Volume 5 Chapter 20: Persuasion

“Sanctuary Camp! Mr. Hill, why choose it?” Cora looked at Hill with surprise. If Qin Lun had suggested going to Sanctuary Camp, she could have understood, since Qin Lun had an Elf Bloodline.

“Qin Lun, Hansen, are you two also sure about choosing Sanctuary Camp?” Sas turned to look at the other two. There was no need to ask Frank, as he would naturally be with Qin Lun.

“Yes, the three of us are used to being together. Sanctuary Camp suits us well!” Hansen lifted his head and finished the ale in his cup. He stood up and said calmly, “I’m going to sleep first. See you tomorrow, guys!”

“Michelle, the night view here is beautiful. Would you accompany me for a walk outside?” Qin Lun also stood up, smiled, and waved to the Centaur girl. He led Frank towards the outside of the hall.

“Mm!” Michelle nodded, happily swishing her ponytail as she followed behind the two. She herself had hoped to go to Sanctuary Camp and had no objections to their choice.

Hill smiled knowingly. Qin Lun took Michelle away to create an opportunity for him to talk alone with Sas and his wife.

Sas and his wife were different from them. The three Serial Killers were very shrewd, and sometimes their thoughts were unusually in sync. They barely needed to discuss things for long in the Team Channel, making decisions with just a few words. This was also the main reason why they often communicated amongst themselves without Sas and his wife noticing anything strange.

Persuading Sas and his wife would probably take some time. Naturally, they couldn’t just stand there strangely “silent” for a long time in front of Michelle.

“Mrs. Cora, for ordinary guests from the Outer World, joining the Victor Royal Knights is the best choice. The strictly disciplined Knight order can guarantee their safety in the early stages, allowing them to slowly improve their magic and martial arts through training.”

Hill explained with a smile, “But we don’t have that much time. The two or three days we’re staying here, plus travel time… If we don’t receive any additional hidden plots in the meantime, we probably only have about a week at most. What could we possibly learn in such a short time? Besides, we still have to complete the Main Quest ‘Source of Power’.”

“You’re right! Then… what was the reason for not joining The Spire either?” After a moment’s thought, Cora nodded in agreement. Even Sas, who had a thing for Knights, lowered his head dejectedly, probably giving up on his dream of becoming a Knight.

“To some extent, The Spire is indeed more suitable for us Apostles! There are many job choices, and we can act according to our capabilities.” Hill’s eyes gleamed as he spoke slowly, “However, it’s unlikely we could gain great rewards there.”

“Mr. Hill, we understand the principle that effort equals reward. But given our strength, as long as the team works together sincerely, we should be able to help everyone complete one task in a week. Isn’t that reward enough?” Cora asked, frowning.

Earlier, Hollke had explained that the Inner World was vast and sparsely populated, and most of the lifeforms there were very powerful. Unlike the beings of the Outer World, they had completely freed themselves from the constraints of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. The medium of exchange among them was no longer currency, but knowledge, laws, profound truths, and rare treasures.

The tasks issued by The Spire, no matter how low-level or trivial, offered rewards of techniques, knowledge, or rare items. Even completing just one or two would be a huge gain for an Apostle. With their team’s strength, as long as they cooperated sincerely, it wouldn’t be difficult for everyone to obtain a low-level skill or a decent alchemical item.

“A low-level Apostle Skill or an ordinary Dark Gold item!” A sharp light flashed in Hill’s eyes as he said with a faint smile, “So what! Entering such a world treasury, are you satisfied with things worth just a few tens of thousands of Shattered Crystals?”

To be honest, Hill had originally tricked Sas and his wife into joining with the intention of making them scapegoats for himself and Hansen. However, they had now gone through a Guidance Mission together, during which Hill and Hansen had even faced a small test of their inner demons. Seeing Sas and his wife being so mediocre, the Shepherd couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Sas and his wife fell silent. They weren’t truly foolish. Although they had been somewhat arrogant when they first joined the team, after going through a Guidance Mission with Hill and the other two, they now realized that the other three members of the team were not simple. Leaving aside their actual combat power, at least in terms of adaptability and wisdom, they were several streets ahead.

To be fair, they were considered elites among ordinary people, but in front of these three, they always felt a step slower in their reactions. Things the other three understood with just a glance often took them a long time to figure out, and sometimes they couldn’t grasp the meaning at all unless Hill or Qin Lun explained it.

This wasn’t about maturity; it was about true talent, or rather, intelligence. It was like a complex math problem: a genius could see the answer at a glance, while an ordinary person needed to calculate for a long time, or might not even understand it at all.

“Mr. Hill, then… will going to Sanctuary Camp allow us to gain more rewards?” Cora asked hesitantly, vaguely guessing the kind of actions Hill and the other two might take. It was a choice she and her husband would never have made in the past.

“Sanctuary Camp might not be as safe as the Knight order, nor does it offer as many job choices as The Spire, but it has one advantage that the other two lack. It is the best choice for us Apostles to seek great rewards!” Hill showed a sly, fox-like smile. “Those three rules are too lenient. It seems that the deity named Anna Artemis completely follows the natural law of the survival of the fittest.”

Indeed! Sas and his wife exchanged a look. If they still didn’t understand after Hill had spoken to this extent, they would truly be idiots.

“Mr. Hill, are you referring to targeting other members of Sanctuary Camp?” Cora asked with a bitter smile. “Although we don’t underestimate ourselves, and together we have some combat ability, here we are the lowest level of existence! Besides, the duels in Sanctuary Camp require equal numbers. Are you sure we can succeed?”

“Mrs. Cora, what do you think is our biggest shortcoming compared to other guests from the Outer World? And what is our biggest advantage?” Hill didn’t answer Cora immediately. He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked a question completely unrelated to their previous conversation.

“Our biggest advantage… is our Law Body, right?” Cora answered hesitantly. “The biggest shortcoming should be that our stay time is too short; we can’t take it step by step like the others.”

“Hehe, wrong! I believe we have no shortcomings at all. Our stay time of less than a week is our biggest advantage!” Hill said with a beaming smile.

“Hill, I don’t understand what you mean…” Sas frowned deeply, while his wife Cora seemed thoughtful.

“We currently have 11 days of stay time left, and after completing the Main Quest, we can return to the Shattered Starry Sky at any time. In other words, after this point, no matter how much trouble we cause, no matter how big a mess we leave behind, it has nothing to do with us! The deities of the Silent Forest cannot rush into the Devil’s Horn to hunt us down!” Hill said with a faint smile.

“We Apostles are essentially villains who plunder the World Origin. Rules and disciplines only count as such if we acknowledge them. If we don’t acknowledge them, they’re nothing!” Hill said with a cold laugh.

“Besides, we have the Team Channel to communicate information and cover for each other. What’s the difference between one-on-one and five-on-one? With our Law Bodies and plenty of recovery items, even if only one person is responsible for attacking, in the forest, we can still wear down opponents many times stronger than us.”

After speaking, Hill poured himself a cup of ale. He drank while observing Sas and his wife’s reactions, giving them time to digest the information he had provided.

“I know you two were both police officers in your own world and have some resistance to this kind of behavior.” Hill, seeing that it was about time, spoke again. “However, since you have become Apostles, you must leave everything from the past behind. For Apostles, if you don’t advance, you retreat. If you are always bound by your previous beliefs, you will eventually fall in a Quest World. Mrs. Cora, you don’t want to become a widow in the future, do you?”

Sas and his wife trembled, looking at each other with complex emotions in their eyes.

“Mr. Hill, let Sas and I think about it. Can we give you our answer tomorrow?” Cora felt nothing but bitterness in her mouth as she spoke in a hoarse, soft voice.

“Of course!” Hill gave them a meaningful look, stood up, and walked out of the hall.

After a few days of interaction, he had noticed that behind their arrogant facades, these two seemed to be hiding something. They weren’t as racially prejudiced as the rumors said. However, no matter what principles they held, he believed that even for each other’s sake, they would stop at nothing.

In terms of Apostle relationships, a married couple could be a strong complement to each other, but sometimes it could also be a burden. In the hands of people like Hill or Qin Lun, they wouldn’t be hard to manipulate. This was also one of the important reasons why Hill had initially chosen Sas and his wife.

“Hill, how are Sas and his wife doing?” Just as Hill was cooling off in the wind, the voice of Disciple Hansen came through the Team Channel.

“They will follow us!” Hill sighed softly.

“What’s wrong? Is the Shepherd starting to feel sorry for the lambs waiting to be slaughtered?” Hansen taunted without mercy.

“No, I’m just a bit disappointed in them. Their original foundation was quite good, it’s a pity…” Hill shook his head as he spoke.

“Hmph, your view is too extreme. Sas and his wife are considered quite outstanding among ordinary people.” Hansen said with a cold laugh. “Across the three life planets of the Earth Federation, with over 10 billion people, there are also hundreds of thousands of prisoners, but how many are there like us? Why do you think we can’t fit into ordinary teams? It’s precisely because there are too many fools. Not everyone can adapt to our rhythm!”

“Perhaps.” Hill looked at the night sky with a helpless expression.