Chapter 1863 - 1862: The Arrest (Large - , Requesting Monthly Votes)

Sitting on the steps at the entrance of the shop, Anke tightly held the bracelet in his hand.

Circles flashed inside the search box, and then a few lonely pieces of information appeared,

"Old man, do you think this Kevort mentioned here is the Kevort you were talking about?" Anke asked softly, looking at the contents on the bracelet. "Based on archaeological information from the cataclysm period, it is speculated that there was once a large commercial city-state in the Central Federation, called Kevort, which later seemed to have been destroyed for some reason."

"It sounds like it," He Ao said calmly, "so can you determine where this city he inferred is located?"

"Let me see," Anke quickly flipped through the data on the bracelet, "it says it’s in the Central Federation area, but the person who wrote this article doesn’t know the exact location either,"

At this, he spat, "Isn’t this just nonsense? I also know it’s in the Central Federation area."

"Is there any other useful information?" He Ao asked in a low voice.

Anke searched for a bit, then shook his head, "There is very little information about Kevort, and few people study it, just this news contains a little bit of useful information."

"What are the major cities in the Central Federation?" He Ao quickly asked.

"Let me see," Anke opened the bracelet and began to search. Soon, a new page opened, "There’s Kai City, Vissen, Ilotan..."

"Wait," He Ao interrupted him, "Where is Ilotan?"

"Let me see," Anke opened the map interface and projected it out, "It’s probably in this position in the Central Federation. Do you know this city, old man?"

"Ilotan is the largest city of the Julia Kingdom, and it used to be the capital, but they later moved the capital to a city further east," He Ao said calmly.

As a Record Master, Denos had the habit of consulting local classics whenever he arrived at a new place.

Of course, he had also been to Ilotan.

"Ilotan had a lot of commercial exchanges with Kevort and even had dedicated trade routes," He Ao’s perception quickly swept over the projected map, "If this Ilotan of yours hasn’t moved, then finding Ilotan is finding Kevort."

At this, He Ao paused slightly and asked, "What is your current measurement unit for distance?"

"Measurement unit? What does that word mean?" Anke was slightly confused.

He Ao paused, then said, "I mean what unit you use to measure length."

"Meters, I guess," Anke thought for a moment, "A thousand meters is a kilometer."

He thought for a moment, raised his hand, and roughly measured a length, "It’s about ’meters,’ though it might be a bit off."

"Hmm, let me think," He Ao paused for a moment, "It’s approximately northwest of Ilotan, maybe 300 kilometers in a straight line, what’s there?"

"Let me see," Anke glanced at the map, and directly entered the words He Ao just told him into the map’s dialog box.

Soon, a city shimmering with a faint light appeared.

"Your current technology is quite convenient," He Ao remarked.

"Indeed," Anke nodded, but he was slightly entranced by the glowing city on the map, "It’s Vissen City."

"Do you know this city?" This time, He Ao asked him.

"Vissen is my hometown," Anke paused, looking at the slightly shimmering map, "My family all live there, I also grew up there, I only left Vissen after joining the Mercenary Corps."

"Are you going home?" He Ao suddenly asked.

"Huh?!" Anke was slightly startled, then he lowered his head and gazed at the bracelet in his hand, "Yes! I am going home now!"

He closed the bracelet, stood up slowly, and smiled, "Old man, it looks like we’re going on a journey together again."

A speeding truck passed in front of them, kicking up dust.

"It seems you miss that city a lot." He Ao said calmly.

"Not really," Anke shook his head, "Vissen isn’t a particularly good city, it’s nothing compared to Dawn City or Vitland, and my relationship with my family isn’t that great either,"

At this, he smiled, "But, it’s my home, you know."

"Mom, are we going home?" At that moment, a little girl’s voice came from across the street.

Anke turned his head, only to see a masked woman pulling a little girl, walking briskly along the pedestrian path on the other side of the street.

"Yes." The woman nodded quickly when she heard the girl’s voice, "Let’s hurry up, we’re almost home."

Screech—

A truck stopped in front of the mother and daughter.

Two fully armed soldiers jumped out of the truck, blocking the mother and daughter, "You two, we have reports that you believe in the Evil God and collude with rebels, come with us."

The woman suddenly stood straight, protecting the little girl behind her, "You must be mistaken!"

Her voice was slightly tense, gazing at the guns on the soldiers, "We are honest, law-abiding citizens, always supportive of the Federation."

"Whether you support the Federation or not, come with us and we’ll see," one soldier reached out directly and grabbed the woman, "Your husband is already waiting for you over there."

As he spoke, the other soldier opened the side door of the truck’s compartment and dragged the woman toward it.

"Mommy! Mommy! Don’t take my mommy!" The little girl was at a loss when she saw this scene and started to cry.

"Annoying little thing." The soldier dragging the woman gave the child a glare and was about to reach for the stun baton at his waist.

"We’ll go, we’ll go!" The woman suddenly reached out and hugged the little girl, breaking free from the soldier’s arm.

She looked at the two fully armed soldiers, hugged the child, and walked into the compartment.

At this moment, the soldier dragging the people seemed to sense some sort of gaze, turned his head, and looked toward the street.

"Hey, sir, wait a minute," a gentle female voice sounded in Anke’s ear, "You haven’t taken the bracelet and the gift you bought yet."

Anke turned back, only to see the shop assistant standing behind him, holding a plastic bag, handing it to Anke.

The sound of car engines seemed to hum in the air.

Anke glanced at the plastic bag, which only contained two bottles of water, and reached out to take it, "Thank you."

"No problem," the shop assistant raised her head, glanced at the truck gradually receding on the opposite side of the street, and sighed, "They caught two more people. Handsome, you better be careful and don’t look at those black dogs like that; someone stared at them too long before and got taken away as an Evil God believer as well."

Anke held the plastic bag a bit quietly. He knew the shop assistant specifically came out to ’save’ him. He paused for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Are many people getting caught now?"

"A lot," the shop assistant sighed, "They’ve taken seven or eight people off this street alone."

"And after they’re caught? I saw in the news that they will be released if there’s no issue after an investigation?" Anke asked tentatively.

"That I don’t know," the shop assistant shook her head and sighed softly, "I haven’t seen anyone released. Anyway, you be careful."

With that, she turned around and entered the store.

Anke withdrew his gaze and didn’t ask any more, walking toward an off-road vehicle parked on the side.

"You seem to have something on your mind?" He Ao suddenly asked.

"Nothing." Anke smiled, opened the door of the SUV, and sat inside.

But he didn’t start the vehicle.

After a brief pause, he sighed, "West Steel’s military discipline isn’t great, the kid just got caught, might be in some danger."

"You want to rescue him?!" He Ao asked directly.

"No, not quite," Anke sighed and started the vehicle, "Let’s leave the city first, head out west. We’re already close to the West City Gate, we can buy an automatic electronic map at the gate, and we’ll get some liquid fuel. We should be able to follow the trade convoy heading west."

"Okay." He Ao didn’t ask further, simply responded calmly.

The buildings on either side began to slowly retreat, the empty street appeared desolate and lonely, with a few pedestrians occasionally passing by hurriedly, unwilling to linger on the street.

"This place is really different from the last time I came," Anke said, driving the vehicle, looking ahead, he paused slightly, as if talking to himself, "These guys’ equipment looks top-notch, must be an elite team from the Mercenary Corps."

"It certainly does." He Ao agreed near his ear.

Hearing this, Anke was slightly surprised, then seemed to realize, he replied softly, "Old man, you’re here."

"Of course I’m here," He Ao laughed, "But you kid, seem a bit out of it."

"Not really." Anke shook his head.

He continued to drive the vehicle forward.

After crossing two or three blocks, He Ao’s aged voice suddenly sounded in his ear, "Look at the front left one, does it look like the vehicle that just captured someone?"

Anke instinctively raised his head and looked towards the front left.

He saw a truck bearing the West Steel emblem speeding past him.

He instinctively accelerated, catching up to the vehicle.

Soon, after several turns, the truck turned into an old high-rise.

Anke parked the SUV in front of the high-rise, raised his eyes, and looked at the old building.

The old building had no name or sign, only a simple, seemingly newly hung West Steel emblem at the entrance.

He shifted his gaze forward.

In the distance, towering walls and the gate beneath them were faintly visible.

"That’s the West Gate," he said, looking at the gate, pausing, and speaking softly.

"Indeed." He Ao’s voice echoed near him with interest.

Anke turned his head again, glanced at the old building beside him, "Old man, you say all those people are inside?"

"On the second and third floors," He Ao said casually, "in simple divided cubicles."

"Is that little girl inside too?" Hearing this, Anke instinctively asked.

"Yes, along with her mother," He Ao continued, "Oh, and her father, they’ve met."

"Doesn’t sound like good news," hearing He Ao’s words, Anke withdrew his gaze.

"You want to be a hero?" He Ao laughed and asked.

Hearing the question, Anke was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath, "Forget it, has nothing to do with us, being a hero never ends well, we still have to go home."

Saying this, he gripped the steering wheel, started the vehicle, and drove towards the closed West Gate ahead.

He Ao quietly watched his actions, saying nothing.

Before finally leaving, Anke looked back at the building once.

Faintly, cries could be heard coming from inside.

These did not come from the little girl but a little boy, who was being dragged away by a mercenary.

Anke’s hand hesitated slightly, then suddenly turned the wheel, making a U-turn, stopping underneath the building.

He took a deep breath, "Old man, can you do me one more favor?"

"What do you want to do?" He Ao laughed and asked.

"I can get the kids inside out," Anke paused, said softly, "The children are innocent, and there shouldn’t be many of them inside, rescuing them also helps cover and divert, making it hard for the Mercenary Corps to track."

He paused again, "But without your help, old man, I could never succeed alone."

"And what would we get in return," He Ao continued to laugh and ask, "what price are you prepared to pay?"

Hearing He Ao’s words, Anke hesitated slightly, then raised his head, looking at the high-rise, "I just want to go home, once I’m home, you can ask anything of me, old man, I’ll agree."

Then he added, "Not anything like a suicide mission."

"How do you bargain while making a request?" He Ao laughed and asked.

"My mom’s not young anymore, I can’t die so early." Anke paused, then continued.

Saying this, he fell silent, seemingly a bit anxious waiting for He Ao’s response.

"Alright," He Ao said calmly, "I’ll help you."

Anke breathed a sigh of relief.

He took his shoulder bag, pushed open the car door, and walked towards the small building ahead.

"Don’t go through the front door," He Ao’s calm voice sounded in his ear, "keep walking forward, there’s a section of torn protective mesh, go through there."

Anke kept his head down and walked forward, finding a damaged protective mesh, he squeezed through the opening.

"Stick to the left wall and keep going," He Ao’s voice sounded again, "don’t leave the wall, yes, like that, the cameras won’t catch you."

Anke stuck to the wall, keeping his head down, slowly moving forward.

"See the small window on the second floor at the corner? The camera below that window is broken, climb up there and get in through the window."

Anke looked at the small window ahead, quickly crouched and approached.

The windows on the wall had sills, and beneath the window was a tightly closed large trash bin. Quickly, he stepped on the trash bin and the protrusion on the eaves, climbing to the second-floor window, and flipped inside.

A strong stench hit his face.

This was a public restroom.

"Hmm hmm hmm~"

Just as Anke landed, a faint humming sound came from outside, someone was pushing open the restroom door.