Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 831 - 156:

Lindong considers herself a gentle and considerate wife. After Ethan took a break due to exhaustion and other issues, she tidied herself up and went out overnight.

Today is the day the hero arrives at the Imperial Capital.

This is the downside of being too famous. After he parted ways with the main force outside Gear City, he faced many setbacks on his journey. Especially after the rumors of "The Hero Returns" spread, all the airship ports in various cities implemented strict checks, so Solan naturally couldn't use conventional transportation anymore.

He had to start from scratch and learn how to deal with the underground forces of the Silver Radiance Empire. He stumbled through various ways to enter cities along the way, sometimes buried in haystacks, sometimes disguised as a corpse hiding in a barrel to be transported into the city. That night, when Lindong saw Solan, he was flexing his wrist and poking his head out from a pile of frozen fish, and the smell of fish wafted from him from afar.

The "delivery" location was on the western outskirts of the Imperial Capital, a hotspot for black market transactions and where intelligence dealers gathered.

Waiting there was a familiar face.

"Zophie!"

Seeing the Assassin Master who came to greet him, Solan was extremely surprised. He stood there stupefied for quite a while before quickly stepping forward to give the person a warm hug. But Zophie naturally dodged him. The aloof man glanced at Solan disdainfully and pinched his nose, reminding him not to physically contact anyone until he cleaned up the fishy smell.

Solan gave an embarrassed smile. The last time he heard about Zophie was through Lance's account, when their group was tricked by Ilya. After Zophie lost the ability to resist due to poison, he was taken away by the Imperial Army, and had been missing ever since.

"Who is this...?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce, this is Qina, a member of the Rebel Army," Solan explained.

Unlike Solan, who hid among frozen fish, Qina hid in a large ebony container—a spellcasting vessel custom-made by a noble of the Imperial Capital. Due to its connection to dark magic, it could only be transported through the black market into the city.

Solan recounted his encounter with Qina.

When Evelyn led the Rebel Army in a major evacuation, she went off alone and found Solan midway.

Qina was once a "purchaser" in the Rebel Army and thus maintained close ties with the black market for years. She proactively helped Solan establish contact with the black market, providing significant assistance along the way.

"Thanks to Qina, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do," Solan scratched his head.

As a hero, he had always been an upright person and only used legitimate transportation. Before Qina found him, he was already considering walking from the wilderness of Gear City to the Imperial Capital. If he did that, it might be months before he could meet Ethan and the others again.

"You should be aware of your situation, right?"

Zophie asked coldly, never displaying kindness to Qina.

Now Lance is secretly assembling forces, disguising their actions as preparations for the upcoming harvest festival, with their ultimate aim to storm the Royal Palace one day and confront Henry VI.

Everyone must be ready to risk their lives, and he doesn't understand why Solan is bringing along such a young girl.

Once involved, Qina is likely unable to end well.

"I have to find my sister!"

Upon hearing this, Qina resolutely replied, "This has nothing to do with Solan, sir. I chose to come to the Imperial Capital myself, and that's why I joined the Rebel Army."

Although most in the Rebel Army are people forced by circumstances, there are always some like her.

The detectives from the Security Office couldn't provide them with the truth, so they had to rely on the black market and other "evil unlawful" forces.

"You don't need to worry about me; I'll investigate this myself."

Over the years, Qina has never given up searching for her sister.

And just days after the Great Summoner Haitia was murdered, usually tight-lipped intelligence merchants from Gear City decided to leave this tumultuous place. She always referred to him as a mentor. On the night of his departure, Qina received a letter mentioning a strange name.

The Bloodthirsty Duke, Mire-bloodthorn.

Her mentor apologized in the letter, explaining the reason for hiding this matter from her all these years.

This relates to the deceased Great Summoner Haitia; the Bloodthirsty Duke in the Imperial Capital was the backing of the Haitia family in the Imperial Capital. According to the intelligence he obtained through the black market, Haitia's father was the last person Qina's sister contacted before she went missing.

Although the truth sounds cruel, there's a high likelihood that her sister died many years ago.

From an outsider's perspective, further investigation only leads to a dead end. It doesn't seem worthwhile.

Behind the Bloodthirsty Duke stands the entire Empire.

The Bloodthorn Clan had close ties with the Queen and was a supporter of the Eldest Prince. With Qina's strength, she couldn't possibly shake them.

He always hoped that Qina could abandon the investigation, leaving this matter behind, pretend her sister never existed, but Qina's determination was unexpected. Before leaving Gear City, the man hesitated repeatedly, and ultimately delivered this letter to the rebel camp.

He knew this would probably bring harm to Qina, but he did it anyway.

Consider it a way to resolve his own concern.