Soul of Burning Steel

Joshua believed in No. 3's guess.

Ms. Artificial Intelligence originally didn’t know the words “doubt”, “maybe”, and “maybe”. In her logic, the process of being in an ambiguous intermediate state is very little, almost none, but because of long-term contact with humans, No. 3 learned The use of these words has been removed, but this does not mean that the nature of her logic will change.

Her doubts and guesses are actually 100% certain, euphemisms cannot change the facts.

"do you died."

Joshua turned his head, and he looked to the west of the main city of Moldavia in a daze, his eyes fixed on the mansion where Alfonso Carlos lived in the past: "Speaking of which, it has been two years."

It has been two years since he traveled to this world. In the past two years, he has changed many things and changed the fate of many people. Although Joshua did not deliberately protect or guard anything, there are very few people who died for no reason because of him, and it can even be said that there are almost none. Ah Fang Suo may be the first.

Two years is not a long time, and the soldier still remembers the middle-aged businessman who reminded him kindly on that winter day when the first snow fell. Alfonso is a man of good character, ambitious, courageous, decisive and excellent in speech skills. Joshua is very relieved that he will control his own property. The soldier could see that this man believed in the contract and responsibility, and it was impossible for him to betray him, so the power entrusted to Alfonso was getting bigger and bigger.

But he died. Maybe that's why he died.

No one will target, deliberately murder an ordinary businessman, and conceal his death. Without thinking about it, Joshua could figure it out even with his knees. The people behind the conspiracy must be targeting the Radcliffe family, that is, targeting him.

"More than a week ago, I was in the holy mountain, and His Majesty Israel just left."

Joshua looked at the streets with people coming and going, his voice was calm, and he couldn't hear any emotion: "Master Nostradamus is studying the Black Blood Plague with the group of mages of the imperial capital at the Management College of Winterhold, and Kao The power of the Si family was also dispersed as Brandon went to Moldova. Indeed, in the eyes of some people, this is probably the time when my power is at its weakest, and it is the most suitable time to cut off my arm."

No. 3 did not speak, and the keen artificial intelligence could tell that Joshua's body was really lifeless. The opponent's heartbeat was slow and steady, his breathing was calm and powerful, the blood flowed in the veins together with the surging vitality, and all the signs of the soldier were so normal...so much so that she felt fear.

"Alfonso is just an ordinary human being. His strength is so weak that it can be ignored. Killing him will not leave too many traces. If you hide it for a period of time through forged reports and communications, most of the clues will naturally be cut off." Not noticing No. 3's expression, Joshua whispered to himself, "But why? Why would someone target me?"

His tone was low, and a heavy sense of doubt echoed in the air.

And from the soul—the instinctive sense of panic spreads in the depths of the artificial intelligence's soul.

No. 3 felt invisible, the energy she couldn't detect at all was interfering with the magic projection, causing her body to fluctuate and distort like a picture in the water.

This was just caused by Joshua's instinctive mental fluctuations. His rage inadvertently stirred up the invisible elements and magic power in the atmosphere, and even activated their activity, causing the temperature on the roof of the entire Lord's Mansion tower to gradually rise. , and even produced a magical flash like an aurora.

Just when No. 3's magic power projection was about to dissipate due to this, Joshua turned his head, noticed this situation, and immediately stretched out his hand to help the artificial intelligence stabilize its body. The restlessness of the element was calmed down, and Joshua calmed down, causing all the visions around him to disappear. He smiled apologetically, and after stabilizing his figure, No. 3 took over the conversation calmly: "Joshua, for You've always had a lot of people."

She didn't mind this little accident, instead she floated in front of the soldiers, giving out reasons one by one like a few treasures: "The Radcliffe family is one of the exclusive ore suppliers of the five armies directly under the emperor, occupying a large Part of the profit cake, it is not surprising that other ore merchants target you, this is one. Second, your family’s industry is gradually transforming and is preparing to take over the entire production chain. Veteran merchants related to weapons and armor also regard Radcliffe as A thorn in the side of the family."

Most of the following reasons are related to interests. After listening to Joshua, he was not surprised. Every nobleman and businessman has countless natural competitors, so-called enemies. The pie in the empire has not grown. Before, everyone's shares were fixed, and only by robbing others could one grow stronger.

The same is true of his industry. Before, Warrior and Alfonso were robbing the market share of veteran arms merchants, which must have caused dissatisfaction among most people. And as long as Alfonso dies and the Radcliffe family's property falls into chaos, others will naturally replace the market share occupied by the Hand with Swords.

During the period between Alfonso's death and his discovery, many shares may have been taken away under the manipulation of the other party, and the further the delay, the greater the loss.

In addition to interests, No. 3 also mentioned several political reasons.

The contradiction between the royal faction and the noble faction, the contradiction between the civilian mage and the noble academy, the contradiction between the local nobles and the foreign nobles in the imperial capital, the contradiction between the northern faction and the southern faction, the contradiction between the new nobles and the old nobles, the military nobles and the traditional nobles, and the commercial nobles. Disputes... The Nuo big empire is full of hills, and there are countless different factions competing with each other in each field. Take the four small northern lands as an example, some are close to the royal family, some are close to the church, and some are close to the royal family. Those who have a tacit relationship with the mage association, and those who are single-minded and at ease are the emperor of the land.

People's hearts are so changeable. Due to the growth of the princes and daughters, many factions have gradually split up, each secretly supporting different princes, which can be regarded as a big faction.

"Because of your activity, the Radcliffe family has attracted the attention of the entire empire. This will certainly give us a great reputation, but it will also be targeted a lot. Joshua, don't underestimate your own reputation, Carlos Mister's death may even be assassinated by your other subordinates in order to gain your attention. It is not impossible."

No. 3 floated to the side of the soldier while talking, and Joshua stretched out his left hand so that the petite body of the other party could sit on his arm. He turned his head to look at Miss Artificial Intelligence, and frowned: "How dare you?" Has it reached this point?"

"Of course it has come to this point." No. 3 shook his head slightly, and sighed softly: "How many extreme intentions are there in the empire? How many are there in the entire Mycroft continent? As the youngest extreme intentions in history, It can be said that the future is bound to advance to legend, many people will not dare to offend you because of this, but there are still a small number of courageous people who want to try your water, "

"In the eyes of those people, this may be just a small temptation. Assassinating a manager who is irrelevant and dispatched to the imperial capital is not painful to a big noble family with a strong man. It will cause too much revenge, and it will also be able to clearly see the strength and reaction of you and the family behind you, so that they can plan their next move."

"Next step?"

Hearing No. 3's words, Joshua couldn't help but sneered, as if he had heard some big joke: "Will it cause too much revenge?"

He didn't continue talking, but glanced coldly in the direction of the imperial capital, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

—Of course not, there will never be a next step.

Hearing the warrior talking to himself, the artificial intelligence sitting on the opponent's arm blinked, and then laughed silently.

——Those people don't know you, they think you are an ordinary nobleman, an ordinary warrior, an ordinary person who can be tested, guessed, and pondered.

They are wrong. Thinking of this, Number 3 watched as the light in Joshua's eyes gradually lit up, becoming as bright as burning. No. 3 knew that this was a sign that the soldier had started to get serious, and his anger was burning in his heart, accumulating strength.

For the first time in the heart of the artificial intelligence, there is a tinge of pity for those enemies who still don't know who they are.

——They never know what they have provoked.

There is another update around noon.