"Pretty lady, do a good deed…"

From the main street, a faint voice sounded. Merlin opened his eyes and saw a few youths dressed in tattered clothes begging on the streets. This scene made Merlin feel very puzzled.

The Holy Dragon Empire was very sparsely populated. In the territories, even the lowliest person could still do some odd jobs to survive. At worst, they could work as servants of the aristocrats. In general, most aristocrats were not overly harsh on their servants.

Therefore, it was impossible for anyone to starve, especially in the bustling Holy Dragon City. However, people begging on the streets.

"Who are they?"

Merlin asked with bewilderment.

"Master, they're refugees! The Holy Dragon Empire is riddled with chaos and conflict inside and out. We're not the only ones who are stranded. Even worse-off are these civilians. As refugees, they don't have anything left to their names, so they have no choice but to beg."

Commander Hanson's tone was unperturbed. His facial expression remained indifferent as though it was a common scene.

Merlin's heart sunk. Yes, these people were refugees. The turmoil in the Holy Dragon Empire did not only affect the aristocrats but also the civilians. They were the largest group of victims. Many people became refugees.

The streets of Holy Dragon City were now filled with homeless refugees. This indirectly showed how severe the turmoil in the Holy Dragon Empire was.

Merlin sensed a grave danger as if Holy Dragon City was also unsafe. The origin of this prickling danger came from every direction. The intuition of someone like Merlin who could challenge a Latitude Cosmos certainly would not be mistaken.

"Abilities, I need to improve my abilities. The Nourishment Pond is essential!"

Merlin secretly made up his mind. Once Count Stanwin had settled down, Merlin must immediately begin to purchase the raw materials for the Nourishment Pond formula to enhance his abilities.

At dusk, Count Stanwin finally returned with good news. Through some acquaintances in Holy Dragon City, he had managed to buy an abandoned manor on the west side of the city.

Therefore, everyone continued their journey toward the abandoned manor.

After about an hour, the large convoy arrived at the manor on the west side of the city. This was an extremely vast but desolate manor. It used to belong to a Count but the Count's family had lost their riches, and moved out of the manor, which was subsequently purchased by a businessman.

Count Stanwin had spent a large fortune to purchase this manor. Despite its desolate condition, it was not easy to obtain a manor considering the current situation of Holy Dragon City. The only downside was that it was quite far from the city.

"Very well, everyone inside. Although it's a little worn out, we'll be able to restore it in no time."

Under Count Stanwin's orders, the three hundred heavy knights moved to inspect the manor both inside and outside. Then only did the family members enter to clean the house.

It was not until late at night that they had managed to roughly clean up a few rooms. Although the rooms were relatively worn out, Merlin could see that everyone was relieved and satisfied with them.

After living in fear and uncertainty over the past couple of months, that experience had finally come to an end. Now that they had a new manor, things would be stable for a while.

Merlin was not in a hurry to rest. Instead, he sought out Count Stanwin alone.

"Father, I have a request."

Merlin said calmly.

"Oh? Leon, what's the matter?"

Count Stanwin was a bit surprised because Leon had never been so polite to him before.

"Father, I would like to start brewing the Nourishment Pond. However, the materials needed to brew the Nourishment Pond are all extremely precious. So, I'm afraid they will require a large amount of money."

Merlin's main purpose was to request some money from Count Stanwin. Based on Merlin's resourcefulness, he could probably accumulate some gold coins slowly but it could not be done in a short period.

Knowing that Count Stanwin was such a wealthy Count, Merlin certainly would not trouble himself unnecessarily.

Count Stanwin smiled. "The Nourishment Pond for Hosts is indeed costly. How about this, I'll give you a thousand gold coins first. If that's not enough, you can ask from me again."

"A thousand gold coins? That should be enough!"

Merlin nodded. These were gold coins. One gold coin was equivalent to a hundred silver coins. This entire manor probably did not cost as much as a thousand gold coins.

As the master of Boulder City, Count Stanwin had indeed accumulated immense wealth over the years.

After receiving a thousand gold coins, Merlin also retired to his room. He then remembered the Two-headed Pterolycus' will in his Awareness.

After the Two-headed Pterolycus' will was suppressed by Merlin's Illusory World, it had been very well-behaved. Faced against Merlin's natural order which was previously capable of defying a Latitude Cosmos, it was inconsequential whether the Two-headed Pterolycus was a thousand or ten thousand times more powerful.

Perhaps due to its instinctive fear, until now, the Two-headed Pterolycus' ferocious will had been very quiet. It did not cause any trouble for Merlin. Everything was calm.

However, Merlin did not relax his vigilance. If he had detected any anomaly, he would immediately use the natural order of the Illusory World to suppress it. Unfortunately, Merlin's Illusory World had not recovered. Otherwise, he would simply control the Two-headed Pterolycus' will. Then, it would not be so troublesome for him to stay vigilant all the time.

"Tomorrow, I'll look around Holy Dragon City to see if I can gather all the raw materials for the Nourishment Pond."

Merlin made up his mind.

…

Early the next day, Merlin left the manor. He was accompanied by two heavy knights. They were the bodyguards Count Stanwin had specifically arranged for Merlin to keep him safe.

These two knights were not at all simple. Both possessed the almighty beast bloodline. Although they only had the lowest-tier almighty beast bloodline, they had achieved the second-form, which was quite impressive. They were Count Stanwin's very dependable assistants.

The fact that Count Stanwin sent his dependable assistants to protect Merlin spoke volumes of his concern for him. In a foreign place such as this, Count Stanwin was of course, very cautious.

Although Merlin felt that their presence was an inconvenience, he did not refuse. After all, the current situation was truly chaotic. Even Holy Dragon City was not safe. With these two extraordinary-looking bodyguards, there should be less trouble for him.

Merlin inquired about the few biggest shops in Holy Dragon City, and came to the nearest shop. It looked like it did not have many customers.

Upon seeing Merlin, the shopkeeper's eyes brightened and hurriedly welcomed him inside.

"What will sir be needing today?"

Merlin did not waste any words. He took out a list containing some materials.

Of course, this was not the entire Nourishment Pond formula but only a small portion. Merlin would not show the formula to anyone easily.

"Do you have everything on the list?"

Merlin asked in a deep voice. The Nourishment Pond formula was extremely important as it would determine whether he could enhance his abilities further. Just by having the formula but unable to brew the Nourishment Pond was completely useless.

"This…"

The shopkeeper looked at Merlin with some hesitation in his eyes.