Colin Iliad glanced at Lovia, but didn't respond directly. Only after pulling the two straight swords stuck in the ground did he nod and say:
"Good."
The group of five walked around the outskirts of North City, attempting to enter several times, but were deterred by the seemingly normal yet completely silent "daily life" of the city-state, and dared not explore rashly.
As the frequency of lightning in the sky decreased and darkness gradually took over the world, Colin gazed intently at North City for a few seconds and said:
"Let's set up a small camp first, and continue during the day."
The so-called daytime is simply a period with a high frequency of lightning and short intervals between darkness.
The other members of the exploration team had no objections and quickly set up a makeshift camp on a pile of rocks at the edge of the riverbed.
At the far end of the camp, sheltered by a huge rock above and free from the worry of rain, a campfire was burning brightly. Various strange creature remains were piled up beside it, occasionally being thrown in as firewood. Colin, Lovia, and the others sat around the fire, eating the dry rations they had brought and the Monster corpses that had been proven not to cause much harm.
As the grease sizzled and bubbled from the heat, Colin Iliad, the chief of the Council of Six, looked at Derrick Berg and said:
"Let's inspect the camp first, and then we'll exchange meals after they've finished."
In the past, Derrick wouldn't have had any other thoughts, but at this moment, the first thought that flashed through his mind was:
The CEO has something to say to me privately...
"Okay." Derrick stuffed the remaining piece of meat into his mouth and picked up the " Roar of the Thunder God " that was lying beside him.
The meat was clearly cooked, yet it still had a ghastly green color.
Upon reaching the edge of the dimly lit camp, " Demon Hunter " Colin spoke in a deep, unchanging voice:
" North City is more sinister and dangerous than I anticipated. What are your thoughts on the next steps?"
I don't know much about this place, and I don't have much experience either. Why would the chief ask for my opinion? Derrick was a little stunned for a moment, and instinctively wanted to raise his left hand to scratch the back of his head.
He immediately recalled his several conversations with the Chief in City of Silver, and remembered the analyses that Mr. " The Hanged Man " had made regarding the hidden meanings in their words. A sudden realization dawned on him:
The chief is Psychological Suggestion at something!
"He means that North City is more sinister and dangerous than expected, and hunting Shapeshifter will be more difficult than imagined. Is it possible to change the target?"
He wanted me to pray to Mr. The Fool for divine guidance and advice?
"I see... Mr. 'World' is truly a Wisdom man. He told me along the way how to hunt Trickmaster and obtain their blood in a relatively simple way. Hmm, in this situation, it seems like that might work!"
In a flash of thought, Derrick responded sincerely:
"Yes, Your Excellency, I have some suggestions."
Colin Iliad silently breathed a sigh of relief, swallowing back his more direct words, and nodded slightly:
"Speak."
"Now that North City has changed, entering it would be very risky for us. Perhaps we could consider luring the Shapeshifter out." Derrick didn't simply copy "The World" Gehrman Sparrow's method, but instead made some modifications based on the current situation.
" The Demon Hunter " Colin didn't directly deny it, but asked rather cautiously:
"How do we lure the Shapeshifter out?"
Derrick said without hesitation:
"I have an item that is extremely alluring to Shapeshifter. If I place it on the outskirts of North City or even further away, it will lure out Shapeshifter."
Colin, with his pale and disheveled hair, showed no surprise at his words and nodded gently:
What item?
He already knew that Derrick Berg had secretly performed a prayer ritual during the vigil along the way!
Moreover, if he hadn't helped cover it up, it certainly wouldn't have escaped the notice of Lovia, Rigg, and Gunalun.
Derrick, unsure of how to address or describe it, simply pulled out a dark iron-black box from inside his clothing—a box completely different from the style of City of Silver —and removed the " Wall of Spirituality " covering its surface.
Then, instead of looking down, he turned his head away and opened the box purely by feel with his hands.
Inside the box was a palm-sized humanoid object. At first glance, one could see that it was filled with a transparent liquid, occasionally bubbling and emitting a faint black glow. Upon closer inspection, however, one could discover that it was made up of worm-like strands, with indescribable patterns representing various abstract concepts in the fine details.
This is the true soul of the Spirit World Plunderer that Klein previously obtained!
He believed that this extraordinary material held an unparalleled attraction for Trickmaster, not only because of the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence, but also because once Trickmaster obtained it, it would become a complete " Bizarro Sorcerer," freeing itself from its current limitations, achieving a fundamental elevation in its life level, and truly becoming Demigod!
Therefore, in order to make the hunt for the Trickmaster simpler, more focused, and less time-consuming, Klein risked losing the true soul of the Spirit World Plunderer and lent it to Little " The Sun ".
Colin Iliad looked at it carefully for a few seconds, then looked away and said:
"It should work."
"Close the lid, and don't add the ' Wall of Spirituality ' anymore. Just leave it like this and see if you can attract them to the camp."
"Them?" Derrick asked instinctively.
A slight smile appeared on Colin's face, which bore several old scars:
"You think North City only has one Shapeshifter?"
"If this item weren't of a lower rank, I'd be worried it would attract even more terrifying Monster."
Derrick felt a pang of shame, scratched the back of his head, and, following the chief's instructions, closed the iron-black square box and stuffed it back into the hidden pocket inside his clothes.
During the rest of the patrol, he remained on high alert, but the Shapeshifter never attacked.
After a while, Lovia, Rigg, and Gunalun took over their tasks, Derrick sat back down by the warm campfire.
Just then, a cawing sound rang out, and seven or eight black-feathered, red-eyed crows flew over and circled in mid-air.
This brought an indescribable sense of terror Colin Iliad drew his straight sword and looked up.
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he quickly turned his gaze to where Derrick Berg was.
Across the fire, two brown-haired boys, each nearly 1.9 meters tall with a youthful face, stared at each other in astonishment.
Colin narrowed his eyes and immediately shouted:
"Shine!"
One of the boys was startled at first, then suddenly realized what was happening and let the pure, warm sunlight emanate from his body.
With a whoosh, a blur flashed by as Colin's straight sword cleaved through the fake Derrick.
It was a Specter, a blurry, transparent Specter!
At the same time, a red-eyed crow suddenly fell from the sky, its body expanding and transforming into a pitch-black shadow.
Above this shadow was a single, transparent One-Eyed that shimmered with a faint blue light, One-Eyed by a series of smaller, identical eyes.
Shapeshifter!
Shapeshifter can disguise itself as a crow!
The moment the dark shadow landed, Derrick's head went numb, and his body was petrified, unable to move. He could only watch as the other pounced on him.
Snap!
The Shapeshifter crashed into an invisible wall and failed to go any further.
At the edge of the fire, Colin Iliad plunged his straight sword into the ground and then pulled out another sword from his back.
Suddenly, the surroundings brightened, as if the legendary dawn had descended upon this abandoned land. Endless rays of Dawn light burst forth, forming a phantom ocean that swallowed up the dark shadows and all the crows.
At the camp entrance, a phantom knight over five meters tall, clad in silver armor, appeared behind " Shepherd " Lovia.
The knight's eyes each burned with a dark red flame, instantly locking onto a location.
He suddenly took a step and appeared several hundred meters away in Blink.
Sharp silver beams shot out, slicing everything around them into neat pieces, including all sorts of Monster hiding there, and Shapeshifter had escaped the " Demon Hunter's " Fatal Strike and moved here using some kind of ability.
The Monster was still alive; it transferred to its real body once more, but the pure, clear Dawn descended again, completely engulfing a large area.
As dawn faded, Colin Iliad appeared, dressed in a brown coat and carrying two straight swords. He calmly watched as light gradually gathered on the cracked earth before him, and as the mostly dried-out dark red blood slowly seeped out.
Success! Overjoyed, Derrick quickly used the " Wall of Spirituality " to reseal the iron-black square box.
" Demon Hunter " Colin then plunged his twin swords into the ground, took out three metal vials that had been filled with potions, and collected the blood from the ground into them.
While waiting for the material to take shape, he spoke to Lovia and the others with a normal expression:
"The materials left behind by the Shapeshifter are useful to me, and I want to exchange them directly."
In City of Silver, the spoils from such explorations are generally handled in two ways: one is to take them back to the city-state and exchange them for corresponding contributions, which are then distributed according to the level of contribution; the other is that if they are not particularly important, but a member takes a liking to them, they can exchange them on the spot for equivalent items or contributions.
"I have no objection," Rigg and Gunalun said at the same time.
Lovia remained silent, indicating her agreement.
After the illusory silver-armored knight returned, she turned her head and glanced indifferently at Derrick Berg by the campfire.
Inside the temporary office of the " Red Gloves " squad in East Balam.
Soest looked around and addressed all the team members:
" Eye of the Goddess ' has instructed us to investigate the sale of extraordinary materials through the ' Hunter ' pathway in the local and surrounding cities, and whether any of the corresponding Beyonder have gone missing or died."
She agreed with Daly's guess and suspected that the death of the Intis spy was caused by Evil Spirit from the ' Hunter ' pathway.
"Of course, we cannot ignore other anomalies, after all, that is only one possibility."
"Furthermore, we only need to gather intelligence; we don't need to worry about anything else or conduct in-depth investigations. This is Her Excellency ' Eye of the Goddess's ' order!"
"Did you remember?"
"Got it!" Cindy and the others replied.
Soest glanced at Leonard and Daly, then looked away and said in a deep voice:
"Action!"
P. S.: It's the last two days of July, please vote with monthly tickets!