4) All the frozen ones The sea of flowers, Wilkin's sea of flowers sways quietly under the faint light of the stars. The breeze blows through the white baby's breath, spreading the fragrance of the petals to the entire Wilkin sky. In the sea of flowers, the white-haired girl stood for a long time, gazing up at the starry sky. "Ah... stars..." The starry sky was reflected in her red eyes. Perlis opened her mouth slightly, motionless, just staring blankly at the sky dotted with stars. For some reason, a strong sense of longing and belonging arose from the bottom of her heart. Her hands gently stroked the white flowers surrounding the hem of her skirt, bringing up bursts of fragrance. In a trance, the starry sky in Perlis's eyes became blurred, and the halos of the stars spread... spread... and merged into a blurry block of color in her eyes. "Perlis, you..." Someone was talking, but Perlis couldn't hear clearly. Her body suddenly became soft and she lost control. The brilliance of the stars gradually faded away, and Perlis fell face down into the sea of flowers at her feet, but she did not touch the solid ground, she just fell in the deep darkness...Falling...
...... "Hey, You!" As the carriage rocked, Perlis opened her eyes hazily. The cold air that penetrated into her nostrils instantly made her more awake. "You finally woke up!" Perlis looked across and saw a yellow-haired man she had never seen before staring at her, which made her unconsciously wrap her cloak tightly around her. "You're here to sneak across the border, too, right?" The carriage was driving on the rugged mountain road leading to Wanren Mountain. Looking around, the snow spread from the mountain road under our feet to the edge of the sky. The woods beside the road were covered with pure white, and the cracks in the rocks were embedded with dots of white. Everything here was white, and it looked like two different worlds from Loton. "Who...are you?" Perlis was a little confused. Before she could figure it out, a voice beside her answered for her: "It's not 'smuggling', we have a pass." Perlis turned her head and looked beside her. Pace was sitting there, looking at the yellow-haired man very calmly. "Oh~ Interesting. If you have a pass, why don't you just take the Lord's Road up the mountain?" The yellow-haired man looked at the two of them and smiled disdainfully, "That road is wide and safe. It's much more comfortable than this bumpy and snowy road, right?" The yellow-haired man pointed to the side of the road. Perlis looked in the direction of his finger and found that it was half a skull buried in the snow. "[Burial Ground Frozen Ground], would a normal person go here for no reason?" "Well, buddy, don't worry about it. Everyone has their own difficulties, right?" Pace laughed and waved his hand. "It's been a short time together, and it's not easy for Dahuo to get through it. Let's not talk about these unhappy things." "Hahaha, okay, okay," Huang Mao wisely stopped the topic, "What are you doing up the mountain?" "Send some wine to the manor. Here, look," Pace pointed to the road. Perlis looked over and found a horse-drawn carriage carrying goods. "But I'm not familiar with the road, so I just followed the team." "To the manor? Which manor? Do I need to take a small path to deliver something to a noble lord?" Huang Mao looked at Pace in surprise, waiting for his response, but Pace just looked at Huang Mao with a smile, not intending to speak. Huang Mao seemed to realize that he asked something he shouldn't have asked, so he muttered and scratched his head: "Feel sorry."
"It's okay," Pace looked ahead. The rough road was covered with snow, and the horse's speed slowed down. "I should apologize for having to be on guard against everyone." "Hey, I understand. The situation has been so chaotic recently. The Charon rebellion a while ago was really inopportune..." Huangmao regained his talkative self and started talking: "You tell me, just live your life well. Charon was originally the gun that Academi was holding against Thebeta's head, and this Aleph Stro had to touch the Academi Federation's reverse scale. Let's see what happened to him..." "Maybe he doesn't want to be a federal dog anymore," Perlis said coldly, "This is a huge contrast to some people." The yellow-haired man was stunned by what Pearlis said, but he quickly regained his indifferent expression. "Hey, little girl, you are still too young. There are some force majeure that you can't resist," the yellow-haired man looked at Perlis and put on a so-called adult face, "compromise, compromise, just live a good life like me, isn't it?" Perlis was a little angry and wanted to refute, but Pace stopped her with a hand. "Hey, excuse me, my sister is not very good at speaking." "Who are you..." Perlis opened her mouth even more angrily, but Pace took out a piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth. "Hmm..." "Eat something. You must be hungry after sleeping for so long." Seeing Perlis puffing up her cheeks and staring at him angrily, a drop of sweat appeared on Pace's forehead. This wave will probably be settled by her later, but now he can't let her be stupid enough to conflict with passers-by. "I've been busy making a living lately and haven't paid much attention to the situation," Pace took over the conversation and continued chatting with Huangmao, "What did the various countries say about Academi using the Tower of Babel again?" "It must be a mess," the yellow-haired man said seriously. " directly banned all trade routes passing through Grau Yad, and Wilkin made a clear protest. The Aziz royal family is said to be considering cutting off the supply of Vo1d crystals to the Federation." "This is really fatal," Pace sighed, "Without the Vo1d crystal, the Federation will not be able to recharge the Tower of Babel in the short term." "That's good. I don't want to be washed into dust by the federal people thousands of miles away with their upright dog baskets while I sleep at home one night." The yellow-haired man spat and wiped his mouth. "As for the Dila Empire, it will remain the same, but I heard that their fleet is heading to the Dragon Vein River recently." "Isn't the Dragon River the border between Thebeth and Dylla? Why are they heading there?" "Who knows? After all, the Iron Lord has been acting crazy lately, and I don't know what he's thinking." The yellow-haired man waved his hands irritably, as if the mention of the Iron Lord made him very angry. "Also, this morning, the investigator was defeated by something in the area of the Saint-Jial Hotel. I guess that bad-tempered young master is going crazy again..." Pace and Perlis swallowed their saliva. The yellow-haired man probably didn't know that the person who defeated the group of investigators was Perlis, who he called "still too young". However, thinking that Venia would be very angry, Pace inexplicably felt a cruel pleasure in his heart. Huangmao turned his gaze to the road ahead. The long mountain road seemed to have no end, so he started complaining again. "Oh...really...when will we get to the inn..." At this moment, a violent steel roar suddenly sounded, and the horse screamed in fright. "what?" Pace looked at the woods nearby, and heard the sound of countless steel rolling over the snow. Perlis tightly grasped the butterfly knife under her cloak, staring at the woods with her red eyes. In the woods, countless steel figures wearing powerful armor pushed aside the bushes and emerged from the forest. The man who looked like a captain in the lead was holding a gun in his hand, pointing it at everyone. "This is the border of Wanren Mountain. We are now conducting a routine inspection," the captain's voice pierced through the steel visor, making a metallic sound. "Please show us your pass. If you cannot show it, we will execute you for illegal immigration."
"Ah... Damn, I can even encounter this..." Upon seeing this, Huangmao decisively jumped off the carriage, turned around and ran towards the woods at the other end of the road. "Oh!" A gunshot rang out, and a big hole was made in the yellow-haired man's chest. He fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string, and his blood dyed the snow red. "Is there anyone else who wants to confess? That would save me some trouble." A puff of white smoke came out of the muzzle of the revolver, and there was no mercy in the captain's voice. "Lower your head, don't let them see your face clearly," Pace whispered hurriedly in Perlis's ear, then gently pressed her head down, "They probably don't know I've been in that square, but they should be able to recognize you." ...... 4) The Frozen Land (Part 2) The border garrison surrounded the carriage team on the mountain road. The captain wearing the giant armor put the revolver on his waist, then slowly walked to the carriage where Perlis and Pess were and came over. "name?" "Pace Monarch," Pace took out two passes and handed them to the captain, "This is my sister, Lianna Monarch." The captain looked at the pass carefully for a moment, then nodded. "Well, there is no problem with the pass, but..." The captain returned the pass to Pace and looked at him for a while, "I thought the Monark family would not go up the mountain again." "It's for a living, eh..." Pace pointed to the carriage behind, "Send some wine to the Iron Fortress." The captain looked at Pace for a few seconds, then gave a teasing smile. "You really have no backbone, kid?" the captain said, patting the fence of the carriage with his iron arm. "If I were you, I would rush into the Iron Fortress with my weapons and at least take a few more people with me before I die. That would be more manly than living in disgrace like this." "We choose our own path, sir." Pace's smile slowly disappeared, and Perlis could feel that his aura was different from before. "It is much more courageous to ensure that the family members have enough food to eat than to die irresponsibly for the so-called glory." "Haha, whatever you want, brat." The captain snorted and continued to interrogate, "Why don't you take the Lord's Road if you have a pass? It's not a wise choice to follow these rats up the mountain." "I just want to avoid worldly ridicule, sir. The people in the legion have always disliked the Monark family," Pace replied, "Besides, the brothers in this team...are actually pretty good." Before he could finish his words, several gunshots were heard from the rear of the team, followed by the sound of bodies falling to the snow. The captain was still staring at Pace, and Pace suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "They all said they had passes..." Pace muttered. "Come on, let's take the Lord's Avenue next time," the captain nodded to Pace, then looked at Perlis, "What about her? Why do you have to take your sister with you when you transport goods?" "She wanted to be the head of the family sooner, so she came along," said Pesce, hugging Perlis, who trembled unnaturally. "But this child is shy and doesn't dare to speak. She still has a long way to go before she can be the head of the family." "Look up, little girl," the captain called to Perlis, "let me see your face." The captain's request caused a stalemate. Perlis just lowered her head silently without responding. Pace swallowed silently and then tried to smooth things over: "She's very shy, sir, so please don't embarrass her, okay?" "No, I want to see her face," the captain insisted. "This is a routine check."
For a moment, the air was suddenly filled with an indescribable smell of gunpowder. Perlis tightly grasped the butterfly knife under her cloak, and Pace silently reached for his waist. "Sir..." Pace looked at the captain and shook his head. "What? I'm just looking at your face, why are you so nervous?" The captain's hand slowly reached for the revolver at his waist, "I've just started to like you, kid, don't make it difficult for me..." Before he could finish his words, an explosion was heard from the rear of the team. "boom--" "What is that?" the captain muttered, looking in the direction where the sound came from. "Sir! It was a diesel explosion," a member of the team wearing a giant armor ran over quickly and reported, "The stowaway thief was desperate. Two brothers were affected and need medical assistance." "Damn it, I knew these stinking rats were going to cause trouble," the captain sighed and turned to Pace, "Hey, boy, take her up there and teach her a lesson. You can't be the boss if you don't dare to see people." "Thank you, sir. I'm sorry to trouble you!" Pace smiled and waved to the captain's hurriedly leaving back. The carriage moved slowly along the rugged mountain road again. Pace breathed a sigh of relief only when the distance reached a point where the captain's figure could no longer be seen. "Oh... I'm scared to death..." "You are quite good at chatting with people, young master." Perlis pulled down her cloak and looked at Pace. Her long pure white hair almost blended into the snow in the background. “It’s perfect for being a salesman.” "Hey... do you have to insult me so openly or covertly..." Pace looked at Perlis speechlessly, "I saved your life..." "Um..." Perlis lowered her head slightly, then turned her head away. "Thank you.." Hearing that Perlis actually thanked him for the first time, Pess immediately pretended to be surprised and shouted: "What? What did you say?" Pace put his head close to Perlis, "It was snowing heavily just now so I couldn't hear you clearly..." Hey...it's obviously not snowing...and how can snow make any sound? "Uh..." Perlis's cheeks flushed, "..Asshole..." "Hmm? What did you say, little princess? Brother Pace's ears are not working well, he didn't hear... Ouch!" Pearlis jumped up and hit Pace on the head. "Why are you still hitting people? Brother Pace mustered up his courage to save you, and kept..." "Thank you!!" Perlis yelled at Pace in a self-deprecating manner, then turned around completely, remaining silent with a blushing face. Eh? Why is there such a big reaction to just a joke? Pesce gently stroked his head, and his black hair was already stained with white snowflakes. Looking at the little figure of Perlis with her back to him, Pesce suddenly felt that it would take a lot of time to figure out how to get along with this little white hair...
...... "It's snowing heavily..." The sky was gradually getting darker, and the setting sun was hanging on the western skyline. Large flakes of snow were slowly falling from the sky, reflecting the coming cold night. It was only then that the convoy finally arrived at the inn. "Ah... We're finally here, little princess, get off the bus!"