Three jungle natives were very combat-conscious, axes in hand, as they coordinated their approach towards Lucius, fixating upon the superbly crafted sword in this man's grasp.
Lucius tilted his head dismissively, utterly indifferent, and said with disdain:
"Dogs of the jungle, you can understand the language of Cyart people, can't you?"
"How about you tell me some information about the Blood Cult? As far as I know, your people are scattered all over the East Coast, thousands upon thousands, yet you've never been united."
He attempted to communicate but no one responded; the eyes of the three jungle natives burned only with intense and urgent hatred.
"Hey, if you don't want to communicate, then forget it."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lucius's body suddenly lunged forward. Despite being clad in steel breastplate, his movement was astonishingly fast.
He always preferred to attack during the "dialogue phase."
A thrust, a simple yet very practical move.
Lucius's physical abilities were extraordinary, and the jungle natives saw only a blur before one of them was skewered through the chest by the long sword.
"Aaaarghhh!"
The other two jungle natives, having caught on to what happened, raised their axes in extreme anger and almost simultaneously charged at Lucius.
Lucius swiftly pulled out his blood-drenched sword and leaped several meters back with a forceful push of his legs, easily dodging the pincer attack.
The two jungle natives were momentarily confused, feeling like they were playing cat and mouse with an agile black cat, before fear started to swell within them.
Could this man possibly be an Extraordinary Exponent?
"Ha!"
Lucius charged again, his immense strength combined with his sharp sword brutally smashed through a neck bone, and a jungle native's head went flying off.
The last jungle native turned to run but his thigh bone was shattered by the blade, and he fell to the ground, screaming in agony as he writhed and struggled.
The entire battle had taken less than ten seconds, and Lucius couldn't help but laugh and reflect, "If it had been half a year ago, it might have been a tough fight indeed."
All his senses, strength, speed, reactions, agility, and even his weapon and equipment had improved in every aspect. Things were no longer as they had been.
He didn't even need to use the power of the protective runes to end the fight so easily.
Meanwhile.
Karl's consciousness was silently observing everything. His spirit attached to Lucius's body, he wanted to know further what the only adult man of the Fischer family would do next.
On the surface, Lucius seemed harmless, even likable to many, but in truth, he was a man with a ruthless heart and a heavy hand.
"Hey, don't try to run away. I have a lot of things I want to ask you," said Lucius, squatting beside the agony-writhing jungle native with a smile in his voice that teemed with primal, thick malice.
The surrounding atmosphere seemed to freeze, the jungle native shuddered all over, suddenly realizing that the man before him bore the blood of evil!
His smile was exactly that of a demon!
In the impoverished East City District of Nasir Town, a young liquor vendor squatted in a shanty wooden hut, waiting for news, his brows knitted tightly, pacing back and forth incessantly.
Last week, those jungle natives suddenly found him, hoping they could acquire information about the Fischer family.
Without any hesitation, the liquor vendor rejected the jungle natives right away, even angrily threatening to seek out the patrol teams in Nasir City. Lucius had been very generous to him over the past six months, taking good care of him, and had even helped him deal with two harassments from a bandit gang.
He could not betray him like that.
Alas, the jungle natives made more promises and drew their weapons with ferocity.
The liquor vendor finally realized he could not refuse. Initially, he intended only to give partial information about the Fischer family, not getting too involved in both sides' affairs.
Yet, he was shocked to find out that just for luring Lucius to a designated place at the port, he would be rewarded with a Gold Coin!
"The deposit, I've only received five silver coins for the deposit, my gold coin, my gold coin!" he muttered, pacing back and forth.
"Your gold coin, you say?"
The young liquor vendor suddenly heard a familiar voice, his whole body turning cold as ice in an instant. He wanted to flee, but his limbs had gone weak.
"What's wrong, don't be afraid, we are friends after all, aren't we?"
Lucius suddenly appeared with a smile, grabbing the young wine merchant as if snatching a small animal and dragged him out of the house.
Just as the young wine merchant was about to scream for help, he suddenly heard vicious threats.
"Don't shout, or both you and your brother are dead!"
The surrounding neighbors, seeing an old mercenary in armor with a sword in hand, all avoided the scene, with no one coming to help.
With no way to escape, the young wine merchant was weakly taken away by Lucius.
"Talk, what exactly happened? If what you say doesn't match his story, then you'll also have to die."
In a hidden alley, the young wine merchant saw the body of the jungle native who had been tortured and killed, and his veins nearly froze on the spot.
He screamed in extreme fear, "I'll tell you everything! After I've told you, can you let me go? Please, let me go! I still have a brother at home!"
Lucius nodded calmly, took a deep breath, and said without hesitation and with solemnity, "Of course, I will let you go because deep down, I still consider you a friend!"
"I never break my promises, rest assured!"
The young wine merchant stunned, tears of remorse flowing as he confessed everything, truly regretting his actions.
The more Lucius listened, the more he frowned; the jungle native had almost certainly pinpointed the responsible party for the past incident, and they seemed to know a lot about the current situation of the Fischer family.
According to the interrogated jungle native, it seemed that a few of the quarreling priests within the Blood Cult had reached an agreement; whoever could take revenge on the Fischer family would gain the territory and resources of the old priest.
There was no doubt that the Fischer family was thoroughly targeted, an extremely dire fact.
The young wine merchant's mood relaxed a bit, and he forced a smile, "I've told you everything, Lucius, please let me go. I have a brother at home, and I'll make it up to you in a few days."
"Alright."
The moment the young wine merchant showed a smile, Lucius, emotionless, nodded his head and swiftly swung his sword at the man's head, splattering bright red blood and white brain matter across the walls.
Traitors were even more detestable than enemies; betrayers had to be killed. If the wine merchant were left alive and the word got out, others might dare to betray members of the Fischer family!
After scouring and dealing with the body, Lucius's expression fluctuated as he immediately went to the young wine merchant's house and silently sat on a chair.
By dusk, the wine merchant's younger brother returned home, arms full of wild fruit, looking utterly ordinary, only a few years older than Lucius's son.
"Who are you?"
The youth, just back from foraging, was stunned. The man silently waiting in the house wasn't his brother but a stranger he had never met.
Lucius sat calmly in the chair from the shadows, his chiseled face devoid of any expression.
People had seen him take the wine merchant from here, and Lucius was well aware that the seeds of hatred had been planted, that even those who seemed harmless must be watched.
Even an Extraordinary Exponent could perish in the schemes of mortals; he knew how to nip the so-called chain of hatred in the bud and thus revealed a trustworthy smile.
"Your brother is looking for you; he's got too much merchandise to move and asked me to take you over to help out."
The boy was hesitant but still nodded.
"Um, okay."
Lucius took the boy from the house, and afterwards, neither of them ever returned.
Night was falling, and the taverns of Nasir City were alive with the raucous voices of sailors.
Nasir City's patrol team was led by the local sheriff, a member of Baron Hovern's family, responsible for maintaining the most basic law and order in the town.
After dealing with the body, Lucius immediately went to Nasir City's town hall, found the patrol team's office, and smilingly took out a silver coin and handed it to a member of the patrol team.
"Hey, you guys have worked hard. I'm Lucius of the Fischer family. I got some fine wine from a merchant and would like to share it with the honorable sheriff."
He wasn't afraid of word getting out; killing someone in collusion with a demonic cult was in line with the laws of Cyart Kingdom and the rules of the True Gods Church, but Lucius knew that even when lawful and reasonable, the right incentives were still necessary.
The members of the patrol team looked at each other, seeing the blood-stained face of the man smiling at them.
"Let's not all be so serious."
The leader of the patrol team still nodded, swallowed hard, reached out to grasp Lucius's hand holding the silver coin, and smiled as well, saying:
"Mr. Lucius, the honorable sheriff will definitely be interested in the fine wine you mentioned."