Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 392 Technical Skills

In the quiet, secluded cabin, the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What's next?"

Thales said worriedly, "I'm talking about you."

Quick rope hesitated for a second.

“Let’s find a good explanation for this scene,” Quick Rope shrugged, gesturing to Dean, who was covered with a burlap sack on the ground. “Luisa and the others should be back by tomorrow morning, and I don’t want to be caught red-handed by them.”

"Aren't you leaving right away?"

“Dean is dead, and Quick Rope from the same team is missing,” Quick Rope retorted rudely. “Do you think the people in the Darkroom are all fools?”

“I need to find a cover, Thales, something that won’t arouse suspicion…”

“But one lie always requires more lies to cover it up,” Thales said, staring at Dean on the ground, deep in thought.

"Unless we can guarantee that this guy will mysteriously disappear—unknown to anyone, and never reappear."

Kuai Sheng's eyes darted around, revealing a fawning expression.

"Well, if you no longer intend to kill me, nor to use me for any shady business, Your Highness Prince Thales..." Quick Rope rubbed his hands together, looking like he was trying to sell an insurance policy:

"Could we go to the Star Officials at the camp and have them secretly dispose of the body? I'm innocent, you can go home, everyone's happy..."

“I’ll return the favor,” Thales scoffed. “Do you think everyone in the Secret Service is a fool?”

Quick Rope blinked.

"But you are a prince."

Thales frowned.

“What I mean is…” Quick Rope stretched out his hands, patted himself first, then politely gestured to Thales, and said with an awkward laugh, “The kind that can be seen in the light.”

prince……

Can it be seen in the light?

Thales sighed and refused, saying, "The Star Army in the camp is a mixed bag right now. The main force is searching for me in the desert. Among those who stayed behind, the local nobles and the central power of the royal family don't respect each other. They give me a very bad feeling. Don't expect them to keep quiet for me."

Kuai Sheng raised an eyebrow.

“Look at the bright moon above, do you see it? These are the chains of power,” he said, waving his finger and clicking his tongue. “Be careful, Thales, you’re already starting to get trapped in them.”

Thales rolled his eyes at him without any attempt to hide it.

"How about this, you can tell your people half and hide the other half to cover for me," Quicksword scratched his head:
"For example, the spy in this dark room is here to capture you..."

Thales shook his head: "You've been out there for too long, quick rope. You underestimated how suspicious those people are—a spy sent by the Dark Room, infiltrating for five whole years. As long as he's been in contact with people, places he's been, news he's been following, any unusual behavior, any deliberate appearance or attire... I don't think the Secret Service would miss any of that. Are you going to gamble your life on the Black Prophet's carelessness, or on pure kindness?"

Quick Rope's face fell.

"Sigh, maybe I shouldn't have shown up." He leaned against the wall in anguish.

“It really shouldn’t have been,” Thales murmured.

Quick Rope protested, "Hey, I just saved your butt!"

Thales curled his lip.

How do you know I'll definitely suffer?

Thales stared at Dean on the ground, racking his brains for a solution, not forgetting to retaliate: "I'm best at turning the tables."

Quick Rope gave him a "you'd be a fool to believe that" look and said seriously:

"Then we'll have to deal with him ourselves."

Thales sighed helplessly.

“Alright,” the boy stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder, “Where are we going to dig the hole?”

"Digging a hole, just the two of us amateurs?" Quick Rope patted Thales earnestly and shook his finger: "No, no, no, we'll definitely be discovered."

"what do you mean?"

Quicksun, with an air of experience, smiled mysteriously and said, "This is Baki's camp, so we'll follow the rules here."

Thales made a gesture as if he was all ears.

“We need to find a professional, the kind who’s all about money and never asks any questions,” Quick Rope said, shaking his head, his eyes growing brighter. “He’s experienced, has a lot of connections, and knows how to dispose of a body quietly.”

Thales's heart skipped a beat: "A professional? You mean..."

Quick Rope snapped his fingers.

"Yes, that's him."

Looking at the faint smile on Quick Rope's face, Thales suddenly had a bad feeling.

Ten minutes later.

"Just around the next corner... Wait, let's check the wind first... Okay, we can go now... Hey, be gentle, be gentle, this thing is heavy..."

Under the dim moonlight, Thales and Quick Rope, one in front of the other, struggled to carry a burlap sack the size of a person as they turned a street corner.

They crouched low, tiptoed, and sneaked through the alleyways.

“Visiting him at this hour… are you sure this is a good idea?” Thales gasped.

They arrived at an inconspicuous wooden door.

Quick Rope nodded through gritted teeth: "Don't worry, Tampa is definitely at home—that's fine, put it down for now—you know, 'my house' is booked out tonight."

But the hand that was about to knock on the door froze in mid-air.

“Strange,” Quickrope stared at the lock on the wooden door. “The lock is on the outside… Tampa hasn’t come back?”

"Ha, you really are reliable." Thales put down the sack with difficulty and pounded his numb shoulders with a sarcastic tone.

"Next, all we can do is... What are you doing?"

He was stunned by the speed rope's movements.

It's unclear when it started, but three iron rods had already stuck in Quick Rope's mouth.

He was still holding two locks in his hands, frantically fiddling with the lock on the door.

"unlock."

Quick Rope mumbled, "We can't just stay outside like this, let's go inside and wait for him..."

"That's not what I meant!" Thales said anxiously, his voice low. "Are you sure you won't be mistaken for a thief and beaten up—"

"Calm down, calm down," Quick Rope said calmly. "You don't understand the rules of the game. In this kind of business, there are connections. As long as you have enough money, don't worry too much about the other details..."

Seeing that the lock in his hand was not moving, he quietly replaced it with an iron rod.

Thales frowned: "Wait, where did you learn to pick locks?"

“You know, life wasn’t easy when I first arrived in Commas,” Quick Rope grumbled, picking up a second iron bar. “I had to learn another skill.”

Thales' eyes widened.

“Craftsmanship—if your father knew his son was a thief in Commas…” he said incredulously.

“Sorry, I’ve embarrassed Nekaru and Sara by being a thief,” Quick Rope said sarcastically without any remorse, impatiently switching to the third bar. “But seriously—damn, Tampa must have changed the locks. These things are tighter than a virgin's—where was I?”

Frustrated and clumsy, he shook the unyielding padlock, eventually having to replace it with the first iron bar.

"Are you really sure you can do it?" Thales looked at him skeptically.

“You don’t understand, but I’ve been on the streets,” Quick Rope said nonchalantly, his hands still moving, but cold sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead. “You know, not just anyone can become a thief…”

Thales sighed; he couldn't bear to watch any longer.

The next second, Prince Star snatched the iron rod and lock from Quick Rope's hand and pushed him aside.

"Hey! Don't mess around."

Quick Rope glared at Thales and protested, "Lock picking is a skill, not everyone can do it..."

During the time he was speaking—

click.

A barely perceptible mechanical sound.

The rope skipped slightly.

Thales let out a satisfied sigh, turned around, and casually tossed the things in his hand aside.

Quick Rope caught what Thales threw at him in a flurry of activity, then froze in shock.

Clang.

The iron rod he was holding in his mouth fell to the ground.

Kaisen stared blankly at the thing in his hand, his mouth so big it could fit an egg.

"Impossible—" His voice was trembling with aggrieved sobs.

That's a...

With two iron rods stuck in it...

It's already been opened...

Lock.

Three seconds later.

"Why……"

Holding the padlock, Kuaisheng looked utterly devastated and said in a trembling voice, "How come you're so skilled at this?!"

Prince Star shrugged indifferently and opened the wooden door with a relaxed expression.

"Come on."

Thales casually pointed to the lock: "This thing that picks locks..."

"Everyone can do it."

The rope stopped moving.

After saying that, the prince, who was trying his best to keep a straight face and suppress his laughter, bent down to worry about the sack.

Only Kuaisheng remained, staring incredulously at the lock in his hand.

I wanted to cry but couldn't; my feelings were complicated.

He glanced at the lock, then at Thales's retreating figure.

"Maybe...no, definitely..."

“I must have loosened it first,” he said dryly.

Yes, that must be the case.

It must be.

Thinking about this, Kaisen felt much better.

If you say so...

Kuai Sheng smiled contentedly, thinking: My skills have improved.

In the past...

This lock is impossible to open.

But just as the two princes bent down, preparing to lift the sacks...

Two light swords emerged silently from the darkness inside the door and were placed on the necks of Thales and Quick Rope, respectively!
The two were startled.

"Look who our guests are!"

A face appeared from inside the house, but it wasn't Tampa.

It was a strange young woman, wearing dark red leather armor, with her hair braided and wrapped around her forehead.

She held two swords, one on each side, with a slight smile on her face.
"Two clumsy thieves."

As she spoke, the woman subtly rotated the blade of her sword.

Thales felt a chill on his neck.

He and Quick Rope exchanged a horrified glance and eagerly raised their hands.

"Are you sure we've come to the right place—the right door?" Thales said through gritted teeth to the quick rope beside him.

Quick Rope, equally terrified, stared at the woman inside the door and retorted knowingly:

"That's right, when I came here last time..."

“Hey, stop chatting,” the woman said dismissively, brandishing her sword. “Thieves, Mom didn’t give you permission to speak…”

The next second, taking advantage of the woman's distraction, Thales and Quick Rope swayed left and right in unison, using the narrow angle of the doorway to dodge the sword's edge!

"Wow," the woman exclaimed in surprise, "the thief is quite skilled."

But the crisis is not over.

In Thales's hellish senses, footsteps sounded from both sides.

He froze once again.

Before they knew it, two unfamiliar men were standing behind them, their faces expressionless.

One was burly and strong, the other lean and wiry.

But both men held their swords up, pressing them against Thales and Quick Rope's lower backs.

Thales and Quick Rope had to raise their hands again.

These three people...

Thales' forehead was slightly sweaty.

In Hell's Senses, these three individuals exuded a chilling aura. Their sword-wielding hands were steady and powerful, their muscles were taut and relaxed, their breathing was rhythmic, and the power of termination within them surged ceaselessly, clearly indicating that they were skilled fighters.

Thales glared at the rope with resentment.

What are you doing?
Quick-rolling rolled his eyes helplessly. "I don't know either."

“Just two thieves,” one of the unfamiliar swordsmen behind him said coldly. “Tampa really knows how to exaggerate.”

The woman, dressed in dark red, smiled slightly and raised her two swords.

"Then let's finish this quickly."

Thales and the rope jolted simultaneously!
"and many more!"

In his desperation, Quick Rope blurted out, "You must be bodyguards hired by Tampa, right! We, we came here, we came here to..."

“They’re here to discuss business!” Thales quickly interjected.

The woman stopped wielding her twin swords.

"Looking to discuss business in Tampa?"

She frowned.

"By picking the lock?"

"It's a shady business, hehe, sorry." Quick Rope forced a smile.

The woman in red exchanged glances with the two swordsmen.

A swordsman kicked the sack on the ground, then frowned and asked, "Is there someone inside?"

“To be precise, it was a corpse,” Thales nodded awkwardly, “so we had to pick the lock…you get the idea?”

The woman looked up suspiciously.

"You know Tampa?"

“Yes, we have a very good relationship. I’m his business partner…” Quick Rope said excitedly, while giving Thales a wink.

“Excellent!” Thales nodded vigorously like a woodpecker: “We even had drinks together today…”

The woman in red and the swordsmen exchanged another glance and nodded.

“Fine,” the young woman hummed as she stepped out of the room, “come with us.”

"I'm not staying here in Tampa tonight."

Thales and Quick Rope finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the swordsmen behind them were not so polite; they continued to press the two men with their swords.

“Carry your goods up,” one of the swordsmen said coldly. “Be gentle, don’t try anything funny. You don’t want to alert the patrol, do you?”

Thales and Quick Rope looked at each other helplessly, feeling the sword blade pressed against their lower backs, and could only obediently do as they were told.

Under the watchful eyes of four swords, the two men cautiously carried the sacks, choosing secluded paths and traversing the streets and alleys once again.

They soon arrived at a new location.

"My Home" Tavern.

This relieved Thales and Quick Rope.

At least, this is definitely Tampa territory.

“Looks like they really are from Tampa,” Quick Rope grumbled. “That stingy guy is getting more and more suspicious.”

The female swordswoman in red knocked four times on the tavern door, quite rhythmically.

“Listen, I’ll come and negotiate in a bit…” Quick Rope whispered.

Humans will die, orcs will fall, queens will pass away, but we will never close our doors—starting in the year 462 of the End Calendar, Queen Erika's last cup.

But looking at the familiar sign above his head, Prince Star suddenly remembered something.

If these people are bodyguards hired by Tampa to watch over his house...

The house in Natampa...

Why is the lock on from the outside?
And tonight, "My Home" tavern wasn't...

The tavern door opened.

Before they could think any further, Thales and Quick Rope were pushed into the tavern by the swordsmen behind them.

The moment Quick Rope and Thales stepped into the tavern, dozens of eyes turned to them.

The two men carrying the sacks were stunned.

The tavern was filled with many people, all armed and on high alert.

A suffocating murderous aura swept over us.

“They…” Quick Rope murmured.

Without him reminding him, Thales recognized him.

It is "the whistle of blood".

That mercenary group that claimed to be a hundred men.

That's right, they've booked the whole pub tonight.

But the scene of drinking and reveling all night long, as I had imagined, did not materialize.

On the contrary, the tavern was eerily quiet.

Even the whispers of these mercenaries were low-key and quiet, showing their well-trained nature.

A sense of unease filled Thales' heart.

How is this going?

What exactly happened to the tavern?
What about Tampa?
"Go inside," the red-clad female swordswoman said, turning her head. "Tampa is inside, discussing business with our boss."

The mercenaries, their horns blaring amidst the blood, sat or stood. Some leaned against the wall, some against the pillar, some propped themselves up on the table, and some even sat on the steps, leaned against the second-floor railing, or crouched in a corner. Most of them were relaxed, but their eyes were burning.

Like soldiers guarding a bunker—no, Thales shook his head inwardly—the atmosphere was like soldier ants guarding an anthill.

The expressions of the people changed when they saw the two princes enter.

His eyes were fierce and malicious.

Thales felt a pang of panic and gave Quick Rope, who was equally surprised and suspicious, a wink.

well……

Something doesn’t seem right?
Quick rope nervously gave him a wink.

rest assured.

Everything is under control.

Under the cold and terrifying gazes of dozens of people, Thales gritted his teeth, shouldered the sack, ignored the malicious smile of the fierce man to his left, and followed the female swordsman forward.

A mercenary, with his hand on his sword and a shield on his back, blocked their path and raised his hand to stop them.

He squinted slightly, sizing up Thales and the rope.

“Marina,” the mercenary said coldly.
"They have weapons."

Marina, the red-clad swordswoman, turned and looked at Thales, noticing the daggers, scimitars, and crossbows on their bodies. She then burst out laughing: "What, Sonny, you think the boss and the others are afraid of this?"

As Marina laughed, many of the mercenaries who were sizing up Thales also laughed out loud.

But compared to Dante's greatsword, and compared to that friendly and casual atmosphere, Thales could only feel waves of killing intent and coldness among the crowd of "blood whistles".

these people……

Thales looked around with a grim expression, feeling like he had fallen into another trap.

It was still full of mud and water.

Sonny, the mercenary blocking the way, chuckled, seemingly amused by the joke. He patted Marina on the shoulder and made way for her.

With trepidation, Thales and Quick Rope carried the sacks into the center of the tavern.

Here, the mercenaries kept their distance and were scattered rather sparsely.

There were only four people sitting at the empty table in the middle.

Thales recognized the man with the scar on his neck at first glance.

Tampa!

Quick Rope's expression relaxed, the sack rolled off his shoulder, and he forced himself to suppress the strange atmosphere around him: "Hey, I was wondering why I couldn't find you..."

But Thales noticed that Tampa's expression was extremely unpleasant at that moment, and his posture was stiff.

"Quick rope? And you?" The tavern owner frowned, looking at the two people who came in with disbelief.

"Of course it's us! I mean, you're really..." Kaisen's face stiffened, and his voice gradually softened: "Did I disturb you in any way?"

Tampa didn't answer him, but his expression grew even more grim.

The other three people at the empty table turned around.

Thales' heart skipped a beat as he recognized the person in front of him.

Ricky, with a beaming smile; a middle-aged man from the North, with an indifferent expression; and a weathered swordsman with a veiled face.

It's them.

"Blood Whistle" refers to the first three people to arrive at the tavern and make a reservation.

“These are the only two people we just encountered,” Marina said, sheathing her twin swords at her waist and giving Ricky a wry look. “They were clearly picking locks, but they said they were there to do business with him.”

Ricky nodded, his gaze shifting back and forth between Thales and Quick Rope.

His gaze gave Thales a chilling feeling that he could see right through him.

“Thank you, Marina,” he said politely, “you’ve been a great help.”

Marina nodded knowingly and stepped aside.

“I recognize you,” Ricky said, looking the two men up and down with a soft laugh. “Dant’s Greatsword.”

"And he's a beginner."

Thales and Quick Rope forced out two mournful smiles.

“Listen, Tampa,” Quick Rope blurted out, looking completely oblivious and clueless.

"We've finished the deal you asked me to do. We'll report back tonight..."

He kicked the sack at his feet.

Tampa sat on the empty table with a strange expression.

Ricky turned toward Tampa.

The tavern owner's face twitched, and he coughed, "Alright, I understand. Listen, Kuaisheng, you go back first. I'll come to talk business with you tomorrow."

“Ah, I can tell,” Quick Rope’s eyes darted around, “You’re a bit busy right now… It’s okay, we can do it tomorrow…”

Marina, who was standing to the side, chuckled.

Ricky seemed to be deep in thought.

Thales gently nudged the rope, and the two bent down in unison, ready to lift the sack.

But before Thales had bent halfway down, a boot stopped on the sack, blocking his chest.

“Listen to your mother, stand still, you thieves.” Marina sat on a chair to the side, raised her long legs, and smiled as she hooked her arm around Thales’ chest.

Thales and Quick Rope glanced at the twin swords at Marina's waist, then at the mercenaries around them, and could only straighten up awkwardly.

Really bad.

It seems it won't be so easy to get away.

Ricky, the leader of the mercenaries, spoke.

"Oh, so they're what you call your 'backup'? Your reliable 'security advisors'?"

Thales frowned.

Ricky sighed and lowered his arm: "You're really funny, Tampa."

Tampa looked like he'd met the wrong person, and covered his face in anguish.

Quick rope gave a puzzled look, then forced a smile: "Actually..."

Thales coughed, silencing his words.

"Alright alright."

The boy spoke slowly, glancing at Tampa and then at Ricky, raising his hands to appear harmless as he cautiously said, "I know, gentlemen, we may have come at the wrong time... but honestly, I don't understand, and I don't want to know, what's going on with you all, so wherever you are..."

Tampa's face grew increasingly pale, and he coughed heavily, his tone unfriendly:

"Then get out of here!"

Thales and Quick Rope readily bent down a second time to pick up the seemingly unreachable sack.

But they stopped halfway there.

Marina's sword was now positioned across their chests.

"Ah, ah, ah."

The pretty woman playfully opened her mouth, brandishing the sword in her hand, and clicked her tongue maliciously, saying, "If you don't listen to your mother, you'll get a spanking."

Thales and Quick Rope straightened up again, their expressions grim.

Ricky sighed, then looked up and smiled. "You really don't know the situation, but that's okay, I'll tell you."

"The situation is very simple."

Ricky gave the two a friendly smile, then pointed to Tampa and whispered, "We are the Blood Horn..."

"In a tavern in Tampa."

"Tampa has been hijacked."

(End of this chapter)