Chapter 207: Bait

Chapter 207: Bait

Colin Iliad glanced at Lovia but did not respond at once. Only after he pulled the two straight swords out of the ground did he nod and say,

“Good.”

The five of them circled the outskirts of Nois City. Several times, they attempted to enter, only to be driven back by the city-state’s “daily life,” which looked ordinary on the surface but in reality produced not a single sound. They did not dare explore recklessly.

Seeing that the lightning high above was growing less and less frequent and that darkness was gradually claiming the world, Colin stared deeply at Nois City for several seconds before saying,

“We’ll establish a small camp first. We’ll continue when it is day.”

By “day,” he meant the period when lightning came more often and the intervals of darkness were very short.

The rest of the exploration team had no objections. They quickly made use of a heap of stones along the riverbed and set up a simple camp.

At the innermost end of the camp, where the overhanging boulders blocked the sky and there was no need to worry about rain, a campfire burned vigorously. All kinds of strange creature remains were piled beside it and thrown in from time to time as firewood. Colin, Lovia, and the others sat around the fire, each eating the dry rations they had carried and the corpses of monsters that had already been proven not to cause too much harm.

As fat sizzled and popped over the flame, Colin Iliad, Chief of the six-member council, looked toward Derrick Berg and said,

“We’ll patrol the camp first. Once they finish eating, we’ll switch with them.”

If it had been before, Derrick would not have had any additional thoughts. But at this moment, the first thing that flashed through his mind was:

The Chief has something to say to me in private…

“All right.” Derrick stuffed the remaining chunk of meat in his hand into his mouth and lifted Thunder God’s Roar from beside him.

That piece of meat had clearly already been cooked, yet it still retained a ghastly green color.

After they reached the dim edge of the camp, Demon Hunter Colin spoke in a low voice, his tone completely unchanged.

“Nois City is stranger and more dangerous than I expected. I wonder what opinion you have regarding the next course of action.”

I don’t know much about this place, and I don’t have much experience either. Why would the Chief ask for my opinion? Derrick was immediately a little stunned, and by instinct, he wanted to raise his left hand and scratch the back of his head.

He soon remembered the several conversations he had had with the Chief back in the City of Silver. He also remembered Mr. Hanged Man’s analyses of the hidden meanings in people’s words. His heart stirred, and understanding suddenly dawned on him.

“The Chief is hinting to me!

“What he means is that Nois City is stranger and more dangerous than expected, and hunting a Shapeshifter will be far more difficult than imagined. He wants to know whether it’s possible to change the objective.

“He hopes I’ll pray to Mr. Fool, receive a divine revelation, and give an ‘opinion’?

“So that’s it… Mr. World really is a man full of wisdom. On the way here, he told me how to hunt a Bizarro Bane and obtain its blood in a simpler way. Uh, in the current situation, that method seems usable!”

As these thoughts flickered through him, Derrick answered sincerely,

“Yes, Your Excellency Chief. I have a few suggestions.”

Colin Iliad silently breathed out in relief and swallowed back the more direct words he had been about to say. He gave a slight nod.

“Speak.”

“Since Nois City has changed, entering it will expose us to great risk. Perhaps we can consider luring the Shapeshifter out instead.” Derrick did not copy The World, Gehrman Sparrow’s method exactly. He modified it somewhat according to the present circumstances.

Demon Hunter Colin did not reject the idea outright. Instead, he asked with great seriousness,

“How should we lure the Shapeshifter out?”

Derrick answered…