Chapter 57: The Spy

Twenty minutes later.

"Let's take a break." Banny, walking alongside the group, suddenly stopped in his footsteps, turned his head, and chuckled softly at Rhydon and the others. "The presence of those pieces of trash vanished two minutes ago."

At this point, the group of eight had already walked out of the woodland, and the surrounding terrain was gradually growing broader and more open. Logically speaking, this was not the time for a rest; however, since Banny had already indicated that there was no immediate danger, the exhausted group naturally seized the opportunity to halt and rest for a moment on the spot.

Crab, Salazar, and Yinna were in relatively decent shape, but the stamina values of Rhydon and Fay had both dropped to less than twenty percent, seriously affecting their movement speed and mental state.

In an even worse condition were Ned and the rescued Orc. The former had announced ten minutes ago that he no longer needed Crab to carry him—partly because his injuries had improved significantly under Rhydon's unsparing heals, but also because being jostled along the journey was simply too agonizing...

As for the Orc captive, covered in wounds and blood-stained clothing, his condition was even more dire. He was entirely in a state of debility, and Salazar and Rhydon had practically half-carried him all the way here.

As for Banny... he showed no changes whatsoever, appearing as relaxed and comfortable as if the preceding battle and the forced march had never existed.

"We are almost back to the Marshall territory," Yinna gazed into the distance for a moment before turning to the group. "However, this location is a bit remote; it's still quite a long way from the autonomous army's temporary camp."

Ned leaned half-against a rock and sighed, "I wonder how those who escaped first are doing."

"They had plenty of time, and they didn't look too exhausted; they should be able to escape successfully," shrugged Salazar, who had been responsible for the rescue mission, before turning to Banny. "Did you see anything when you came?"

At the moment, Banny was standing in place, toying with several blades in his palm with a completely indifferent expression. "Didn't notice. Not interested."

"Not interested?" Fay, who was accelerating her mana recovery through meditation, suddenly looked at Banny and asked, "Aren't you here to save people?"

The latter chuckled and nodded. "That's right, I came to save people and incidentally exact some vengeance. Both of those things are done now."

"Vengeance? You mean that guy from just now..." Rhydon immediately thought of the Orc chieftain who had gone berserk earlier, desperately trying to fight to the death with the 'ally hero' before them.

"Indeed, Chieftain Karon Guidu of the Fireclaw Territory," Banny nodded. "We had some minor grievances previously, and he had always wanted to get rid of me. It's just that this time, that idiot had some terrible luck~"

That was indeed the case. Karon's strength was originally roughly on par with Banny's; if it came to a fair and square fight, the latter might even have been slightly inferior. Unfortunately, fate intervened. Karon, who had been waiting for Banny, encountered the Fenrir squad first, and in the ensuing battle, he failed to maintain constant vigilance over his surroundings, allowing the enemy to launch such an effortless and successful ambush.

Otherwise, even with the premeditated striking at unawares, a constantly vigilant Orc chieftain would never have allowed a deadly poison to take the initiative, leading to his severe wounding by Banny within just a few exchanges.

"As for saving people, haven't I already brought someone back?" Banny, in quite a good mood, spoke a bit more than usual, pointing to the Orc slumped not far away and laughing, "And he even looks pretty much intact."

Upon hearing this, Ned couldn't help raising his voice, "Then what about the others? Didn't you say there were many who were abducted..."

"That has nothing to do with you, soldier," Banny said flatly. "The mission is over, whether it's mine or yours."

The mission is over?

Crab and the others were completely dumbfounded, utterly unable to understand what he was talking about.

As for Rhydon and Fay, they were deep in thought, pondering something...

"Cough, cough!" The rescued Orc clutched his chest and coughed violently several times, then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, he shook his head, spoke in a hoarse voice to Banny, and said, "No, there are still a few things these people can help with..."

"Let's hear it," the other asked with a hint of curiosity. "What can they help with?"

"You guys... cough, cough..." The battered former captive looked at the members of Fenrir. After another fit of dry coughs, he finally caught his breath and asked in a deep voice, "You are members of the Boulder City Autonomous Army, right? You should know a thing or two about your comrades, shouldn't you?"

Ned nodded at him. "You could say that."

"That's settled then," the other grinned and said to Banny, "The intelligence I obtained this time is very accurate. That person Lord Buffy has been searching for—I roughly know where they are."

The others looked somewhat bewildered...

Banny was succinct and to the point: "Speak."

"I don't know who specifically it is yet, but that person is in one of the autonomous army squads right here in Boulder City," the Orc motioned with his chin toward Ned and the others. "We can have these locals help root that person out."

Banny nodded slightly. "How specific is the intelligence?"

He didn't avoid Rhydon and the others because this was a major matter known only to a few. To these grunt soldiers, it probably sounded like fantasy, so there was no need for evasion whatsoever. Besides, he might still need these few people to help later.

"Specific to the squad," the former captive said with a solemn expression. "The squad name is—Fenrir."

Everyone was startled, and cold sweat instantly poured down Fay's back...

The ominous premonition—it was real!

"Oh?" The smile at the corner of Banny's mouth suddenly became somewhat inscrutable. He put away the blades that had been spinning continuously between his fingers, slowly walked over to Salazar, who was closest to him, stared straight at the white wolf insignia on his chest, and asked softly, "My, how terribly rude of me. I haven't even asked your affiliation until now. May I ask who you are?"

He drew out his words with profound meaning, the light in his eyes growing increasingly cold. His entire persona radiated chills like a sharp blade about to be unsheathed.

"We are... the Fenrir squad, part of the Marshall territory autonomous army stationed in Boulder City." Before Salazar could speak, Ned suddenly broke the silence nearby and answered.

Banny burst into laughter, clapping his hands. "Good, hahaha, wonderful. Then let's cut to the chase and make it brief..."

"What are you trying to say?" Crab hadn't caught on yet.

"What I want to say is~" Banny glanced at him and sneered, "The Fireclaw Territory has planted a spy on our side. That fellow continuously gathered highly confidential intelligence and hid it extremely well, never slipping up once. However, the most reliable intelligence finally indicates that the person is right here in the Fenrir squad of the Boulder City garrison. Do you all have any thoughts on this?"

Rhydon had practically connected all the discordant pieces by now and sighed, "The 'reliable intelligence' you mentioned just now is that important rescue target right beside us, isn't it?"

"Correct." Banny had completely discarded his previous indifferent demeanor; his focus was as intense as it could possibly be. He slowly swept his gaze across the members of the Fenrir squad and said leisurely, "Now, what I want to know is, exactly who is that person?"

His gaze finally lingered on Crab.

And the others also subconsciously glanced at the Orc big guy, who still seemed unclear about the situation.

Putting everything else aside, just based on the accusation of being 'a spy planted by the Fireclaw Territory,' Crab's suspicion immediately skyrocketed.

Unlike the Fireclaw Territory, which was composed almost entirely of Orcs, the races within the Marshall Autonomous Army were relatively evenly distributed. Within the Fenrir squad, however, Crab was the only Orc!

Yet no one was willing to believe it. Putting the two players aside, the NPCs Salazar and Yinna simply couldn't believe that Crab could possibly be a spy. They both felt that if this big guy could become a spy and smoothly infiltrate the internal ranks of the Marshall army, then the threshold for the profession of 'spy' was far too low!

After all, when Crab fell asleep, he could recount even how many times his butt was spanked in his childhood crystal-clear through his sleep-talking. This guy—a spy?!

"Impossible!" The moment Yinna cast her gaze toward Crab, she immediately blurted out loudly, "It can't be him!"

"That's right," Salazar also shook his head, saying, "This idiot doesn't have the brains for it."

Banny ignored the two of them entirely, walking straight up to Crab and saying softly, "Confess or point fingers—either way, one life traded for five lives."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Feeling the palpable, piercing killing intent radiating from Banny, Crab took several steps back, completely panicked. "What spy, what confession? I don't know anything at all!"

Two thin lines of blood suddenly appeared on his face. Before Crab could even see what had happened, he felt a coolness accompanied by a sharp sting across his cheek. Banny, standing right in front of him, was gently licking a bright silver blade stained red, his expression as gloomy as water...

"If neither option appeals to you, that's not out of the question either," the designated assassin of the Marshall family said softly. "I can simply kill you first, and then ask the others one by one at my leisure."

"It's me..."

At that moment, Ned slowly stood up, smiled at Banny, and said, "The person you're looking for is me. Do it."

"Captain!?"

"Impossible..."

"What are you saying?"

Yinna, Salazar, and even Crab stared with incredulous eyes, while Fay and Rhydon simultaneously revealed knowing, bitter smiles.

Combining all the previous abnormal behaviors, this wasn't actually surprising...

"You?" Banny turned, walked up to Ned, and looked him up and down. "Where is the proof?"

Ned spread his hands. "Do I still need proof when I'm confessing voluntarily?"

Banny licked his lips and sneered, "I can tell from your accent that you should originate from the eastern part of the Marshall territory. While it's not entirely impossible for you to have defected over there, just to be prudent and rule out the possibility that you're taking the fall for your teammates, I still need a reason..."

"A reason, very well." Ned nodded, then took a step forward, whispered something softly into Banny's ear, and stepped back to his original spot, saying in a deep voice, "Is this enough?"

Banny gave him a satisfied thumbs-up and said indifferently, "In light of your cooperation, I can let you leave a few last words or something."

"Captain!!" Yinna was practically losing her mind. "What on earth are you doing!"

Salazar also lost his composure entirely, glaring at Ned and shouting, "Ned! What kind of madness are you indulging in!"

"Captain, you couldn't possibly be a spy! And especially not for the Fireclaw side..." Crab shook his head frantically, muttering, "I look much more like one than you do!"

"All of you, shut up!" Ned suddenly roared, using the authority accumulated over a long period to make Crab and the others instinctively fall silent. He then said to Banny, "I don't need any last words. Do it."

"Oh?" The assassin, who could likely kill Ned with a casual wave of his hand, was not in the least bit hurried; instead, he asked with vested interest, "Are you worried that if you say too much, I might take your teammates..."

He gently traced his index finger across his throat. "And silence them all permanently?"

Ned remained silent.

"Tsk tsk, boring," Banny chuckled softly. Three crescent-shaped silver blades popped out from between his fingers as he shook his head. "Too bad, I actually planned to spare your life~"

Of course, he had never intended to do any such thing, but that didn't stop an assassin who loved torturing his prey in various ways from spouting nonsense. Most of the time, such words were enough to shatter the opponent's psychological defenses and allow him to enjoy the maximum degree of pleasure during the slaughter.

Yet Ned clearly wasn't a qualified prey; Banny saw nothing in his eyes that could entertain him. With a displeased, cold snort, he said, "You can go die now!"

Ned closed his eyes. In that instant, countless thoughts rushed through his mind...

It is said that everyone on the verge of death feels time slow down drastically. Perhaps such claims always sound somewhat unrealistic—after all, no dead person has ever suddenly popped up to tell you their dying sensations—but upon careful reflection, this viewpoint actually makes a certain kind of sense...

The speed of thought surpasses everything else, and the survival instinct of a sentient lifeform is very likely to plunge that fleeting moment into the realm of consciousness and thought, thereby striving to buy some time that would be virtually impossible under normal circumstances.

Ned thought of his happy family when he was a child, of his inseparable playmates, of the sights, sounds, and smiles of everyone in that coastal town, and of... the whispers that kept echoing through the night sky of the city, followed by the nightmare news he woke up to the next morning.

One-third of the citizens had vanished as if evaporated into thin air.

Among them were Ned's father and his best friend...

Yet after months of agonizing waiting, the only feedback received was a casual, perfunctory 'cannot be found.'

His mother, unable to accept this outcome, went insane, while Ned, young as he was back then, secretly swore that he would uncover the so-called truth...

Ten years later, tempered by hardship, he finally grasped a faint trace of a clue, only to find that the end of all the clues pointed directly to the owners of this land...

The Marshall family.

Chapter 57: End