Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 16 When the False is Made True, the True Becomes False
The surrounding rocks all started to move. Large chunks of rock formed into two feet, then a torso, arms, and finally a head. Broken Rock, the Lord of the Stones, had a full beard of rock. He looked at Quinton and said sternly, "Just now you said Luke was an adventurer, and now you say he was a meteorite. If you slander without any evidence, the consequences will be very serious."
"I..." Quinton couldn't produce any evidence, but he was aware of his situation. He was in a very passive position now. If he gave a wrong answer, he would be beaten into a meat pie. He hurriedly defended himself: "Great Lord of the Stone, please believe me. Just now, the meteorite that visited the Triumph Fortress suddenly disappeared, and this Luke happened to come to the Land of Dreams at this time.
This is too much of a coincidence!"
Luke said, "The meteorite arrived at Triumph Fortress today, and you arrived a day earlier yesterday. Isn't that a coincidence? Quinton, stop struggling! Tell me! How did you steal the information about the Dreamland?"
Quinton jumped up and pointed at Luke and shouted, "You are the one who stole the Dreamland. I brought the warrant from the Duke of Celtic, and it has the Duke's personal seal of wax on it."
Luke said, "The Duke's personal wax seal? Was it really the Duke's personal wax seal?"
“You, you…” Quinton was so angry that he could hardly speak. He said to Broken Rock, the Lord of the Giant Stone, “It’s very simple to prove which of us is fake. Just arrest both of us and send a rock giant to the Duke of Holy Mountain’s Castle to confirm.”
"The interior of the Triumph Fortress is full of soldiers from the Northern Legion. What is your intention in letting the Lord of the Stone send the rock giants out? Moreover..." Luke said to the Lord of the Stone, "If we delay too long, my identity will be exposed. I know it is difficult for me to prove that he is a fake envoy, and he has no way to prove that I am a fake envoy.
But the Duke was afraid that I would do something that would offend the rock giants, so he told me many things about the Dreamland that I should remember. The Duke cherished the friendship between the barbarians and the rock giants very much. This friendship can be traced back to the ancient war period and is the most important wealth of the barbarians. "
Luke's words were very useful to the Lord of the Stone. He fancied, "Yes! When the ancient war broke out, I was just a little stone spirit. I followed the previous Lord of the Stone and his tribe over the mountains to the Tedega Hills. The barbarians at that time gave us a lot of help and gave us this cave as a dreamland for the rock giants.
We slept in a dream for so long that it seemed as if a thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye."
Seeing the Stone Lord and Luke chatting so harmoniously, Quinton became even more flustered. He said, "Your Excellency the Duke cherishes the friendship with the rock giants. The ancestors of the barbarians and the rock giants..."
Quinton didn't know what to say next. Before coming to Triumph Fortress, he didn't know about the Land of Strange Dreams. If he didn't need a human to be a special envoy, he wouldn't have known such a secret. Apart from knowing how to enter the Land of Strange Dreams and that the leader of the rock giants was called Broken Rock, he knew nothing else.
Fear and nervousness made Quinton's face sweat profusely, just like his fake identity was exposed.
At this time, the Lord of the Stone looked at Quinton, then at Luke, and said, "Okay, I will now ask some questions about the Land of Strange Dreams that only the Duke of Celtic knows. Those who can answer them are the Duke of Celtic's envoys, and those who can't answer them..."
The Lord of the Stone looked at Quinton again, and Quinton began to tremble with fear.
Luke displayed all the cheat sheets he could find on his phone and said calmly, "Excuse me!"
The Lord of the Stone asked: "How many rock giants are there in the Dreamland? Consultant Quinton...you answer first!"
Quinton looked around hurriedly, but the surrounding space was filled with rock giants, and he couldn't count how many rock giants there were.
"I... I don't know. The Duke didn't tell me... Great Lord of Rock, I didn't lie to you. I really found the Land of Strange Dreams on the orders of the Duke..."
"You have no chance !" The Lord of the Stone stopped Quinton from speaking and turned to Luke and asked, "Now it's your turn to answer... Only the Duke of Celtic knows the answer. If you answer correctly, I will believe you."
Answer: 65.
Luke checked the "Dreamland Dungeon Guide" written by many players. If only the rock giants are counted, there are 65 of them, and there are an unknown number of stone spirits.
Just as Luke was about to give the answer, he suddenly had an intuition in his heart that stopped him... This question was the final test from the Lord of the Stone specifically targeting him.
The number of individuals of a race cannot be easily known by outsiders, especially for rare supernatural creatures like rock giants. It is even more impossible to let others know how many rock giants there are in the Dreamland. The relationship between the barbarians and the rock giants is good, but it is definitely not good enough to tell each other such crucial information.
The Lord of the Stone repeatedly emphasized that this was a secret known only to the Duke of Celtic, which was a trap for himself.
The standard answer to this question is...
"I don't know." Luke said ashamedly: "When the Duke introduced the Dreamland to me, he didn't tell me how many rock giants there are here.
Fortunately, Consultant Quinton didn’t know either.”
When Quinton heard Luke say that he didn't know, he felt relieved. This hurdle had been passed.
I hope the other party still doesn’t know the answer to the next question.
But who would have thought that Luke continued, "But the Duke told me another thing. During the ancient war, there were 34 rock giants and 68 stone spirits when they migrated into the Tedega Hills. Now that a thousand years have passed, the number of rock giants in the Dreamland should have increased a lot ."
The barbarians welcomed the rock giants into the Tedega Hills, and it was not difficult to count the number of rock giants at that time.
The Lord of the Stone nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, the number of rock giants that migrated here thousands of years ago is indeed 34. Your answer satisfies me very much. You are indeed the special envoy of the Duke of Celtic."
Quinton was dumbfounded. He stammered, "Great Lord of the Stone, please be sure to seek answers from the Holy Mountain. I don't know how he knows so much about the Land of Dreams, but I am definitely here on the orders of the Duke of Celtic.
Please, let the Duke prove who is the real one between me and him."
The Lord of the Stone walked towards Quinton: "But the Dreamland has been exposed, there must be an ambush outside, and the rock giant can't get out. Therefore, the Duke of Celtic will not prove anything, but the Duke told me the answer in another way.
It's a pity that you haven't stolen enough secrets from the Duke. Fortunately, you didn't steal enough secrets. I didn't know Luke worked for the Duke, otherwise we would have been exterminated! "
The Lord of the Stone slapped Quinton and the stone chair behind him were smashed to pieces.
Blood oozed from the gaps between the rubble.
The Lord of the Stone raised his hand, shook off the blood on it, and said to Luke, "Now that the Dreamland has been exposed, we can no longer assist you in assassinating the Princess and the Falling Star. Please understand!"
Luke glanced at Quinton, whose flesh and blood had completely blended with the stone, and sighed, saying, “I didn’t expect that the Imperial Secret Intelligence Agency would plant a secret negotiator next to the Duke. I wonder how much more information has been leaked.
Compared with the assassination of the eldest princess and the meteorite, protecting the Land of Strange Dreams is the most important thing, which is related to the future counterattack of the Barbarian Legion on the Triumph Fortress.
From now on, the gate to the Land of Strange Dreams must be kept tightly closed, the rock giants are strictly prohibited from leaving, and the secret order to open the gate must be changed!"
The Lord of the Stone nodded repeatedly.
With less than a hundred rock giants in the Land of Strange Dreams, a direct confrontation with the main force of the Northern Army would be a death sentence. Now that the enemy knows the existence of the Land of Strange Dreams, the rock giants must strictly guard the space barrier and prevent outsiders from visiting, which can reduce the chances of the Northern Army breaking the space barrier.
The password to open the door must be changed.
Luke left the Land of Strange Dreams after agreeing on a new secret order with the Lord of the Stone, claiming that his identity could not be revealed.
As the stone wall behind him closed again, Luke rubbed out a flame to illuminate the dark passage, a triumphant smile on his face.
All the rock giants were asleep, and the secret order to enter the Land of Dreams had been changed. Even the Duke of Celtic himself could not open the door.
This helped the Northern Legion eliminate a hidden danger.
Killing the Celtic Duke's envoy was an unexpected gain.
I wonder how Sinclair will react when he finds out Quinton has disappeared right under his nose.
Hahaha……
Let’s wait and see tomorrow.
There are many passages in the Triumph Fortress that can lead to the Land of Dreams. When coming out, Luke specifically instructed to open a door closest to the fortress station, so when Luke came out of the passage, he was already outside the mountain.
Inside the fortress, high-powered searchlights swept back and forth, and a large number of soldiers searched everywhere.
There were even many people leading military dogs.
It seems as if they will dig three feet into the ground to find the meteorite.
Fortunately, there were many boxes of relief supplies piled up in the station. Luke blocked the searching sergeants' sight and jumped into the carriage after a few dodgy moves.
"Who is it?" Several spies on guard in the carriage drew their swords immediately after hearing the voice. After seeing that it was Luke who came in, they put away their swords and saluted: "Mr. Marquis."
Luke brushed off the grass and dust stuck on his clothes and asked, "Did anything special happen while I was away?"
The spy leader replied: "Everything is normal inside the train. I don't know what important thing the Northern Army lost that they sent so many people to look for it. We sent people to ask, but they said nothing.
Her Royal Highness the Princess asked us to guard the carriages separately and no one was allowed to leave at will.
Sir, you...come back like this, has something happened?"
"It's nothing serious." Luke said lightly, "You don't have to be nervous. Arrange the shifts and everyone else can go and rest.
"Have you, Her Royal Highness, rested?"
The spy leader replied, "When I was inspecting the train just now, I saw that the light in Her Royal Highness's room was still on."
"I'm going to talk to Her Royal Highness the Princess about something. You guys have worked hard!"
The spies said in unison: "For the great Empire! For the great Emperor of the Empire!"
Luke waved his hand and walked forward along the carriage.
As Luke walked away, the spies couldn't help but start gossiping.
"Do you think the Marquis stole something important from the Northern Army, which caused them to be so anxious to find it?"
"Can what Lord Marquis did be called stealing? Didn't you see how happy he was just now? The tension of the Northern Army must be related to him."
"The Northern Army deserves it! The Imperial Princess and the Governor of Raging Waves came together to express their condolences. What a high level! The Northern Army only sent a colonel to greet them. It is simply a humiliation to His Highness and the Lord.
It is understandable that the emperor's grandson Sinclair did not show up because of Fania, but General Joshua should come out to greet him. "
The spy leader reprimanded, "Can you discuss the royal family's affairs casually?"
"Yes, yes, this kind of royal matter is not something we should discuss. But there is absolutely no problem for us to talk about another kind of royal matter.
When do you think Her Royal Highness the Princess and Lord Marquis Meteorite will get married?"
This topic aroused the interest of all the spies in the carriage, including the head of the spies who joined in the gossip.
Luke knocked on Agatha's bedroom door.
"Who's outside?" It sounded like Agatha's lady-in-waiting.
Luke replied: "Meteor."
The door opened immediately, and it was opened by a lady-in-waiting. She saluted happily when she saw Luke and said, "My Lord Marquis, I am so glad that you have returned safely. Her Royal Highness the Princess has been worried about you.
Please come in..."
The maid let Luke into the room and she went out and closed the door.
Even for the eldest princess, it is impossible to have a very spacious room on the train. The outer room is a living room and study, and the inner room is a bedroom. The layout of the room is compact, and the decoration is in line with the status of the eldest princess, luxurious and noble.
Agatha stood by the window and looked at Luke, her expression showing relief followed by worry.
"Although I believe you will be safe, the Northern Army is in such a mess that I still worry about your safety. I'm glad you're back, I'm glad you're back..."
The lights and figures outside the window were swaying. Luke walked forward and quickly closed the curtains. "They are looking for me. Let them look for me all night."
There was a coffee table on the inside of the window, and on both sides were chairs fixed to the walls of the carriage. On the coffee table was a cup of tea, which had gone cold but had not been drunk.
Luke grabbed the cup and wanted to drink, but Agatha quickly snatched it away and shouted, "Lan Xi, the tea is cold. Make us two cups of coffee."
The female official outside the door responded: "Yes, Your Highness the Princess."
Agatha smiled, and she sat down and said to Luke, "Tell me what you did. It must be something important and exciting. I have the whole night to listen to your story."
Luke sat opposite Agatha and said, "Did you know that the Duke of Celtic's envoy is inside the Triumph Fortress?"
Agatha replied: "It is as expected. The personnel and itinerary of this visit are public. In order to prevent Sinclair from reaching a reconciliation with us, the cabinet has sent a special envoy, and the Duke of Celtic should also take action.
Do you have any good news for me?"
"I made the Celtic Duke's envoy disappear from the fortress."
"How did you do that?"
Agatha was surprised.
Luke and I had just arrived at the Triumph Fortress today, and Luke had been busy handing over the gifts all day, and only entered the fortress for a tour in the evening.
It had only been a short time since he entered the fortress when the Celtic Duke's envoy disappeared.
It's disappearance, not death. There's not even a corpse or trace!
Don’t the people in the Northern Legion have eyes?
