Where Is My Knife?

Who was it?

During the war on the demon island, although both sides suffered massive casualties, the experience points had been split among too many people.

After level ten, every level required as much experience as all the previous ten levels combined.

This caused the subsequent leveling speed to slow down significantly.

When she killed the One-Eyed demon general, she hadn't been in her Saintess state.

Therefore, that portion of experience had been taken by her Demon form.

The moment of most intense contact, which also saw the heaviest casualties, was the battle where the Demon Emperor, the Beast Sovereign, and the Dragon King all took the field.

It was from that single engagement that Luo Li’s level jumped from eleven to sixteen.

However, she hadn't yet used a Statue of the Angel to check the subsequent changes.

Even so, the increase in level and the balanced boost to her attributes had made her five senses much sharper than before.

The faint sound of the lock being picked reached her ears, and the moment the door cracked open, she knew someone had entered.

Furthermore... it didn't seem to be just one person.

Three?

No, it was five!

Five people had crept inside.

They were moving stealthily on tiptoe.

What were they planning? To steal something?

Luo Li frowned slightly and turned to hide behind the corner of the balcony.

She listened intently to the sounds inside the room.

As the footsteps drew closer, Luo Li reached out and drew her Holy Cross Sword, waiting for them to make a move.

However, the five men seemed surprised after entering the room.

After a long silence, one of them suddenly whispered.

"Boss, that woman isn't here. And... there doesn't seem to be any luggage in this room. Did we get the wrong room?"

"Bullshit! I saw that woman walk in here with my own eyes!"

"Boss, how are we going to explain this to the young master? He said he absolutely had to have this woman."

"Let's find a place to hide first. I checked the guest list earlier, and this is definitely her room. She probably went out to look at the scenery again. We'll wait for her to come back before we strike."

Listening to the voices in the room, it was clear they weren't up to anything good.

Combined with the mention of a 'young master', she couldn't help but think of Casma Borgia from earlier.

Was that man really trying to kidnap her?

It wasn't impossible for a noble to do something like this.

Rustling sounds came from behind the wall.

It sounded like someone was hiding behind the curtains.

The position was exactly behind the wall where Luo Li was standing.

After a while, the room became silent again.

Luo Li remained vigilant, listening to the voices on the other side of the wooden partition.

"Boss."

Suddenly, one of the lackeys spoke up.

"Our young master isn't exactly short on women. Once they hear the Borgia name, which one of them doesn't throw themselves at his bed? What's so special about this woman?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

The boss seemed to know a bit more.

"I overheard the young master on a call earlier. It seems it's because this woman's appearance is unusual."

"What do you mean unusual? Oh~ You mean she's beautiful!"

"Idiot!"

The thief leader scolded him in frustration.

"The young master was talking to the master of the house earlier. He mentioned something about a... Saintess."

"A Saintess? Boss, is this woman a Saintess?"

"My ass! If she's a Saintess, then I'm the Holy Patriarch!"

Luo Li blinked. This thief leader was quite bold. Why didn't he go say that in front of a Statue of the Angel?

"I heard the young master say that this woman looks exactly like the Saintess."

"What? The Saintess? Boss, what is the young master trying to do?"

"How should I know? But I heard a rumor that the Saintess has gone missing."

"Eh? Then could the young master be talking about her? Is she really the Saintess?"

"You don't know shit. If she really were the Saintess, wouldn't she just reveal her identity?"

"Then what's the plan?"

"Replacing the original with a fake. Do you understand? You don't understand a damn thing. There's no point talking to you."

The two whispered in low voices that shouldn't have carried far.

If they had hidden anywhere else, Luo Li truly wouldn't have heard their conversation.

But the wall separating them was merely a few wooden boards.

The sound carried through perfectly.

As she listened to their dialogue, Luo Li's brow furrowed tightly.

How did the Borgia family know she was missing?

And based on the thief leader's words, they wanted to use a fake Saintess to replace the real one?

Was this the idea of the entire noble family?

Or was it just a spontaneous plan by this Casma?

After her disappearance, with the intelligence of Lola and Augus, it was impossible for them not to have hidden the news.

Unless... they couldn't hide it anymore. Otherwise, outsiders wouldn't know.

No, there were others who knew.

After all, the Dragon King, the Beast Sovereign, and the Demon Emperor were all present when she fell into the sea.

They were all witnesses.

If Lola had hidden the news well, and the Dragon King wouldn't interact with humans, that left the Beast Sovereign who still needed to be investigated.

Yet this Borgia family had suddenly developed a connection with the demon race.

If that were the case, the Borgia family was quite clever.

Using a hotel business as a front to earn a reputation while secretly communicating with the demons?

What did the Borgia family want?

Did they want the Kingdom of the Moon?

That was impossible. The Kingdom of the Moon could never be ruled by a single family.

Then what was their goal?

To destabilize the Kingdom of the Moon?

She couldn't deny that possibility.

But the specifics still required more consideration.

Thinking it over, there was no real need to start a bloodbath on the ship.

Furthermore, there were five of them. With her current abilities, if they were all above level ten, she couldn't guarantee an instant kill.

Unless she exposed her Demon form.

But in this situation, exposing her Demon form would surely cause unnecessary trouble.

After some thought, Luo Li restrained herself.

She turned her head to look down from the balcony.

Based on the time, the journey should only take about five or six hours.

They would arrive at Moonrise City around noon.

Rather than wasting time with these people, it was better to ignore them.

Clowns like these weren't worth her concern, and a direct conflict wasn't worth the risk.

She might as well just hide.

Although Luo Li was only level sixteen, her physical fitness was already far superior to that of an ordinary person.

She stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked down.

It was about a ten-meter drop.

For a normal person, it was certainly high, but for Luo Li, this height was acceptable.

She was level sixteen after all. Compared to average people, she was essentially at a superhuman level.

In the past, she was always surrounded by powerful figures. Now that those experts were gone, she could truly show her own uniqueness.

She propped one hand on the railing, leaped lightly, and twisted her waist.

Her figure instantly flipped over the balcony.

One hand pressed down on her long skirt to prevent it from fluttering, while the other held her hat to keep it from flying off.

The ten-meter drop passed in the blink of an eye.

With a soft thud, the moment her feet were about to hit the deck, her floating skill activated.

Her feet stepped onto a film of air.

Immediately after, her own momentum broke through the air film as she landed on the ground.

A crisp sound echoed as she touched down.

Luo Li took a deep breath. The sensation of falling from such a height was still a bit nerve-wracking.

She shook out her black velvet skirt and smoothed the wrinkles in her cloak.

The corners of her mouth curled into an involuntarily proud smile.

Heh heh heh~

I guess I'm a bit of a superhuman now.

She looked left and right before glancing back up at the balcony.

A figure flashed by briefly.

The person in the room must have heard the wind and peeked out to check.

Then they immediately pulled back.

They were likely going back to report.

But unfortunately for them, she wasn't going to waste any more time with them.

For the next few hours, she would quietly watch the sea from the deck.

Once they arrived at the station, that wouldn't be a place where the Borgia family could call the shots.

After all, no matter how strong the Borgia family was, they were still ranked behind the four major noble families and the thirteen great families.

The Stuart family, having been entrenched in Moonrise City for centuries, could be considered the strongest local power.

The Borgia family wasn't even a dragon. At most, they were a worm. How could they compete with the local snake?

However... based on the conversation of those men, a hint of vigilance rose in Luo Li’s heart.

If she went directly to the Stuart family's territory to meet Byron Stuart like this, it could be dangerous.

Given that she had no guards by her side right now, it seemed... very easy for some accidents to happen.

If things reached that point, she couldn't oppose a local noble with just her level sixteen strength.

If she exposed her Demon form, wouldn't the nobles have even more justification to move against her?

It seemed she couldn't directly reveal her identity to Byron Stuart just yet.

She had to find a way to contact the people in Brilliant City first.

It would be best if someone could come.

If Hilda could rush over as quickly as possible, she wouldn't have to fear even the local great families.

Having a Guardian Knight present would be enough to prove everything.

There was no denying that the Stuart family had the power to kill a Guardian Knight.

However, the death of a Guardian Knight was a massive event for the Holy Church.

It would likely draw in even more knights.

So even if only Hilda came, the Stuart family wouldn't dare to make any reckless moves.

That was settled then.

Contact Brilliant City first, and once they sent someone, she would reveal her identity.

As for leaving Moonrise City to head to Brilliant City, she suppressed that thought for now.

From the news she just heard, it was very likely that someone had leaked the information about the Saintess being missing.

And she had just been seen by Casma Borgia.

Even if Casma hadn't seen her personally before, he must have seen her magic portrait.

She couldn't underestimate any enemy, especially when the current gap in power was so large.

A single moment of carelessness could lead to unpredictable consequences.

The only way was to find a place to hide first.

But she wasn't familiar with Moonrise City.

She had never been there before, so she had no idea where it was safe to hide.

She frowned slightly. Just then, someone nearby was bragging.

"I'm telling you, Moonrise City is like my own backyard. No one knows it better than I do!"

As soon as those words were spoken, Luo Li’s eyebrows shot up.

Talk about a pillow appearing right when you're sleepy!

She was just worrying about having no guide, and now one had dropped from the sky.

Moreover, the voice was surprisingly familiar.

She turned her head to look.

On a lounge chair nearby lay a girl dressed quite lightly.

And next to the girl, a head of fiery red short hair was very eye-catching.

Izzy Capablanca.

Since he dared to say such a thing, even if he didn't have seventy percent certainty, he should at least have thirty percent confidence.

Thinking of this, Luo Li raised her hand and waved at Izzy.

He was in the middle of bragging when he happened to turn and see Luo Li.

Seeing her waving at him, he quickly flashed a smile and waved back.

'Am I just greeting you? I'm telling you to come over!'

Luo Li waved again, her movements even more obvious this time.

Izzy seemed to finally understand.

"Apologies, please excuse me."

He offered a polite apology and walked over to Luo Li’s side.

"Beautiful lady, did you call for me?"

"Izzy, my name is Li Luo. Nice to meet you."

"Oh~ So it's Miss Li Luo. May I ask what you need?"

"You said just now that you are very familiar with Moonrise City?"

"Of course. I travel between Moonrise City and Luocheng all the time. I couldn't be more familiar with these two cities."

At this point, Izzy’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he shamelessly leaned in to ask.

"Miss Li Luo, do you want me to lead the way and introduce Moonrise City to you?"

"Hahaha~ Then you've really found the right person! When it comes to knowing Moonrise City, if I say I'm second, no one would dare say they're first!"

"Don't worry, I will definitely take you to every corner of Moonrise City."

Although this man seemed to talk a bit too much right now, seeing how confident he was, he should at least be somewhat reliable.

"Um... then I'll have to trouble you when the time comes."

It wasn't a good place to discuss details on the ship. After all, there were too many ears around, and she didn't want to be overheard.

Making an agreement now would be enough.

However, a look of hesitation appeared on Izzy’s face.

"But, Miss Li Luo, I'm afraid I won't have much time today. I have to go somewhere to pick something up this afternoon."

Pick something up?

The Izzy in front of her had a surname, which meant he should be from a noble family. Perhaps a branch of a major noble family, or a descendant of one of the hundred fallen noble families.

Regardless of which it was, even at his worst, he still possessed a certain level of influence.

If Luo Li acted alone this afternoon, she could easily be targeted.

But following the man in front of her would be different.

Izzy acted so flamboyantly that he was eye-catching wherever he went.

He surely had many friends in Moonrise City.

Therefore, as long as she was with him, she wouldn't be kidnapped in broad daylight.

"Then can I go with you?"

Luo Li put on an act.

She slowly lowered her head, a hint of longing in her eyes.

Her expression was pitiable and endearing.

"This..."

Izzy thought about it. It didn't seem like he needed to hide from anyone.

"In that case, it's not impossible, but..."

"But what?"

"Miss Li Luo, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I can't help feeling your motives aren't pure."

Izzy suddenly put on a look of absolute terror.

"You! You're not after my body, are you?"

"?"

'Where is my knife?'

'I should just kill him!'

'Motherfucker!'