Chapter 240

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nSeveral hours passed, during which Shang looked at the gigantic sacks of gold in his world.

nHow much would the mission have paid after its completion?

nHow much was one year of an Early General Stage warrior’s time worth?

n50,000 gold.

nThis was the equivalent of around 30 – 50 Early General Stage beast corpses.

nFor one year, this was an amazing deal, especially since the mission wasn’t as dangerous as hunting that many beasts.

nThat definitely was a lot of money for an Early General Stage warrior.

nWhen night arrived, One came to Shang together with Two.

n“We got a Mid General Stage beast,” One said.

nShang nodded and prepared himself.

nAfter that, both of them charged towards the east.

nThey traveled about a kilometer away and stopped behind a different hill. Now, no one was watching them.

n“Alright, it’s time to prepare everything,” One said.

nShang and Two nodded. “What’s the plan?” Two asked.

nShang wasn’t surprised that One managed to convince Two. It made a lot of sense that the officer and his superior were traitors. If Two had told the truth previously, he wouldn’t want to let someone like that keep living. After all, Duke Mithril’s forces were searching for Two.

nHe might not be able to escape to Duke Mithril’s territory after everything was done, but he definitely had some other solution. After all, if he didn’t have one, he wouldn’t be here.

n“We are going to lure the officer to this place by firing the signal,” One said as he took out one of the signal flares. “We have to act like there is a powerful Mid General Stage beast that we can’t beat. Then, when he arrives, we jump him. Everything has to be done quickly.”

n“There are plenty of beasts that can hide their presence. Even if he doesn’t see one immediately, it won’t wake any suspicions. There aren’t only Fire Affinity beasts here but also Earth Affinity beasts.”

nThe other two nodded.-.

nSHING!

nAt that moment, One took out a huge shield. “We have to make this convincing,” he said as he pointed his shield at Shang. “I don’t have enough power to make it seem like this shield was broken by a beast. Your destructive power is better for that.”

n“Destroy the shield with an attack, but try to leave my hands in one piece,” One said.

nShang looked at One with a gleam in his eyes.

n“Sure,” he said.

nThen, Shang took out his sword as One defended himself with his shield.

nAnd Shang struck the shield with his colossal sword.

nCRACK!

nThe shield cracked into two pieces, and One was thrown against the hill behind him.

nOne coughed a bit due to the impact, but he wasn’t injured. “Good,” he said.

nOne threw the pieces of the shield to the side and looked at Two.

nSHING!

nSomething appeared in One’s hand. “I need you to hold that while I activate the signal.”

nWhile One had been talking, he had thrown the thing over to Two, who caught it out of habit.

nOne pointed the flare to the sky and activated it.

nBANG!

nA green burst of Wind Mana left the flare.

n“What’s that?” Two asked as he inspected the black ball in his hands.

nOne didn’t answer.

nBOOOOOOM!

nSuddenly, the black ball in Two’s hand exploded as a powerful wave of Fire Mana left it.

nThe side of One’s mask was illuminated by the violent explosion.

nBANG!

nTwo’s burned corpse hit the side of the hill and slid down.

nTwo was dead.

n“What’s going on?!”

nThe officer had arrived on top of the hill, and he was looking at the scene.

nZero stood opposite of One, his weapon drawn.

nTwo had turned into a burned corpse.

nA broken shield lay between Zero and One.

n“He killed Two!” One suddenly shouted as he jumped back, his weapon drawn. “I only survived thanks to the shields I carry in my Space Ring!”

nThe officer looked at Zero, who made no inclination to move. He simply continued standing there.

n“Zero! Explain yourself!” the officer shouted.

nShang’s head turned to face the officer. “Is that the plan you two came up with?” he asked. “You want to frame me and then kill all the loyal soldiers?”

nThe two were a bit surprised by Shang’s nonchalant voice, but they didn’t show it.

n“Bastard! You just killed someone, and now you’re acting like this was our doing?!” One shouted with fear and hatred. He genuinely sounded like his best friend had just been killed.

nBy now, several soldiers had been lured over by the loud shouts, and they looked at the scene below the hill.

nThey saw the burned corpse.

nThey knew Zero had a Fire Affinity.

nThey saw the shield, which had obviously been destroyed by a powerful and heavy sword.

nAfter some seconds, all the soldiers had gathered in this place, and Shang looked over them.

n“Sure enough, you already got rid of the four that have been sent to defend the tunnel with me,” Shang commented.

nThe soldiers looked around and noticed that four of their comrades weren’t there.

n“Stop accusing others of such heinous actions while it is clear that you are the culprit!” the officer shouted.

nThe enraged voice of the officer didn’t shock Shang.

nIn fact, Shang knew that One would betray him.

nBut how?

nAnd why?

nAfter all, One had saved Shang’s life, right?

nWell, even though the officer was a traitor, he had said one thing that was true.

nNo plan was complete without at least one backup plan.

nThe overwhelming force that had attacked the tunnel had a chance of success of over 90%, even with One’s flare.

nAfter all, no one expected five Early General Stage warriors to kill eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior.

nThe flare was only a backup.

nWhat was the purpose?

nTo make their inside agent, One, appear more trustworthy.

nAfter this mission, One could easily enter Duke Whirlwind’s personal army. He had proven beyond any doubt that he was loyal. After all, his actions had resulted in the deaths of several enemies.

nAnd even if the mission succeeded and the True Path Stage beast went on a rampage, some of the soldiers would survive, and they would have borne witness to the fact that One’s signal had gone off.

nNo matter what happened, One’s credibility would have shot through the roof.

nInitially, Shang hadn’t suspected One. After all, One’s actions had contributed to Shang’s survival.

nSo, what made Shang suspicious?

nThe money.

nOne had 50,000 gold on hand.

nWhich normal soldier had that much money on hand?

nOf course, One had also thought about that, but, in his mind, it wasn’t important.

nIn One’s eyes, Zero was someone that had no affiliation and was only interested in money. One knew that Zero would connect One with Duke Mithril’s forces.

nBut what did that matter?

nOne didn’t care to which side he belonged. So what if he connected One to Duke Mithril? Since he was only here for the money, he would help regardless.

nIf Shang had easily accepted the proposal, One would have been suspicious.

nHowever, Shang’s actions of actually squeezing more money out of One in this situation alleviated a lot of his suspicions.

nA loyal soldier to Duke Whirlwind wouldn’t think about money in this situation.

nZero was literally just a guy interested in his personal power and money.

nBut all of this now begged another question.

nIf Shang had known that One would betray him, why had he gone along with all of this?

nWhy had he destroyed the shield?

nWhy hadn’t he warned Two?

nTwo reasons.

nFirst of all, Shang wanted to fish out all the traitors. As long as they didn’t do something outrageous, there wouldn’t be any proof.

nBut now, with all of these witnesses, there would be proof.

nAnd second…

nShang knew that he could deal with One and the officer.

n“You are hereby under arrest for treason!” the officer shouted. “Will you come peacefully, or do I have to cut off your arms?”

nShang looked at the officer.

n‘This is just the fight I need.’

n‘The last time I fought an average warrior two levels above myself, I barely lost.’

n‘But this time, I have gained much more experience, and I have gained a new ability.’

n‘Also, I finally know what that one guy used back then to win against me.’

nShang readied his heavy sword.

nBANG!

nAnd Shang exploded forward.

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