Night once again enveloped the wilderness in an oppressive manner. After several days of intense trekking, the team led by Benjamin had now set up a temporary camp deep in the wilderness hundreds of miles away from Golden Port.
The air was filled with the fishy smell of earth, the burnt smell of burning wood in the campfire, and the faint smell of blood that had not completely dissipated.
Benjamin did not show any signs of fatigue. Together with General Brandon, they inspected every possible camping site before sunset, and finally selected an open area backed by a small hill, with slightly higher terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The carriages were ordered to form a circle, forming a simple fortification to protect the nobles in the center of the camp.
Bonfires crackled throughout the camp, and the firelight danced, illuminating the tired and restless faces of the nobles in flickering light.
At this moment, they were huddled in their carriages, or snuggling next to the campfire. Even though they were dressed in fine clothes, they could not hide the wolfishness and depression emanating from them.
Count Reinhardt, this once highly respected old nobleman, is currently sitting by a simple campfire, using the silver cutlery he carries with him to cut a piece of barbecue with great difficulty.
His face was pale, and his eyes were full of worries about the future. Next to him, Baron Fabio's fat body was almost sunken into the simple animal skin cushion. He used his fat fingers to rub uneasily a worn token tied around his waist.
General Brandon was sitting alone, holding an extremely bright dagger in his hand. His eyes were bright, but he looked in the direction of Royal Capital from time to time, his brows furrowed.
"Lord Earl, although Lord Jack is invincible, Orc and Magic Beast in this wilderness are nothing but chickens and dogs in front of him." Baron Fabio lowered his voice, almost leaning into Count Reinhardt's ear, his fat face full of worry.
"My distant cousin from my branch after arriving at Royal Capital has already owned my title and Golden Port's property. Now that our territory has been lost, only these family assets are left. I'm afraid those Royal Capital clansmen will not let us off easily."
Count Reinhardt stopped what he was doing and sighed softly.
He understands the darkness and cruelty of the Royal Capital aristocratic circle better than Baron Fabio.
A bitter smile appeared on his weather-beaten face, "It's not just titles and properties? Fabio, my grandchildren are fighting openly and secretly for the inheritance of the family. Now the family has suffered heavy losses. If our elders die in an "accident" on the road, the side branches and younger generations can justifiably divide all our inheritance."
General Brandon on the side heard the conversation between the two and couldn't help but interject. "What Count Reinhardt said is absolutely true. My useless nephew has been staring at the military power in my hands for a long time. With his character, in order to inherit the inheritance openly and honestly, he may even collude with outsiders or even create "accidents". Royal Capital's aristocratic circle is more sinister than the wolves, tigers and leopards in this wilderness."
An imperceptible chill flashed in his eyes.
Fabio Baron shivered in fright, and his fat body involuntarily leaned against the campfire. "Oh my God, General! You mean they will send people to intercept and kill us on the road?"
Brandon General did not answer directly, but coldly glanced at the nobles scattered around in the distance.
As members of the nobility, they know best how dirty things can be done under a noble.
In this dangerous wilderness, this fear is infinitely magnified.
They were once aloof rulers, but now they are like a group of helpless lambs.
They lowered their voices and their words were full of madness for power and money.
And in the corner of the camp, in an inconspicuous tent, Benjamin did not fall asleep.
He sat cross-legged, holding Eye of Investigation in his hand to have a panoramic view of everything in the entire camp.
The whispers of the nobles, their fears, worries, and obscure suspicions all turned into streaks of Mortal Dust Aura, which were absorbed silently by the Talisman Seal in his Dantian.
"It's a pretty good sample." Benjamin chuckled.
He knew that these nobles were full of fear of his powerful power, but also because of this power, they were extremely dependent on and afraid of him.
This supportive mentality is exactly the "sample" he needs.
He no longer paid attention to the whispers of the nobles, but turned his attention to another thing.
He had previously summoned several mercenaries who were relatively smart during the day and were already in awe of him.
Compared with those soldiers, these people recognize the role of strength more, and at least they will obey his orders until they encounter greater benefits.
Because we had been walking for several days, the surrounding environment was no longer within the sweep range of Orc's large forces, and inhabited towns and villages began to gradually appear.
It's just that these villages are more conspicuous as targets, so the nobles would rather endure worse conditions than camp out.
What Benjamin asked them to do was very simple, which was to collect intelligence and information from the surrounding villages.
Although there is Eye of Investigation, Benjamin is not very clear about the frontline intelligence or the situation in the surrounding towns, so it is necessary to collect relevant information, at least don't stupidly run into the towns controlled by Orc.
A few hours later, when the night was deepest and the darkest moment before dawn, the mercenary captain returned to the camp out of breath.
"Sir! I found it!" The captain knelt outside the Benjamin tent, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "The Orc army is indeed gathering. Relying on the materials transported by Golden Port, their vanguard troops have already assembled in several towns in the north of Royal Capital, and may launch a large-scale offensive at any time!"
Benjamin nodded calmly. Orc's actions did not exceed his expectations and signaled the other party to continue.
"Other than that, there's not much specific information. If I have to say it, there's probably a rumor about those alien demons." The mercenary captain said in a somewhat tangled tone.
"Oh? What rumor?" Benjamin became interested when he heard it was related to wizards.
The mercenary captain took a deep breath. "Last month, multiple kingdoms joined forces to kill a powerful alien demon named "David"! It is said that the wizard was extremely powerful and destroyed one after another after coming to this world a few months ago. He defeated several tribes from the Orc country, and later broke into the Elf people's area, and there was no one who could defeat them! If it weren't for the manifestation of the gods, and the warriors from all over the world regardless of casualties, there would be no way to eradicate them!"
The private soldier captain's eyes were still full of excitement about "gossip" at this moment. "Sir, you don't know! The people in the tavern said that the battle was a disaster! It is said that even the space was torn apart, countless mountains were turned into powder, and rivers were changed! After the David wizard died, his soul even turned into a wraith, cursing many nobles and priests who surrounded him, causing them all to get strange diseases, and finally died tragically!"
Benjamin seemed to be just listening with interest, but his heart was shocked.
"David?"
There are many wizards named David, but if we say the most famous "David" among the wizards who have just arrived in this generation, it is probably only the Level 10 genius of the First Noren Academy.
He sent the private soldier captain away and fell into deep thought alone.
"The manifestation of the gods - does it mean a situation similar to Angel? If Level 3 Being leads the team and is surrounded by a group of Level 2 Being, it is possible to kill that genius."
As a Level 10 genius, the trump card of David will definitely not be much worse than mine.
But just like the problem Benjamin encountered at the beginning, if Level 3 Being leads the team, the opponent is likely to kill him before he can reveal his trump card.
"That's not right. Judging from the rumors, the two sides should have experienced a big war. But---"
Benjamin couldn't help but search the memory in his mind and pulled up the last contribution ranking list.
During the two months that Benjamin has lived in seclusion and conducted research in Golden Port, the contribution rankings have still been updated on time.
Because there has been little contribution in the past two months, Benjamin's ranking has dropped another two places, and is now down to sixth place.
However, the growth rate of other wizards' contributions has also begun to slow down, and it seems that they have all entered a dormant stage.
"David..-."
Benjamin quickly looked at the changes about David on the previous contribution lists.
From the earliest times, David has always been ranked in the top three in the contribution list.
But in the second month, his contribution ranking retreated, and when it was the lowest, it even reached fifth place, indicating that the growth rate of contribution acquisition has slowed down.
It seems that he must have wiped out all the Orc tribe near the landing, and there was no prey left, so it must have been that time that he moved to the Elven Kingdom.
After reaching Elven Kingdom, I should have encountered many enemies, and my contribution ranking has risen all the way, reaching the top three.
"Then last month David's ranking went directly to the first place. It seems that it must have encountered a big battle."
Benjamin's fingers trembled subconsciously. "It seems that David was indeed beaten to death - no, this only means that he experienced a big battle last month, but it does not mean that he was the one who died. It still depends on the changes in the contribution list this month."
Although he said this, Benjamin also knew very well that if David really experienced such a siege, the possibility of death due to bad luck would be very high.
"Is it possible for a mere incomplete Plane War to cause such a huge loss? Is it really possible that David, as the genius of Level 10, could die so easily? Wizards are all smart people, and they shouldn't really choose such a reckless fool as their successor, right?"
Benjamin looks like he is contemplating with his eyes closed, but various thoughts are constantly surging in his mind.
Finally, he let out a long sigh, "Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it now. Let's wait until Royal Capital is reached before asking for more specific information."
Putting these things behind for the time being, Benjamin sat cross-legged on the ground and meditated before dawn.