Chapter 616

Four hundred and fortieth chapter – Hiring

On the north bank of Conquer Sea, in Trua.

In a certain inn’s room, Dorothy sat in her seat in the dimly lit room, using “Navigation of the Literary Sea” to communicate with Beverly who was far away in Tivyán. After some time of communication, she received quite a bit of useful information. The most surprising piece of information for Dorothy was about the spiritual composition of the Wall-crosser.

‘I didn’t expect that the true spiritual composition of the Wall-crosser is actually main ‘Stone’ with auxiliary ‘Shadow’, rather than main ‘Shadow’ with auxiliary ‘Stone’. The false intelligence spread by the Dark Gold Society is really well done. No wonder they are such a black market organization; making a mistake in judging the spiritual composition of an extraordinary profession could result in a significant disadvantage during confrontation.’

Looking at Beverly’s response on the page in front of her, Dorothy pondered in her heart. She thought that if someone used incorrect information against them, they would suffer losses in many areas. If they believed the false information from the Dark Gold Society, the enemy might overestimate their ‘Shadow’ and thus fail to use ‘Lamp’ for full investigation when necessary. They might also underestimate their ‘Stone’, leading to losses in direct combat, just as Dorothy had experienced earlier.

If Dorothy had known that the Wall-crosser’s hardened skin at the second stage was their main ‘Stone’, she wouldn’t have let the Zombie Puppet raise its hand to sh**t at her. That shot didn’t k*ll him but gave him a chance to run away. If Dorothy had accurate information, she would have subdued him in another way, avoiding the waste of a lot of spirituality.

After learning the truth about the Wall-crosser, Dorothy also resolved a doubt. She had always assumed that the Wall-crosser named Kim she encountered before was part of the Eight Pinnacle Nest. She wondered why she didn’t encounter any Wall-crossers in subsequent confrontations with the Eight Pinnacle Nest. It turned out that the other party was a hired assassin from the Dark Gold Society.

After gaining a general understanding of the Dark Gold Society, Dorothy couldn’t help but stroke her chin, then continued writing on the page in front of her.

“Now I’m pretty clear about what’s going on with the Dark Gold Society. I never expected that coming here to buy something would lead to such a situation.

‘Speaking of which, you should now know the situation at your base in Trua. What are you planning to do? Report immediately to the high-ups of the Artisan Guild for timely handling?’

After finishing, Dorothy began quietly waiting for Beverly’s response. Soon, her printed words appeared on the page.

‘Reporting is certainly necessary… But even if we report, it may not be of much use. The base in Trua has fallen. Those guys must have taken advantage of our name to harvest resources. The situation there is already at the worst level. We can hardly recover anything.’

Seeing this somewhat disheartening response from Beverly, Dorothy frowned slightly, then continued to respond.

‘Even if the situation is at its worst and hard to recover, don’t you want to retaliate and punish those guys? At least, you don’t want them to continue acting with impunity in Trua.’

‘We certainly want to retaliate against these audacious guys, but it might be too late now. These guys are very sharp. Their disguised harvesting phase usually doesn’t last long. Once they sense any abnormality, they will quickly arrange to leave.

‘You’ve already dealt with two Wall-crossers just now. Such a disturbance should be enough to make them prepare to pack up and leave immediately. Therefore, even if we send people over right now, we won’t catch up. By the time we get there, they will probably have already vanished.’

Beverly wrote this, and seeing her words, Dorothy felt a bit helpless, biting the end of her pen. She thought that if Beverly had communicated with her earlier and explained everything clearly, she might have been able to handle tonight’s harvest more appropriately.

‘So, you’re planning to let them go? Can’t you contact the Church or the Secret Police of Castia to get help from their forces in Trua? You mentioned before that official extraordinary organizations also dislike the Dark Gold Society.’

‘More or less. Although we will definitely send people to Trua, it’s likely that they will have left by the time we arrive. As for seeking help from the Church and the Secret Police of Castia, it’s unlikely. Don’t forget that the Artisan Guild is a neutral organization. Whether it’s so-called official or cults, we won’t seek help from either side. In the eyes of the public, our only enemy is the Dark Gold Society.

‘Although those so-called officials also dislike the Dark Gold Society, if we cooperate with them to target them, it would be seen as an inclination towards a camp in the eyes of other extraordinary organizations that have conflicts with these officials. This would reduce trust in the Artisan Guild, causing them to become wary and choose the Dark Gold Society over us more often in extraordinary transactions.

‘The neutrality of the Artisan Guild has always been the foundation for maintaining the largest trading platform in the Secret World. Only by reassuring all major powers can we do business with everyone. Therefore, grudges with the Dark Gold Society are resolved independently between each other, without involving others.’

Beverly continued writing her response. After reading this, Dorothy felt a bit depressed. At least for her, it was a huge waste not to use an official organization as a tool.

‘So, you’re going to take this loss without saying anything?’

Dorothy wrote this on the page. She had never seen the Artisan Guild suffer such a big loss before. When dealing with them, it was difficult to gain an advantage. Now, unexpectedly, a single Dark Gold Society had directly caused them a big setback. This was rare.

Not long after Dorothy finished writing her words on the page, Beverly’s response reappeared. This time, her reply surprised Dorothy.

‘A loss? Perhaps. After all, when fighting the Dark Gold Society before, due to the wide distribution and relative prominence of the Artisan Guild, we often suffered some losses locally. But this time, it’s not yet time to say we’ve lost.’

‘You mean you still have ways to deal with this group? Do you still have the ability to act in Trua?’

Seeing the response, Dorothy curiously wrote, and the words that appeared next made her startle.

‘Of course. Aren’t you in Trua now?’

‘Huh? Me?’

Seeing Beverly’s response, Dorothy was surprised. She hadn’t expected Beverly to target her. After a moment of shock, she picked up her pen and wrote.

‘You don’t mean you want me to help you deal with those guys, do you?’

‘Correct. The members of the Dark Gold Society in Trua should leave soon. Sending people over immediately might not catch up. Without contacting the so-called official extraordinary individuals, the only force we can rely on now is you.

‘I know your abilities, Neighbor Miss. So, I plan to suggest hiring you to resolve the Dark Gold Society in Trua. If you succeed, we will definitely give you the generous reward you need.’

The words from Beverly appeared one after another on the page in front of Dorothy. Seeing these words, Dorothy paused for a while, then continued to write.