This isn't a souls-like game at all.

Listening to the man's sincere and tearful voice of thanks, Ye Yiyi sighed slightly, reached out and pulled the other person up from the ground.

"I didn't save you so that you could kowtow to me, and I don't like seeing people kneeling to me, so stand up and talk."

The man froze in place upon hearing this, his expression bewildered.

"But, my hero, I am a slave, not a human being..."

Seeing Ye Yiyi narrowing his eyes slightly, with an expression of rage in his eyes, Halville quickly came over and whispered:

"Slavery in the Kingdom of the Firefly has not been abolished. Slaves are defined as livestock in the Firefly doctrine and laws of the Kingdom. They do not possess human status and do not enjoy human rights."

Glancing at the man who was in a panic and about to kneel down with trembling legs, Halville shook his head and sighed.

"So even when facing penniless wanderers, slaves had to kneel down to speak. Livestock were inferior to humans and had no right to stand up."

"Is it……"

Ye Yiyi's eyes flashed, but he reached out and grabbed the man's shaky shoulders, forcing him to stand up straight.

"The teachings and laws of the Firefly mean nothing to me. If those laws conflict with my will, my will must take precedence."

"So stand still and don't kneel!"

There seemed to be a special power in Ye Yiyi's voice. The man trembled and suddenly stood up straight.

Glancing at the man with a dull expression, Halville immediately made a mental note: The Master doesn't like others kneeling or kowtowing to him, even slaves.

Then he added: Heroes are heroes because of their moral standards and powerful military force that are above the secular kingdom.

"I'll have to write it down in a notebook later..."

Harwell thought to himself that he had made up his mind to record Master Michaela's heroic deeds.

Ye Yiyi glanced at the old magician in some confusion, then took out the hilt of the holy sword and cast [Purification] twice in a row, and then took out a set of clothes for the man to wear.

In this way, the man finally looked a bit like a human being.

But his body was still hunched, and although the whip marks on his skin had been repaired by the effect of the medicine, his weather-beaten old cheeks made him look nothing like a young man who was barely thirty years old.

For the rest of the journey, Ye Yiyi did not get on the horse, but walked in front, chatting with the man as they walked.

Although the man did not dare to resist Ye Yiyi's will, he had been a slave for many years and had long lost his sense of being a human being. He still put himself in an extremely humble situation and dared not say a single extra word.

Soon, Ye Yiyi learned about his life experience.

The man had no name. He said he had a name a long time ago, but after being reduced to a slave and sold to this border town, he lost his name and was left with only the code name "Eighty-Eight".

Eighty-Eight was not originally a slave, but an ordinary farmer from a remote village in the Fire Sparrow Flower Kingdom.

Then one day, a terrifying giant insect broke into the village and slaughtered all fifty people in the village.

Eighty-eight narrowly escaped death, but was captured as a bandit by the lord's knight who arrived later and was subsequently demoted to a slave.

Hearing this, Ye Yiyi was still a little confused and didn't understand the logic, but the knowledgeable Halwell quickly gave an explanation.

"If the lord wants to eliminate the bandits, he can request supplies and financial support from the Fire Sparrow Monastery. However, if he wants to eliminate the giant insects, that will be done by the Fire Crown Knights themselves, and the lord will gain nothing."

So Bashiba was regarded as a remnant of the bandits, thrown into prison, and finally demoted to a slave and sold to a slave trader by the lord.

Afterwards, Eighty-Eight rode in a prison van across most of the Fire Sparrow Flower Kingdom. He was spotted by a miner in the border town of Platinum Crystal and bought to be a slave.

Eighty-eight's daily job is to follow the stewards and guards with other slaves into the Ten Thousand Stone Crystal Forest to mine the crystal pillars that can be seen everywhere.

At this point, Halwell also interrupted to explain.

"The Forest of Ten Thousand Stone Crystals covers a vast area and is the only region on the Tongxiao Plains that can consistently produce a variety of special gemstones."

"Therefore, the Fire Sparrow Flower Kingdom, the Iron Kite Knight Nation to the northeast, and the demihuman tribes of the Kochiyuan Plateau to the northwest have reached an agreement. The three forces will equally divide the mining rights of the Ten Thousand Stone Crystal Forest, and outsiders are not allowed to interfere."

Halville sighed slightly and glanced at Eighty-Eight, who had a cowering expression.

"But the Ten Thousand Stone Crystal Forest is a very scary place. Its danger level is even as high as some forbidden areas."

"Because of crystal sickness?"

Ye Yiyi asked.

"That's the least of the dangers."

Halville shook his head. "Crystallization sickness is simply a phenomenon of magical erosion caused by a high concentration of magical energy. However, the rate of this erosion is actually very slow. It wouldn't be life-threatening for at least ten to eight years."

"The real threat is actually the magical life forms born in a high-concentration magic environment. That's..."

"Just wait a moment."

Ye Yiyi looked at Eighty-Eight who lowered his head and remained silent, and waved his hand to signal the old magician to stop.

"What's wrong, Master?"

Halwell was puzzled.

Ye Yiyi didn't answer, but just stared at Ba Shi Ba and asked.

"Eighty-eight, how many years have you been a labor slave in the Forest of Ten Thousand Stone Crystals?"

After hearing his own code name, Eighty-Eight, who had been listening to the conversation between the two as if it were a mystery, seemed to wake up from a dream. He lowered his head humbly and answered seriously.

"To answer your question, Hero-sama, this is my third year working here."

"..."

Halwell was stunned for a moment and didn't react for a while. He didn't know what Ye Yiyi meant by this question.

Then he heard Ye Yiyi ask:

"Since it's only been three years, how come your crystallization disease is so severe that your entire body is crystallized?"

"Yup!"

The old magician slapped his forehead and suddenly realized.

It's only been three years, and at the normal rate of erosion, it's impossible for the whole body to crystallize!

"Did you touch something you shouldn't have in the forest?"

The old man asked hurriedly.

"what?"

Eighty-eight was stunned.

He opened his mouth, thought about his past experiences, and then shook his head.

"No, we slaves have to be supervised by the stewards and guards when mining. If we come across anything special, we hand it over to the stewards. We slaves are not allowed to touch it."

"Actually not?"

Halville frowned, feeling strange.

"What about the other slaves?"

He then asked: "Haven't they had similar situations before?"

"Ask later. Let's go into town first."

Ye Yiyi interrupted Halville's questioning and pointed to the town in front of him.

Platinum Crystal Town is not a big city, but a town directly under the jurisdiction of Fire Sparrow Flower Monastery, so there are no city walls.

Having said that, due to its special status, this town is still extremely lively, although it cannot compare to a large trading city like Ambret.

Even though it was already night, a large number of drunken mercenaries could still be seen on the streets.

According to Halwell, some of these mercenaries were free mercenaries who were preparing to try their luck in the Ten Thousand Stone Crystal Forest.

The rest are mercenaries employed by merchant groups, nobles, and even the Fire Sparrow Monastery.

"Mercenaries~"

Ye Yiyi looked around and felt a little touched.

If Guts's identity wasn't extremely sensitive in the Firebird Kingdom, he would have wanted to explore the Ten Thousand Stone Crystal Forest as a free mercenary.

"Let's go, find a place to stay first and deal with the scarab's strengthening problem."

After sighing for a moment, he spoke.

"Then come with me. I know a tavern here that makes delicious firefinch cauliflower."

Halville laughed and walked ahead to lead the way.

"Don't be so restrained. Relax a little."

Ye Yiyi patted the tense Eighty-Eight and smiled.

"Since you have been abandoned by your master, you are no longer a slave."

"Not a slave..."

Eighty-eight gazed at the bustling street and still felt it was unreal.

"Am I really... not a slave anymore?"

"Don't be stunned, follow me!"

"Ah, here we come."

Eighty-Eight reacted and jogged to catch up, brushing past a bald mercenary who reeked of alcohol.

"Ok?"

The bald mercenary frowned slightly, looked back curiously, staring at the back of the hunchbacked man, feeling confused.

"Number eighty-eight?"

Chapter 492 The remains of the stars.

Following Halville through the busy streets, we soon arrived at a three-story wooden house with a sloping roof.

This large wooden house covers a very large area. There is a horse hitching post outside the door and frosted glass windows embedded in the walls.

Through the glass, you can vaguely see the brightly lit and bustling scene.

Ye Yiyi looked up and took a look, then heard Halville introduce with a smile:

"This is the Crystal Rock Tavern where I stayed last time. It's one of the businesses run by the Crystal Rock Chamber of Commerce in Platinum Crystal Town. In addition to serving local Fire Sparrow Flower dishes, they also offer dishes and drinks from the Empire. Master, if you're unsure where to stay in the future, Crystal Rock is a sure bet."

Listening to the old man's highly praised words, Ye Yiyi rolled his eyes and said bluntly:

"What? The boss behind this crystal rock is also your student?"

"Yes and no, he just audited my class."

Halwell smiled and took out a metal card from his pocket and shook it.

"Also, I have their gold card, so I don't have to pay for things like food and accommodation."

"You're a master, and you're still short of that little money?"

"This isn't a question of money; it's clearly a question of attitude."

Harwell curled his lips, and at the door of the tavern, a middle-aged man in silk clothes led several people to rush out to greet them.

"Master Halville!!"

The middle-aged man looked up and couldn't help showing joy, and walked over quickly.

He half-bowed, saluted, and then greeted me warmly:

"Just now, when the servant announced that a magician had arrived outside, I immediately guessed it was you, Master. I never thought that after not seeing you for several years, your spirit and energy are still so admirable!"

He turned his head to look at Ye Yiyi beside him, his eyes carefully scanning her cheek, then lingered on the dung beetle on his shoulder for a moment before quickly moving away with a smile on his face.

"Who is this gentleman?"

As for Eighty-Eight, who was hunching his body with his head tucked in behind Ye Yiyi, he just took a glance at him and automatically classified him as a servant.

"Ahem, this is Master Michaela..."

Harwell glanced at Ye Yiyi's calm expression, and seeing that he didn't say anything, he spoke:

"You don't need to ask anything else. Two... no, three upper rooms, the same standard as my last visit, horses and luggage..."

Having said that, the old magician paused, turned his head to look at Ye Yiyi and Virgil, as if asking for their opinions.

Ye Yiyi didn't say anything, just turned her head and looked back.