Slaughter

Green's pace quickened as he hurried back to the camp, leaving the two men behind him struggling to keep up. Still, neither dared stop and could only grit their teeth and follow Green. Their outer garments looked as though they had rolled around in a muddy pond, and blood seeped intermittently from their injured arms. The sight could only be described as miserable.

As for stopping and secretly escaping, the two men did not have the courage. In their eyes, Green had not even bothered to restrain them, most likely because he was completely confident that he could easily recapture them even if they ran.

Green had originally planned to take his time returning to camp, but he suddenly thought of something. During the dozen or so days since entering the Visas Wasteland, he had not been completely separated from the caravan even once. Baron Candia had chosen neither to report early nor late, but precisely when everyone was near the river and their vigilance was at its weakest. He was probably after more than just Green's bounty; he was even more interested in the caravan's wealth.

When they were still some distance from the camp, Green heard voices coming from within it. After becoming a Formal Knight, Green's five senses had improved tremendously. He could sense unusual situations from much farther away.

There are still voices discussing things? Looks like they haven't had time to act yet. Are they planning to make their move after the assassination succeeds? Green speculated inwardly. He glanced back at the two assassins following him. After signaling for them to stop, Green began quietly approaching the camp.

When he reached the vicinity of the camp, Green muffled his footsteps and silently approached the carriage Baron Candia was riding in. As a noble baron, Baron Candia's carriage was directly behind Baron Klow's. The power of a Grand Knight was enough to resolve everything head-on, but to prevent Baron Candia from playing dirty and threatening him with the people in the caravan—such as poisoning everyone in advance and keeping the antidote for himself—Green still chose the more cautious method, lest some melodramatic plot unfold.

Green did not care about the others, but Old Green was different.

With the Chip's assistance and his powerful mobility, Green easily avoided everyone's sight and quietly reached the side behind Baron Candia's carriage.

"Have you put the stuff inside?"

"Rest assured, Baron."

Two voices came from inside the carriage.

[Matching voiceprints.]

The Chip automatically collected information from the outside world and stored it in condensed form. Green knew every detail about the entire caravan like the back of his hand.

[Voiceprint one: Kri, Knight Apprentice.]

[Voiceprint two: Candia, Formal Knight.]

Amid the noisy commotion in the camp, the two people inside the carriage failed to notice that Green was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Although the Mandrake Flower's poison isn't particularly potent, it's extremely insidious. Whether consumed or touched, it will cause poisoning. There are only a few places in the entire Visas Wasteland where water can be replenished, and these people will definitely use a great deal of it. Once the Mandrake Flower's poison takes effect and they lose their combat strength, everything will be ours. Hahaha." After Baron Candia finished speaking, he let out a sinister laugh, as if everything were already within his grasp.

Green, who had been eavesdropping beside the carriage, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

[They didn't use a slow-acting poison. It's only Mandrake Flower.]

Green immediately recalled the records concerning the Mandrake Flower. It was a flower that grew in swamps and possessed predatory characteristics. Through its roots, it could digest the corpses of animals, accumulating a special toxin while doing so. The toxin was colorless and odorless and dissolved easily in water. It was not very potent and was almost incapable of killing anyone. However, its hallucinatory effects were extremely strong. Once exposed, the brain would produce all kinds of illusions, completely severing one's perception of the outside world. A Knight Level expert could resist it effectively, but even they could not be exposed to large amounts.

"Bang!"

A powerful explosion rang out. For a moment, the entire camp seemed to freeze, and everyone turned their eyes toward the source of the sound.

Under everyone's gaze, Baron Candia's carriage exploded outright. Candia and the guard captain Kri were dragged across the ground by a figure holding their hands. In the briefest instant, their faces had been rubbed raw and bloody, while their bodies had suffered such intense abrasion that great amounts of flesh and gravel had mixed together. They were no longer recognizable as human.

Everyone in the camp could tell it was Green, but the exploded carriage and the two people dragged across the ground left everyone speechless with fear. Not a single person dared make a sound, much less question Green. Even the people from Baron Candia's own entourage did not dare utter a word. Not all nobles were as friendly as Baron Klow; most were more like vampires, squeezing the commoners within their territories dry.

Green planted one foot on Baron Candia's head. "Looks like you're not very popular! Not a single person is pleading for you! They don't even dare ask me why."

Candia was currently sprawled miserably on the ground, his entire body covered in horrifying wounds. Blood soaked through his clothes and mixed with mud and dust, making him look especially wretched. His right eye had burst from Green's brutal dragging, while his left arm twisted at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.

Candia raised his head and saw Green. He naturally knew that the Shadow Organization's assassination had failed and that all his schemes had come to nothing.

"P-please..." Candia's voice was hoarse and feeble. His trembling lips forced out each word alongside a pained moan. "Sp-spare my life..."

"I-I'll give you... all my treasures..." Candia continued begging Green without pause.

As Green watched Candia beg for mercy, a radiant smile appeared on his face.

"Idiot. Even if I kill you, your things will still be mine."

At those words, the veins around Candia's left eye bulged. He glared fixedly at Green, fury mingling with profound despair.

"Bang, bang!"

Green brought his foot down viciously, crushing both men's heads. Their skulls burst apart like watermelons.

Everyone in the camp had gone completely numb. They all stared at Green, unable to understand why he had done such a thing.

"Wade, Dila, come over and explain the situation to everyone." Green called over his shoulder. The two assassins, Wade and Dila, hurried into the camp when they heard him call.

Everyone's eyes focused on Wade and Dila, who were dressed in night clothes and looked exceptionally miserable.

"It was like this..." Eager to stay alive, Wade was extremely cooperative. As soon as he reached the edge of the camp, he began explaining everything to everyone.

As Wade spoke, the caravan members' hostile gazes toward the people from Baron Candia's caravan grew increasingly heavy.

The faces of the people from Baron Candia's caravan grew paler and paler, fear filling their eyes. If what Wade said was true, it went without saying what kind of treatment awaited them. Some guards from Candia's caravan had already begun trembling as they gripped their weapons. The strength Green had displayed moments ago was absolutely beyond anything they could resist.

"My lord, we truly didn't take part in it. We knew nothing about this." A maid from Baron Candia's caravan finally buckled under the pressure. She dropped to her knees before Green and frantically begged for mercy, repeatedly knocking her head against the ground. She struck herself so hard that blood had already begun to seep from her forehead, yet even then she did not stop.

Once one person broke down, it quickly triggered a chain reaction. Everyone from Baron Candia's caravan knelt before Green and begged for mercy.

"Ashlyn, go get some paper and a pen. Write up slave contracts." Ashlyn had originally been standing to the side. When she heard Green's sudden order, she immediately came to her senses and understood what he intended. She hurried toward the carriage, an unusual excitement showing in her expression.

Watching Ashlyn leave, Green turned toward the people from Baron Candia's caravan who were still kowtowing.

"All right, stop. I'll give you two choices. One: leave the caravan and fend for yourselves. Two: sign a slave contract and become my property."

The people from Baron Candia's caravan, who had still been kowtowing, all gave the same answer without exception after hearing Green's words: they were willing to choose the second option. Some even wore delighted smiles.

In their eyes, following Baron Candia was practically no different from being slaves. They had not followed Baron Candia away willingly; they had been forced to do so.

After entering the Visas Wasteland and speaking with the people from Green's caravan, they naturally learned that Green was relatively easy to get along with. Moreover, he possessed overwhelming strength, making him clearly a better choice than Candia.

After Ashlyn brought paper and a pen and wrote up the slave contracts, everyone from Baron Candia's caravan pressed their fingerprints onto them without hesitation.

However, Green possessed the Chip and could clearly distinguish those who were absolutely loyal to Baron Candia. Those tiny expressions of deceit were not so easy to conceal.

After identifying more than a dozen die-hard loyalists from Candia's side, Green sent them off to reunite with Baron Candia with a punch or kick each.

Green's second display of force completely intimidated the rest of Candia's people. Everyone looked at him cautiously, terrified of angering him. After scanning them again with the Chip and confirming that there were no other die-hard loyalists, Green nodded slightly, then indicated that everyone should clean up the blood-and-flesh-covered scene before he tidied up his own appearance.

Mud mixed with blood covered Green. At that moment, he looked worse than a vagrant.

"My lord, can we leave?" the two assassins asked cautiously when Green walked toward the river.

"Of course. You can leave right now." When Green agreed, the two assassins were overjoyed. They hurriedly thanked him, then quickly left the camp.

Green watched the two men recede into the distance and smiled faintly.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two dull explosions rang out. Green would never release a tiger back into the mountains. Who knew whether the two assassins would harbor resentment after escaping and continue targeting him? From the very beginning, Green had merely suppressed the surging energy within their bodies and deliberately set a distance limit. Once they moved a certain distance away from Green, the energy would erupt again—far more violently and explosively than the first time.

Green glanced back, then turned and walked toward the river.

"Big Brother Green, we brought your clothes over." A crisp voice interrupted Green.

Green turned around. It was Leila and Mia. One of them carried his clothes, while the other carried his trousers. They had even placed them on a tray for his convenience.

Looks like the two of them saw Ashlyn's situation and sensed a crisis. Neither wanted to let only one person come over, so they divided the clothes between them.

"Just put them by the river."

"Mm."

After setting the things down, the two girls looked back at Green three times with every step, as though they had something to say. In the end, neither managed to speak. Blushing, they left the riverbank.

Green naturally knew about Ashlyn, Leila, and Mia's situation. After living in this world for so long, he had already begun adapting to its way of thinking.