After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Therefore, there must be huge loopholes.

During the previous riots in the Holy City, in order to arrest the omnipresent Leah, the church raised the security level to the highest level, ensuring that every important member of the church lived under protection and surveillance.

These measures have actually become a reinforcement for Rosaline and the faith network, meaning that she can grasp all situations in real time through ubiquitous spies, with no blind spots and no possibility of being deceived.

Even the victims themselves, who are believers, will provide her with real-time intelligence.

It's different here.

Given only a single, limited, and low-quality information source, whether she could identify false information became what Aize wanted to find out in this experiment.

"I'll find some locals under the guise of recruiting workers, and mix in one or two followers of the Pure White Saint. You can brainwash them into believing that they've transported some orc prisoners into the house we just visited."

Aize supported his head with one hand and tapped the table in front of him with the other.

"This way, we kill two birds with one stone. Not only can we briefly test her intelligence processing ability, but we can also draw her attention to the wrong target, gaining the initiative for our next operation."

The previous conversation had made it clear that Rosaline would make a fuss about the orc captives - she was very frank and never lied about this, which was a great help.

The interesting thing is that it is actually difficult for both Aize and Rosaline to handle this matter.

Needless to say, Aize could only wait for the other party to make the first move. He was the passive party anyway.

As for Rosaline, if she wanted to turn the tables with this incident, if she wanted to use it to create enough influence, or even establish a local faith network in one step, then the movement must be big enough.

However, when surrounded by external enemies, the internal strife is too noisy and may have the opposite effect if one is not careful, making the locals have a worse impression of them.

In addition, the locations where the orc prisoners were held were relatively remote, and the lack of audience made the show less effective.

In this situation, Aize made the above arrangement, and the illusion he presented had a fatal attraction that Rosaline could not refuse:

In the same facility, there were human patients on one side and orc wounded on the other, sharing the limited supplies on an almost equal basis, with the latter even receiving slightly better treatment.

For the locals who are already feeling aggrieved, this does not even require any explanation; it is simply a famous painting with an absurdly strong impact.

The pace she set was enough to destroy Aize's image and establish her own influence.

So, unless she or her faith network can see through Aize's illusion, a fatal reversal is waiting for her from the moment she takes action.

The result will inevitably be a complete failure.

After hearing these explanations, Villian smiled and nodded:

"Haha, isn't this a classic Aize fishing-style conspiracy? The thought of using it on that woman is really delightful. Haha, I can't wait to see her expression when she finds out the truth!"

"No, what is this Aize-style conspiracy..."

Ignoring Aize's dark face and complaints, Violet put her hands on her hips and asked:

"By the way, what if she discovered your plan and didn't fall for it?"

"That's fine, though. I don't think she'll be able to use this as a pretext. The worst-case scenario is just a return to the original situation. There's no difference, but having said that..."

Aize leaned forward and fell on the table, his expression looking a little unhappy.

"I've put in so much effort and wasted so much time, but even if I succeed, it's only a small profit. I always feel a little unhappy. Is there any way I can increase my investment and take this opportunity to do things more thoroughly?"

For Aize, the challenges of this incident come from both internal and external dimensions.

There is no need to mention the external enemies, the undead, and other enemies on the way.

As for the core of the internal problem, Aize felt a little relieved when he confirmed that Rosaline could not take advantage of the faith here for the time being.

But the risks remain.

The external situation is not dangerous at the moment, and Aize still has the energy to take care of this place. He can play some small games with her of mutual calculation and counterattack.

Once the battle situation turns bad and Aize is unable to take care of it, she will have a chance to turn the tables.

If possible, and preferably at this stage, an atmosphere should be created in Lilbas in which the worship of Rosalyn was absolutely impossible.

That is, to make her completely socially dead.

To achieve this level, the reversal mentioned above is obviously not enough.

"Is there anything else I can use..."

"Report! Lord Aize! Someone wants to see you."

The guard on duty came to report again, just like he did when the succubus messenger visited before.

This made Aize frown:

"At a time like this, who?"

"He claims to be a representative of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce. He said he has something important to discuss with you. This is his business card."

A small card was then delivered to Aize.

With purple as the base and shiny and artistic gold fonts, it looks extremely exquisite.

As for the name of its owner——

"Bill Trecker, head of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce's Lilbas branch. Ha, how dare you use such a title to flatter yourself? Disgusting."

Aize showed an undisguised expression of disgust, the intensity of which was extremely rare in his entire two years of experience.

The witch came over curiously, picked it up and looked at it for a few seconds, puzzled:

"The Imperial Chamber of Commerce? How could there be a representative from the Imperial Chamber of Commerce in a city like this?"

"Ha, how is that possible? Instead of calling this a Chamber of Commerce, it might be more appropriate to change the name to Maintenance Association."

Aize scoffed.

"When Lilbas first fell over two years ago, this bastard was indeed the representative of the Chamber of Commerce. After the city was captured, he used sweet talk and the supplies in his hands to collude with the demons. For the past two years, he has been helping the orcs rule the city."

To put it bluntly, he is a complete traitor.

"Their crimes include, but are not limited to, forced requisition of supplies, suppression of resistance, slave smuggling, and so on. Haha, from a heinous perspective, he and his lackeys have committed no less than the orcs. I was thinking of settling the situation once and then dealing with these guys properly, but I didn't expect them to show up right here. Really... huh?"

Aize's expression suddenly brightened.

"Oh, yeah, I was just worried about running out of material to add, and now it's here! If I make good use of it, I can even get rid of a few more troubles... Ahem, anyway, let him in."

Chapter 98 Temptation

If Bill Trecker had to use one word to accurately summarize his life, his answer would be: businessman, the purest businessman.

He started out as an ordinary small trader in the empire, and gradually grew bigger with his extremely keen business sense and strong perception of money and numbers. At the age of thirty, he even became a representative of a branch of the Chamber of Commerce.

Following this trend, it is only a matter of time before he enters the core circle of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

However, at this time, he made a choice that no one else could understand - he gave up his original management position and took the initiative to ask to be transferred to Lilbas, the forefront of the human-demon war.

On the surface, trade in such places is extremely limited and basically serves the military, and is subject to severe restrictions and is difficult to function.

But he saw the opportunity therein - the opportunity to conduct various trades with a large group of "potential business partners" on the other side of the Central Mountains.

Thus, under his operation, various smuggling businesses spanning both humans and demons began to develop rapidly.

The originally small-scale underground business has expanded to an astonishing scale with the assistance of the resources of the formal chamber of commerce.

From basic medicines, equipment, and weapons to various dangerous demon products and half-blood slaves from the human side, there was nothing he wouldn't sell.

Wealth accumulated at an astonishing rate, and connections spread even more rapidly.

Even the demon leaders who were like monsters in myths and legends had to be polite in their correspondence with him in order to obtain some extremely rare supplies from the demon clan, which was a treatment they would never get if they stayed in the core area.

As he had done countless times before, Bill was once again proud of his keen sense of smell.

Then, all-out war broke out.

With the human defense line almost collapsing, the fortress city of Lierbas was attacked simultaneously from multiple directions and was on the verge of falling.

As an important figure in the city, Bill could have easily left with the help of the remaining Imperial Guards before he was completely surrounded.

But Bill refused.

Because he smelled a new business opportunity.

Sure enough, after the city fell, relying on the connections and influence he had accumulated in the past smuggling, he almost immediately got in touch with the then orc chieftain Tal Sarago.

Not only were they not affected at all, they even gained some small privileges in this fallen city.

For example, human slaves can be used without any payment, and production can be carried out without any payment - and they are allowed to organize some of their own armed forces so that they can give them some necessary iron fists when the former are disobedient.

The original smuggling trade was directly put on the table after it was freed from supervision.

It is no exaggeration to say that goods sold by him can be found in every corner of the human territory.

Without his assistance, the demons' advance would not have been so smooth.

And if one day humanity really loses the war, Bill is confident that he can use his wealth and influence to carve out a place for himself in the new order.

After all, slaves are divided into different classes.

Then, the Empire launched a counterattack.

Bill was aware of the counterattack, but he was not worried.

Because the orcs solemnly assured that this was a trap set for the Empire. Not only would Lilbas never be reclaimed, but the attacking Imperial army would also be destroyed here.

Once again, Bill made his own judgment and chose to stay in the city.

After all, he knew how powerful the demons were.

Do you think you can take back this fortress city by relying on those bastards in the empire?

Next life.

Then, he was shocked by the small speedrunning done by Aize, an ordinary student from another world who was not from the Empire.

After waking up from a drunken sleep, he discovered that the entire city had been controlled by the Imperial Army. The remaining orcs had shrunk into a few small areas and then surrendered.

Bill Trecker's role positioning became awkward at this moment.

Drenched in sweat?

Not really.

Bill knew of the Brave Aize. In his opinion, he was a rational monster, a rare sight in this world.

Since they are rational people, there is room for negotiation.

Although Lilbas had been liberated, this was only the beginning of the incident. A massive demonic army was about to attack, making defense a real challenge.

In this case, Bill's resources will play a crucial role.

No, it's more than that.

He even dared to say that without his assistance, the brave warrior Aize would never be able to defend the city.

Provide him with assistance and get deeply involved in city defense affairs.

In this way, if the Empire wins, he can take this opportunity to completely cleanse himself of the crimes of the past few years and return to human society with astonishing wealth.

Can’t hold it?

That's okay.

Since we're helping defend the city anyway, would it be difficult to find an opportunity to backstab that brave warrior Aize?

Like secretly opening the city gate at night, poisoning people at a party, and so on.

Then when the city is occupied by the demons again, everything will be back to normal, with no difference from before.

Such a perfect plan, as long as——

"Almost got it."

"……what?"

While Bill, as he did based on his decades of experience, was talking about his own advantages and the benefits of cooperation, the young man in his twenties in front of him did not show a matching expression.

He even became visibly more and more impatient, and finally said the above words.

In the merchant's surprised and horrified eyes, the young man named Aize stood up:

"Do you have some misunderstanding? Advantage? Cooperation? What you've done over the past few years...even the past ten years, is enough to get you hanged fifty times in the streets of the Imperial Capital, or burned at the stake thirty times in the Inquisition. Under these circumstances, you come before me, wasting my precious time, not turning yourself in, but bargaining with me instead?"

Aize narrowed his eyes unhappily, leaned forward slowly while holding onto the table, and shook his head in disdain.

"You really don't understand what's going on here, Mr. Traitor. Since you're a rather large individual, could you please respect your status a little?"

Cold sweat ran down Bill's forehead.