Another reason is that he recently made some progress in studying the Agmiral's Labyrinth and needed to find a place to test it out. Machubi was a great testing ground.
To better control this diverse group of adventurers, Charlotte made some adjustments to the team structure along the way, with the reason being: "We might encounter danger on the road, and we need a battle formation." He gathered the leaders of the dozen or so small adventure teams and then divided the rest of the people into two teams based on gender. The male adventurers were responsible for the baggage, while the female adventurers were responsible for food and water.
Charlotte's personnel adjustments were not aggressive, and he made it clear that it was only a temporary arrangement, so there was no opposition.
In small adventure teams, the leader is usually the strongest and the core of the team, with the members being quite dependent on the leader.
Charlotte temporarily separated the leaders from their team members, naturally weakening the leaders' influence and slightly enhancing his own "authority," giving him a bit of control over the team.
A group of more than a hundred adventurers could already be considered a medium to large adventure team, requiring attention to various aspects. Along the way, Charlotte continuously used various opportunities to strengthen his position.
After walking for a day, this hastily assembled adventure team chose to rest in a place called Maple Leaf Village. Maple Leaf Village wasn't very large and didn't have enough empty houses, so fearing robbery, they refused to let so many people into the village.
Charlotte once again displayed considerable social skills. After negotiating with the villagers, he arranged for all the female adventurers to rest in the village while he and the male members camped outside.
Just as Charlotte finished arranging everything, a group wearing black trench coats appeared from the direction they had come.
"People from the Fierce Horse Detective Agency!?"
The distinctive black coats worn by the detectives of the Fierce Horse Agency were very noticeable.
They had previously encountered Charlotte in the village where he met the Giant Axe Adventure Team, then went their separate ways. Charlotte thought he had avoided a crisis, but it turned out that these detectives had caught up.
Charlotte quickly calculated: "This group of adventurers is unreliable. If a conflict arises, they may not stand by my side. I must act first to give them a solid reason to fight."
He called the small adventure team leaders over and whispered, "These people are detectives hired by my cousin. They also want to go to Machubi. If they find the treasure first, we'll return empty-handed and watch them get rich."
"I can't let that happen. That treasure belongs to us."
"We have the numbers. Let's capture these detectives alive and hold them in our group. Once we find the treasure, we can let them go."
Most adventurers don't want to provoke powerful organizations. The Fierce Horse Detective Agency employs over a hundred detectives, with two to three hundred detective assistants and many apprentices, including more than a dozen extraordinary individuals. Small adventure teams wouldn't dare confront them.
Moreover, the head of the Fierce Horse Detective Agency, Aubrey Talton Atwood, is not only a high-level extraordinary person but also a very capable individual, well-known throughout the Farse Empire.
Asking these small adventure team leaders to kill members of the Fierce Horse Detective Agency would be something they would not dare to do. However, when Charlotte encouraged them to capture and temporarily detain the detectives, some were tempted, especially since they had the advantage in numbers.
A leader named Yas said, "They may only have seven people, but at least two are extraordinary! Especially their leader, Winterburn. I know him; he's a fourth-tier extraordinary, a genuine Flame Dragon Knight."
Charlotte smiled and said, "I'll take care of him. You provide me with five people for support."
Willing to take on the toughest fight, Charlotte's offer enticed the small adventure team leaders. Under this "temporary leader's" direction, they quickly divided up the combat targets and assigned their best members to the task.
Winterburn, with a stern expression, was actually very frustrated. The detective agency's wizard was far less effective at finding people than the diviner Wells. He was sure they had lost the target and failed this mission.
Not only had they failed to capture Charlotte, but they had also lost an important extraordinary detective. This case had been a loss for the Fierce Horse Detective Agency. Wells' position at the agency was irreplaceable, and many cases depended on his divination skills, making it difficult to find a replacement in the short term.
Winterburn also noticed the medium to large adventure team in the distance, but as a veteran detective of the Fierce Horse Agency, he wasn't afraid of these ragtag groups, especially since there was no "conflict" between them.
Just as Winterburn was about to bypass the adventurers, someone called out, "Is that Mr. Winterburn?"
Although Winterburn had strong fighting skills, he couldn't see in the dark and didn't recognize the voice, so he paused for a moment before answering, "That's me!"
As an experienced detective, he remained cautious despite his response.
But then he heard the voice say, "So it was you who seduced my wife?"
Suddenly, more than a dozen men rushed out, and Winterburn was shocked, thinking, "When did I seduce so many men's wives?"
Although Charlotte had confidently declared he would take on Winterburn, after more than ten men surrounded the seven detectives, he drew the Blood Rose sword and stabbed at Addison.
Even the Fierce Horse Detective Agency couldn't have extraordinary individuals everywhere. Among the seven detectives sent to hunt Charlotte, only Winterburn and Addison were extraordinary.
As a Chinese man, Charlotte had grown up reading tactics like the Thirty-Six Stratagems and had already decided to eliminate Addison first. Without this extraordinary knight, Winterburn would be left to fight alone, greatly reducing the trouble.
Addison didn't expect anyone to attack him. As a third-tier knight, he reacted quickly, drawing his sword to block Charlotte's strike. However, he didn't anticipate Charlotte's lack of chivalry as he pulled out his Magnum revolver and fired twelve shots, forcing Addison to roar in fury as he unleashed his fiery battle energy, forming a flaming whirlwind around him just in time to block the bullets.
Charlotte had anticipated this move. While a knight's battle energy could protect them, it would be unevenly distributed in combat. Addison focused on blocking the bullets in front of him, likely leaving his back vulnerable.
As Charlotte fired, he planted the Blood Rose sword in the ground, activated his Insight ability, and threw the Blood-Drinking Axe at Addison's weakest point.
Under the control of Bloodflame, the Blood-Drinking Axe curved through the air and broke through Addison's fiery defense.
In just a few days, Charlotte had advanced another level, and the power of his Bloodflame had increased significantly. This strike was much stronger than before, striking the extraordinary detective's skull with enough force to drive the axe blade three inches into his head.