Making Arrests

When they drew closer.

Only then did everyone clearly see what Wu Heng and the skeleton looked like.

Wu Heng was fine, merely covered in dust and grime. But the skeleton beside him, wearing a round helmet, had five or six crossbow bolts embedded in its breastplate, each one piercing straight through its body.

Besides that, it had a bloody corpse slung over its shoulder.

This left everyone puzzled.

The crazed crowd had used blasting caps, but no one had seen them using bows or crossbows.

If they had even known how to use crossbows, none of them would have escaped.

"Wu Heng, where did you run off to?" Cavina immediately asked.

"I hid in the village for a while. When it looked like nothing was happening outside, I came out," Wu Heng answered.

"It's good that you're alright." Ortluk nodded, his gaze falling on the corpse carried over the Skeleton Warrior's shoulder. "Who's that?"

"Put it down."

The skeleton tossed the corpse onto the ground, and Wu Heng directly pulled aside the cloth covering its face.

The others frowned as they looked at the body.

"Archido's butler," Wu Heng bluntly revealed the man's identity.

At that reminder, everyone's eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief.

Just moments ago, they had said they suspected Archido but had no direct evidence.

Now Wu Heng had returned carrying his butler.

"What happened? Tell us everything!" Ortluk pressed.

"After we were scattered, I fled west and happened to see a group of people coming out from behind the ore piles..."

He then recounted everything he had seen the previous night.

From spotting the sneaky group, to the object they held in their arms, to how they had tried to kill him and had instead been killed by him.

However, he claimed that he had counterkilled them with Poison Smoke Grenades and Skeleton Bartholomew, concealing the matter of the Skeleton Horde.

"You mean they took something from the mine tunnel in Back Mountain?" Plamon walked over.

"Yes. We drew all the people away, and they took something."

In an instant, everyone's expressions darkened.

Killing Intent also showed in Plamon's eyes.

Treating the Investigation Team like monkeys—this Archido was the first to dare.

"Cut off the corpse's head," Plamon said.

A guard stepped forward and, with a single swing, severed the head. He wrapped it in a leather bag.

"Let's head back."

"They should have left their horses nearby. It'll be faster if we find them."

The Investigation Team's horses had all been killed in the crash the previous night.

Walking back would waste even more time. By then, Archido might even arrange for people to intercept and kill them.

"Alright. Spread out and search nearby," Plamon continued ordering.

The group dispersed and searched the area. Sure enough, they found horses tied up in the woods.

The horses were some distance from the village and had not been disturbed.

Everyone mounted up and headed straight for the station.

Yet after arriving at the station, they did not leave immediately.

Plamon directly mobilized the stationed troops and returned to Archido's estate to make arrests.

The large procession arrived at the estate.

The estate's defenses could not compare to a city's. Its wrought-iron gate was hollow and flimsy, utterly incapable of stopping an army's attack.

"My lord, this may not be according to procedure. If you want to arrest someone, you need an Approval Document from Town Hall," a guard said from behind the gate.

After the battle last night, Plamon clearly had little patience for arguing with him.

With one kick, he smashed open the Iron Door and shouted, "All armed personnel will be executed on the spot for treason."

Swish, swish, swish!!

The instant the order was given, crossbows were cocked and loaded, aimed forward.

The estate guards who had still wanted to step forward and say a few words froze in place, not daring to make another move.

They carefully threw down their weapons, afraid of being shot full of holes.

Treason had been invoked. Clearly, something major was going on here.

Once the estate guards discarded their weapons, the soldiers swiftly stepped forward and subdued them.

Plamon waved his hand again and continued toward the central building.

By the time they reached the entrance, the manor's doors had already opened.

Mine Owner Archido walked out, holding something wrapped in yellowed Scrap Cloth. Through the gaps in the fabric, they could see a Clay Pot covered in patterns.

Plamon glanced sideways at Wu Heng. The latter gave a slight nod, confirming that this was what he had seen the previous night.

At the same time, Wu Heng could see strands of Death Aura emanating from the object in Archido's arms.

"Archido, you know why we're here, don't you?" Plamon's voice was cold, brimming with Killing Intent.

"I know. I'm willing to go with you. Please don't hurt the others here," Archido said.

"Heh!"

Plamon sneered. "And what about the villagers you killed?"

The soldiers stepped forward and restrained Archido and the people beside him.

Plamon casually shoved the Clay Pot emitting Death Aura into Wu Heng's hands. "Watch it. Don't let anything happen to it."

Damn it!

Wu Heng cursed inwardly, placed it in Skeleton Bartholomew's arms, and followed the group as they escorted Archido and the others away.

On the return train.

The soldiers and the Adventurer Team once again kept their distance from each other.

Skeleton Bartholomew stood at the very end of the carriage, holding the Clay Pot in its arms.

Wu Heng and the others sat on the other side, maintaining a certain distance.

"Captain, tell me about the Adventurer's Guild," Wu Heng asked.

He had only just joined and truly knew nothing about the organization.

His reason for joining back then had simply been to obtain a legitimate identity.

"Alright, I'll start with the Guild's internal structure." Captain Ortluk continued, "Adventurer's Guild is the collective name for the organization. It isn't made up solely of teams like ours that carry out missions. It has more detailed internal divisions."

"Teams like ours, stationed at local branches, are called Field Emissaries. We mainly carry out missions and assist or rescue Association Members. Besides that, there are different branches such as the Grand Text Society, Seekers, Whisperers, and more."

"The Grand Text Society is mainly composed of scholars and adventurers with a strong thirst for knowledge."

"Seekers represent exploration and adventure, and are mostly rangers and thieves."

"Then there are the Whisperers. They specialize in gathering intelligence from all sources. Old kingdom affairs, Noble Love Affairs, and secrets passed down among the people are all targets of their collection."

As Wu Heng listened, he came to understand what these groups meant.

The Adventurer's Guild was like a school. Everyone was a student of that school, but there were different clubs within it.

Those who liked studying knowledge joined the Grand Text Society. Those who liked adventure went to the Seekers. If you liked gathering gossip, then you joined the Whisperers.

But no matter how the internal divisions were arranged, you were still a member of the Adventurer's Guild.

This system was pretty well-developed.

Cavina added, "Don't get too close to Whisperers. Catching their interest is a troublesome thing. You wouldn't want your secrets stored in their archives, would you?"

Damn!

Put that way, it instantly felt like his information had been exposed and he was about to suffer worldwide social death.

"Uh, are there any Whisperers in Blackstone Town?" Wu Heng asked.

"Yes. Madam Slyther of the Money Cat."