Chapter 209. Irish Town Ⅱ (7) Ye·The Great Devil·Mo and her two younger brothers

     With the help of the Huaxia Team, Meath City had weathered the beast tide crisis unscathed.

     True to their cautious nature, the Chinese Team maintained strict city-wide vigilance. So when Ye Mo’s group approached on the conspicuous Flying Tiger Demon, news of their arrival raced through the city before they even landed.  

     It didn’t take long for them to encounter the Chinese Team’s leader—Zhang San (known in the real world as Deputy Director Zhang Qihua of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau) amid Meath’s bustling streets.  

     Clad in utilitarian camouflage and wearing a Concealment Mask from Maria’s shop, The first words he said when they met were blessings:

     “Congratulations on obtaining Nuada’s Sword.”

     “Thank you.”

     While Ye Mo and Watson remained unreadable, Wang Xue fidgeted under Zhang’s stern, military bearing, like a student caught by the principal.

     Many survivors watched covertly from the shadows, so Ye Mo’s trio followed Zhang Qihua to their base of operations—a tavern nestled in the bustling heart of the street.

     Yes, a tavern.  

     A rather large one at that. As the saying goes, “Good wine needs no bush”—especially when located in the busiest district. The constant flow of mercenaries in and out made business far livelier than before the Huaxia Team took over. It could be said that it was raking in money daily.

     Their original purpose was intelligence-gathering, but the tavern’s manager seemed thoroughly engrossed—chatting up mercenaries about every topic this world had to offer.

     Zhang Qihua’s temple twitched. “Ahem!”

     “Right this way—private room here!” Flustered by his superior’s glare, the manager hastily delegated hosting duties to a local employee and scurried over to assist.  

     Fine food and drink were unnecessary; Ye Mo and Zhang had only one agenda—intZhang Qihua’s core team had initially landed near Meath City. But since none of them spoke the ancient Irish’s language, they struggled through a period of chaotic adjustment.

     Of course, they’d also stationed operatives in the Irish town. However, these newer members lacked sufficient strength and with certain parties deliberately obstructing them, they failed to secure entry into Mayor Feitan’s estate.  

     Even after resolving the beast tide (with reinforcements from Meath), they couldn’t justify infiltrating the estate. Their reason for remaining in Meath? The city’s leader, Tuán, had revealed the intertwined history between Meath and the Irish town, an alternate perspective on the first and second invasions.  

     According to Tuán, Meath was the righteous faction. Long ago, when evil dragons and monstrous beasts invaded this world, Tuán of Meath, alongside the leaders of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, and Munster. Joined forces with Feitan of the Irish town to repel the threat.  

    Their mission: Slay the dragons. Protect all races.

     Remembering this kindness, a long time later, when the leader of Meath later received a plea for help from the Irish town, he assembled the finest mercenary groups from all five cities and marched to their aid.

     Not only did they shield the Irish town from the beast tide, but they also brought them knowledge of magic potions and spellbooks, personally teaching them how to defend their home.  

     As a result, the Feitan family in the town not only failed to appreciate their help but repaid kindness with enmity, collaborating with the deep-sea demons of the merfolk, they slaughtered or imprisoned Meath’s forces.  

     The cities of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, and Munster ultimately fell to the next beast tide—precisely because their mightiest warriors had perished or been captured in the Irish towns.  

     Only Meath, at the heart of the five cities, endured. By combining the remnants strength of five cities, its people defended their walls and, through generations of effort, rebuilt it into what it is today.  

     Both sides buried truths. Both pointed fingers. Such was the nature of war.

     Ye Mo pondered for a moment before asking, “Did the City lord Tuán mention anything about the Brionac Spear?”  

     Zhang Qihua shook his head. They hadn’t uncovered any information about the four divine artifacts from the Meath City leader. The only relic they could infer from the story was a magical cauldron, likely tied to potion-making and arcane knowledge.  

     Yet despite combing through every corner, questioning both the city lord and the Mage Guild during the beast tide. They found no trace of Dagda’s legendary cauldron, said to brew anything imaginable.  

      Watson interjected, “What about Bella from the King Cobra Intelligence and Arthur from the Arthur-Merlin faction? Have they been to Meath City?” 

     “They along with the Indian Women’s Guild, Eastern European werewolves, and other factions sent scouts here,” Zhang Qihua replied. “After all, some of their survivors were already stationed in the city. But their main forces never came.”  

     “……?”

     Ye Mo, Watson, and Wang Xue exchanged glances. They might have been wrong. Arthur’s intel from the Reality Dungeon likely had nothing to do with Meath City.

     In exchange, Ye Mo and Zhang Qihua shared the story they had learned in the small Irish town, undoubtedly tied to the four divine artifacts—including details about the Magical Beasts Forest (now irrelevant to them) and the Crystal Tower deep beneath the sea.  

     While Zhang Qihua’s team harbored some regret over the semi-divine artifacts falling into Ye Mo’s hands, but it was better than other countries on Earth. China’s prosperity did not allow them to go against it.

     He then posed the question: “If the Brionac Spear ended up with the deep-sea merfolk, could Dagda’s Cauldron be hidden in the Irish town?”

     Watson shook his head. “Unlikely. If either the merfolk or Mayor Feitan possessed the cauldron, the Irish settlement wouldn’t remain a mere backwater town, far smaller than Meath. In this world, a city’s stature isn’t just about land or population, but also the influence of its Mercenary and Magic Guilds.” 

     Which left one pressing question—  

     Where in the world was the Magic Cauldron?

     After the exchange of information, both sides would search independently without interfering with each other. This was their mutually agreed-upon mode of cooperation.

     Zhang Qihua left a team in Meath City to continue their efforts and personally led a stronger team, hurrying towards the deep sea where the merfolk race resided, potentially getting involved in disputes with other groups from Earth.

     The reasons were simple: As a nation, they coveted the Stone of Destiny above the other semi-divine artifacts, given its implied ties to the merfolk-Irish conflict. Secondly, they had genuinely searched Meath City quite thoroughly, going everywhere they could. Thirdly, they didn’t want any semi-divine artifacts to fall into the hands of groups from other countries on Earth, and those groups obviously felt the same way.

     Ye Mo, Watson, and Wang Xue, on the other hand, searched Meath City again, even surveying and excavating the ruins of the vanished cities of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, and Munster.

     During their exploration and archaeological work, because the magic association of this city possessed even older knowledge than that of the small Irish town, Ye Mo and Watson often strayed from the topic.

     Wang Xue often lived a solitary team life. She was like a roll of thread, occasionally tugging to remind the two kites flying in the sky not to drift too far.

     It was indeed the ‘Wang Xue Team.’

    Over ten days had passed, nearly half of their 100-day limit. Deep into another night, Ye Mo’s trio rested at the Huaxia Tavern in Meath.

     Their five senses were exceptional, especially Ye Mo’s. In recent days, some people had been secretly following them, thinking they were at a safe distance, but it was incredibly obvious to them. Wherever they went, they were followed by a bunch of survivors hoping to pick up any scraps.

     The tavern, at least, offered refuge from prying eyes.  

     “The Magic Cauldron, the Magic Cauldron…” Ye Mo murmured after sipping her tea. “In this world, every intelligent species merfolk, humans, elves wields magic. Only the goblins are born magic-resistant, utterly cut off from mana.” 

     “Which is why they often become craftsmen,” Watson recalled her earlier words.  

     “But exceptions exist,” Ye Mo countered. “Long ago, goblins produced masters who were both alchemists and artisans.” She tapped the table. “European myths echo this elves, dwarves, humans, gods. In Norse lore, dwarves were the supreme smiths. Like goblins, they dwelled underground in Midgard, and their appearances are somewhat similar, leading many Earth stories to mix them up.”

     “However the difference between dwarves and goblins is not just skin color; dwarves can also be alchemists who forge divine or demigod artifacts.”  

     Watson & Wang Xue: “You mean…?”

     “Whether it’s the sword wielded by the first Mayor Feitan, the spear of the first city lord Tuán, the Magic Cauldron, or the Stone of Destiny, they must have an origin. Yet neither Feitan nor Tuán ever mentioned one.” Ye Mo’s tone carried deliberate weight. “Were they ignorant… or hiding something? And the system provided us the demigod names – Fal, Nuada, Lugh, Dagda. Surely they’re more than just four random adjectives?”

     It always feels like the mythology of this world experienced a break at some point. In fact, Celtic mythology on Earth is similar, having lost a lot of content due to the Roman Empire’s destruction.

     The next day, the three appeared in a goblin shop on the eastern outskirts of Meath.

     As a former goblin, Ye Mo actually didn’t want to fight against goblins at all, but the goblin race was too hostile to humans.

     If they were to adopt normal, peaceful communication methods, even if the Lord of Meath City came, they might not even be given face.

     Bribery would also take too much time.

     If they couldn’t get out within 100 days, not only would there be the regret of never being able to return to the Irish instance dungeon II, but also the bizarre, perpetually breathing yet dead evil dragon in the spatial storage would definitely be impossible to take away. The mystery of the sword and the dragon wouldn’t be fundamentally solved.

     The threat of the evil dragon also remained.

     Therefore, Ye Mo had no choice but to put on an arrogant and obnoxious demeanor, provoking the goblin artisans of Meath City.

     Ye Mo’s linguistic skills were far inferior to Wang Xue’s. After all, Wang Xue had spent so many years as a popular online content creator and had considerable experience arguing with people online before entering the instance dungeon.

     She stood aside, acting as the little brother(follower) or supporting female character to the great demon king Ye Mo, infuriating the goblins to the point of stamping their feet, and they did it while hopping.

     Wang Xue: …So cute.

     Watson really wanted to pretend he didn’t know the two of them, but unfortunately, he was the second little brother of the great demon king Ye Mo, using his infrequent but piercing words to assist from the side.

     Ye Mo & Wang Xue & Watson: …Forgive us, forgive us.

     Finally, unable to withstand the verbal attacks of Ye Mo and the other two (mainly Wang Xue), the goblins sent forth their finest craftsman to duel. The first trophy of the fight was to visit the places where the goblins worked and lived.