Chapter 24 - Ch 24: Secret Mission

Alex kept everything inside the personal space of the System. Then he stood up to leave.

"Rustle~ Rustle~"

Just as Alex was about to leave, he heard rustling footsteps suddenly coming over.

Alex slightly leaned to one side and narrowed his eyes. After a short period of contemplation, he flashed towards a large tree that was not far away. He then flipped a few times and jumped onto the treetop that was covered in lush foliage.

Not long after, eight or nine men with unfriendly faces and vicious auras appeared.

"The sounds of fighting must have come from this side. The blood of this Fire Lion is still warm. That person just left not long ago?"

An ear-piercing duck voice was especially unpleasant.

Alex carefully swept away the leaves on the side of the tree, his eyes looking down from between the leaves.

The one who spoke was a short man. He dipped his hand in the blood of the Fire Lion and then licked it a few times, revealing a sinister and satisfied smile.

"Leader, should we chase him?" Another man with a scar on his face asked in a deep voice.

Their gazes all gathered on a large, bald man. His face was ferocious and his fierce eyes emitted a sinister and vicious light.

"Hey, hey, of course, we'll chase him!" Before the bald man could say anything, the short man who was licking the blood of the Fire Lion laughed complacently. He said, "Those who are capable of walking here must have collected a lot of beast cores of Demonic Beasts. All we have met these days are 'skinny sheep' and we haven't had much meat. It's rare to encounter a 'fat sheep', how can we let him run away?"

Hearing the conversation of the few people below, Alex immediately understood everything. These people were all bandits who had killed people and looted their goods.

Inside the Dark Mountain Range, 'robbing' was much easier than painstakingly hunting Demonic Beasts in order to obtain a beast core. In any case, many people die in the Dark Mountain Range every year which resulted in a few desperate criminals doing evil deeds in order to reap sudden profits.

"Leader, say something! If we don't chase him now, he'll run far away." The man with a scar on his face said.

The bald man narrowed his eyes and he immediately said, "I don't want this fat sheep anymore."

"Why?"

"Look at the Fire Lion's fatal wound. You can see that he had killed this Fire Lion using his finishing move. For someone to be able to kill a Demonic Beast of the Second Level so easily, his power must be at least at the Level 1 of Innate Realm."

The bald man paused for a moment, a bit of seriousness gushing out of his sinister gaze. He continued, "Don't forget the purpose of this trip. Before we obtain that thing, we must preserve our strength."

"Hey, hey, Leader is right. It is more important to conserve strength. Hey, Leader, as long as we get that thing, we will be able to go to the Merchant Guild and give that item to the Vice President. At that time, we will receive our share of reward and then we will have a good rest and enjoy ourselves."

The short man laughed proudly.

"Humph, stupid." The bald man disdainfully sneered.

"Think about it, there must be something special about that item. It actually made the Vice President of the Merchant Guild to make his move in secret and ask us to search for that item. Using that item, we can blackmail the Vice President to give us double the reward he had promised us."

Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

"Leader is wise."

"This matter should not be delayed. Leader, we should head over now."

"Let's go!"

The bandits hurriedly left, disappearing into the depths of the forest immediately.

Hiding on the treetop, Alex did not come down immediately. Instead, he listened quietly to the movements around him.

"Merchant Guild's Vice President? Secret Move? Some special item?"

Based on these words, Alex could almost be sure that the thing that those people were talking about must be something very special.

Alex couldn't help but sink into deep thought. Amongst the bandits, the bald man was the strongest. He was at the Level 1 of Innate Realm.

This person alone was more difficult to deal with, not to mention the others.

But then again, once he obtained the special item, Alex would figure out what was going on. It might bring him great benefit, after all, this item was something that forced the Vice President of the Merchant Guild to make his move in secret.

It must mean that the Vice President of the Merchant Guild must not want others to know about this item.

After a moment of hesitation, a look of determination flashed in Alex's eyes. He would follow them for now and wait for an opportunity to make his move. If there was any danger, he would immediately withdraw.

"Then let's do it!"

After making up his mind, Alex jumped down from the treetop and followed in the direction in which the bandits had left.

.....

The Dark Mountain Range was full of danger!

In the dark forest, there is a constant deep roar of fierce animals. At this moment, Alex was currently following behind a small group of bandits and was unceasingly heading deeper into the forest.

To ordinary people, this was definitely a crazy thing.

With Cultivation of Level 9 Foundation Establishment Realm, Alex was definitely the first one who dared to do such a thing.

Of course, Alex was not pretending to be brave. At the very least, he would be able to ensure that he would be able to escape if the enemy discovered him. Regarding this, Alex still had confidence.

Alex had stayed in the Dark Mountain Range for two days, so he had a basic understanding of the surrounding circumstances. If the situation turned bad, Alex would escape at any time.

"Howl!"

"Roar!"

As they continuously delved deeper into the inner regions of the Dark Mountain Range, the dangerous aura that pervaded the air grew denser.

The group of bandits led by a bald man, a scar-faced man, and a short man were also in high spirits. They were constantly paying attention to their surroundings.

This was not the first time they had come to the Dark Mountain Range. They often killed people here to steal their goods and seize other people's beast cores. They were also very clear about the characteristics of the Dark Mountain Range's terrain and its surroundings. They almost knew clearly where the danger was and which place they cannot enter.

That was why it was much easier for them to find things in the mountain range than it was for ordinary people.