Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

"Ok."

Finally, there was something that looked normal, so Aaron obediently put the necklace around his neck.

Theo and Elliott saw him put on the necklace, neatly drawing a scale on his chest, and whispered, "William..."

"No, whose names are you talking about? Are they still alive? They must all be alive, right?" Aaron felt a chill run down his spine.

“Of course, they live on in our hearts… I mean… don’t worry about it, as living people we just need to look forward.” Theo picked up a handkerchief and blew his nose hard, revealing an expression that seemed to be relieved.

Aaron desperately wanted an explanation, but given the current atmosphere, he couldn't find an opportunity to speak.

“Now let me tell you about the mission.” Elliott tossed him a piece of paper detailing the dangers they might face on their mission.

“Generally speaking, we don’t have these things before we go on a mission. If we hadn’t asked Florian for a copy at the last minute, we wouldn’t even have this piece of paper,” Theo said.

It's clear that the Birmingham Inquisition Church has always maintained a very free style. After all, the inquisitors are all highly skilled and capable individuals, and apart from Claire, virtually no one can restrain them.

Chapter 201 Blackstone Street

Aaron took the paper and began to carefully read the information. The information was actually very simple, mainly about a cult called the Libertarians.

“How much do you know about Castleland?” Elliott asked.

Aaron thought for a moment: "I don't know much about them. I know they are south of our Kingdom of Doc, and they fought against our Kingdom of Doc in the last century. Their church is called the Church of Love."

"Knowing this is enough. Did you know that there are many denominations within their Church of Love? For example, the Temperance Faction and the Permissive Faction."

"I don't know much about it, but I can roughly guess what it's about from the name."

"Just as you thought. You don't need to know about the temperance group; they're generally a group of ascetics. What you need to be wary of is the 'indulgence group.'"

“They cannot be considered a cult in the strict sense, because they once belonged to an orthodox sect and believed in the God of Love. They just had a theological difference with another group in the Church of the God of Love.”

"But an incident occurred several hundred years ago that led a Temperance bishop to lead a group of Perverts in a defection from the Church of Eros. The Perverts claimed that the Temperance had turned away from God's way, and the Temperance were apostates. From then on, they went their separate ways. The Perverts gradually developed into what they are today. Although they were once members of the Church of the True God, they have now become a group of cultists who will stop at nothing. We must be careful of them."

“Ordinary hedonists pose no danger to you; what you need to be especially wary of are those with number tattoos among hedonists.”

"Digital tattoos?"

"Yes, members of the Hedonistic Faction tattoo different numbers on their bodies according to their status and strength, to indicate different levels of status. You don't need to pay too much attention to the other numbers. What you need to pay special attention to are those with numbers 1 to 7 tattooed on their bodies. They are the dangerous ones in the Hedonistic Faction. There are even A-level superhumans among them. They are very scary. You must be extremely careful."

"No matter which one you encounter, if you see numbers on them, run away immediately and call for help. Do not linger in the fight."

Aaron nodded, sweating profusely.

"Alright, before we take action, let's get a general idea of ​​the situation. It's quite simple. You should have already been to 'Seven and a Half Levels' with Claire, right? The mission was initiated by the people on Seven and a Half Levels."

"Those rats? Weren't they working perfectly fine over there in the building? How could they get into trouble?"

"First of all, strictly speaking, they are not rats. They are called the White-browed Rat Squad, which is the most intelligent of the rodent spirit beasts. The ones you see are basically the elite members of the White-browed Rat Squad. You can think of them as the upper echelons of the White-browed Rat Squad."

The rat colony is also divided into upper and lower layers...

"Besides the group of white-browed rats working at Florian Bank, there is a large group of white-browed rats living in the western part of Lordoron, in a place called Black Rock Street. The rats say they have been frequently harassed on Black Rock Street, some of their companions have been eaten, and they have also sensed an abnormal power. They hope we can investigate."

"Isn't it normal for rats to be eaten?" Aaron asked.

“White-browed rats are different. First, they are highly intelligent, as evidenced by their ability to work in banks; second, they also possess spiritual power, making them unkillable by ordinary animals. In fact, when they gather together, they can even fight against ordinary spirit beasts. If they are frequently eaten and helpless, it means there is indeed powerful spiritual power there, which is worth our investigation,” Elliott explained.

Theo also said, "Not only them, but the humans who live with them on Blackstone Street have also been behaving strangely lately. Just to be safe, let's investigate."

I see. It certainly looks like a difficult task.

"That's the mission in short. We're heading to Lodoren now. There will be many more business trips like this in the future, so you'll have to get used to it," Theo said.

Wearing a thick protective suit and a cocoon-like garment, Aaron struggled to his feet and said, "Okay, let's go...!"

*

Lower City District, Blackstone Street.

The sound of hooves shattered the tranquility of Blackstone Street. A wagon laden with barrels of wine lurched along the filthy pavement, the uneven surface causing both the wagon and the barrels to jolt violently. Wine spilled continuously from the barrels, landing on the muddy road, but the driver seemed oblivious, continuing to accelerate.

This is a gloomy street hidden behind an apartment building. Compared to the streets of the Upper East Side, the road surface here is uneven and looks like it has never been repaired. Jagged alleys are densely packed on these uneven surfaces like a spider web, and sewage flows across the steps and cracks.

Suddenly, the carriage veered sharply into a damp alley, just wide enough for a carriage to pass through. This was a shortcut known only to the locals, and the driver was clearly taking a gamble.

A large white light shone at the end of the alley. Passing through this alley would lead to the end of Black Stone Street. Once they passed through here, they would be safe. The coachman gritted his teeth and accelerated, and the carriage sped through the puddles of the shabby alley.

Just as he was about to pass through the large cluster of white light, the overburdened wheels of the carriage finally hit the uneven road surface, causing the carriage to tip over and the driver to fall out. The already precarious wine barrel hit the hard road surface and rolled down the street, spilling its inferior brandy all over the ground, seeping into the cracks in the stones and mixing with the black mud and sand.

Immediately, a group of ragged people rushed out from the corner, lay down on the ground to drink the brandy that had spilled into the cracks in the street, and their exclamations and the driver's curses mingled together, creating a chaotic scene.

Theo, Elliott, and Aaron got off the carriage and witnessed this scene. They immediately realized that they had arrived in the real downtown area.

Aaron stood beside the carriage, estimating the position of the sun. He then searched among the tall buildings for a while, confirming that even the buildings he was most familiar with were still some distance away. This was his first time here, and compared to other places, it seemed as dark as night.

“Be careful not to give money to the children here, otherwise a large group of people will immediately harass you, and some will even have their eyes on your wallet. Unless you are trying to extract information from them, don’t do this,” Theo said.

“Okay.” Aaron listened attentively.

"Let's split up then. Theo and I will go inside to investigate, while you stay here and ask for information. Be careful."

“Okay,” Aaron said meekly.

Elliott and Theo exchanged a glance and left in two different directions. They were clearly not first-timers on Blackrock Street and each had their own destination in mind. They quickly disappeared into the alleyways.

Watching the two leave, and making sure they were completely out of sight, Aaron immediately took off his black robe, throwing it to the ground along with his stiff cocoon-like garment.

Having lost several dozen pounds, Aaron stretched his body and immediately felt refreshed.

Aaron dragged the two things back into the carriage and clapped his hands.

Aaron's plan was that as long as he put those two items back on before they returned, he would be wearing them all the time.

"Alright, now we can see what intelligence we have..."

Aaron looked around, his gaze naturally drawn to the group of people grabbing the drinks.

As an observer, he saw things more clearly. He noticed that not everyone rushed to grab the wine; apart from a few people who egged him on, most people just watched coldly from the sidelines.

He also noticed that three furtive figures had quietly slipped into the crowd of people stealing the wine, but their purpose was not to steal the wine. Instead, they were eyeing the broken wooden barrels and the parts that had fallen from the carriage, intending to pick them up secretly.

The three were clearly working together. They picked up the items on the ground almost simultaneously, exchanged glances, and slipped away at the same time, seemingly in perfect unison. They disappeared in three different directions, which was quite clever. If Aaron hadn't been observing them closely, probably no one would have noticed them.

Aaron became interested in them, set his sights on the youngest of the three, and quietly followed him.

The small figure turned and slipped into the alley, running very fast. Aaron had to strain to keep up.

Following the footsteps, he spotted the figure again. The figure was wearing a tattered robe, with a broken wooden bucket on her small head, running wildly through the alley. She seemed to notice Aaron and suddenly turned into another alley. Aaron followed her.

"Whoa! Why are you following Neve?!"

As soon as Aaron caught up, he bumped into the small figure lying in ambush.

The short girl had a tattered wine barrel on her head, a round little face with sharp canine teeth, a dirty face, a big mouth, but also a pair of big, round, clear eyes.

Her face and arms were covered in dust, but judging from the back of her neck, which was not dirty with dust, her skin was actually very white. However, all of this was hidden under the tattered clothes she was wearing.

"What are you trying to do by following Neve?" The short man held up a tattered barrel of liquor, his clear, large eyes fixed on Aaron, seemingly genuinely confused as to why Aaron was following him.

Seeing Aaron remain silent, the short woman was horrified: "Does he intend to snatch what's in Neve's hands?!" She retreated step by step, holding the wine barrel, and shouted, "Neve won't let you take her things so easily!"

Aaron chuckled: "I'm not interested in what's on you, I'm more interested in you."

"What! What! He's actually interested in Neeph?" The little man exclaimed in panic, "Trying to...taking Neeph won't be that easy!"

"If you want to take Neve away, you'll have to get past us first!"

Suddenly, two voices rang out from both sides of the alley. Before the people were seen, the voices were heard, and for a moment, it felt like the roar of tigers in the mountains.

Two figures, one fat and one thin, made a dazzling appearance. Sure enough, they were the two who had stolen things with the short guy earlier. They stood guard beside Neve like protectors, forming a trio with her.

But after seeing their faces clearly, Aaron fell silent. He could only say that their appearances were very human-like. The combination of their eyes and noses on their faces mainly made them look like people. Moreover, they were carrying things they had picked up from the scene on their heads. However, one of them was fat and the other was thin, which made them quite recognizable. Standing on either side of Neve, they looked very reliable.

"Are you a cop? Or one of the coachmen's men? If you want what we have, come and rob us! We won't just give it back to you." One of them even displayed the air of a chivalrous thief, though his tone and actions were quite irritating.

The three of them came together, and the situation suddenly reversed. The shadows of the three men enveloped Aaron, and Aaron suddenly became the weaker party.

"How about that? Don't dare to come up and take things now? This is where the crowd is. You should be the one being cornered by Neve."

Neve seemed to be the leader of the three. As soon as Neve spoke, all three of them had an expression of sudden realization. They looked at Aaron together and let out a laugh that sounded rather evil. The three of them then approached Aaron together in a flurry of activity.

However, they froze halfway through their journey when Aaron lifted his trench coat, revealing a scimitar hidden beneath.

“Reinhardt…is that…is…is…a knife…?” Neve, her body stiff, asked with her mouth agape.

"I...I can't see very clearly..."

Reinhardt was the fat man next to Neve, but he seemed to be someone who liked to shirk responsibility. As soon as he saw the knife in Aaron's hand, he quietly turned his head away and pretended not to see it.

"No...it might not be a real knife...maybe it's just something to scare us..." The skinny guy next to them seemed to be the strategist among the three, and he started whispering in the other's ear to encourage them.

In the end, it was the shortest of the three who took the plunge. She handed the barrel on her head to the others and, with the constant encouragement of the other two, began to slowly approach Aaron.

She moved cautiously, slowly approaching Aaron, then quickly touched the knife in Aaron's arms with her fingers to confirm the feel of it. After confirming that it was definitely a genuine knife, Neve got goosebumps all over her body and fled back to the three of them in a flash.

"It's...it's...it's a real knife! Neph almost cut her hand just now." Neph's face was pale, and she started sweating profusely.

"No way...looks like I'm out of luck today...I have no choice but to run away." The fat man named Reinhardt lowered his arms dejectedly, but he looked quite experienced, so it seemed like this wasn't his first time running away.

“Nee… Neve agrees! That guy looks really fierce… It’s better not to get involved with him…” Clearly, Neve was also thinking of running away.

"Two votes are in favor, Igorius, what do you think?"

The two turned around and found that Igorius, who had just been standing next to them, had already run several steps away.

Aaron: "…………"

"You actually tried to run away!"

"You ran away without taking Neve with you!"

Aaron finally decided not to let them cause any more trouble. He silently stepped forward with his knife, blocking the skinny man's escape route and slowly cornering the three of them against the wall.

Chapter 202 Drugging

Aaron finally decided not to let them cause any more trouble. He silently stepped forward with his knife, blocking the skinny man's escape route and slowly cornering them against the wall.

"Um...um...it was Neve's fault...we can talk about it...Neve shouldn't have spoken so loudly just now..."

Neve was cornered against the wall, her big, round eyes looking soft and vulnerable, which even moved Aaron.

"I'll give you everything I stole, please spare us!" The fleeing Egorius sighed, reluctantly handing the broken wooden barrel to Aaron, and skillfully bent down.