Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 290: One of Our Own
Ibel's appearance was unexpected. Laura had collaborated with Ibel in the past, but it wasn't deep; they had never met, only heard of each other's names.
The main reason Laura hadn't engaged in deeper collaboration with Ibel was that his reputation among the human race wasn't very good.
Based on various rumors, Laura knew that Ibel was similar to Soth, a person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. It was this kind of character that allowed Soth to make the Magedel family a famous business family on the continent, and Ibel had also used various means to become the largest grain merchant and supplier of daily necessities in the Isaac family's territory.
Ibel's style of conduct was something Laura found very detestable, which was why she had little cooperation with him.
Zhao Hai sat in the tent, watching the footage on the monitor. It displayed the situation at Ibel's location; he was residing in a tent not far from them. This tent had been specially constructed for human merchants by King Xiqi and his people, so all human merchants who arrived would stay here.
After hearing about Ibel's character, Zhao Hai felt that he was a difficult person to deal with. Therefore, he focused his attention on Ibel.
It was important to note that among those who came with Ibel, there were quite a few experts. Ibel himself was just a level 6 warrior, but he had two eighth-level warriors, one seventh-level dark mage, five seventh-level warriors, and as many as twenty level 6 warriors. There were also five hundred warriors at level 5 and below.
Such a small team could not be underestimated. If evaluated on the surface, their strength was considerably greater than that of Zhao Hai and his group.
However, Zhao Hai and his companions were not worried that Ibel would cause them trouble. They didn't dare to; they were currently on the Orc Prairie, where everything was dictated by the orcs. Causing a commotion here would be akin to slapping the orcs in the face, and they would never agree to that.
Zhao Hai knew that his standing in the eyes of these orcs was also quite high. He sold grain to them at low prices and helped them purchase living supplies at reasonable rates, which earned their goodwill. So if Ibel dared to come looking for trouble, he would surely meet a miserable end.
But Ibel did nothing; he saw Zhao Hai being cordial, and just thinking of Ibel's round, plump face made Zhao Hai uncomfortable. A term popped into his mind: "smiling tiger." In Zhao Hai's eyes, Ibel was indeed a smiling tiger.
Because of this, Zhao Hai paid special attention to Ibel. Since King Xiqi seemed to be in a state of inactivity, Zhao Hai simply focused his attention on Ibel, wanting to see how Ibel planned to deal with him.
It was worth noting that Zhao Hai's grain convoy was about to enter King Xiqi's camp for the fourth time, and at that time, Ibel would probably want to deal with him even more.
On the monitor, Ibel sat quietly in his tent, holding a cup of fruit wine, with fruit placed in front of him. This was quite rare to see on the prairie. Zhao Hai noticed that those fruits were all frozen, indicating that Ibel likely didn't have space equipment.
In front of Ibel sat a man whom Zhao Hai and Laura had never seen before. The man was dressed like a servant and looked inconspicuous, appearing to be in his thirties but with a weathered face, giving off the impression of an ordinary horse handler.
Zhao Hai turned to Laura and asked, "Laura, do you know this person?"
Laura shook her head and replied, "I don't know him; he might be one of Ibel's death warriors."
Just then, Ibel spoke, asking the man, "What have you found out?"
The man saluted Ibel and said, "It's confirmed; it’s Zhao Hai and Laura. They aren't impostors. The grain they bought for the orc tribe is peach blossom spring rice, and priced at only half what we offer."
Ibel sighed while holding his wine cup, "What a waste. Peach blossom spring rice, even if sold on the continent, wouldn’t be much cheaper than here. What a pity. Those bastards from the church of light, and that idiot Southern King, they really ought to die soon."