catastrophe..."

Griveaux didn't speak, but he began to tremble slightly.

Thales sensed an opportunity and quickened his pace: "You're not the kind of cold-blooded, selfish person, Greaver. The opportunity is before you. You can't abandon the Shield District just because you find it troublesome, you can't stand idly by and watch their suffering, allowing those who have died to never rest in peace..."

rest in peace……

Upon hearing this, Griveaux's body swayed violently!
“Shut up,” his voice began to tremble, carrying an undeniable heat: “You little brat.”

Thales only felt that the other person's arm was getting looser and looser.

He felt a surge of energy, realizing he was getting closer to the other person's pain points.

"In the aftermath of the disaster, the people of the Shield Zone have suffered greatly. They depend on you; they cannot continue living like this! It is your responsibility to exhaust all means to protect them, help them, and save them..."

Griveaux's breathing became more and more rapid.

Thales suddenly raised his voice: "Greev! You can't run away! Your inaction not only prevents the dead from resting in peace, but for those who are still suffering, it's tantamount to murdering them with your own hands..."

The moment the word "murder" left his lips, Thales suddenly felt his hands gripping him tremble violently!
His ears rang as he heard Griveaux's unprecedentedly loud shout:
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Before Thales could catch his breath, his ears were still ringing. Before he could even catch his breath, Greaver tightened his grip on Thales' neck again!

What's wrong now...?

Thales struggled painfully again, but this time, Greaver had no room for mercy.

It was as if they wanted to strangle him!
For some reason, Griveaux seemed to have fallen into a fit of rage and madness, and his voice grew increasingly terrifying:
"Listen to me, kid, who the hell do you think you are? Don't try to lecture me..."

His arm was trembling, but the strength remained undiminished, demonstrating the master's honed skills and rich experience in the art of "killing".

"Don't try to teach me how to protect the shield zone..."

Griveaux was emotionally agitated, as if he were on the verge of a breakdown:
"Six years ago, I stood here, holding the Soul-Slaying Spear, in the shield zone, amidst countless blood and death, fighting to the death against that damned, damned blood... the calamity of blood..."

"Fighting..."

Griveo was panting, but paused several times.

"Fighting—"

Thales sensed that at this moment, this warrior, who remained strong and magnanimous in the face of a host of opponents, was actually... chattering?
It was as if I was recalling my deepest nightmare.

The next moment, Griveaux clenched his teeth and roared like a volcanic eruption:

"—When the fighting is fierce and they're locked in a life-or-death struggle!"

Under the moonlight, the old soldier in the wheelchair roared in pain and anger: "You're still wearing open-crotch pants—still nursing in your grandmother's arms!"

Thales didn't care that his ears were almost deafened by the yelling.

His vision began to blur again.

Oops.

This is a...

He's a sadist and a pervert.

Thales half-closed his eyes, feeling the torment of his empty lungs and the longing for breath and life.

His consciousness gradually faded. But at the same time, a strange feeling surged through his body: the Sin of the Hell River boiled up on its own once again.

Like a restless, raging wild beast.

Waiting for the moment to break free of the cage.

At least, it kept Thales, who was gradually becoming dizzy, clear-headed.

Exhausted and trembling under the double torment, Thales, with his last breath, uttered a single word: "No..."

Just at this time.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

In the desolate, deserted ruins of the Shield Zone, the sudden sounds of horses' hooves and wheels could be heard.

A horse-drawn carriage arrived not far from them.

A lively, cheerful young voice rang out: "Boss Griveo, your guest has arrived..."

The voice paused slightly.

Griveo, his face contorted in a grotesque expression, raised his head and met the voice's owner's gaze directly.

While he was desperately holding Thales, his grip loosened involuntarily.

Thales, his face turning purple, finally got a breath of air and coughed violently—he had inhaled a lot of saliva during the struggle.

The increasingly turbulent sin of the River of Hell within him gradually subsided.

next moment.

"Waaaaah! Boss, I'm so sorry, I was wrong!"

"No, no, no, I mean I shouldn't, I can't, I mustn't, no, no, no, I mean I won't, I won't tell anyone, no, no, no, I mean I didn't see anything, I don't know anything, I just came for a walk tonight, no, no, no, I mean I didn't even come to the Shield District tonight..."

Griveo shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

He looked at the carriage and its driver in front of him.

That's... Kevin?
On an open freight wagon, a young driver was covering his eyes and shouting something frantically.

In the back cargo area of ​​the carriage sat a hunched figure, coughing slightly.

Griveaux was stunned.

Tonight was particularly special for Kevin—the poor kid from the Shield Zone.

He was supposed to drive this dilapidated, cheap carriage, taking Boss Griveaux's guests to a special and remote place in the Shield District.

Kevin didn't know why Boss Greaver had chosen this place so carefully—but whatever the boss ordered, he had to do it.

That was Drew Griveor, the one who single-handedly protected Dragonsreach during the legendary calamities of Calamity and the Hydra Kirika!

Yes, Kevin still remembers those days, remembers those disasters...

Like a nightmare.

but……

When Kevin arrived at his destination and met his boss, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

what is that?
Kevin was not referring to the corpses and blood on the ground—as the most manly man in Dragonstreet, the powerful and influential Boss Griveo left a trail of bloodshed wherever he went.
That's a teenager.

Correct.

A handsome but thin boy.

Under the moonlight, the handsome young man sat in the leader's lap, looking both excited and pained.

The boy had his hands behind his back, placed on Grevo's knees, and trembling slightly, as if he were touching and rubbing something.
Kevin froze upon seeing this.

No way.

And what about Grevo, the usually magnanimous and generous leader?
Kevin squinted, trying to see more clearly.

At this moment, the dignified leader of the Shield District, the civilian hero Greaver, in his heart sat in a wheelchair, in…

Kevin's eyes widened, and his jaw almost dropped.

The young, poor boy dared not think any further. With mixed feelings, he instinctively raised his whip and turned the carriage away.

But at that very moment, Griveaux, with his ferocious expression, raised his head.

Kevin and I met eye to eye under the moonlight.

Kevin was taken aback.

It’s over.

I've discovered it...

The boss's secret...

I'll... I'll be killed, won't I...?

Kevin's screams not only pierced the sky, but also brought Greaver back to his senses.

Thales was breathing heavily; he had given up on negotiating with Griveaux—that guy was probably crazy.

We can't communicate.

"...Boss, boss, boss, since I haven't been to the Shield Zone, that means..." Poor Kevin buried his face in his hands, desperately shouting, "No, no, no, Boss Greaver, I swear I didn't see anything..."

Griveaux frowned, glancing first at the prince held captive in his arms, then impatiently turning to the carriage.

"Kevin!"

The leader of the Shield District roared, "Shut up!"

Under Greevo's lingering influence, Kevin's voice abruptly stopped, as if it had been instantly choked.

"How many years have passed?" another voice slowly drifted from the carriage, filled with endless感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep emotion/reflection).

"Old friend."

Griveaux was slightly startled.

This voice...

Thales was also stunned.

Then... isn't that...?

In the darkness, a wooden cane tremblingly descended from the carriage, followed by two fragile and aged legs.

"Sorry, I'm a little later than agreed," the man said, his back hunched as he stepped off the carriage. After taking in the mess around him, he frowned and covered his nose. "Oh, looks like you're still doing the same old thing."

Grivell stared blankly at the newcomer, not even noticing that Thales in his arms had stopped struggling.

"I'm fucking idiot," Grevo exclaimed, his mouth agape as he stared blankly at the passengers in the carriage, his expression as if he'd just seen the neighbor's dog laying an egg.
"Damn it, I was wondering which scoundrel sent the invitation, and it turns out it was you."

The newcomer chuckled softly: "Surprised?"

"Tch, you're still alive," Greaver scoffed, his emotions a jumble.

"Old crow."

Hearing the familiar nickname, Thales struggled to turn his head and saw who it was.

He was an old man with deep wrinkles and a weathered face.

He was a Bachelor of Dragon's Kiss Academy without a degree of qualification, the teacher of Gilbert and Putila, and also the teacher of both Gilbert and Selma.

Old Raven, Meryl Hickser.

At this moment, he was standing in the moonlight, smiling and nodding at Thales.

It's him.

In that instant, Thales understood many things.

(End of this chapter)