Chapter 7: Coercion (Part 1)

“Open your mouth!”

Satisfied, Dean faced the submissive bandit and gave a low shout. When the other subconsciously opened his mouth, a black object shot into his mouth—the foul smell made Jack instinctively know that this was not something good.

“This is a poison!” Dean lowered his head slightly, letting more of the hood’s Shadow cover his face, and then said in an increasingly low tone, “A poison that requires an antidote every six months—from a famous Alchemist in Sky City!”

Although he was mentally prepared, after hearing such an answer, Jack still could not help but collapse to the ground, and when he heard the words ‘Sky City’, his face lost all color—even a bandit like him had heard of that famous name: the gathering place of Wizards, Sky City!

“You can now place your hand below your stomach; do you feel a distinct bulge? The brilliance of this poison lies in this wrapper, which is enough to last a day without being digested by your stomach acid—of course, you can also try to vomit, but you should know that once the wrapper, covered in stomach acid, touches the outside… tsk, it can explode right in your mouth! Boom!”

As he spoke, Dean made an exploding gesture, scaring Jack so much that his whole body trembled.

“My Lord, I am willing to do anything for you, please give me the antidote!”

Jack begged Dean with tears streaming down his face.

“Rest assured, if you act according to my orders, I will give you the first antidote; if you do well, giving you a complete detoxification is not a difficult thing!”

Dean looked down at the bandit kneeling before him, the corner of his mouth in the Shadow slightly raised—Dean was of course deceiving the other party; Sky City certainly existed, and similar drugs had appeared before, but those were all legends; in his hands, of course, it was impossible to have such a thing.

But, what did that matter?

He just needed the other party to believe it!

“Now, there is one thing you need to do—do it well, and the first six-month antidote can be given to you!”

Changing to a faint tone, Dean spoke slowly from a condescending position.

“Okay! Okay, My Lord!”

Almost the moment Dean’s words fell, Jack nodded hurriedly.

…

On the other side of Horn Town, a full two kilometers away, among several tall trees and piled-up stones over a person’s height, two men were sitting around a campfire—those trees and piled stones not only effectively blocked gazes from Horn Town but also concealed the firelight.

In fact, separated by two kilometers, unless they were some Divine Archers; otherwise, no one could discover a trace of light here, and this also allowed the bandit Hidley to enjoy the warmth brought by the Flame with peace of mind. However, the moment he thought that he could only sit in the wild field roasting fire, while the two guys Jack and Sado could live in comfortable rooms, eating delicious food and drinking mellow wine, the bandit Hidley’s heart began to feel unbalanced.

Of course, he did not dare to show such imbalance on his face; after all, this was a task assigned by Basum, who was sitting opposite—although they were both under that ‘Wild Fox’ Meeter, he was just an ordinary subordinate, and compared to Basum, who was treated as a right-hand man, the difference was really too far.

From the fact that the other party was the leader in this mission, and he, including Jack, were both subordinates, one could see the status between them.

However, Hidley did not dare to have any dissatisfaction with this; after all, the Basum in front of him was claimed to have Strength close to a Knight—and those blind bandits they had eliminated on their way here were the best proof; facing the powerful Basum, Hidley did not dare to disobey.

“Boss, how long do we have to wait?”

Although he did not dare to disobey, facing this completely wild environment, Hidley did not want to stay for another moment; he wanted to return to the Janel Territory in Vauban County quickly; at the very least, there he could take a hot bath and have a warm bed.

Basum did not directly answer Hidley, but looked at the latter coldly, which immediately made Hidley shiver, and he very wisely chose not to speak again, but instead focused his gaze on the campfire in front of him; and after seeing Hidley’s action, Basum snorted coldly in his heart and withdrew his gaze.

“A lazy guy!”

Basum thought disdainfully in his heart.

As Meeter’s number one subordinate, he was very clear about what his boss wanted to do; perhaps, precisely because of such understanding, he was able to become Meeter’s number one subordinate, and Basum was very satisfied with his current position.

Because he knew that as long as this mission was completed, then it would be the time for him, Basum, to rise to success!

At that time, he, following behind Meeter, would absolutely no longer be a bandit, but Master Basum!

That’s right, Master Basum, a title only true Nobles could have.

The scene in his mind made Basum subconsciously look at the items buried in the distance, and that seamless secrecy made the corner of Basum’s mouth subconsciously curl up.

However, even so, it did not make Basum completely let down his guard; when bursts of light footsteps came from the distance, he immediately stood up, picked up the Longsword beside him, and turned around to stand behind a tree; and Hidley was not slow either, imitating Basum’s appearance, and similarly stood behind a tree, but in his hand was a Crossbow—a Crossbow loaded with arrows, although slightly old, the arrowhead was still sharp.

“Who?!”

After seeing Basum’s gesture, Hidley asked in a low voice.

“Me, Jack!”

The answer, slightly panting, and that familiar voice made the nervous Hidley slightly let out a breath, then he looked at Basum; the latter did not walk out from behind the tree, but again gestured to Hidley to go out and check. Looking at that gesture, Hidley walked out from behind the tree unwillingly, moving slowly toward the outside, the Crossbow in his hand also tightly held; his heart, which had just been put down, was raised again.

Obviously, no matter when, being the person who scouts the way would always be a dangerous job.

Although he had cursed all of Basum’s maternal relatives, Hidley had to walk out—as long as he still wanted to continue mixing in the Janel Territory in Vauban County.

“Hidley, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and help carry the box, Sado took a sword to the stomach, and my hand is injured too!”

Jack’s voice came again, and the person was closer.

“Wait! Stand there, let me see you!”

Hidley did not immediately approach, but out of caution, shouted loudly—in fact, such caution was more to show Basum.

But regarding this, Basum was completely indifferent, not even moving his body shrunk behind the tree; after all, in Basum’s view, he, who was about to become a Noble, was much more noble than these scoundrels; let alone a group of scoundrels with a history of bad deeds!

Their ultimate value was only to serve as his merits.

The number of people who could rise to success was always limited, and apart from his boss and himself, the remaining people obviously could only obtain the other outcome.

Therefore, Basum did not care at all whether the people in front of him lived or died; whether it was Hidley beside him, or the approaching Jack and Sado, it was all the same.

However, out of regard for his own life, he still carefully treated the situation in front of him—

“Hidley, are you doing this on purpose? If my hand is ruined, I will definitely kill you!”

Jack shouted full of anger, but he stood in place and did not walk over again, then, in order to let Hidley see more clearly, he moved his steps again; and Sado, whom he was supporting, also followed out, but it seemed because of the serious injury, Sado’s head had been leaning on Jack’s shoulder, making people unable to see his real face.

And just after arriving at a place without Shadow blocking, Jack’s tone became even more impatient: “See clearly? It’s me and Sado!”

“See clearly! See clearly!”

Hidley carefully distinguished the other party; when he saw Jack’s face clearly, and the box in Jack’s hand, especially the latter, Hidley greedily licked his lips, that pretended vigilance had long since flown away—he heard it clearly, when Jack moved his body out of the Shadow, the crisp sound from the box, that was the sound of Gold Pulton, Hidley could completely confirm!

Even in his dreams, he would not forget such a wonderful sound, as if it was filled with magic; and such magic made this bandit, who had been waiting for a long time, gesture a safe sign to Basum behind the tree, and then impatiently rushed up.

“What are you doing, the two hundred Gold Pulton inside here, according to the rules, Sado and I take two shares!” Jack dodged Hidley’s hands, walked to the campfire at an even faster speed, and shouted loudly: “My Lord Basum, that fat sheep was really rich—just the box by the bedside had two hundred Gold Pulton in it!”

With Jack’s last sentence, as if carrying infinite magic, the area by the campfire became quiet.