Look, I Knew You Were a Villain Too!

"...So there are five adults inside, all male. There may be others who went out and haven't returned yet. No guns have been spotted for now, but there are plenty of weapons like machetes..."

Tom drew a crude floor plan on the ground and marked the positions of the men on it.

"Are there any children locked inside?" Li Weide asked.

"Yes. They're all locked in this small room on the left side of the first floor. There are eight children in total." Tom pointed at the smallest room on the floor plan.

"Eight children crammed into such a tiny room... They really are animals." Li Weide frowned.

Tom offered no comment on that. He merely said eagerly, "I suggest sending the snakes in to attack first. They'll definitely panic, and then we can slip in and finish this quickly... It's getting late. We still have to go to Diagon Alley today!"

"Mm, let's do that." Li Weide said no more and followed Tom around the alley to the back of the detached house.

There was a back door there, but it was locked.

Tom picked up a stone and handed it to Li Weide. "Once things get chaotic inside, we'll smash the lock and rush in."

Li Weide glanced at Tom and casually tossed the stone away.

"Why did you throw the stone away?" Tom asked in confusion.

"Tom... we're wizards!"

Li Weide lightly brushed his right hand over the lock.

Click!

The lock opened silently.

Complete Book of Low-Level Spells had a detailed explanation of the Unlocking Charm.

Tom stared at the neatly opened lock in shock. "You... You can do that too?"

"I just figured it out on my own," Li Weide said vaguely. "Hurry up and get started."

Tom had no time to ask further questions and immediately issued an order in Parseltongue.

Before long, Li Weide heard rustling sounds all around them.

Snakes began crawling out from the nearby grass, eaves, and sewers. They swiftly slithered in through the cracks beneath the door and windows! A moment later, Li Weide and Tom heard terrified screams from inside. "Now!"

Li Weide and Tom shoved open the door and charged inside!

A few minutes later.

Tom crouched on the ground and lifted a grass snake from the face of a man lying there.

He poked the man's stiff face with a finger. "So... just how did you do it..."

He had barely done anything just now, yet Li Weide had turned all those people into "statues."

"I figured it out on my own. Maybe I just happened to stumble upon some Offensive Magic that can petrify people?"

As Li Weide spoke, he pulled a large wad of cash from a small box.

This was the cash box he had just found.

"So, can this money really be exchanged for wizarding currency? Wizarding money is very different from anything we've seen before..." Tom said as he busily tied up the stiff Human Traffickers with ropes.

"Don't worry, it can definitely be exchanged. Our existence proves that not all wizards come from wizarding families. That means there must be places where currency can be exchanged... Besides..."

Li Weide tilted the small box so Tom could see inside.

"Even if the banknotes can't be exchanged, these definitely can..."

Tom looked over and saw more than ten small gold bars packed tightly into the bottom of the box!

"Gold is hard currency anywhere."

Tom gave Li Weide a strange look. "You really know a lot..."

"Ahem, I used to read a lot of books... All right, enough about money. Don't forget the 'real' reason we came here."

As Li Weide spoke, he stuffed the cash box into a bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Hehe, I thought you'd forgotten." Tom's tone was openly sarcastic.

In his heart, Li Weide had never been a good person. His acting was simply better than Tom's!

They claimed they had come to save people, but in truth, they were here to make money!

"Of course I didn't forget! Call off your snakes first. Don't scare the other children. They're not like us."

Li Weide was in a good mood and did not mind Tom's barbed words.

In fact, aside from gaining a huge sum of money, Li Weide could theoretically gain a large number of Merit Points as well.

The two of them came to the small room around the corner on the first floor.

Though the room was small, its door was made of iron and looked extremely sturdy. An absurdly large lock hung from the Iron Gate.

As Li Weide approached the Iron Gate, he could vaguely hear panicked voices from behind it.

Clearly, the people inside had heard the commotion outside.

Li Weide placed his hand on the lock.

Tom stared fixedly at his hand, hoping to figure out how it worked.

However...

Click!

Before Tom could see anything, the lock had already opened.

Creeeak...

The heavy Iron Gate opened, and a wave of stench hit them head-on.

Tom covered his nose in disgust and retreated to one side.

Li Weide looked through the doorway. In the pitch-black room, seven or eight children huddled in the corner, staring fearfully toward the door.

"You're safe now. Hurry and get out of here!" Li Weide shouted.

The seven or eight children looked at one another, but none of them moved.

Li Weide's face darkened. "Get the hell out here and line up! Or I'll whip you!"

The moment he finished speaking, the children hurriedly ran out.

Tom looked at Li Weide with an expression that said, just as I thought. "Look, I knew you were a villain too."

"Shut up, Tom!"

Li Weide looked at the children standing in a trembling line before him, then took out a stack of bills from his pocket and handed some to them.

"Look, the Human Traffickers have already been taken down by the adults in my family. You're free now, so hurry and leave!"

Only then did the children notice that the vicious Human Traffickers who had captured them were all tied up like dumplings.

Only then did they finally believe Li Weide's words.

Of course, it was a little strange that none of the adults Li Weide had mentioned were in the house...

"Oh, one more question. Is everyone here accounted for?" Li Weide asked again.

"There's... there's still one man and one woman missing." A skinny little boy finally gathered the courage to speak.

"Oh, a tall, muscular man and a woman with a hoarse voice?"

The other children began nodding as well.

"Mm, then everyone's accounted for..." Li Weide glanced at their curious expressions and continued, "They've been caught too. Hurry and leave. Go home if you have a home to return to. Oh, and don't forget to report this for me, so the police can arrest these people."

The children all nodded. After quietly thanking him, they took the money Li Weide had given them and left this den of evil.

"Ding! Detected that the host has destroyed a Human Trafficker den! The host is rewarded with 1,000 Merit Points!"

"Ding! Detected that the future Dark Lord has performed good deeds due to the host's advice, causing a slight change in his life trajectory. The host is rewarded with 100 Merit Points!"

Seeing the 1,400 Merit Points displayed in his balance, Li Weide's mood instantly improved.

"All right, we should leave too. We still have to go to Diagon Alley!" Tom urged.

Li Weide waved a hand. "Relax, Tom. This time, we have money for transportation, don't we..."

Boom!

Before Li Weide could finish, the floor of the house suddenly shook violently! Li Weide quickly grabbed the sofa beside him.

Caught off guard, Tom was jolted straight onto his backside! Rumble... The ground began shaking again.

Tom's eyes widened abruptly. "It sounds like something is bursting up from underground!"