Arcane Journey

Chapter 227 Tiefling Warlock
In the corner of the southern district of Mokou Town, several newly built low-rise residential buildings are scattered here. In the underground secret room of one of the houses, more than a dozen male and female assassins are scattered here and there.

"boom!"

The wooden door was closed, and a female assassin leaned against the door with her back, and said to the masked human standing in the center of the room: "Master Ramsay, the trap and magic alarm have been set, and no one will be able to break in quietly. Come."

"very good."

The assassin called Lord Ramsay wore a black silk mask, with a flaming dagger carved on his right cheek, he said slowly in a low voice, "Everyone, just two hours ago, I received A magical message from Simon's headquarters."

"A vampire elder from Mask of the Night has conveyed to me the order that the task must be ended in the near future and return to the headquarters."

"This also means that our time is running out, and we must forcibly implement the plan to assassinate the lord of Mokou Town."

"Why did the headquarters suddenly become so anxious?"

There was a commotion in the secret room, and the assassins talked in low voices.

Most of the conversations were focused on the cowardly mage lord in Mokou Town, hiding in the wizard tower all the time, so he wouldn't try to force his way in.

Ramsay's eyes remained indifferent, allowing the group of assassins to discuss.

In fact, the magical messages from Simon's headquarters were his lies.

His only purpose is to let this group of subordinates go down to attract the attention of the target.

In any case, their mission is to look at results rather than people.

As long as he could find a way for these people to attract the mage lord of Mokou town from the wizard tower, he would have a chance to kill him.

After all, no one can guarantee how long the mage lord will stay in his wizard tower.

a month?

half a year?

a year?
He has more important things to do and doesn't want to waste time here.

Moreover, if the plan is successful, the headquarters will only reward him, and will not ask how many people died during the mission.

The dead have no right to speak!

In Ramsay's eyes, apart from him in the secret room, the other dozen or so assassins had already been put on the death list by his extremely detailed plan.

"Master Ramsay..."

An old assassin, his sharp eyes flashed, was about to speak, when there was a burst of magic waves in the dark secret room without warning.

"Jie Jie Jie..."

Senran's weird laughter, with the appearance of magic fluctuations, a sudden hot wind swept over, exuding hell-like heat.

"Woo! Woo! Woo!..."

The magic alarm set up by the assassins above the chamber was long overdue, with piercing chirps and hurried footsteps.

"We're exposed!"

Most of the assassins reacted quickly. The moment the alarm sounded, they hid in the shadows and ran from other escape routes in the secret room.

Ramsay, the leader of the group of assassins, did not move, his black silk mask eyes were full of fear.

He saw an evil spellcaster sauntering out of the ripples of the void.

The caster who appeared suddenly was wearing a dark red robe, with obsidian-like ram horns protruding from his broad forehead, curving backwards, and a thick dark red tail rustling with a slight swing.

He was holding a wraith staff emitting scorching fire. Two ghost flames with no fixed form were revolving around the top of the staff, turning into ferocious green skulls from time to time, baring their teeth at the sluggish Ramsay. , There is a strong breath of purgatory in the voice.

Tiefling Warlock!

A degenerate race marked by demonic bloodlines.

"what!!!"

The screams from inside and outside the secret room brought Ramsay back to reality.

He saw a few slower-moving assassins inside, they were either haunted by the evil fire that suddenly appeared in the void, or they were grabbed by the ghost hands that emerged from the floor.

In short, nearly every Assassin is haunted by the evil Netherfire.

The will-o'-the-wisps full of negative energy make their exposed skin dehydrated and aged in the blink of an eye, wrinkled all over, or burned by the hot flames.

"what!!!"

With a scream, the first deceased appeared.

The unlucky young female assassin was bitten on the thigh by a group of skulls burning with green flames. Under the erosion of negative energy, her pretty face instantly withered into the appearance of an eight or ninety-year-old woman.

"Master Ramsay, save me!"

The female assassin screamed before she died, but the latter remained motionless, watching the female assassin finally turn into a mummified corpse with dull eyes.

Ramsay was very acquainted with this female assassin, and had had many close contacts in the headquarters of Ximen City.

But when he saw the ugly and disgusting female face like a hag, Ramsay trembled and his face turned pale.

In such a dangerous situation, his brain uncontrollably recalled the ugly female assassin who once knelt in front of him to serve her superb ventriloquism, so that his stomach rolled and twitched.

A skull haunted by will-o'-the-wisps floated up from the mummy, and its cold eyes fixed on the leader of the assassins.

An icy shudder crawled up Ramsay's back, his strong desire to survive finally overwhelmed his fear, and instantly released his best escape skills.

——"Supernatural Ability: Shadow Step!"

His whole body turned into a flying shadow, and his vigorous body suddenly broke through the main material world, appearing in the shadow plane of the ether world.

"Ha ha……"

The tiefling warlock sneered, and slammed the ghost staff in his hand towards the ground. The two ghost fires lingering on the top of the staff gave out joyful screams, turned into two flowing shadows, and disappeared.

"what!!!……"

Ramsay, who was speeding on the shadow plane, suddenly let out a scream, and the gray-white shadow space suddenly changed, and fell out of thin air on the ground of the main material world.

The ferocious skull transformed from ghostly ghost fire suddenly multiplied, forcibly pulling him out of the shadow plane, screaming and biting around him.

In just a moment, the body of this Shadow Dancer Assassin whose strength was close to that of the legendary realm was covered with bloody wounds.

"Stop it, my babies!"

The tiefling warlock wandered in from the void, looking down on the dying assassin.

The ghostly will-o'-the-wisps that bit the assassin's leader left one after another, shrunk to the size of a fist at a speed visible to the naked eye, and lingered on the top of the ghost staff again, making intimate whimpers.

"Do you want to commit suicide? Wouldn't that be too cheap for you?"

The tiefling warlock smiled sinisterly, his pale and empty pupils strangely turned into two elongated triangular shapes, like two coiled snake heads, and the leader of the sprinters issued the deadliest bite.

A bone-chilling numbness suddenly occupied Ramsay's whole body, causing him to lose all control over his body, and finally fainted completely due to the seriousness of his injuries.

…………

A dark and dreary underground space.

This is the dungeon of Mokou Town, located deep beneath the City Hall.

The builder is the Zhenta Forest Society, and now it has naturally become the secret prison of the new lord.

In the deepest closed cell, with the opening of the steel cell door, Salo, the leader of the Mokou Town Guard, and his deputy, Puranda, walked into the cell.

"Wait, let me do it." The tiefling wizard standing at the door of the cell stretched out his ghost staff to stop the two, and said in a slightly hoarse voice:
"Your torture techniques are terrible, and what I know best in my life are assassins. This kind of person is strong-willed. If caught, they will usually kill themselves by biting their tongues or taking poison. s things."

Salo looked at the pale and empty pupils of the tiefling magician, nodded slightly, and then said to the ranger Puranda, "Then let's go out and wait."

The cell door was gently closed, and the dungeon corridor began to echo with horrifying wailing.

"Where did you recruit such a sorcerer that makes one's scalp tingle just looking at it?" Puranda glanced at the cell, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, and asked with lingering fear.

"He took refuge on his own initiative." Salo replied, remembering the scene of meeting with the magician, and added: "This is the first gift he gave us."

"Weapons are not evil, but the human heart is evil." He recalled the words of the magician, and said to Puranda:

"His profession is Hellfire Warlock, specializing in the Netherfire in the flames of hell, a dangerous energy that can only appear in Baator's Nine Hells."

"From the Nine Prisons?" Puranda widened his eyes in surprise, stood up straight and looked at Salo, "No one who deals with the devil is a good person, you'd better be careful."

"I have my own measure." Salo said indifferently:

"Before agreeing him to join us, I asked my elder brother Balerus to meet with him in advance, saying that there is no problem, and the other party also claimed that he would be happy to meet with our lord."

He manages the order of the entire Mokou Town, and the most urgent need right now is a spellcaster like a magician who walks in the dark.

After all, it's easy to hide with an open gun, but it's hard to defend against a hidden arrow. If it wasn't for the appearance of this sorcerer, he would never have known that there was such a powerful assassin organization hidden in Mokou Town.

A moment later, the tiefling wizard came out with a blank expression.

Salo looked through the half-open cell door, just in time to see a skinned, bloody corpse on the ground.

He suppressed the discomfort in his stomach and looked away.

"This is a shadow dancer whose strength has reached a quasi-legendary level. There is no other way. In the end, he used the method of confining his soul." The tiefling wizard said helplessly.

Salo and Puranda looked at each other and clicked their tongues secretly.

A shadow dancer whose strength has reached a quasi-legendary level is actually teased by the magician in front of him like a cat's paw and a mouse, which shows his strength.

Such a person is willing to join Mokou Town, I am afraid it is not as simple as imagined.

Salo secretly made a decision in his heart, and when the lord is out of the customs, he must report this matter.

"His name is Ramsay, and his codename in the organization is 'Blazing'. He serves the Dark Night Mask in Ximen City and directly belongs to a killer organization called 'Flame Dagger'. He has completed 83 tasks of various sizes, among which There were 35 assassination missions for group activities, and 48 for individual actions. The most glorious record was the Red Dragon Rebellion ten years ago, successfully assassinating the Queen of the Kingdom of Cormyr in Mokou Town, and the only mission that failed was the assassination of a A human sword mage named Hesaiah..."

Listening to the tiefling wizard's retelling, Salo suppressed the horror in his heart, and after keeping all the information in his heart, he asked like a cannonball:
"So, are there any 'Flame Dagger' gangs that slip through the net in Mokou Town now? Have they established an underground station? Is there anyone in the territory colluding with them? After this group of assassins are eliminated, the headquarters of the Dark Mask, Will the next team be sent?"

He still knows a little about the killer organization 'Flame Dagger'.

A small but deadly group of noble assassins, the 'Flame Daggers' are assassins in exile, originally an elite group of assassins based in the kingdom of Cormyr.

It is said that when they assassinated a local lord, the organization was discovered and exposed to the public eye, so that the members of the organization were forced to leave their hometown.

For a long time, the Lords of Cormyr believed that this organization was dead, but in fact, the 'Flame Dagger' has secretly reorganized and entered into an alliance with Ximen's vampire organization Night Mask, and started its own operation.

A series of inquiries made the dungeon dead silent for a long time. Then the magician rolled his pale pupils and said:

"There is no underground station established, no one is in collusion with them, and the next gang will not be sent out, because it seems that Dark Mask has the largest group assassination mission in history, which is aimed at the Kingdom of Cormyr, and he himself does not know the details. Not sure."

The tiefling shrugged and smiled, his sharp canines gleaming orange against the torch.

"Are you satisfied with my sincerity?" He looked at Salo, the dragon vein warlock, and the ram's horns that were bent backward jumped out of the brazier's light. "If you are satisfied, don't forget to introduce me to meet your lord."

As soon as the words fell, a ripple-like ripple wrapped around the magician and disappeared out of thin air.

"Judging from his tone of voice, he seems to know our lord." Puranda frowned, expressing his conjecture.

"Rare is more strange." Salo said nonchalantly, "At this moment, even if you say that our lord knows the Devil Duke of Baator Hell, I won't be surprised."

The two walked out of the cell side by side and walked up the stairs.

"Oh, that's right." Salo seemed to remember something, and looked at the ranger assistant beside him, "My elder brother asked you to discuss something, and it took so long."

They came to the foyer of the town hall and sat opposite each other at a table with wine.

"I was just going to tell you." Puranda picked up the wine glass and filled it up for the two of them. "The lord has arranged an important task for me. I need to travel for a while."

"Important task?" Salo looked at his friend in surprise.

"Harua, the magic kingdom, have you heard of it?" Puranda sat on the chair and smiled mysteriously.

"I know a little bit." Salo raised his golden eyebrows, raised his wine glass, and took a sip of the wine, "A kingdom established by a group of descendants of Netheril."

In his impression, this magical kingdom that hides from the world can be called the most powerful caster group in the entire continent, and even the City of Shadows cannot compare with it.

It is said that before the Austrian catastrophe happened, the population of the Harua Kingdom was about 160 million, among which there were at least 20 wizards who had the ability to cast spells.

They have a twelve-seat council of elders, and only spellcasters whose strength reaches the middle legendary level are eligible to run for election.

During the Arcana catastrophe, it was once believed that the magical kingdom had been destroyed in the disaster.

In fact, because Halruah's prophets foresaw the disaster in advance, the wizards of his country, after the death of Mystra, used the raging blue fire to push their kingdom safely into the twin world of Toril, Abel, and other distant small worlds for refuge.

Now, most of the past incidents have been resolved.

Once again, the famous Halrua skyship and watercraft set sail from their homeland, seeking to establish trade routes and political connections to see how the world has changed in the century since they disappeared.

Over time, they have largely reverted to the independent and powerful magical kingdom they once were.

"Our lord is actually from the Kingdom of Harua."

Puranda said, "My mission this time is to send a letter to Harua. If it succeeds, we will have a spellcaster troop from the Magic Kingdom in Mokou Town to assist us."

This unexpected news made Salo almost drop his wine glass, he suppressed the shock in his heart, and said slowly, "I have known for a long time that our lord Lord's background is not simple, but I didn't expect him to be a descendant of Netheril. "

"Obviously." Puranda smiled slightly and expressed his guess, "His goal is very likely to be the same as the City of Shadows, and also for the Ennook Desert."

Hearing this news, while Salo was excited, he couldn't help but feel a little empty.

As the former head of the Dragon Skeleton Mercenary Corps, the soldiers under his command are all composed of good and bad adventurers, freeriders and mercenaries, whose combat effectiveness and discipline can be imagined.

Because of this, he, the leader of the garrison, became the bottom existence in Mokou Town.

Naturally, he was not reconciled to a team playing a position similar to that of a sheriff, and he also wanted to have a pivotal position in Mokou Town.

Otherwise, he would not try to build an elite army.

It's a pity that things backfired. With the continuous growth of Mokou Town, he has clearly felt that the forces under his command are gradually out of touch.

Even the Silver Scholars Association, which used to have only a dozen members, has attracted Yeluzi's spellcasters every day because of the successful establishment of the wizard tower, and has produced batches of powerful mechanical puppets.

"Hey... no matter where and what power, soldiers are always the lowest-ranking grassroots personnel." He sighed, raised his head and drank the wine in his glass.

In fact, he also wanted to recruit spellcasters to serve him and strengthen his voice, but as long as their heads were not hit by the door, they all knew very well that the wizard tower was the best choice.

If things go on like this, the forces under his command can only become green leaves of foil in the end, running errands for the noble spellcasters.

"Sometimes, thinking too long-term is also a very troublesome problem." Puranda smiled and comforted:
"Don't think so much, just stick to your own principles. You just need to know that our Mokou Town is like a mechanical puppet, and each of us is an internal part of the puppet. If any part is missing, the mechanical puppet will be destroyed. Something went wrong, or it stopped working due to a malfunction.”

"I see." Salo refilled his and Puranda's glasses again, he didn't want to think about this headache, so he changed the subject.

"Harua is located in the southernmost part of the mainland. Take a boat from the port of Susar and enter the Sea of ​​Falling Stars from Longhu Lake. During this period, you need to pass through the two pirate kingdoms Tumis and Jondas before you can reach the Vihon Sea. Landed at the port of Araba in the Weihong sea area, crossed the golden plain, and then took a boat through the lake of steam, and finally arrived at the southernmost sea of ​​glory on the mainland. Gods are merciful, I dare not count any more, although the glory of The south bank of the sea is the Kingdom of Harua, but the bandits are blocked by the wasteland desert and the northern mountain range. If you want to complete the mission alive, I advise you to go far and choose to bypass the Chult Peninsula, and finally reach the Harua Basin from the front .”

"I have to say, this is indeed a very difficult task." The dragon vein warlock sighed, "However, with the current state of our territory, it is indeed the best choice for you, a ranger who has traveled all over the world, to go there. .”

"Don't worry, I'm familiar with the road conditions, and there won't be any problems." Ranger Puranda said nonchalantly, "Besides, our generous lord has given me many magic items in order to allow me to complete the task smoothly."

When Salo heard this, he noticed that his friend had two extra rings on his hand, and the boots were also a piece of magical equipment with unknown functions. He immediately felt relieved.

"It's just that once you leave, I'm left alone." He swung the wine in his glass and said helplessly, "I don't know how long it will take to come back."

Although he used to be the leader of the Dragon Skeleton Mercenary Group, compared to the temperament of the two, Puranda is more like a leader.

The fact is exactly the same. Every decision of the Dragon Skeleton Mercenary Group is made by him.

He was tall, handsome and slender, with ever-smiling eyes and sandy hair flecked with sunny gold.

He is also never restrained, and even if he is not fluent in dialects or languages ​​​​of other races, he has a way to communicate with others.

In comparison, Salo is really a bit shabby. If it weren't for the power and changes brought about by the blood of the true dragon, he would be an ordinary and honest person.

"Actually, you should smile more." This is what Puranda often jokes about herself.

"It's about three months at most." Puranda thought for a moment, then said with a smile:
"As for the return, don't worry at all, because I have the magic circle node in Mokou Town with me. If the matter is settled, I can send it back through the wizard of Harua."

"Actually, I'm curious about one thing." He put down his glass, and continued:
"You said, the two of us have been working as mercenaries together for at least seven or eight years. I have never heard you mention your elder brother Balleris. If I judged correctly, you and Balleris Si used to be a mercenary too."

Hearing the friend's inquiry, Salo paused for a moment when he handed the wine glass to his mouth, and suddenly felt that the delicious wine in the glass suddenly became dull.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention such unhappy things." Puranda seemed to have noticed the change in Salo's mood, and apologized quickly.

Salo shook his head slightly, not caring, and then drank the fine wine in his glass.

Puranda's words reminded him of the situation ten years ago: Balleris fell to his knees, covered in blood, the first lord of Mokou Town urged everyone to slay the dragon, men and women ran away in fear, fighting on the streets. Grabbing, trampling each other, screaming and wailing.

The High Priest from the Church of the God of Knowledge...

Her hair was on fire, she held an adamantine flail, shouted, then jumped onto the dragon's back and flew up.

The ancient red dragon spread its wings, bringing dust all over the sky, blurring Salo's eyes, but through the dazzling tears, he still saw the red dragon spouting flames, raging the town, and the huge dark red dragon wings flapping the purple dragon knight in the town .

The smell of the red dragon made the horses stand up in terror, the iron palms kicked wildly, the crowd pushed and trampled each other, the spears rained, and the arrows were like locusts. Lie dead on the dragon's back.

He didn't know the rest because he was unconscious.

If he hadn't learned the truth by accident, he might have misunderstood his elder brother Balerus all his life.

The next morning was cool and sunny.

Standing on the tower of Mokou Town, Salo looked at the back of his friend and assistant driving away, feeling a little melancholy in his heart.

After staring for a long time, he walked past two wizards who were adjusting the spell turret, nodded to the patrol team on the city wall, and turned to look at the orderly town.

This reminded him involuntarily of his birthplace: Calimport on the northern shore of the Shining Sea.

It happened to be across the sea from the Kingdom of Harua.

However, he never liked that port city, because it was a city known as 'a million beggars'.

This dirty and ugly city reeks of feces and rotten fish.

It is a smuggler's paradise and a pirate's lair.

In the lower town where he lives, the streets are paved with wooden boards on mud, and the houses are all woven twig fence houses with straw roofs, and its gallows doors are always hung with their stomachs cut open and their internal organs hanging in the air. corpse.

During his mercenary career, Salo traveled to many places.

He is quite familiar with Waterdeep City and Luskan, the City of Thousand Sails in the Sword Coast region, or Suzar, the imperial capital of the Kingdom of Cormyr, and Mashanbai, etc.

But among so many cities, the one he likes the most is Mokou Town.

Although its scale was not as large as Cormyr's imperial capital of Suzar and his childhood hometown of Calimport, it was clean, tidy and orderly, with wide, straight streets that walked freely.

As the one who maintains its order, a sense of pride arises spontaneously in him.

Recalling what he needed to do next, he didn't waste any time, left the city wall, and returned to the place where he lived.

In order to be unobtrusive, he substituted an unassuming brown hooded traveling cloak for a gray wool cloak with purple trim.

After sorting everything out, he headed towards the town's 'Adventurer' tavern.

He saw a board table set up in the shade outside the tavern door, and beside the table stood a banner, fluttering in the wind, depicting three lions walking upright.

Four unfriendly mercenaries sat lazily at the table, yelling at every adventurer or young man who passed by.

These are all members of the Wild Lion Mercenary Group. Salo knows that they are recruiting newcomers, and then use the advantage of numbers to increase their bargaining chips and come to join Mokou Town.

However, the current Mokou Town is no longer a place where anyone can join casually.

As he entered the tavern, a vulgar mercenary stopped him.

"Hey! Kid, do you want to die on the hospital bed without doing anything? Come with us, we will teach you how to use long swords and spears, and you will go to the battlefield with the lords of Mokou Town and earn more money than the lords. A lot of money. Boys, girls, gold and silver treasures, being a man, these are all things. We are the wild lion mercenary regiment, who overthrew the army of the city of ghosts, don't you want to overthrow their goddess Shar, Hold……"

My goddess is the hammer in my hand, Salo thought.

In Calimport, he was once crazily infatuated with a girl named Ruth, but he never confessed his feelings, and was only satisfied with daydreaming... A few years later, she married Calimport When he saw her again as an adventurer, she already had two sons, one hiding behind her skirt and the other still nursing in her arms.

After Ruth, in his adventurous career, he fell in love with a pair of twins from the Northland. They were a pair of yellow-haired girls who liked falconry and rock climbing, and also liked to tease him together.

One of them had his first kiss, although he never knew whether it was his sister or his sister. They were descendants of the silver knights, and Salo, a wandering adventurer, was not qualified to marry them.

These two wild girls still wanted to let him take them on an adventure, but Salo didn't want to do that, so they left the Northland and never went back.

He came back to his senses, and looked at the vulgar mercenary with pity. He should be very glad that it was daytime, after all, Miss Lost was very vengeful.

"enough!"

At this time, a dwarf adventurer in chain armor yelled loudly, shaking his thick red beard that reached his waist, "I have also killed the ghost man, with the ax in my hand..."

"Fart!" shouted the vulgar mercenary of the Wild Lion Mercenary Group, "I have never seen you in battle, Your Excellency the Dwarf!"

"There is no doubt that you must be responsible for looking after the supply convoy." The dwarf retorted: "I am on the front line where the battle is fiercest."

"Take care of your tongue, Beard!" The vulgar mercenary blushed and tugged at his sword belt, "See clearly who you are talking to!"

"Mind your own business!"

The dwarf patted the ax on his belt without showing any sign of weakness, turned his head to look at the crowd, and grinned, "Did you see that? A mercenary group that is fooling around! Ha! There are three lions on the banner? Two are shitting and the other is screaming." !"

When Salo entered the tavern, he vaguely heard a sharp and majestic voice shouting: Calm down!calm!This is Mokou Town!
There are smart people out there, he thought.

He entered the box on the second floor of the tavern, and a burly guest had been waiting for a long time.

The patriarch of the Leishi tribe has erect sideburns that cover his entire chin, thick as a hedge, and a nest of yellow messy hair on his head. A lion nose and a pair of piercing hazel eyes protrude from the hair on his face.

"Yesterday at noon, you personally killed my subordinate and son at Caishikou." The chief of the Leishi tribe said coldly, "I need an explanation."

He showed weakness, which meant that he intended to use this as an excuse to propose more favorable conditions for himself. Salo saw through the mind of the barbarian patriarch.

The Leishi tribe is the most powerful Bedai barbarian tribe in the Jianmo area. As long as they are incorporated, they will indirectly unify the entire Bedai barbarian tribe in Jianmo.

Otherwise, Salo would not take the risk of breaking the law and plead with his elder brother.

Now it seems that things are turning around.

"There's nothing to say, I reminded them a long time ago, but they didn't listen, and they still violated the laws of my Mokou Town, that's all." He replied without showing any weakness, "Even if you violated the law, I will do the same." Cut off your head."

"What bullshit lords and laws! Since this is the case, why is there any need for me to cooperate with you!"

The patriarch of the Leishi tribe threw the wine glass in his hand to the ground, and yelled and cursed like a mad-haired lion.

"In Mokou Town, everyone must learn to respect the lord." Salo was indifferent, sitting firmly on the chair, and said calmly, "I believe you are just drinking too much and slipping your tongue after drinking to make such a mindless thing. lift."

He jumped out of the golden dragon eyes, and looked into the eyes of the tribe chief.

After a long and brief silence, the angry male lion of the Thunder Lion tribe looked away, sat back on the chair angrily, and said cursingly:
"You have so many fucking rules. If it weren't for the fact that the desert is as hot as a woman's elementary school all day long, I wouldn't cooperate with you. Gods should be damned. For a cool breeze, I would even sell my own mother." Lose!"

…………

(End of this chapter)