Chapter 13: Look, I knew you were a bully too!

"…So, there are five adults inside, all male. It's possible there are others who went out and haven't returned yet. We haven't found any guns, but there are plenty of weapons like machetes..." 

Tom drew a simple floor plan on the ground, and also marked the positions of the men on it.

"Are there any children locked inside?" Wade asked.

"Yes, all of them are locked on the ground floor, in this small room on the left. There are eight children in total," Tom pointed to the smallest room on the floor plan.

"A room this small, with eight kids inside... monsters," Wade frowned.

Tom didn't comment on this, but hurriedly said, "I suggest we let the snakes go in first and attack. They'll panic, and then we can slip in and finish it quickly... It's getting late, and we still need to go to Diagon Alley today!"

"Alright, let's do it," Wade said without saying anything more. He and Tom then slipped through the alley and circled to the back of the house.

There, they found a back door, but it was locked.

Tom handed Wade a stone. "When things start to get chaotic inside, we'll smash the lock and rush in."

Wade gave Tom a glance and casually threw the stone.

"Why did you throw the stone?" Tom asked, confused.

"Tom... we're wizards!"

Wade gently waved his right hand over the door lock.

Click!

The lock was silently unlocked.

The Book had a detailed section on unlocking spells.

Tom stared in shock at the lock that had been opened so cleanly and quickly. "You... you actually know how to do this?"

"I just figured it out on my own," Wade said vaguely. "Let's get started."

Tom didn't ask any more questions and immediately began issuing orders in Parseltongue.

Soon, Wade began hearing the rustling sounds around them.

Then, snakes began emerging from the surrounding grass, roof edges, and sewer, and quickly slithered through the door and window cracks!

After a while, Wade and Tom heard frantic screams coming from inside!

"Now's our chance!"

Wade and Tom pushed the door open and rushed inside!

...

A few minutes later.

Tom crouched down on the ground, removing a grass snake from a man's face who was lying on the floor.

Poke-poke!

He poked at the man's stiff face with his finger, "So... how did you manage to do that..."

He hadn't really done much, and yet all these people were turned into "statues" by Wade.

"I just figured it out. Maybe I just happened to hit some kind of petrifying attack spell by chance?"

Wade said this while pulling a large bundle of cash from a small box.

This was the money box he had just found.

"So, this money can really be exchanged for wizard money? Wizard money is definitely different from the ones we've seen before..." Tom said as he hurriedly tied up the frozen human traffickers with rope.

"Don't worry, it can definitely be exchanged. Our existence proves that not all wizards come from wizard families. This means there must be places where you can exchange currency... and besides..." 

Wade said as he turned the small box to show Tom.

"Even if the paper money can't be exchanged, these can definitely be exchanged..."

Tom looked up and saw that the bottom of the small box was packed with more than a dozen small gold bars!

"Gold is always hard currency, no matter where it is."

Tom looked at Wade with a strange expression. "You really know a lot..."

Cough cough, "I've read quite a few books in the past... Anyway, enough about money, let's not forget the 'real' purpose of us coming here."

Wade said this while stuffing the money box into a bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Heh, I thought you had forgotten," Tom said sarcastically.

In his mind, Wade was never a good person—he just had better acting skills than Tom!

This time, they said they were here to save people, but in reality, they were just here for the money!

"Of course, I haven't forgotten! You should get your snakes out of here, though. Don't scare the other kids, they're not like us."

Wade was in a good mood and didn't mind Tom's sarcastic words.

In fact, for Wade, aside from a large sum of money, theoretically, there would also be a substantial amount of merit points to be gained.

The two of them arrived at the small room at the corner of the ground floor.

The room was small, but the door was made of iron and appeared very sturdy, with an exaggeratedly large lock hanging on it.

As Wade approached the iron door, he could faintly hear frantic voices from behind it.

Clearly, the commotion outside had been heard by the people inside.

Wade placed his hand on the lock.

Tom stared intently at his hand, hoping to figure out some method.

However...

Click!

Tom couldn't discern anything, and the lock was simply opened.

Creek...

The heavy iron door was opened, and a foul smell hit them.

Tom disgustedly covered his nose and stepped aside.

Wade looked into the room behind the door. Inside the dark room, seven or eight children were huddled in the corner, staring at the door in fear.

"You're safe now. Hurry and get out of here!" Wade shouted.

The seven or eight children looked at each other but didn't move.

Seeing this, Wade's face turned stern. "Get out here right now, and line up! Otherwise, I'll hit you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the seven or eight children quickly rushed out.

Tom looked at Wade with a face that clearly said, "I knew it, you're just a bully too."

"Shut it, Tommy boy!!"

Wade looked at the children, now standing in a line and trembling. He took some money out of his pocket and handed some to them.

"Look, those human traffickers have been taken down by my people. You're free now, hurry and leave!"

The children finally noticed that the cruel human traffickers who had captured them earlier were now all tied up like dumplings.

Only then did they truly believe Wade's words.

Of course, aside from the fact that the "adults" Wade mentioned were not in the room, which was a little odd...

"By the way, I need to ask you one more thing. Are all the people here?" Wade asked again.

"Uh... sir.. we're still missing one man and one woman," a skinny little boy said, speaking up courageously.

"Oh, is it a tall, strong man and a hoarse-voiced woman?"

At that, the other children nodded.

"Well, then it's all done..." Wade glanced at their curious eyes, then continued, "They've already been caught. You all should hurry and go. If you can, report this case to the police and have them arrest these guys."

The children nodded eagerly, muttering their thanks. Then, they took the money Wade had given them and left the hideout.

Ding! Detected that the host has dismantled a human trafficking den! Rewarding the host with 1000 merit points!

Ding! Detected that the future Dark Lord has performed a good deed due to the host's advice, and his life trajectory has slightly changed. Rewarding the host with 100 merit points!

Wade looked at the 1400 merit points displayed in his balance and felt a great sense of satisfaction.

"Alright, we should leave now. We still have to go to Diagon Alley!" Tom urged.

Wade waved his hand. "Don't worry, Tom. This time we have money for transportation, don't we..."

Boom!

Before Wade could finish his sentence, the floor of the room suddenly shook violently!

Wade quickly grabbed onto the nearby sofa.

Tom, who wasn't prepared, was shaken and ended up sitting down hard on the floor!

Boom, boom... The ground trembled again.

Tom's eyes widened in shock. "It feels like something is coming out from beneath the ground!"