From Prisoner to Si Chen

"Miss Baiou, let's go directly to the transaction location."

The bald man said in the back alley of the bar.

The short-haired woman looked up at the sky. At this time, the sunset was almost setting, floating on the city skyline, and the environment became darker.

She nodded and said:

"'Moran Bookstore' is more than ten kilometers away from here. Let's take a taxi and get the things for the gentleman as soon as possible."

"Okay." Weiner agreed.

So, the two left the alley together, took a taxi on the busy street, and went straight to the destination.

The street scene along the way was completely different from the Bremen Empire.

The architectural style, shop signs, and pedestrians here are very different from the conservative and solemn Bremen.

The outstanding features are:

Gorgeous and beautiful, colorful.

Heretical, unconventional.

The buildings on both sides of the road, whether high-rise residential buildings or bungalow shops, are different from the gray and white commonly seen in the empire, but colorful, especially golden, royal blue and dark red.

Even street graffiti can be seen everywhere.

The signs of various shops are varied, and no matter the shape or font, there is almost no repetitive style.

And just at night, those signs are all lit up, flashing non-stop, colorful and quite eye-catching.

While it is full of life, it also has a certain folk art.

The pedestrians, both men and women, are dressed very fancy.

And most women wear sexy and revealing outfits, black and white silk can be seen everywhere, and their hairstyles, accessories and makeup are also very exaggerated and avant-garde.

If this were placed in the Bremen Empire, it would definitely be "criticized" by the public.

There are obviously huge differences in the culture and aesthetics of the two countries.

This is because the Owena Federation is an "open and free" country, and it admires art very much.

In addition to the god of conquest and command believed by the federal officials and the army, the November Hour "Blind General", the mainstream belief is the three major art Hours.

Music and painting managed by "Miss Elegy" in April, dance, sculpture and architecture by "Mrs. Ya" in June, and literature and drama by "Poet White Dove" in October...

These seven arts are the "supreme creation of mankind" advocated by the Federation. Almost every person in the Federation has been cultivating his or her own aesthetic and artistic attainments since childhood. If you cannot master any art or do not have enough appreciation, you cannot integrate into this society.

You will be ruthlessly excluded from the group.

When Alevia and Weiner first arrived, they were also quite uncomfortable. After all, the Bremen Empire has an "art order" that regards any art as evil and any artwork as contraband.

They rarely come into contact with art.

What surprised the two even more was that in the Owena Federation, the movies managed by "Director" in February were also very popular with the public.

Movies are known as the "eighth art" here.

In addition to the most mainstream and common libraries, opera houses, galleries and exhibition halls, the number of cinemas is the largest.

Alevia and Werner always find something new in the Federation, and they agree that it is much more vibrant than the Bremen Empire.

But they also have a strange feeling that the artistic atmosphere of the Federation is indescribably weird.

If Bremen is compared to a stubborn old man who only sits at home playing Sudoku all day, then Owena is a young man who is greedy for pleasure. At night, he wanders around the dance hall, drinks and sways, and is in a psychedelic state.

It is not good or bad, but it is like two extremes that make people feel uncomfortable.

…

…

The taxi finally stopped in a colorful street. The driver wore a bright blue hat and a mustache. He waved his hand and saluted Alevia and Werner.

"Oh, beautiful lady, handsome gentleman, the hardworking coachman 'Old Jer' has taken you to 'Moran's Bookstore'."

The coachman sang to the two in an operatic tone, and said with a smile:

"The fare for this trip is 2 silver knives."

"Here." Weiner took out three oval silver coins and handed them to the coachman. "More is the tip, Mr. Jer."

"Oh! Generous sir!"

The coachman took the silver coins and was very happy.

He jumped off the carriage and danced a tap dance, then took off his hat with one hand and bent over with the other hand on his chest.

"May art always accompany you."

"Your chanting and tap dancing are both very good."

Alevia smiled slightly and applauded.

Hearing such a beautiful lady's praise, the coachman was immediately delighted and danced again on the spot.

When the two walked away, you could still hear the coachman humming a song while driving away.

"Ms. Baiou, your deception skills are getting better and better."

Weiner shook his head and sighed.

Alevia rolled her eyes and didn't answer.

Black Snipe is still the same as before, unable to speak, making her seem like a bad woman who can only lie.

Even Gillan can now say some pleasing witty words and know how to make girls happy, only Black Snipe is still stubborn.

Add to that the fierce image of the bald head, I'm afraid he will have even less luck with women in the future.

Alevia complained in her heart.

The two pushed open the door of "Moran Bookstore" and walked in with a ding.

Unlike the bookstores in the Empire, there are many people who come here to buy and read books. Poems, novels, and picture albums are particularly popular, and even various works that explore love and in-depth communication between men and women are grandly placed at the forefront of the bookshelf. From time to time, customers drop in to check out a book.

The degree of openness in this regard is extremely high and is generally accepted by the federal people.

Regarding "sex", the federal people also regard it as an alternative art.

Weiner took a few glances at the covers of albums and magazines showing female models with proud and unobstructed figures, and then quickly turned his gaze away, controlling himself not to glance around.

This made Alivia on the side sneer.

She walked over and calmly took away an entire magazine from the "Graffiti Beauty" series, and selected a few comics from the "Legend of Mr. A" series.

"This is the benefit of coming to the Federation..."

Seeing the shocked look on Weiner's face, Aleviya waved her hands and said something.

"At least life is not that boring. There are a lot of works for me to enjoy. It's a pity that Mr. Gillan only watched one movie with me."

"Miss Baiou, do you... like Mr. Gillan?"

Weiner hesitated and asked carefully.

Alivia suddenly lost interest in talking and threw all the magazines in her hand to him.

"Forget it, why are I telling you this? You don't understand... As a gentleman, help the lady get it."

"Eh?!"

Weiner suddenly felt that the things in his hands were hot.

He looked bitter.

When the two reached the second floor, a woman who was entertaining guests looked back at them.

Alivia nodded calmly and made a special gesture.

The woman smiled in response.

She came over and silently led the two of them to a private room on the second floor.

"I am the owner of this store, Ianna Moran. Are you two here to pick up the 'book'?"

"Well, yes." Alavia nodded, took out a letter and handed it to Ianna. "This is a letter written by Mr. Gillan himself."

After Ianna took it, she opened it carefully and read it twice.

After that, he nodded to confirm.

She raised her hand, and seven "mini books" that seemed to have been shrunk several times and were only about the size of an inch photo appeared in her palm, like small biscuits.

"This is the secret message that Mr. Guillain Iros needs. Please keep it safe."

"Yes." Aleviya took the seven small books and smiled gracefully. "Happy transaction."

Ianna nodded.

"A pleasant transaction, young lady."

After successfully obtaining seven copies of the secret biography, just as Aleviya and Weiner were about to say goodbye and leave, there was a knock on the door.

Tuk Tuk.

Ianna frowned.

"who?"

But there was no response from the door.

Suddenly, the three people in the room realized something was wrong. After looking at each other, they couldn't help but become more vigilant.

Click...

The door that was originally locked made a crisp sound. Immediately, the doorknob twisted and the door opened.

Sixty-seven men and women wearing gorgeous aristocratic costumes walked in slowly.

They all had a bright black rose pinned to their necklines.

Seeing this feature, Ianna's pupils shrank.

"Withered Nobles?!"

As the old enemy of "Condensed Bookstore", the "Withered Nobles" have been hunting down members of the bookstore for decades, which forced the bookstore to hide from the world, leaving only "Molan Bookstore" as its external stronghold.

But "Molan Bookstore" acts very low-key, and there is almost no risk of exposure. Yianna really couldn't understand how the other party knew.

"There is no secret that we don't know, Ms. Ianna. It will only be a matter of time before we catch you."

The leader, a young man with blond hair and a back of his head, laughed.

He put his hands behind his back and held his head high.

"We also know that you just got a lot of sixth-level secrets from the bookstore... Secrets of this level should not be known to others, let alone collected by the Solidarity Bookstore."

The tone of the young man behind him gradually became colder.

His eyes fell on the beautiful woman with short hair and long skirt.

"You two are the buyers? Just hand over the things, and then there will be nothing more to do with you here. If you don't want to die, get out of here."

Hearing this, Aleviya raised her pretty eyebrows, and a trace of anger flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Beside her, Weiner looked solemn and reminded in a low voice:

"Miss Baiou, calm down... these people are all Kusei, and the man who spoke is even at level 5!"

"I know." Alivia said calmly. "But so what? We solemnly promised to sir that we would return the things to him intact."

"If you want to take something from me, you have to kill me."

"Being so stubborn will only harm others and yourself."

The young man behind his back shook his head.

"Since you really don't want to hand it over, let's take it ourselves..."

Just as he raised his hand to make a gesture, he was ready for his companion to take action.

But he opened his mouth, but suddenly no sound came out.

The pupils of a pair of eyes shrank sharply.

The scene fell into dead silence.

Because a figure, at some point, stood behind Alavia——

This is a man in armor, with disheveled hair and a scarlet cloak that drags the floor. His whole body is filled with an extremely terrifying sense of oppression.

"Withering noble, you dare to snatch my things?"

The man said calmly.