Several hours passed, during which Shang looked at the gigantic sacks of gold in his world.
How much would the mission have paid after its completion?
How much was one year of an Early General Stage warrior's time worth?
50,000 gold.
This was the equivalent of around 30 – 50 Early General Stage beast corpses.
For one year, this was an amazing deal, especially since the mission wasn't as dangerous as hunting that many beasts.
That definitely was a lot of money for an Early General Stage warrior.
When night arrived, One came to Shang together with Two.
"We got a Mid General Stage beast," One said.
Shang nodded and prepared himself.
After that, both of them charged towards the east.
They traveled about a kilometer away and stopped behind a different hill. Now, no one was watching them.
"Alright, it's time to prepare everything," One said.
Shang and Two nodded. "What's the plan?" Two asked.
Shang wasn't surprised that One managed to convince Two. It made a lot of sense that the officer and his superior were traitors. If Two had told the truth previously, he wouldn't want to let someone like that keep living. After all, Duke Mithril's forces were searching for Two.
He might not be able to escape to Duke Mithril's territory after everything was done, but he definitely had some other solution. After all, if he didn't have one, he wouldn't be here.
"We are going to lure the officer to this place by firing the signal," One said as he took out one of the signal flares. "We have to act like there is a powerful Mid General Stage beast that we can't beat. Then, when he arrives, we jump him. Everything has to be done quickly."
"There are plenty of beasts that can hide their presence. Even if he doesn't see one immediately, it won't wake any suspicions. There aren't only Fire Affinity beasts here but also Earth Affinity beasts."
The other two nodded.
SHING!
At that moment, One took out a huge shield. "We have to make this convincing," he said as he pointed his shield at Shang. "I don't have enough power to make it seem like this shield was broken by a beast. Your destructive power is better for that."
"Destroy the shield with an attack, but try to leave my hands in one piece," One said.
Shang looked at One with a gleam in his eyes.
"Sure," he said.
Then, Shang took out his sword as One defended himself with his shield.
And Shang struck the shield with his colossal sword.
CRACK!
The shield cracked into two pieces, and One was thrown against the hill behind him.
One coughed a bit due to the impact, but he wasn't injured. "Good," he said.
One threw the pieces of the shield to the side and looked at Two.
SHING!
Something appeared in One's hand. "I need you to hold that while I activate the signal."
While One had been talking, he had thrown the thing over to Two, who caught it out of habit.
One pointed the flare to the sky and activated it.
BANG!
A green burst of Wind Mana left the flare.
"What's that?" Two asked as he inspected the black ball in his hands.
One didn't answer.
BOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, the black ball in Two's hand exploded as a powerful wave of Fire Mana left it.
The side of One's mask was illuminated by the violent explosion.
BANG!
Two's burned corpse hit the side of the hill and slid down.
Two was dead.
"What's going on?!"
The officer had arrived on top of the hill, and he was looking at the scene.
Zero stood opposite of One, his weapon drawn.
Two had turned into a burned corpse.
A broken shield lay between Zero and One.
"He killed Two!" One suddenly shouted as he jumped back, his weapon drawn. "I only survived thanks to the shields I carry in my Space Ring!"
The officer looked at Zero, who made no inclination to move. He simply continued standing there.
"Zero! Explain yourself!" the officer shouted.
Shang's head turned to face the officer. "Is that the plan you two came up with?" he asked. "You want to frame me and then kill all the loyal soldiers?"
The two were a bit surprised by Shang's nonchalant voice, but they didn't show it.
"Bastard! You just killed someone, and now you're acting like this was our doing?!" One shouted with fear and hatred. He genuinely sounded like his best friend had just been killed.
By now, several soldiers had been lured over by the loud shouts, and they looked at the scene below the hill.
They saw the burned corpse.
They knew Zero had a Fire Affinity.
They saw the shield, which had obviously been destroyed by a powerful and heavy sword.
After some seconds, all the soldiers had gathered in this place, and Shang looked over them.
"Sure enough, you already got rid of the four that have been sent to defend the tunnel with me," Shang commented.
The soldiers looked around and noticed that four of their comrades weren't there.
"Stop accusing others of such heinous actions while it is clear that you are the culprit!" the officer shouted.
The enraged voice of the officer didn't shock Shang.
In fact, Shang knew that One would betray him.
But how?
And why?
After all, One had saved Shang's life, right?
Well, even though the officer was a traitor, he had said one thing that was true.
No plan was complete without at least one backup plan.
The overwhelming force that had attacked the tunnel had a chance of success of over 90%, even with One's flare.
After all, no one expected five Early General Stage warriors to kill eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior.
The flare was only a backup.
What was the purpose?
To make their inside agent, One, appear more trustworthy.
After this mission, One could easily enter Duke Whirlwind's personal army. He had proven beyond any doubt that he was loyal. After all, his actions had resulted in the deaths of several enemies.
And even if the mission succeeded and the True Path Stage beast went on a rampage, some of the soldiers would survive, and they would have borne witness to the fact that One's signal had gone off.
No matter what happened, One's credibility would have shot through the roof.
Initially, Shang hadn't suspected One. After all, One's actions had contributed to Shang's survival.
So, what made Shang suspicious?
The money.
One had 50,000 gold on hand.
Which normal soldier had that much money on hand?
Of course, One had also thought about that, but, in his mind, it wasn't important.
In One's eyes, Zero was someone that had no affiliation and was only interested in money. One knew that Zero would connect One with Duke Mithril's forces.
But what did that matter?
One didn't care to which side he belonged. So what if he connected One to Duke Mithril? Since he was only here for the money, he would help regardless.
If Shang had easily accepted the proposal, One would have been suspicious.
However, Shang's actions of actually squeezing more money out of One in this situation alleviated a lot of his suspicions.
A loyal soldier to Duke Whirlwind wouldn't think about money in this situation.
Zero was literally just a guy interested in his personal power and money.
But all of this now begged another question.
If Shang had known that One would betray him, why had he gone along with all of this?
Why had he destroyed the shield?
Why hadn't he warned Two?
Two reasons.
First of all, Shang wanted to fish out all the traitors. As long as they didn't do something outrageous, there wouldn't be any proof.
But now, with all of these witnesses, there would be proof.
And second…
Shang knew that he could deal with One and the officer.
"You are hereby under arrest for treason!" the officer shouted. "Will you come peacefully, or do I have to cut off your arms?"
Shang looked at the officer.
'This is just the fight I need.'
'The last time I fought an average warrior two levels above myself, I barely lost.'
'But this time, I have gained much more experience, and I have gained a new ability.'
'Also, I finally know what that one guy used back then to win against me.'
Shang readied his heavy sword.
BANG!
And Shang exploded forward.
