For the next two days, Lin Ze tried to figure out whether he could infiltrate the Flame Mercenary Group.
He wanted to investigate the situation in more detail.
Still, Lin Ze didn't get fixated on this one approach. Instead, he pursued several leads at once.
After these past few days of daily manifestations, Lin Ze now had nearly fifty Death Soldiers.
Aside from a three-man squad in Qingshan Town, all the other Death Soldiers were in Fire Wolf Town.
With the Hunting Skill of the second blue, rare-epic Death Soldier, Lin Ze's Flesh Essence continued to rise.
More importantly, Lin Ze had gained a better understanding of the area around Fire Wolf Town.
With the help of the eyes of more than forty Death Soldiers, Lin Ze could learn about the area around Fire Wolf Town without ever leaving home.
He was especially familiar with the Magical Beast Mountain Range near Fire Wolf Town. Lin Ze was confident that even veteran mercenaries who had spent years in Fire Wolf Town might not know it as well as he did.
He knew where Magical Beasts were plentiful and where traps could be set. At least in this small patch of land, he knew the place as well as his own Small Courtyard.
During this time, Lin Ze also found the Wolf Pack's lair.
It was a hill covered in dense forest. In the middle of the hill lay a deep, secluded cave—the lair of the Wolf Pack.
However, Lin Ze only controlled a Death Soldier to take a distant look. He didn't venture any closer.
After all, the lair held not only a Tier 2 Magical Beast, the Fire Wolf King, but also a great many First Order Magical Beasts.
A pack of this size would spell doom for anyone caught in its midst. Even several Dou Masters would meet their end there.
While Lin Ze was controlling Death Soldiers as usual to gather information, he suddenly noticed some activity from the Flame Mercenary Group.
At the small square in Fire Wolf Town, a tall man wearing Leather Armor and the Flame Mercenary Group's badge called out loudly.
"The Flame Mercenary Group is recruiting odd-job workers! Applicants must be hardworking and capable. Those with decent talent will also be given a hand by the group and taken into the mountains to hone their skills."
This drew everyone's attention in the square.
Being a mercenary was a profession that put your life on the line, but the high risk also meant high rewards.
As long as you successfully hunted a Magical Beast, most of its materials could be put to use.
If you were lucky and the Magical Beast had a Magic Core, even the most common First Order Magic Core could be worth four or five hundred gold coins.
After all, just twenty gold coins were enough to keep an ordinary family fed and clothed for an entire year.
In the Mystical World, resources related to cultivation were usually worth a fortune.
It was precisely this combination of high risk and high reward that kept the towns on the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range thriving, with people constantly coming and going.
Now there was a chance to become a mercenary backed by a major Mercenary Group. Naturally, it was an opportunity people would clamor for.
Watching from a distance as the crowd gathered around the tall, burly man, Lin Ze couldn't help but marvel at how appealing a Mercenary Group could be.
To make an imperfect comparison using the terms from Lin Ze's previous life, mercenaries had high-paying but high-risk jobs.
Mercenaries backed by a Mercenary Group faced less risk. Their work became high-paying with moderate-to-low risk, so it was no wonder people were eager to join.
Thoughts raced through Lin Ze's mind, but his feet never stopped. He followed the crowd toward the tall, burly man.
Although Lin Ze found the Flame Mercenary Group's recruitment drive suspicious.
As mentioned before, the Flame Mercenary Group focused on recruiting elite members. Even when hiring odd-job workers, they wouldn't normally make such a big public display of it.
They usually handled such matters through shops in this line of business, with the shopkeepers recommending workers.
At least, Lin Ze hadn't heard anything about public recruitment while gathering information on the matter.
As Lin Ze was thinking this, several people nearby clicked their tongues in surprise.
"Can't say I've seen this before. The Flame Mercenary Group is actually recruiting odd-job workers out here."
"Right? Don't they usually recruit people directly from the shops?"
"Did the shops go out of business? Or are they looking for too many people this time?"
"Who cares? Who wouldn't want to seize an opportunity like this?"
Blending in with them, Lin Ze nodded repeatedly.
"Exactly, exactly!"
As Lin Ze joined in the conversation, his suspicions grew.
When something unusual happened, there was usually a reason.
But Lin Ze didn't care whether this was a trap. Even if it was, he intended to walk right into it.
After all, it would only be a Death Soldier walking into the trap, not Lin Ze himself.
Lin Ze was willing to send Death Soldiers to their deaths. He just needed those deaths to mean something—not to die pointlessly in another Wolf Pack's charge like last time.
As long as the Death Soldier could uncover useful information within the Flame Mercenary Group, Lin Ze was willing to pay the price.
Soon, it was the Death Soldier Lin Ze controlled's turn. The tall man gave Lin Ze a look.
He saw Lin Ze's sturdy build and honest-looking face.
The man looked like a simple, reliable sort, so he nodded.
This was exactly the sort of person the Regiment Commander wanted. Their strength didn't matter much.
Even an ordinary person would do. After all, the people they were recruiting this time weren't going to be odd-job workers.
"Give me a brief introduction."
"Yes, sir. I'm Wang Wu. I have no parents, no wife or children, and nothing tying me down. If you hire me as an odd-job worker, you can put me to work as much as you like!"
The tall man's eyes lit up when he heard Lin Ze's answer.
This man fit the Regiment Commander's requirements perfectly!
The tall man immediately became more welcoming and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
"W-Wang Wu, right? Starting today, you'll work for our Flame Mercenary Group. You'll even have the chance to come with us into the mountains and hone your skills. One day, you might become a real mercenary."
"Then you'll have all the food and drink you want. Those fair-skinned women in the taverns—you can shower them with gold until their legs give way and they're on their knees at your feet."
As the tall man laid it on thick, Lin Ze put on an equally eager expression.
Lin Ze looked intensely hopeful, with a hint of worry and fear mixed in.
"Sir, I... can I really do that?"
"Haha! Trust me!"
Just like that, Lin Ze infiltrated the Flame Mercenary Group's headquarters as an odd-job worker.
As soon as he arrived, he was given a task. Lin Ze chose Semi-control, letting the Death Soldier act freely.
Seeing how hard Lin Ze worked and how willingly he took on every task, the people from the Flame Mercenary Group nodded in satisfaction.
As mentioned earlier, Semi-control was like viewing the world through the perspective of a character in a game. This meant Lin Ze could observe the surroundings without relying on the Death Soldier's eyes.
As the Death Soldier carefully wiped down a table, Lin Ze used Semi-control's strange perspective to spot someone walking behind the Death Soldier not far away. His eyes narrowed.
Mu Li!
The Young Leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was already inside the Flame Mercenary Group's headquarters!
Sure enough, no matter how closely the Death Soldiers watched from outside the headquarters, they could never have uncovered this information.
He'd only just infiltrated the place and had already obtained such an important lead. Even if the Death Soldier died now, it would have been worth it!
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