Chapter 567: Cooperation and Familiar Faces

Luo De pulled up his pants.

Not the slightest hint of embarrassment at being seen.

He strode out of the abandoned brick hut with casual confidence.

Behind him, Tally walked with a sweet smile, licking her lips with her tongue.

Then she spotted the female hero Gre and the half-deer woman trailing her.

Her beautiful eyes instantly turned cold.

"Hero candidate?"

The succubus knew her master always disliked these types.

When the master was displeased, the essence's flavor carried that same displeasure.

She ate it daily—she'd naturally share Luo De's feelings.

Luo De placed his hand on her shoulder.

Gently tugged her soft, cool earlobe, signaling her to relax.

Luo De recognized these two girls.

Back then, someone had tried to strike at the magic ring industry; he followed a lead to the tiny nation of Kawa near the super volcano.

Along the way, he fought a chaotic brawl with twenty-three fire spirits and wiped out a mind flayer nest.

During that time, he had briefly clashed with this female hero, Gre.

She was rescuing victims of the volcanic ash disaster caused by the eruption in Kawa.

He still had a faint memory of her.

That trip, he hadn't brought the succubus along.

He'd used his disguise field to conceal his face—these girls likely didn't recognize him.

"Control your hostility, Tally."

"Okay~~ Aww, it's just that my 【Great Duke Bloodline】 has advanced a bit too fast~~"

She grinned, clearly eager for praise.

The succubus's recent 【Spiritual Growth】 skill points had been lucky—she'd successfully unlocked this passive ability.

Plus, she'd truly been diligent over the past two months.

She'd reached the high end of the seventh tier, with a brass spirit ball reading of 334 marks.

Quite impressive.

"Good, good, very impressive."

"Hehehe~~"

Luo De smiled.

He turned toward Gre and the half-deer woman Kira, who were interrogating the tall man.

Kira hadn't joined the interrogation; seeing Luo De approach, she smiled warmly.

"Where are you hurt? Come, let me heal you."

"Hurt?"

Luo De paused, startled.

"Yes, Hero Gre just stopped me from coming over, saying you might've been injured fighting the troll, and your female companion was bandaging you just now."

She spoke with innocent sincerity.

Luo De glanced at Hero Gre, who remained cold and silent.

"Yes, bandaging—but it's nothing. Thank you, dear half-deer lady."

"Oh, it's nothing!"

Kira's personality, like Xiao Ke's, was shy; her cheeks flushed faintly pink.

They exchanged brief introductions.

Both sides were straightforward, no beating around the bush.

And there seemed to be no conflict.

They quickly learned each other's goals.

Luo De was blunt: he was here because of a grudge against Bahadur Magic Academy.

Gre and Kira, meanwhile, were tracking the source of a chaotic energy contamination from another dimension.

Luo De felt a quiet sigh.

Though he'd once clashed with them while hiding his identity,

among all the 【Hero Candidates】 he'd met, these two might be the only pair actually doing something right.

They'd rescued disaster victims in Kawa—and now they were hunting dimensional calamities.

Luo De thought for a moment, then asked:

"I read in the newspaper that the half-deer elder chief named the first 【Source of Calamity】 in the Hero Prophecy—Ed Stevens. Aren't you going after him?"

Kira shook her head: "Nope. Gre and I believe heroes should start from among ordinary people—we never get involved in big events."

"That's a remarkably mature mindset—humble, grounded. If anyone deserves to become a true hero, it's you two."

Luo De expressed surprise, then applauded in praise.

"Hehe, oh, you flatter us~~"

Gre turned her head toward Luo De.

Her face was stern, yet held a touch of feminine softness—sharp and capable.

"Are you certain these mercenaries were hired by Bahadur Magic Academy?"

"Yes."

Kira added: "The Magic Academy has long ties to other dimensions and chaotic energy—they're highly suspect."

Seeing her hero nod, she rolled her eyes toward Luo De:

"Mr. Luo De, why don't we travel together? Our goals align perfectly!"

"Kira, you're intruding on Mr. Luo De."

Gre frowned and immediately rejected it.

But Kira held a different view.

If Luo De was right—that these mercenaries were hired by Bahadur—then the danger level of this mission had just skyrocketed.

Bahadur was infamous for its wealth and power.

Didn't even this single mercenary squad possess a seventh-tier troll equal to Hero Gre's rank?

And this Mr. Luo De had the strength to shatter a troll into pieces—and shares the same goal. Why not join forces?

Kira blinked her round, innocent eyes.

Looked at Gre with hopeful expectation.

Gre fell silent for a moment.

"."

She'd never met this man before.

Yet for some reason, he felt oddly familiar.

Her intuition told her he wasn't evil.

But what she'd seen inside the abandoned brick hut…

Cough, cough.

She'd never been able to say no to Kira.

She finally nodded:

"It's up to Mr. Luo De's choice, Kira. Be polite."

"I'd be delighted."

Luo De smiled. "It's my honor to travel alongside a powerful female hero and such a lovely half-deer lady."

Luo De was certainly happy to join them.

Hero Gre's reason for investigation was perfectly legitimate—tagging along would be an excellent way to distract her attention.

The man before them was too handsome, too radiant.

Complimented like this, Kira couldn't help covering her mouth with a soft laugh.

"Mr. Luo De, you have such a sweet tongue."

Tally leaned close to Luo De's ear: "She's right—Master's tongue is sweet. Tally likes to bite."

And so.

The four traveled together.

Luo De had partial information on the mercenaries' approximate locations, so finding them wasn't difficult.

The process was simple.

First, locate them.

Hero Gre would check for chaotic energy contamination.

If infected, detain the leader for interrogation.

The rest?

Since they were all contaminated, keeping them alive was just a hazard—Luo De killed them outright.

As for those uninfected.

A great pity.

After one night, those who had slightly participated in searching for the labyrinth's entrance all bore traces of contamination.

Though the degree was slight, they could still carry out normal search operations.

But once it erupted, they would either succumb to desire or become violently murderous.

Grace now concluded that the chaotic energy contamination had been deliberately released by Bahadur Magic Academy.

She also learned from interrogation that Bahadur had a temporary camp, though these low-ranking individuals did not know its location.

Then again.

With a half-deer seer skilled in prophecy present, finding the location was trivial.

The next morning.

Qi La successfully located the approximate position of the camp within the River of Prophecy.

When the four arrived.

Luo De was startled to find a familiar face in the camp.

——Shemus, director of Bahadur's Image Society, who had once tried to stir up trouble in Shi Ying Town and Ke's Plain, and from whom Luo De had stolen a sliver of the 【Falsehood Domain】.

(End of Chapter)