Conflict

There was another reason: he had recently made progress in his research of the Agmilas Labyrinth and needed a place to test it out. Machu Picchu was an excellent testing ground.

To better control this group of adventurers with complex backgrounds, Charlotte adjusted the team structure on the road, citing the reason: "We might encounter danger on the way, so we need a battle formation." He gathered the leaders of a dozen small adventurer groups and then divided the remaining people into two teams based on gender. The male adventurers were responsible for supplies, and the female adventurers were responsible for food and water.

Charlotte's personnel adjustments were not drastic and were stated to be temporary, so they didn't face any opposition.

In small adventurer groups, the leader is usually the strongest fighter and the core of the team, with members quite dependent on them.

By temporarily separating the leaders from their members, Charlotte naturally weakened the leaders' influence and slightly increased his own "authority," giving him a bit more control over the team.

An adventurer team of over a hundred people was already considered a medium-to-large adventurer group, requiring attention to all aspects. Charlotte constantly used various opportunities along the way to strengthen his position.

After traveling for a day, this hastily assembled adventurer team chose to rest temporarily in a place called Maple Leaf Village. Maple Leaf Village wasn't very large and simply didn't have enough empty houses. They also worried about being robbed and refused to let so many people enter the village.

Charlotte once again displayed considerable social skill. After negotiating with the villagers, he arranged for all the female adventurers to rest inside the village, while he and the male team members camped outside the village.

Just as Charlotte finished making these arrangements, a team wearing black trench coats appeared from the direction they had come from.

"People from the Fiery Steed Detective Agency!?"

The distinctive black coats of these Fiery Steed detectives were very eye-catching.

They had previously encountered Charlotte in the village where he met the Great Axe Adventurer Group and then went their separate ways. Charlotte had thought he had escaped, but he didn't expect these detectives to still catch up.

Charlotte calculated in his mind, "This group of adventurers is not reliable. If a conflict breaks out, they might not stand with me. I must strike first and give them a sufficient reason to fight."

He beckoned with his hand, gathering the leaders of the small adventurer groups, and said in a low voice, "These are the detectives hired by my cousin. They also want to go to Machu Picchu. If they find the treasure first, we will return empty-handed and just watch them get rich."

"I cannot allow that to happen. That is our wealth."

"We have more people. Let's capture these detectives alive and imprison them within the team. We'll release them after we find the wealth."

Most adventurers were unwilling to provoke powerful major forces. The Fiery Steed Detective Agency employed over a hundred detectives, two to three hundred detective assistants, and a considerable number of trainee detectives, and even more than ten Transcendent individuals. Small adventurer groups simply didn't dare to clash with them.

Moreover, the head of the Fiery Steed Detective Agency, Aubrey Teuton Atwood, was not only a high-level Transcendent but also very capable, and was quite famous throughout the Empire of Fars.

Asking these small adventurer group leaders to kill the Fiery Steed Detective Agency people was something they would absolutely not dare to do, but Charlotte's suggestion to capture these detectives alive and temporarily imprison them made some of them eager to act, especially since they did have more people on their side right now.

An adventurer leader named Yas said, "Although there are only seven of them, there are at least two Transcendent individuals! Especially the leader, Winterburn. I know him, he's a Tier 4 Transcendent, a genuine Flame Dragon Knight."

Charlotte smiled slightly and said, "I will handle this person. You send five people to assist me."

Since Charlotte was willing to take on the most difficult fight, the leaders of these small adventurer groups were immediately moved. Under the direction of this "temporary leader," they gathered the skilled fighters from their respective teams and quickly divided up the combat objectives.

Winterburn's face was stern. He was actually very annoyed. The Wizards of the detective agency were far less effective at finding people than the Diviner Wells. He was certain that this mission had failed and that they had lost track of the target.

Not only had he failed to capture Charlotte, but he had also lost an important Transcendent detective. This business was a loss for the Fiery Steed Detective Agency. Wells' position within the Fiery Steed Detective Agency was irreplaceable; many cases relied on his Diviner profession, and it was impossible to replenish this type of Transcendent personnel in a short time.

He also noticed that there was a medium-to-large adventurer team in the distance, but as a senior detective of the Fiery Steed, he was not afraid of these disorganized people, especially since there was no "conflict" between the two sides.

Just as Winterburn was about to bypass this group of adventurers, he heard someone call out, "Mr. Winterburn?"

Although Winterburn had profound Battle Qi, he did not have the ability to see in the dark, and he was not familiar with the person speaking, so he was slightly taken aback and replied, "It is I!"

After all, he was an experienced senior detective and did not let his guard down because of this.

But then he heard the other party say, "So you're the one who seduced my wife?"

More than a dozen men swarmed out. Winterburn was shocked, thinking, "When did I ever seduce so many men's wives?"

Although Charlotte had confidently stated he would be the main force against Winterburn, after these dozen-plus people surrounded the seven detectives, he instead drew Blood Rose and thrust his sword towards Addison.

Even the Fiery Steed Detective Agency couldn't have Transcendent individuals everywhere. Among the seven detectives who came to hunt him this time, only Winterburn and Addison were Transcendent.

Charlotte was at least Chinese and had read Thirty-Six Stratagems and similar books since childhood. Before making his move, he had decided to eliminate Addison first. Without this Transcendent Knight, only Winterburn would be left struggling alone, which would reduce a lot of trouble.

Addison also didn't expect someone to attack him. He was a Tier 3 Knight with extremely fast reactions. He drew his sword and blocked Charlotte's strike, but he didn't expect Charlotte to disregard martial ethics. He pulled out the Magnum Hand Shuttle and fired twelve shots in rapid succession, forcing Addison to roar, his Flame Battle Qi erupting and forming a Flame Tornado around him, blocking the incoming bullets at the last possible moment.

Before Charlotte made his move, he had already calculated this step. Although a Knight's Battle Qi could protect them, it would definitely be distributed with varying strengths when facing an enemy. Addison was fully blocking the bullets coming from the front, so his defense from behind was likely insufficient.

While firing, he plunged Blood Rose into the ground, activated his Insight ability, and threw the Vampire Hand Axe towards the weakest point of Addison's protective Battle Qi.

Under the manipulation of Blood Flame Qi, the Vampire Hand Axe arced in a strange trajectory, breaking through Addison's protective Flame Battle Qi.

In just a few days, Charlotte had advanced a tier, and the power of his Blood Flame Qi had also increased by several tenths. The power of this strike was far greater than the last time, heavily striking the back of this Transcendent detective's head, with the axe blade embedding three inches into his skull.