"The Greybeard Bar... it should be here!" Looking at the rough and low bar in front of him, Qin Lun vigilantly surveyed the surrounding environment, and walked slowly with his hands in his pockets.
This tavern occupies a small area and is located in a remote corner of the Devil's Corner entertainment area. There are two upper and lower floors, with a wooden structure. The overall shape is buckled on the ground like a wooden bowl. There is a chest-high butterfly wooden door at the door, which reminds Qin Lun of those very local dwarven taverns in the world of Toril.
In fact, this tavern is indeed the property of the dwarves' close relatives, the gnomes. The weapon forging of the dwarves is not inferior to that of the dwarves. For example, Francis, the master blacksmith who forged Qin Lun's light and dark burial and Ayala's weapon box, is a dwarf. But when it comes to brewing technology, the dwarves are more than one block away from the dwarves.
As the industry of the five major races, this tavern itself would not be squeezed into such a remote position. It's just that at the beginning of the construction, the self-respecting dwarves insisted on selling their own alcohol in the tavern, and there were no beauties from other races to entertain them. As a result, the tavern's business was getting worse and worse, so it was relocated to the most deserted corner of the entertainment area.
However, it was precisely because of the desertion that Kelly called Qin Lun over to discuss some important matters.
Pushing open the butterfly door of the tavern, Qin Lun glanced roughly at the lobby, but did not find Kelly. In order to adapt to the habit of the apostles regardless of day and night, all the businesses in the Devil's Corner Entertainment District are open all day, without distinction between day and night.
Of course, similar to the current dusk, it is also the golden business hour of the day. It's just that the business of this tavern is not good, and there are only a few tables of guests sitting in the lobby at this time, and judging by their expressions and attire, it seems that some apostles who are not doing well are getting drunk here.
"My lord, would you like something to drink?" The dwarf bartender behind the bar saw Qin Lun enter, his big green eyes lit up slightly. He could tell from Qin Lun's appearance and mental state that this was a Customers with big pockets.
"Give him a cup of dragon blood barley!" Just as Qin Lun was about to speak, a slightly hoarse voice sounded beside him.
Qin Lun looked back, and saw a moustache wearing a big felt hat leaning against the bar and leaning against him.
Mustache was dressed in a weird hippie outfit, but his face was a bit too delicate, and his pair of bright peach blossom eyes that were obviously not owned by men made Qin Lun couldn't help chuckling. No wonder he didn't see Kelly in the tavern before, he really couldn't recognize this sinful disguise unless he looked carefully.
"Smile!" Kelly gave him a hygienic eye, grabbed Qin Lun's wrist, and pulled him to a dimly lit wooden table in the lobby to sit down. Serve that dragon's blood ale.
"You just want to date me, so you don't need to find such a hidden place?" After being trained by several mature women, Qin Lun has learned a lot of teasing words for women, and couldn't help but tease Kai Li come.
"Tch, you are heartless and unrighteous, only ghosts will take a fancy to you. I heard from little Lace that you hooked up with a superhuman lady in the last world, and left her behind when you were done... You are simply a beast!" Kelly She glanced at him contemptuously, "I'm looking for you for something!"
"Laisi... this worm elf is too much!" Qin Lun twitched the corners of his mouth with a half-smile, and asked helplessly, "Why can't we talk about it in the projector if we have to come to this kind of place?"
"No, the current Devil's Corner is different from the past. The projector and your villa are not convenient for talking. My goal is too big, and I can't even take you into the headquarters of the lost plane. I can only choose this kind of place!" Kai Li glanced at the tavern lobby, lowered her voice and said, "Add me to your team channel."
Qin Lun raised his eyebrows slightly, and calmly sent a team invitation to Kelly. The new members of the apostle team can only be invited in person unless they have their own apostle number. This is why Kelly must meet Qin Lun.
"Is there something wrong with loss?" Qin Lun asked immediately after adding Kelly to the team.
"There's nothing wrong with being lost, it's just that the entire Devil's Horn is about to usher in a storm!" Kelly's face darkened, her expression looked bitter, and she pointed to the dragon's blood ale on the table, "Don't you Do you want to drink? This wine is not bad, the reason why I like this tavern is because of this wine."
Qin Lun glanced at the wine glass, but just after taking a sip, he frowned and put down the wine glass. This wine is too spicy, just a small sip, the whole throat is burning and sore, it is not suitable for him.
He usually drinks a little wine, but it is basically low-concentration fruit wine with a little sweetness, which is the influence he received in the Moonlight Forest. The elves taught him the most basic survival skills, but also left him with elf manners and certain tastes. Not only him, every apostle who first came into contact with the intelligent race will leave deep traces of the original.
"Don't drink anymore? Guys who don't know how to appreciate, don't waste it, give it to me!" Kelly muttered dissatisfiedly, snatched the wine glass in his hand, raised her head and took a big gulp, put down the glass and hiccupped. Two clusters of naive blushes appeared on the cheeks, and he introduced.
"This is high-quality dwarf spirits, which are not found in other bars in Devil's Corner. Because the dwarves are more friendly to the dwarves, this place only buys a small amount every month. Most of the drunks who find it are self-conscious and will not tell others. People, you also keep it a secret, do you know it!"
"Understood, big sister, you should hurry up and talk about things!" Qin Lun was a little dumbfounded. After knowing Kelly for a long time, he gradually discovered that the female tyrannosaur's mind sometimes went off-line.
"Oh, where did I say it?" Kelly pouted, regained her senses, her expression became serious again, and she began to explain in a low voice on the team channel.
The source of the storm Kelly mentioned is actually the invasion of the broken starry sky by the superstring space. According to the information of the female martial arts master, the superstring space’s current aggression against the Broken Starry Sky has gone through two waves, and the climax has passed. The two sides will slowly disengage, integrate resources, and count the benefits of the war.
Judging from the current situation, Broken Starry Sky suffered a lot in this war, especially in terms of human resources. Similar to the world of Divine Comedy that Qin Lun just passed through, there are not many battles in which the apostles won a complete victory. In most other mission worlds, especially those worlds with demons and high demons, Broken Starry Sky suffered serious losses at the high-end level. Many large apostles The team was hit hard.
Hearing Kelly's story up to this point, Qin Lun's pupils shrank slightly, and he began to understand what the storm the woman was referring to.
He once had a guess when he entered the world of Divine Comedy, that is, if a large apostle team like the Lost is involved in the war, once it is severely damaged, the current balance of the Devil's Horn may be broken. The entire pyramid of the apostles will begin to be reorganized, and the Great Cleansing is inevitable.
The apostle team has no desire for rights in the native world of the broken starry sky, but they have fierce competition for the allocation of resources for the horn of the devil. This resource includes both demiplane and apostle items, as well as the apostle itself.
With high-level apostles as the core, after the apostles form a large team, the demand for human resources will be endless. The larger the base of apostles, the easier it is for high-level apostles to appear, and the more stable the team will be. The more support other high-ranking members receive, the less likely they are to fall.
Therefore, Qin Lun received the attention of Chaos and Lost at the same time, and even the senior management of his team did not hesitate to invite him personally.
"If it's okay to be lost, then which large team suffered heavy losses?" Qin Lun asked unhurriedly with a flash of his eyes.
"You should ask which team didn't suffer the loss!" Kelly shook her head solemnly. "Actually, it's okay to lose, it's just for the other large teams in Devil's Horn."
With Kelly's further narration, a lot of information that was originally unavailable at Qin Lun's level was also revealed to him.
There are three major apostle alliances in Devil's Horn. In the eyes of ordinary apostles, each alliance has more than 2,000 professional apostles and hundreds of large and small teams. But after hearing what Kelly said now, Qin Lun knew that the three major apostle alliances had different strengths and weaknesses.
The Chaos Alliance adheres to the law of survival of the fittest, and has a relatively low moral bottom line, but this unscrupulous style of behavior has also attracted most of the apostles. However, because of following the jungle law of survival of the fittest, professional apostles who can really join the Chaos Alliance are stronger than the other two alliances.
To the outside world, the Chaos Alliance has only one large team, and that is the Chaos Team. But internally, the Chaos team is actually a joint team composed of five core sub-groups, and its high-level apostles account for more than 40% of the entire Devil's Horn. Just advocating force and the law of the jungle, the interior cannot be monolithic, and the five major branches of chaos often have some conflicts of interest.
The Apostles Monument Alliance, which is in the neutral camp, also has a loose system, but the degree of unity is better than that of the Chaos Alliance. It consists of three large teams, and the Tianfu team that Qin Lun had contacted before is one of them.
The last alliance of apostles is the lawful front where Qin Lun is now. There are only two large teams on the lawful front, one is Lost and the other is called Light. However, perhaps knowing that they are the weakest, these two large teams are very united. Not only are the internal members united, but they also watch out for each other, and there are frequent exchanges and cooperation between high-level staff.
In fact, this is the key reason why the Chaos Alliance has such a high proportion of high-ranking members but is unable to annex the other two alliances. One is that the Broken Starry Sky does not allow the apostles to engage in large-scale civil wars, and the other is that the high-ranking apostles have no mission burden in the starry sky, and there are too many ways to escape, so they cannot be killed at all.
Therefore, the high-level apostle's decisive battle can only be in the middle and high demon world, where there are world quests and they cannot escape at will.
However, any large team has at least five high-level apostles, and two large teams can form a ten-person high-level team. This kind of ten-person high-level team is extremely terrifying. Even Broken Starry Sky can only send two such teams into the mission world at one time, and it must be the peak of the magic world or the world of high magic, otherwise it cannot accommodate this kind of law strength. .
In other words, if the Chaos Alliance wants to defeat the other two Apostle Alliances, they must engage in a war of attrition under the condition of equal numbers. It's just that the apostles who have reached a high level, who would be willing to fight a war of attrition like cannon fodder, so although the Chaos Alliance has a large number of people, it has nothing to do with the other two alliances.
However, after this invasion of the superstring space, the apostle pyramid of Devil's Horn has changed a lot.
One is the high-level members of the three major apostle alliances. A large part of them encountered foreign wars, and many of them fell in the second wave of attacks. Kylie still doesn't know the losses of the other two alliances yet, but the front of the lawful front is already clear, and there is a weird double sky of fire and water.
The lost team was very lucky this time. None of the high-level members died, and only lost a batch of equipment and props that were used as hole cards. But their allies, the Guangming team, were completely wiped out, and even a core member could not escape. I really don't know what kind of opponent they encountered.
When Kelly and the others returned, they were speechless for a moment when they learned of this situation. This is what a large team is most afraid of. It is like a strong man who is suddenly beheaded and has a huge body, but has to fall down.
In all fairness, the lost team would rather suffer some losses than the entire bright team. Because this means that the Bright team is no longer able to control the subordinate sub-groups, and the entire lawful front is missing a corner, facing the danger of collapse.
The news of the destruction of Guangming's entire core team cannot be concealed for too long. Once the other two apostle alliances learn about it, there will be a gluttonous feast immediately. Especially now that the other two major alliances have suffered heavy losses and urgently need new blood.
After the lost team has no allies, they can no longer stop other alliances from poaching the light. Otherwise, the two alliances don't mind fighting Lost, because it is no longer possible to form a ten-person high-level team with just one Lost team.
The more serious problem is that Lost can no longer maintain the lawful front on its own. It should either join one of the two major alliances, or leave the Devil's Horn.
"It's impossible to leave the Devil's Corner. Other apostle cities are willing to accept any apostle, but they won't accept the entire large team!" Kelly said with a wry smile, "But disbanding the Lawful Front and joining the Apostle Monument, we are the same I'm not reconciled either!"
Kelly didn't mention joining the Chaos Alliance. The style of Chaos is in serious opposition to Lost. If they want to choose, they will only choose the Apostle Monument from the neutral camp.
"Then what do you want to do?" Qin Lun frowned slightly and asked solemnly.
With his wisdom, of course he understands what is the general trend. Don't look at him repeatedly making upheavals in the mission world, but it's all done by taking advantage of the situation. If a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, the so-called going against the sky is often a paradox. If he can really go against the sky, it is not called the general trend.
"It's hard to hide the news of the destruction of the light, and it will be known by the other two major alliances in the next few days, so we have to take the last resort!" Kelly suddenly changed her serious expression, and smiled at Qin Lun, "You So smart, guess what?"
"It's hard to guess, the general trend is irreversible. But the general trend we see is only based on the horn of the devil. If we enlarge the pattern and get out of the horn of the devil, the general trend will no longer be the general trend!" Qin Lun pondered for a while, and suddenly Sighing, "It's just that if you do this, it is equivalent to betting on the whole Lost. As an affiliated member of Lost, I advise you to cancel this plan."
Kelly didn't speak any more, and watched Qin Lun's beautiful eyes shine brightly, "You guessed it, and it's exactly the same as what Chen Xing said, but you are not us, and you don't understand the ideal we have always insisted on!"
Qin Lun fell silent, and subconsciously went to hold the wine glass. He didn't come back to himself until the acrid smell hit his nose. He put down the wine glass with a frown, and said calmly after a long time, "Is it worth paying your life for this?"
"Since we have become apostles, we will fall sooner or later. We will not let go of our beliefs just for the sake of temporary safety!" Kelly said with a calm smile, "I originally wanted to pull you in, but it seems that you don't Will follow our adventure."
"Let me think about it!" Qin Lun wanted to refuse flatly, but when he looked at Kelly, who was smiling like a flower, he suddenly felt that his throat was a little dry, and changed his words like a ghost.
When we left the tavern, it was already very late at night. A gust of cold wind blew in, causing Qin Lun to subconsciously cover his neckline tightly. His warm mind quickly came to his senses, and he let out a long breath and walked into the night.
He knew the next choice of the lost team and why they did it, but he didn't understand the meaning of it. Obviously, in order not to collapse the lawful front, the lost team chose to seek support from outside the Devil's Horn. They wanted to introduce another high-level team from other apostle cities.
After the foreign war with the reincarnation, there should be quite a few high-level teams that couldn't stay in the original apostle city. As long as the faction has the same position, Lost does have a chance to find this kind of foreign aid.
If outsiders can replace the Light team, then the lawful front will not collapse. After all, most of the middle and low-level apostles who enter this alliance will not join other alliances as long as the alliance they are familiar with can serve as a protective umbrella.
Only in this way, the lost team looking for foreign aid will inevitably be regarded as a traitor by the Chaos Alliance and the Apostle Monument, and a big battle is inevitable. If the combination of Lost and the foreign team can win the first two battles, maybe the foreign team will be able to gain a firm foothold and fully integrate into the Devil's Horn.
If you lose, don't mention anything. The Lost Team was kicked out of the Devil's Corner at least, or the entire army was wiped out, following in the footsteps of the Bright Team, and even lost the opportunity to join the other two major alliances.
Qin Lun could understand the ideal of the Lost Team wanting to preserve the only lawful faction in the Devil's Horn for the more than 2,000 professional apostles under them, but he couldn't understand the meaning of their dedication.
In Qin Lun's view, only those without power need order, and the apostles themselves possess great power, and are born to subvert order. Perhaps each apostle has his own principles and people he wants to protect, but insisting on following the path of order and providing others with a warm family and shelter seems a bit stubborn and pedantic.
…
"Qin Lun, what's the matter with you?" Shepherd Hill frowned slightly, looking at Qin Lun and asked a little strangely.
After the secret conversation with Kelly that day, Qin Lun was in a trance for the next few days, as if the previous hallucinations appeared again. There were a lot of thoughts in my head, but when I came back to my senses, I couldn't think of anything. Until today's trading party with Hill and others, he is still in a daze.
"Oh, I remembered something!" Qin Lun's face was cloudy, and he finally decided to confess to the other murderers, "I want to ask for your opinions on some things."