114: go home

The intense activity made my invisibility cloak unstable.

Just as the middle-aged man opposite looked at the slight energy fluctuation with a puzzled expression, I put on the Water Sprite Cloak and activated its constant spell, 'Charm Creature,' on him.

The middle-aged man, struck by the magic, trembled slightly, and a hint of daze flashed in his eyes.

Then he lowered his head and, with a reverent posture, expressed his submission to me.

For the next 12 hours, this person opposite would become my loyal partner, serving me unreservedly in all matters.

"Mara, don't look around. I'm right in front of you; you just can't see me," I whispered. "Tell the coachman to go to Black Panther Mall."

"Yes," Mara leaned out of the carriage door. "Hansen, go to Black Panther Mall."

"Very good. Now tell me why your master kidnapped Lord Ryan," I maintained my invisible state. "I want to hear the whole story. Shhh... keep your voice down! Don't let anyone outside hear, and don't let anyone discover my presence."

...

The black carriage passed through the checkpoints heavily guarded by noble guards, who were ostensibly helping to search for Lord Ryan. I, meanwhile, listened to the report about the kidnapping incident from Han Ting's butler the entire way.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the temporary market.

Before getting out of the carriage, I instructed Mara to first find Randall, who was looking for me everywhere, but not to let outsiders know that I had returned.

I told Randall to keep half of his men searching for me.

He could ask Porcupine Thieves Guild for location information, but he should not expose the fact that he had rebelled.

Then, he was to hide in a nearby inn and await my instructions.

As soon as I stepped onto the Black Panther Mall's property, I immediately activated the mist crystal, enveloping the entire area in a thick fog and setting up a mist defense maze on the periphery.

At the same time, I released the Dragon King from my sleeve, letting it stand guard above my head.

The first to notice the change in the mist were the two Inferno Fist Guards by the roadside fence gate. They saw me emerge from the mist and quickly saluted, saying, "Lord, you're finally back!"

"Are there only two of you guarding?" I asked. If these two had any issues, I could revoke their mist passage permissions at any time.

"Yes, Lord Randall took everyone to look for you," one of the Inferno Fist Guards replied. "I'll go get him back now."

"No need, I've already sent someone to find him. You two come in with me. With the mist's protection, outsiders can't enter now," I said. "Who else is inside?"

"Old Hasser and the other laborers are all in the building preparing. He said you would definitely return, and that today's opening ceremony, as well as the restaurant and supermarket, must be ready," the Inferno Fist Guard replied.

"Where are Wesley and Lucy?"

"They both went to look for you too. Master Wesley said he was going home to call his guards to search with him, and Master Lucy said she would go search alone first."

As I spoke, I enveloped myself and the two Inferno Fist Guards in another layer of mist that no one but me could see through.

Walking into the supermarket, I immediately saw Old Hasser. While he looked at the circle of white mist with both excitement and confusion, I expanded the white mist circle, enclosing him alone.

"Lord! You... you're finally back!" Old Hasser was so excited he almost cried. "I'll send someone to find Randall and the others right away."

"I've already sent someone to find Randall. You send people to find the others, and also..." I took out paper and a pen and began writing on a nearby table. "Find two capable people to invite the Kedas City Lord and Flame Covenant Red. On the surface, say there's a problem with the ribbon-cutting ceremony and ask them to come early to take a look. Don't let outsiders know I've returned."

I handed the note to Old Hasser. "These two notes must be delivered to them personally. As for Wesley and Lucy, tell them to return quietly on their own, and let their family guards continue searching for me. Remember! Tell everyone not to leak the news that I've returned."

"Understood, Lord!" Old Hasser bowed and immediately went to make arrangements.

While he was busy, I had the Dragon King spew out the goods to be sold in the supermarket from the Qiankun Ring, letting the nearby laborers place them one by one onto the empty counters and shelves.

The supermarket adopted a display method of enclosed counters plus shelves, using more staff, and also adopted a centralized cashier management system.

Without the support of relevant technology and high moral standards, self-service retrieval of goods and automatic checkout methods would not work in this world.

Goods and materials needed for the mall and restaurant were prepared in the same way.

Escorted by the two Inferno Fist Guards, I arrived at the Wizard's Cottage.

Time was short, and I couldn't bother with complete magic runes. After drawing four simple elemental runes of fire, water, wind, and earth on the first-floor ground, I began to activate the task of having the system energy assimilate the Wizard's Cottage.

"System Task: Guard Outpost Two"

"Host and familiar jointly resist possible enemies and protect the Wizard's Cottage from destruction."

"Within nine hours of the Wizard's Cottage's completion, system energy will gradually assimilate the Wizard's Cottage."

"Task Reward: Anchor Teleport Network"

"Task Time Countdown: 8 hours 59 minutes"

Magic runes could be added later; establishing the teleportation gate as soon as possible was the urgent need.

After leaving the magic cabin, I had changed into a new set of equipment, equipping all the magic items I could.

Thinking of the magic items I lost yesterday, my heart ached with every beat.

"Porcupine Thieves Guild, huh! You dared to kidnap me, huh! You dared to steal my stuff, huh! After I deal with today's powerful enemies, I'll deal with you!" I muttered inwardly.

I took the two guards to the second floor of the mall, had them guard the staircase, and began setting up Hunter Traps in the private room area.

Before long, I heard Randall's footsteps coming upstairs.

"Lord!" Randall saw me coming to greet him as soon as he came upstairs, and his eyes instantly turned red. "You're back!"

He's going to cry again, at his age, it's truly speechless.

"I'm back," I replied.

"You are..." The Holy Knight wanted to ask but didn't dare.

"I was indeed kidnapped yesterday..." I said.

"It's my fault, I'm not worthy..." Randall, as expected, began to blame himself.

"Stop! If you don't want to take care of me, then no one will," I quickly interrupted him from saying anything he shouldn't.

"Ryan, how did you escape?"

I led him to the private room area and began setting traps while roughly explaining what had happened.

"It seems we have quite a few enemies," Randall's intelligence returned.

I handed the magic wooden whistle to Randall. "You'll have to handle this matter."