"Has anyone ever told you that your insults sound like pouting? Then again, you'll be a woman soon enough, so it'll suit your gender."
As Lin Mo spoke, his hands never stopped moving. The blade had already cut a wound several centimeters long.
"Wait!"
His face was a mask of terror as he finally spoke. "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Please, I'm begging you, stop..."
Lin Mo stood up, a smile on his face. "See? That's better. If you had just done this from the start, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much."
The man gasped for breath, taking a long moment to compose himself before speaking slowly. "We're from the Blood Sea Gang."
"The Blood Sea Gang?!"
Just those first few words were enough to make the experienced Adventurer, Bain, frown deeply.
"You know of this gang?" Lin Mo asked, looking at him.
Bain nodded, his expression grim. "It's an underground gang that got its start in Lania City about ten years ago. In my early days, I joined an Adventurer Squad based there, so I've heard the name."
"At that time, the Blood Sea Gang was probably less than two years old, but its rise was already unstoppable. As a new gang, it didn't just amass enormous power in a short time; it even managed to defeat the old-guard Black Wolf Gang in a direct confrontation. From that point on, it rose to become one of the three major gangs in Lania City. Shortly after that, I left the squad and returned to this town to form my own team. I'm not too clear on what happened afterward, but I'd still hear about the Blood Sea Gang's fearsome reputation from time to time."
'So, it's a huge gang?'
Lin Mo frowned. 'This could be trouble.'
"Why would people from the Blood Sea Gang come all the way to Roland Town? With your strength, you shouldn't be interested in a rundown little town like this, right?"
Bain asked, his face full of confusion.
"I'm not too sure myself."
The man shook his head. "The higher-ups gave us a mission to station ourselves here in this forest. We've been here for over two months, but they haven't given us any specific work. They just told us to wait here and not to reveal our identities. Our pay gets skimmed off at every level, so if we don't find ways to make some extra money, we can't even afford to eat..."
He grumbled nonstop, clearly harboring a lot of dissatisfaction.
"How many of you are there in total, and where exactly are you stationed?"
Lin Mo continued to question him.
"I don't know... All I know is that my squad has ten people, and we're stationed about ten-odd kilometers southeast of here. As for how many squads came in total, how many people are in the other squads, or where they are, the higher-ups never told us."
"Are you sure?"
Lin Mo's eyes narrowed as he twirled the Short Knife in his hand.
"I'm sure! One hundred percent sure!"
Seeing Lin Mo's action, he immediately panicked. The burly man, easily over two hundred pounds, was acting like a timid, wronged bride. "Boss, how would I dare lie to you?"
He had been running with the gang for so many years and considered himself to have seen plenty of ruthless methods, but he'd never encountered anyone as inhumanly cruel as the man before him.
He didn't look like he was lying. Lin Mo's brow furrowed as he fell deep into thought.
The available information was too limited for him to guess the Blood Sea Gang's objective. Judging by their current deployment, it seemed less like they had a fixed, clear goal and more like they were waiting for, or guarding, something.
'Following the tropes of common stories, maybe it's some kind of treasure, or perhaps an unknown Secret Realm?'
Lin Mo wasn't actually very concerned about which it was, or any other possibility, because none of it had the slightest thing to do with him at the moment.
He just wanted to do his missions, earn money, and steadily, step by step, improve his strength.
Therefore, his main concern was whether killing four members of the Blood Sea Gang would bring about further retaliation.
"You said you don't know the numbers or locations of the other squads. Does that mean you've never seen them?"
"Basically, no. Even if we did see them, we wouldn't really interact."
"Why?"
"Different factions, I suppose."
Bain, standing to the side, answered the question for him. "Back when I was still an Adventurer in the city, I heard that the Blood Sea Gang had several bosses. They'd present a united front against other gangs, of course, but internally, they weren't a monolith. In fact, there were major divisions."
"Right. There are five bosses now. Our squad is under the Fourth Boss. There are conflicts between pretty much all the factions. It's a good day if we see each other and a fight doesn't break out..."
"Last question."
Lin Mo slowly crouched down. "How are personnel losses handled?"
"At the end of every month, someone comes to verify the situation. The captain reports the numbers and the reasons then..."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Lin Mo's eyes and seemed to realize something. He said in a panic, "You said before, if I answered your questions, you'd let me go!"
"Don't be so nervous."
Lin Mo smiled, but just as he was about to continue, Bain suddenly interrupted him. "You just said your squad's camp is to the southeast?"
"That's right. I remember."
The other man didn't speak, so Lin Mo answered for him.
Bain put down the map in his hands, looking thoughtful. "You said before that your pay was being skimmed and you had to find ways to make money... Besides attacking Adventurers like us, did that also include robbing merchant caravans?"
"I... I don't know..."
"You really don't know? You'd better think about it again. Think carefully before you speak."
Lin Mo said, toying with the Short Knife in his hand.
"You... You go back on your word!"
"Did I?"
Lin Mo spread his hands. "I did say I'd let you go, but didn't you refuse that offer yourself? Later on, you got scared and started talking all on your own."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Short Knife in his hand had already slit the man's throat.
"GURGLE—"
The Warrior's eyes went wide, and indistinct noises came from his mouth. From the look on his face, he was probably trying to curse, but unfortunately, he no longer had the chance to say the words.
[Slashing] Skill Level +1
Watching the notification float up before his eyes, Lin Mo stood up and flicked the blood from the tip of his knife.
His speed of adaptation to this world exceeded even his own expectations.
He clearly hadn't been through many battles, yet he displayed the ruthlessness and decisiveness of a seasoned Adventurer.
Surprisingly, he didn't feel much discomfort from taking another's life.
'Perhaps he was always suited to survive in a world like this...'
Bain also took out a cloth he carried and began wiping the blood from his Sword as he looked at Lin Mo.
"Young man, care to talk?"
Lin Mo nodded, not refusing the offer.
Before, he hadn't trusted these Adventurers he had run into so suddenly, which was normal. But after their simple cooperation just now, that had at least improved somewhat.
Most importantly, they were now grasshoppers tied to the same string.
"The end of the month is the day after tomorrow. One of them got away just now. After he gets back, he'll definitely tell the others what happened here. Once they manage to pass the message on to the Blood Sea Gang..."
Bain's expression was graver than ever before.
As someone who had once spent time in Lania City, he knew exactly how terrifying the Blood Sea Gang was.
The gang had at least thirty official Professionals in its ranks!
There was an almost insurmountable gulf between a Professional and a Non-Professional. Even though he called himself a Level 0.8 Professional and was much stronger than most Ordinary Adventurers, in front of a true Professional, he probably wouldn't even last three minutes.
Once the Blood Sea Gang found out they had killed its members, they would surely face a relentless, unending hunt.
Therefore...
"We have to take care of the rest of them before the person in charge of verifying intelligence arrives."
As Lin Mo spoke, he began searching the corpse in front of him. Besides a few Gold Coins, he did indeed find a map.
He unfolded the map. Crude strokes sketched out a rough route, and in the center was a circular ink dot. This must be the squad's encampment.
Lin Mo tossed the Gold Coins to Bain. "To each the spoils of their own kill. Sound good?"
Although the Warrior in front of him had died by his hand, it was clear he had been defeated by the older man and the young female Ranger. That made the loot theirs, just as the spoils from the Giant Axe Warrior killed by Evan belonged to them.
By the same token, the loot from the Assassin and the Ranger was Lin Mo's.
Bain laughed, accepted the Gold Coins, and bumped fists with Lin Mo. "A pleasure doing business with you!"