Chapter 128 : Chapter 128
Chapter : 128
"He's in the third year and was taught by my father. When I found him, he didn't admit to it." Quinn said, "But I know his family is attached to Harold's family. I think it's very likely that Harold made him do it."
After saying that, Quinn pouted, "That guy always likes to pull little tricks behind people's backs. Don't worry, I can't teach him a lesson at school, but once we're out of school, I'll definitely help you beat him up good."
Over the past month, Harold would come and cause trouble from time to time, but to Yan Yunqing, these were all trivial matters.
Plus, Yan Yunqing would disappear after class every day, so Harold couldn't find him even if he wanted to cause trouble. Therefore, Yan Yunqing didn't take him seriously.
However, Yan Yunqing did figure out Harold's identity.
His father was Duke Conroy of Romunik, but he was an illegitimate son.
Duke Conroy's current wife was a baroness, whose status was inferior to Duke Conroy's, but the Duke seemed to be very fond of this wife.
Even though she hadn't been able to bear a child for over a decade, he still hadn't brought his mistresses from outside home.
He only brought home the illegitimate children born of those mistresses and raised them under his wife's care. Whenever he attended a banquet, he would also bring his wife along.
Therefore, Conroy's reputation to the outside world was quite good. Everyone said he was deeply affectionate. Only Yan Yunqing felt his values were a bit shattered when he heard this.
Deeply affectionate to the point of having the red flag at home not fall while the colorful flags outside fluttered?
Or deeply affectionate to the point of having a bunch of illegitimate children and bringing them home to annoy his wife?
Yan Yunqing couldn't understand how this scumbag duke's "deeply affectionate" persona was established. In short, when he learned of this matter, he couldn't help but show a expression.
The topic has strayed. Speaking of Harold, his father was a fake, affectionate scumbag who had high expectations for his illegitimate children.
If they didn't develop as Duke Conroy expected, those illegitimate children would suffer.
Harold was considered the best-off among the illegitimate children. His talent and abilities were outstanding. Duke Conroy had invested most of his resources in him, which might be one of the reasons for Harold's terrible personality.
However, Yan Yunqing didn't understand the reason for Harold's targeting him. Was it just because his test score a month ago was a little better than his? That would be too resentful, wouldn't it? A bit inexplicable.
Or was it because he was close to Quinn and the others that he was targeted by Harold?
Yan Yunqing rubbed his nose, unable to understand the strange thought process of Harold.
"I see." Yan Yunqing thought for a moment, "Harold has been causing trouble for me recently, but I've managed to avoid him. This outdoor training will probably stir up some trouble. You guys should be careful of him and don't get provoked."
Quinn was very confident: "Of course, could I be tricked by that guy?"
That's hard to say.
But Yan Yunqing thought of Terence. Terence was usually quite smart. With such a teammate by his side, Quinn probably wouldn't get into any trouble.
Yan Yunqing exchanged a few more words with Quinn. Terence came out of the weapon shop.
Since their destinations were different, Yan Yunqing simply said goodbye and left.
Robin could handle the equipment and everything. What Yan Yunqing wanted to buy this time were just daily necessities. He also wanted to go to the Bounty Hunter's Association to have a look.
There was also a Bounty Hunter's Association in Buma City. Since Yan Yunqing had completed the tasks required for promotion on his way back from the Free City last time and submitted them, he hadn't been to the Bounty Hunter's Association since.
Yan Yunqing planned to go and see if there were any tasks related to the Norman Forest.
Even if he didn't accept them, he could use the task information to judge the general situation of the Norman Forest.
Yan Yunqing browsed around and bought some delicious snacks, stuffing them all into his backpack.
These snacks were all stackable items. The same kind of snack only occupied one slot and could be stacked up to 9999.
Mom no longer had to worry about him starving to death when he was away from home.
After handling everything, Yan Yunqing found a dead corner and switched to his Joker appearance.
However, he wasn't too ostentatious this time. Instead, he wore a cloak that was large enough to cover his entire body and walked into the Bounty Hunter's Association in a low-key manner.
Most of the hunters in the Bounty Hunter's Association in Buma City were related to Sigret Academy. Yan Yunqing's strange attire couldn't help but attract a few glances in his direction.
Yan Yunqing looked straight ahead and walked directly to the task board, browsing through the task information one by one.
There weren't many tasks related to the Norman Forest. Most of them were gathering tasks, and a small part were to kill demonic beasts.
Yan Yunqing casually tapped on one and browsed the information on it.
A low conversation from not far away caught Yan Yunqing's attention. He quickly glanced in that direction with the corner of his eye.
It was two young men who didn't look very old, probably students from Sigret Academy as well.
"A bounty for Morgan's Heart? What's that?"
"Never heard of it. The reward for this task is quite rich. Why is there so little information? It doesn't even say what Morgan's Heart is... could it be a phishing bounty?"
"I think so. Look, the bounty level is unlimited. Usually, such a rich reward corresponds to a high-difficulty task. This task doesn't describe the bounty content clearly, nor does it set a task level. It must be a phishing bounty."
"Seriously, why are there so many phishing bounties every day? Can't the Bounty Hunter's Guild screen them properly?"
"Three months ago..."
The conversation between the two faded away with their footsteps. Yan Yunqing's gaze fell on the machine in front of him, and he began to manually search for the bounty task that the two were just talking about.
Yan Yunqing had no interest in phishing bounties. This type of bounty usually involved scammers using high rewards to attract bounty hunters, luring them to a place for robbery and murder.
However, considering that most bounty hunters were not rich, most phishing bounties set an impossible task to lower the task completion rate of some high-level hunters.
To some extent, it was also a form of business competition. After all, if the opponent's task completion rate decreased, one's own task completion rate would be equivalent to increasing, and the chance of being selected for some competitive 'lucrative jobs' would be greater.
The reason why Yan Yunqing wanted to see this phishing bounty was because he heard the phrase 'Morgan's Heart'.
The false god Morgan. Perhaps even the siblings Isabelle and Divik who defeated it didn't know its real name.
After killing it, Merlin studied Morgan's deformed body and came to a conclusion.
The master behind Mandiper should have found a way to use the energy contained in the remains of the gods to create this underground kingdom of Mandiper.
However, the energy in the remains of the gods itself was a kind of filth. While using these energies, the master of Mandiper was also eroded and polluted, turning into something like a demonic beast that needed to devour flesh and blood to maintain its sanity.
The so-called Midas Touch competition in Mandiper was just a competition held by the master of Mandiper to find more and more powerful flesh and blood.
And all the empty shells whose flesh and blood had been devoured would eventually become the master of Mandiper's collection, which were the golden people Yan Yunqing saw in the exploration instance.
Later, these golden people were indeed found in Mandiper.
Merlin's speculation ended there. After all, the information he had was about that much. And Yan Yunqing had the system's external help, plus some clues found in the exploration instance, so he pieced together the storyline of Mandiper.
The master of Mandiper, that is, the false god Morgan, was originally a merchant. Due to some coincidences (it was highly likely that the Church of Light was behind it), he obtained a piece of a god's skeleton.
This piece of a god's skeleton belonged to the God of Wealth 'Golden Vein' who had fallen a thousand years ago.
Because the skeleton was completely preserved, it was attached with a part of 'Golden Vein's' ability 'Midas Touch'. Morgan used this ability to amass a fortune and established Mandiper.
The 'Midas Touch' skill that Yan Yunqing obtained in the Mandiper instance was derived from the ability in the Golden Vein's skeleton by Morgan.
[Midas Touch]
Description: After using the skill, you can turn any unit into gold by touching it. The duration is determined by the MP consumed and the target's level.
There is a certain chance of causing a decrease in your own will and suffering a backlash. 『This is the price for making a deal with the false god Morgan!』
The note at the end actually also explained that while Morgan was using the ability of the Golden Vein's skeleton, he also paid a certain price.
As for the toy factory in the exploration instance, Yan Yunqing personally guessed it was a metaphor for the Church of Light. After all, besides the Church of Light, no other forces were involved in Mandiper.
However, there was no concrete evidence to prove his guess.
These were all the storylines of Mandiper that Yan Yunqing had deduced through the system. Even Merlin didn't know the name Morgan, so the probability of others knowing it was even lower.
Yan Yunqing found that bounty and tapped on it.
[『No Level Limit』Find Morgan's Heart]
Bounty Details: Find Morgan's Heart and bring it back intact.
Bounty Reward: ...
Bounty Time: ...
When Yan Yunqing saw the reward clearly, he couldn't help but click his tongue.
No wonder this simple bounty task with no level limit could attract the attention of Sigret's students. The reward offered by the person behind it was really too much.
There was a thick stack of rare materials alone, not to mention the gold coin reward with several zeros, which made Yan Yunqing's eyes dazzled.
For a moment, he even had the urge to accept this task.
Fortunately, Yan Yunqing's rationality was still there. He didn't really accept this task, but only guessed who had posted this bounty and for what purpose...
First of all, it was certain that the person who posted the bounty must also be someone who knew the false god Morgan—then it could only be the Church of Light, right?
After all, it was a cooperative relationship. Yan Yunqing didn't believe that the Church of Light knew nothing.
But what exactly was this Morgan's Heart?
Yan Yunqing remembered that after they killed Morgan, they had checked the collapsed Mandiper.
At that time, there were no special discoveries. They hadn't taken anything from Mandiper, not even the gold coins.
After the time-limited challenge instance, the gold coins stored in Mandiper were all tainted with the filth of the skeleton. Even if Yan Yunqing took them, they would be useless.
Since someone would post such a bounty, it meant that the people behind them hadn't found the Morgan's Heart they wanted in the ruins of Mandiper.
But they indeed hadn't taken any items from Mandiper... so this Morgan's Heart had already disappeared from Mandiper before Isabelle and her brother broke in?
Or was this Morgan just a coincidence of the same name, and not the false god Morgan that Yan Yunqing encountered in Mandiper?
Yan Yunqing subconsciously glanced at the time the bounty task was posted. It was just a few days after Mandiper completely collapsed.
If this was really a coincidence, it would be too much of a coincidence.
Yan Yunqing still preferred to believe that this was not a coincidence.
What could it be...
As Yan Yunqing thought, a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
The pitiful and harmless-looking 'Man'er', who dared to propose a cooperation with Joker, who didn't look like a good person at all, and who also knew the location of Mandiper's secret prison.
At that time, Yan Yunqing was just being kind for a moment and agreed to take her away from Mandiper. As a reward for the deal, she would give Yan Yunqing a treasure map of the Eternal Empire.
But Yan Yunqing regretted it not long after he agreed. That 'Man'er' didn't look like a simple character at all. She knew too much and faintly revealed an urgent desire to leave.
Later, Yan Yunqing's Joker broke into the secret prison of Mandiper alone. That 'Man'er' said she would wait for him at the entrance.
Once he entered, the two never saw each other again.
Yan Yunqing had already planned to break the contract. After entering the secret prison and seeing the dying Nana pierced by iron chains and hung up, he couldn't care less.
He directly cut the iron chains and teleported out with Nana. After returning, he didn't specifically look for that 'Man'er', but only glanced through the panicked crowd after everything had settled down.
Unsurprisingly, he did not find the figure of that 'Man'er'.
After that, Yan Yunqing threw the matter to the back of his mind. After all, everyone had secrets.
The treasure map of the Eternal Empire was not something worth remembering for Yan Yunqing—which of those treasures wasn't hidden by him, the Demon King? How could he not know where they were?
But now that I think about it... if he had to say he had met a suspicious person, it would only be this person.
Right, what was her name?
Yan Yunqing tried hard to recall.
...I think her name was Dorin?