Chapter 42

Under the intimidation of various cruel instruments of torture, the small accountant named Dingte could no longer hold out and revealed everything that Gao Deng wanted to know in detail.

The sewers had already been occupied by the Rite family for half a year. They had turned it into a complex underground castle. Since August, all kinds of goods had been transported here and stockpiled. Then, on the day of the Harvest Festival, they would take advantage of the lax security during the festival to transport all the goods onto ships and smuggle them out.

Gao Deng picked up Dingte's ledger, flipped through a couple of pages, and asked, "Iron cans, sewing needles, clotheslines... Could the Rite family be going to such great lengths just to smuggle these daily sundries? Don't insult my intelligence. Tell me, what are the real meanings of these terms?"

"I... I really don't know..." Dingte's teeth chattered, clearly in a dilemma.

"Look into my eyes," Gao Deng pointed to his own eyes, which were now enveloped in a layer of pale purple magical aura. "If you don't understand magic, let me tell you, this is the spell 'Detect Thoughts.' It allows me to know what you're thinking. Even the secrets of your childhood, like peeping at your female neighbor taking a bath, I know everything. So don't lie to me, or I won't hesitate to use those instruments of torture to test your flesh, to see if it's as tough as a troll's."

"How did you know I peeped at my neighbor Auntie Rowena taking a bath..." Dingte was frightened.

Gao Deng was speechless. He had just said it off the cuff, not knowing it would be true. Perhaps every young man in adolescence has had the experience of peeping at the female neighbor next door? The spell 'Detect Thoughts' wasn't as powerful as Gao Deng claimed; he was just scaring Dingte. This spell could only detect the surface thoughts of intelligent beings and couldn't uncover deep-seated secrets.

However, Gao Deng's words still had an effect. Dingte, who knew nothing about the power of magic, only knew that mages were mysterious and terrifying. He was afraid that Gao Deng would reveal all his secrets, so he honestly said, "Sir Mage, iron cans refer to heavy full-body armor, sewing needles are crossbow bolts, threads are military crossbows, clotheslines are spears, and kitchen knives are two-handed swords for battle..."

"All military equipment?!" Gao Deng drew a sharp breath.

He looked at the quantities of various weapons and equipment recorded in the ledger and found that it was enough to arm an entire army!

This was a huge matter! The Rite family had secretly manufactured so much military equipment and planned to smuggle it out. What were they planning to do?

A terrifying conjecture rose in his heart, like a black shadow that wouldn't go away.

"Where are these weapons going to be shipped after they are loaded onto the ships?" Gao Deng took a deep breath to calm himself and then asked.

"I really don't know," Dingte said with a mournful face. "The cargo ships come from the south. I only heard from the southern sailors that after they leave the city, they will follow the Blue Water River eastward until they reach the Endless Ocean."

Gao Deng retrieved the geographical data in his mind and sketched a map of the northern continent.

Eastward after leaving the sea? Impossible, there's nothing there except the vast, endless ocean.

Southward? Wouldn't that be redundant? They could just turn at the confluence of the Blue Water River and the Kenwa Canal. Why go around such a large circle?

So it could only be northward.

At this moment, Shelaia, who had fully recovered, walked out of the bedroom and came to Gao Deng's side. She glanced disdainfully at the lying Dingte and asked, "Mr. Gao Deng, have you finished asking? I also want to ask him a question."

"Go ahead," Gao Deng nodded.

Shelaia walked to Dingte's side, and in her silver moon-like eyes, anger boiled and burned: "Bastard, where are my weapons and armor? Where did you hide them?"

"Big Brother Mane took them all to the warehouse duty room," Dingte shrank his neck, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at Shelaia's wet chest.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Shelaia suddenly showed a seductive smile.

"Beautiful..." Dingte nodded absentmindedly.

"Unfortunately," Shelaia grabbed Dingte's head and twisted it violently, "you'll never see it again."

Dingte's neck snapped, and he was dead. No matter how attractive her figure or how beautiful her face, Shelaia, who had been in the adventure guild for years, was an experienced adventurer and could kill without hesitation.

"You really..." Gao Deng didn't know what to say.

"Mr. Gao Deng, didn't you finish asking? Since that's the case, he has no value left. If you're merciful and spare his life, it might leave a隐患."

Actually, I had already planned to kill him and use a Marufu strong acid arrow to destroy the evidence, but Miss Ranger, you beat me to it and took my few experience points.

Gao Deng thought for a moment and decided not to say what he was thinking.

"Let's go. I plan to continue investigating in the sewers. Do you want to leave on your own or come with me?"

"You are my savior, Mr. Gao Deng," Shelaia's beautiful eyes locked onto Gao Deng's face, and the fiery gaze made even the non-innocent mage feel a bit uncomfortable. "I think my ranger skills can provide some assistance. But first, I need to retrieve my equipment."

"That's best," Gao Deng naturally agreed to Shelaia's request.

Although rangers are not as specialized in stealth as rogues, they are still better than mages in searching, listening, and infiltrating. Most spells have obvious sound and light effects, which are cool in normal situations but inconvenient when stealth is required.

The two of them worked together to hide Dingte's body and then left the tent.

After turning a few alleys, Gao Deng and Shelaia arrived at the main sewer. Various tributaries converged into a dark river about five meters wide, flowing forward with a gurgling sound.

The river emitted an indescribable stench, like a stinky salted fish placed in a boot and left in the sun for three days. The murky, black river surface was littered with all kinds of garbage and filth. Even bloated human and animal corpses floated in the water, rising and falling.

Shelaia tried hard not to look, fearing that even a glance at the disgusting scene would make her vomit her breakfast. Half-elves, like elves, have a love for nature, beauty, and cleanliness and cannot tolerate such a dirty environment.

For this half-elf girl to offer to accompany Gao Deng, she had to muster up a lot of courage.

As a ranger, Shelaia's perception attributes were definitely much stronger than Gao Deng's. She walked in front, responsible for scouting, and Gao Deng also considerately cast spells to enhance her vision and hearing.

Following the direction Dingte had confessed, the two quickly found the location of the warehouse. The outlet of the dark river was nearby, and a rotten wire mesh trapped the garbage in the water, preventing it from flowing into the Blue Water River. Through this outlet, Gao Deng saw five three-masted cargo ships with a displacement of about 1,000 tons docked at the pier outside.

The Rite family had been operating in the sewers for a long time and had cleared a large area, using wooden boards to temporarily isolate and plan four warehouse areas to store various goods. Many burly men in short jackets moved in and out in groups, carrying heavy boxes.

"The laborers who carry the boxes come in batches every five minutes. The three-man patrol with knives passes by every ten minutes," Shelaia observed the personnel movements with focused attention.

Seizing the opportunity, she led Gao Deng to successfully avoid the many eyes and ears and sneak into the duty room.

In the empty room, Shelaia saw her belongings piled in the corner. She couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation and ran over with a smile. She put on her wrist guards, leg guards, skirt armor, and chest armor, and then slung her quiver and longbow. The beautiful and efficient ranger was back.

Although it was a pity that Gao Deng could no longer see Shelaia's beautiful figure under her light clothing, he quickly shifted his attention to the serious matter at hand.

Leaving the room, the two quietly entered the warehouse marked with the Common language number "4." Gao Deng stopped in front of a cedar box about two meters long and one meter wide. He didn't find a crowbar, or even if he did, he wouldn't have the strength to pry open the box.

So Gao Deng chose the most energy-saving method.

"Knock!"

With a light tap on the wooden box, the nails that were originally tightly nailed fell off, and Gao Deng easily lifted the lid: "As simple as peeling an eggshell."

After removing the straw padding, Gao Deng finally saw what was inside the box: a full-body armor. He gently caressed the surface of the armor—rough, dull, clearly not polished or smoothed. Of course, this only reduced the armor's aesthetic value but did not affect its protective performance.

However, Gao Deng noticed a problem: the size of this full-body armor did not seem suitable for humans.

Ordinary human soldiers are between 1.7 and 1.85 meters tall. By adjusting the straps and buckles on the armor, the armor supplied in bulk by general blacksmith workshops can fit soldiers within this height range.

But the full-body armor in front of Gao Deng was clearly designed for a tall, robust humanoid creature over two meters tall. Moreover, the thickness of the entire set of armor was 30% thicker than ordinary human armor. Such a size and weight were clearly not something human soldiers could wear.

"It seems my guess was right. This armor, along with all the weapons, is for orcs!" Gao Deng's expression gradually became serious. "This batch of military equipment will be loaded onto ships, taking advantage of the lax security during the Harvest Festival to be smuggled out of the city, heading east, out to sea, and then turning north to land on the Barren Tundra... How dangerous. If I hadn't discovered it by chance, the entire Far Frost Province would face an orc army armed with human-made weapons this winter."

"We must inform others as soon as possible!"

At this moment, Shelaia whispered, "Someone is coming, hide quickly!"

Gao Deng quickly closed the box lid and was pulled by Shelaia into a dark corner of the warehouse.