Chapter 493 - 382: Borrowing Strength

Having regained a pocketful of Black Dragon coins, Long Yi and Ai Lin shopped around the small city, buying some authentic Black Dragon Empire-style clothing, perfecting their disguise.

At night, Ai Lin was relaxing her face, which had been stuck with adhesive for several days, when a knock suddenly sounded at the window, and Suolin’s figure appeared.

"Is there any interesting news?" Long Yi asked.

"No interesting news, but I heard the Black Dragon Empire is starting a massive recruitment. Men and women, age doesn’t matter. As long as one enlists, the family receives economic assistance." Suolin reported.

"Hey, this isn’t recruitment, but sourcing material for the Undead Warriors." Long Yi scoffed.

"That Yake, he’s so wicked!" He sighed, shaking his head.

Suddenly, two red shadows flew in from the window again.

The red shadows transformed into two identical young girls.

The Dandi sisters.

"So, have we decided on our next stop?" Long Yi asked.

"Yes, we’ve already scouted out that city, there are no garrisons, it is just as you said, completely abandoned by the Black Dragon Empire. The only purpose these cities serve are taxes and recruitment." One of the Dandi sisters explained.

"No, there’s one more purpose," Little Zi flew in grinning.

"What purpose?" Seeing Little Zi so happy, they assumed she must have found something interesting.

"Treasure," Little Zi revealed, "I originally intended to eavesdrop on the city lord for useful information. Instead, I witnessed a group of people clandestinely digging out massive amounts of gold and treasure from the basement of the City Lord Mansion. Apparently, these treasures were buried by the deceased Emperor Kaniel. His intention was to scatter his wealth, leaving himself a way out in case of crisis. But the crisis never came, he was beheaded instead, and now his son Yake has started digging up his father’s treasures."

Hearing that Kaniel had been beheaded, Suolin was pleased as that was her handiwork.

"Ah, all that gold, I really want to loot it!" Long Yi wistfully expressed.

"Is that appropriate?" Ai Lin thought for a moment, then voiced her concerns.

"Exactly, because it’s inappropriate that I want to do it." Long Yi shook his head and shrugged, "Forget it, everyone, rest. We still have to travel tomorrow. Those gold pieces, sooner or later, will definitely be ours!"

Along the way, Long Yi and Ai Lin, played their fabricated roles as a bored wealthy couple to the hilt with their acting skills becoming more refined. Very few could see through their facade and even if someone occasionally grew suspicious, they had Little Zi with them. A little psychic suggestion from her and they were convinced. Little Zi’s psychic suggestion was a very direct and effective measure, but Long Yi could not rely on it. Once they entered the Black Dragon Empire, they would encounter a lot of dangers. Little Zi was powerful now, and her psychic magic would certainly be effective, but power also meant they could easily be exposed. Unless it was a last resort, Long Yi didn’t want to expose themselves.

Thus, as they continued their journey, the image of this affluent couple took on many attributes, and their backstory became more elaborate. The carriage they rode in had evolved from a small horse-drawn carriage to the current luxury car pulled by two Pseudo-dragons.

Pseudo-dragons, just like their name indicates, are false dragons. They resemble the Dragon Clan in appearance but are actually a type of giant lizard. They don’t have high intelligence but possess bodies like the Dragon Clan—of course, they are much smaller and lack Dragon Power.

Out of respect for the Dragon Clan, the people of the White Dragon Empire generally don’t bother these Pseudo-dragons. But in the Black Dragon Empire, a luxury car pulled by Pseudo-dragons is a symbol of status and prestige!

The royal family of the Black Dragon Empire has the most luxurious car, pulled by eight Pseudo-dragons, twice as wide as a regular car. That was the favourite car of the former Emperor Kaniel. But after Kaniel died, this car was sold to a super-rich man by Yake at an extremely high price. For a time, showing off wealth had a new method in the Black Dragon Empire.

The merchants dealing in carriages also came up with a solution to help those who wanted face but didn’t have enough money.

Renting.

Thanks to Long Yi’s fabricated super-rich identity, he managed to get a dragon-pulled carriage.

However, the carriage didn’t symbolize a pass.

The driver was key.

The city gate inspection was very strict; soldiers lined up in a queue, systematically driving out any suspicious persons. The queue stretched long, moving forward slowly, while beside the city gate gate, there was a special passage with fewer people coming and going. Anyone who used this passage was either super-rich or highly influential—ordinary people were not allowed near this place.

The dragon carriage in which Long Yi was located came from this passage.

As a routine check, the guards stopped them.

"Huh? Is it you, lad? I was wondering why you didn’t come to bet yesterday night, turns out you went to make money!" The guard and the driver knew each other. Yes, all of this was within Long Yi’s plan.

"Haha, making money isn’t easy!" The driver chuckled.

"Who is in the carriage?" The guard asked while scanning the driver’s body with a special device. Little Zi instantly informed Long Yi that the device could detect psychic energy—if the driver is under psychic influence, this device could detect it immediately.

"Shh—" The driver quickly signaled him to be quiet.

"What’s wrong?" The guard also began to show nervousness.

"The two people in the carriage are relatives of Master Abbas..." The coachman whispered in the lowest possible voice.

"Don’t blurt out nonsense!" Long Yi muttered under his breath from inside the carriage.

"Ah! I’m sorry, sir!" The coachman hastily replied.

"Damn!" The guard was startled and hurriedly stepped out of the way.

Abbas was notoriously known in the Imperial City of the Black Dragon Empire, but in reality, not many people had actually seen him. This near centenarian rarely left his house, and when he did, he was often bound for the gambling house. Abbas loved nothing more than to pour over the shiny objects in his secret treasury. His love for wealth was just as infamous as his compulsive gambling habit, and he was a horrendous sore loser. Simply put, he was someone that couldn’t bear the thought of losing. Once he lost, he would stop at nothing until he has squeezed the winning purse out of you. For this very reason, many large casinos had blacklisted Abbas in the Black Dragon Empire.

Of course, his unpredictable mood swings were his third most notorious trait.

Consequently, anyone with a sane mind in the Black Dragon Empire would avoid mentioning his name.

Along the way, whispers about Long Yi’s identity echoed around him. His cover went from being someone who had a gambling spree with Abbas to being related to Abbas. Long Yi’s flawless Imperial City accent was quite convincing, and the guards had already inspected the familiar coachman, so they waved him through without further inquiries.

Long Yi had gone through all this trouble just for this moment.

The whole process turned out to be easier than expected.

As the dragon coach passed through the city gates, the guard whispered to the coachman, "The city is currently under heavy restrictions – dragon coaches can only traverse the outer city. If the gentlemen in the carriage wish to venture into the inner city..."

Before the guard could finish, the coachman nodded, indicating that he understood.

At this moment, however, Long Yi opened the carriage door and tossed a small bag towards the guard.

"Brother, that’s for your troubles! Use it to buy yourself a drink."

The guard instinctively glanced inside the carriage. He saw two Black Dragon Empiremen dressed in lavish attire, looking as expected. Lowering his gaze, he examined the small pouch that was surprisingly hard. Upon opening the bag, the guard’s eyes popped out. Inside it was a dazzling gem!

Exchange it for some drinks? This gem was enough to buy a house in the outer city!

"Thank you for your generosity, esteemed sir!" The guard swiftly saluted, clasping the gem in his hand so tightly so as not to draw attention to it.

The dragon coach was moving slowly through the outer city, while Long Yi was keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

"There are fewer people on the streets than usual," Suolin whispered.

"It’s a heightened alert. That dimwit, Yake, definitely knows we’re here, otherwise how could everything be so high profile?" Long Yi replied nonchalantly.

"Are we continuing with our plan?" Ai Lin whispered.

"Of course! Why wouldn’t we? Ha! Isn’t it fun when things don’t go according to the plan?" Long Yi replied with a hearty laughter.

The Imperial City of Black Dragon Empire was under a high alert, which meant dragon coaches could not easily enter the inner city.

The separation of the outer city from the inner city was marked by towering walls. Every ten meters along the wall there was a dragon-hunting cannon. Inside the inner city were several tall towers, each topped with four dragon-hunting cannons. As home to the most privileged dignitaries of the Black Dragon Empire, this place was fortified to an extreme.

Now that the dragon coach was not allowed to enter the inner city, the coachman was highly agitated.

"Kid, do you know who’s riding in this coach?" The coachman glared at the Earth Dragon Knight standing in front of him, his eyes filled with scorn. From the expression in his eyes, he was clearly trying to intimidate, at least enough to make the Earth Dragon Knight recoil somewhat. After all, in a place sprinkled with wealthy officials and tycoons, you never know who you might accidentally offend.

The coachman had this figured out - in the Imperial City of the Black Dragon Empire, anyone who had a shred of influence wouldn’t be stationed here to guard the gates.

"I... I don’t care who’s in that carriage! Unless it’s the Emperor himself, everyone must dismount and be inspected!" The Earth Dragon Knight responded, trying to give some backbone to its wavering voice.

"I think you’re itching for trouble, by even refusing Abbas..."

"That will do! Don’t say anymore! The young man here is just following orders, we shouldn’t give him a hard time," Long Yi promptly intervened. He pushed open the carriage door and stepped out with Ai Lin.

The earth dragon knight was stunned.

Abbas?

Could it possibly be Abbas? My God! If it’s that Abbas, then I’ve clearly provoked the un-provable! Who in the Imperial City of the Black Dragon Empire would dare to mess around with that capricious geriatric? (To be continued. If you like this novel, I welcome you to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. For mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)