Betrayal? Brainwashing? Strategy Retreat!

Song Ronghua didn't know whether he should let them took it easy or just went out of this place, clearing and reporting the mission as soon as possible. But after some contemplation, he decided that reporting this mission was the first priority.

Also, there was a matter of Earth Moonlight Crystal. His first intention was retrieving all of the loot from the Trial of the King. And after that, they would trace back their trails and arrive at the Earth Moonlight Crystal location. Before they went out of this damned place, he would ask Old Dog and a few people to excavate a few pieces of Earth Moonlight Crystal.

As Sword of Light's tradition, every loot and haul from the mission must be offered toward the higher-ups, or at the very least, at Sword of Judgement's management. And in exchange of it, they would receive various benefits on par with the haul. Some would receive some rare concocted medicine, some would ask for a better weapon or armour, or even Battle Technique Manual and Spell Scripture.

But for Song Ronghua, what could be on par with Earth Moonlight Crystal? There was a possibility that he would be given some random or useless thing, and a high possibility that he wouldn't receive any Earth Moonlight Crystal - a futile effort on his part.

Many might not know about it, but how could an Earth Spell User like him didn't understand?

If one was talking about Clear Sky Crystal, it was the most basic material for a Spell User, or at the very least Spirit User, one grade below Spell User. The usage of this Clear Sky Crystal was simple, lightening the burden when the user was manipulating Elemental or using a spell – around ten percent of total burden on the user.

Hence, many nobilities would spend a lot of strength and wealth to monopolize Clear Sky Crystal. It was the most favourite material for any young master – to train the future Spell User exclusive for the said nobility.

By training his or her Elemental manipulation from the young age, the possibility to become a Spell User was high. Unlike the commoner who would depend on their strength for their own livelihood, neglecting their Elemental manipulation training.

Hence, it was not weird for the highest number of Spell User was monopolized by nobilities and royalty.

But this Earth Moonlight Crystal, there was a slight difference from Clear Sky Crystal. If Clear Sky Crystal didn't differentiate between the element which was conjured by the user, the Earth Moonlight Crystal was the otherwise – only worked if it was the same element as the crystal, earth.

There were three kinds of Moonlight Crystal that he knew, Earth Moonlight Crystal, Fire Moonlight Crystal, and Wind Moonlight Crystal. There was no water element one.

The crystal was very similar for each of the element. The only difference was the colour near the base of the crystal, similar to a moss. And the one he found in this place was the dirt-coloured moss, which made it the Earth Moonlight Crystal.

But the only advantage in this Earth Moonlight Crystal was the output. As long as the user manipulating the earth element or even using the earth element spell, the output would increase by ten percent while the burden on the user would be reduced by ten percent.

To sum it up, it was a very suitable for a single element Spell User, like he himself.

And because of that, this Earth Moonlight Crystal was very important thing for him, and he was planning to snatch a fist-size one.

"Okay men, stop squabbling." Song Ronghua stood up and tapped his finger toward the golden gauntlet in front of him and continued, "Let's return first. We have been spending a lot of time in this place, and we don't know whether there is someone else other than us."

"Let's kill them!" Old Dog chimed in, but he received a glare from Song Ronghua.

"We have a lot of hauls, but at the same time, it is a little problematic for us to bring these out without attracting attention. Around fifteen set of armours. Any idiot will be able to see that we will be a good target."

"Let's wear these!" Old Dog chimed in again, but Song Ronghua didn't pay any attention.

"But the meeting point is not in Black Iron City, but rather Abandoned Mine." continued Song Ronghua, which was a bomb for everyone here.

"Deputy leader! It is a suicide!" Old Dog's eyebrows twitched, but his word was resonated with the surroundings.

"Abandoned Mine is the meeting point, but I have prepared our checkpoint before reaching Abandoned Mine. First, go out of the Stone Gaze Forest and go to the west - Wide Rock Town – a desolate place without any mercenary and people rarely arrive there. No, maybe because there was nothing at that town, no one was interested, even until now."

"Over there, we will join with a few people and will be split into three groups. The first group will leave first, just roam around and waste time. The second and third group will leave at the same time, but a different direction."

"We will meet up before going to the Abandoned Mine as three groups rather than one big group. Remember, the three groups will meet up seven days after the first group goes. That is the rough plan." Song Ronghua swept his glance at the surroundings, seeing that most people understood his careful plan.

Abandoned Mine was a lawless place, with robbery, killing, and pillaging as their breakfast. It wouldn't be weird if their group was attacked. Also, every big group wouldn't be able to arrive at the Abandoned Mine because they were a fat sheep, a good target for every bandit there.

Hence, Song Ronghua made the group split into three.

Seeing their silence as an affirmation, Song Ronghua added, "There will be a minor change in plan along the way, but the rough plan will not change. Now, let's talk about these hauls. Bring as much as possible. Little Three, Old Dog, Big Foot, and I will guard the rear, so don't bring any of the hauls. Okay? We will not stop no matter what, before we arrive at our first stop."

All of them affirmed Song Ronghua's lead. No, there were two who didn't have any reaction from his explanation.

Pig Head and Fatty Pig.

Both of them were motionless, as if there was nothing of importance. Along with the worn red mask, their body exuded a weird aura, as if both of them were unknown people.

"Hey, Fatty Pig. I know that you like to be handsome, but it is the time to go. Your handsome day is finished." Old Dog went closer and wanted to pat Fatty Pig's shoulder, but he was met with sudden attack.

BA!

Using his shoulder pad, Fatty Pig crashed at Old Dog's chest, and the latter was thrown at least a few metres backwards.

This even caught all of them off guard, not expecting Fatty Pig would do such thing. But seeing that Fatty Pig began to eye another people, Song Ronghua took the command and shouted, "BE PREPARE, MEN! TRAITOR PIG, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DEATH!"

Even though Fatty Pig was a person in his faction, Song Ronghua didn't mind to kill the former because of his conviction – his belief that his people must never point their weapon at him.

And Fatty Pig did it.

It was a grave sin.

One by one, they lunged at Fatty Pig to intercept him, but no one expected that Fatty Pig's strength was very different from what they knew.

"Whoa-"

"Stand back! He is concealing his strength!"

All of them had a grave expression on their face. The exhibited strength of the current Fatty Pig was at least Peak Grade Battle Warrior. It was a big difference from Fatty Pig,s old strength, Low Grade Battle Warrior.

Not to mention that Fatty Pig's body grew bigger, but the useless meat all turned into muscle, hiding an explosive strength with each of his blow. And adding the ash-coloured armour, Fatty Pig literally became a muscle tank – high defence and strong offence.

"DAMN FATTY! SCRAP THAT SHITTY MASK AND LOOK AT MY EYES!" Little Three, one of the few friends of Fatty Pig felt betrayed, especially in this kind of situation. "WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU DOING! IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THE ARMOUR, NO NEED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! YOU WANT THIS ARMOUR, AND SO DO I! WHY CAN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING AT ME! AM I YOUR FRIEND!"

There was no any change in Fatty Pig's movement, as if what little Three said was no more than a fleeting air, the flushed s**t.

But, their crisis was not only that.

On the other side, Pig Head made his move toward the unvigilant person, Toothpick.

SPLAAAT!

Not letting any sound at all, Toothpick's body was split into two.

"F**k!" Many were surprised, not expecting someone fell because of an ambush. "Heck! Even Pig Head!"

Different from the bare-handed Fatty Pig, Pig Head used his greatsword to attack Toothpick. Faced with two traitors, Song Ronghua and the other's expression was grave. Facing with Fatty Pig was enough to tie their hand, without leeway to do anything.

And when all of them was distracted in a moment, a cracking's sound came from Fatty Pig. That was when they realized that someone's head was crushed like watermelon.

Two people had fallen.

And now, adding with Pig Head, the eleven of them was in pinch.

"Deputy leader! What should we do!" Old Dog was occupied with handling Fatty Pig's advance, and he was in the disadvantage as the time passed by. He felt the one fighting him was a beast, no, a Fierce Beast – unending fierce assault from Fatty Pig. "We can't hold him off for too long!"

In fact, Song Ronghua didn't understand what occurred in front of him. The change in the two traitors was too extreme, not only their physique and strength, but also their movement. As if both of them changed into someone different.

[Brainwashing?] Song Ronghua's gaze was swept toward the two traitors, and it was not hard to pinpoint the two's similarity. [F**k! The armour itself is a trap!]

No matter how stupid he was, how could he believed that these two persons had concealed their real strength for a long time, and revealed it in this kind of timing? It was an impossible gambling. By daring to make a wild and bold guess, any stupid person would realize that both Fatty Pig and Pig Head had changed a little ever since they had worn the full set of the armour, the ash-coloured armour.

"Hold these two idiots off! Both are brainwashed, or maybe their body is controlled!" Song Ronghua made a bold decision while took the golden gauntlet and a set of armour, "Some of you, hold that two idiots while some others bring our haul! We can't do anything at them, thus we will just run away!"

"Deputy leader, seriously? We are not some scaredy-cat nor coward! We will fight to the death!" Old Dog didn't know what to say. But without the capability to bring Fatty Pig and Pig Head down or kill both, there was nothing they could do.

"Running away, eh? I don't hate it, but. . ."

"Fast! Grab those things and run!"

"Damn you, coward! You want to be the first to run?"

"Who said I am running away, this is called strategy retreat!" His tone was filled with righteousness, not realizing his own shamelessness.

"F**k! Really shameless! But I don't hate it, hahaha!"

"Old Dog, godspeed for you." Little Three gave a disgusting wink and added, "I will never forget your valiant sacrifice, okay? Buahahaha!"

Each one of them was shameless enough to entrust the vanguard's position toward and only Old Dog.

Seeing that almost everyone had left him alone, he couldn't help but cursed, "SCREW ALL OF YOU! SCREW THIS S**T" Not wasting any more time, Old Dog chased after those betrayers.

…