Chapter 265

"Ding!"

As the wooden door opened, the jingling bell signaled the visitor's arrival.

Thanks to the cheap land prices in the dock district, Victoria's shop wasn't particularly small, but now it was packed with people.

"Huh? Did I come at a bad time?"

Li En saw two opposing factions facing off as he opened the door.

One side was Dimon, along with Victoria, Larry, and other familiar faces; the other side, Li En didn't know—but their clothing and the whips at their belts were unmistakable to him.

"Slavers from the slave market? How did they find us?"

The atmosphere inside the hut was clearly tense, ready to erupt into violence at any moment. Li En's arrival brought a flicker of relief to Dimon's group, but the other side cast a wary glance his way.

"You'd better watch yourselves!"

The leader of the slave market tossed out a threat and led his men past Li En without stopping.

Li En made no move to stop them—he had already guessed the full sequence of events and saw no need to clash here.

Perhaps the two sides will have a chance to "cooperate" soon.

"What's going on? Did they spot our knight? Did our people clash with them? Or did he demand full support from us?" Li En asked.

"You were listening outside? Why didn't you come in?"

"No, I just arrived. I'm guessing. But judging by your expressions, the answer is 'all of the above'?"

Li En laughed, poured himself a cup of coffee, and sat down.

He was tired too—time to regroup.

A trait of intelligent beings is that they always consider infighting.

After the Weaver Knights were dispatched, the local gangsters naturally noticed them—the slave tattoos on their bodies were far too hard to clean off. And when the Holy Knights saw these hated slave traders, it was hard to say whether their Purifying Slash would target the cultists or the evil slave traders.

"Two knights got into a dispute with a slave trader while chasing cultists—and ended up killing both the cultists and the slave trader."

Well, killing both sides—that's very Holy Knight of them.

"Well done. Remember to reward them."

From the moment he unleashed the Holy Knights—those righteous hounds, cough—this outcome had been expected.

He acted as a Holy Knight should; therefore, the "Organization" must support him.

The reward materials were trivial, but this stance was crucial.

Dimon considered it, then nodded. He had originally planned to suppress the situation, but Li En's attitude made it clear enough.

"How did things go?"

Li En didn't expect much—if core personnel were here, the battle was likely over.

"We intercepted part of them, but a group still slipped underground. The rescued noble youths have been sent back to the Radiant District."

"Actually, we were only maintaining order at first. We only realized they were using the Ship Graveyard to enter the underground world—and by then, it was too late."

This was probably expected—the Beast Cult must have sent all their elite. Intercepting even part of them is a win.

Most importantly, we caught their trail—now we can follow it to rescue the captives.

"Did the slave market ask for information about the underground? Did you give it to them?"

"No, we exchanged only two words before starting to yell at each other," Dimon rubbed his temples, and Larry hung his head in shame.

Who lost patience first was obvious.

But Li En said nothing—the Holy Knights hadn't drawn blades on the slave traders right there was already remarkable restraint.

"They know there's a bull-like demon down there, but only from scattered rumors by adventurers."

As he exchanged information, Li En quickly devoured a black bread loaf, replenishing the energy lost in battle.

He paused, then spoke.

"They won't let those cultists go—they must pursue them to the end."

From the slave market's perspective, those cultists who stole their valuable merchandise must be eliminated—their entire business rests on violence and terror. If anyone could just storm in and take their goods, they'd have no reason to keep operating.

The man just now was probably the current head of the slave market.

Honestly, he felt weaker than the previous "Little Fire Dragon." After all, this was just a dirty black glove—no way they'd send top-tier men so quickly.

"Do they still want slaves?"

"Yes, but we'd never give them any."