Imperial Crown.

Chapter 449 The Mystery of the Dragon Plate
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Chapter 469: The Mystery of the Dragon Plate

"My Lord Earl, this is the gift given to you by the two mercenary leaders." In Raven's tent, Lamb placed the two iron plates respectfully in front of Raven.

These two signs are ordinary. If they were ordinary nobles, they would definitely ask Lamb whether he had received any benefits from them to do such things for them.

But Raven is not an ordinary noble, and he is confident enough in his vision.

Lamb was young, his qualifications were not the most outstanding, and he had a typical red military general's face, which easily gave people the impression of being rough and uncouth.

However, Raven knew that this person was smart and studious, and he had a strong sense of his own opinions. He also knew how to speak and act in a very appropriate manner.

He can be said to be the best among Thor's generation.

Naturally, no one would bother me just for a little profit.

Then these two pieces of iron must have some unusual properties.

So Raven took the two pieces of iron in his hands, and was slightly surprised as soon as he got them.

Too light.

Although it looks like it is made of metal, it is as light as a potato chip and you can hardly feel its weight.

However, when you touch it with your fingertips, you can feel a rough and heavy texture.

Both iron plates are semicircular, with one side as bright as a bronze mirror and the other side embroidered with dragon scale-like patterns.

The pattern's strokes were simple, clumsy, yet lifelike, which reminded Raven of something he had once acquired.

A stone statue containing the law of "eternal freezing" obtained from the necromancer Zethwei.

The artistic characteristics of these two are really very similar.

Could it be that there is a law here as well... ?
Raven suppressed his desire to explore for the moment: "Lam, did they tell me where they got these two pieces of iron?"

Lamb said, "I have asked in detail, sir, it is like this..."

Four years ago, Mag and Solingxi jointly took on an A-level mission issued by the Mercenary Guild to clear out the undead creatures in an ancient tomb.

That ancient tomb has a history of at least 3000 years, and can be confirmed to be a product of the late Dragon Age.

Its scale is no less than that of a city; the undead creatures moving around inside clearly show signs of being mixed with dragon blood.

In order to clear this ancient tomb, the two major mercenary groups, with a total of 658 people, lost nearly 400 lives, and even lost several level 3 masters and 1 level 4 foreign aid.

"Is the core of this ancient tomb still dedicated to the statue of Tiamat?" Raven asked.

Lamb thought for a moment and said, "They didn't mention the name Tiamat, but they said there was indeed a statue of an eight-headed dragon in the core of the ancient tomb, and these two pieces of iron were placed in front of the statue."

"Mag and Solingxi each took a piece. They also asked the priests and the appraisers in the mercenary guild to appraise it, but they didn't get a definite result. Since it was difficult to estimate the value, they didn't make a move and kept it until now."

Raven nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

Although he has only been in this world for more than ten years, Raven has read many books to improve his knowledge, especially with the help of Lux's collection of books.

Therefore, although he is not as good as scholars who study specialized history, his scope of knowledge is unmatched.

Based on the characteristics of the sign and the layout of the so-called ancient tomb, Raven could basically determine that they were not going to an ancient tomb, but a temple dedicated to Tiamat, the lord of dragons, in the middle and late Dragon Age.

In addition to the statues, the evidence is that, according to the customs of the time, temples also served as cemeteries, which is why undead creatures with dragon blood appeared.

The absence of a real zombie dragon made Raven more certain of his inference.

After all, in the Age of Dragons, there were very few true pure-blooded dragons. Nowadays, they would have to be at least nobles like princes or grand dukes. Once they died, they would have special mausoleums and would not be buried in the temple's cemetery.

And since it can be enshrined in front of the statue, the value of this piece of iron is even more difficult to ignore.

"I understand everything." Raven looked up and said, "You did a great job on this matter. Let those two mercenaries join the non-staff army and give them the position of captain."

"Yes, sir!" Lamb replied.

"You don't have to be so unbalanced." Raven said with a smile: "Although the announcement I issued was for the mercenaries to see, the regulations in it are not inapplicable to the Eagle Army."

"I'm very optimistic about you."

Lamb's face, which was already red enough, suddenly became even redder. He bowed respectfully and turned to leave.

Raven turned his gaze to the two pieces of iron again, silver light flowing in his eyes, and he quietly activated the Eyes of Truth.

suddenly.

At the moment when the Eye of Truth began to work, two pieces of iron jumped out from Raven's hands, and the magical light as fine as a spider web bloomed from them, followed by a loud dragon roar.

Amid the roaring sound, the two iron sheets snapped together into an iron plate and slowly fell back into Raven's palm.

The dragon scale-like pattern on it turned into a vivid dragon head!

"It only changes when it is observed in a certain way?" Raven was a little puzzled: "What on earth is this thing?"

Inadvertently, the Eye of Truth passed across the iron plate, causing Raven to be stunned.

At this moment, Raven seemed to see a whole new world!

The tiny lines engraved on the sign turned into undulating mountains and winding rivers.

Jungles, meadows, mountains, snowfields, and vast plains, all with every detail visible.

This is an extremely three-dimensional map!

Judging from the terrain, it includes part of the Molinier Province and almost the entire Cartier Province, and there is a shining light.

From a geographical point of view, this point should be the location where it was unearthed. A blue line is drawn from this point, extending all the way to the edge of the map.

“Why is there nothing below?!” Raven scratched his head and put the sign back on the table unwillingly.

This dragon card clearly indicates a direction.

Raven didn't know what it was pointing to, but it was indeed enshrined in the temple of Tiamat.

You know, in the Age of Dragons, resources were far more abundant than they are today. The number of Level 7 warriors, who are rare today, was not small at that time, and the Level 9 sanctuary did not exist only in legends. Even the incarnations of gods were still walking on the earth.

What the things left over from that era mean is self-evident.

But unfortunately, this map is not complete. This sign is probably only half of the complete map, or even one third or one quarter.

You can only look, you can't eat.

"By the way, don't we still have An Nuo?" Raven immediately asked the vampire to invite An Nuo.

In the end, Annuo had no way to deal with it.

"Can't you tell the future?" Raven asked.

"Time can erase everything." An Nuo said, "Divination also requires some kind of mystical connection. This sign has a very long history, and many connections have been lost. It is far beyond my ability to track its movements in the river of fate."

"So, you should keep this sign and hang it on the gate of Eagle City in the future. It will also show the family heritage."

After saying this, she left gracefully.

"Really? Those who can tell fortunes don't talk nicely?" Raven sighed. He felt helpless after being stabbed by Annuo. He had to put the dragon card away and stopped thinking about it.

Next, the Eagle Army stayed here for another 13 days.

It was not that Raven intentionally delayed, but the popularity of the conscription work was beyond Raven's expectations. Although the quota had been filled, there were still many mercenaries lingering outside the military camp and refused to leave.

As a last resort, we have to recruit and screen again.

So Raven's military strength increased again. Originally there were 6 legions, and now it has expanded to 8.

It’s not that Raven dislikes the cannon fodder, no, it’s not that he dislikes the fact that there are too many troops. The logistical pressure on him right now is not that great.

However, most mercenaries are not as fierce as rumored.

As we all know, equipment costs money - a long sword costs more than 10 silver coins, and a set of leather armor costs at least 30 silver coins.

If you want to go out into the wild to hunt monsters and thieves, this is the most basic requirement, but many mercenaries who have just entered the industry cannot even come up with it.

So a strange cycle was created: if you want to take on quests, you need equipment; if you want equipment, you need money; if you want money, you have to take on quests first.

Therefore, a considerable number of mercenaries can only do and have only done the job of finding cats and dogs, and their combat effectiveness is really worrying.

But at least the quality of the soldiers in the Eagle Army's 1st and 2nd Extra-institutional Corps selected by Raven was still acceptable. Although the discipline was a bit lax, Raven did not intend to use them as the main force, and he did not have so much time to waste, so after the integration was completed, he set out on June 6.

After nine days of marching, on July 9, they crossed the flat border and arrived at the second-to-last province that the expedition had to pass through, namely Changxia Province.

The man in black robe who had been observing outside the camp changed into a worn leather armor and mixed in with the Eagle Army's 1st Extra-Regimental Corps.

Staring in the direction of Raven's carriage, the man in black robe was thinking deeply.

Then suddenly his feet slipped and he fell to the ground.

He stood up, looked at the dirt on his feet and started to curse:

"Who pulled it? Stand up!"

……

Chapter 470 "Lucky Amulet"

If you just hear the name of Ever Summer Province, you will definitely think that this is a holiday resort where it is summer all year round. Those who are more romantic will also imagine green trees all over the mountains and flowers that bloom everywhere all year round.

And it also has a name - the Land of a Thousand Lakes.

It is said that lakes of all sizes are like pearls scattered on the earth and are extremely beautiful.

However, all romantic fantasies will be ruthlessly torn to pieces once you set foot on this land.

The rain kept falling, and clothes, shoes, socks, everything was damp.

Even breathing is no exception.

It's not just humid, the temperature has been staying high. Every day feels like walking in a steamer, making people feel greasy all over.

The hot and humid environment has also become a breeding ground for fungi, and hair can grow on the clothes you wear; if the dry food heated up in the morning is not put back into the leather bag and wrapped up in time, it will rot by noon.

There is a lot of precipitation, many lakes, and naturally many rivers.

At first, everyone complained when they had to cross the river, but later they got used to it.

Anyway, the current situation is not much different from soaking in water all day.

The marching speed inevitably slowed down.

Taking into account the low morale, even though they would be able to leave Changxia Province in 5 days at most, Raven still ordered his troops to camp near a town, allowing the Eagle Army to rest for a few days before setting off again.

"Hey, old donkey, let's go!" In the military camp, Freckles leaned against the tent of Donkey Face and said, "Want to go out and play?"

"What are you kidding?" Donkey Face said in a bored tone, "The girls here are nice, but I just can't stand the pungent fishy smell."

"Of course I'm going out to gamble!" Freckles raised his eyebrows: "Gambling is not allowed in the military camp, but it makes me feel depressed."

"I just heard that the game of throwing eggs invented by our Lord Earl has become popular here. We have been playing this game since we were young. When we sit at the card table, won't we beat these Southerners?"

Donkey Face raised his head slowly and glanced at Freckles, then said with a click of the tongue: "Just you?"

"Five years ago, we bet on the outcome of the game in the hippodrome. You said you were very lucky, but you ended up losing 5 silver coins. Three years ago, we went to bet on horses. There were eight horses in total. You bet on four and I bet on three. You even said that if we won one, we could both live on it for a year, but we ended up losing all seven. Before we set out last year, you didn't believe in evil, so you bet on the dice in the Paramount. You bet on big and I bet on small, but the dealer won everything. And last month at Cartier..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Freckles frowned. "Why do you always look at people with the old perspective? I am different now!"

As he spoke, he approached Donkey's face mysteriously, lifted his clothes, and revealed a piece of what looked like white jade: "See? This is the lucky charm I just bought, blessed by a local wizard. As long as I show this thing, I will win the first bet of the day!"

Donkey Face raised his eyebrows and suppressed the question in his mind, "Who would sell you such a good thing?" He asked, "How much did it cost?"

Freckles extended a slap.

"Five silver coins?"

"5 gold coins!"

Donkey Face almost rolled his eyes to the back of his head and coughed: "Okay, something this expensive must be real."

"Let's go! Let's go and kill everyone!"

There was one sentence he held back from saying: "Brother, don't let others cheat you. It's better to let me get the advantage."

They set off as they said they would, and soon they arrived at the VIP room of the best local casino.

After finding a table and sitting down, Freckles looked at the donkey-faced man who was sitting next to him instead of opposite him: "Hey, I say, why don't you join me?"

Donkey Face smiled and said, "I've been unlucky lately and I don't want to drag you down."

"You still don't believe in the effectiveness of my lucky charm, right?" Freckles nodded: "Okay! Then don't regret it."

Soon, two more people came to the table and a game of mahjong began.

The game of throwing eggs is played in one round, and whichever side reaches 100 points first is the winner.

Freckles' luck today was indeed pretty good. Even though his skills were terrible, he still made it to the deciding round.

If you win, you can get a bounty of 80 silver coins.

At this time, Freckles was already furious. He lifted up his clothes and slammed the "lucky amulet" around his waist on the table.

A crack appeared on the surface of the lucky charm, and a strong fishy smell filled the air!
Freckles didn't notice it, and patted his chest and said, "Today I'll show you where the goddess of luck is... Oh my god!?"

A calico cat suddenly appeared from nowhere and jumped onto the card table, picked up the amulet and rushed out of the house.

"My lucky charm!" Freckles screamed and ran after him.

"Don't run!" Donkey Face messed up the card table and rushed out with Freckles.

The two gamblers at the same table were left staring at each other.

After all, the calico cat was a "local" and was very agile, so Freckles had to run three blocks before he caught up with it.

He lifted the calico cat up by the scruff of the neck and Freckles grabbed the lucky charm and tried to take it from the cat's mouth, but the calico cat had caught it with such difficulty that it refused to let go no matter what he said.

As they fought for it, with a snap, the amulet followed the previous crack.

broken!

"Ah?" Freckles was horrified and murmured, "I spent half a year's savings to buy this!"

The calico cat broke away from Freckles' hand and ran away with half of the lucky charm in its mouth.

Looking at the remaining half piece in his hand, Freckles suddenly felt something was wrong...

Why does the fishy smell of this thing seem to be getting stronger?
When you take a closer look at it, you will realize that it is not a lucky charm at all, but a large piece of ground and dried fish bone!

There are strands of dried meat in the middle of the bone marrow!

"How's it going? Did you find it?" Donkey-face finally came over: "If you find it, come back quickly. We're waiting for you!"

Freckles turned back and stared at Donkey's face suspiciously: "Have you figured out that this amulet is fake?"

As soon as Donkey Face saw the half thing in Freckles' hand, he immediately knew what was going on.

He agreed to gamble with Freckles not because he really wanted to cheat Freckles of his money, but just wanted his brother to learn a lesson.

After all, apart from fighting, Freckles is as simple as an idiot in every aspect of life.

I get fooled every time, but it’s different every time.

But seeing Freckles' angry and pitiful expression, I felt a little soft-hearted for a moment:
"…What if I say I know?"

Freckles said, "You have to pay for the card game just now."

Donkey Face suddenly calmed down: "I don't know!"

……

Soldiers in this era were known for their generosity - after all, marching life was boring, and they were willing to spend money for a little entertainment.

Not to mention, there are two entire legions of mercenaries, all of whom are masters of pleasure.

For a moment, the area around the Eagle Army camp became as lively as a large market.

Taking advantage of the dim night, the man in black robe did not go out to enjoy himself like the others, but changed into his usual black robe and quietly sneaked into Raven's tent.

……

(End of this chapter)