Wizard Earl

Watching Martinez's departing figure and hearing the approaching footsteps of numerous men in black, Arbeloa, who was prepared, showed no panic. He took out the smoke bombs that Connor had given him earlier and threw them around the garbage dump.

As soon as the smoke grenade was thrown, within seconds the entire junkyard in the northeast corner of Ferguson Manor was enveloped in the gray smoke released from it.

"What's going on? Where is this smoke coming from?"

"Where are you, sir? We can't see you anywhere!"

"Ouch! That damn bastard stepped on my foot!"

"Where is the target?! Find him quickly!"

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Although most of the men in black recruited by Domenech were retired Imperial Army soldiers, and the others were also highly disciplined and professionally trained, the dense gray smoke released by the smoke bombs made it impossible for the numerous men in black, who had come to the junkyard following their comrades' cries for help, to see each other. They were thrown into chaos in the gray fog.

Seeing the men in black lose their composure, Arbeloa noticed that Martinez, the head butler, had already entered the secret passage under his cover. He then abandoned any further entanglement with the men in black and fled immediately.

Connor's task for Arbeloa was to support Butler Martinez and cover his escape, not to kill the men in black. In addition, Connor gave him an extra request: that he should not use wizarding energy in the process.

As it stands, although Arbeloa has temporarily strengthened his body through the potion, elevating him to the level of a Grand Knight, unfortunately, this is ultimately due to the potion's effects, not something he achieved through his own cultivation. Therefore, this Grand Knight strength is time-limited.

Most importantly, there were dozens of men in black who flooded into the junkyard, and each of them was armed. Even if Arbeloa, at Connor's request, was trying his best not to use his supernatural powers to deal with these men in black, even without Connor's request, as a mid-level wizard apprentice, the only thing he could do in the face of so many heavily armed men in black was to run as far away as possible. After all, before becoming a formal wizard, guns still had considerable lethality against wizard apprentices!

After Arbeloa fled, the gray mist in the junkyard began to dissipate, and the chaotic men in black regained their discipline and order, resuming their search of the junkyard...

Meanwhile, in the study of the beautiful villa that originally belonged to Jack Ferguson at Ferguson Manor, Jack Ferguson, Eugenia, Domenech, and Bernardo sat in their seats, none of them showing any interest in speaking. All four of them looked very tense, as if they were waiting for something.

A few minutes later, hurried footsteps finally echoed in the villa's corridor. All four people's attention was drawn to the footsteps. A few seconds later, a muscular man in black entered the study. Under everyone's gaze, he found Domenech sitting in the chair by the window and whispered something in his ear.

Listening to his subordinates' account of the latest situation at Ferguson Manor, Domenech's already somber expression turned even worse. Clearly, the burly man in black had brought him no good news!

Feeling the gazes of Bernardo, Eugenia, and Jack Ferguson upon him, and having learned that Butler Martinez had left the manor through a secret passage, Domenech felt a nameless anger rise within him for no apparent reason. However, now was not the time to vent his anger; he still had things to do.

Taking a deep breath, Domenech ignored everyone in the study and offered no explanation. He simply stood up from his chair and strode away, leaving the study.

Domenech's actions immediately left Jack Ferguson, Eugenia, and Bernardo in the study exchanging bewildered glances. None of them had expected Domenech to do this. Just as the muscular man in black was about to leave with Domenech, the short, stout, Mediterranean-looking Bernardo, unable to bear his ignorance of the situation any longer, grabbed the muscular man by the collar and roared in a low voice, "You damned bastard! Tell me what's going on!"

Bernardo's impatience was not without reason. He was a businessman by nature. Although businessmen pursue profits, they pay more attention to risk management. Although he and Domenech were political allies in the Ferguson family and always maintained the same position in family affairs, this did not mean that he agreed to Domenech's plan without principle.

On the contrary, Bernardo was skeptical after learning about Domenech's plan for an armed rebellion. He believed that the risk factor of Domenech's plan was too high, so he wanted to stay out of it and not participate in the plan.

However, Domenech had already made up his mind and acted without consulting others. After Jack Ferguson entered Ferguson Manor, he arranged for his people to be placed there. This put Bernardo, who had been operating in Ferguson Manor for many years and had extensive connections, in a very awkward situation, making it impossible for him to remain uninvolved as he had hoped.

Furthermore, Bernardo and Domenech had been working together within the Ferguson family for over a decade, their entanglements running too deep. If Domenech's scheme failed and he was defeated by Martinez's head butler, Bernardo wouldn't fare any better. So, after realizing this, and lured by the various benefits promised by Domenech, Bernardo finally reluctantly agreed to participate in Domenech's plan.

Despite participating in Domenech's plan, helping him successfully divert the main force of the family knights from Ferguson Manor so that Domenech could lead his recruited men in black in an armed rebellion, and even using his connections to help these men in black hide within Ferguson Manor, Bernardo harbored some resentment deep down. Therefore, now that he realized Domenech's plan was not going smoothly, all of Bernardo's negative emotions surged up all at once…