Chapter 2616 The Rebellious Choice <TOC> Chapter 2618 The Main Axis
Translator: SumTLMan
On the other side, the members of the Traveling Merchants Organization followed the traces left by the Black Merchant and arrived at the area ravaged by the mutated carrion squirrels.
The burly man wearing a Grey Mask gazed upon the corridors teeming with mutated carrion squirrels, so densely packed they resembled an ocean of vermin. Yet, he did not display the slightest hint of fear, for scenes like this were already commonplace to him.
As the most enigmatic figure among the Traveling Merchants, the Grey Merchant, he and his subordinates spent their days predominantly exterminating monsters within the underground labyrinth.
The area most infested with monsters was the sewers. The Grey Merchant, leading his subordinates, had ventured into the sewers numerous times, confronting encirclements even more terrifying and overwhelming than the one before him now.
Thus, beholding this swarm of mutated carrion squirrels, not only was the Grey Merchant unperturbed, but all those donning grey uniforms exhibited a demeanor of complete ease.
In stark contrast, those at the rear clad in black and white uniforms mostly displayed timidity and apprehension.
The Grey Merchant cast a sidelong glance at that group of cowards, shaking his head with a cold sneer. With their level of competence, they could only intimidate those surface-level adventure teams. When true peril arose, they would flee faster than anyone.
However, the Grey Merchant was only accountable for his own subordinates; how the underlings of the Black Merchant and White Merchant behaved was not his concern. Thus, after a fleeting glance, he retracted his gaze.
Turning to his own subordinates, the Grey Merchant asked indifferently: “Who will take on this task?”
Among those in grey uniforms, six individuals raised their hands.
He pointed at three of them in succession: “You three, lower your hands. This isn’t an extermination mission; we don’t have time for a gradual advance.”
Then, the Grey Merchant turned his attention to the remaining three volunteers. He hesitated briefly, first looking at the man on the far right wearing a grey mask adorned with the visage of an evil spirit: “Shadow Ghost, we can’t ascertain the precise number of these monsters. Your shadow traversal might not sustain you till the end.”
Shadow Ghost didn’t say a word and directly lowered his hand.
The Grey Merchant then looked at the remaining two. One was a petite girl who appeared to be under fourteen. She used her mask as a hair accessory, clipped into her pink hair. Her small hand was raised the highest, occasionally hopping up, seemingly afraid the Grey Merchant wouldn’t notice her. The other was a green-haired man exuding a lazy aura; he didn’t wear his mask but had it fastened at his waist, revealing a face covered with freckles.
He first looked at the pink-haired girl, frowning: “Why are you trying to join in on the fun?”
“I’m not just messing around!” the pink-haired girl protested: “There are still residual traces of illusion magic here. That previous group definitely used illusions. I’m an illusionist wizard too; I can handle it!”
“If you’re just looking to compare illusion skills, I can tell you, you’ve already lost,” the Grey Merchant replied.
The pink-haired girl displayed an indignant expression, but the Grey Merchant had already turned to the green-haired man, leaving her to puff out her cheeks in frustration.
“Shepherd, you’ll handle this,” the Grey Merchant said to the green-haired man, making the decision without hesitation.
Shepherd stretched lazily and retrieved a flute from behind the mask at his waist: “Alright then, it’s been a while since I’ve dealt with rodent-type monsters. I’ve almost forgotten the tunes for guiding rodent swarms… Oh, by the way, do squirrels count as rodents?”
“Don’t ask pointless questions; get on with it,” the Grey Merchant admonished.
Shepherd pouted but took his flute and walked alone toward the terrifying and grotesque monster swarm.
The melodious notes of the flute wafted through the air, and all the mutated carrion squirrels that heard it momentarily froze. Their scarlet eyes, once brimming with murderous intent, gradually turned dazed.
Shepherd continued playing as he walked toward the swarm of mutated carrion squirrels.
The mutated carrion squirrels did not attack him; instead, they proactively parted to create a path. The squirrels on both sides swayed their heads, wobbling in rhythm with the flute’s melody, as if dancing.
The subordinates of the Black Merchant and White Merchant witnessed this scene, all wearing expressions of astonishment. They hadn’t expected that in a situation they deemed utterly unmanageable, the Grey Merchant could resolve it with just one subordinate.
“Don’t just stand there gaping; keep up,” the Grey Merchant called out, glancing at those in black and white uniforms. His own subordinates had already followed in Shepherd’s footsteps.
Those wearing black and white uniforms snapped out of their daze and hurriedly followed.
The Grey Merchant was the last to move forward, not because he intended to bring up the rear, but because he noticed that the White Merchant seemed somewhat off. Lagging behind was merely to inquire about his condition.
“Is everything alright?” the Grey Merchant asked politely. Although the White Merchant was responsible only for the organization’s logistics, he was an extremely learned individual and possessed a talent exceedingly rare in the Southern Region: the study of inscriptions.
More importantly, the White Merchant frequently assisted the Grey Merchant in drawing inscription patterns.
The evil spirit depicted on Shadow Ghost’s mask was a masterpiece crafted by the White Merchant.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” the White Merchant said, but the Grey Merchant was not so easily dismissed.
The Grey Merchant observed silently, his gaze shifting downward to the White Merchant’s hand gripping his own lapel tightly, veins bulging visibly.
The White Merchant remained silent for a moment before finally exhaling and saying: “I’m alright, but… something has gone wrong on the Black Merchant’s side.”
The Black Merchant and the White Merchant appeared to be at odds on the surface, but as a high-ranking member of the Bylron family, the Grey Merchant knew very well that the Black Merchant and the White Merchant were actually twin brothers. The overt rivalry they displayed was entirely orchestrated by the Black Merchant; to outsiders, it might seem like mere mischief, but those in the know understood that the Black Merchant simply wanted to gain more attention in front of his elder brother, the White Merchant.
As siblings, and twins no less, they shared a strong bond, when one encountered trouble, the other would sense it.
Evidently, the White Merchant felt that his younger brother seemed to be in some sort of predicament.
The Grey Merchant pondered for a moment and asked a question that sounded rather blunt: “Is he dead?”
The White Merchant knew what kind of person the Grey Merchant was; his question wasn’t impolite but was meant to ascertain the general situation to plan their next steps.
“He’s not dead, but I sense that his situation is quite dire.”
“Can you sense his approximate location?”
The White Merchant closed his eyes, carefully attuned his senses for a moment, and then hesitantly said: “It seems… just ahead.”
The Grey Merchant nodded, said nothing more, and offered no comfort to the White Merchant. Instead, he went straight to Shepherd’s side.
“Pick up the pace; this is too slow.”
Too slow? Shepherd was playing his flute so vigorously he was nearly out of breath.
“I say it’s too slow, so it’s too slow. Increase the speed, at least double our current pace. If you can go even faster, there will be rewards when we return.”
The Grey Merchant often distributed rewards to everyone, but individual rewards were rare. The last one was given to Shadow Ghost; he received inscriptions on his mask, which greatly enhanced his abilities, making everyone else green with envy.
As Shepherd continued playing his flute, he pointed at Shadow Ghost’s mask, the meaning unmistakable: “Can I get inscriptions too?”
“Yes,” the Grey Merchant affirmed.
Upon hearing this, Shepherd’s languid demeanor transformed instantly; he became full of vigor. The flute melody he played was no longer a soft, drifting tune but a rhythmic piece, accompanied by deliberate stomping that echoed like drumbeats, igniting the entire atmosphere as if it were ablaze.
The faster Shepherd stomped his feet, the quicker the mutated carrion squirrels ahead cleared the way.
This caused their advance to rapidly reach twice the previous speed.
However, Shepherd was still not satisfied. The bloodline power in his legs ignited explosively, transforming into two sheep hooves embedded with iron plates. His stomping speed increased dramatically, and the drum-like sounds accelerated swiftly.
Unbeknownst to them, everyone’s hearts began to pound fiercely in sync with Shepherd’s flute.
“Shadow Ghost, obscure everyone’s hearing and touch senses.” The Grey Merchant noticed something was wrong in their expressions and immediately instructed Shadow Ghost to mask their senses.
Without their hearing and touch, the group looked at Shepherd as if watching a frenzied dancer. Yet, not a single person showed any disdain.
From the violent drumbeats earlier, they could tell just how terrifying Shepherd’s true strength was when unleashed.
Previously, they could only double their speed, but now, with Shepherd’s explosive effort, their pace grew faster and faster. Ultimately, Shepherd achieved three times their original speed, a staggering feat.
When the White Merchant sensed the Black Merchant’s location, Shepherd finally slowed his flute playing.
At this moment, Shepherd was pale all over, sweat dripping incessantly from his face; it was clear that his earlier outburst had pushed him to his limits.
“We’ve arrived; it’s over there.” The White Merchant suddenly pointed in a direction.
The others still didn’t know they were searching for the Black Merchant. Seeing where the White Merchant was pointing, they thought there was something unusual there.
Indeed, there was something unusual, a small dog hole in the high wall.
However, the White Merchant wasn’t pointing at the dog hole but at a skinny, unconscious mutated carrion squirrel beneath it.
The others still didn’t know what had happened, but the Grey Merchant and the White Merchant had swiftly arrived beside the mutated carrion squirrel. The White Merchant carefully placed his hand on its forehead.
After a moment, the White Merchant breathed a sigh of relief: “He’s merely exhausted his vitality and energy; there’s no fundamental injury. With some time, he can recover fully.”
Hearing this, the Grey Merchant also felt the heavy weight in his heart ease. The Black Merchant’s importance was not just in his personal strength; moreover, he was extremely grateful to the Bylron family for saving his life, which led him to join the family willingly. However, the White Merchant did not have this constraint; to this day, he hadn’t joined the Bylron family. But as long as the Black Merchant remained here, the White Merchant would absolutely not leave.
Therefore, seeing that the Black Merchant was still alive, not only was the White Merchant happy, but the Grey Merchant also gradually relaxed his tense nerves.
The White Merchant carefully picked up the mutated carrion squirrel that the Black Merchant had transformed into, then said to the Grey Merchant: “I can’t proceed with you for now. I need to give the Black Merchant basic treatment; otherwise, even if he recovers, he might suffer residual side effects.”
The Grey Merchant nodded. The matter of the underground labyrinth was originally under his charge. This time, both the Black and White Merchants had come along only because they had first discovered this new entrance, giving them priority to explore.
Just as the White Merchant was about to bid farewell, he suddenly uttered a soft exclamation.
Under the Grey Merchant’s attentive gaze, the White Merchant gently opened the Black Merchant’s tightly closed mouth, and a wisp of energy slowly drifted out.
The energy was extremely faint, so thin that it left only a shadow in the air before disappearing.
And within the shadow left by the energy, there was only a line of words: Don’t crawl through the dog hole; there’s an invincible…
Obviously, this was a warning left by the Black Merchant after enduring an inhuman ordeal, using his last remaining energy. Perhaps in the end, his energy was depleted, or he fell unconscious, so he didn’t provide specific details.
But this was already sufficient.
It was a cautionary sign: no matter what invincible power lay within, they just needed to know not to go through that dog hole. Clearly, the Black Merchant had chosen the wrong path and entered the dog hole, leading to the current predicament.
“He left us some very useful information,” the Grey Merchant said: “But it seems he hasn’t caught up with that group who arrived before us.”
After a pause, the Grey Merchant looked at the White Merchant: “Then we’ll continue forward.”
The White Merchant nodded: “I’ll return to the base first.”
As the White Merchant was about to retreat, he suddenly halted and said to the Grey Merchant: “You need to be cautious of that earlier group. If you can communicate amicably, try to avoid resolving matters through combat. They’ve been leaving us hints along the way, which might be gestures of goodwill or provocations; I tend to believe it’s the former.”
The Grey Merchant was silent for a moment: “I understand; I’ll handle it appropriately.”
With that said, the three great merchants of the Traveling Merchants organization parted ways. The Grey Merchant led his subordinates to continue the pursuit, while the White Merchant took his own and the Black Merchant’s subordinates and retreated.
Actually, these subordinates could have continued to follow the Grey Merchant, but the White Merchant thought about it and decided that with their limited strength, it was better not to. After all, there was a residential area near the entrance here; they could stay there to explore and perhaps reap some rewards.
……
As the Black, White, and Grey Merchants parted ways, the dog hole in the high wall slowly faded into nothingness.
Meanwhile, deep within the dog hole, a tiny voice sounded: “It’s rare to encounter living people; it’s really disheartening to just let them go.”
A rough voice replied: “Did you forget what the Master just instructed? The Traveling Merchants are cleaning the sewers; the cyclical life of the monsters nourishes the magic formation. This can be considered a contribution to Nightfall City’s resurgence. Taking some blood and energy for research is enough; there’s no need to harm lives.”
“And the people outside just now were all from the Traveling Merchants; even if we capture them, we can’t eat them.”
The tiny voice whispered: “What about those few people at the very beginning? They weren’t wearing the Traveling Merchants’ attire.”
The rough voice pondered: “Didn’t they choose not to take this path? Moreover, I have a vague feeling they’re not ordinary. If they really chose our path, the victors might not be us.”
“Oh, is that so? Then, should we go inform the Master?”
“For such a trivial matter, you still want to bother the Master? Fine, go if you want, but don’t think I don’t know, you just miss your mother.”
From deep within the dog hole came a burst of playful laughter after being exposed. Then, the dog hole returned to its former silence…
……
On the other side, Angel and his companions had successfully taken a detour through the Court of Review and emerged.
However, they now faced a fork in the road.
One path was a deep, bottomless alley between buildings; the other was a brightly lit small garden illuminated by firefly stone.
From the direction of the endpoints, it seemed both could lead them to their intended destination, but they needed to decide which one to take.
This time, Angel remained silent, looking directly at Daus.
“You aren’t making a choice?” Daus asked, puzzled.
Angel replied: “Since we decided to follow your lead when we started on this path, we might as well follow it to the end.”
Seeing Daus still a bit hesitant, Angel added with a sly smile: “Besides, even if something goes wrong, I won’t have to take the blame.”
Daus said: “Ah, I see. You’re just afraid of making the wrong choice and taking the blame. Fine, I’ll make the decision; I never shy away from responsibility!”
With that, Daus took up the mantle of decision-making.
Angel, meanwhile, stayed behind, privately conversing with the Black Count, speculating on which path Daus would choose.
The Black Count: “If it were you, which path would you choose?”
Angel pondered: “I would probably choose the small garden. The firefly stone in the garden is quite bright; Wizard Eye Ghosts prefer darkness, so taking the garden path should be safer.”
The Black Count: “My thoughts align with yours. However, Daus might be conflicted.”
Reverse inspiration doesn’t mean every inspiration is wrong. Daus needs to determine whether this particular gut feeling is trustworthy.
So now, Daus is not considering the danger but whether he believes in his inspiration.
Previously, when choosing the path, Daus had rebelled against his inspiration once. This time, will he continue to choose the opposite?
Chapter 2616 The Rebellious Choice <TOC> Chapter 2618 The Main Axis