Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 243: Dark Moves
When Zhao Hai heard Laura say that, he sensed there was more to her words. He looked at Laura in confusion and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Laura glanced at Zhao Hai and smiled, “It means that those scammers are not real merchants; they all have backgrounds, and strong ones at that.”
Zhao Hai was taken aback, “Are you saying those scammers are being manipulated by someone? Who? Why?”
Laura gave a bitter smile, “Who else could it be? It’s those who are afraid of the orc tribes’ strength. This includes the Versailles Family and people from the Aksu Empire’s royal family. Many merchants on the Orc Prairie are their eyes and ears. As soon as they find an orc tribe that is particularly powerful, they’ll think of ways to weaken that tribe. And there’s no method more ruthless than deceit. It doesn’t require much manpower, financial resources, or even force to achieve their goals, which is why so many people use it.”
Zhao Hai hadn’t expected this to be the reason. After a moment of silence, he said, “No wonder Yale interrupted Wells earlier. It seems Yale also sees us as one of those scammers. It’s my fault for speaking too confidently just now.”
Laura laughed and said, “You can’t really blame yourself for that. What you said was true; it’s just that Yale doesn’t believe it. Once they interact with us more in the future, they will believe it. By the way, Brother Hai, don’t you think there’s something odd about Wells and their camp?”
Zhao Hai nodded slightly, “Yes, it is a bit strange. This camp is full of fighters, and not a single woman in sight. That seems a bit unreasonable.”
Laura nodded and replied, “I noticed that too, but looking at Wells, he doesn’t seem to have anything important to do. Why would they come here?”
Meg, who had been silent, spoke up, “Could it be that Wells also came out to train? He’s the seventh son of the Herculean Bull Tribe’s clan leader, which is equivalent to a prince. Generally, human nobles send their children out to train, so Wells's status as a noble may also mean he’s here to gain experience.”
Laura and Zhao Hai were taken aback, and then Laura couldn’t help but chuckle, “It seems we overthought the situation. Yes, I’ve also heard that princes from powerful orc tribes come out to train. Wells seems to be one of them, but the fact that he was ambushed by the jackal tribe is also suspicious.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “This matter is a bit strange. But it’s not something we should be concerned about anymore. After all, we’ve already achieved our goal and dealt with those jackals, haven’t we? Plus, I’ve collected all the jackal corpses, though unfortunately, there were no live ones. But there are two of their mounts alive, which are currently in storage.”
After the battle, Zhao Hai had stored all the jackal corpses in his space. To avoid raising suspicion from Yale and the others, he had used the black mist technique to cover the battlefield before collecting the corpses. He didn’t rush to turn the jackals into undead beings; he still wanted to gather some information from them.
However, he couldn’t let Wells or Yale know, so he used the black mist technique to cover the battlefield. By the time the black mist dissipated, the jackal corpses would also be gone, leading Yale and the others to believe Zhao Hai had already turned the corpses into undead beings and stored them in his summoning space.
This was also a common practice among dark mages on the continent. After killing their enemies, they would turn the slain into undead beings and store them in their summoning space, which not only intimidated their enemies but also added to their own strength. Thus, when Zhao Hai did this, neither Yale nor Wells suspected anything.
Laura nodded, “Let’s wait until tonight to deal with the jackal issues. I wonder when Wells will come to find us; we should avoid entering the space for now.” Zhao Hai nodded in agreement; he hadn’t considered entering the space at this time.