novelonline Chapter 682 New Intelligence, Underground Research Institute
Chapter 682 New Intelligence, Underground Research Institute
Chapter 682 New Intelligence, Underground Research Institute
"Xiao Lin, you said you roughly knew where Rafe was. What did you mean? Please explain it to us quickly."
"Yes, yes, I'll explain. But don't expect too much. I just thought that someone might know Rafe's destination. I'll explain the details later."
Although it may be useless, I still hope to get some information now.
It would be better to ask someone who is familiar with that guy directly.
So he looked to the kingdom's prosecutor.
"Ms. Sena, I want to see someone. Could you please go to the security bureau?"
"Meet someone...?"
Sena tilted her head in confusion.
The corners of Kobayashi's mouth slightly lifted up, and as everyone looked suddenly enlightened, he slowly spoke out a person's name.
----
"So, what do you want from me?"
Uncle Lundberg asked him this.
That's right.
Kobayashi and the others actually didn't know much information about Raf, and they had no idea where he had gone. But it was different for Uncle Lundberg, who had spent a long time with Raf. He must know more about Raf.
So he asked Sena to bring Uncle Lundberg, who was imprisoned, to the guild.
It seemed as if the meeting was specially approved under the condition of being monitored.
Uncle Lundberg, on the other hand, does not look so depressed or unhappy. Perhaps he has been relieved after a long period of counseling, or has let it go.
Xiaolin didn't mean to say any more pleasantries.
"I'll get straight to the point. I want to know Rafe's whereabouts. You should know where he is now. Aren't you his employer?"
"So that's why you called me out specifically, while I was in jail awaiting trial?"
"No one knows where Raph is except Uncle, so there's nothing we can do."
"Heh, I didn't expect you to rely on the person who framed you. Is he a complete idiot, or is he just a good guy... No, is he completely desperate?"
Uncle Lundberg snorted.
Kobayashi didn't comment on his words. To be honest, no matter if he was a good guy or a fool, as long as he could find Rafe, he didn't care what he said.
Uncle Lundberg seemed to sense what Xiaolin was thinking and snorted again.
"Do you think I would tell you even if I knew? You who led me to destruction."
What leads to destruction?
Didn’t you just blow yourself up, uncle?
We didn't do anything, we were just being fooled by Raff like you.
Kobayashi really wanted to tell him that he was making up for his crime by making amends for his crime, but he was just an ordinary adventurer and had no right to give him such preferential treatment, so he could only look at the Kingdom Prosecutor beside him.
And Sena nodded in understanding.
"The situation is urgent. If you have any information, please inform us as soon as possible."
"Sir Sena, is this a statement you make as the Kingdom's prosecutor?"
Uncle Lundberg hadn't expected Sena to be so straightforward and rigid... No, considering Sena's personality, it wasn't surprising.
chuckled.
"It seems that this is correct. Then, I will demand a return according to the laws of this kingdom."
"This one……"
Sena resisted slightly.
Hui Hui asked curiously, “Reward? Do you want to give me something?”
"It is a rule of the kingdom to reward criminals for the information they provide," Sena explained.
In fact, not only the kingdom has such laws, but other kingdoms also have such regulations. After all, if you want them to speak, you can only give them rewards.
In fact, Kobayashi had already guessed what Uncle Lundberg wanted in return.
"It's a pardon, just like what I gave you. I think this is a reasonable price to pay... What do you think, Master Sena?"
He asked the Kingdom Attorney.
Aqua curled her lips and whispered, "How dare this person say this? It's obvious that his purpose is to use us as tools."
Xiaolin didn't say anything.
With the Kingdom Prosecutors here, this kind of thing is not something they can decide.
Everyone looked at Sena.
The answer is——
"……This is impossible."
"Oh? Can you tell me the reason?"
"Generally, criminals can get their sentences reduced by providing information, but you are accused of subverting the kingdom. Since you have clearly said something that is harmful to the kingdom, you will inevitably be sentenced to death. The current situation is obviously different from Mr. Kobayashi's situation back then..."
Sena shook her head slightly, but said seriously: "Pardon and commutation of sentence are impossible."
"is it?"
Uncle Lundberg nodded.
He was surprisingly not sad or angry, and he didn't even try to negotiate more to fight for his own interests.
"Well, I had expected this to happen. I didn't hold out much hope from the beginning."
He seemed to have accepted his fate.
but……
"But this way, I have no reason to assist you anymore. Now, go back to your cell."
You see, it will become like this.
Xiaolin scratched his head.
Seeing that he refused to give in, Sena did not use her status to threaten him. Instead, she nodded and said, "Thank you very much for your assistance this time."
She probably has a lot of experience too.
Understand that in this situation, it is wishful thinking to ask the other party for help.
"Mr. Kobayashi, it seems that it is futile to talk any more."
"No, wait a minute."
Xiao Lin stopped Uncle Lundberg who wanted to go back and asked, "What you just said, to put it bluntly, is that you know something, right? There's nothing to lose, so it's okay to tell me what you know, right?"
"There is no loss, but there is benefit."
Uncle Lundberg raised his lips slightly, and said in a somewhat malicious tone: "After all, it will embarrass you, but it is worth it for me. Worry, suffer, this is the biggest trouble I can cause you while you are imprisoned."
"No, no, no, it's no use for you to cause trouble for us. You're causing trouble for the wrong person from the beginning."
"Wrong target?"
"Look, it wasn't us who betrayed you, it was Raph. If you want revenge, you should go to him, right? After all, if you really got the ancient monster at that time, you know how powerful Valavi is, right? You might be able to overthrow the entire kingdom. But now, you can't fight back."
"Well……"
"And even if I wanted to retaliate, I've already been captured, so there's no way I can act. But fortunately, there's a group of people who want to capture Raph, and they can be a convenient adventurer who can achieve their goal on my behalf..."
"That is……?"
Seeing that he fell into silence, Kobayashi continued to take advantage of the situation and spoke.
"Uncle, that's what you did originally, right? You used adventurers to achieve your own goals. Even if I'm trying to cheat you again this time, we will help you. So, if you have any information about where Rafe went, tell me everything. Defeat Valavi, capture Rafe as well, and hinder all his goals."
“…………Humph, hahaha…hahaha! Interesting, really interesting, Mr. Kobayashi!”
Uncle Lundberg suddenly laughed heartily.
It's a bit difficult to deal with someone suddenly going crazy.
"Hey, hey, hey, this is a rare serious mode for me."
"No, no, no, sorry. I'm really enlightened after hearing what you said. It's true now. In terms of the degree of hatred, there is someone who can be hated more... hindering Rafe's purpose? Indeed, this is more in line with my opinion."
Uncle Lundberg seemed to agree with Kobayashi's words.
Sena was slightly pleased.
“That means…!”
"Okay, I'll help you. I'll give you all the information I know about Rafe."
With a smile on his face, he agreed to the request.
"Oh, thank you, uncle!"
"But don't expect too much. There is no solid evidence that the guy is there."
When Xiaolin was happy, he poured a basin of cold water on him.
Sena shook her head and said, "It doesn't matter. What we need now is more information. Even if we are not sure, we must investigate."
"Since you said so..."
So everyone returned to the guild again.
After asking the counter lady Luna to find an empty room, they sat down and listened to the information about Rafe.
"Please use."
Luna served tea considerately.
Uncle Lundberg thanked him and began to explain the situation.
"…That was shortly after I hired Rafe. He was studying ancient civilizations, but he was having trouble getting the understanding of the people around him. Because of this, his research funding was quite insufficient. In order to make up for the funding gap, he did a lot of crazy things."
crazy?
I think Raff must have done something really exaggerated to make Uncle Lundberg use this word.
Xiaolin frowned slightly.
"It looks like I sneaked into the maze alone."
"Alone?"
"That's right. I used the minimum amount of magic items to protect myself and dived into the deepest part alone."
Everyone gasped.
That's really crazy.
After all, Rafe was just an ordinary researcher, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was powerless. Yet, such a person actually sneaked into the deepest part with no funds and only the minimum magic tools.
A man who doesn't care about his life.
Uncle Lundberg continued, "Excavation of ancient ruins, restoration and investigation of discovered heritage... In order to complete these tasks efficiently, it seems that most of them live and work in the labyrinth. Well, he seems to be more indignant about the fact that he can't conduct research without spending so much time than his own safety."
Even so, Raph is not an adventurer.
Insisting on sneaking into the maze to conduct experiments, isn't that crazy?
"I've heard about him going to the underground city before."
When Kobayashi heard Uncle Lundberg speak, he realized that what he was going to say next would get to the point.
"One is a bottomless maze that extends underground. He said that he lives there for a long time because no one comes back to disturb him and he can concentrate on his research."
Xiaolin raised his eyebrows.
I was just wondering why there was a magic item in that maze that could play images at will. It turns out that someone lived there a long time ago.
"Oh, it looks like you've already been there."
"That's right. I just didn't expect that after Rafe threw the statue down, he ran away."
Xiaolin sighed slightly.
"…So, what about the others?"
"The other one is the great man from ancient times whom he admired. A rare genius who could create destructive weapons that brought chaos to the world. It seems that this man once had his own research institute, which was protected by many strange stone statues."
"Hey, hey, hey, that can't be..."
If we talk about a strange stone statue research institute, it’s only there!
as predicted.
"...Underground Research Institute." Uncle Lundberg spoke what was in Xiaolin's mind and explained, "Rafe said he lived there and had accumulated a lot of ancient knowledge, so he liked it very much."
"But is there a place to live in that maze?"
Xiaolin began to recall.
If I were to say how many times I had been to that maze, it would be probably... three times.
The first time was when I first went there, the second time was when I was looking for research data on the dolls, and the third time was when I was looking for the magic stone fragments.
But no matter which time.
He didn't even notice anyone living there.
Uncle Lundberg shook his head and said, "Who knows? He said he found a secret door that ordinary people can't find, and built a base inside as a research laboratory."
"…Is Raph inside that secret door?"
"Probably. From what I know, Raph has nowhere else to hide, and... he probably doesn't have a choice."
Uncle Lundberg looked at the wanted poster on the notice board.
indeed.
With the guild issuing a wanted order, Raph couldn't enter the town or wander around outside.
No wonder he was found in the bottomless maze. He must have had no choice but to go there.
Sena also reacted.
"Thank you very much, Lundberg, for your assistance."
She bowed slightly towards the uncle.
"Nothing, it's just that the target of trouble has changed." Uncle Lundberg waved his hand indifferently, and said to Xiaolin with a smile: "I look forward to your fight, but you must take revenge for me."
After saying that, he didn't care whether Xiaolin agreed or not, but stood up and said goodbye and walked out of the room.
After seeing off Uncle Lundberg.
Kobayashi and his companions gathered in the guild and said, "To sum up, we need to infiltrate the underground research institute."
"There's a high chance that Raph is there."
"I'm really angry because he keeps messing with me! Next time I see him, I'll use a big explosion magic to comfort him."
"And we have to settle the matter with Walavi. It would be better to be fully prepared to challenge again."
"I'm fully prepared! This time I'm going to use the Right Hand of God to hit that guy in the face!"
They all looked eager to try.
Perhaps they found a clue, and these people were no longer confused or evasive, and chose to solve the matter quickly and efficiently.
Xiaolin also nodded.
"Well, I finally found a clue to the solution. Work harder and catch that research idiot!"
"Oh oh oh!"
The crowd cheered loudly.
So, after they were fully prepared, they headed towards the underground research institute built by the Crimson Demon uncle, which should be the location of the final battle.
It’s time for everything to come to an end!
(End of this chapter)