Chapter 27

Undoubtedly, this proud old thief, "Quick Hand," possessed exceptional strength that lived up to his arrogance.

However, Gerald did not simply accept his suggestion and choose to cooperate with him.

Every experienced adventurer knows that when choosing teammates, the first thing to consider is not strength, but character.

As adventuring partners, you often need to help each other and sometimes even entrust your lives to one another. If a teammate is a bit weak, you can just be careful and choose jobs with lower risks and lower rewards, but if a teammate has terrible character, it is nothing short of a tragedy!

Just like when Sui Xiong played games and formed groups for dungeons before he transmigrated, it didn't matter if a teammate's skill level was a bit low, but it was terrifying to have a dead weight. The saying "once the 'brother sword' is drawn, there are no more brothers" has even become a famous anecdote.

Although Gerald had never heard of terms like "ninja-ing loot," as an experienced adventurer, he would never make the rookie mistakes of a novice. He would rather go without a teammate than choose one whose character was unverified!

"Please help me check the mission history of this Mr. Ryan, 'Quick Hand,'" he said to the waitress at the Adventurers' Guild. "Check how many missions he has accepted, how many teams he has participated in, his relationship with his teammates, and how he performed on those missions."

Ryan's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of cold light passing through them.

This giant, who looked somewhat young and simple at first glance, was not as honest as he appeared; he was unexpectedly quite seasoned, which made Ryan feel a hint of trouble.

Although he had been prepared and would not leave any openings in such matters, could his previous plan still be executed smoothly when facing a cautious opponent? He felt a little worried.

The young waitress soon returned from the archives with a dusty file.

The document clearly stated: Ryan, nicknamed Quick Hand, possessed extremely high-level skills. He was not only a top-tier pickpocket but also adept at mechanisms, traps, stealth, and combat. He had participated in well-known adventure teams many times, assisting his teammates in successfully completing missions. His performance was outstanding, and he could be called the most formidable thief in the Four Towns area. He retired about twenty years ago and returned half a year ago for unknown reasons. His combat ability had declined, but his manual skills remained exquisite.

Gerald looked at the file carefully. This was a unique service of the Adventurers' Guild, which established such a file for every adventurer who registered and accepted missions. When needed, this file was the most reliable proof.

Judging from the file, Ryan was very reliable. Yet, he still felt a bit worried—no reason, purely intuition.

"Senior Ryan, you earned enough money to retire twenty years ago, so why have you come back out to roam at this age?" he asked.

Ryan was silent for a while, lowered his head, and sighed deeply, but said nothing.

Not far away, among a group of middle-aged adventurers drinking, one with a loose tongue blurted out the reason: "It's all for his son! The brat didn't learn well, provoked a big shot, and was struck by a powerful curse. To break the curse, he used up the favors he had accumulated back then and even owed a huge debt. There was no other way; he had to try to earn a bit more while his hands haven't started trembling yet."

Gerald was startled and turned to look, only to see that Ryan did not deny it, his expression merely bitter, carrying the desolation of a hero in his twilight years.

To be able to leave the name of "the strongest" in the Adventurers' Guild archives, he must have been a big shot who stirred up the world in his prime. In his heyday, who would have dared to lay a hand on his family! But now, he could only exhaust his wealth to save his son, fall into debt, and be forced to return to the perilous life of an adventurer in his aged body. This was no longer just desolation; it was extreme wretchedness.

Gerald also noticed that Ryan's mission history over the past six months was almost not worth mentioning. In other words, although he had returned to his old trade, he had never been able to find any decent work.

The pressure he had been under during this time was imaginable!

Thinking of this, he, who had also once been down and out, couldn't help but sigh deeply and pat the old thief on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, everything will get better!"

Ryan nodded and forced a laugh: "I usually wait for work here. If you are ready, come call me; we can set off at any time."

"I can see you're no rookie, so I don't need to explain what you need to prepare for the road."

After saying this, he walked toward an empty table nearby and sat there motionless, not even ordering a drink.

Gerald was silent for a long time before turning to head out.

The teammate was secured; now he just needed to prepare the necessary supplies.

"Be careful," Sui Xiong's voice echoed in his mind. "Although I can sense that these people are not lying, don't you think something is a bit off?"

Gerald was taken aback. This was the first time he had encountered a situation where even His Majesty Oscar was hesitant. It was as if he had traveled thousands of miles to a Korean internet cafe to watch his idol, a professional e-sports player, play a practice match, only to see the idol get beaten to a pulp by a Chinese game commentator.

In an instant, he felt terrible.

"Your Majesty... I will be extra careful..."

Sui Xiong nodded and yawned, not pursuing the topic further.

The wind in the sky was too gentle and the sunlight too bright; he was so sleepy that he was already half-asleep.

Gerald went straight to prepare the items needed for the adventure, mainly camping gear, things that might be used in underground caves, and various consumables.

The three spatial bags seized from the Orc Wolf Rider Band were a huge help. He purchased enough supplies for ten people for two months in one go, filling all three spatial bags to the brim.

As for common healing potions, antidotes, and low-level spell scrolls, he didn't prepare too many due to the price. Although he had made a fortune, he was still a poor man at heart and didn't like to spend money lavishly.

After buying the consumables, he ran to the blacksmith shop. The dwarf "Duantie" was staying there temporarily. The dwarf, who had promised to help him forge a weapon, was helping to craft some simple ironware to regain his feel as a blacksmith. When Gerald visited, he stated that his feel hadn't fully recovered and he couldn't forge a satisfactory weapon for the time being, so he could only make something inferior to make do.

Gerald, of course, had no objections to this. Inferior goods produced by a dwarf were actually already quite decent weapons; at the very least, they were sufficient for daily use.

Dwarves are not born with a greater talent for forging; they simply generally have strong physiques and are more adapted to high-temperature environments. For the craft of a blacksmith, this is a good foundation. In addition, the average lifespan of a dwarf is almost double that of a human, which means young dwarves have more time to hone their skills, and elderly master blacksmiths can teach more apprentices in their lifetime.

Combined, these factors created the golden brand of "Dwarf-forged, must be a masterpiece."

Duantie was not very old; at under fifty, he was still considered a youth among dwarves. His forging skills could only be described as decent. Compared to ordinary human blacksmiths, it was nothing more than having more strength, being able to forge red-hot iron blocks into a denser state, and making weapons sturdier. He had not yet mastered the high-level techniques that truly required the passage of time to refine.

What he forged for Gerald was a massive battle axe. The handle was made from a whole log, which had been debarked, scorched, and finely polished, and finally wrapped in animal hide to ensure a firm grip. The axe head was made of wrought iron, and the blade was clad in steel, making it exceptionally sharp.

"Actually, I should have used steel to forge an axe core first and then wrapped it in iron to better transmit force," Duantie said with some regret. "But making such a battle axe takes quite a lot of time. I see you are in a hurry, so let's make do with this for now."

For this axe, Gerald paid 1,300 gold coins: 400 for wrought iron, 600 for steel, 100 for the log, 100 for consumables like charcoal, and the final 100 as a reward for the craftsmen who helped.

As for Duantie himself, he didn't take a single cent, only urging Gerald to use this axe to chop down more evil things.

"When you fight, count me in," he said.

When Gerald left the blacksmith shop, he was already wearing a sturdy coat made of canvas, and a specially made, reinforced leather belt formed a hook on his back, allowing the ridiculously large battle axe to be carried conveniently without hindering his movement.

The entire battle axe weighed nearly four thousand pounds. This was a terrifying weight that made one shudder; when it was swung, even a dragon would have to retreat, and even among giants known for their monstrous strength, few could wield such a heavy weapon. Yet, in Gerald's hands, it felt perfectly balanced—neither too heavy to lose agility nor too light to make it hard to exert force. It was just right.

When Gerald returned to the Adventurers' Guild with this massive battle axe on his back, everyone in the guild was stunned. Some young adventurers even couldn't help but come over to strike up a conversation, just to get a close look at this unheard-of, gargantuan weapon.

"With this in hand, even a dragon could be fought!"

"Are you joking? What do you mean 'could be fought'? One strike from this axe, and even a dragon would lose half its life!"

"If you smashed down with the back of the axe, you could probably collapse a huge section of a city wall... No wonder giants are called 'living siege engines'; their strength is truly overwhelming!"

"If only I had that kind of power!"

"Stop dreaming. If you had strength like his, all your worldly possessions wouldn't even cover a few days' worth of food..."

Amidst the laughter and banter, Gerald handed a few gold coins to the bartender and announced loudly, "Drinks for everyone! Wish me luck!"

Amidst the cheers and well-wishes, he left the Adventurers' Guild with Palin, who was feeling dizzy from reading, and Ryan, whose aloofness kept strangers at bay. Following the location Sui Xiong had extracted from the memories of "Blood Hand" Luer, they set off toward the secret treasure cache of the Orc Wolf Rider Band.