Adia did not deceive Bai Pu. After taking a few turns with Bai Pu, they arrived at a manhole cover to a sewer in Kalmar Fortress.

Along the way, Adia looked for opportunities to talk to Bai Pu, asking intermittently about Bai Pu's background.

Bai Pu did not reveal his alias "Dior Fulri" in this world, as that name had already gained certain world notoriety. He only mentioned his code name: Gangxin.

Adia bent down and lifted the manhole cover: "Honorable Mr. Gangxin, the vagrant Noel you're looking for lives in the rat's nest of the sewer. Damn, the stench here is enough to make me faint."

Bai Pu said expressionlessly, "It's hard to imagine such a large sewer system in a relatively small Kalmar Fortress."

Adia keenly sensed the sharp murderous intent in Bai Pu's words, shuddering slightly, and quickly said: "Kalmar Fortress used to be a prosperous city, two hundred years ago it was the capital of a Great Alliance nation! Having such a drainage system is quite normal; many homeless vagrants live in the rat's nests of the sewer, I swear on my mother's soul!"

Bai Pu stared directly at him: "You need to take me inside to get another piece of the reward."

Bai Pu excelled in cultural subjects, and he certainly knew the "Great Alliance" was the Kalmar Union formed when Norway, Sweden, and Denmark signed the 1397 Kalmar Treaty, agreeing to be united under a common monarch.

But Bai Pu's reason for letting Adia lead the way was simple: If this obviously sly alchemist were to run off and inform others once Bai Pu entered the sewer, how would he handle the Blood Ring's elite mutant soldiers coming to trap him?

With a face like Bai Pu's, he would surely raise suspicions in the already small Kalmar Fortress.

"Alright, alright! For the sake of the silver coins!"

Adia grumbled as he stooped, jumping nimbly into the sewer in a manner that belied his identity as an alchemist.

"This alchemist… very clever."

Bai Pu concluded and followed, jumping into the sewer.

The sewer, despite its unpleasant odor, was more traversable than Bai Pu had expected.

The main reason was that the sewer in this fortress was spacious, while the number of residents was small, far from the numbers during the city's heyday.

Most of the passage had dried, hardened ground, resembling a dried-up riverbed.

On both sides of the walls of the passage, there were some irregularly distributed man-dug pits, inside lined with straw beds, equipped with makeshift stoves and grills, serving as temporary abodes.

Clearly, these pits were exactly the "rat's nests" the alchemist Adia had mentioned, quite fittingly indeed.

Adia led Bai Pu through a maze of complex passages.

When vagrants blocked them, trying to extort a benefit, Adia was still negotiating amicably when Bai Pu, to save time, acted decisively.

With powerful hands, one left and one right, he seized the napes of two vagrants, smashing their heads together with force! Blood immediately gushed from both heads as Bai Pu flicked his hand, launching strong force into their bodies, rendering them powerless as they crashed against the hardened sewer walls.

The wails of breaking bones echoed in the sewer.

Adia's eye twitched, silently thankful for his wisdom. He dared not pull any tricks, continuing to lead Bai Pu to meet the vagrant named Noel.

Noel was an old man with gray hair and beard, smeared with quite a bit of soil and dirt, making it hard to discern his exact age.

After locating this old man, Bai Pu received a prompt from Spirit Realm Will.

[Silver Side Task: Buried Truth, Progress Updated.]

[You have found the Alchemist Master Noel in Kalmar Fortress.]

"Alchemist Master Noel?" Bai Pu asked.

The old man's cloudy eyes glanced over, and a hoarse voice sounded, "There is no Alchemist Master Noel here, only a vagrant Noel awaiting death."

"Then, do you recognize this pocket watch?"

In Bai Pu's hand appeared the quest item obtained from the Blood Mist Butcher: Noel's old pocket watch!

Noel's cloudy eyes suddenly showed a complex color! He took the old pocket watch and snapped open the cover with a click, gazing at an old picture inside, tears welling up in his aged eyes!

By this time, even without a prompt from Spirit Realm Will, it was clear Bai Pu found the right person.

Adia coughed, "I have fulfilled my promise, brought you to him. Honorable Mr. Gangxin, shouldn't you pay the remaining fee and let me leave?"

Bai Pu flicked out two Silver Talers.

Adia caught the two silver coins with agility unfitting for an alchemist, exclaiming with delight, "Praise your generosity, Mr. Gangxin!"

"No, this is equivalent exchange," Bai Pu said, "The extra Silver Taler buys you two hours of sleep here!"

Just as Adia was puzzled, Bai Pu had already reached out!

Adia jumped back with agility, bringing his hands together then apart, drawing two daggers. He gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Gangxin, this is not what we agreed! If you have designs on me, you're mistaken, I'm not a weak, feeble alchemist!"

Bai Pu moved forward like a shadow, his single hand still reaching for Adia. Adia's double daggers came slashing like fangs.

However, Bai Pu didn't dodge. When the daggers cut his skin, tinged with poison, he accurately seized Adia's wrist.

Powerful force surged into Adia's body, making him shake all over, the daggers clattering onto the ground. Bai Pu gave his arm a tug, causing Adia to lurch forward, then receive a heavy blow to the back of the neck, blacking out as he collapsed.

This scene, though described in detail, occurred in mere seconds.

Alchemist Adia did not possess strength beyond the elite level; otherwise, the Blood Ring Camp's Defenders wouldn't allow him to remain in the civilian district.

Noel did not concern himself with the brief conflict between Bai Pu and Adia; he stared dazedly at the old picture inside the pocket watch, which depicted a slightly pale, frail youth.

"I got this pocket watch by killing a powerful mutant."

Bai Pu didn't give Noel much time for reflection, "That mutant's alias was…"

"Blood Mist Butcher," Noel said calmly, "No one knew that the infamous Blood Mist Butcher was originally just a kind, frail child."

Bai Pu's expression shifted slightly; he originally thought the Blood Mist Butcher had killed Noel's family, robbing the pocket watch and Noel's Alchemy Workshop's chainsaw greatsword.

But hearing Noel's words, he realized he was wrong.

The Blood Mist Butcher was in fact Noel's family member!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.