The Book of Hibernation

Regarding the rescue operation, Doring already had a rough plan.

Tonight, the island elf's boat will approach the South Fishing Port and anchor on the sea not far from the old pier.The guards in the wharf area are relatively tight, and it is difficult for their boats to approach directly, so they plan to disguise themselves as retail fishing boats using the South Fishing Port.

After mooring, the island elf will change to a light boat and use the cover of night to paddle to the beach closest to the fishing port.After arriving at the beach, Dorin will meet them and lead them through the fishing port area and finally arrive at the commercial port.

Duo Lin has lived in Harbor City on and off for about two years, and he has a good understanding of the road terrain, and even knows roads that many ordinary citizens are not familiar with.The buildings in the fishing port area were chaotic and complicated, and there was a small hill with dense vegetation nearby. Duolin made full use of these terrains and gradually found a route that could avoid the guard post of the city guard and lead directly to the warehouse area.

Dorin will take the elves to the warehouse area, hide in the pre-observed spot, and wait for the first ray of morning light.

When the sky is slightly bright, the city guards in the warehouse area will start to change shifts.According to Dorling's observations, for a short while during the shift change, almost all the city guards moved away from the warehouse where the target was located.At that time, they had much fewer enemies to deal with, only the bodyguards in the warehouse.

After hearing all of Dolin's plans, Winter Thistle was so nervous that her palms were sweating.

He kept an eye on Ryan while listening, and seeing Ryan's slightly frowning serious eyes made him even more frightened.

Winter Thistle knew her brother well.When Ryan showed this expression, it meant that he really wanted to do something seriously.

Winter Thistle hurriedly said to the elf: "But Ryan can't help you attack the bodyguards. You can escape after saving the man, and he will continue to live."

Ryan glanced at him with a subtle expression, but said nothing.

Dorin explained: "No, we don't need Ryan to attack anyone. I just hope he can leave, or pretend to be defeated... In short, as long as he is not actively defending, he has helped us a lot."

"Is it okay to leave him alone? There are others in the warehouse."

"Most of the time, there are seven people in the warehouse, but every once in a while, there will be six people," Doering said. "When we move tomorrow, one of them will leave. If Ryan can cooperate with us secretly, then we There are only five enemies left. Among the five people, one is a temporary bodyguard. He is only for the reward, and he is not willing to fight desperately, so he may not be willing to fight with all his strength. Then, there are only four who are really difficult to deal with—that is, the Four accompanying bodyguards."

When he said this, Dongji really felt a little relieved.If Ryan doesn't have to do anything, just relax on purpose, it doesn't seem too dangerous...

At this time, Duo Lin looked at Winter Thistle and asked, "You are a spellcaster, aren't you?"

Winter Thistle said, "Yes."

Dorin said: "Mr. Winter Thistle, I hope you can do us a favor. If any slaves have entered a state of suspended animation, I wonder if you have any way to wake them up."

Winter Thistle thought about it.He does have a way to wake up those slaves, but...

He sighed, "I think you'd better not wake up those slaves. It's dangerous to wake them up."

"why?"

"Just now you said that there may be island elves, barbarians, and gray mountain elves among the slaves. The island elves can say that they should be able to understand what to do when they wake up and see their own race. But what about the barbarians and gray mountain elves? As far as I know, The barbarians live a relatively primitive life with a very low level of civilization, and they have a bad relationship with the island elves. Although they are not so bad as to cause war, they do not trust each other, and there are serious conflicts in belief, not to mention the trafficked There may be criminals among the barbarians, which are more difficult to deal with. As for the gray mountain elves, they are as primitive as the barbarians, and their intelligence is lower than most humanoids, so it is very difficult to communicate with them. And the gray mountain elves are tall , the strength is also great, it is difficult to control."

Dolin nodded: "You mean, if you wake them up, it will be difficult to take them away..."

"It's not just difficult? Maybe they can't be taken away at all. They were escorted and trafficked, and their spirits were relatively unstable. After waking them up, they saw everything strange around them... Just imagine the chaotic scene."

Dorin pondered for a while, and finally muttered: "It makes sense, then don't wake them up yet. When I meet the leader of the island elves, I will discuss this with him again."

Winter Ji asked: "Having said so much, you haven't said how many people there are in the rescue team? How many slaves are there?"

Dorin said: "I'm not very clear either. I'm only responsible for scouting and contacting. The island elves won't tell me all the arrangements."

You know nothing and start arranging a rescue?

Dongji slandered, looked at Ryan with a serious face, and restrained himself from saying anything.

Dorin stood up, leaned close to the wooden window and looked outside, and turned around: "Thank you, both of you, all I want to say is the above. Whether you are willing to help or not, we will carry out this operation as planned. If you If you are willing to help, we will be very grateful.”

This time, Ryan spoke before Winter Thistle: "I will definitely help. You should also be careful."

"I will," Dorin smiled. "We've talked for a long time, Mr. Lane, you should go to the warehouse too. If you are late at this critical time today, you will be suspicious afterwards."

Dorin led the two down the stairs and returned to the first floor.His voice changed back to a female voice, and he sent the brothers out of the tavern in a tone that hadn't settled the matter.

When leaving, Ryan turned his head in two or three steps, with worry written all over his face.

After walking a little further, he raised his hand and gently stroked the holy emblem carved on the breastplate, his expression gradually calmed down.

The two retrieved the horses and rushed to the warehouse area of ​​the commercial port.On the way, Lion asked Winter Thistle if there was any masking agent. He wanted some, maybe it could be used by slaves and elves.

Winter Thistle says it's impossible.First of all, the masking agent is not salt, and it is not stored in such a large amount. There is not much left of what he made last time, and even if he wants to make it temporarily, there is not enough time now.Secondly, the masking agent is divided into two parts for internal use and external use. The slave is in a state of suspended animation and cannot actively take it. Even if it is forced into the mouth, the suspended animation spell will restrict its absorption, making it difficult for the drug to take effect.

Furthermore, the time for the elves to rescue the slaves is very short. In such a short period of time, it is already very difficult to defeat the bodyguards and transport the slaves. If you have to explain to them how to use the masking agent, win their trust, and let them cooperate , Guarantee that everyone operates correctly... This is really impossible.

Ryan was right after thinking about it, so he said, "Then how much masking agent do you have on your body? Is one serving enough?"

"For two, it's only enough for you and me." Dong Ji took out the only two potions left on her body, and handed one of them to Ryan, "You take one, remember to use it when necessary."

Lane nodded.He had just finished filling the medicine bottle, when he turned around, he saw Winter Thistle pinching open the medicine bottle behind him, taking the masking agent.

He asked Winter Thistle why he was using it now, and Winter Thistle said, "I'll go with you to the warehouse. I want to see those boxes with my own eyes and see if there are really slaves in them."

He was always a little skeptical about it.What if the box is really just an antique?

Or is it not an antique, but other classified items, but in short, not a living person?

Ryan didn't hear his doubts, and just thought it would be good to check the box, and it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

The two of them had a discussion. After Winter Thistle checked the box, if he found any discrepancy with the current known situation, he would find a way to tell Ryan; if there was no discrepancy with the current situation, he would leave the warehouse.After all, he doesn't know how to fight, so it's useless to stay, it will only increase the danger.

Winter Thistle repeatedly told Ryan: at sunrise, before the elves attack, you must find an opportunity to use the masking agent in advance.

Since Ryan is not planning to participate in the battle, there is no need to stay on the scene.It would be best for him to eliminate his figure in advance and leave quietly so that no witnesses can see him.

Winter Thistle's concern is that even if Ryan deliberately plays it perfunctory, he will still be involved in a dangerous battle.Those island elves are not equal to Duolin himself. What if there is a vicious person among them who wants to kill all the enemies and silence them?

Ryan verbally agreed, but Winter Thistle was still not at ease.He knew his younger brother well, and he was afraid that Ryan would do something stupid in a moment of enthusiasm.

He repeatedly explained the importance of doing so, and made Ryan seriously agree to it several times, which made him a little relieved.

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Before entering the commercial port area, the masking agent on Winter Thistle had already started to take effect.Ryan also knew how to cooperate with him, so he walked towards the warehouse naturally as if there was no one else around him.

Winter Thistle walked in with Ryan, and everyone else in the warehouse ignored him.

Compared with the box, Winter Thistle noticed the four bodyguards first. They really looked like dangerous elements, no wonder Ryan suspected them from the beginning.

It's not because of their clothes, but because of the subtle things... expressions, eyes, the way they speak, and so on.Although Ryan is young, he is very sensitive to these.

Among the four, there was indeed a mage.The man's clothes were similar to those of ordinary bodyguards, and he also carried a weapon. At first glance, he looked like a soldier, but if you looked closely, you would find that the ring on his hand had slight magical fluctuations, and there was a smell of medicinal herbs on his body. Not coins, but spell-casting materials.

According to Winter Thistle's observation, the materials he prepared were very simple, and they were all prepared for the suspended animation spell.

After observing the spellcaster, Dong Ji realized helplessly: From this point of view, the matter of the slaves is probably true.

Winter Thistle looked at the stacked boxes again, and began casting spells on them, detecting their contents.

Under the perceptual interference of the full-featured masking agent, even if he cast spells here, people in the room would ignore his existence.

The first spell is lesser spying.After Winter Thistle finished casting the spell, she stuck the palm with the rune on the box, closed her eyes, and could see the general shape of the items in the box in her field of vision.

It really is a human body.Winter Thistle discovers through casting spells that the contents of the box are indeed human bodies.

There was more than one box. He cast spells many times and counted the number of human bodies.Immediately after counting, he felt something was wrong: there were many more than he had imagined.

Each box contains four to six humanoid objects, all lying on their sides with their legs tightly curled up.Fillings such as straw are stuffed in the gaps in the box, just like transporting inanimate objects.

Winter Thistle counted and found that there were more than thirty humanoid bodies stuffed in all the boxes.

Before this, Winter Thistle always thought that each box puts a person, just like a coffin.If this is the case, a few boxes are a few people, and the number of slaves is not large.

Neither Lane nor the elf had said how many people might be in the box.

Winter Thistle felt that something was wrong.If there are so many slaves... I am afraid that the elf's plan will not work at all...

Then, Winter Thistle calmed down for a while, and cast another two spells.

The first spell can identify mammalian life forms within a certain range, and the result is not disturbed by the spell's suspended animation.Within the scope of the warehouse, minus the guards and the caster himself, there should be slaves who are still alive.

Judging from the results of the spell, less than half of the more than 30 slaves had really died.After long-distance bumps and torture, even with suspended animation, it is difficult for them all to survive.

Winter Thistle used another spell to check the status of the corpses. Each corpse had a faint wave of necromancy spells, which should be the most basic corpse preservation spell.He wasn't surprised, probably the mage accompanying the team was responsible for doing this every day.

Some of the slaves died one after another, and the bodyguards with the team already knew about it, but the corpses still remained...

Normally, slave traders would drop dead slaves at any time.And these people keep their corpses, which are well preserved, which shows that they are targeting a very special buyer-both living and dead, maybe the price is different, but they will pay anyway.

Concealment, slavery, the need for living things, corpses, and various alien races... Combining these series of details, Winter Ji's mind revealed the whereabouts of this batch of "goods".

Most likely they are going to be sent to the north... probably to the settlement of necromancers.

Those necromancers need living subjects as well as corpses, especially the southern aliens that are difficult to find locally.

In this way, the matter is even more serious, not only illegal trade, not only slave trade, but also involves the most dangerous taboo.

If the elf rescue team succeeds and saves the slave who is still alive, will this matter be perfectly resolved?

No, I'm afraid not.

Winter Thistle looked at Ryan.Now Ryan couldn't see him or hear him, so he couldn't tell Ryan about these things in detail.

If he had done something on purpose for Lane to see him, then Lane's erratic behavior might have attracted the attention of others... which would have caused more trouble.

Dongji's heart was in a mess, she clenched her hands, thinking about what to do.

Ryan was hired and recommended by Aldin, so does Aldin know anything?

Winter Thistle recalled all the details about this matter: the caravan belonged to another boss, not to the Ten Sails Street Chamber of Commerce; that boss needed to hire guards temporarily, and Aldin was helping him; Aldin didn't want to send himself people, so I recruited Ryan...

Does Aldin know what this caravan has been up to?Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't.

If he didn't know about the slave trade, why didn't he send one of his own... But if he knew in advance, why would he hire a Templar to guard it?

The Knights of the Temple will never tolerate slave trade. Whether it is intimidation or temptation, it is useless. Isn't it more troublesome when the time comes...

Moreover, Aldin doesn't seem to pay much attention to the matter of the dock. When recruiting, his main concern is whether Ryan's ability is good or not, and whether he can be trusted. Don't ask, Kanai just asks routinely every day, and doesn't care too much...

At this time, a person just walked out of the warehouse to solve an urgent problem, so Dong Ji hurriedly took advantage of the opening of the door and followed him out.

After going out, Winter Ji went to find Dew nearby, climbed on the horse's back, and urged the horse to walk with jerky skills.

After Dew had walked for a while, Winter Thistle suddenly realized that there was a masking agent on him, not only humans, but even animals could not see him.

When he approached, Lushui did not respond, neither seeing nor hearing him. When he climbed up, Lushui moved a few times in confusion, but did not struggle.Probably because it vaguely felt that someone was on its back, even though it was doubtful, it still chose to perform its own duties.

Dong Ji realizes that many things may not be simply "know" or "don't know", but more ambiguous and vague...

Aldin may know one part and not another.

Winter Thistle wrapped the reins around her palms, clamped her legs as tight as she could on the horse's back, and crouched down, hugging Dew.

He whispered in Lushui's ear: "Run faster, don't worry about me, don't be afraid of getting hurt, take me back quickly..."