The sharp, ear-piercing sound of a horn exploded in the night sky of Velen by the sea.
The alarm sounds in any violent place in this world are always set to be the most explosive, the most piercing.
Generally speaking, the shrillness of this alarm is meant to create a sensation for the listener——"You damn well better do something, or you’ll die right here on the spot!"
After all, everyone is doing a job with their lives hanging by a thread, even if you’re the most unscrupulous criminal, you’d still have this awareness, right?
This camp’s horn was like that.
The crescent-shaped camp immediately became noisy, with cursing and shoving sounds emerging constantly.
Within five minutes, the tents housing armed personnel lit up one after the other.
It took five minutes just to wake people up; Lann thought even his pre-school military drill emergency assemblies were more efficient than this group.
But considering this was a criminal group with an ancient backdrop, devoid of mutual trust and cooperation, this response time was still somewhat reasonable.
But this response time was already challenging enough for Lan Enlai!
He was just an amateur assassin who couldn’t sneak or assassinate!
A Demon Hunter, infiltrate the camp, assassinate the guards, avoid exposure, rescue hostages... Task after task, it was already daunting enough!
How long had he even been a Demon Hunter?
And then everything collapsed here in an instant; Lann was almost overwhelmed.
Plans never keep up with changes.
Lann initially planned to take out at least one-third of the guards in secret, then whatever he did next would be much easier.
The conversation with Margaret was to gather additional information, and it actually only took less than a minute and a half.
Was the alarm triggered already?!
...Surely there’s a strong Warlock in this camp!
Lann almost immediately stuck the dagger back into his waistband and placed his hand on the hilt of the steel sword behind him.
Leaning against the wooden cage, his eyes scanned nervously towards the direction of the camp.
Like a cornered wild beast.
From the direction of the largest tent in the middle of the camp, a tumult began, with someone shouting loudly over there.
Lann took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm.
As long as the main emotion was calm, Mentos could ensure the speed of his thought process.
Looking around, the people emerging from the tents showed no sign of converging towards him.
He was the only intruder in the camp, and if he had been discovered, a group of them would’ve just come over and hacked him to pieces.
Was this horn sound... not because they found me?
Confirming that he wasn’t the source of the problem, Lann began focusing his attention on the shouting in the center of the camp.
The nighttime sea wind was strong, and the sound of waves loud, but with the extraordinary senses of a Demon Hunter and Mentos’ noise cancellation, Lann could make out the gist of it.
"There’s news... guys! A chance to get rich... the buyer’s ship... anchored offshore... hurry up tonight! Move the cargo!"
The Demon Hunter’s vision, augmented by the [Cat] magic potion and corrected by Mentos, barely made out the loud figure in the distance.
It was a man with the typical Cossack nomadic hairstyle.
Shaved on both sides, with a strip of long hair on top slicked to one side.
Short and stout, not even 170 centimeters tall, but judging by his muscle outline, he weighed at least 90 kilograms!
A full, powerful general’s belly stretched open his leather jacket, with two black hunting dogs crouching beside him.
Seems like that magic power a moment ago... was a magic communication?
Because his subordinates lacked discipline and arrived sporadically, the Head Eater had to shout his words multiple times to make everyone hear.
During this time, Lann didn’t dare stay put and began frantically scanning all the wooden cages.
Today, no matter if there was a Warlock in this camp, and regardless of whether that Warlock had defeated Margaret’s powerful mana...
Clad in leather gloves, gripping the leather wrap on the sword’s hilt so tightly it made a creaking sound.
Lann gritted his teeth.
Even if he really encountered that powerful Warlock, he was ready to "trim" their magic shield with his sword!
He was determined to leave with White today!
He had promised Madam Donald.
——Anyone who tries to stop him will die!
The sound of his footsteps no longer mattered; the scumbags in the camp were now cheering ecstatically after hearing about "fortune".
As for the poor people in the cages, terrified and broken by abuse and pain, they now fully expected the Head Eater to host a feast and eat them all up.
Everyone shrank and curled up, those tortured to a point of wanting death showing an expression of relief.
The children, frightened, huddled together, seeking solace from someone, but none of the young children could comfort each other.
A few adults in smaller adjacent cages reached out their already damaged hands at this time, pulling the frightened children into their arms.
Hoping to at least provide some comfort before their own or the children’s deaths.
The Head Eater’s motivational speech was nearing its end.
The next steps would involve task distribution, those needing to move people would move people, those needing to be on alert would be alert.
But before this step, the stout man suddenly straightened his face, his already small eyes squinting as he looked down from the platform.
This action seemed quite recognizable in the camp; even those still cheering had their sounds stuck halfway, as if their throats were suddenly clamped tight.
The once-lively atmosphere cooled instantly.
This contrast of noise and silence was palpable even to Lann running furiously from a distance.
A crime gang leader possessing such prestige... was he shooting a TV drama here or what?!
The young man’s footsteps quickened, and his cat eyes darted rapidly.
He knew he was about to be discovered.
"The headcount isn’t right." The Head Eater said in a low tone, a voice completely different from the previous motivational speech.
The chill in that voice made one’s heart tremble!
The two black hunting dogs by his side also readied themselves, showing their teeth and tensing their bodies.
"Where did the guys from the north side of the camp go?"
"Why aren’t the torches moving?"
"Why aren’t there lights on in the tents?"
The questioning grew louder with each word.
Every sentence prompted those below to take a half-step back in panic.
The hunting dogs grew more eager to leap into action.
"Damn it." The Head Eater’s voice was full of gritted anger. "You’ve let someone sneak into our home, and you don’t even know it, now go and find them!"
The camp, like a wind-up machine, finally started operating in a chaotic rhythm.
Torches were distributed, large-scale illumination began, hunting dogs were brought out... They seemed prepared to overturn the north half of the camp.
But simultaneously, the Head Eater also analyzed that there couldn’t be many who infiltrated the camp, so making money couldn’t be delayed.
A small group of about twenty people was dispatched towards the detention area.
Preparing to capture people, load them onto the ship, and move the cargo.
Two groups with torches advanced like two dragons in two directions of the camp.
With this manner of operation, it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to search the entire camp.
It was at this moment Lann finally found that slightly large-headed kid at the corner of a big wooden cage.