Fragments of memories from the past appeared in Wiltok's mind, and he was eager to find a safe place to think about them seriously. The Bone Collector's campsite is very unsafe. There are more than a hundred clawed goblins who fled in fright. They must not have gone far. The biggest threat still comes from the ferocious gnolls, who are all typical opportunists. Dozens of goatheads just died here, and the hungry and ferocious jackals may not be able to come back.
It was never wise to stay in place and hibernate. Wiltok and Huck seized the time to search for loot and planned to leave this area as soon as possible. The Bone Collector gang left behind a lot of supplies, and they were valuable. However, the two of them were limited in what they could take away. They only selected a thorium fine gold sword, a dozen packages of potions, two large bags of sun-dried nuts, and three stalagmite-shaped mithril ores. This is the most valuable loot, more valuable than the rest of the supplies combined.
If Annie and Katie are in their right minds, Huck can get some more rare mineral raw materials. But they couldn't help, so they kept making a fuss, acting very resistant, and seemed unwilling to leave the Bone Collector's camp.
It's really sad that the once lively, lovely, arrogant college girl has now turned into a pitiful creature, but Wiltok has no patience. He coldly pinched Anne and Katie's necks and reached their limbs. They fluttered feebly, and gradually fell into coma, before letting go of their arms and letting them fall to the ground.
He was not so rough and vicious before. He could temporarily paralyze Annie by just hitting her cervical spine with his thumb. There was really no need to choke them unconscious.
Harker did not object to Vertok's brutal methods, but Vertok warned him: "I will try to repair the damage to their hearts from now on. The first step is to make them fear us more than they fear the hobgoblins. You must remember that without my permission, you only need to treat them indifferently and cannot show any pity, sympathy, or gentle attitude. This will only make them despise your status and will never be grateful to you."
While tying Annie up with a rope, Vertok continued to explain: "They have become severely enslaved, and their cognitive inertia has reversed. At this stage, the better you treat them, the crueler they will be to you. The more cruel you are to them, the more cruel they will be to you." Surrender and obey.”
Huck tied up Katie there and said loudly: "Sir, don't worry, even though I don't understand what you are saying, I will not ruin your good deeds..."
"What I mean is that you have to use whips to deal with the lowly, wine to deal with the proud, and noble...all means are useless." Wiltok picked up Anne, put it on his shoulders, and said: "We Let’s go.”
"Okay, sir. I can open the way in front." Huck also picked up the petite Katie and walked quickly in front of Wiltok.
His current life level is three, and his qualities in all aspects are comparable to those of a dragon-veined half-elf. Not to mention carrying Katie, who weighs less than 120 pounds, even if he carries Annie on his back, it will be no problem. However, Anne was tall and slender, so Huck would inevitably have trouble carrying her, so he had to trouble Vertok to carry her himself.
Annie and Katie are both second-level professionals, and they can recover more easily than ordinary half-elves. Before Vertok had gone far, Annie woke up on his shoulder. Her first reaction was to struggle, but there was a rope wrapped around her neck, and the other end of the rope tied her hands and left foot. Her right leg was hung on Wiltok's chest, and the whole person assumed a strange posture. As long as Annie is not honest and the rope around her neck gradually tightens, she will either give up struggling or be strangled to faint by herself.
This is the technique used by adventurers to tie up their prey. Wiltok used it on Annie and Katie, and the effect was very good. Annie quickly became calm, and just moaning and calling would not cause more trouble to Wiltok.
The camp of the orc group was only more than 1,000 meters away from the low hill where Wiltok and others were stationed. When they walked out of the forest belt, they saw that the low hill camp had been occupied by a large group of snake-tailed vultures.
This large carrion-eating raptor can smell the smell of dead bodies dozens of kilometers away. They are the first to notice that the battle here has ended. They are attracted by the goblin corpses and impatiently fly over from a distance to grab food.
When Huck saw hundreds of snake-tailed vultures gathering together to feed on the goblin corpses, Huck immediately felt his scalp numb. He couldn't help but ask, "Did Max and the others leave? Should they leave?"
The clumsy snake-tailed vultures are calm and patient. They will wait for predators to eat and drink before feasting on discarded leftovers. However, once the snake-tailed vultures start eating in groups, they will not give in easily. Bone-melting stomach acid is their trump card. Hundreds of snake-tailed vultures spitting acid at a target at the same time can kill a half-elf instantly, and Harker's ability to ignite the fire of the heart is not immune.
If Max and the others were still at the Low Hill Camp, even if they were not dead, Huck would be unable to do anything.
A large group of crows were circling and screaming in the dark purple sky, and snake-tailed vultures were flying over in the distance. Wiltok looked up and said calmly: "Don't worry about other people, we must get out of here as soon as possible."
The gathering of snake-tailed vultures is an obvious signal. When many carnivores see the group of snake-tailed vultures, they will know that the fighting here is over and there is ready-made meat to eat. Of course, this includes the ferocious gnolls with keen intuition.
The ferocious gnolls of the Bone Collector's gang had actually just left not long ago. If they found a scavenger raptor rising and falling in the direction of the low hill camp, they would most likely run back to check.
Dire gnolls are not stupid and stubborn goatheads. Even Vertok is afraid of those guys. He and Huck were carrying two burdens. If ten ferocious jackals really came over, Annie and Katie would definitely be killed by the wolves.
Huck also understood the significance of the presence of snake-tailed vultures, and nodded in agreement: "Well, let's go. The dozens of sheep-headed monster corpses in the forest are enough for the jackals. Let's leave quickly, they should no longer cause trouble for us. .”
His judgment was absolutely correct. Not only were the gnolls attracted by the food, but the surrounding beasts were also heading this way. As long as they leave this area quickly, the long journey ahead will be safe.
With his super perception, Wiltok could easily find the guidance signs left by Max, which showed that they had left the Low Hill Camp as planned.
They traveled through the night according to the guidance of the marks, avoiding the rushing forest wolves and a few wild bears in advance. They passed through several forest glades without any danger, and entered a valley with dense vegetation at dawn. Max left behind The markings stop here.
Huck saw no sign of Max and others. Just as he was looking around, Wiltok cast his gaze on the thorn bushes not far away and said loudly: "Come out, I found you!"
The green leaves and thorns shook for a while, and the dark hunter stood up from inside. His whole body was covered with thorns, and Huck was startled when he saw it. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was his old friend Max who used thorns as a disguise to blend in with the surrounding environment. He was not a tree demon monster.
"Vell, I hid it like this and you can spot me... I really belong to you!" Max shouted happily, and extended his thumb towards Wiltok to express his admiration.
The lurking ability of the fourth-level stealth hunter should not be underestimated. If Max did not leave a mark to remind him that he was hiding nearby, it would be difficult for Wiltok to find his location.
Max reminded Wiltok that no matter how strong an individual's ability is, there are limits. Just like when he is concentrating, he can listen to Max's heartbeat, but how can he stay focused all the time just to identify a certain sound. Omissions are inevitable, so he also needs companions.
Wiltok's tone became obviously gentle, and he nodded and said, "You hid it well." As he said that, he threw Annie to the ground.
"If I didn't have this ability, I would have been eaten by wild beasts." Max laughed, then frowned and looked at the thorns around him. These thorny bushes grew so compactly that it took him a long time to slowly crawl in from the outside, and now it was difficult to get out.
Huck also threw Annie down from his shoulders, drew out the sharp thorium adamantine sword, and wanted to help his old buddy Max open a way.
Wiltok stopped Huck from cutting down the bushes and said: "The place chosen by Max is secluded enough that I can hide in it and hibernate for a while. Use the rope to pull Max out and don't damage the bushes."
He dropped to the ground and slithered into the bushes in a snakelike motion. Huck used an animal skin rope to pull Max out of the bushes.
Wiltok didn't have any further instructions and simply got into the bushes and began to hibernate. On the contrary, Max felt relaxed. He was always a little uncomfortable facing the blue-eyed Wiltok, and he had to be careful even when breathing.
Max looked at the tied-up Annie and Katie, shook his head and sighed: "Why did the two beauties of the Whistle Adventure Group become such miserable faces?"
Harker pointed to his head and said: "Those who were tortured by the goblins have their brains damaged. Lord Wiltok said he would treat them. They are lucky."
Max licked his lips and muttered: "It's better to cure my problem... Man, do you have anything to eat? Those bastards from Leeson left me and ran away, leaving me one Wild mud melon and two bags of water. I didn’t dare to eat more. I just took two mouthfuls of mud melon in the past two days and I was almost starving.”
Huck took out the seized nuts and ate them with Max while talking. The two quickly figured out each other's situation.
When Huck heard that the Iron Cross had taken away the team's rations and jewelry, and abandoned Max who was cursed, he was certainly very angry and threatened to take revenge on them.
But Max didn't care. He even felt that Lison and others' concerns were reasonable. Wiltok might indeed kill them and silence them. He was now more convinced of this judgment.
"You said that this top-notch long sword is actually a maid's sword?" Max gently touched the thorium fine gold sword and asked with emotion.
Huck nodded excitedly and said proudly: "My lord said it is the sword of the maid holding the sword. My lord is right, and the maid holding the sword must be your servant!"
Max has rich combat experience, and he knows exactly what a top-quality blade means. Even an ordinary half-elf with no knowledge of martial arts immediately becomes extremely threatening if he holds a thorium adamantine sword. At least the armor of half-elf professionals cannot block a sharp blow. They must deal with it carefully to avoid being seriously injured or killed.
If a professional obtains a top-quality long sword, his combat effectiveness will be doubled. Therefore, thorium fine gold can fully realize its value in the hands of strong people. It can be inferred from this that the sword-wielding maids mentioned by Huck are all extraordinary swordsmen.
Neither Max nor Huck would regard the sword-wielding maid as a female slave serving the highland nobles, but as a rare and powerful professional servant.
If the sword-wielding maid is really a follower of Vertok, it means that Vertok has a prominent background and is by no means an ordinary heir of a famous family.
Max then thought about a lot of things. Someone colluded with the Bone Collector of the Orc Kingdom and ambushed Wiltok and his men, causing him to live in Braun Town. Vertok's identity is no small matter, and his enemies are also ridiculously powerful. Now that the Adventurer's House has boarded Wiltok's carriage, it is impossible to withdraw now.
Max was not an ungrateful person, so he rushed to Vertok to help the Adventurer's House evacuate Braun Town, and rescued Huck. He could not betray Vertok no matter what.
What puzzled him was that Wiltok actually encountered the Bone Collector gang that had attacked him in the wild, and recovered the sword of the sword-wielding maid. Max couldn't help but said: "What a coincidence... I mean, the orc bone collector we met happened to have an intersection with Wiltok. Isn't this kind of a coincidence?"
"Coincidence? No, it's not a coincidence at all."
Max and Hack turned their heads at the same time and found that Wiltok had ended his dormancy and was standing in the bushes, looking at them with an expression of indifference and confidence.
