Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2616: Chapter 2617: The Black Merchant’s Message

On the other side, the people from the Merchant Organization followed the trail left by the black merchant and arrived at the area ravaged by mutated carrion squirrels.

The burly man in a gray mask looked at the corridor crowded with mutated carrion squirrels like mountains and seas, without showing a trace of fear, because to him, this kind of scene was already... commonplace.

As the most secretive grey merchant of the Merchant Organization, he, along with his subordinates, spent most of their days exterminating monsters in the Underground Labyrinth.

And the place with the most monsters was the sewer. The grey merchant and his men had been to the sewer multiple times and had faced even more terrifying dense encirclements than the current one.

Therefore, looking at this group of mutated carrion squirrels, not only was the grey merchant unafraid, but all those wearing gray uniforms also appeared very relaxed.

On the contrary, at the rear, those in black and white uniforms mostly showed timid and wary expressions.

The grey merchant glanced at that group of cowards, shook his head with a sneer, thinking that these people’s quality was only good enough to bully those adventure groups on the surface. When faced with real events, they ran faster than anyone else.

However, the grey merchant was responsible only for his own subordinates, and how the subordinates of black and white merchants behaved was none of his concern. So, he cast a sidelong glance and then looked away.

Looking at his own subordinates, the grey merchant said casually: ”Who will go this time?”

Among those wearing gray uniforms, six people raised their hands.

The grey merchant pointed consecutively at three people: ”You three put your hands down; this time it’s not a wiping-out operation, there’s no time for a gradual advance.”

He then looked at the other three who had raised their hands, hesitated for a moment, and first looked at the man on the far right wearing a gray mask with the image of an evil ghost on it: ”Ghost Shadow, we can’t determine the specific number of these monsters. Your shadow traversal may not last till the end.”

Ghost Shadow said nothing, directly lowering his hand.

The grey merchant then looked at the remaining two people. One looked like a petite girl not yet fourteen years old, who had decorated her pink hair with the mask; her small hand raised highest, occasionally jumping, fearing the grey merchant might not see her. The other was a green-haired man, whose aura was lazy, without wearing a mask but having it strapped to his waist, exposing a freckled face.

The grey merchant first looked at the pink-haired girl, frowned: ”Why are you causing a fuss?”

Pink-haired girl: ”I’m not causing a fuss. There’s residue of illusion technique here, surely the previous people used illusion. I’m also an Illusionist, I can do this.”

Grey Merchant: ”If you’re just trying to compare illusions, let me tell you, you’ve already lost.”

The pink-haired girl looked unconvinced, but the grey merchant had already turned to the green-haired man, leaving her puffing up her cheeks angrily.

”Shepherd, you go this time.” The grey merchant looked at the green-haired man and made a decision.

The green-haired man known as Shepherd stretched lazily, pulled a short flute from behind his waist-strapped mask, ”Okay, it’s been a while since encountering rodent monsters. I almost forgot the melody of a wandering rodent group... Oh, do squirrels count as rodents?”

Grey Merchant: ”Stop asking boring questions, get to action.”

Shepherd curled his lips, took his flute, and walked alone towards the terrible and ugly monster group.

The melodious flute began to float gently, all mutated carrion squirrels who heard it paused, their originally murderous crimson eyes slowly becoming dazed.

Shepherd just kept playing the flute as he walked towards the group of mutated carrion squirrels.

And the mutated carrion squirrels did not attack Shepherd, instead gave way to clear a path for him. The carrion squirrels on both sides swayed their heads following the flute’s rhythm, seemingly dancing.

The subordinates of the black and white merchants were all stunned at this sight, unable to believe that the seemingly unmanageable situation was resolved with only one subordinate sent by the grey merchant.

”Stop standing around, follow along,” the grey merchant glanced at those in black and white uniforms and called out. As for his own subordinates, they were already following the Shepherd’s steps.

Only then did the people in black and white uniforms come to their senses and quickly followed.

The grey merchant was the last to catch up, not to act as the rear guard, but because he noticed something unusual about the white merchant, he fell behind just to ask about his situation.

”What’s wrong with you?” The grey merchant was still polite to the white merchant, who although only managed logistics in the organization, was an extremely knowledgeable person; more importantly, he possessed a rare skill in the Southern Domain: Inscription Studies.

Moreover, the white merchant often helped the grey merchant create inscription designs.

The evil ghost on Ghost Shadow’s mask was the masterpiece of the white merchant.

”Don’t worry, I’m fine.” The white merchant said, but the grey merchant was not brushed off.

He merely watched quietly, then his gaze fell to the white merchant’s hand gripping his coat tightly, with veins protruding.

After a moment of silence, the white merchant finally sighed, ”I’m fine, but... something happened to the black merchant.”

Although outwardly opposing each other, as high-level members of the Birlos Family, the grey merchant was well aware that the black merchant and the white merchant were siblings. Their apparent rivalry was entirely black merchant’s designs; outwardly it seemed mischievous, but in reality, insiders understood that the black merchant purely wanted to create a sense of existence in front of his brother the white merchant.

As siblings, and twins at that, they shared a mind connection; when one was in trouble, the other sensed it.

Clearly, the white merchant had sensed that his brother might be in trouble.

The grey merchant pondered and asked a seemingly rude question: ”Did he die?”

The white merchant understood the grey merchant’s intent; he was not being rude but was trying to confirm the situation to plan subsequent actions.

”Not dead, but seems in a very bad situation.”

”Can you sense his approximate location?”

The white merchant closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and hesitantly said: ”Feels like, just ahead.”

The grey merchant nodded, said nothing further, nor comforted the white merchant, and instead approached the Shepherd directly.

”Speed up, it’s too slow.”

Too slow? Shepherd was almost out of breath playing the flute.

”When I say it’s too slow, it’s too slow. Speed up, at least twice the current pace; if you go faster, there’ll be a reward when we return.”

The grey merchant often distributed rewards, but individual rewards were rare. The last one was Ghost Shadow, whose reward was the inscription on his mask, significantly enhancing his abilities, making everyone green with envy.

Still blowing the flute, Shepherd pointed at the inscription on Ghost Shadow’s mask, the implication clear: Would an inscription be possible?

The grey merchant: ”Yes.”

Upon hearing this, Shepherd’s lazy demeanor instantly transformed into enthusiasm. The flute tune shifted from a soft melody to rhythmic music, paired with intentional drumming steps, turning the whole scene spirited.

The faster Shepherd stomped, the faster the path-clearing by the mutated carrion squirrels progressed.

This quickly brought their progress to double the previous pace.

However, Shepherd was still unsatisfied, his feet fueled by his Bloodline Power, transmuting into two hoofed feet embedded with metal plates, his stomping speed accelerating, and the drumming sounds quickly sped up.

Everyone’s hearts, unknowingly, started pounding fiercely along with Shepherd’s flute.

”Ghost Shadow, disguise everyone’s hearing and touch.” The grey merchant sensed the crowd’s strange expressions, promptly instructing Ghost Shadow to obscure their senses.

With their hearing and touch lost, the crowd looked at Shepherd as if watching a mad dancer. Yet, not a single person appeared condescending.

From the violent drumming just now, it was clear how terrifying the Shepherd’s true strength was.

Previously, they could only double their speed, but now, with the Shepherd’s eruption, the progress of everyone became faster and faster. In the end, the Shepherd directly tripled the original speed, an astonishing achievement.

When the White Merchant sensed the location of the Black Merchant, the Shepherd finally slowed the flute rhythm.

At this point, the Shepherd was pale all over, with sweat dripping continuously from his face, indicating that the previous explosion had been a strain of his entire energy.

”We’ve arrived, it’s right there.” The White Merchant suddenly pointed in a direction.

At this moment, everyone still didn’t know they were searching for the Black Merchant, so when they saw the direction the White Merchant was pointing, they thought there was something unusual there.

In fact, there was indeed something unusual, on the high wall, there was a small doghole.

However, the White Merchant was not pointing to the doghole, but to a skinny and fainting mutated Carrion Squirrel below it.

The others still didn’t know what was happening, but the Gray Merchant and the White Merchant swiftly reached the side of this mutated Carrion Squirrel. The White Merchant carefully placed his hand on its forehead.

After a while, the White Merchant sighed with relief: ”It’s just that the vitality and energy are exhausted, not harming the root, taking some time can completely restore it.”

Upon hearing this, the Gray Merchant also relaxed the burden in his heart. The Black Merchant’s importance was not only his personal strength; moreover, the Black Merchant was quite grateful to the Birlos Family who had saved his life, which led him to join them willingly. However, the White Merchant did not have this constraint; he hadn’t joined the Birlos Family yet. But, as long as the Black Merchant remained here, the White Merchant would never leave.

So, seeing that the Black Merchant was still alive, not only was the White Merchant pleased, but the Gray Merchant also relaxed his tense heart slowly.

The White Merchant cautiously picked up the Black Merchant, who had transformed into a Carrion Mutated Squirrel, then said to the Gray Merchant: ”I can’t advance with you temporarily. I need to give the Black Merchant basic treatment first, or even if he recovers, there will be sequelae.”

The Gray Merchant nodded. The Underground Labyrinth was originally the responsibility of the Gray Merchant; this time, both Black and White Merchants came only because they discovered this new entrance first, granting them priority exploration rights.

Just when the White Merchant was about to bid farewell, he suddenly exclaimed.

Under the watchful gaze of the Gray Merchant, the White Merchant gently opened the tightly closed mouth of the Black Merchant, and an energy mass slowly floated out.

The energy was extremely faint, so faint that it only left a shadow in the air before disappearing.

The shadow left by the energy contained only a line of words: Do not go through the doghole, there is an unbeatable...

Clearly, this was a warning left by the Black Merchant after an inhuman encounter, using the last of his energy. It’s just that perhaps at the end, the energy was exhausted, or maybe he fell unconscious, and the specific situation was not mentioned.

But this was sufficient.

This was a warning; it didn’t matter what unbeatable thing was inside, as long as they knew not to go through that doghole. The Black Merchant obviously chose the wrong path when selecting the route, leading to the current predicament.

”He left a very useful piece of information,” said the Gray Merchant. ”But it seems he hasn’t caught up with those who came before.”

Pausing for a moment, the Gray Merchant looked at the White Merchant: ”Then we’ll continue forward.”

The White Merchant nodded: ”I’ll head back to the base first.”

As the White Merchant was about to retreat, he suddenly stopped, and said to the Gray Merchant: ”For those who arrived first, you need to be cautious. If you’re able to engage in friendly communication, try not to resolve it with combat. Along the way, they left clues for us; it could be a goodwill gesture or a provocation. I lean towards the former.”

The Gray Merchant was silent for a moment: ”I understand, I’ll handle it.”

With that, the three main merchants of the Merchant Organization parted ways. The Gray Merchant, with his subordinates, continued the pursuit, while the White Merchant, with his and the Black Merchant’s subordinates, retreated.

Actually, these subordinates could continue following the Gray Merchant, but the White Merchant, after thinking it over, decided that given their minimal strength, it might be better for them to stay. After all, there’s still a living area at this entrance, and they should be able to gain something exploring there.

...

As the Black, White, and Gray Merchants parted ways, the doghole on that high wall slowly disappeared again.

At the same time, from the depths of the doghole, a tiny voice was heard: ”It’s rare to encounter living people, letting them go just like that, really unwilling.”

Another rough voice replied: ”Have you forgotten what the Dominator Lord just instructed? The people of the Merchant Organization are cleaning up the sewage area; the magical creatures’ living cycle can nourish the Magical Energy Array. This could count as a small contribution to Naraku’s restoration, and taking some blood and energy for research doesn’t necessitate harming lives.”

”And those people outside were all from the Merchant Organization, capturing them wouldn’t make a difference.”

The tiny voice mumbled: ”What about those few people at the very start? They weren’t wearing the Merchant Organization’s attire.”

The rough voice pondered: ”Didn’t they choose not to take this path? Moreover, I vaguely feel that they aren’t simple; if they truly chose our path, the victor might not be us.”

”Is that so? Then, shouldn’t we report to the Dominator Lord?”

”Would you bother the Dominator Lord over such a small matter? Never mind, go if you want, but don’t think I don’t know; you just miss your mother.”

The depths of the doghole resounded with laughter, the kind after being caught, followed by the doghole returning to tranquility...

...

On the other side, Angel and the others had successfully bypassed through the Review House.

However, they were now faced with a choice between two paths.

One side led to a bottomless alleyway between buildings, the other to a brightly lit Little Garden illuminated by fluorite.

From the direction of the end, it seemed both could reach their destination, but which one to choose was the dilemma.

This time, Angel did not speak, instead, he directly looked at Dox.

”You’re not making the choice?” Dox asked in surprise.

Angel: ”Since we decided to follow your lead when we started down this path, we should follow through to the end.”

Seeing Dox still somewhat hesitant, Angel thought for a moment, then added: ”Besides, even if there’s a problem, I won’t need to take the blame.”

Dox: ”As expected, you’re just afraid of taking the blame for a wrong choice. Fine, I’ll do it; I’m never afraid to take the blame!”

With that said, Dox took on the task of making the decision.

Meanwhile, Angel was privately chatting with Black Earl, speculating on which path Dox would choose.

Black Earl: ”If it were you, which would you choose?”

Angel thought for a moment: ”In my case, probably the Little Garden. The fluorites in the Little Garden are quite bright, and Ghosteye Witches are creatures that prefer darkness, so taking the Little Garden should be safer.”

Black Earl: ”My answer is the same as yours. But Dox might find it perplexing.”

Inspiration reversal doesn’t mean the inspiration is wrong every time. Dox needs to determine whether the guidance of inspiration this time is real or fake.

Therefore, what Dox is considering now is not the problem of danger, but whether to trust the inspiration.

Previously in the choice of path, Dox went against it once; will he choose to go against it again this time?