The two people who came out of the cave were wearing the same olive green uniforms, each carrying a submachine gun, seemingly guards of the "Underground Ark."
They glanced left and right, confirmed that there was no one else around, and then carried the heavy sack towards the depths of the valley.
Before long, they found a place where the soil was relatively loose and pulled out two shovels from the sack.
Jiang Baimian winked at her teammates, leading them to quietly feel their way down from the high ground, sneaking to a place not far from the two "Underground Ark" guards.
"Go ahead." She immediately whispered to Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao, not one to be outdone, held his "Berserker" assault rifle and rushed out of hiding, shouting at the two "Underground Ark" guards who were digging the pit:
"You are surrounded!"
The two guards were startled and simultaneously dropped their shovels, lunging in different directions, trying to find cover and avoid the first round of fire.
However, just as they completed the first step, they saw the dark muzzle of the "Grim Reaper" rocket launcher and the grenade launcher ready to fire.
In a flash of thought, they stopped, raised their hands, placed them behind their heads, and slowly squatted down.
Shang Jianyao, wearing a monkey mask, walked over and said with a smile:
"Don't be afraid, we're just here to make friends."
The two "Underground Ark" guards looked up at the assault rifle in Shang Jianyao's hand and then silently lowered their heads.
The two of them were typical Red River people, one with brown hair and one with yellow hair, one with blue eyes and one with brown eyes, both with beards, and there was nothing particularly special about their appearance—if one had to pick out a feature, it might be that one had a larger nose and the other had particularly thick eyebrows.
Shang Jianyao then laughed:
"You see:
"I didn't shoot at you, but spoke to you calmly;
"Nor did I ask you to put down your weapons and let me slaughter you;
"So…"
Hearing him say this, the two guards immediately felt that this guy was quite kind and seemed to be really just here to make friends.
"You should have said so earlier, you scared us." The guard with the larger nose, brown hair, and blue eyes was relatively bolder and quickly stood up.
"What's your name?" Shang Jianyao showed his friendliness.
The guard casually said:
"Just call me Joseph, he's Paul.
"What about you?"
"Zhang Qubing." Shang Jianyao said his alias in the Red River language.
"Are you Ashlanders?" Joseph asked, understandingly, after hearing this translated name.
"Humans are humans, there's no need to divide them into various groups." Shang Jianyao emphasized his point of view.
At this moment, Jiang Baimian had already walked to the sack and squatted down.
She carefully pulled the opening of the bag downwards, revealing what was inside.
It was a corpse.
He was wearing a black suit, his hair was already slightly gray, and there was a patch of blood on his chest.
"Butler Karl!" Jiang Baimian recognized the corpse.
This was Karl, one of the three butlers of DiMarco, specializing in the arms business.
He had just met with Watcher Song He in the morning, stating that they had not sold intelligence to the Fishmen or Hill Giants, and now his neatly combed hair was abnormally disheveled.
Only a few hours had passed, and he had become a corpse.
"Butler Karl?" Long Yuehong repeated in astonishment, not expecting that the sack contained such a corpse.
He thought it was some servant who had offended DiMarco.
Of course, strictly speaking, a butler is also one of the servants.
"How did Butler Karl die?" Shang Jianyao asked the two "Underground Ark" guards he had established a friendly relationship with.
This time, he didn't directly "make friends," but used "Reasoning Clown" to simulate Watcher Song He's friendly effect.
At this time, Jiang Baimian, after a brief examination, preliminarily confirmed that Karl had died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Joseph, the one with the larger nose, looked a little gloomy:
"He was killed by Mr. DiMarco."
"Why?" Long Yuehong blurted out.
He remembered that Butler Karl was a loyal person, and clearly a believer in the Vigilance Church, but chose not to hide in order to help DiMarco manage the arms business.
Paul, the one with the thick eyebrows, exchanged a look with Joseph and hesitated to say:
"After meeting with that Watcher of the Vigilance Church in the morning, Butler Karl kept wanting to see Mr. DiMarco.
"At that time, Mr. DiMarco was resting in his room, and he only let him in in the afternoon.
"We don't know exactly what they talked about, we only know that an argument broke out later, and Mr. DiMarco, in a fit of anger, drew his gun and killed Butler Karl."
At the same time as Jiang Baimian stood up, Shang Jianyao played the role of "Famous Detective" and asked in tacit understanding:
"Did you witness the argument afterwards?"
Joseph shook his head:
"We only heard the commotion inside suddenly become very loud. When we opened the door to protect Mr. DiMarco, he had already shot Butler Karl.
"The argument was just something he said casually."
Could it be that after Butler Karl talked to Watcher Song, he remembered something after returning to the "Underground Ark" and began to suspect that DiMarco had really sold the information about Bishop Renato to the Hill Giants? He tried to seek an explanation, but angered the brutal DiMarco and was shot directly? But, this doesn't fit Butler Karl's loyal image… A series of guesses flashed through Jiang Baimian's mind.
Suddenly, she keenly noticed a detail and asked:
"When Mr. DiMarco and Butler Karl were talking, was no one guarding next to him?"
He even needed the guards outside the door to come in for rescue.
Joseph replied:
"Yes, unless there is something to communicate, Mr. DiMarco doesn't like people staying in his room, he doesn't like it."
Shang Jianyao immediately clicked his tongue:
"He is really an unqualified believer in the Vigilance Church."
Hearing this sentence, Long Yuehong realized a contradiction in the previous descriptions:
As a believer in the Vigilance Church, DiMarco was not afraid of being attacked when alone with people, and chose to have all the guards wait outside the door. This was too unwary!
"Maybe he just casually believes in 'Old Mother You'." Bai Chen felt that this was the most likely and reasonable explanation.
Paul, the guard with the thick eyebrows, quickly denied it:
"No, Mr. DiMarco has always been very devout.
"He often wears a mask, and has been wearing it every day for the past year, he doesn't take it off except when he sleeps."
Shang Jianyao immediately retorted:
"How do you know he takes it off when he sleeps?"
Paul hesitated for a moment and said:
"I, I just think so."
Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and asked:
"Does he sleep with women, uh, including men?"
"Yes, he has many women." Although Joseph felt that this topic was strange, he honestly answered.
Shang Jianyao, wearing the monkey mask, smiled:
"Does he take off the mask when he does that kind of thing?"
Joseph and Paul exchanged a look and each began to recall.
After a while, Paul said:
"I heard some maids who have slept with Mr. DiMarco say that sometimes he wears it, sometimes he doesn't."
"Yes." Joseph remembered some rumors, "In earlier years, Mr. DiMarco didn't wear a mask more often, but recently, it seems like he always wears it."
"What is the specific dividing line?" Jiang Baimian asked.
"Don't know." Joseph and Paul shook their heads at the same time.
Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and then asked:
"Did he wear it when he talked to Bishop Renato recently?"
"Wore it, he wears it every day for the past year." Joseph gave a definite reply.
The past year… Jiang Baimian suddenly thought of something:
Lars, Lehman's friend, also seems to have been missing for about a year!
This matter is getting more and more confusing… While Jiang Baimian was sighing inwardly, Shang Jianyao had already changed the topic:
"How do DiMarco and his ancestors perform?"
What performance? Joseph and Paul were a little confused.
Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes, let out a breath, and forcibly "explained":
"How do DiMarco and his ancestors rule the 'Underground Ark'?"
Joseph and Paul looked at each other, but neither of them spoke.
Shang Jianyao looked at them and said with a smile:
"There's no one else around."
Joseph seemed to have found a support and took a deep breath:
"DiMarco and his ancestors all have brutal blood flowing in their bodies.
"My parents are also people of the 'Underground Ark', one is a guard and the other is a maid. They told me that a large number of servants are killed for various reasons every year and buried in this valley. Only a few lucky ones can escape."
"You and your parents are lucky ones?" Jiang Baimian asked very cooperatively.
Joseph slowly shook his head:
"No. DiMarco and his ancestors rarely kill guards and their families. Only in the first few years, during the time when Mr. DiMarco lost his son, were a few guards executed for offending him. Under normal circumstances, guards are given two to three chances when they make mistakes."
"Not that crazy after all." Jiang Baimian commented without praise or criticism, "How did DiMarco lose his son?"
Joseph recalled:
"Although Mr. DiMarco and his ancestors are very brutal, they all love new life.
"Starting with his grandfather, each generation of 'Underground Ark' masters simultaneously has a large number of partners, giving birth to many children, from whom the most outstanding one is selected to inherit the 'Underground Ark'.
"Moreover, they also encourage guards and maids to get together and have children."
"All…" Shang Jianyao repeated one of the words.
Joseph nodded:
"That's indeed the case, at least that's what my parents told me."
He paused and continued:
"The dissatisfaction brought about by brutality has been accumulating. After Mr. DiMarco's father became seriously ill, the servants could no longer endure it and started a riot.
"This led to the death of many of Mr. DiMarco's relatives, and only a few survived in the end.
"After quelling this riot, Mr. DiMarco became the master of the 'Underground Ark' and found many partners internally. Who knew, after many years, only three children were born. Among them, he loved the youngest one the most. As a result, unfortunately, this child died of illness more than three years ago.
"During that time, Mr. DiMarco was like a madman."