Chapter 56: The Marquis of Mocha's Manor

  "Why don't you come to my place for a meal before you leave, and if you come to the capital again next time, it will be easier to find me." Since Lin Chen had decided to leave, Xia Lu couldn't find an excuse to make him stay, so she lowered her head in silence for a while before speaking up to invite him.

  "Alright," Lin Chen nodded, since he had already arrived in the imperial capital, it would be somewhat embarrassing not to go see Xia Lu. Going somewhere to eat and sit for a bit was also fine.

  "Alright, let's go", hearing Lin Chen agree, Xia Lu excitedly revealed a smile and turned around to take Lin Chen away.

  The bustling streets of the imperial capital, Lin Chen walked while sizing up his surroundings. The prosperity of this imperial capital was indeed beyond Lin Chen's imagination. On both sides of the street, there were many stalls set up, and on these stalls, apart from selling daily necessities, there were also some strange and bizarre things that Lin Chen couldn't understand.

  Even Yatres was the same, curiously sizing up his surroundings. Although Yatres was an eighth-level earth dragon, he had never entered a human city, let alone the imperial capital of an empire.

  Hualancheng, as the imperial capital of the Eastern Dragon Empire, was quite large in area. At least Lin Chen and Xia Lu had been strolling on the streets for nearly half an hour, but they still hadn't reached the Marquis's mansion, which showed just how vast the city was.

  "What? Isn't that Xia Lu? What a coincidence...", just as Lin Chen and Xia Lu were strolling down the street, heading towards the Marquis's residence, a male voice suddenly rang out.

  A young and handsome man came forward, wearing a white robe with a pharmacist's emblem embroidered on it, which made Lin Chen pause for a moment. He was actually an elite-level pharmacist, and so young at that. Behind this young elite pharmacist were two bodyguards, and when Lin Chen opened their information, they turned out to be two swordsmen-level professionals.

  "Is that you? Lola Ge!", Xia Lu, who was originally in a good mood, saw the handsome man appear and immediately turned cold, saying indifferently.

  As for Xia Lu's coldness, this handsome man didn't have the slightest self-awareness, as if he had long been used to it. He only looked at Lin Chen who was alone with Xia Lu, and a hint of gloom flashed in the depths of his eyes. Then, he showed a worried expression towards Xia Lu: "I heard you took someone to the Sunset Forest to find the Tempering Bone Flower. I've been worried sick for so long, fortunately, you're fine."

  "It's none of your business! I don't need your concern!", Xia Lu said coldly, her face filled with disgust. After finishing speaking, she directly pulled Lin Chen's hand beside her, "Let's go! We won't bother with him!"

  As soon as Xialu grabbed Linchen's hand, the man named Rolar's eyes were about to spit out fire, his face turned even colder, and he directly blocked Xialu's way, with a somewhat gloomy expression staring at Linchen, asking: "Who is he!?"

  "It's none of your business who he is!", said Xia Lu coldly, staring at Lola Ge. After finishing speaking, she pulled Lin Chen away and left, evading Lola Ge's obstruction once again.

  "How detestable! Where did this wild kid come from!", This time, Luola Ge didn't chase after them again, but instead looked at Xia Lu and Lin Chen's tightly held hands with a gloomy face, feeling jealous and indignant.

  "Ah, what a hassle...", although being pulled by Xia Lu's small hand felt good, he could sense the cold gaze behind his back. Lin Chen secretly let out a sigh, but didn't take it to heart. After having lunch at Xia Lu's place, he would be leaving the Imperial City anyway, so offending someone wasn't a big deal.

  "Hey, can you let go of my hand now?" On the street, in broad daylight, he was being pulled by a girl. Lin Chen didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, as couples kissing and hugging were a common sight in his real world. However, although Lin Chen didn't feel anything unusual, the people on the street were staring at them like they were monkeys, which made him uncomfortable. After all, this world was not as open-minded as his own.

  "Ah? Oh……", Xialu, still sulking, hadn't noticed the reactions of the people around her until Linchen reminded her. She then realized that everyone on the street was staring at her with strange eyes. Xialu let out a low cry of surprise and immediately turned bright red with embarrassment. She quickly let go of Linchen's hand and walked away hastily, not daring to look at anyone.

  Looking at Xia Lu's appearance, Lin Chen smiled and shook his head without saying a word, directly following behind Xia Lu's back, walking towards the direction of Hou Jue Fu. After about ten or so minutes, Xia Lu finally brought Lin Chen to Hou Jue Fu.

  "Marquis? Indeed, a great noble...". Lin Chen secretly sighed in admiration as he gazed at the grand and majestic Marquis' mansion before him, then followed Xia Lu inside.

  "Miss is back? It's Miss who has returned......", the gatekeeper of the Marquis' manor was stunned as he looked at Xia Lu walking in with Lin Chen, then called out in great joy. Several attendants also turned around with great joy and went to report.

  "Hmm! You know you're back!?!", Not long after, a man in his early forties walked out, looking at Xia Lu with a cold hum, and said with a stern face, looking very severe. The middle-aged man glanced at Lin Chen beside him, but his eyes only stayed for a moment before moving away.

  "Having seen Father", seeing the man walking out, Xia Lu's face immediately became serious and she hurriedly went forward to greet him. As for Lin Chen beside her, upon seeing that it was Xia Lu's father, he also smiled slightly and nodded his head as a greeting.

  Lin Chen's personality is not good at socializing, in "Tian Zu", even when facing the top figures in the game, Lin Chen only has a dull expression, although not cold, but also can't be said to be approachable.

  For Lin Chen, nodding his head with a slight smile was already giving face to Xia Lu. After all, as the Mocha elder of the pharmacist guild, he hadn't shown him a few smiles either, and sometimes when he was annoyed by Elder Mocha, he would directly give him a cold shoulder and leave.

  Although Lin Chen thought that his slight smile and nod were already a proactive greeting, in the eyes of this middle-aged man, it was an impolite display. The middle-aged man furrowed his brow slightly, displeased, but chose to ignore it.

  But in front of outsiders, it's not good to lose temper with Xia Lu either. So she just asked sternly with a gloomy face: "You actually learned how to run away from home, after going back, stay in your room for half a month and don't allow you to go out. Where are the people you brought out? Why haven't they come back?"

  "Ah?", hearing that she would be grounded for half a month, Xia Lu was helpless and had a dejected look on her face. However, knowing her father's personality, she also knew it was impossible to disobey him, so she could only nod reluctantly and recount the incident of being attacked.

  "It's outrageous!!! The Wolf Bandits actually dared to lay hands on my daughter!!!", Upon hearing that everyone was killed, Xia Lu barely escaped with her life. This middle-aged man suddenly had an epiphany and immediately called a subordinate to investigate the Wolf Mercenary Group, preparing to send troops to annihilate the Wolf Bandits at any moment.

  "It seems that Xia Lu's father is indeed a master who has grasped military power...", Lin Chen thought to himself as he watched Xia Lu's father's reaction, able to mobilize troops at any time. To go and eliminate a bandit gang, one would have to traverse mountains and rivers, which shows that Xia Lu's father indeed holds real power in his hands, not like those empty titles held by nobles who only have the title but no actual power.

  At this time, the headquarters of the Pharmaceutical Association, in the room of Elder Moka, a man knocked on the door and walked in, reporting to Elder Moka: "Elder, Lin Chen, whom you asked me to pay attention to, has entered the Marquis of Moka's mansion."

  "Oh? Went to Marquis's residence? Continue to pay attention", after hearing the report, Moka elder nodded and let the man retreat.

  "Whoosh!!!", at this time, in the headquarters of the Storm Mercenary Corps, a high-ranking thief suddenly appeared before the captain, bowing his head and reporting: "Captain, the person you asked me to pay attention to has arrived in the Imperial City today. He is currently at Marquis Moka's mansion, but when he entered the city, he was with people from the Alchemist Guild".

  "Huh? Is that so?", upon hearing the report, the captain pondered for a moment and said: "Lin Chen is already an excellent pharmacist at such a young age, go check if he's a member of the Pharmacists' Guild. Also, go inform Commander Tailer to make a trip to Marquis Moka's residence, under my name, invite Lin Chen over."

  "Yes!", nodded his head, this thief's body twisted and turned, directly entering stealth state and disappeared.

  (PS: Originally, I was going to make Zhu Jiao become a thief, but the book review area's book friends all said it should be a swordsman, and more than half of the votes were for swordsman, so let's temporarily set it as a swordsman. However, after changing professions, the skills "Instant Step" and "Heavy Strike" from other systems will disappear. Does everyone think "Instant Step" should be kept or not? Those who think it should or shouldn't be kept, shout out in the book review area...)