Chapter 178: No Rest Until Death
The next day, in the morning.
Wu Heng first made a trip to the Snake Emblem Consortium.
He collected all the money from the sale of yesterday's goods.
Since he personally handled the transaction with Laecia, it was important to take care of the finances himself.
After leaving the Consortium, Wu Heng headed straight for the Guild.
As soon as he entered the hall, several female staff members greeted him with bright smiles, "Good morning, Captain Wu Heng."
"Good morning," Wu Heng responded.
After a few steps, other team members waved at him, "Up early, Captain Wu Heng?"
"Yes, good morning."
Wu Heng smiled and responded while feeling puzzled.
When did he become this popular?
Normally, staff addressed him as Captain, but only during work-related matters, not greeting him from a distance like this.
It even made some professionals in the hall who were taking on tasks cast curious glances his way.
Those who knew him recognized him as the new team captain, but those who didn't might think he was a local steward or officer.
Subconsciously, he touched his face—nothing seemed different.
Without stopping, he headed straight for the team's rest area.
Upon opening the door, he found Duke and Marta chatting inside.
Seeing him, they stood up and greeted him.
Wu Heng nodded and asked, "What's going on at the Guild today? Everyone I know and don't know is saying hi to me."
Duke thought for a moment and then said, "Oh! Yesterday, after we delivered the bodies, their identities were confirmed, and our team was credited with a Level 3 merit. The whole Guild is talking about it."
Wu Heng was stunned, just about to ask what that had to do with the greetings.
Then he realized.
His team had only been formed recently, and with just three people, they had already taken down several Level 3 wanted criminals. It was sending a message.
Even if it didn't mean they were highly skilled, it certainly showed that the team had great potential.
At this pace, Wu Heng would soon be promoted to vice steward or steward, and Duke and Marta could potentially become captains.
If they stayed in Rentam, they'd end up as leaders of these people.
Naturally, many were trying to establish good relations early on.
"Ah, that explains it."
Wu Heng understood and then pulled out 9 gold coins from his spatial ring, placing them on the table, "This is the money from the Consortium. We got a total of 9,000 silver coins, but I had them pay in gold coins since silver would be inconvenient to carry."
"Wow, that's a lot!" Duke wiped his chin, almost drooling.
Nine gold coins might not seem like much, but it was a substantial amount.
For an ordinary resident, it might take a lifetime to save that many gold coins.
"Let's split it," Wu Heng divided the coins into three portions, placing them in front of the other two.
"Thanks, Captain," Duke said with a grin.
"You should thank Marta; she provided the intel."
"Oh, thanks, Sister Marta." Duke immediately thanked Marta.
"You should be thanking the Captain. I didn't do much during the fight."
After some polite exchanges, they pocketed the money.
Wu Heng then went to the front desk to collect the bounty for the wanted criminals.
A total of 720 silver coins, which they also split among the three of them.
Everyone was pleased, as the earnings were quite substantial.
"Captain, with our current merits, can we qualify to become captains ourselves?" Duke asked.
Wu Heng thought about what Otruluk had once told him and explained, "Aside from merits, you also need to reach Level 8 or show special performance. For now, you both have the foundation to become captains. Once you reach the required level, you can apply to headquarters."
The basic requirements to become a team captain in the Guild were Level 8 and at least one Level 3 merit.
It didn't sound difficult.
But these two conditions actually hindered most people from advancing.
A team captain needed to be Level 8, while Level 3 wanted criminals were Level 10 or higher, with significant strength and followers.
Most regular teams couldn't handle that.
Even if such criminals existed, they were typically dealt with by stewards or vice stewards, like in Blackstone Town.
Few teams like Wu Heng's would take them on head-to-head.
Duke chuckled, "We're just riding on your coattails, Captain. Other teams haven't caught this many wanted criminals in such a short time."
"Yeah, sticking with the Captain sure racks up the merits fast," Marta added, flattering him.
Wu Heng glanced at the two and said, "Don't underestimate these wanted criminals. None of them are easy to deal with. Be careful of their accomplices."
Wu Heng was fully aware of his team's true strength.
It was mostly due to their firearms, which allowed them to unleash a barrage of bullets when the enemy was unprepared.
They'd turn most foes into sieves, and for the tougher ones, his skeletons would finish them off.
Their actual combat strength wasn't particularly high.
It would be hard for his team to take down criminals without those advantages.
"Understood, Captain," the two nodded.
"Alright, there's nothing more for now. You two head home, but don't carry the money around carelessly. You don't want to get robbed," Wu Heng said.
The two wanted to spread the good news quickly.
They bid him farewell and left.
Wu Heng stored the silver coins and headed to the alchemy supply shop in the outer district. He needed some materials to mix potions with the six new Tier 1 corpse cores he had obtained.
......
After buying the materials.
Wu Heng stopped by the Mao Liao Armor Armor shop to check on the progress of his leather armor.
Now that he had money, it was time to expedite his purchases and speed up his preparations.
He had just sat down for a brief chat.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached from outside.
A man dressed in leather armor rushed into the shop.
The orc shopkeeper glanced at the man and cleared his throat, "Customer, what are you looking for?"
The man didn't respond to him. Instead, his gaze fell on Wu Heng, and he softly said, "Are you Captain Wu Heng? I have something important to tell you."
Judging by his attire, Wu Heng guessed the man was from a gang.
"Speak here."
The man glanced at the shopkeeper and staff, hesitated, and said, "Captain, Sister-in-law sent me. There's something urgent."
Hearing "Sister-in-law," Wu Heng immediately understood it was Wen Mansa's person.
Since taking over the gang, she had started supporting her own followers.
Wu Heng stood up and walked toward the door.
The man whispered, "Captain, there's been a fight at your residence. Sister-in-law has already gone there with her people, but dealing with it in the inner city is tricky. She asked me to notify you to return quickly."
Wu Heng's brow furrowed sharply, realizing something had gone wrong.
His relationship with Wen Mansa wasn't public knowledge, so this person had to be one of her men.
Someone dared to break into the inner city residential area?
This made Wu Heng feel once again that he was being watched.
Anel, the one who attempted to assassinate him, definitely didn't have that much power.
Someone more powerful was pulling the strings.
"Let's go back," Wu Heng immediately left the shop and hurried toward the inner city.
However, before he could leave the street, he saw dozens of gang members blocking the road. The leader stood at the front and said, "Captain Wu Heng, where are you rushing off to?"
Wu Heng frowned at the man.
The gang member accompanying Wu Heng whispered, "That's Garwan, leader of the White Wolf Gang."
Wu Heng continued walking and said, "Step aside."
He spoke and tried to move past the group.
Garwan's face darkened, and he stepped in front again, "Captain Wu Heng, we lost a batch of goods yesterday. I heard your team was conveniently nearby on a mission. Care to explain if you had anything to do with it?"
"No, now move!" Wu Heng's voice grew colder as he grew anxious.
Someone had attacked his home, clearly targeting Minnie and Andviel.
Though they were his purchased maids.
In this world, slaves were treated no better than livestock, but in Wu Heng's eyes, they were still young girls.
He couldn't change the world, but he didn't want them to face danger while under his care.
Garwan still refused to budge, his tone rising, "Our money is money too. Just because your Guild completed a mission doesn't mean our goods can disappear. If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation, you're not going anywhere today."
His loud shouting drew a crowd.
As more people gathered, Wu Heng grew concerned.
Worried that someone might take the chance to fire a shot from the crowd.
With a thought, the bone armor instantly covered his body.
The eerie sight of the white bones made the crowd step back.
Wu Heng then swiftly drew his gun, unlocked the safety, and fired a shot at Garwan's right leg.
The gunshot rang out loudly.
Garwan's smug expression vanished, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his leg in agony.
Bagdong quickly stepped forward, kicked aside one of the gang members blocking the way, and grabbed Garwan by the neck, lifting him effortlessly.
Wu Heng's cold gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, "Tell your men to move."
"The Guild dares to act so recklessly—" Garwan tried to rally his men.
But Bagdong's fingers tightened around his throat, cutting off his words as his face flushed red with blood.
"Move or don't. If you don't, I'll kill you and fight my way through." Wu Heng pressed on.
Garwan's face turned pale with fear.
The man holding him was clearly a high-level professional—he couldn't muster any resistance.
Garwan nodded furiously, indicating he'd comply.
Bagdong loosened his grip slightly, allowing Garwan to gasp for air, then he shouted, "Move… Move aside…"
With a clamor, the crowd parted to let them through.
Wu Heng and his group dragged Garwan along and quickly made their way forward.
Once through the crowd, they tossed Garwan aside and entered the inner city.
......
As they neared the residential area.
From a distance, Wu Heng could see a fight happening at his house.
One side was clearly gang members, while the other, though dressed in ordinary clothes, fought with undeniable skill, definitely not common people.
Three or four gang members were struggling to hold off one person.
A patrol from the Iron Guard Knights passed by, glanced at the fight, and then the captain turned away, pretending not to see anything, and led the patrol away.
Wu Heng had no time to worry about them.
Drawing his staff, he cast Bone Armor on himself and led Bagdong into the fray.
As they neared the courtyard, he raised his gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several shots struck the legs of the person at the front.
The bullets pierced through the armor, sending blood flying.
The gunfire drew the attention of others, and many eyes turned toward them.
Wu Heng hadn't aimed to kill because he wasn't sure who was friend or foe.
Though he suspected the ragtag group was Wen Mansa's men, he couldn't be certain.
Shooting at their legs allowed him to identify the combatants.
At that moment, Wen Mansa leaned out from a second-floor window and shouted, "Cap—Captain, those people are the enemies."
She pointed to a group of well-equipped individuals.
With the targets confirmed, Wu Heng's gaze filled with murderous intent as gunfire erupted, instantly piercing through several enemies' bodies.
Before they could even react, they were dead.
"Bagdong, charge in!" Wu Heng ordered.
Bagdong led the charge inside.
Seeing the situation deteriorate, the remaining enemies immediately broke through the windows on the other side, fleeing into the distance.
One of them turned to glance back, revealing a familiar face.
"Don't chase them. Go upstairs and check for any remaining enemies," Wu Heng ordered.
Bagdong was about to rush upstairs when Wen Mansa and her group, along with Sword One, descended.
Sword Two, Crossbow One, and Crossbow Two did not come down.
"Master!"
Minnie rushed into his arms, sobbing softly.
Wen Mansa remained calm and said, "They were well-prepared and highly skilled. We barely managed to hold them off."
"Thank you," Wu Heng said.
Wen Mansa pried the crying rabbit girl from his arms and handed her to Andviel. She then asked, "What now? It seems you've been targeted."
"Have your men clean up the scene, bring the bodies inside, and secure the perimeter," Wu Heng instructed.
Clearly, they couldn't rely on the local guards.
For now, they'd have to depend on Wen Mansa's gang members.
Wen Mansa quickly issued orders to her subordinates.
The house was sealed, and as they tended to the injured, the gang members secured the area.
Before long, the specter Glenda returned, merging with Wu Heng's body.
The fleeing enemies' location appeared in his mind.
Just as he suspected, they had fled to Gianluan's residence, the same old man from the tavern who had tried to buy him off with money and women.
"How is it?" Wen Mansa asked.
Wu Heng nodded, "I know who's behind this."
"Who?"
"Gianluan."
"Him? Why?" Wen Mansa was surprised.
Killing an Guild captain was no small matter.
Why would a local tycoon like him take such a risk instead of building good relations?
She didn't know about the Mysterium Sect and couldn't understand the reasons behind these actions.
Wu Heng sat down on the couch, thinking for a moment before saying, "I'll handle the inner city. Tonight, you have another task."
"What task?"
"Take your people and wipe out the White Wolf Gang. By morning, I want them gone."
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The White Wolf Gang had been stalling for time, and even if they were held accountable later, they'd have a legitimate excuse.
But Wu Heng wasn't interested in negotiating any further.
The Iron Guard Knights' indifference had made him feel the danger—a sense that he was being set up.
He needed to eliminate this threat quickly, even if it would be hard to clean up afterward.
Wen Mansa's eyes narrowed.
She wasn't sure how the White Wolf Gang had gotten involved in this.
But it wasn't uncommon for inner city elites to back outer district gangs.
The White Wolf Gang must have had a hand in something.
After some thought, she said, "The White Wolf Gang is a big organization. We can't take them down easily. If we go to war, we'll be the ones who get wiped out."
"Don't worry, I'll arrange backup for you."
Wen Mansa hesitated but eventually nodded, "Alright."
......
As night deepened.
Inside the inner city mansion.
Gianluan sat on the couch, disappointment in his eyes, "You failed again. How did you even become a captain if you can't capture two servants?"
Anel, busy packing his belongings, said, "What could we do? A bunch of gang members swarmed out, slowing us down. And he came back much faster than you said."
"Did you leave any traces?"
Anel looked up at him, "Do you not trust me? Or are you thinking of crossing the river and burning the bridge, getting rid of me to erase all evidence?"
Gianluan chuckled, "You're overthinking it. I'm a man of my word. I promised to send you away, and I won't go back on that."
After a pause, he added, "Even if they know it was us, without solid evidence, should I really be afraid of him?"
Anel smirked, putting away his belongings.
"So, what's your next move?"
"At this point, there's no turning back. I'll arrange a riot in the next couple of days and have him killed outright," Gianluan said.
"You should've done this from the start, instead of testing him again and again, making him more vigilant," Anel replied.
"Who would've thought a newly appointed captain would be so hard to deal with?" Gianluan placed his wine glass aside as a graceful maid poured more wine.
"If you succeed, remember to write me a letter so I can celebrate," Anel said.
"Of course, I will."
They raised their glasses and clinked them lightly.
It was their final drink together.
Anel walked to the window and gazed out at the dim night, "If this doesn't go well, you could always head to Blackstone Town. There's still—"
Crash!
Before he could finish, the window shattered, and with a sudden thunk, a bullet pierced through Anel's head, leaving a gaping wound.
His body fell backward as warm, sticky blood splattered everywhere.