Chapter 156: 153 Taking Office

The Demon Race has already set its sights on the Human Hero; it is unknown whether they have confirmed this or are still investigating deeply.

And the Hero is only level 18, appearing to have no significant protection.

Putting himself in another's shoes, if Lin Jun were the Emperor of the Hidden Empire, he would send a capable subordinate to kill him and eliminate the threat once and for all.

As the Hero himself, Lin Jun naturally knows that so-called Heroes do not suddenly explode with power and level up in the midst of crisis.

If that were possible, he himself would not have suffered so terribly at the very beginning.

So... what exactly are the humans trying to do?

Could they be using the Hero as bait to fish?

Thinking this way, it actually seems somewhat plausible.

It is just that for a Hero to be used as bait, with life and death left to others, is truly too miserable.

Following this line of thought, this Silver Sand Bay is likely to become a battlefield for the two sides to clash, making it unsuitable for a long stay.

Lin Jun has no interest whatsoever in getting involved in the war between humans and demons; he himself has not yet figured out his own factional allegiance.

Truly... since the skill panel and such are so much like a game, why can't the faction system be like a game too, with teammates marked blue and enemies marked red, simple and clear?

As for Dylan, the clue to his daughter is now completely cut off.

There is no choice but to temporarily give up and board the ship for the return journey.

Of course, they also brought along that batch of Red Reef Fruits.

For Dylan, this result is a mix of good and bad; at least it is not news of his daughter's death.

For Lin Jun...

it is truly quite indifferent.

From start to finish, Lin Jun only consumed one capacity slot of 【Familiar Manipulation】, merely accompanying Dylan on a random stroll.

Lin Jun's goal is to see the world.

Demon spies, Sword Saints, Abyssal Magic, the Mist, the Hero...

So far, the harvest has been quite abundant, at least giving him a general understanding of many things.

If he can finally successfully transport the 【Delicious】 Red Reef Fruit back, it would be perfect.

May Heaven bless us so we don't encounter the Mist or pirates again; losing Dylan's gold coins and the +4 pendant last time was one thing, but this time we are carrying Lin Jun's fruit...

While Dylan embarked on his return journey, two carriages also drove into the scope of Silent Wind Town.

—

Inside the comfortable carriage, the white-haired youth's eyes were gloomy.

Even though this month-long trek was about to end, not a shred of joy could be found on his face.

The villages seen along the way had fully half of their farmlands ruthlessly destroyed by human poisoning.

Their luck did not remain as fortunate as at the start; they failed to capture a second spy.

Although they did not catch any, the corpses of captured Demon spies were not lacking outside the towns they passed through—executed and left exposed.

This was undoubtedly the Empire's scheme.

Those Grand Dukes of the Empire, though bloodthirsty, evil, twisted, and perverted, were by no means fools; they would not consume their own spies for no reason.

Could it be that they found their spy network too large and sacrificed a few to reduce expenses?

They must have other contingencies; are they on the Elf side?

Although he knew these were matters only his father and the highest echelons should consider, the sights and sounds along the way still made Fal unable to help but think, wasting a considerable amount of energy for nothing.

A peeled fruit was offered to Fal's lips; he opened his mouth, took it, and swallowed it extremely naturally. The taste was ordinary, after all, this was just supplies purchased locally for the latter half of the journey.

The delicacies brought from Oath City earlier had been completely consumed halfway through the road.

However, Fal actually did not care about this; although his daily food, clothing, and use were all exquisite, he considered himself indifferent to such culinary desires.

Seeing that the carriage had entered the town, with wooden buildings stretching along both sides of the main road, Fal decided to get off and take a look; seeing with his own eyes should yield some intelligence not appearing in reports.

The first thing he saw upon getting off was a cluster of mushrooms...

Having walked only a few dozen meters, Fal's brows locked together deeply.

Clusters of mushrooms were visible everywhere, growing under the eaves of wooden houses and in corners.

People eating by the roadside had glowing light in their bowls and around their mouths.

The two words heard most along the way were "plop" and "mushroom"; almost no matter what was being discussed, they would be mentioned.

This small town... is very wrong!

Especially when those diners with glowing light still on their mouths all turned their gaze toward Fal, this wealthy outsider, giving Fal the illusion of being targeted upon entering enemy territory.

This feeling only improved a bit once outside the Guild—the Guild was built of stone and did not grow mushrooms.

The Branch Master, or rather the former Branch Master Oberon, was unusually sober today.

Although his eye sockets were sunken, looking like someone with obvious excessive alcohol consumption to any observer, Oberon still forced himself to stay alert and completed the handover with Fal in the hall before everyone.

Called a handover, it was actually just transferring the branch seal, introducing the personnel within, and finally exchanging a few empty official words with each other.

It was purely just going through the motions.

"He really dislikes you," Lilian whispered to Fal as she watched Oberon leave.

Fal nodded; he had noticed it too, after all, there was originally a process of sharing dinner, which seemed to have been omitted by the other party.

As for the reason Oberon disliked him, he could guess a little, but he simply did not care.

After reacquainting himself with the staff remaining in the branch, including Mirabelle, Fal sat in the Branch Master's office and issued his first command after taking office—compile and send over all intelligence regarding the dungeon since the Demon Tide.

The command was naturally given to Mirabelle; although Fal brought his own clerical staff, he had not yet formally taken over the corresponding positions, and he did not intend to waste so much time waiting for nothing.

Fal did not have the idea of necessarily replacing important positions in the branch with people he brought; if the original people in the branch could be used smoothly, keeping them in place was not impossible.

Mirabelle naturally understood this was an opportunity to show herself, so before the sun set, two large stacks of documents were placed before Fal's desk.

Afterwards, the more he looked, the darker his expression became, until finally—

"Oberon, you bastard!"

He slapped the table; Fal now only wanted to drag Oberon back so Lilian could beat him severely.

There must be a limit to negligence!

What does it mean that every floor of the Amethyst Dungeon may not have amethyst, but must have Pujis?

Although the ninth and tenth floors do not have them yet, it seems it is only a matter of time.

Such an obvious change; how could Oberon act as if he saw nothing, failing to mention it even once in the report submitted to the General Headquarters?

And what is this about Pujis starting to rent out lighting Pujis?

Does this not mean these monsters are displaying commercial thinking?

Such an abnormal situation, yet that Oberon took no action at all!

That Oberon!

Fal decided in his heart that once the mushroom matter was handled, he would surely severely reprimand that parasite Oberon in the report submitted back!

(End of this chapter)