Chapter 93: 092 Devil is going to start messing around again
Shane thought that since the mission was so important, Lamijion would definitely bring out its elite, fully prepared to engage in an Immortal Battle with the Old Demon Clan Faction, initiating a spectacular attack and defense.
But Shane must say, reality was indeed cruel.
Now, after Vivian’s explanation, Shane had basically understood that this mission was not an Immortal Battle at all, but rather a mixed bag, where various secrets and dirty tricks were surfacing.
Because escorting the special, major criminal Killian could yield great rewards from the Nobles and Royal Family of the Royal Capital, many had essentially stopped acting to prevent the rescue by the Old Demon Clan Faction, and were instead acting for their own interests.
Leon wanted to use this opportunity to find new encounters in the Royal Capital, to elevate his own life.
Magre’s father wanted to vie for the great rewards of the Royal Capital, so he recklessly inserted his son’s squad into the mission.
Even Mr. Bellen, who admitted the involvement of Leon’s Team, was likely influenced by whispers from Magre’s father, a close minister; otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to know about the rift between Vivian’s Team and Leon’s Team and still forcibly mediate in the name of the greater good. It couldn’t be said that he didn’t harbor intentions to make a breakthrough in the Royal Capital and win recognition and favor from the Royal Family and Great Nobles.
Thus, these myriad issues had led to the current situation.
This proved Shane’s previous point, that reality was everyone having their own thoughts, everyone having their own position, and each having their own standards and judgments, thus leading to each seemingly ordinary outcome being the result of multifaceted considerations and actions intertwined together.
It could be said that this outcome seemed inevitable.
After all, so-called Nobles were just that, each’s starting point is not necessarily for the world or society; more often, actions were taken for their own interests.
However, this was undoubtedly porridge spoiled by rat feces, and not just one or two pieces.
Then, given this situation, what twists Shane could expect next were clear as day.
“First, the internal problems are definitely there, followed by endless infighting, frequent conflicts, until one slaps another in the face, that one harbors intense hatred against this and thus seeks reckless revenge; then this one wants more benefits, and that one desires more advantages, until finally, some villain will suddenly betray us by connecting with the Old Demon Clan Faction, expose the secret mission’s itinerary, bringing forth a massacre, and thus failing the mission.”
“Immediately after, to salvage the disaster, the protagonist will make a domineering appearance, not only babysitting a bunch of incompetent teammates but also exposing his identity, leading to astonishment and admiration from the extras, and seizing this opportunity to infiltrate various major forces, becoming targeted by evil forces, and piquing the curiosity of acculturative leaders, causing all of them to come offering gifts, men offering their lives and women offering their hands.”
“This script could easily span millions of words.”
Thinking of all this, Shane felt an urge to curse, completely forgetting that his own position was that of the “protagonist.”
How could this triteness not make Shane want to turn around and leave?
At least, Shane couldn’t foresee a future in which this mission would complete smoothly.
Of course, that’s what Vivian had said.
“They just want to gain fame and profit, not to fail the mission, including Leon and Mr. Magre and their sons, or even Mr. Bellen; presumably, they all think this mission isn’t that dangerous?”
Theoretically, although failing the mission could have severe consequences, the possibility of failure was very low.
“To distract the Old Demon Clan Faction’s spies, Lamijion’s Nobles have been spreading false information all along, making the uninformed believe we would obediently wait for people from the Royal Capital; Riley has been continually reinforcing Lamijion’s defenses, giving outsiders the impression of preparing a defense against the Old Demon Clan Faction’s attack and preventing Killian’s escape, so no one would know Killian had already been secretly transported away.”
Under these circumstances, Riley and Bellen among others had meticulously planned an extremely secretive transport route, intentionally avoiding major roads and the public eye, making it impossible for the Old Demon Clan Faction to know Killian had been transported away or locate his transport team.
Given this, in the eyes of people like Bellen, Leon, and Mr. Magre, the mission was actually not very risky.
As long as there were no mistakes, and the prisoner was honestly delivered to the Royal Capital, everyone could achieve their goals—so why not be happy about it?
If it weren’t for this, how could Mr. Bellen have agreed to let Magre and the others come in through the back door? And how would Magre’s father have allowed his son to take such a great risk to gain merit? Not to mention Leon, the elder brother who relied on his looks. Since he had been aware of his own capacities from a young age, even if he wanted to stand out, he wouldn’t joke about his own life.
Hence, the issue of risk was the reason so many people were willing to act for the sake of profit, and some were even willing to take risks for it, let alone think that this time the risk was considered small.
Therefore, the same old saying applies: the world is not short of fools, but neither is it short of wise people. Never think that what you come up with is the truth, or that you can guess everyone’s actions, otherwise, you will definitely be proven wrong.
See? Even President Riley, who liked to plan ahead, had not expected things to turn out this way, had she?
No, she probably had anticipated that someone would act on the profit motive of this mission but had not expected it to be someone from Leon’s team.
And as for Shane, no matter how he looked at it, he could only foresee a cliché outcome where this mission would end in failure. Even if Vivian said the risk was small, to Shane, it was merely setting up a flag.
All in all, Shane was really considering going home.
“If you really want to give up, then I respect your wishes,” Vivian hesitated for a moment before saying to Shane, “But honestly, both Riley and I hope that you will join us.”
The reason was not just because Shane had hidden strengths that would make Vivian and Riley somewhat reassured.
“There’s someone, both Riley and I think, you should meet,” Vivian lowered her voice and said to Shane, “Perhaps, after meeting, you will learn a lot about your identity.”
These words made Shane’s expression fiercely change.
“Of course, you can also choose to talk about it later, since it’s not a must to take this opportunity to go to the Royal Capital,” Vivian smiled at Shane, saying, “With Riley and me as intermediaries, even though the person isn’t someone you can meet whenever you want, there will still be a chance eventually. Just decide according to your own wishes.”
Upon hearing this, Shane fell silent.
What silenced Shane was not what Vivian mentioned, but because he had realized that even if he gave up this mission, Vivian and the others would still carry it through.
Under the circumstances where the rest were acting for profit and only they truly wanted to contribute something to the town and Kingdom, they were undertaking this mission fraught with flags, looking problematic in every aspect.
“This trip, there’s no choice but to go.”
Otherwise, once people from the Old Demon Clan Faction really appeared, the safety of Vivian and the others could be easily imagined.
Shane could not just stand by and do nothing.
So, wasn’t this trip a forced decision after all?
But Shane didn’t want the terrible cliché plots he imagined to happen.
Suddenly thinking of something, Shane laughed.
If people from the adventurer’s guild saw Shane’s smile, they would surely shudder, wouldn’t they?
Because, this meant the devil was about to make waves again.