Chapter 404: Information Transmitted

Shuang Tu left Lan Zao's hospital room and approached the human ringleader.

The two stood in silence for a moment.

Having interacted with Lan Zao, Shuang Tu now deeply understood the immense burden resting on the human ringleader's shoulders.

He sighed and offered reassurance: “Look on the bright side, your identity hasn't been exposed yet.”

"That boatswain from the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps is highly capable and ruthless toward himself. Though... he is indeed a bit simple-minded. But looking at it another way, that very trait makes him easier to manipulate, wouldn't you agree?"

“You make a valid point,” the human ringleader replied weakly, “For now, that's the only comfort I can offer myself.”

“Continue recuperating. I'll report the situation here first.” Shuang Tu took his leave.

The human ringleader's injuries remained severe. Had it not been for Bing Xiao's timely treatment, he likely would have bled to death.

Now at Shuang Tu's clinic, he received proper care, though his abdomen remained tightly bound in layers of bandages.

Druidic healing often took time to take effect. By comparison, clerical healing spells were far more direct and brutal, capable of restoring a wounded person to health in mere seconds.

However, this did not mean clerical healing was vastly superior to druidic methods.

Both approaches had their distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Divine healing drained the patient's life force; the more treatments administered, the greater the reduction in the patient's lifespan.

Druidic healing, while slower to take effect, was gentle and did not diminish the patient's lifespan.

Of course, druids were not without rapid healing methods, but they simply lacked the speed of divine healing.

Precisely for this reason, members of the clergy were the preferred healers on the battlefield.

Commanders also favor divine healing.

Its swift efficacy allowed wounded soldiers to be restored to combat readiness in short order, preserving the army's fighting strength.

Though it drained life force, without rapid healing, fallen soldiers risked being finished off by enemies, losing their lives entirely.

Weighing two evils, sacrificing some future lifespan to guarantee survival on the battlefield was the lesser choice.

Shuang Tu's adoption of this healing method was also calculated.

He needed to buy more time for the human ringleader and Lan Zao.

During their recovery period, the human ringleader and Lan Zao, especially Lan Zao, would have more opportunity to adjust and adapt to their new identities.

Shuang Tu swiftly relayed the situation here.

This intelligence, rigorously encrypted, first reached the relay alchemy device.

These relay devices were typically installed on uninhabited islands, some even concealed at fixed points on the ocean floor.

After all, a considerable distance separated Flower Skirt Island and Snow Bird Harbor.

Following several relay points, Snow Bird Harbor swiftly received the intelligence.

Professionals swiftly decrypted it, restoring the original content.

Soon, the intelligence was delivered to the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord’s desk.

He was handling administrative affairs.

Upon seeing the urgent intelligence, a faint smile appeared on his face.

“Oh, interesting.”

"Who'd have thought that unlucky bastard actually survived. That backup plan actually worked."

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord had been rather pessimistic about the mission to spy on Tranquil Hill.

Previous attempts had all ended in failure.

This time, he saw an opportunity in Teng Dong Lang's death. He deliberately let the Bayonet Gang leader go to create this chance, though he himself didn't hold much hope.

Despite this mindset, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord would still exert maximum effort.

Thus, upon discovering Lan Zao's existence, he set his sights on the latter.

Subsequently, he successfully forged a secret pact with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, hoping Lan Zao could assist with this mission.

Beyond that, he also sought to use this step to deepen his covert ties with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps. He was even more interested in the arms dealer behind Long Fu.

Clutching this intelligence, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord fell into deep thought: “Long Fu has already left Snow Bird Harbor. Judging by the time elapsed, they should now be beyond the maximum communication range from my location. This intelligence cannot be delivered directly into their hands.”

After pondering for a moment, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord summoned one of his subordinates and ordered him to deliver this intelligence to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps' detachment.

Shortly thereafter, Tripleblade received the intelligence.

This goblin was the core figure and true decision-maker within the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ sub-unit.

On the surface, the sub-unit established in Snow Bird Harbor was led by Men Shi as the chief and Chi Lai as the deputy chief.

After discussion between Zong Ge and Zi Di, they decided to revise the original plan in the absence of the dragonman youngster. They would lead the expedition to the Ice Sculpture Capital, leaving Men Shi, Chi Lai, and others behind in Snow Bird Harbor.

Joining them were Tripleblade, Mu Ban, the big guy, and others.

Men Shi and Chi Lai would primarily handle daily mercenary assignments and training.

Their main training targets were the Quick Knife Squad and Backwater Battle Squad.

Both squads remained stationed in Snow Bird Harbor.

The reason for leaving them behind was simple: both squads possessed limited combat strength and offered little assistance to Zi Di and Zong Ge. If they encountered real trouble, they would only become cannon fodder, ultimately sacrificing themselves in vain.

Both Chi Lai and Men Shi were trustworthy.

Chi Lai signed a contract with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps. The terms of the contract guaranteed his loyalty. Moreover, Chi Lai's background and character naturally inspire trust.

As for Men Shi, there's no question.

He joined the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to repay a debt of gratitude. This dwarf possesses an exceptionally strong sense of duty. He risked everything to rescue his clan from the Two Eyes Island auction, fighting tirelessly for them even amidst the chaos.

Simultaneously, Men Shi embodies profound self-sacrifice.

He once shielded his comrades from a bomb's blast with his own body. During the Bayonet Gang's escape, he recklessly attempted to block the swamp oil amalgamation, despite the slim odds of survival.

Of course, the survivors remained the true core. The trust earned by Chi Lai and Men Shi fell far short of granting them access to core secrets like Mystifying Monster Island.

Therefore, Tripleblade had to be left behind.

With the dragonman youngster, Zong Ge, Zi Di, Cang Xu, and Lan Zao all gone, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps' fleet needed a true insider to watch over it.

On one hand, many confidential matters had to be kept from Chi Lai and Men Shi; they couldn't be allowed access.

On the other hand, if an accident occurred, only a true insider could make the most reasonable choice, one that truly served the survivors' interests.

However, Tripleblade's personal combat strength remained weak.

He was only iron level.

But there was no choice. The current situation demanded he fill such a crucial position.

"Lan Zao isn't dead? I'm sure the commander will be delighted to hear this news.”  Receiving this intelligence, Tripleblade sighed inwardly. “I just wonder when the commander will be able to return."

Tripleblade was privy to the truth, he knew the dragonman youngster had vanished while pursuing Lan Zao, and that Zong Ge was impersonating him to infiltrate the royal capital.

Tripleblade immediately set about relaying this intelligence.

Yet the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps were outsiders; their communication capabilities paled in comparison to those of Snow Bird Harbor's city lord.

Typically, long-distance message delivery relied on alchemy devices like the magic messaging unit.

But such devices consumed vast amounts of energy, required costly maintenance, and were prone to losing intelligence, or even having it intercepted mid-transmission.

They offered no guarantee of secrecy.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's intelligence network employed superior communication devices with greater stealth capabilities, but the investment required was enormous.

Even with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps' current finances, such extensive deployment costs were difficult to bear.

The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had no intention of doing so either, it was both too wasteful of resources and time-consuming.

Moreover, they lacked trained communication beasts. Tripleblade reasoned that since the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord had sent the intelligence and it wasn't urgent; there was no need to use the city lord's communication routes to contact Zong Ge and Zi Di.

Therefore, Tripleblade opted for a more down-to-earth method of contact. He directly dispatched a subordinate, entrusting him with the encrypted intelligence to travel via teleportation formation to the next town.

Teleportation formations existed in every major city of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.

Using these formations allowed swift travel to destinations.

However, the range was limited, direct travel wasn't possible, requiring at least five relay points.

Moreover, the cost was exorbitant. The higher the item level and the greater the quantity being transported, the steeper the price.

The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps desperately wanted to use the teleportation formations to “jump” city by city to reach the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. But the financial burden was too heavy.

There was also a more crucial reason.

That was the limited number of teleportation slots.

The teleportation formation's capacity was limited. Every town had countless matters to attend to, with numerous people and goods urgently needing to use the formation, yet they had to queue up.

For the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to utilize the teleportation formation, they not only had to incur substantial costs but also face long waits. In Snow Bird Harbor, they could cut in line through connections with the city lord, but this wasn't possible elsewhere.

All things considered, using the teleportation formation was less efficient than simply traveling on foot.

“If Lord Zong Ge's route hasn't changed since departure, their first stop should be Blood Kin City.”

After calculating, Tripleblade estimated that Zong Ge and his group hadn't yet reached Blood Kin City.

He issued precise orders for the messenger to teleport to Blood Kin City and await Zong Ge and Zi Di's party in advance.

Cold Wind Valley.

Zi Di, Zong Ge, and their group trudged through the terrain.

This valley wasn't large. Though not a major thoroughfare, numerous caravans passed through annually.

Thus, no high level magic beasts roamed here, and the low level ones were no match for Zong Ge and Zi Di. The more alert low level beasts fled at the sight of the group. The less intelligent ones had already become game for Zong Ge and his companions, or alchemy ingredients.

Xu Ma reported: "Commander, beyond the narrow pass ahead lies the exit from Cold Wind Valley. The route is clear, not a single low level beast remains."

As a thief, he had been assigned to the royal capital's escort to scout the path.

Yet Zi Di whispered telepathically to Zong Ge: “Ambushes lie in wait on both sides of the pass!”