Chapter 258: with translation of chapter title

What? An De Lu is actually a strangely placed spy in the city?

What? Hillmen Iron Hammer caught the strangely placed spy in the city?

What? The hillmen mercenaries planted a spy in the strange place?

What? Alliance Leader Fei En incarnated as a strangely placed...

As the saying goes: rumors from three people make a tiger, gossip on the road is frightening, heaven and earth come in pairs, bragging in taverns relies solely on the mouth.

Not even waiting for noon, Sunshine City was already in an uproar, with citizens panicking amidst various rumors.

Although mercenaries don't have a good reputation, the higher you climb, the more you need to save face; as the chief alliance leader of all hillmen mercenaries in the Black Forest Territory, Fei En himself was practically sitting on pins and needles.

When Johnson brought his personally selected elite forces to retrieve the bodies of his comrades and returned, he immediately went up to meet them in quick strides.

How was it, any abnormalities on the battlefield?

The mercenaries' so-called body retrieval certainly isn't the traditional wrapping, sewing, burial; it also includes a full package of music and dancing at the gravesite.

Or even if they were willing, mobilizing all the city's textile workers and carpenters couldn't finish roughly stitching thousands of corpses, let alone prepare for quickly accessing thousands of coffins.

Thus, what they call body retrieval mainly means searching for dog tags that represent identity.

If conditions allow, they would randomly select a nearby corpse or a fraction of one as a representative, burn it to ashes with a special agent, and then contain it.

Such behavior counts as an explanation to the deceased's families, and to one's own conscience that may or may not exist, existing in a Schrödinger's state.

So Johnson's trip was relatively successful; although most dog tags weren't found, thinking positively, that means they found over a hundred people's tags, and if a bit more optimistic, the mission was perfectly completed—just pop the champagne!

But as a 'friend' who had communicated privately for a long time, Fei En's question about 'abnormality' certainly wasn't referring to this, but rather...

Johnson shook his head.

No, Alliance Leader, I didn't find An De Lu's identification, nor any corpse resembling him,

If Ji Ming's personality is suspicious, then Fei En's personality is Ji Ming.

To maintain stability and avoid war, he could fabricate a weakness for himself as a shield, and secretly plant eyes and ears everywhere, wanting to know even what other leaders dreamed about in their sleep tonight, fearing anything would exceed his expectations and control.

Thus, upon hearing this, his heart that had just been let down immediately rose again.

——Could it be that this little bastard luckily didn't die and escaped?

But while he was still frowning in thought, he saw Johnson's eyes flash with brilliance, a proud smile.

But strangely, as we were preparing to return to the city, passersby said that a place in the dark forest west of Sunshine City mysteriously caught fire, and coincidentally, it happened just last night!

Huh???

Upon noticing the new boss's strong interest in this, Johnson immediately began an exaggerated performance of taking credit.

Who am I? I am your intelligent and loyal subordinate Johnson! So I immediately led people there to investigate, and found that the fire scene indeed looked full of doubts—after all, how could a mere dry mountain cave blaze so big? Someone must be pulling strings behind it!

Huh!!!

This is practically a great achievement of 'out of the dark, into the bright'!

Fei En, excited beyond measure, was about to ask for details, but Johnson suddenly changed his tone.

But we searched everywhere inside and found no trace of An De Lu; alas, the fire was truly huge, and when we entered it was still warm, the extremely fine ash really contained nothing... ah!

Idiot!

His heart was being tossed about like a ball by this scoundrel, and Fei En, furious, punched Johnson on the head.

Finding it not satisfying enough, he backhandedly added a move 'bo'.

Rice bucket!

Johnson, I sent so many people with you to look for clues, and you came back empty-handed?

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; even close confidants aren't easy to be.

Johnson's willingness to be a mole wasn't just because he didn't want to live forever in his cousin's shadow; he also wanted to leave himself a retreat, using his cousin's life as a credential at critical moments to seek a higher possibility.

Now, the only source of that possibility is the sinister man before him, so after taking two punches he can only bow and scrape with an apologetic smile.

Sir, you haven't seen those Pioneers; they're truly more ferocious than jackals and more venomous than scorpions...

Unfortunately, as an obsessive seeker of power, Fei En, who monopolized all authority within the mercenary group, never believed his subordinates' explanations; he only believed in the outcomes of events.

Especially in such a life-or-death high-stakes situation, letting down isn't just about vigilance; it's also about the safety rope hanging oneself off a cliff!

Therefore, to avoid being killed by the new boss on any pretext, Johnson's mind raced and he actually came up with an important clue.

Sir, while cleaning the battlefield we found no mercenary equipment, but we found this in a remote corner.

Being thrifty and managing the household is indeed a good habit, but few players would pay attention to where the bottle left after drinking blood medicine ends up.

Thus, despite repeated calls for recycling and environmental protection, what appeared in Johnson's hand was still a medicine bottle casually tossed after being drained.

But what can a medicine bottle prove? This thing is too common on the battlefield.

Fei En merely gestured for Johnson to continue his quibbling, showing little interest.

Yet the first thing Johnson did was actually unscrew the cap and enthusiastically sniff his own nose.

Sir, give it a sniff; you're definitely familiar with this smell!

Give it a sniff?

If it's poison gas, would you still sniff it!

Fei En was truly angry this time; how did An De Lu, this little brother, manage things—his subordinates aren't just ineffective, his actions are downright stupid.

Does he even know how dangerous those so-called potions are, or how foolish it is to stake his life and property on an unknown potion...

!!!

A sudden sweet fragrance rushed into Fei En's nostrils, prompting him to bluntly express his feeling in two words.

Holy shit!

Johnson was startled, his already trembling hand suddenly loosened, and the medicine bottle uncontrollably tilted toward the ground.

Then his hand—strictly speaking, the hand gripping the bottle—was violently seized by Fei En.

If he weren't at least somewhat capable as a mercenary captain, just this burst of force would have his hand bones crushed outright by the other side.

Veins bulging, Feien gritted his teeth, his eyes stared at the medicine bottle as if staring at his father's enemy, and he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth.

"What is this thing? How could it… be so fragrant?"

Yuehansun winced, drawing in cold breaths, but he could only speak quickly.

"This is the taste of Ji Ming's Chosen's most famous potion, Rejuvenation Elixir, and it's especially rich… the newer type!"

"Let me see!"

"?"

Seeing Yuehansun dazed and unresponsive, Feien spat out a loud curse.

"You idiot, I told you to bring it!"

Yuehansun: Well then, first let go of my hand!

Only then did Feien read the question from the other's aggrieved, teary gaze, and as he loosened his grip, he snatched the medicine bottle.

"This thing of yours… is definitely problematic… making the potion so alluring… it's certainly not anything good… it fosters a lazy, indulgent atmosphere… harms the kingdom's youth… damn it, this stuff is really fragrant!"

Listening to the alliance leader's muttered grumbling, Yuehansun really wanted to shout, 'If you don't like it, stop constantly leaning in to smell it!'

Although the Rejuvenation Elixir is indeed tasty, this is the newly released fourth generation, but he truly hasn't seen anyone more addicted than Feien.

Ji Ming: No, I've seen it—from those who love drinking it so much they actively sell themselves, to those who love drinking it so much they constantly come to me for duels; I've seen it all, it's utterly terrifying.

After taking several deep breaths, Feien then used his temporary satisfaction to fill his resistance, and with his will as firm as a rock, he screwed the cap back on.

He covered his slightly warm forehead and rested for a while, then suddenly realized his body felt better than it ever had.

Not to mention the recent late nights, even the dark wounds he'd received on the battlefield in his youth, and even the ancient curse placed on him by a shaman priest, had eased considerably.

So miraculous, this Rejuvenation Elixir really is…

"But the potion is still bad stuff!"

"Ah?"

Realizing he had unintentionally blurted out his inner thoughts in his excitement, Feien gave an embarrassed cough.

"Yuehansun, believe me, the body's own healing power is the strongest medicine; potions are external things, absolutely untrustworthy."

He quietly hid the medicine bottle behind his back, and Feien waved his hand.

"All right, since nothing's wrong, you may go; I still have some… unrelated matters to attend to."

"Ah? Oh oh, okay…"

Yuehansun responded in a daze, gradually turning around, but then suddenly remembered and hurriedly turned back.

"Wait a moment!"

Feien, unable to hold back any longer, had taken out the bottle to continue contemplating it:?!

Yuehansun, pointing his index finger at the sky, staring wide-eyed in a look of sudden realization:?!

…

At this moment, in this situation, one either grits their teeth or gets scalped—this kind of thing absolutely does not require hesitation!

—Alliance leader, don't be afraid, I'm blind!

Putting on an act of not having seen anything, Yuehansun hurriedly said.

"Sir, I found this medicine bottle on the battlefield; the fourth‑generation Rejuvenation Elixir is extremely rare, and selling a whole bottle is not permitted at all—I think Ji Ming's Chosen is very likely involved in this!"

But Feien merely narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"What if someone bought the fourth‑generation Rejuvenation Elixir in secret? Do you really think anyone in this world would be stupid enough to have money and not make a profit?"

"This…"

The Rejuvenation Elixir brought about an extremely clear train of thought; Feien pondered carefully, yet he discovered another doubtful point.

"Moreover, you said the fourth‑generation Rejuvenation Elixir is very rare; if it really was Ji Ming who did it… he acted covertly, so how could he possibly have dropped such an important medicine bottle on the ground, leaving such obvious traces?"

Yuehansun wasn't exactly bright to begin with; Feien's few words left him speechless, and he could only stand there, fumbling for a reply.

"What you say makes sense; I didn't think it through thoroughly…"

And Feien actually still had one thing left unsaid.

—Is it possible, I'm just saying a possibility, that someone is learning to deceive people like I do?

Deliberately leaving false clues at the scene, disguising themselves as Ji Ming, trying to frame him!

Thinking this through, Feien marveled at his own deductive ability— a brief reflection was enough to break through the misleading trap others had set.

If he really followed the other's line of thinking and suspected Ji Ming's Chosen, wouldn't he be wronging this person who is clearly unrelated, possibly inviting all sorts of gossip, yet who is still a fine fellow willing to run around for friends and clean up after them?

—The culprit? This is clearly a victim!

The more he thought about being a villain, the more he realized he needed good people around; Feien understood this, so he directly issued an expulsion order.

"Come on, I'll investigate this matter myself—you don't need to trouble yourself further."

"Er…"

Yuehansun always felt something was off, but he really couldn't figure out what.

Faced with Feien's growing impatience, he could only bow his head in salute and announce his retreat.

Meanwhile, while Feien studied the fourth‑generation Rejuvenation Elixir and sent people to vigorously uphold the mercenaries' reputation, Ji Ming was watching the movers carry his supplies into the church warehouse.

Since he could forge… get his good friend An De Lu to personally write a commission letter, adding various extra clauses was no problem.

Therefore, the final clause of the commission states that once all the assets of the Mountain Folk Iron Hammer Mercenary Group are sealed, they are to be transferred entirely to Ji Ming's Chosen.

This agreement is unimaginable not only to those present but even to this day—some still find it unbelievable that An De Lu would hand over everything to an outsider unrelated to him.

But Feien knows it's possible, and indeed very possible.

—That cunning bastard actually tried to use this method to stop me from annexing his forces!

Could it be that he saw through my act of feigning stupidity, thinking that even if I lost I'd still stab him in the back? He really is deep‑minded.

After hesitating for a while, he could only abandon the idea of forcibly annexing them, disband the Mountain Folk Iron Hammer according to the agreement, and then hand over all the mercenary group's assets to Ji Ming.

"Since this is Mr. An De Lu's dying wish, as his compatriot, comrade, and superior, all I can do is support."

Ji Ming: "Wuu wuu wuu, An De Lu, you died so horribly. What use are these resources to me? Can the dead be resurrected?"

Inner thoughts: "Hehehe, I didn't expect Director An to be so kind; even after death he can still give me a big extra investment. It wasn't in vain that I let you live an extra half month or so."

As for why these supplies are taking an open route instead of using words to numb the mercenary alliance's vigilance, then later at night turning into a bandit to have some fun...

You can't put all your eggs in one basket, and Ji Ming can't have only the Great Holy Seat as his sole warehouse.

Since there's now an opportunity to make a fortune, it might be good to leave some supplies in Sunlight City under this banner, just in case they might be useful someday.

Of course, good things definitely shouldn't be kept at home; that's inviting disaster.

So, just like last time, he placed it in the Holy Light Church under the pretense of donating to the church, and this time it's a genuine donation.

"Quickly distribute those non-storable foods to the needy townsfolk; it's a way to help An De Lu accumulate some yin virtue."

At this very moment, An De Lu is wildly jumping and doing a tap dance in the Purgatory Flames.

"An De Lu, I just received a flying message from Judge Cui; he said someone helped you top up some yin virtue, so your burning temperature could drop by one… uh, no, wrong, he said this is to exchange for adding one degree to you, hey your friend is really thoughtful, just stay here peacefully, the temperature has gone up by one, wow."

"Ah?"

Thus, Regiment Leader An De Lu led a large number of members outside the city and were completely wiped out; the mercenary band's assets remaining in the city were all handed over to Ji Ming, and the survivor Yue Hanxun, leading the remaining mercenaries, was absorbed by the Mountain Folk Gust.

Previously arrogant and thriving, the Mountain Folk Iron Hammer, which was prospering, vanished overnight without a trace, taking with it several minorly known groups and countless obscure mercenary bands, disappearing from people's sight.

Rushing to finish the manuscript on Lunar New Year's Day, clocking in!