389 Silencing People

This was probably the first time Hahn agreed to something so readily. Before Johnathan finished packing his luggage, his team increased by four people. Johnathan tried to object Hahn's arrangement, but to no avail. He shook his head and brought the four new members towards the Scar of Death.

The advance party consisted of 12 people. Apart from Lin Li's team and Johnathan, there were seven other Adventurers, and Lin Li knew four of them…

"Hehe, Mr. Bandit, what a coincidence…" Lin Li greeted Reggie the moment they left the campsite.

"A-ah, yes…" Reggie gasped in shock, and nearly slipped and fell onto the ground. When he finally calmed down, his was still trembling like a mouse that met a cat…

"Mr. Bandit, why are you shaking so much? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No… It's nothing…" Reggie replied. He nearly cursed all the 18 generations of Hahn's ancestors. F*ck that Hahn! Why didn't he warn me that the advance party has such a boss? If I'd known, I wouldn't have joined this darn team. How's this different from trapping a cat and a mouse together in the same cage?

"I didn't expect it to be so coincidental…" To be honest, Lin Li was actually quite surprised to meet Reggie here. He'd thought that the advance party was just an excuse for Hahn to get rid of people he didn't want. Lin Li had not expected to see Reggie and his friends being a part of it. Could it be that the advance party had a very crucial role to play?

Reggie and his teammates were all Bandits above level-15, and were proficient in investigation and assassination. Anybody in Emendas' position would never agree with Hahn to sacrifice them. Even if people like Reggie and his teammates were to be cannon fodder, they would be the most valuable and crucial cannon fodder. They shouldn't be here to die with a level-14 Warrior like Johnathan…

Lin Li greeted Reggie before going to the front to find Johnathan. He hoped to know from the puppet leader what mission the advance party had in the Scar of Death.

He did not expect Johnathan to address his doubts before he had a chance to speak.

"Brother Felic, how do you know Reggie and his friends?" Johnathan questioned curiously. Reggie and his teammates were known as the strongest Bandits of Aminya. It could be said that Reggie and his friends had to be the most popular Adventurers of Aminya apart from Emendas and a few others.

Although Brother Felic had a good personality, he was just an average Adventurer. How would he know people like Reggie?

"It's a long story…"

If there were people who knew Lin Li well around him now, such as Mason, Orrin, Gerian, or Macklin, they would know not to trust any word Lin Li would say thereafter. The phrase 'It's a long story' marked the point whereby Lin Li would start to weave lies and nonsense…

Unfortunately, Johnathan was unaware of that…

"It was a year ago, when I was in the Dragon Mountains. I saw somebody stung by the Manticore; coincidentally, I had the medicine to treat the Manticore's poison. Hence, I gave them a bottle of medication, and knew them from then on…"

"Oh, so that's why…" replied Johnathan. He was a simple-minded man who had great trust in Lin Li. Hence, he did not detect anything suspicious in his speech. Being experts in the use of poison, the Bandits should be able to treat the Manticore's poison even with their eyes closed. How would they need Lin Li's medication?

"I didn't expect them to still remember that. They even offered to reward me after we complete this mission…"

While Lin Li was sprouting his nonsense irresponsibly, Johnathan's eyes lit up.

Frankly speaking, when he knew that Reggie and his teammates would be in his advance party, Johnathan feared that he might not be able to click with them. They were the best Bandits of Aminya City and the top Adventurers after Emendas. Compared to them, he was just a random level-14 Warrior that could be commonly found in Aminya City.

The status of Adventurers was always decided by their abilities. Only the words of skillful Adventurers carried weight. Now that a level-14 Warrior was the leader, and the stronger Bandits became mere team members, it was easy for anyone to feel indignant at that.

That being said…

It was fortunate that Brother Felic seemed to be on good terms with them. Johnathan looked around before he brought Lin Li to an isolated corner. "Brother Felic, can I discuss something with you…?" he asked discreetly.

"What is it?"

"I've thought about it, and I feel that I'm not suited as the team's leader. You know, I'm a stupid person. I'm afraid I'd drag everyone down if we were to face any issues. Look, why don't you be the leader instead? With your relationship with Reggie and his friends, I'm sure they would support you…"

"Brother Johnathan, are you afraid that they won't listen to you?" Lin Li asked. How could such a bright person not know what was on the man's mind?

"I'm a little worried…" Johnathan replied with hesitation.

"It will be alright," Lin Li comforted Johnathan before he went to find Reggie. "Oh, Reggie, I forgot to introduce Brother Johnathan to you. He's the leader of the advance party."

"So, you are Johnathan. I have wanted to meet you for a very long time…" Reggie greeted Johnathan very passionately as he stretched out his hand to shake Johnathan's. His attitude and friendliness would even mislead bystanders into thinking that they were friends who had not meet for a long time.

"Mr. Reggie, you are too polite…" Johnathan was shocked. He could not understand how a person like Reggie could even know him…

No matter what, it was still a good thing for Reggie to be so friendly to him. Being the best Bandit in Aminya, he was a man many Adventurers dreamt of getting close to. If Johnathan could be protected by Reggie, his life in Aminya would be good.

He didn't know Reggie was secretly happy with that friendship being forged too.

Johnathan's abilities might not be outstanding, but from how he saw mage Felic address him as "Brother Johnathan", Reggie felt that the relationship between them had to be extraordinary. If he were to be friendly to Johnathan, it would be useful if he needed Johnathan to help him say some good word in front of Mage Felic…

Since both of them had the intention to fawn over each other, their conversation was unusually very pleasant. The more they conversed, the more they realized they clicked well with each other, and soon half an hour passed by without them realizing it. Only when they were about to enter the forest did Reggie suggest bringing his men to explore it first.

After he watched the four Bandits enter the forest, Lin Li turned to Johnathan. "Brother Johnathan, I forgot to ask you about our role as the advance party. Why are we here?"

"I'm not too sure, either…" Johnathan said doubtfully as he fished out a map from his pocket. "Hahn gave me a map before he sent me here, and told me to find this place marked here…" Johnathan said as he pointed to a location on the map. Lin Li saw that it was a region filled with a huge number of high-level magical beasts…

"What else?"

"I have no idea…" Johnathan said as he shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"…" Lin Li rolled his eyes. What messy sh*t is this? Has Hahn gone crazy? So he sent Johnathan to risk his life to enter the central region just to feed himself to the high-level magical beasts? That's too absurd…

"Or, you could ask Reggie. I've heard them mention that Emendas had talked to them before they came here. They might know some information…"

"Will do…"

While the advance party entered the forest, Jason walked into Lin Li's tent at the same time.

To his disappointment, the tent was empty. From the lack of sleeping bags, it was obvious that the owner of the tent had left the campsite. Then, something struck Jason.

Didn't Emendas send an advance party to the Scar of Death half an hour ago?

Could it be that…

Goddammit, what a moron! Emendas will cause Felic to kill everybody if he does that! The thought of it made Jason restless. He sprung up and ran across the campsite, and dashed into Emendas' tent directly without informing him.

"Emendas—" Jason noticed something different about Emendas the moment he called his name. Emendas was very patiently sitting upright, just like an obedient student in class.

That brought Jason's eyes to where Emendas' attention was focused. Jason saw a young man around age 27 or 28 sitting opposite Emendas. He was wearing a black robe that emitted strong magical waves, and although the cape he was wearing covered his face, and Jason could not tell his expression, he could feel a solemn familiarity from him…

"S-Sir Hutton, what brings you here?"

"Hehe, I'm just here to check things out…" The man was the first heir of the Malfa Family, the biological brother of Harvey, who was seated opposite Emendas. Harvey's brother was more accomplished than him; his ability was something even Lin Li could not fathom. Not only that, the top Adventurer of Aminya, Emendas, also did not have the guts to look that man in the eye as he sat in front of him.

"How is it? I presume there were no accidents thus far?"

"Rest assured, Sir Hutton, everything is going according to the plan," Emendas said politely; his gaze was filled with respect. "We have just sent an advance party there as well. If there is no accident, they should arrive at the destination before evening."

"How is the ability of this advance party?"

"They are all at most level-15, and not really strong in ability. But, in order to ensure that they reach the destination safely, I've asked Master Adelo to tag along with them."

"Adelo went too?"

"Yes, I had Master Adelo disguise himself as a level-10 Magic Shooter."

"Very good, I always trusted Adelo. But, Emendas, I don't want many people to know about the secret at the Scar of Death."

"Rest assured, Sir Hutton. Adelo promised that he will have everyone in the advance party protect the secret eternally."

"Alright."

When he heard that, Jason drew a deep breath. He knew what it meant when they said to protect the secret eternally. These people… these people want to silence all of them!

Jason was not a righteous man. He had seen many cases of silencing people, but they all did not matter as long as he was not the victim. Usually, Jason tried his best not to interfere in situations that did not concern him. But, not this time. How could they even plan to kill Mage Felic?

He couldn't let it be. Otherwise, if the matter were to be discovered by Mage Felic, he might think that Jason was one of the masterminds. Mage Felic was not a reasonable man. If that mage was determined to seek revenge, the Malfa Family and himself would be doomed. It was not worth it for him to take such a risk in order to earn those 10,000 gold coins.

But, how could he inform him?

If Adelo wasn't there, it would be an easy job. He could just stop them before they reached the Scar of Death.