Work Prophet
Chapter 558 - 176 Bruce

Chapter 558: Chapter 176 Bruce

On the way back to the inn, Miss Rabbit, seeing that there was no one else around, finally couldn’t suppress her curiosity and asked Li Yu.

"Prophet Merlin, you seemed very certain that the fire wouldn’t spread too widely just now."

"Yes, because I was the one who had it set."

Li Yu’s response nearly startled Lady Ireya off her horse.

"What, you had it set? But when did you meet a new Wing Tribe person, and why would that guy listen to you?"

"I haven’t met a new Wing Tribe person, you’ve also seen that one."

"Wait, could it be that the one who set the fire at Junlin Tower earlier was Bruce’s servant?"

Bruce was the religious name Zhu Zhigang used in the Double Rest Sect. When Li Yu asked Zhu Zhigang what he would like his religious name to be, Zhu first asked if it could be ’Guo Jing’ or even ’Zhou Botong’ would be fine.

Li Yu tactfully indicated that this wasn’t Alibaba, and it would be better to have a name that was more in line with everyone else’s style.

So Zhu Zhigang thought for a moment and said, "Then I’ll be Bruce."

Li Yu didn’t say much, just nodded his head, but Ge Lipeng, who was beside, leaned in.

"Bruce, Bruce Wayne, huh? Batman does fight well, and he also has wings, which suit you quite well."

"Ah?" Zhu Zhigang was bewildered, "Is Batman called that?"

"You didn’t know? Then why did you want to pick this name?" Now it was Ge Lipeng’s turn to be puzzled.

"Because of Bruce Lee, the movie star. The foreign name of the martial arts master Bruce Lee is this. I don’t know many foreigners, and I just thought of this one."

And that’s the origin of Zhu Zhigang’s religious name.

"But Bruce’s servant’s wings are not red." Ireya said, puzzled.

"That’s red dye. After all, even if he doesn’t show himself, gray wings are still a bit too conspicuous." Li Yu said.

"If it were someone else doing this, I would probably think he had gone mad, but with you, Prophet Merlin, you must have your reasons, right? Can you... tell me?"

"Of course, I never intended to keep it from you, it’s just that it wasn’t convenient to discuss this matter inside Junlin Tower earlier."

Li Yu said, "I want Duren to become a believer of Saturday, but first we have to rescue him from the dungeon of the guard team."

"You want to rescue Duren? That might not be easy to do, especially since he has just grievously offended the New Emperor of the Empire. You must have seen how Gars looked at him earlier."

"Hmm, but Duren is from the Betak family, and his ancestors once served as the Imperial Forest Guard Captain for Angry Lion Alexandro. Including Duren, the Betak family has produced a total of four Imperial Forest Guard Captains.

"With this relationship, unless it’s absolutely necessary, Gars wouldn’t want to execute Duren, as he would likely incur a reputation for being harsh and ungrateful. Gars has just been crowned and certainly wouldn’t want such a thing to happen."

Li Yu paused, then continued to explain, "The Black Dog Guards are still short of an instructor. Jude and Onund are skilled, but they’re self-taught. They’ve either never led troops at all or have only led bandits.

"They lack the experience of commanding and training a regular army, while Lord Duren, being the Imperial Forest Guard Captain, can perfectly remedy this deficiency.

Moreover, he’s of upright character, and once he swears allegiance, there’s no need to worry about him betraying us."

Ireya thought that Li Yu made sense. In fact, it was not just the Black Dog Guards but also her guards whose training methods were outdated and lacked a systematic standard.

It was basically knights picking people and then each training in their own way. If the Imperial Forest Guard Captain is willing to train them, the soldiers produced might not be invincible, but they would at least be formidable in the Western Territory.

However, Miss Rabbit always felt that Li Yu had more to say; he had reasons other than this to save Lord Duren. Previously, when Duren found himself in desperate straits, he had glanced their way.

At the time, Ireya thought Duren was seeking her help, but now it seemed that Duren was actually looking at Li Yu.

"Did you have a conversation with Lord Duren before?" she asked.

"He came to me last night after you fell asleep, and we talked for a little while. It was mainly about the assassination of Edward II."

"He had heard about some of my deeds from somewhere, so he took a chance to see if he could gather more evidence of Gars and those Wing Tribe colluding."

"Did you help him?"

"I told him he was looking in the wrong place. But it seems he still believes the Priest of Cornelia more, which isn’t entirely wrong; after all, he’s known Cornelia longer, and I only arrived in the Royal Capital a few days ago with no prior connection to him."

The Lady stroked her ear, "So, Sir Duren was betrayed by that woman, I suppose... And the killer is still Prince Allister?"

Yet, Li Yu said, "Allister is likely innocent too. When Duren came to me, he shared some of his investigative findings. We both think Allister had no reason to murder his own father at such a time."

"But now Allister has married the Glacial Rose, and he’s likely to become the master of the Northern Territory. Isn’t that a big enough incentive for him?" Miss Rabbit asked.

Li Yu explained to the young lady, "That’s a situation Cornelia fought to create for him. Allister did not expect to go to the Northern Territory before Edward’s death; according to Edward’s arrangements, he was going to marry you.

"The New Lands are also much more prosperous than the Northern Territory. But now with Edward dead and Gars becoming the Emperor, that’s completely off the table, because he wouldn’t want his brother to have the New Lands.

"Cornelia had to settle for less, sending Allister to the Northern Territory. She must’ve struck some deal with Gars, dealing with Duren’s problem in exchange for Gars allowing Allister to marry Duke Schroder’s daughter.

"Gaining support from the Monteverde family is indeed beneficial for Allister, but Cornelia’s choice to support Allister itself seems like a remedial measure by the Life Church after losing Edward.

"They need a new sovereign, yet Gars is highly cautious of the Life Church, and in the end, Cornelia had no choice but to pick Allister."

"But now Gars is crowned, so what’s the point in doing all this? Could it be that the Life Church plans to give up the Royal Capital and compete with the God of Orcs for territory in the Northern Territory?"

"It’s because there will be uncertainties."

"What kind of uncertainties? Duren? But wasn’t it Cornelia herself who betrayed Duren?"

"Not Duren, but the Wing Tribe, they’re about to come to Bratis. I suspect that’s also a major reason why Cornelia chose to settle in the Northern Territory, to stay away from the upcoming wars."