全城危机

"This is it?" Alexander asked Flamewing in surprise as he stared at the sad collection of tents in a clearing within a small forest just a few kilometers inland.

"Uhuh." Flamewing replied, feeling rather confused herself. "I remember it was kind of shabby, but I didn\'t remember it being THIS shabby."

Alexander frowned slightly. His previous scan indicated that there was absolutely nothing in the camp or anywhere within miles that could even remotely threaten him. There could be powerhouses that could avoid being detected by his scan, of course, but he doubted that such powerhouses would hang out in such a… sad place such as the camp beneath them.

He stretched out his hand. "Doesn\'t seem like much of a hideout to me." He said out loud. Golden space energy rippled out from his outstretched hand and settled on all the men and women there, and with a thought, he forcibly lifted them up from that clearing.

Loud cries of shock and fear immediately rang out from the crowd below.

"Indeed, Your Majesty. I believe calling it a refugee shelter would be more apt." Dubaza agreed wholeheartedly from atop Vernie, who was hovering a few meters behind Alexander. Alexander had told him of their mission a few days ago, and he was preparing himself for a ferocious battle against powerful men and women who were bold and brazen enough to actually kidnap dragons.

But the appearance of such a pathetic looking \'hideout\' was rather anticlimactic.

"We\'ll find out soon enough where their main hideout is." Alexander said.

"Let us go! Please, I beg you!!" Shouted one of them.

"Yes, let us go! We will give you everything we own!" Shouted yet another one.

"YOU DUMB F*CKS! IF HE LET US GO, WE\'LL ALL FALL TO OUR DEATHS!" Roared a fat man in luxurious green robes.

Dubaza chuckled evilly at that.

Alexander smiled warmly at the hundred or so men and women whom he had lifted up into the sky in front of him.

"I only have one very simple question. Two, make that two questions. If you answer my questions well, none will be harmed. If I catch you lying, I will let you go. Do we have a deal?" Alexander said pleasantly to them.

"Deal! We have a deal!" They shouted.

"Good! Where is your main hideout?" Alexander asked.

There was silence for a moment before two voices rang out at the same time.

"We don\'t know!"

"It\'s in the West...."

Both immediately snapped their mouths shut and looked at each other in horror.

Alexander grinned. "Well, well. Apparently some of you didn\'t take my threats seriously. Let me show you that I\'m serious."

Alexander released the man who said, "I don\'t know."

"NOOOOoooooooo!" Bam.

The sound of a body hitting the ground sounded out very clearly. Immediately, all of them went pale.

"You were saying?" Alexander pointed at the woman who spoke up as well earlier.

"It...It\'s in the West. Two hundred miles from here, you\'ll see a medium sized town called Bumblebee. The main hideout is in the basement of the Mayor\'s house." She said quickly.

"Basement of a Mayor\'s house. Does it ring any bells?" Alexander asked Flamewing.

"Uhh, my mother is a fifty meter tall adult dragon. I doubt even the King\'s basement could contain her, much less a puny mayor\'s." Flamewing said dryly.

"Are you sure this is the right hideout?" Alexander asked Flamewing doubtfully.

"Yes, definitely. I definitely heard them mentioning a small hideout of theirs, by the Southern Coast of the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom, a few miles from the main beach. This is the main beach, and this is the only hideout of any sort within a few miles of the beach. There is no mistaking it, this is one of their hideouts." Flamewing said confidently.

"Right, so the woman is lying then." Alexander said.

"Probably." Flamewing agreed.

Alexander looked at the woman, who was flushed red with fear and worry. He could hear her heart beating fast, much faster than the other men and women around her. He smiled at her and said, "You lie."

Then he let her go.

"NOOOOOOoooo!!!!" She screamed. Bam.

"Where is the main hideout?" Alexander asked the now-absolutely terrified group. "I\'ll count to three, and if there are no answers, I\'ll drop another one."

"One. Two. Three. Alright fine." Alexander dropped two.

"Ahhh!!!"

"Kyaaaa!!!"

Bam. Bam.

"Ooops, I slipped. Dropped two instead of one. Who knows, I might drop three next time. You ready? I\'ll count to three again. One. Two.." Alexander began counting once more.

"I\'LL TALK! I\'LL TALK!" Screamed a scrawny young man.

"YOU! Shu-" A ferocious looking young man next to him snarled angrily.

Alexander promptly dropped him.

"AHHH!!!" Bam.

"You said you\'ll talk? Go on." Alexander encouraged the man with a smile.

"It\'s within the Eastern Phoenix Kingdo-"

Suddenly, tens of sharp knives flew out from many of the men and women there, all aiming at the scrawny young man.

Alexander smiled widely.

Jackpot.

BAM BAM BAM!! The knives hit a red barrier which Dubaza had casted around the young man.

And then…

"Nooo!!"

"ARGHH!!"

"THE LICH KING WILL…"

BAM BAM BAM.

The bodies of the men and women who had launched attacks fell and hit the ground with satisfying noises.

Only less than twenty people remained in the sky.

"Go on. No one will hurt you now, except for me, of course, if I catch you lying." Alexander continued to smile warmly at the scrawny young man.

"It\'s within the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom\'s Royal Capital. They have an office in the Treasure Pavillion\'s main building. I know that because I was once sent on an errand to deliver an important letter to Sir Lowlin, and I overheard him telling Madam Emma about how their new office in the Treasure Pavillion\'s main building is an excellent place to spy on the Royal Palace." The scrawny young man spoke quickly, his great fear making him very fluent suddenly.

"Very good." Alexander nodded approvingly. "Where is their storage area, or their prison area?

"Storage area?" The scrawny young man asked with slight confusion. "We have warehouses everywhere, there\'s one right here in this hideout." He pointed down at the messy cluster of tents below.

"Prison area then, where they would keep large, oversized prisoners of great importance." Alexander pressed on.

"Ah, that would be in the Forest of Ta-"

As he spoke to that point, a huge fireball suddenly formed and flew towards him.

BOOM!! It hit Dubaza\'s red barrier with great force. However, the red barrier did not even tremble in the slightest.

Alexander looked at the woman who had casted that massive fireball in amusement. He loved how these idiots were giving him verifications at the cost of their own lives that whatever the scrawny young men said was true.

They wouldn\'t have tried to kill him if what he was saying was false.

Apparently Dubaza was enjoying himself too. The old fart had a very wide smile on his face as he watched the fireball disperse into nothingness.

"AHHHhhhh!!" The woman\'s scream rang out very expectedly.

"The Forest of?" Alexander prompted the young man.

"The Forest of Tamaro!" He said quickly.

"That might be right. I definitely remember it being in a forest." Flamewing said excitedly.

"Very good." Alexander nodded to the scrawny young man. "I like you. Tell me, among these people who are left, which ones would know the most things about this… organization?"

"Err… You\'ve actually dropped all of the high ranking ones…" He said awkwardly.

"Are you high ranking?" Alexander asked him.

"No, of course not. I\'m just a runner." He replied.

"But you know a lot of information, right?"

"Yes. I… Ah okay. Then if that\'s the case, the other runners would have information too." He said.

"I do! I have lots of information!" shouted one little boy.

"Me too! I\'ve read a lot of the letters that they\'ve been sending out! I know a lot!" shouted a little girl.

"Very good! The three of you, please follow this pleasant old man over here, he has a few questions for you." Alexander waved at the three of them and they immediately drifted towards Dubaza.

"Grrrrr." Vernie growled as the three of them drifted close to him.

"Kyaa!!" The little girl screamed in fear.

"Vernie. Shush! You\'re scaring the little girl!" Dubaza stomped heavily on Vernie\'s head.

"Hello kids. Come along, come along, let\'s have a chat on this ugly beast\'s back." Dubaza beamed at the three of them.

The three of them smiled at Dubaza gratefully. They seemed very happy that the old man was so friendly. In a sincere way, quite unlike the other man who was quite friendly as well, but in a very insincere way. Very, very insincere, as evidenced by the many dead bodies on the ground.

"My name is Anastasia. However, you three can just call me princess." Princess Anastasia introduced herself haughtily.

The other three older kids immediately obliged and bowed as they said, "Yes Princess." Anything to make their captors happy.

"Are you looking for more of these dragons? I know where they\'re keeping them!" The little boy bravely told Dubaza as he stepped on Vernie."

"Oh really? My, that\'s mighty generous of you to offer up that information without me having to ask. Thank you for that!" Dubaza\'s smile grew wider.

The little boy smiled too, happy that he had gained points with the old man. His chances of survival might have increased greatly because of that.

"How many of them are there?" Dubaza asked with great interest.

"Four big ones and two small ones." The little boy said.