The next morning, Hu Tao took Fang Zheng and Kuang San to the city gate to meet Katie. Then the two sides had a brief conversation, confirmed their respective tasks, and set off.

However, looking at the caravan in front of him, Fang Zheng frowned slightly.

Katie was not lying. In addition to the carriage Katie was riding in, there were three flatbed trucks in the caravan to carry the goods. Fang Zheng carefully observed that there was nothing wrong with the goods. They were just ordinary commodities. Of course, they were valuable, but the problem was... their value.

According to Fang Zheng's previous experience in cooperating with the Northland Chamber of Commerce, generally speaking, the Chamber of Commerce has its own guard team, and hiring mercenaries is largely for the purpose of checking for deficiencies and filling gaps.

To put it bluntly, the low-end combat power is sufficient, but we need to hire a few high-end combat forces to keep things under control.

Of course, you don't expect to hire a legendary warrior, but a qualified regular mercenary is enough to keep the place in check. After all, ordinary bandits can't be that high, and at most they can be elites. If they can go up to the master level, they can find a well-paid and prestigious job anywhere, and they don't have to be a bandit with such a hopeless career.

Even an ordinary elite-level professional is capable of serving as a bodyguard for a noble. Unless there is some hidden secret, who would want to be a bandit?

Because of this, generally speaking, a group of ordinary guards and a few regular mercenaries are enough to ensure the safety of the caravan along the way.

But Katie's caravan was different. They had no guards of their own. There were only five people, four drivers and Katie. And the four drivers were all quite old and didn't seem to have much fighting power. In other words, the safety of this caravan was completely in the hands of Hu Tao, Kuang San and Fang Zheng.

In other words, if Fang Zheng and the others had any evil intentions, they could just take action when no one was around, kill the four drivers, and then kidnap Miss Katie. Then the entire caravan's cargo and the lady would become their spoils.

How come this young lady is in such a miserable state?

Fang Zheng remembered that when she was doing the mission, she seemed to be quite rich, so she shouldn't be so poor.

Anyway...

"Walnut, Walnut..."

"Hmm? What's up? Xiao Hong?"

Hearing Fang Zheng coming over and calling her name, Hu Tao, who was sitting on the next board, turned around and looked at her curiously.

"How is the reward for this commission?"

“Woo…”

Hearing Fang Zheng's question, Hu Tao frowned and thought for a moment, then stuck out her tongue.

"To be honest, the reward is not high, and it is relatively low. To be honest, the association secretly told me that this commission has been on the table for a while, but most people are unwilling to accept it. One reason is that the journey is too far, and the other is that the reward is too low. To put it bluntly, this reward is probably just enough to earn the round-trip fare. Although some mercenaries have accepted the commission, the employers do not seem to trust them, so the deal was not concluded..."

Having said that, Kurumi shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.

"But it's okay this time. The employer seems to trust us, and our main goal is to go to Silver City. It doesn't matter if we earn less, right? In fact, the employer asked me why I took this commission, and I told her that we wanted to go to Silver City to see the world."

I see.

Hearing Hu Tao's answer, Fang Zheng nodded secretly. It seems that Katie is quite reliable and knows how to protect herself. She probably agreed because she saw that there were only girls on her side and Hu Tao's reputation. After all, compared to those ordinary mercenaries of unknown origin, mercenaries of the same sex with good reputation are obviously the best choice.

"But what you are about to say is really strange."

Sitting on the car board, Walnut swung her legs and spoke curiously.

"I've been here for several months now, and I've heard a little bit about that so-called country of wealth. I heard people say that they don't have anything else but money. And they always spend money lavishly, they're extremely wealthy. This little sister is also doing business in the country of wealth, but she looks so poor... It seems that rumors can't be trusted completely."

No, it’s true that people in that country are rich, and this young lady…at least she used to be quite rich.

As for now...it’s hard to say.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng shook her head, then she looked at Hu Tao and asked another question in her heart.

"Kumi, are you used to staying here?"

“Woo…”

Faced with Fang Zheng's question, Hu Tao frowned.

"If you're talking about getting used to it, I was definitely not used to it at first. For example, the sanitary conditions here are very average, and as mercenaries, it's difficult for us to go to the bathroom when we go out. Fortunately, Sister Kuang San and I don't have to worry about this problem... Other mercenaries are miserable. I often see mercenaries running to the bushes to relieve themselves... Oh, by the way, the last time when I was carrying out a commission, a mercenary ran to the woods to relieve himself and was bitten by a poisonous snake... Tsk tsk tsk..."

"Ahem, that's not what I'm talking about..."

After listening to Hu Tao's complaints, Fang Zheng coughed a few times. This question... well, he didn't want to go into it in depth.

"I mean... isn't it more peaceful over at Tiandao Palace, and there's no need for fighting and killing? Have you ever thought about going back to Tiandao Palace?"

"Of course I have thought about it. After all, I have many friends there. But to be honest, after getting used to it, I found that life here is not bad. Being a mercenary sounds troublesome, but those who put forward commissions must have their own problems and want to ask for help. I think it's great to be able to help them solve their problems. And..."

Having said that, Kurumi clenched his fist and waved it.

"We are a secret force that gathers intelligence. Doesn't that sound cool? Just like the undercover agents in the movies..."

No, this metaphor is not quite appropriate...

Listening to Hu Tao's cheerful speech, Fang Zheng's face was filled with black lines, but fortunately, it seemed that Hu Tao did not have any psychological trauma, nor did he have any dissatisfaction or inconvenience.

Maybe I really thought they were too fragile before?

I don't know if it was because everyone was lucky or the goddess blessed us, but we didn't encounter any problems on the first day, or the second day. We only encountered a few wild wolves when camping at night. They were shot dead by Kuang San and then roasted by Fang Zheng for a snack.

By the way, wolf meat is really tough and tastes terrible.

However, on the morning of the third day, when Fang Zheng, Hu Tao and Kuang San woke up and were about to have breakfast and get going, they suddenly heard a noise coming from the carriage in front of them. The three of them walked over curiously, only to find that the boss of the coachmen was negotiating something with Katie.

"But, but we agreed..."

"You can't say that, Miss. You just heard it. That road seems a little dangerous now. We are just ordinary people. We dare not take risks with our lives..."

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Hearing the two arguing, Hu Tao walked over curiously and asked, and when he saw Hu Tao appear, Boss Che also had a bitter look on his face.

"Ms. Walnut, listen to this. We just encountered a horse team passing by. I went to get some information, and the people in the horse team told us that the road leading to Gray Whale Port is very dangerous..."

"Danger?"

"Yes, I heard that there seems to be a necromancer lurking there recently. We are just ordinary drivers, not as capable as you guys, so I wanted to talk to this young lady and ask her to change to another route and go around the Falling Stone Valley. This may take a few more days, but it is definitely safer. The previous horse team also went around the Falling Stone Valley."

“Isn’t this wonderful?”

Hearing what Boss Che said, Walnut blinked.

"What's the problem?"

"But, but this will take three more days..."

Katie's face turned red with anxiety. She clenched her fists and looked at the boss with tears in her eyes.

"In this case, by the time we get to Gray Whale Port, we won't be able to catch the ship to Silver City, and we'll have to wait another week for the next one... The goods won't be delivered on time..."

"But Miss, life safety is more important. Even if you give me more money, I still have to live to spend it, right? If I die, then the money I made will be wasted... And Miss, you don't want to die, do you? Those necromancers are not good people..."

“Woo…”

Katie was obviously not good at speaking. Facing Boss Che's words, she lowered her head and remained silent. Fang Zheng just shook his head silently. He remembered very clearly that this young lady had never been good at interacting with others. Now it seemed that her problem had not improved, but had worsened...

But...this is indeed a problem.