Chapter 4: Good Actors

The robbers were well-prepared, setting exorbitant ransom demands that included Neo’s personal belongings—those priceless treasures brought up from the underground. If not for the fact that Neo considered a large portion of them to be funds for the Storm Team and even larger plans, and hadn’t mentioned it to Milien, the robbers’ demands would likely have gone far beyond just 5 Abyssal Crystals.
“We can’t accept these demands,” Neo refused without much hesitation after struggling to read the documents thrown on the ground.
The young woman snorted. “So you’re saying your purpose in coming here is simply to tell us we can do whatever we want to Milien?” She emphasized the word “do” with a deliberate pause and drawn-out tone, enough to make anyone ponder its implications.
“I’m here with a practical attitude, seeking a solution acceptable to both sides. We’re willing to pay a price, but if that price means we all starve or freeze to death, or have no hope of rebuilding our homes in the future, then I must say it’s beyond my authority to decide. Our team has already fallen apart while preparing the ransom, and it’s inevitable we won’t be able to gather enough.”
The young woman waved her hand. “No need to complain to me. I’m not interested in that. I just ask you—will you do it or not?”
Neo replied calmly, “You misunderstand. I’m not complaining; I’m clarifying facts that must be stated. As for the treasures, I can decide on Lord’s share and my own, but Miss Srod’s share is beyond my control. Miss Srod led a group to the Refuge Valley to seek help and has already taken those treasures, as she needs to take care of the people of Mathuya and investigate her father’s whereabouts.”
“Also, we don’t have that much gold to pay. The lords of Edrit may indeed be wealthier, but that was before the darkness descended. Sudden raids have stripped them of most of their wealth. Even if some was hidden and not discovered, it was mostly used to gather the people during the subsequent migration. Baron Bafas is indeed famous for his wealth, but his notorious reputation is even more well-known, if not worse. Not to mention 50,000 gold coins—even 5,000 would be difficult to come by. Otherwise, his sister, married to Baron Aventus of Hylfanis, wouldn’t have to serve tea to a concubine just to make ends meet.”
“And then there’s food. We’re not really migrating; we’re fleeing. We’re still alive mainly because of some human and beast meat. To stabilize the people and help them hold on, we’ve been lying about our food supplies. To be honest, the amount of food required according to these figures is more than five times what we actually have. Even if we stopped eating and drinking starting tomorrow and gave away all our food, including human and beast meat, it would still be far…”

“Enough!” The young woman rudely interrupted Neo’s narration and kicked him hard in the forehead. “I said I’m not here to listen to your complaints. Instead of bargaining with me here, go back and discuss with your people how to meet our demands.”
Neo also seemed unable to contain his anger as he roared, “There’s a limit to what can be demanded. What do we have to meet your conditions? Do you think we’re some fancy tour group of the Grand Duke of Ensbass? Or do you expect us to take IOUs and promise to pay later?”
The young woman kicked him several more times and snapped, “Stop showing off your wits in front of me. Pretending to be poor and pitiful won’t work. I’m repeating what I said before for the last time: either do as we demand, or we’ll cancel the deal!”
Neo’s gaze toward the young woman seemed to burn, but she met it without fear, looking down on him. “Hmph. Eyes can’t kill people. If you want to complain, blame Melian for being stupid, or blame yourselves for being so unlucky!”
Suddenly, Neo’s expression calmed down. He regained his composure, took a deep breath, and said slowly, “Alright, you win. I’ll go back and discuss with Lord to prepare the ransom.”
The young woman smirked triumphantly. “Hey! What a stubborn jerk, willing to be beaten before compromising.” She pinched her lip and whistled. “Big-Eyes, let this worthless man enjoy another ride on a horse to ‘relax his muscles’! Huh? Why have you come?”
It wasn’t a thug or that obvious leader with bulging eyes—it was an old man with gray hair and a hunched back. He wore a washed-out cotton coat, thin and frail, his hands showing visible veins, dry like chicken claws. Yet the eagle-head staff he held was made of black iron, 1.6 meters long and as thick as an egg, looking quite heavy.
The old man strode forward and said solemnly, “Couldn’t I have stayed away? Do you think your plan succeeded? In reality, you’ve only created an enemy who will never give up.”
The young woman immediately reacted, turning to glare coldly at Neo. “I’ll see who kills whom first. I’ll kill him now, and they’ll have to send another negotiator. I don’t believe they’ll dare not obey!”
The old man stroked his beard and said leisurely, “That’s not a bad idea either. Since this is a dangerous business, there can be no mercy. Once you control their lifeline, they’ll cooperate.”
The young woman nodded, turned to face Neo, and said, “A fourth-level minor sergeant, acting all tough and talking back to me? You stinking slave!” With that, she drew a shiny dagger from her waist and pressed it against Neo’s neck. “One quick slash, and blood will gush out. You’ll die within 5 minutes. How about that? Any last words?”
Fueled by rage, Neo’s forehead veins bulged as he transformed while roaring, “I*％￥& you bunch of bastards&￥#! Deserve to suffer cold and hunger your whole life, to die a miserable death…”

The young woman and the old man were scolded, but they weren’t angry. Instead, they exchanged a glance and smiled slightly. The young woman turned back, used the blade to tapNeo’s dusty face, and said in a mocking tone, “Neo……Hmph, I thought you were so great, but you’re just this. Finally angry? Realized you can transform? But that’s useless. We already know everything about you. The ropes we used are special, and you can’t break free even by transforming. Besides, don’t you think if I really wanted to kill you, your transformation would be meaningless?” As she spoke, she sneered a few more times and muttered to herself, “A werewolf. We really overestimated this guy’s intelligence.”

The old man, abandoning his earlier dignified demeanor, smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Maybe we overlooked one thing—women in love are blind.”

The young woman nodded in agreement. Then, in a condescending tone, she said toNeo, “Young man, it’s not that I want to discourage you, but with your skills, how can you even dream of achieving anything, breaking through social morals, and marrying a noblewoman? Stop dreaming. Heh, enough about that. Here are our ransom demands. Neither you nor your master have the right to refuse. Go prepare. I hope you use some sense—everything is in our control. Trying to play tricks will cost you dearly!”

Neo looked furious, breathing heavily as he examined the new list. It was somewhat reasonable, but it was also ruthless—almost stripping the migration group of all their supplies. If they agreed, the group would only have enough food for five days. Without a source of food by then, everyone would go hungry. As for the future, it was even more worrying. Cash and treasures would all become part of the ransom. After this, Xavier would probably have to sell his land or rely on the bank deposits to revive the Manmoris and Torres families. This was worse than when they left Croop.

“Let me see Milien,”Neo asked as his final request.

“No, I refuse. You can choose not to cooperate,” the young woman said. Though she wasn’t as expressive as before and her tone was flat, there was a firm determination to it.Neo could sense that resolve.

“What if we know Milien is safe and that we can return safely after paying the ransom?”

The young woman smirked. “You can either trust us or not cooperate.” She laughed. “Well, is that difficult enough for you? Heh.”

“Yes, I’m very angry. I never thought it would be our own people who would push us to the brink of death.”

The young woman replied indifferently, “This is a society where people devour each other. You country folks living in fertile lands are too ignorant. Besides, there’s no need for you to act pitiful. The Church will send people, and the duchy will try to win you over. Your people will be taken care of soon. Oh, and that god—if all else fails, you can pray to him to show up again and bring you some rice and flour. Haha…”

It was one thing to disbelieve or lack faith, but to insult and despise others’ beliefs was, for those who believed, an act even worse than insulting one’s own wife, children, or parents.

Neo said nothing more. If before, due to his own background and experiences, he still felt some pity for these bandits living in miserable conditions, then after this series of deceitful exchanges, even that last bit of sympathy had vanished. What came to Neo’s mind was this phrase: Those who are pitiable must have something despicable about them.
The coldness of the world, unfair fate, and miserable circumstances indeed warrant pity, but the refusal to strive for improvement, twisted mentality, escalating cruelty, and shifting that misery onto other ordinary people—that’s what’s despicable. If it were a fight against the authorities, against those who once oppressed them, or even targeting nobles or the rich, one might still claim to be fighting to help the poor. But what about now? What Neo saw was exploiting people’s kindness, deceiving the innocent, oppressing the poor, letting others die while keeping themselves safe, and then invoking some noble guise for such cannibalistic behavior.
“Very well. Since you’re so confident and well-prepared, then be ready to take on high risks. After all, your business is extremely profitable…” Neo thought silently, as all traces of warmth vanished from his mind. He didn’t want to use violence against people who were already living in misery, but this incident, at least this woman, made him believe one thing: not all the rich are heartless, nor are all the poor innocent and kind.
Just as he had left, so he returned—after several hours of hardship, Neo returned to the camp of the migration group. It was already past 4 o’clock, and with no more than 2 hours left before night fell.
The bandit leader with fish-like eyes showed his yellow teeth as he said his goodbye words, “Hurry up and get moving. Your little beauty is quite tempting. Many of our brothers haven’t had sex with a noblewoman yet—maybe tonight…” Seeing Neo’s fists clenched in rage, the fish-eyed man laughed, “What? Coming back? With your limited brainpower, you still dare to play the hero and pretend to be righteous? Fix your messy clothes first!” With that, he strode away in a slanting gait, then turned back and said, “By tomorrow morning, the ransom must be ready. Otherwise, don’t blame us for not being generous!”
The fish-eyed man and his bandits left. This Hylfanis Valley was full of ravines, but above it was a flat, desolate expanse with no cover—so they had no worries about being followed.
Neo stormed back to the temporary camp, his face dark, and headed straight to the earthen hut. Soon after, the officers and leaders of the guard were summoned inside. After some time, they rushed out, all with serious expressions, ordering their subordinates to count supplies and prepare vehicles…
The people of the migration group were filled with chatter and sighs. Everyone knew that to rescue Melian, the group would likely be ruined. The hopes that had gradually formed along the way were now greatly dimmed by this setback, and everyone was worried about what to do in the future.
“Barrett, break another cup.” In the tent next to Xavier’s dwelling, Neo, who was preparing weapons, remained calm.
Crash! A ceramic cup was shattered by Barrett. The sound could be heard clearly from far outside the tent.

“Boss, do we really not need to go together this time?” Dick scratched his head in confusion.
“Don’t rush into battles; there will be plenty of opportunities. Spend more time studying combat techniques. Don’t focus solely on strength—without control, having strength is like being a fool like those demons. Against skilled opponents, you’ll be no match!”
“Oh…” Dick sat down dejectedly. He knew there was indeed a huge gap between him and the team’s true experts. When evaluating members’ abilities,Neo placed strength at the very bottom, with spirituality, attitude, technique, and method ranking above it.Neo’s motto was, “Fix the bucket first, then think about adding water!”
“Boss, what do you think of my disguise?” It was Mah. His build was similar toNeo’s, so he would be pretending to be him this time. ToNeo’s surprise, Mah not only imitated him well but also had excellent makeup skills. After some preparation, he looked about 70% similar toNeo—mainly lacking in eye expression. But since Mah’s fakeNeo was meant to appear only in the dark, such similarity was sufficient.
“Not bad, very good. Your talent is promising. See who in our team has the aptitude for this. Train half a disciple, and keep studying on your own. If you need my help or anyone else’s, just ask.”
“Uh, okay,” Mah replied cheerfully before hesitating, “The most important thing for facial makeup is the skin…”
Neo nodded. “I know what you mean—breathable, good color, light and thin. We can’t get such materials right now, but we can find substitutes: human skin!”
Mah agreed. “I was worried there might be some taboos about this, hehe.”
“No taboos. We can use the skin of any of our enemies. I can bring back a few pieces tonight!”Neo said fiercely.
“Oh, it’s better if it’s a head—that saves the trouble of making an exact mold, which is needed when adding padding inside the mask.”
“Understood.” Saying this,Neo put the last dagger coated in the liquid into a special pocket on his leather armor. The liquid wasn’t poisonous or paralyzing—it just stained the dagger, preventing it from reflecting light.
Tonight would be a clear moonlit night.
“Barrett, catch the spy. Members of the guard are also suspects.”
“Yes!” Barrett replied before asking, “Should we act immediately after finding them, or let them enjoy themselves a bit longer?”
“Act immediately. Don’t worry about me.”
“Understood!” …
By nightfall,Neo had arrived at the valley where the bandits were hiding. Without the water barrier provided by the essence chain, he could still use his rubber bodysuit to conceal his presence. Although the bandits had hunting dogs, they posed little threat toNeo. As for their earlier attempt to outsmart him by taking a longer route, it was nothing but a joke.
Neo didn’t enter the valley. It was indeed here that he had been “hospitably received” by the bandits during the day, but Millien wasn’t there.

Nio had thought of such a plan early on and had prepared for the worst scenario—that is, waiting for the traitor among the bandits at the migration camp to send a signal before they could determine Millien’s exact location. But in reality, things went more smoothly than expected. The young woman who had taken his Soul Collar went to check on Millien after he left, thinking that sealing the collar inside an anti-magic bag would solve everything. Unbeknownst to her, this was all within Nio’s plans. The mutated Thorned Heather Intelligent Vine had already been released ahead of time and had taken away the crystal that housed the essence of the Heavy Water Shield Guard. The moment the young woman saw Millien, her coordinates were exposed. The Intelligent Vine arrived shortly after, ready to activate the dual protection of thorn armor and the Heavy Water Shield Guard at any time. Now, all Nio needed to do was confirm whether the Intelligent Vine and the Heavy Water Shield Guard had arrived and were ready.

This time, as Nio sneaked into the bandits’ lair, he wasn’t completely alone—he had an assistant with him, right by his side: Multi-Face.

Those who achieve their desires ascend to heaven, while those filled with resentment and evil sink downward. Nio did not break his promise to Valentina, but Multi-Face was not completely destroyed either. The current Multi-Face remains evil, or rather, even more twisted and sinister. The souls of the victims from Wurtzburg dispersed and returned to their respective paths after the incident. However, the souls of the dark minions and human-beast hybrids converged to form a new “mind,” allowing Multi-Face’s “evil soul” to be perfected upon the basis of its original consciousness.

After successfully delaying Eirlys and his group’s pursuit by luring them into the chasm earlier, Multi-Face suffered severe injuries, almost being torn apart. Yet, thanks to its strong survival instincts, it returned to its master. Then, Nio gave it a stronger body. On the foundation of darkness, the mutated Intelligent Vine merged with the Evil Thorn Vine, giving rise to the Abnormal Evil Energy Thorned Heather, commonly known as Evil Thorned Heather. The current Multi-Face is like a Chain Demon from ancient legends, except it isn’t made of various chains but of thorny vines. It is even more humanoid and delicate, as if the skin has been stripped away to reveal muscles and tendons—like a living person. This delicacy signifies the power of the evil soul and its complete control over the body.

“Kill any hostile lifeforms. Start once you see the signal I send,” Nio gave Multi-Face a cold command.

Its forked, serpent-like thorn tongue hissed, and its eyes glowed with cruel yellow-green light—a mixture of the gaze of a crocodile and a hungry wolf—especially eerie under the light of the rising moon.

Twenty minutes later, Nio arrived at the outskirts of a secluded valley and quickly slipped into the shadows of a crack. Thorn, riding on the Death-Eating Vine, had been waiting there for a long time. Before that, Thorn had already scanned the surrounding area.

Spine and Thorn reside in the Spirit Collar merely for better development. Parts of the origins of the two spirits are within Neo’s body, meaning that even if the Spirit Collar and the two spirits are destroyed, Spine and Thorn will not die completely but will only suffer severe damage. This mutual relationship not only helps preserve their lives but also allows Neo to communicate directly with Spine and Thorn, even when the two spirits are not by his side. Of course, for now, this communication is limited by distance, only possible within about 100 meters, but it already enables many things. For example, after understanding the terrain, Neo can send Spine ahead to take charge of protection efforts in Millien, allowing him to stay informed about Millien’s latest situation at any time. Soon, Spine contacted Neo from there, saying it had arrived at the location and everything was ready. Neo curled the corners of his mouth, revealing his stark white fangs—time for a surprise attack!