Chapter 1000: Chapter 999: Katie’s Desperation
Although Katie tried hard, unfortunately she was not good at speaking, and Leader of the Caravan was also very determined. Even though Katie offered double the remuneration, he still refused, and so did the others.
Actually, Fang Zheng could understand the Leader of the Caravan’s thoughts. They knew their positioning clearly. If this were a game, they would be the NPCs who are killed by the BOSS during its appearance to showcase its power and to give the protagonist an excuse and reason to fight. Obviously, Leader of the Caravan also understood this.
Therefore, even if Katie offered double the reward, they were unwilling to continue forward. In the end, Leader of the Caravan even returned half of Katie’s deposit, took the other three with him, and left, leaving the poor Katie and a few carriages there. Obviously, money was important to them, but they needed to be alive to spend it.
"What should we do now?"
Looking at the carriages and Katie sitting there, Kurumi sighed. She didn’t expect something like this to happen.
"There’s no choice, we’ll help instead."
Fang Zheng certainly couldn’t just call it a day and leave, and not to mention he knew Katie. Although he didn’t know how this wealthy thief young lady ended up like this, he couldn’t just watch her cry pitifully over there.
"That’s right, let’s help!"
Walnut also nodded. If it were a local mercenary from this world, they probably wouldn’t think so much. They mostly did jobs for money. But Walnut came from modern Earth, and was more outgoing and enthusiastic in dealing with people, which was one of the reasons she was well-liked by others.
Since Fang Zheng proposed, Kurumi didn’t object and Walnut supported, naturally there was nothing else to say. Soon, everyone came to Katie’s side. At this moment, the young lady was sitting by the carriage wiping her tears. Seeing Walnut and the others walking over, Katie immediately stood up nervously.
"Excuse me, is there something you need?"
At this point, Katie felt bitter inside. Leader of the Caravan had left, and she couldn’t do anything alone. If even these mercenaries left now, she would really have no one to turn to for help.
"If you don’t mind, how about we help you drive the carriage?"
Walnut came straight to the point and expressed her idea.
"Little Hong suggested we could help, and I think it’s a good idea. Since everyone is on the same road, it’s natural to help each other..."
"No problem, no problem!"
At this moment, Katie was so emotional she almost cried. She originally thought she was at a dead end, but unexpectedly, the situation turned hopeful, and she laughed immediately.
"Thank you for your help. Once we reach Silver City, I will definitely repay you well!"
Once a decision was made, the next things were simple. Although none of the people here, including Katie, had driven carriages before, Fang Zheng was there.
With just a look, without releasing Dragon Might, those horses didn’t dare to move. In fact, a few more timid ones almost knelt down.
Then Fang Zheng just made a gesture, and the horses obediently stood still, one following another, more obedient than before.
"Amazing..."
Witnessing this, Katie’s eyes sparkled, looking at Fang Zheng with admiration, while Fang Zheng smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Don’t worry, I’m familiar with animals. They generally listen. As long as I’m around, these horses will obediently follow us, no problem at all."
If the horses could talk, they would surely protest — who exactly is good with whom here!
However, under Fang Zheng’s "Dragon Might," these poor horses could only lower their heads and obediently do their work.
After resolving the carriage driving issue, everyone quickly resumed the journey, moving forward.
In the beginning, Katie was somewhat worried, frequently looking back, but seeing the horses pulling the carriages more obediently than the other, she soon relaxed.
But as they continued forward, Katie soon began to worry again.
Along the way, they encountered several caravans and travelers. From them, Fang Zheng and Walnut also received similar, or even more detailed information than Leader of the Caravan — on the road to Gray Whale Harbor, there were three incidents of caravans being attacked in succession, with severe casualties on the part of guards and others, though the goods were mostly intact. Although Gray Whale Harbor was investigating the culprit, they hadn’t found any leads so far.
With no culprit apprehended, naturally, others chose to take a detour for caution.
There’s no denying this wasn’t good news, and Katie’s mood grew worse.
Previously, it was said that mountain bandits and thieves were not promising professions, and generally, elite rank professionals wouldn’t engage in such unless forced or for various reasons. But necromancers were the exception.
This was due to the nature of necromancers.
Necromancers were somewhat similar to scientists and doctors in the real world who study biochemistry. Official scientists and doctors would dissect and experiment on corpses obtained legally, then confirm their research through a series of animal experiments.
However, those who turned to illegitimate ways, like Unit 731 without any humanity, would experiment on living humans, testing mortality rates post-infection with viruses and conducting human experiments more efficiently — more cruel, but also more effective.
The fallen necromancers were akin to the latter. Without corpses, they create them, and they could test new magic and various potions on living beings, then experiment on turning them into undead creatures or binding souls after death... in short, for a necromancer, a person, whether alive or dead, was the best research material.
In some sense, the purpose of necromancers’ robberies was not much different from mountain bandits and thieves.
The only difference being the latter sought money, and the former sought life.
After passing the fork at Rockfall Valley, there was only their group on the entire road. Looking around, the surrounding forest was eerily gloomy. Katie felt, perhaps it was an illusion, that something was watching them from the dark depths of the forest.
Let’s hope it’s just an illusion.
As time passed by, although Katie was praying silently, night still fell.
"What should we do next?"
Sitting on top of the carriage, surveying the surroundings, Walnut glanced around and asked.
"Do we continue, or rest here?"
Previously, this wouldn’t be a question, but now, it was.
"Let’s continue."
Fang Zheng lit a magic lamp, hanging it at the front of the carriage.
"The horses can still keep going."
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, the horses that had been pulling the carriage all day didn’t dare to complain. They... well, what could they say?
Even if they spoke, these people wouldn’t understand...
"Let’s let them rest a bit. We’ll eat dinner and then set off again."
Katie, feeling some pity for these obedient horses, quickly suggested, and Fang Zheng had no objections to it — meals had to be eaten, and stopping to eat wasn’t much different from eating on the go. Walnut wouldn’t object either; as long as she wasn’t hurt, she required 1000ML of fresh plasma a week. Otherwise, to her, eating or not made little difference.
"Eh?"
However, at this moment, Kurumi suddenly turned her head, glancing into the forest, and at the same time, Fang Zheng squinted his eyes.
"What’s up?"
"Nothing."
Facing an uneasy inquiry from Katie, the two exchanged a glance, then Kurumi smiled slightly and jumped off the carriage.
"I’ll go catch some prey for dinner... hopefully, it will taste better than the wolves from before."
The next moment, Kurumi’s figure flashed and silently disappeared into the dark shadows.