Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 282: It Can Begin
After a night without any discussion, Zhao Hai and the others got up early the next day and began to move around the surroundings of the camp. However, their actions were not very obvious; they merely engaged in some simple transactions with the orcs and looked to see what good items the orcs had that they could trade for at favorable prices.
Zhao Hai had time on his hands, with a month to gather information, and of course, they were not in a hurry. Therefore, what they needed to do now was to dispel the orcs' wariness. How could they do that? For the orc tribe, it was not about chatting casually or helping them with work, but rather selling them food at favorable prices.
That was exactly what Zhao Hai and his group did, but they did it very discreetly. The transactions they made definitely did not give the impression that they were trying to ingratiate themselves; they stayed completely within the bounds of a merchant's duties.
The Bullfighting Tribe members who were monitoring Zhao Hai and his group found that their behavior was too ordinary, and there was nothing significant to watch. To confirm their suspicions, those monitoring Zhao Hai would approach the individuals he was trading with, wanting to know what Zhao Hai had said. However, they were disappointed to find that Zhao Hai only engaged in simple transactions and did not say a word beyond that.
After four days, those monitoring Zhao Hai lost patience. Even the elder of external affairs agreed to Beta's request to ease the surveillance on Zhao Hai and his group. When Zhao Hai and the others returned to the camp, they could see through the screen that there were no longer so many people loitering around their camp, which relieved Zhao Hai quite a bit.
However, he was not anxious to gather information. He continued to move around the camp daily, but the range of his activities expanded, gradually moving deeper into the center of the camp.
On the fifth day after they arrived at King Xiqi’s camp, Wells' Blood Eagle came to Zhao Hai. Zhao Hai detailed the situation here in a letter and handed it to the Blood Eagle to take back to Wells.
He informed Wells not to expect much from King Xiqi, as King Xiqi was likely to ally with the Bullfighting Tribe. The reason he remained here was to gather information about the situation with the Bullfighting Tribe, as well as to find out about the Second Princess and Third Princess. If they were in distress, he would find a way to rescue them and then join him.
After sending the letter, Zhao Hai felt a sense of complete relief. He also glanced at the progress of the convoy; they would be able to officially enter the camp tomorrow. This time, they had brought nearly three million pounds of food, which was no small amount.
Seeing this situation, Zhao Hai immediately sought out Beta. In recent days, Zhao Hai had interacted the most with Beta. Although he knew Beta was sent by the elders to monitor him, he still took the initiative to engage with Beta, which helped dispel Beta's wariness. If he always avoided Beta, there was no way Beta would relax his surveillance in just a few days.
Beta was primarily responsible for the safety of this area of the camp, so he did not have to herd like other Bullfighting Tribe members; his daily job was to patrol. This made it easy for Zhao Hai to find him.
After several days of special interaction, Beta had built a decent relationship with Zhao Hai. So, upon seeing Zhao Hai, Beta immediately smiled and said, “Brother Zhao Hai, what are you busy with?”
Zhao Hai quickly replied, “Brother Beta, I was looking for you. I need your help with something.”
Beta was taken aback but then replied, “Brother Zhao Hai, why are you being so polite? Just tell me what it is; as long as I can help, I will definitely do so.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Brother Beta, our convoy will be arriving at the camp tomorrow with a substantial amount of food. I need you to arrange a good place for me to store it.”