Quadruple split.

Chapter 2870 6
"murderous look?"

The two friends who had just been brought out by the tiger-man looked at each other blankly, while the beast spirit who had been sitting with the former was also completely bewildered, asking in confusion, "What killing intent? When? I didn't sense it?"

As the tiger-man strode towards the end of the alley, he asked without turning his head, "You should remember that I got up and gave up my seat after I took the money, right?"

"I remember."

The beast spirit quickly followed the tiger-man, nodding repeatedly and saying, "But that kid was quite impolite. He sat down right away and even tried to take the money back. Sigh, if he really couldn't bear to part with it, he shouldn't have given it to us in the first place."

"Stop talking nonsense."

The tiger-man snorted coldly, his gaze darkening, and said, "I'm just asking you, when did that person sit down? Do you remember?"

The beast spirit was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Well... I sat down right after you got up, big brother."

"What about the process?"

The tiger-man subconsciously touched his neck and continued, "Do you remember what happened in the middle?"

"what?"

The beast spirit scratched its head, wondering what had gotten into its older brother today, but still obediently tried to recall how the hooded guy had sat down, and then—

【? ! 】

His eyes widened, and the man froze on the spot as if he had been frozen in place, until the tiger-man patted him hard on the back, bringing him back to his senses. He exclaimed in surprise, "How did he sit down?!"

The tiger-man twitched the corner of his mouth and chuckled dryly, "Ha, finally figured out the problem?"

"I...I only remember my older brother standing up, and then..."

The beast spirit scratched its head and racked its brains, finally managing to say in a mixture of fear and trepidation after a long pause, "Then, somehow, that guy just sat there, and... I have absolutely no recollection of what happened next."

"Teleportation?"

One of the tiger-man's friends was shocked and asked in a trembling voice, "Silent teleportation without chanting? An epic mage of the spatial element?"

"No, no, no, it's not teleportation... I don't think it's teleportation..."

The beast spirit shook its head like a rattle-drum, and said with surprise and doubt, "I can't really describe it, but that time should have been enough for him to sit down, it's just... I have absolutely no recollection of how he sat down."

The two friends sitting at another table looked at each other, seemingly not quite understanding.

The tiger-man, after taking a deep breath, gave his answer—

"It's [Aura Concealment]."

He looked at the three of them with his sharp, vertical pupils and said in a deep voice, "It is an aura concealment that can almost erase one's own existence and make it difficult for others to even perceive any incongruity."

The beast-elf, whose profession was thief, nearly dropped his jaw in shock, shrieking as if someone had grabbed his neck: "What?! [Scent Concealment] can work even when someone is already watching you?!"

"I do not know either."

The tiger-man twitched the corner of his mouth and said expressionlessly, "But if you can't explain why you can't figure out how he sat down, you have to accept this fact."

Beast Spirit: "..."

"As for the murderous aura I just mentioned, I sensed it when our eyes met after he banged on the table."

The tiger-man pressed down hard on his trembling left arm and said in a deep voice, "I can't describe what kind of look that was. I don't know what I saw either, but I can be sure that in that instant, I felt as if I had been thrown into a sea, a sea of ​​corpses and remains, a sea of ​​blood and death. If he hadn't withdrawn his murderous aura in time, I even suspect that I would have drowned in that non-existent sea."

"Ugh."

The beast spirit swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "So that guy just now..."

"Those hundred gold coins were well spent."

The tiger-man turned to his two other friends and said in a dry voice, "At least we left before anything was about to happen in there, weren't we?"

The stocky lizardman shuddered and asked with lingering fear, "Who on earth did you run into?"

"do not know."

The tiger-man shook his head, forcefully pressing his slightly spiky hair back down, and said with a forced smile, "All I know is that that guy has probably killed more people than I've ever seen..."

"So, boss, what should we do now? Shall we go somewhere else to drink?"

"...Go home and sleep."

……

And so, for the first time, the four mercenaries, who were somewhat well-known in the area, gave up their nightlife on the day their mission ended and obediently went back to their lodgings to sleep.

Their actions naturally did not cause any disturbance in Blackfire City. As one of the most populous settlements in the No Man's Land, the streets remained bustling with activity under the night sky. Whether it was the taverns and general stores lining the streets or the black market where fights occasionally broke out, everything operated normally as usual, providing services to residents from all over the world, just like countless similar settlements in the No Man's Land.

The No Man's Land is a wasteland located in the far east of the continent. It is situated in the western part of the Wildlands, bordering the Elf Forest. To the north are the Savage Fang Plains and the territory controlled by the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, which no one dares to touch. To the west is the Ember Volcano, which is considered a forbidden zone for life and has a much worse living environment than the Sumir Mountains. To the south is the territory of the Duchy of Uriel, located in the northernmost part of the Silverwing Alliance. It is one of the most notorious no-man's-land areas on the continent.

There are few resources here, and the land is barren and the environment is harsh. For a long time, there have been few people here. Although the Gold Coin Merchants Guild, the Steam Consortium, the Wanderer's Inn and other forces have tried to invest and develop this place, they eventually gave up because of the extremely high costs and the lack of long-term benefits. Instead, they focused their efforts on the southern part of the Monster Wilderness in the Northwest Continent, which is the Gold Rush Triangle where the [Woof Woof Adventurer Team] and the [Destroyer King Mercenary Group] first met.

Soon, the Gold Rush Triangle became the largest trading area in the Northwest Continent. However, the unclaimed land, which ultimately failed to find opportunities and owners, remained in decline for a long time until the former chairman of the Silverwing Alliance took office and, against all odds, decided to establish a trade route in the southwest.

After that, the No Man's Land finally ushered in spring. Every year, a large number of adventurers and mercenaries came here in search of opportunities. Compared with the saturated Gold Rush Triangle and Anka Market, the No Man's Land not only had many opportunities, but also had a much higher level of stability than the wild land to the east, which was full of resources, ruins, monsters, fugitives, dangers and opportunities.

Over time, a large number of third-rate, second-rate, and even near-first-rate mercenaries and adventurers emerged here. Small settlements gradually expanded and improved, eventually becoming cities serving merchants, mercenaries, and adventurers, evenly distributed throughout the no-man's-land. In essence, they were like mini free cities, although far inferior to true free cities in terms of 'upper limit' and 'average level,' each with its own unique characteristics. Some cities were famous for their food, some for their black markets, some for their fine wines, some for their steamed fish stews, some for their puppetry, and some for their tolerance of sexual orientation.

In short, No Man's Land is a vibrant and diverse place, more free than Free City, and less shady than what's happening behind the scenes.

Note that it's not that it's not dark, but rather that it's not 'that' dark, and the comparison is with the City of Liberty, a place that is dark to the point of being almost dripping with darkness in every sense of the word.

In other words, the No Man's Land is also dark in a sense. Even cities that seem particularly wonderful at first glance, known for their delicious food and support for same-sex relationships, are basically not related to the 'lawful' side.

And Blackfire City, known for its cheap and good black market, is naturally not very orderly either.

……

"call."

As the shuttered door of the [Darkfire] tavern was suddenly pushed open, a tall, powerful orc strode in. He casually picked up a henchman who had saved him a seat and threw him out before slamming his hand on the table and saying in a concise, booming voice, "Wine and food."

"Here you are, Mr. Ethan!"

Having received the news in advance, the owner immediately ran over with two large plates, placing them full of meat and strong liquor in front of the burly orc man named Ethan, and said with a smile, "Please eat and drink well. If you need the place cleared out, I'll give the other guests a free meal so you can eat in peace."

"No need, I like lively atmospheres."

Ethan Mudfist, a regular at and shareholder of the [Darkfire] tavern, and also the leader of the [Yellow Dog] mercenary group, the largest in Blackfire City with almost all its operations within the city, shook his head. He casually stuffed a piece of perfectly cooked, spiced meat into his mouth and mumbled to the vice-leader sitting below him, "So, do you think those bastards will obediently send over the money next cycle?"

The old tree spirit, his face wrinkled and considered quite old even among the immortals, nodded and said slowly, "Of course, Commander, I can guarantee they will send the money over, but whether it's the amount you want... I don't know."

"how?"

Ethan licked his lips and sneered, "Was I not clear enough today, or was killing only the two of them a bit too lenient?"

"neither."

The old tree spirit shook his head and said softly, "The main reason is that your request is unreasonable. After all, if you think about it carefully, although we have given Black Street a considerable degree of protection and have voluntarily gone to maintain order, it still falls into the category of 'forced buying and selling'. If we let them hire adventurers or mercenaries themselves, they can achieve the same effect for less than a third of the price."

"Equal?"

Ethan spat a bone onto the ground beside him and grinned maliciously, "Dream on. I'd like to see which foolish mercenaries and adventurers dare to try and earn their measly pocket change right under my nose."

"This is what I've always wanted to say, Commander."

The old man sighed and said helplessly, "We can simply ignore them for now and teach a targeted lesson to those who dare to make agreements with the Black Street. Then we can hire some people who are at least superficially unrelated to us to cause trouble. In this way, we just need to wait patiently for a while, and those people will naturally come to us and give us a satisfactory number."

“But I don’t have that much patience, old tree.”

Ethan shook his head and said coldly, "I can't accept those despicable middlemen swaggering around in front of me. It would make me look like a clown with only brute force, a complete idiot!"

"But you're definitely not a smart person."

Old Tree used his fork to pick up a piece of fish that was basically unseasoned, preserving the freshness of the ingredients to the greatest extent. After putting it in his mouth, he chewed and said, "Smart people know to listen to good advice. Acting rashly to prove that you are not a fool will not earn you any more respect from anyone."

Ethan grinned and shook his head. “I know myself well, Old Tree. I know very well that I’m just a clown with brute force, a complete idiot, and a bully who is hard to respect. So I don’t want those people to respect me at all. It’s enough for them to fear me.”

“But the ‘fear’ you speak of can breed ‘anger’, and when that ‘anger’ accumulates to a certain extent, something unpleasant will always happen.”

Old Tree took another sip of the incredibly strong liquor, clutched his neck for a while to catch his breath, and then said to Ethan, who was full of disdain, "Perhaps you don't care about those things, but in my opinion, if you can avoid taking risks, there's no need to create trouble for yourself."

Ethan spat on the ground and said in a deep voice, "If I had always listened to you, Old Tree, I'd probably still be a low-level adventurer that anyone could trample on."

"No one would think of a high-level peak monk as a low-level adventurer."

The old tree sighed and said helplessly, "Of course, I must admit that it was your personality that led you to encounter countless dangers, and it was those dangers that allowed you to break through in desperate situations, to reach the epic level... and ultimately achieve your current status."

Ethan nodded vigorously and said seriously, "Therefore, I am right."

You must learn to be content.

The old tree, slightly tipsy, rubbed its forehead and said softly, "Fate won't always favor you; in fact, it might not even favor you a second time."

"Fate favors the strong."

Ethan took a deep breath and said proudly, "And I am the strong one."

The old tree slowly put down its cup and sighed, "At least compared to those who die on the way, those who survive to the end are the truly strong."

The orc didn't speak, but just stared intently at the wine glass in his hand.

"Ethan?"

The old man frowned, looked up at the increasingly disobedient puppet, and said impatiently, "I must warn you, a true powerhouse..."

"A true strongman will not die easily."

With a casual pull, the hooded man, who in Old Tree's memory had always been eating beans in the corner, smiled slightly and gave the old man an elegant bow— (The text abruptly ends here, likely due to an incomplete sentence or a formatting error.)

"[Reborn from the Ashes] sends its greetings to you."

……

No. 6 [Hypocrite]: Typing Warrior - Chaotic Neutral - Berserker
Chapter 2861: The End