"What's the situation?"
Cole leaned back against the cushions of the carriage, looking at the subordinate who had just entered.
"Reporting, boss," the subordinate replied respectfully, "They ate all the food, and now... they seem to be asleep."
"Asleep?" Cole's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he quickly returned to normal. "Understood. You may leave."
"Yes." The subordinate bowed and exited the carriage.
But the moment the subordinate left, the previous guard opened the carriage door and walked in.
He glanced at the departing subordinate, then quickly turned his gaze toward Cole, asking with a hint of anticipation:
"Boss, I've strengthened the mist. It can last for at least another four or five hours. How is it? Did those two fat sheep fall for it?"
"Fall for it?" Cole let out a sneer, his eyes filled with unabashed disdain. "They're faking it."
"Faking it?!" Mogis looked stunned. "But they clearly ate the food and have passed out now! Isn't this the perfect chance to strike? We should just rush in and tie them up..."
"Mogis!" Cole suddenly slammed his hand against the seat cushion beside him, his voice rising sharply with suppressed fury. "When is that pig brain of yours going to smarten up?! With your level of scheming, if I let you lead the team as boss, your stupid head would be hanging at the city gates to dry before you even finished five jobs!"
Hearing Cole call him by his name, it was clear he was truly enraged. Mogis trembled all over and hastily bent his waist.
Then, in a frantic rush, he pulled a frosted metal flask from his Spatial Storage Bag and handed it to Cole with both hands, saying tremulously:
"Bo... boss, please calm down! Have a sip of Iced Wheat Ale to soothe your anger!"
Seeing this, Cole snorted coldly, snatched the flask, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back to gulp down several large mouthfuls.
As the icy liquid slid down his throat, his tightly knitted brows relaxed slightly.
"Tsk, as expected, Iced Wheat Ale still tastes the best." Smacking his lips, he tossed the empty flask back to Mogis. "Other than creating fog, the greatest use of your magic is being able to chill wheat ale at any time."
"Boss... as long as you've calmed down..." Mogis carefully put the flask away and asked, emboldened, "But... I still don't understand. Why not use strong drugs in the food? Wouldn't it be much simpler to just knock them out directly?"
"Hmph, a fool is a fool!" Cole glared at him impatiently. "Who do you think you're dealing with? That's a Snowshadow Feline Demi-human who nearly wiped out our carefully trained Shadowclaw Wolf pack in ten seconds! Against an expert of that level, you want to use such low-class, stupid tricks like drugging? If you drug them rashly without testing them first, do you have a death wish, or do you take others for fools? Do you think a feline demi-human wouldn't be able to smell the scent of those strong drugs?!"
"This..." Mogis wanted to argue, but the words died in his throat under Cole's ferocious gaze.
"That's why I used tranquilizing and sleep-inducing alchemical potions!" At this point, Cole let out a breath, then continued with his arms crossed, "That stuff is harmless in itself. Even if discovered, it can barely be explained away! Do you understand? This is what you call a test!"
"But... isn't it still a drug..." Mogis muttered under his breath, clearly still not fully understanding.
"Idiot!" Cole completely lost his patience and waved his hand irritably, shooing Mogis away like a fly. "Get out, get out! Go watch your fog! If you ask any more brainless questions, I'll throw you out to feed the Shadowclaw Wolf pack first!"
Seeing that Cole was on the verge of exploding, Mogis dared not say another word and hurriedly bowed and scraped.
"Yes, yes! Rest well, boss, I'll go maintain the mist right now!" Having said that, he turned to slip out of the carriage.
"Hold on!"
Cole's voice rang out coldly.
Mogis's body stiffened as he stopped at the carriage door.
"Give me another flask of Iced Wheat Ale," Cole commanded.
"Yes! Right away!"
Seeing this, Mogis immediately pulled out another chilled flask of wheat ale from his storage bag and handed it over with both hands.
Cole took it, drained it in one go, and then smashed the empty flask violently at Mogis's feet with a loud clang.
"Scram!"
Startled by the flying flask, a flash of gloom crossed Mogis's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by fear and obedience as he scrambled out of the carriage.
...
"Alert! Wraiths are gathering! Get up! The Wraiths are coming—!"
A shrill cry pierced the silent night fog, instantly waking Hong Guoguo from her shallow sleep.
"Wraiths?!" Hearing those two words, Hong Guoguo sat up with a start, her sleepiness vanished. She instinctively looked at the nearby Hyacine and reached out to shake her. "Sister Hyacine! Wake up! Something happened outside! There are Wraiths!"
"I'm awake."
Just as she gave a push, Hyacine opened her eyes and spoke calmly.
She set the blanket aside and slowly stood up.
"Eh? Sister Hyacine wasn't asleep?"
Hong Guoguo's brain stalled for a moment. So, the sleeping Sister Hyacine mentioned earlier was a lie?
"No, I don't need much sleep, so I sent Little Ica to scout the way."
Although she possessed multiple bodies, her spirit was still the same person.
Therefore, as long as one body had rested, the spirits of the other bodies would recover quickly.
As she spoke, she narrowed her eyes and murmured to herself, "Couldn't even wait for half an hour? Just as I wanted."
"Du-du~"
At that moment, Little Ica's voice sounded. Hong Guoguo looked up toward the source of the sound and saw Little Ica crawling out from a small window beside the tent.
"Little Ica, what's the situation outside?"
Seeing Little Ica return, Hyacine asked.
"Du-du." (Those Wraiths were released by the person who released the mist. Also, when he released those Wraiths, I felt a faint but very, very thick sense of death on him.)
"A faint but very thick sense of death?" Hearing Little Ica's description, Hyacine was somewhat puzzled. "That sounds like saying something is sliced into thin, thick slices."
"Du-du!" (The scent is faint, but there's a feeling of great quantity. It's like the complexity formed by frequently contacting at least several hundred corpses. In that team, he is the most special!)
"I think I understand. Is it essentially the difference between one very sweet candy and ten candies that aren't very sweet?"
Upon hearing Hyacine's analogy, Little Ica immediately nodded, indicating that was exactly what it meant.
"However... several hundred corpses? And frequent contact..."
Hyacine was somewhat surprised. She had originally thought this group of traffickers were just some relatively clever underlings, but she hadn't expected there to be an expert.
Seeing this, she immediately said to Hong Guoguo:
"Guoguo, the situation has changed. We need to adjust our plan."
As she spoke, she took a step toward the tent flap first.
Hong Guoguo hurriedly followed Hyacine.
"What exactly happened?" she asked curiously.
Seeing Hong Guoguo's confusion, Hyacine told her what Little Ica had said.
"Several hundred corpses? Is that person a powerful high-level Necromancer?! But in a place like this, how could he manage to frequently contact several hundred corpses?"
After hearing this, Hong Guoguo was also filled with shock.
But soon, she immediately shook her head and said:
"But that's not right. If he were a high-level Necromancer with several hundred corpses, his figure would definitely appear very thin. Sister Hyacine, what kind of build did the person Little Ica saw have?"
"Du-du." (A bit thin, but it feels like normal malnutrition. It wasn't that exaggerated.)
After Little Ica finished speaking, Hyacine translated it for her.
"Then he's definitely just a low-level Necromancer! The appearance of a high-level Necromancer would look wrong at a glance."
Hong Guoguo said with conviction.
"If that's the case... then it's equivalent to saying there might be a high-level Necromancer behind this person?"
"That's highly probable." Hong Guoguo nodded.
After hearing her deduction, Hyacine nodded thoughtfully, then continued to ask:
"Then do you know what kind of people a Necromancer hates the most?"
"Hmm?" Hong Guoguo rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. "Probably the kind of people who can hurt their undead. For example, Paladins, Light Priests, and the like."
"Then I have an idea." Seeing this, the corner of Hyacine's mouth curled into an arc. "Perfectly, the Wraiths he summoned this time can help me become the 'kind of person they hate most,' thereby drawing out the Necromancer behind him."
"Then can't we just capture him directly and interrogate him?"
Hearing this, Hyacine thought for a moment and said:
"Mainly because Cipher isn't here, so I have no way to make him talk directly. If he refuses to speak even on pain of death, I don't have any methods for the time being."
"Moreover, doing that might alert the enemy, and that Necromancer might just run away."
"Oh... I understand. Then what about Sister Zhaoran's matter?"
"I have a reason to make them enter the city quickly. If they don't want to turn hostile, they basically won't be able to refuse."