Chapter 628 Mouse
Tels stood in the middle of the study, pointing to the invitation card on the floor with a look of impotence: "Ready?"
"and many more."
Ashida stopped him.
The magician looked at him faintly, and slowly raised a finger:
"This time, try this."
Thales was taken aback:
"Which one to try—"
The voice did not fall, but the wind rose.
I saw the broken chair with a corner missing from behind the desk, flying towards Thales!
Talston was shocked, he raised his hand subconsciously.
"What the **** are you doing—"
咚!
The chair fell to the ground and made a loud noise.
In the next second, an eager slap on the door sounded:
"Your Highness, Lord Duke! What happened? Please answer me!"
"We have to go in—you get out of it."
"No, let's count to three together, one two three—"
boom!
With another loud noise, the two men on duty—second-class vanguard Leo Morgan and second-class security officer Jose Custa—jointly slammed open the door, rushed into the room, and stopped again, staring. big eyes.
"Your Highness?"
I saw Thales lying on the chair in a strange posture with his back facing the two guards.
"Leo, Jose, wow, it’s you tonight."
Thyls looked back hard, and smiled forcefully:
"It's okay, that's when I was exercising, hehe, there was a stinky mouse making trouble..."
Morgan and Kusta turned their heads to check: the entire study was empty, everything was normal except for the two candlesticks went out.
"But, your lord, your nose..." Guard Kusta spoke with a thick thorny accent, looking at Thales, who was lying on the chair with his hips, he stopped talking.
Tales calmly took out his handkerchief and wiped the blood from under his nose.
"It’s okay, it’s okay, you know, puberty."
He waved his hand:
"Go out."
Morgan nodded, he walked to the candlestick and lit the candle again.
"But—" Kusta wanted to say something more.
"Get out, go." The Duke of Xinghu gritted his teeth.
Morgan grabbed Kusta and bowed to Thales:
"If you need help, Your Highness, we are at the door."
So Thales watched them leave and closed the door.
The young man breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at Ashida, who did not know when he reappeared, furiously: "I thought you blocked the voice!"
"I did block it." The magician thoughtfully.
"But the interference and repulsion between the mana of different thresholds and different magicians cannot be ignored, second only to the influence of the legendary anti-magic armed on mana."
Thyls was a little dizzy by this string of nouns, coupled with the embarrassment in front of him, he patted the chair under him, and said uncomfortably:
"Well, then please, can you send me an invitation in advance when I want to do this next time?"
Ashida stared at the chair without saying a word.
"This chair could have been used for another week, but now..."
Thales let go angrily:
The poor chair split into two neat halves and fell to both sides.
"Thank you so much!"
Well, what should I tell everyone about this?
The Lord Duke fell from the broken chair with a missing corner, knocked out his nosebleeds, and became ruthless with his sword, leaving the poor chair dead?
But the magician of Qi just paced slowly to Thales's side and motioned for him to silence.
"From now on, I want to ask you some questions. You have to concentrate and speak carefully," Ashida said softly but very seriously. "Slow down and speak verbatim. If I tell you to stop, you will You must shut up immediately, and never say a word."
But Thales hasn't died yet:
"What if you're "talking more"? So what?"
Ashida glanced at him, her eyes cold and murderous.
Thales choked.
He sniffed, feeling the full **** smell, feeling unhappy:
"Ok."
Ashida observes the symmetrically separated chair:
"What is this ability?"
"Ghost knowledge—I don't know what this is, or how I learned it. It looks like Rolf's ability, or a trick of a street warlock." Thales said in an angry manner.
But the abilities and tricks won't make everyone shout and beat me, and run for my life every day.
"Do not."
Ashida stared at the chair obsessively, but shook her head to deny.
"Abilities are the natural evolution of life, and tricks are deceitful deceptions, but this," the chair floated in front of the magician's eyes, accompanied by his ethereal voice, "This is beyond the scope of our understanding, and it's not at all. same."
Tyers wiped off the nosebleed, not interested:
"whatever."
"It... what can you influence?"
"Small objects," Thales was listless, "The smaller the target, the better, the lighter the better, the closer the better, the simpler the better, for example, paper, leaves, hair?"
"And if the target is too big, too heavy, too far, or even too complicated, I will have nosebleeds and dizziness. If I use it frequently..."
Ashida squinted her eyes: "Will it hurt?"
Tyles recalled the thrilling escape in the prison of bones.
"No, it's better than that..."
Thales twitched the corners of his mouth, expressionless:
"will die."
Axida thought for a while, then nodded leisurely:
"Interesting."
"Most of the time, it's like reaching out for something far away," Thales reluctantly picked up the half of the chair on the ground, then walked up to the magician with no face, and grabbed the half that was floating in the air. Come down and push them to the corner, "But occasionally a few times, when I stretched out my hand, I felt, I felt that it was not just stretched out, but more like, like..."
That's it, Ashida turned her head back quickly:
"Stop!"
Thyls was startled when he was interrupted abruptly.
I saw Ashida closing her eyes and speaking only after a few seconds:
"How long?"
"This thing?"
Thyls cursed the little stupid in his heart, while adjusting himself: "I have been practicing for half a year. Every time I was tossed so that my waist and back hurt, and I couldn't get out of bed, now I can feel a little way—"
Ashida suddenly opened her eyes:
"stop!"
Thyls was choking again, like a knap in his throat, extremely uncomfortable.
Day, come again?
"Remember what I said, be careful with your words," the magician said carefully, "you said you touched the way, what way?"
Tyles swallowed.
"Let’s put it this way, once I was tired of practicing with paper, and wanted to try another car harness. As a result, the rope was so thick and hard, and it turned into—"
"Stop!" The magician's warning sounded at the right time.
Fuck.
Tels flattened his mouth and changed the subject:
"Anyway, I had to throw it into the sewer-of course, under normal circumstances, it is not easy to just lock the target."
Ashida keenly grasped the key points:
"Usually?"
Tels shrugged:
"Yes, everything is easy when you knock on the door, it's as natural as breathing and drinking water—"
Ashida raised her hand again:
"stop!"
Thales sighed helplessly.
Can you still speak well?
Ashida fell silent and thought to herself.
"I see, it feels weird, right?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe unhappy prince who was interrupted many times sneered:
"You are very curious. You want to understand and explore, but because of the magical power, you have to desperately restrain your impulse, resist temptation, and keep telling yourself that you can't go deep, you can't continue, you must stop..."
He looked at Ashida who was watching the blue light, with a sinister and sly smile:
"Then you want to know more, do you want more? Hey, I can give you all..."
Ashida's eyes flashed with blue light.
"Ahhhh-empty, air...I was wrong teacher!"
The blue light flashed again. Under one person, the Duke of Xinghu, who was above ten thousand people, regained the right to breathe freely, and panted pitifully on the desk.
"So, the magic energy is the first appointment," Thales looked back dying, "What is its original purpose?"
Ashida did not speak, he stared at the chair in the corner, and said quietly:
"For ourselves."
is nonsense again.
Tyles sighed, and he could only turn over and sit on the desk after losing his chair.
"Okay, I also gave what you asked for, and answered the questions you asked. Can we get back to the subject? Before I died of excessive blood loss?"
The young man knocked on the desktop and said impatiently:
"Now, among the three magicians, what do you want?"
The blue light in the magician's eyes gradually went out, and he turned around with his back, and the silhouette in the study looked cold and empty.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I said, the more you hide from me," Thales shook his nosebleed handkerchief boredly. "The more likely I am to stumble on things I don't know."
"What's more, aren't we students and facilitators? We are so close and trust each other, we can be regarded as exemplary teachers and students..."
Ashida suddenly spoke:
"Answer me: Who won the end battle?"
The boring classroom atmosphere suddenly became serious and formal, Thales was a little caught off guard, he hurriedly put away the handkerchief.
Who's winning…
"Uh, the world, mortals, all intelligent races?"
But Ashida did not speak, the magician still looked at him coldly.
"Ok."
Thyls raised his arms and thought for a while:
"The Queen of Magic."
"The legendary anti-magic weapons they created can seal the magician," he thought of the experience at the bottom of the Bone Prison, frowning, "but it can't be effective for them."
Only the queen needs to set fire, and no disaster is allowed to light the lamp.
Ashida's eyes flashed.
"Looking from the last time you left, you have learned a lot by yourself."
Thales hummed softly.
"Don't forget, I have a crown in my left hand and magic power in my right hand."
Tels opened his hands boldly, and then embarrassedly hid the blood-stained left hand behind his back.
The young man continued: “In this way, the twin emperors drove other magicians into street rats, and monopolized the use of magic power. According to what you said, they also deepened their understanding of magic power. They are the biggest winners.”
Ashida nodded.
But the next second, his tone became mysterious:
"Then, as the biggest winner, why did the Magic Twins disappear in 700 years, hidden behind the scenes, only circulated in the awe of a few people, and no one knows where they are?"
Talston was taken aback.
The magic twins, why disappeared?
This question...
The magician paced slowly, the questions gradually progressed, and the momentum became more and more pressing:
"Why do they distribute legendary anti-demon forces to mortals and rely on the king, lord, governor, and bishop of this world to perform their duty of overseeing the world on their behalf?"
"Why not just identify yourself, rule over hundreds of millions of living beings, and order everything in the world, and those who obey will perish if they fail?"
"Like the radicals do?"
Ashida stared at him closely, waiting for the student's response.
Uh, what the old crow said, the limits of rule? No, that's only for mortals.
Thales pressed down the first answer and found that it was indeed a good question.
He began to think about the logic.
"Because the warrior defeated the dragon, not to become the dragon? Well, a joke."
"Because, because of convenience? Because of laziness? Because of efficiency? Because of them, uh, no time? You know, not every magician has a leisure time to help the underworld to fight and grab territory."
The magician of Qi still stared at him faintly, silently, and did not respond to Thales' sarcasm.
Thales had to curb the ridicule, and said seriously:
"Well, to be honest, all I can think of is that since they used the Purification Plan to obliterate the existence of the magician, the two emperors themselves would not appear in front of the world, so as to prevent the effect of blocking news and covering up history. ?"
Ashida stared at him for a long, long time.
As if trying to connect his heart with his eyes.
This makes Thales a little nervous.
Wait, did he digress? What did I just ask?
Finally, the Qi Magician smiled coldly.
"For a long time, I have also been curious about this issue, and to understand it," Ashida's eyes burned, "I need more information."
"And Flelan said one thing right."
The guide slowly said:
"Since the end of the war, the Canstar royal family has been passing on for a long time, and has participated in many, so there must be many secrets that the magician can't know."
Thales patted his forehead.
Oh, yes, Ashida joined the Three Plagues Alliance for this purpose.
“So, you risked being taken out of your address by human flesh and registered as a member of the ‘Frylan Mutual Aid Group’ in order to see references that are not available elsewhere and to study ‘Why are the two emperors such a house?”
Thales asked tentatively.
Ashida looked at him silently, motionless.
Well, it seems he didn’t understand the smile.
Thales had to sigh:
"Then what is your research conclusion?"
Ashida looked away and turned to look out the window.
"They hide."
The magician's eyes reappeared with a blue light, his tone is hollow, but it makes people feel inexplicable:
"Because they are afraid, jealous, and vigilant."
Fear, fear, and vigilance of the twin emperors?
Thyls was startled, puzzled:
"What are you afraid of? They are already the most powerful magicians, no one can control..."
No one can control it.
Tyles had a pause, and woke up:
"Oh, you mean, Toros? He has the power to overpower the twin emperors?"
Torros.
Ashida turned her head abruptly, her eyes sharp blue!
Thyls staggered in surprise.
The magician said slowly, very gentle: "I have noticed since just now, even though I rarely mention it, you seem to have some understanding of this senior."
He sharpened his eyes:
"The question is, where did you know?"
Thales swallowed subconsciously.
Bearing Ashida's aggressive gaze, he remembered the words of the predecessor in the boundary before knocking on the door:
【It's Ashida's responsibility to guide you, so I can't get involved. 】
【In the community of magicians, there is a sacred and inviolable relationship between the leader and the guided. For example, you and Ashida, you have a special and close connection, for each other, they are special and important existences. 】
Thinking of this, Thales subconsciously said:
"Books. Read from books."
But Ashida immediately asked:
"what book?"
Thales blurted out:
"Forbidden books, in the collections of the Temple of Sunset..."
The magician is chasing after:
"Which one?"
Thales choked.
He had to show a sorry smile:
"Well, let me be honest, it is actually the guard record-the royal guard's flag wing, they will record the words and deeds of the characters of the past."
Ashida squinted her eyes:
"Whose record?"
"The King of Revival." Thales' eyes didn't blink.
"Tormund I, he mentioned, uh, what he saw in the battle of the end, including Toros."
"Oh, the records are stored in the Fuxing Palace. Would you like to see it?"
Ashida was silent for a few seconds.
"No," the magician looked at him faintly, "There are legendary anti-magic weapons in it, it's not safe."
Tales woke up:
"Oh, what a pity."
"Do you want me to steal it for you?"
"No need." Ashida whispered, turning around.
"But no," the magician continued, "It's not Toros that they fear."
His words are deeply jealous:
"You can't imagine, since the creation of the legendary anti-magic armed forces, what level and height the Queen of Magic has stood at."
"I think even if the qualifications are as deep as Toros, they can't compete with the twin emperors that no one can control."
Torros, can't compete with the twin emperors?
Thyls was surprised at first, and then wondered:
"Then what else can they be afraid of?"
Ashida did not answer directly.
"Think, Thales, think," the magician stared at the star lake reflecting the stars, "Don't develop the bad habit of waiting for answers."
Thales frowned.
The twin emperors that no one can control.
No one...
Do not.
Tels' eyes moved.
is not ‘no one’.
Not at all.
"each other." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴovelFɪre.net
Tyles stared at the chair split in half in the corner, earnestly.
"Bloodthorn and Heilan, as the victors of the end battle, as the magicians surpassing most of their peers," he looked up at the magicians, "the only people who can really compete with the two emperors are each other."
The young man solemnly said:
"The thing they are afraid of is the other party."
Ashida snorted softly:
"It seems that you are not blunt."
was recognized, Thales shined:
"Therefore, without a common enemy, the two queens became the greatest threat to each other. After the war, they broke up and turned each other into enemies."
"And they hide behind the scenes to guard against the other party's sneak attack-this is a chicken-eating game that'who finds the first' wins?"
Faced with the hopeful question of the students, the magician was noncommittal, but said lightly:
"As I said before, you are getting closer to the truth of the world."
This is probably Ashida's version of "You said it so great"-Thales sneered.
"Well, I know this, so what?"
Thyls returned to the subject, to prevent Ashida from leading the topic:
"Your purpose of participating in the Three Plagues Alliance, shouldn't it be to use your strength to win over one of the two emperors and to beat the other?"
Ashida was silent for a while.
But when he spoke again, his tone was different.
"Tels, are you sure, do you want to continue listening?" The magician said quietly.
Thales was taken aback:
"what?"
I saw the magician turning around, his figure covering the moonlight, giving Thales a sense of oppression for the first time.
"Instructions, truths and secrets, often carry a heavy burden."
Ashida spoke softly, meaningfully: "Are you really, ready?"
Looking at the other person, Thales frowned and wondered: "You, why are you suddenly telling a ghost story?"
His teacher sneered coldly:
"Because once you know, you can't look back."
Can't look back?
Thyls pouted indifferently:
"Even if I don't know, I have no turning back, right?"
What a joke.
Do you really think that I, the first person in the Errol world to turn a good fortune, Thales Canxing, has been scared since childhood?
Speaking of this, Thales was suddenly aware of something, he raised his finger and said fiercely:
"And you don't want to "end get out of class" now!"
Ashida snorted lukewarm, unaware of emotions.
But he was uncharacteristically, and spoke quite cheerfully:
"During the time I worked with Fleiland, through the Canopy Star Royal Family, Kingdom Secret Branch, and even the Blood Bottle Gang, I got some precious historical records."
Tyers squinted his eyes:
"About?"
Axida has a rare smile.
means weird and difficult to understand.
"You already know that all the legendary anti-magic weapons are made by the twin emperors, and they cannot be effective against the twin emperors, right?"
Tels could not help looking at him nervously, suspiciously in his heart:
"and so?"
The magician lowered his voice:
"What if there are exceptions?"
"What if there are weapons that were not made by the twin emperors in this world?"
Thales was startled at first, and then he realized.
Damn it.
【Eighteen years ago, the first and only legendary anti-magic weapon that was not made by the Queen of Magic...】
In the prison of bones, the mysterious voice of the leader of the Sword of Disaster seemed to ring in his ears:
【In the Kingdom of Stars, on the base of this dragonbreaker, it can be forged. 】
So, what he said was this... and that's right.
Tels took a deep breath:
"So, you want to tell me that you have found an out-of-register legendary anti-magic weapon that can be effective against the Queen of Magic?"
This time, Ashida stared at him for a long time, and then she said seriously:
"In case you regret it after listening, I will ask again, you are really sure you want to listen..."
Thales rolled his eyes in his heart.
"Less nonsense!"
The Duke is decisive, beyond doubt:
"Say!"
What mystification is.
Really thought I didn’t know?
Dragon Breaker, the Frontier of the Clean World—the achievement of the greatest king, and the only weapon that can seal the twin emperors—has been held in his hand long ago, and he has actually used it on the ground.
Really thought that by posing like this and creating an atmosphere, he would be scared?
Ashida smiled mysteriously.
and many more.
Thinking of this, Thales has a headache:
Besides the indifferent experience of many battles, how can he use the appropriate consternation to show that he has seen the world without arousing his suspicion...
"In the end battle, every legendary anti-magic weapon was created by the twin emperors, and then distributed to the selected catastrophe hunters, in order to use the power of everyone to hunt down the magician."
As Thales thought, the magician of Qi had already spoken.
But what Ashida said is not what Thales thought:
"But after comprehensively comparing all the relevant records of the Star Kingdom, I determined an interesting thing: the time for some weapons to be released must be after the end of the war."
Tears, who was looking forward to hearing the "Fight of the Pure World", didn't react for a while, and paused.
"So, this is normal."
The young man took out his ears and followed his thoughts:
"Although the war is over, the hunt for disasters is still going on-the double emperor's goal is not only the radicals, but also other magicians, such as you, let alone troublesome ghosts like Giza who are still alive... "
Speaking of this, Thales trembled fiercely!
and many more.
Just now, what Ashida said is not right.
——
Outside the study, Officer Morgan Vanguard and Officer Kusta stood face to face, one with a cold expression and the other attentively.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Our Royal Highness," Kusta stared at the door seriously, but no voice was heard from inside, "He sometimes does something unexpected, right?"
Morgan did not respond.
Kusta snorted softly:
"Did you listen to Kong Mutoh? They are in Red Square..."
"Don't bother to get close, thorny," the Morgan Vanguard interrupted him roughly, without even looking at him: "I'm not interested."
Kusta looked stagnant.
The thorny barbarians.
Custa, who has bronze skin and an exotic face, took a deep breath:
"Yes, my father is indeed from the thorny land, but he is also a nobleman in the kingdom of Allenbia, and my grandmother is an orthodox star person..."
"Who cares if you are a **** **** by someone?"
The security officer Morgan, who is not close to strangers, raises the volume and snorts disdainfully:
"Just keep your door safe, thorny."
Thorn Man-Kusta breathed faster, clenching his fist.
"They said you are a veteran," Kusta's tone fell cold, "but was driven out by the army-because of fear of fighting and absconding?"
This sentence came into effect, and Morgan moved his eyes for the first time, staring at Kusta.
But Kusta’s tone became more and more mocking:
"That must be fun, right?"
The Thorns sneered:
"Your sir, didn't he **** you out?"
The voice fell, Morgan's eyes changed.
It's freezing cold.
The veteran's hand moves to the weapon.
"Remember, we are on duty," Kusta said coldly, pressing the handle of the knife around his waist, "so don't make any stupid ideas."
"Unless... outside the army, do you want to be expelled by the guard again?"
Morgan's hand stopped.
He has cold eyes:
"Do you know why they expelled me?"
Custa sneered disdainfully:
"who cares-"
"What are you doing?"
At that moment, Kusta and Morgan were shocked by the unexpected appearance of a strange figure.
Custa draws his sword instinctively!
Clang!
With a sharp sound, Kusta's blade stopped in time, and slammed it hard against the wall, only a foot away from the neck of the strange figure.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Custa cursed fiercely, and withdrew the blade in shock:
"I **** almost took you—Vy, Master Vitano?"
Custa and Morgan stared at the rickety figure that appeared beside them—the guard of Star Lake Castle. The old man Vitano was holding a lamp and standing tremblingly in front of the door.
Remembering the courtesy of Chief Mallos to the person in front of him, Kusta quickly put away the blade and changed his tone:
"You, you scared me."
"Hey, old man," Morgan on one side was not so good-tempered. He stared at Vitano, and also put away the two daggers on his waist, "What are you doing here?"
The lamp shadow shook, and the figure trembled. Vitano slowly turned his head, his turbid eyes glanced at the two of them:
"You guys, don't you feel it?"
"Wow, you, can you talk?"
Kusta was taken aback first, then reacted, and cleared his throat: "Sorry, what do you feel?"
"Mouse."
Vitano stared at the study door.
"In the castle," the old man raised the lamp and said:
"There are mice."
Rao didn't deal with it anymore, and Kusta and Morgan exchanged glances at this time.
Although the communication is not very efficient.
"Yes, we know."
Morgan looked at the old man and said coldly:
"An ‘old’ rat."
Costa smiled:
"Of course, the only place in this ghost castle where there are no mice should be the Xun Yinglou—there is the wild cat den."
But Vitano shook his head, his eyes kept on the door.
"Do not."
"It's a foreign mouse."
Vitano looked at the door, slowly but firmly said:
"Very, big one."
"It's huge."
Custa and Morgan exchanged glances again.
The Thorns narrowed his eyes, pointed to his brain, and lowered his voice: "Hey, is he? There is something here..."
Morgan curled his lips and didn't reply.
But the next second, Vitano's figure trembled and moved forward.
"Hey!"
One left and one right, both arms firmly stopped in front of him.
also stopped in front of the door.
"Please stop, Master Vitano," Kusta resolutely and solemnly saw the direction the old man was going, "If you really want to see the Duke, I can pass the message first."
"This road is nowhere." Morgan is more concise.
Vitano recovered tremblingly, and began to look at the two again.
"You guys, are the royal guards?"
The old man asked softly.
Custa put down his arm and smiled:
"Yes, we are the royal family in Star Lake Castle..."
"You should jump." The old man said coldly, without beginning and ending in a sentence.
Custa frowned: "What?"
"You guys," Vitano said long, wheezing and panting, like a dying person, "You should all jump off the castle."
Jump down?
Morgan gave a sharp look and pressed his hand on the hilt of the sword.
"Jump down? Why, why?" Kusta asked puzzled.
Vitano turned his head, first glanced at a Kusta, then glared at Morgan, his final gaze fixed on the door of the Duke's room.
"Because you don't use farts."
"You can't even catch a mouse."
The voice fell, the old man ignored the puzzled two and turned around.
Amidst the shaking lampshade, he walked away step by step, struggling to leave here, disappearing into the depths of the corridor.
Costa and Morgan stared at his back intently, inexplicably.
"D.D is right," Kusta shook his head when he watched him go away, "The old guy, even if it's not a zombie, there is definitely a problem with his brain."
"Kill him." Morgan said coldly.
"Yeah—what?" Kusta was taken aback.
Morgan looked at the cold corridor, grinning his teeth, and his tone made people shudder:
"Next time, if he shows up like this again, we will kill him together."
Kusta blinked:
"Are you crazy?"
Morgan barked his teeth, murderously: "No, I'm serious."
Kusta took a deep breath and looked around: "No—Ms. Harvest and the Goddess of Sunset are on top, why?"
Morgan gave a cold snort.
"Because, just the distance we found him," the veteran's eyes were sharp, "enough for him to kill us."
Kill us?
"Ha, ha ha, for Thornland's sake, I can't believe it," Kusta was puzzled, laughing and laughing. "Well, let's kill the old man and how do we explain it? Because of him. Say we, um, can't catch mice?"
Morgan nodded, he still stared at the corridor, as if there was a threat there:
"Correct."
"And he is the mouse-damn mouse."
Custa looked confused.
"Crazy, crazy," The Thorny Man worked hard, and finally gave up thinking, and sighed, "You and him, you are all crazy."
Ms. Harvest is here, and next time, he would rather be on duty with the disabled dumb partner.
Damn mouse.
(End of this chapter)