The Ins and Outs

The entire tavern fell silent upon hearing Lin Ze's confident words.

Everyone turned to look at Lin Ze.

Their eyes held curiosity, doubt, and anger.

Seeing this, the Middle-aged Strong Man frowned and said after some thought.

"Brother, I'd like to understand in detail. Could you come with me to an upstairs private room?"

Lin Ze blinked his slightly tipsy eyes and carefully looked at the Middle-aged Strong Man.

"Who are you?"

The Middle-aged Strong Man smiled slightly. A man behind him, the Extremely Fluffy-haired Man, stepped forward and said in a deep voice.

"We are the Flame Mercenary Group. This is our Regiment Commander, Huo Lie."

Lin Ze looked deeply at the Middle-aged Strong Man upon hearing this, then nodded.

"Alright."

The Middle-aged Strong Man was somewhat surprised by Lin Ze's calm demeanor.

Was it the alcohol, or was there another reason?

Under the gaze of the tavern patrons, the group walked up to the private room upstairs.

Entering the room, Lin Ze poured a glass of water to moisten his throat and slowly recounted what he had seen through the Death Soldier.

After listening, a Tender-faced Youth from the Flame Mercenary Group suddenly slammed the table.

"Damn it, could it really be people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group who sabotaged our mission this time!?"

Hearing the youth's words, Lin Ze's heart stirred.

It seemed the Flame Mercenary Group's mission was also targeting the Fire Wolf Pack.

He had observed the mercenary groups in Fire Wolf Town being very active a few days ago, clearly members of the Flame Mercenary Group.

Huo Lie, who was leading them, frowned.

After a long period of contemplation, Huo Lie's gaze became sharp as he looked at Lin Ze.

"Brother, regardless of whether this matter is true or not, even if it is true, you probably have ulterior motives, right?"

Lin Ze nodded frankly.

Hatred flickered in his eyes.

"Of course, because of this wolf pack attack, I lost three whole brothers!"

"If I had the ability to retaliate against them, I would have already killed my way over!"

Lin Ze had lost three Death Soldiers this time, and they were Death Soldiers who had Absolute Loyalty to him.

This caused Lin Ze immense heartache.

He also harbored a desire to kill the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

Therefore, his genuine emotions at this moment instead drew the attention of the Flame Mercenary Group members in the room.

The sharpness in Huo Lie's eyes softened considerably.

He was quite appreciative of the person before him, possessing courage, wisdom, compassion, and righteousness.

His brothers had sacrificed themselves due to the Fire Wolf Pack, yet he did not blindly seek revenge.

He was able to spread information in the tavern to attract someone who could handle this matter.

He needed to have both brains and courage.

Furthermore, being able to do this much for his brothers was enough to earn him the evaluation of possessing courage, wisdom, compassion, and righteousness.

Huo Lie glanced at the Fluffy-haired Man, who immediately understood. He stepped forward and said angrily in a deep voice.

"So, you intend to use us?!"

The Fluffy-haired Man put on a fierce expression. Years of fighting against magical beasts had naturally cultivated a fierce aura.

An ordinary person would likely tremble in fear if startled by this.

Lin Ze, however, was unfazed. Not long ago, he had experienced the feeling of being on the brink of death with his Death Soldiers.

This fierce aura now felt like a gentle breeze brushing against his face.

"That's right, I do intend to use you. But listening to what this brother said earlier, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group has likely also sabotaged your mission."

"Without me, your mission would have failed inexplicably, and the Wolf Head Mercenary Group would have remained perfectly hidden behind the scenes."

"Causing heavy losses for Fire Wolf Town and causing your mercenary group's mission to fail."

"In the end, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group would still be safe and sound, being the sole beneficiary of this incident!"

"This is a situation I believe you also do not wish to see, right?"

Hearing Lin Ze's words, the appreciation in Huo Lie's eyes deepened.

In just a few words, he had tied his own interests and those of the Flame Mercenary Group together.

"In that case, we and Little Brother are a perfect match."

"Little Brother wants to borrow our strength for revenge, and we also want to borrow Little Brother's intelligence to get revenge on the people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group!"

Lin Ze watched the actions of the two from the Flame Mercenary Group and understood that they were playing good cop, bad cop.

However, Lin Ze didn't mind, as long as his goal could be achieved.

"Indeed!"

"Then please, Little Brother, tell us the intelligence. We also need to catch them in the act to confirm if they are indeed from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group!"

Lin Ze readily agreed and recounted the intelligence gathered by the Death Soldiers one by one.

Huo Lie pondered for a moment and looked at the youth who had initially slammed the table.

"Xiao Fei, take your brothers and go. Interrogate them thoroughly."

Huo Lie emphasized the words "thoroughly."

The youth named Xiao Fei nodded excitedly.

"Understood, Regiment Commander!"

Seeing Xiao Fei leave, Huo Lie turned to Lin Ze and smiled.

"To be honest, our Flame Mercenary Group intended to deal with the Fire Wolf King of the Fire Wolf Pack this time."

"Once the Wolf King is eliminated, the pack will be leaderless, and Fire Wolf Town will have a period of relative stability."

"Unfortunately, the people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group interfered midway, and our efforts were in vain."

Lin Ze listened and nodded repeatedly, even giving a thumbs-up.

"The Flame Mercenary Group is truly commendable. Thanks to you, we mercenaries who make a living in Fire Wolf Town face less danger."

The Death Soldier put on an expression of utmost admiration.

This caused the expressions of the Flame Mercenary Group members to soften considerably, some even showing smiles.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the town.

Lin Ze's Main Body sat cross-legged on the bed, listening to the words of the Flame Mercenary Group's Regiment Commander. He shook his head slightly.

They spoke quite beautifully.

But most mercenaries are not motivated without profit.

To say that the Flame Mercenary Group spent several days, working tirelessly, and even risking great danger to eliminate the Fire Wolf King, all for the sake of making Fire Wolf Town more stable.

You can just smile when you hear such words.

But how much you believe them in your heart is another matter.

If it were truly for the entire Fire Wolf Town, then not only would the Jia Ma Empire's Garrison Guard take the lead, but at the very least, the other mercenary groups in Fire Wolf Town would definitely participate.

Lin Ze knew that Fire Wolf Town, like Qingshan Town, had several major mercenary groups coexisting, not dominated by a single one.

In such a situation, putting himself in their shoes, if he were the Flame Mercenary Group, and he fought to the death while other mercenary groups reaped the benefits, how could that be possible?

At the very least, he would have to bring other mercenary groups along to share the risks.

Therefore, Lin Ze judged that the Flame Mercenary Group's mission targeting the Fire Wolf Pack must have some additional benefits.

As for what those additional benefits might be, it could be that there were ruins in the Fire Wolf Pack's lair, or perhaps the Fire Wolf King had killed an important figure in the Flame Mercenary Group.

There were too many possibilities.

And among mercenaries, treasure hunting and revenge were the most common scenarios.

However, Lin Ze didn't care too much about the Flame Mercenary Group's scheme.

He just wanted those people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group to pay the price.

As for the Flame Mercenary Group having ulterior motives towards him?

Lin Ze wasn't worried at all, because from beginning to end, the ones who had contact with the Flame Mercenary Group were Death Soldiers.

Lin Ze remained perfectly hidden behind the scenes.