The sun is high

Shuge doesn't care what others say about him.

To be honest, in addition to the unpleasant name of "the illegitimate son of the Ernst family", he has already been saddled with many weird titles.

Most of these titles appeared after his contributions began to be published, and each one is more outrageous and ugly than the last.

From the original "Midnight Dawn", to the upgraded version of "Five Finger Lover", to the latest "Happy Master"...

There are already countless bad nicknames like this.

As the saying goes, there are too many mosquitoes but it doesn't itch. When there are too many weird nicknames, Xiuge will naturally become desensitized.

In the way Mr. Morel looked at him, Shuge could not feel any respect or kindness. The eyes hidden behind the lenses were full of alertness, contempt and hostility.

Shuge knew that this guy would not have anything good to say about him, but it didn't matter and he didn't care.

Now he is just a little curious about the identity of Mr. Morel.

As far as he knew, the surname "Morrell" was not common. At least in Salem City, the frequency of this surname was extremely limited.

"Morrell... this should be a surname among the aristocratic circles of the Kingdom of Deland, right? Well, what would a close relative of the royal family in an upper-class circle do in such a completely unfashionable newspaper to find an equally unfashionable editor-in-chief? What would they do? What big things can we talk about?”

A series of questions flashed through Xiuge's mind. On the surface, he politely dealt with the chattering female clerk sitting opposite him, but he was thinking endlessly in his mind.

"Judging from the two conversations I heard before, Mr. Morel seems to want Peace Daily to publish some special 'news' in the near future. It sounds like these news are related to the relationship between the Votel people living in Salem City and Related to the Terlanders.”

"During the conversation, Editor Philip seemed to mention that the other party wanted to provoke a fight... Could it be a fight between the Votels and the Delans?"

Xiuge thought so and frowned involuntarily.

When he looked at these problems, he used a perspective different from that of ordinary residents of Salem City. Based on his status as a "half Walter noble" and his own cognitive habits that were detached from this world, Xiuge quickly Then I realized the possibilities that could be extended from these words.

He knew that conflicts between one ethnic group and another were not so easy to resolve.

Sometimes, time is not the real remedy for resolving disputes and conflicts.

If in a relatively peaceful environment, the people in Salem City can indeed gradually merge into a whole. However, in the past three hundred years, two huge shadows behind Salem have been exerting their influence here all the time. With its own terrible influence.

In the eyes of those travelers who come here, the two major urban areas divided by the central axis are indeed a strange sight, but this also shows the hidden dangers in Salem City - the Votels and the Delans The gap between them has never been completely eliminated, and any decree from both countries will cause new shocks here.

There are not a few young people like Putlin.

The closer you are to the bottom, the more likely you are to be harmed by the aftermath of the battle between giant beasts.

While he was thinking about it, the heavy figure of Editor Philip reappeared in Shuge's field of vision. A disgusting smile appeared on his greasy face, so Shuge stood up and faced the man sitting The female clerk opposite him nodded and thanked her, and then left her and the water glass with red lip prints where they were.

The two of them walked into the office one after another.

Editor-in-Chief Philip's office is as uncomfortable as ever. Although it looks neat, in fact the placement of many items and decorations is very awkward, especially the bookcases facing the office door. A large number of them are brand new and have never been touched. The old books are placed on the bookshelf, as if they are deliberately displaying their collection.

On that huge table, there are several ornaments and small sculptures of different styles, some of which are iron ornaments from the Kingdom of Walter, while the other part has distinctive Delan characteristics - they Full of colorful colors and rounded edges, it’s easy to spot.

"Sorry...well, the newspaper office is very busy these days, you know, it's almost the holidays."

"Of course I know, Mr. Philip."

Shuge smiled and put the paper bag containing the manuscript on the table: "This time of year is indeed very important to the newspaper office."

Phillip nodded casually. He picked up his water glass and poured a sip into the huge mouth. Then he reached out and took out Shuge's paper bag. Although his fingers were short and thick, they were extremely dexterous. Then he took out the manuscript and started reading it at a very fast speed.

Shuge closely observed Phillip's actions and everything around him. However, before he could finish reading a full circle, Editor Phillip had already put down the manuscripts. Then he opened the drawer on the side and read from a large pile of paper documents and letters. I pulled out a receipt, picked up a pen and started writing on it quickly.

At the same time, he said: "Okay, okay, I've roughly read it... It's wonderful as always, Mr. Ernst. I'll accept the manuscript first. As usual, give the receipt to Qi." Ms. Li, she will pay the royalties to you."

"This bastard didn't even read the manuscript."

Xiuge laughed and cursed in his heart.

This is also a very abnormal phenomenon. He knows very well that although the editor-in-chief Philip has extremely limited literary attainments, he is always extremely harsh on those contributors. Every time even if there is nothing wrong, he must He has to pick out some thorns in the manuscript. If he can use this to reduce the royalties, he will be extremely excited!

"It seems that this guy has really encountered some serious troubles... so much so that he has no mind to care about other things."

Soon, editor-in-chief Philip finished writing the document in his hand. Shuge was about to reach out to take it, but found that Philip's fingers were still pressing on the document. Shuge looked up and saw Philip looking at him with shining eyes. .

"What's wrong, Editor Philip, is there a problem with my manuscript?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood, Mr. Ernst."

Philip laughed again. He looked at Shuge's coat, which had some signs of wear, and said, "Mr. Ernst, you don't mind earning some extra royalties, right?"

"Uh...of course."

Xiuge hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

So Philip said: "That's it. I hope you can write a few articles for the newspaper in the name of an 'insider' in the Ernst family. We will provide you with the topics. What you have to do is very simple, just use your The words, these themes are slightly... packaged."

…

At about 10:30 in the morning, Shuge took his "fresh" royalties and once again boarded the magic van that was as crowded as a can.

This time, the reward he received was much more generous than before.

In addition to the regular thirty silver coins, there were five general gold coins produced in the Kingdom of Delan in Shuge's pocket.

Five general gold coins may not sound like much, but it is enough for Shuge to renovate Ernst's old house and then hire a competent housekeeper and two servants for himself.

In the past, these "windfalls" were destined to be spent by Shuge in more areas, but in the current situation, they were destined to be consumed by Shuge in the unknown dream world and the escape from the fortress. London City is trying.

The harvest in the morning did not make Shuge happy. On the contrary, the various strange behaviors displayed by the Peace Newspaper and the editor-in-chief Philip made Shuge more certain of the seriousness of the next situation.

"Some people or some forces have secretly transported some things into the city... The explosion last night was probably caused by this. The Legal Committee may have known about it, but they may not be aware of this matter. He will easily express his position and may even be involved with the forces involved."

"The upper-class nobles in the Kingdom of Delan seem to want to set off some public opinion frenzy in Salem City in the near future, and they hope to use this to explode the long-standing conflicts between the Delan people and the Votel people in the city."

At this time, a quarrel broke out in the carriage.

It sounded like a Voltaire knocking something belonging to a DeLand resident in a crowded train.

Similar situations are very common and happen several times a day. The Votel people are resolute and martial in character, so they will regard the Delan people who love colorful things and are passionate about art as cowards, and the latter will often describe the former as barbaric.

Examples like Shuge are undoubtedly an outlier in the Walter Kingdom.

It didn't take long for the car to stop, and the quarrel in the car didn't stop until Shuge left the car and walked onto the street.

Xiuge walked quickly to his residence. Just like before, he opened the door and entered the hall in a slightly dim light. He filled a pot of water and then walked towards the bedroom upstairs.

However, just as he reached the middle of the stairs, the sunlight coming in from the window revealed something strange in the foyer.

At the same time, Xiuge found that the magic power in his body seemed to be affected by something, and it started to operate at an alarming speed, and the metal disc in his spiritual world that was engraved with magic also began to rotate.

"Someone's coming in!"

This idea jumped out of Xiuge's mind.

Through the ray of sunlight that poured into the room, Xiuge saw something unusual in the foyer - on the old, whitened wooden floor, there was a series of indescribable and strange traces, which extended all the way from the direction of the door. After walking around twice in the foyer, he climbed up the wall and finally disappeared beside the guardrail of the corridor on the second floor.

This is clearly not caused by humans.

Instead, it looks like the traces left behind by snails or other creatures crawling.

Xiuge instinctively held his breath. Although he did not understand magic and magic yet, this intuition from the spiritual world could not be ignored, so he slowly bent down and placed the kettle on the stairs. on the stairs, and then picked up a heavy wooden stick that was removed from the broken guardrail on the side of the stairs.

He slowly moved upwards and moved his free left hand slightly, ready to release magic.

Xiuge walked silently and came to the corridor that he was extremely familiar with. Then he saw that the strange traces continued to extend here. It moved forward along the corridor and passed two abandoned guest rooms. , and then passed through the small room used to store sundries, and finally...

Disappeared at the door of Shuge's bedroom.

"Fuck."

Xiuge cursed secretly in his heart, then he lowered his body, stretched out his hand and lightly touched the mark on the ground.

A slippery feeling came from his fingertips, and Xiuge felt as if he had touched some kind of cold mucus. However, when he raised his hand and rubbed his fingers a little, he felt a disgusting sticky feeling. Then it disappeared again, as if what he touched was just the trace left by the water.

"Maybe I should quit... It would be more reliable to report this kind of thing to the Legal Committee or the police station."

Xiuge made a quick judgment, and then decisively retreated downstairs.

In order not to make any noise, he moved very slowly.

However, contrary to expectations, a gust of wind blew from the direction of the bedroom, and then Xiuge smelled a pungent and unpleasant smell.

He recognized the smell, it was exactly the same as the smell he smelled next to the blocked street last night!

The next moment, Xiuge heard a sound.

There was a series of rapid, loud crawling sounds, as if countless feet were tapping the walls and the ground!

Now Xiuge no longer bothered to compare whether the sound was consistent with the strange noise he heard last night. He immediately gave up the idea of ​​retreating silently, turned around and ran two steps downstairs, and then grabbed the guardrail beside him. He turned over and jumped down, landing heavily on the ground in the foyer.

At the same time, the thing that made the noise chased to the stairs on the second floor.

Under the sunlight, Xiuge saw something indescribable.

It was an amorphous, translucent, viscous substance that had already blocked the stairwell on the second floor. It stood there, with countless indistinguishable debris floating and twisting in its form, and its shape , slowly changing in Xiuge's sight.

In just a few breaths, it actually had a rough human shape, but the twisted human shape was still filled with a colorless viscous substance and many fragmentary objects that came from unknown sources. Judging from the way it travels, it is very likely that these things were inadvertently "swallowed" into its body as it advanced.

The air in the foyer was almost stagnant. Xiuge held the broken wooden stick that he used as a self-defense weapon. The memories in his mind continued to surge. Finally, in an inconspicuous corner of his mind, he pulled out an order. A name that scares people.

"Is this... a changeling insect?"