Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 401 Friendship and Unity
For the dozen or so seconds that Dean got up from the ground, Thales' expression remained stiff.

What, a ghost?

In what seemed like a frozen moment, his eyes slowly turned around and looked at the rope beside him.

Quick Rope stared blankly back at Thales.

On the other side of the tavern, Qianzi narrowed his eyes slightly, scrutinizing the man who crawled out of the sack: "That's..."

"Dean!" A cry of surprise answered the question on the chisel and shattered Thales' last glimmer of hope.

Many people turned their heads and saw Tampa looking shocked.

The owner of "My Home" tavern pointed at Dean, then at Thales and Quick Rope, who were awkwardly laughing, his tone fluctuating:

"How did you get there..."

Dean did not answer.

He swayed as he clung to the chair, leaned against the bar, panting heavily, accompanied by soft coughs.

"Damn it." Dean cursed again.

It was clear that many of the mercenaries knew Dean, and a quiet commotion and commotion immediately broke out in the tavern.

The leaders of the three groups quickly exchanged glances, confirming that the strange occurrence at this moment was not the work of the other party.

In the brief chaos, Thales and Quick Rope instinctively bent down and moved closer to each other.

The two stared at each other, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

Thales parted his lips slightly, gestured towards Dean, and whispered:
"Hey, I thought you took him down?"

Like a puppet, Kuai Sheng, with a stiff chin, answered quietly with a forced smile:
"It's my first time, so I might not be very skilled..."

Thales was furious:
"You call this 'not skilled'?"

The commotion in the surrounding area continues.

Quick Rope weakly tried to argue something:
“Nikolai told me it only takes three seconds to twist…”

Thales, incredulous, questioned:
"Didn't you check afterwards?"

Quick Rope raised an eyebrow:
"But you're the one who put him inside..."

Thales's momentum faltered, and his face turned ashamed.

"He's clearly not breathing..."

Quick Rope, having reversed his dejected attitude, suddenly turned fierce:

"Not breathing doesn't mean..."

But as the two argued in hushed tones, they both felt a sudden pang of fear!
They both looked up.

As expected, the two saw Dean, who had just recovered, beside them.

The secret agent in the dark room was panting, staring coldly at the two people who had frozen in place.

His gaze was chilling.

Thales and the rope froze again.

In the awkward atmosphere, Kaisen shrugged uncomfortably, waved his hands, and said in an embarrassed tone:
"Hey Dean, it's great to see you here... I mean, you're here too... uh, I mean, um... good evening, wanna grab a drink?"

Dean stared intently at him, his expression complex, the rest of his words stuck in his throat.

Thales sighed:
When did you wake up?

Dean looked at Thales with a cold expression.

"When you were picking the lock," he said coldly.

Thales and his companion froze again, and could only manage another awkward laugh.

But that's not the most embarrassing part.

A loud cough interrupted the whispers in the tavern.

"All right."

Ricky, the leader of the blood-soaked horn, gently raised his hand, pointing at Thales and Quick Rope.

A chill ran down their spines.

“Our two guests, you just said,” Ricky said thoughtfully, looking at Thales and his companion with amusement:
"As members of the Dark Room, aren't you in cahoots with Dean?"

Thales and the rope both paused for a moment.

Dean gave a timely, cold snort.

The masked man next to Ricky scoffed, "That sack, he's probably 'in cahoots' with you guys too."

"Hehehe..." Quick Rope kicked away the damn sack, looked around, and gave a bitter, dry laugh.

Chisel raised an eyebrow slightly, while Russell's gaze became serious.

"Even if you're doing this to survive, but..."

Ricky sighed, "I have to say, even in all my years of life..."

"I have never seen such a clumsy swindler."

In that instant, whether it was Ricky, Clay, the masked man, or Chip, Russell, or even the various mercenaries in the tavern, after staring in utter astonishment at the disheveled Dean, they all turned their gaze back to the two princes.

It was filled with surprise, incomprehension, doubt, vigilance, and—

Deep contempt.

“Hmph,” Marina scoffed behind them, “and a failed thief too.”

Thales' face twitched, and he awkwardly forced a smile at Ricky that looked more like a grimace.

Oh My God.

Are there any holes in the ground? Like, big enough for one person to fit through?
He desperately needs one now.

Kuaishou looked up at the sky, as if that would make him pretend he didn't exist.

“So, Russell,” the skewer stared intently at Dean, “he’s the ‘informant’ you’re claiming to be?”

Russell looked at Dean from a distance and nodded.

Ricky then turned his attention to Dean.

“Wow,” Ricky clicked his tongue and shook his head. “You’re quite unexpected, Big Dean.”

Dean raised his cold eyes, glanced at Ricky with apprehension, and then looked at the mercenaries around him.

“I always thought you kept turning down our invitations because of a lady,” Ricky laughed. “Now I know, it turns out…”

"It was for another lady."

Dean snorted and rubbed his reddened neck.

“You guys have really surprised me,” he said, his gaze sweeping over Chisel, Ricky, and Russell. “Shield of Shadows, Sword of Calamity…”

Dean's gaze lingered on the last person for an exceptionally long time:

"And King Chaman."

Russell coughed, his expression tense: "This is all for Exter."

Dean scoffed softly.

The tavern fell silent.

Thales watched their interaction with growing anxiety.

Really bad.

The lie he and Quick Rope made up on the spot was exposed by the appearance of the real person, and now, all Dean has to do is point it out...

What to do? What else can be done?

"Crack, snap, snap."

Ricky clapped his hands.

“Very well, Dean, I believe you understand the situation now, and regardless of how you fell for those two petty thieves…”

He looked at Thales and Quick Rope, his expression turning cold.

“Get rid of these two intimidating bastards,” Ricky waved his hand dismissively, his tone chilling.
"Let's get back to the main topic."

Cleaning?

Thales and Quick Rope both felt a jolt in their hearts.

They turned in alarm to look at the mercenaries around them—their expressions slowly shifting from surprise to ferocity.

The next second, Marina and Sonny both snorted coldly and drew their weapons along with five or six mercenaries around them!
"Damn it." Thales and Quick Rope looked around, their faces turning pale. They instinctively took a step back, their backs pressed tightly together.

"Have you had enough of your act, kid?" Marina's face was cold as she twirled her twin swords in a circle.
"It's time to take the curtain call."

The mercenaries pressed forward menacingly.

The next moment, Thales and Quick Rope felt a weight on their shoulders!
"Snapped!"

"Wait." A deep but steady voice interrupted the mercenaries' aggressive steps.

This time, it was Thales and his companion who were stunned.

They both turned their gazes, staring incredulously at the man who had stepped between them.

“I don’t want to fall into their hands,” Dean, the bald man who had just escaped death, said through gritted teeth as he firmly held their shoulders and pushed them away.

"Then just listen to me."

His last words were spoken without concealing their volume, filled with hatred and anger:

"You two damned bastards!"

Thales and Quick Rope were suddenly taken aback; the former seemed thoughtful, while the latter lowered his head in embarrassment.

That's right.

Thales' heartbeat gradually stabilized, and a sudden realization dawned on him: this was still the gamble he had placed before.

The people in this tavern are not a group!
Even on Exte's side, the men of King Charman and the men of the Dark Chamber never got along; they were wary of each other and distrusted one another.

Six years ago, the Dark Chamber did not stand on King Nunn's side.

Six years later, it was even less likely that the Dark Chamber would remain blindly loyal to King Chaman.

And that's his chance!

Ms. Cassan, thank God!
At that moment, Thales suddenly missed the kind-hearted, smiling Red Witch who claimed to be loyal to no family or king but only to Exter, and he was sincerely grateful for her persistence and independence.

He even wished that at this moment, the power of the darkroom could be a little bit greater, like that of the secret department.

Inside the tavern, the mercenaries all frowned.

Clay also stood up and placed his hand on his longsword, Darklight.

"What's wrong, Dean?" Ricky observed the changes in the scene and said coldly, "Is there a problem?"

Dean turned around, pulled the two behind him, and faced Ricky.

"They are my men," Dean said coldly, in a tone that kept everyone at arm's length.
"It's not your place to make a move."

Ricky's eyebrows twitched again.

Many people, including Chip and Russell, expressed surprise again.

Meanwhile, Thales and Quick Rope suppressed any trembling, eye contact, or excitement that might reveal their true feelings, lowering their heads slightly and looking dejected.

"your people?"

Ricky, as if discovering a new world, looked Thales and Quickstrip up and down three more times, then chuckled and said, "What, these two clowns are really from the Dark Room?"

Dean reached out and helped Thales and Quickspin sit down in chairs, then sat down in another chair himself.

"As you can see."

“So, this is the internal affairs of the dark room,” he said coldly.

Chisel squinted and carefully scanned the three people.

Russell frowned:
"What, is it now fashionable to stuff your companions into sacks in darkrooms?"

Dean suddenly looked up!

“And King Charman and his Black Sand Territory,” he said, looking at Russell with undisguised sarcasm, “are apparently into planting spies in Exter’s intelligence network?”

Russell and Dean's eyes met in mid-air, like blades clashing.

Chisel coughed softly and patted Russell on the shoulder.

“So Dean,” Ricky’s voice remained tense and full of suspicion, “you were stabbed in the back by your own people?”

Everyone saw Dean shudder violently at that moment!
Thales and Quick Rope watched his retreating figure with tense expressions.

The man touched his bald head and slowly turned around.

“Clearly,” Dean said, looking at the two silent princes with resentment, “they are dissatisfied with their current positions and do not want to be subordinate to me, so when the opportunity arises, they want to steal the credit.”

Thales forced an awkward smile.

"Pooh!"

Dean spat fiercely, his anger only growing: "They just didn't expect that I have considerable resistance to 'sedatives' and a way to escape—didn't they, Saika, and you, Quick Rope?"

Thales swore that Dean's words were absolutely sincere—he truly hated them.

But he was grateful for the moment.

“Haha, it’s come to this now, Dean,” Thales imagined the expression on the Duke of the North’s face in the Palace of Restoration, and said nonchalantly, as if his secret had been exposed. “I don’t regret it. Do with me as you please.”

Dean suddenly reached out!

Grab Thales' collar!

Thales felt a chill run down his spine. Quick Rope, who was standing next to him, instinctively tried to stop him, but Dean slapped him away and grabbed his neck!

The mercenaries were on edge from this sudden turn of events.

Sonny pulled open his shield and took a step forward. Marina instinctively tried to move forward as well, but Ricky suddenly reached out and ordered her to stay put.

The powerful figures in the tavern watched this scene with indifference.

Dean was seen grabbing Thales by the collar with one hand and choking Quick Rope by the neck with the other, his eyes blazing with fury.

Thales' expression was calm, as if he were facing death without fear.

Anyway...

The person who was choking you just now wasn't me.

Quick Rope, feeling guilty, stared at Dean with suspicion and unease, his heart filled with a sense of dread.

Dean's expression was terrifying, his face contorted, as if the two people in front of him were his mortal enemies.

"You think death is the worst thing?"

He gritted his teeth and said, his gaze fixed on the rope: "You don't know, there are things in this world that are more terrifying than death."

Kuai Sheng's brow twitched.

“It was all his idea, Dean. I was forced,” Quickrope trembled, pointing to the nonchalant Thales, acting like an innocent farmer passing by a battlefield. “You know, Dean, you pushed him too far… and I was forced…”

Everyone frowned, looking at the trembling rope.

"Shut up, quick rope."

With mixed feelings, Dean suppressed his resentment and hatred and said pointedly, "You cowardly opportunist, the only reason the lady kept you in the dark room was because you have a good background—but she certainly didn't expect that a good-for-nothing like you could be so 'ambitious'."

Quick Rope's face stiffened.

He lowered his head, half-jokingly and half-genuinely, and remained silent.

A moment later, Dean, with a terrifying expression, seemed to have finally suppressed his anger and desire for revenge, and released the two of them with a hateful look.

"It's not that simple. You two, the fate of traitors..." he said coldly.

"It will be up to Ms. Cassan to decide."

Thales and Quick Rope were already sweating bullets without even having to perform.

But what they were afraid of at that moment was no longer Dean.

The tavern was completely silent, save for Dean and the two men's heavy breathing.

Countless eyes remained fixed on them.

“Ha!” Russell, representing King Chaman, sneered from afar.
"The dark room is really a place of friendship and unity."

Dean snorted coldly, completely unconcerned.

Hearing this, Thales felt inexplicably relieved.

fortunately.

At least……

They believed it.

(End of this chapter)