Everybody was slightly surprised that they were surrounded the moment they arrived.

Looking at the crowd that was drawing near, Husseret remarked, “Are they here for someone other than us?”

“I don’t think so.” Brazil shook his head. As a Hunter, he was very sensitive about other people’s maliciousness.

His first specialty as a Hunter was exactly Humanoid Nemesis, which made him very sensitive about the maliciousness of human-like creatures.

In game terms, a circle of red spots were surrounding him on his mini-map.

Naturally, his friends believed him.

Roland thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go down. If they’re here for us, we can’t get away from them. After all, we still have a quest in Northern Dawn Woods.”

Betta pondered it and asked, “It’s a shame that I sent Glinton away for an errand. Otherwise, he could likely talk to the people in this place.”

“Is he very powerful?”

“He’s the heir to Bronze Drum City. He told me that he knew all the mayors in Hollevin.”

Brazil failed to perceive Betta’s implication. He asked, “He can’t help us even if he knows the mayors. The people that are coming at us are clearly mercenaries.”

Betta blinked his eyes and muttered a response. He wasn’t very familiar with Brazil and didn’t know what he should say.

Roland said with a smile, “Those mercenaries are clearly members of the Silver Mercenaries who just kicked us away. They rented the Northern Dawn Woods from the mayor, so if we knew the mayor, we might be able to pull some strings.”

Brazil hummed a response.

He was a straightforward person who was too lazy to think about complicated things, or he wouldn’t have become a Hunter dealing with beasts in the woods all the time in this game when he was not with his friends.

While talking, Roland led his friends downstairs.

As they had seen, the mercenaries had surrounded the hotel and driven away all the guests except Roland’s gang.

They were standing in a circle in the lobby.

At the center of the circle was a middle-aged man in silver armor.

Naturally, the armor wasn’t made of armor; it was simply varnished with silver powder, which didn’t cost as much.

Seated in the middle of the mercenaries, the man laid one of his arms on the table, supporting his body, while he drank wine with his other hand. He looked rather majestic.

Roland came down leading his friends.

Seeing the strangers, F6 all mumbled and realized that they were hostile.

There were about twenty mercenaries here. Most of them were level two or three. But the man at the center was a level-ten Master.

On his left and his right were a level-five Archer and a level-six Shield Warrior respectively.

Their lineup was rather impressive in a small country like Hollevin.

On Roland’s side, everybody was level five except Roland, who was level seven. The best of them was weaker than the enemy’s best, and they were outnumbered.

Though the enemy seemed powerful, Roland felt that his side had advantages if they started a fight.

Li Lin was from a rich family, and he was the most short-tempered among his friends. He simply went ahead and smashed his giant sword on the table, leaving a white mark on the thick desk with a noise.

Looking at the middle-aged man, he said angrily, “Why have you surrounded us with all these people?”

“A Barbarian?” The middle-aged looked at Li Lin up and down and sneered. “Since when are Barbarians qualified to talk to me? Get the hell out of here if you don’t want to be embarrassed.”

“S*it!” Li Lin almost jumped to his feet in fury, but he held himself back after a moment of thought. He stood up and said to Roland, “You talk to him.”

Then he stepped aside.

Brazil and Husseret were both laughing to one side.

Husseret, in particular, couldn’t be more amused. “Do you not know the social status of Barbarians? You really didn’t learn anything in the past year.”

“Stop talking.” Li Lin heaved a sigh. “It’s really ironic when so many people call me Young Master Li respectfully in reality but look down on me in the game.”

Brazil and Husseret laughed even more delightedly. They were in a jolly mood.

Roland, on the other hand, sat down before the middle-aged man and said with a smile, “Am I qualified to talk to you?”

“You are a Mage. You certainly are.” The middle-aged man nodded and tapped the table. “Is the noble near you lower than you?”

The middle-aged man looked at Betta.

As part of his class setting, Betta’s noble identity couldn’t be ignored by regular people.

Betta waved his hand. “Brother Roland can take care of everything.”

“Okay.” The middle-aged man found it odd, but he didn’t want to pursue it further.

Mages were as revered as nobles. So, if the real noble would rather not talk, it was fine to talk to the Mage.

The middle-aged man did not feel humiliated.

“You attempted to enter our woods today, didn’t you?” The middle-aged man shook his body. His hair was very short, and his face was quite plain, but he did have the vibe of a leader.

Roland nodded. “But we didn’t go in.”

“It doesn’t matter whether or not you went in.” The middle-aged man chuckled. “We know that you’re drawn to something inside.”

Roland raised his eyebrow.

“Therefore…” The middle-aged man leaned forward and moved his head closer to Roland. “Can you tell me what you’re trying to find in the woods?”

Roland slightly leaned back, not because he was scared of the middle-aged man, but because the man’s mouth stank.

The middle-aged man was amused when he saw that Roland leaned back. He thought that Roland was intimidated by him.

Roland leaned back further and said, “We were only trying to hunt some animals for their meat. Since it was private property, we simply came back.”

“Do you think I’m a fool?” The middle-aged pointed at Roland and then at Betta. “You are a Mage and a noble. You’re clearly not short of food or clothes. Even your servants seem rather well-dressed. You’re also living in such a nice hotel. Yet, you hunted for meat? Besides, nobody has ever been to the Northern Dawn Woods for hunting the moment they came to this city, unless they had other purposes.”

Roland closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened his eyes and said, “Can you keep a distance from me? Your breath stinks!”

The middle-aged man was stumped.

All of F6 tried to hold back their laughter.

“What if I don’t?” The middle-aged man lost his cool with an awful look on his face.

“Then we’ll go,” said Roland causally.

Staring at Roland for a while, the middle-aged man sat straight in his seat.

Roland asked again, “May I know your name?”

“Spara, deputy captain of the Silver Mercenaries.” The middle-aged man snorted. “You are indeed a cunning Mage. You’ve taken the initiative from me. However, mark my words. If you don’t tell me why you’re here, you can never go into the Northern Dawn Woods.”

Tapping the table and staring at the middle-aged man for a while, Roland asked, “You’re not asking us who we are?”

“I don’t need to. We know that you’re Golden Sons. We wouldn’t have come here if you weren’t. Everybody knows that there is fortune wherever the Golden Sons show up. You are a people that pursue gold and wealth, just as your name suggests.”

This time, not just Roland, but Roland and the rest of them were rather startled too.

“You came to us for trouble when you know that we were Golden Sons?” Roland was surprised.

“That’s right. It’s really impressive that you don’t age or die,” the middle-aged man nodded and said, “but that can’t make us terrified of you. After the incident in Winterwind, we all know the weakness of the Golden Sons.”

What was that about?

Roland turned back and looked at his friends.

They shook his heads, indicating that they didn’t know what the “weakness” was. But Betta pondered for a moment and said, “I’m told that the black leaf players all deleted their accounts after the queen killed them hundreds of times. So, rumor has it that if the Golden Sons attack human beings for no good reason, they will be hunted and exiled from this world by the gods.”

Roland nodded.

Betta continued, “Also, the players are indeed a lot more obedient recently, so the locals have a feeling that we dare not attack them randomly.”

It was not just their feeling. The players really did not dare to attack them randomly, not while they still wanted to play this game.

This game was unique in the world. Also, the game developers never released any more immersive cabins. If a player was marked with a black leaf, they would have to say goodbye to this game.

Roland turned back and said to the middle-aged man with a smile, “It’s true that we can’t attack anyone randomly, but you can’t attack us either, or we’ll be justified to fight back.”

“You can only beat us up at best. Do you dare to kill us?” Spara burst into laughter. “We the mercenaries make our living through the most dangerous missions. Do you think we’re afraid of beating when we’re not afraid of death? Besides, we’re not going to do anything to you. We’ll simply kick you away from the Northern Dawn Woods every time we see you if you don’t tell us your purpose.

“Just think about it.”

Spara smiled cockily and left with his men.

After the men of the Silver Mercenaries left, Li Lin frowned. “What do we do? They’re rather disgusting. They believe that we’re making a fortune and want a share. Damn it, I hate the smart and annoying NPCs most. You can’t beat them, but if you leave, they will mock you as cowards.”

Roland stood up and said, “This Spara is rather stupid to challenge the Golden Sons.”

This time, Li Lin was upset. “Hey, hey. I just stated that he was tricky to deal with, and you said that he’s stupid. Are you insinuating that I’m stupid?”

Roland gazed at him without saying anything.

“F*ck me!” Li Lin cursed himself helplessly.

Roland smiled and said, “Husseret, you look into the Silver Mercenaries, including their scale, their base, their territory, etc. Then, Betta and the rest of us will wander in their territory with your intelligence and try to trigger quests. I don’t believe that such an arrogant group of mercenaries have never done anything bad. We’ll beat them up the moment we pick up a quest. Let’s see how long they can endure!”

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