Chapter 8: The Mysterious Invitation

  He still wore that mysterious attire, all in black, with a wide-brimmed hat pulled low over his face, revealing only the pale skin below his nose.

  As he walked up to Raymond's table, the man tipped his hat slightly: "Afternoon, sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier, I'm Freddy."

  "Thanks to the equipment shop, I've got a bit of a good feeling about him," said Ramon. "I'm Ramon, he's Rude, and this is Barret. Mind if we join you for a drink?"

  But Freddy didn't hesitate at all and sat down immediately: "Hehe, thank you then."

  Raymond exchanged a strange glance with Rudes, and he had an intuition that running into Freddy again was not just a coincidence.

  As expected, a moment later, Freddy spoke up first: "Your skills are all top-notch, even among adventurers, it's rare to see such prowess, so why have I never heard of your names?"

  The dark passage indeed came to probe the details, and Raymond was even more certain that his "righteous words" in the afternoon were not so simple. He cleared his throat and pretended to be sincere: "You've helped us a lot, so I won't hide it from you. The so-called adventurers are just an identity we created for convenience, and actually, we haven't taken on many tasks, so naturally, we don't have much reputation either."

  He lowered his voice and said: "Actually, we do everything privately, so the profit is more, and we don't have to bear unnecessary moral burdens like adventurers, you understand?"

  Upon hearing this, Rutz glanced at Raymond, clearly not understanding why he would suddenly tell a lie. But the clever Byman didn't show any unusual expression, and remained calm on the surface.

  Raymond's words were half true and half false, concealing their own origins while matching their bold actions of making a big fuss at the equipment store and daring to take action against the security team, leaving no choice but for the other party to believe him.

  The reason for this is that Raymond intuitively felt from Freddy's mysterious actions that the purpose behind his back was probably not something that could be seen in the light. Therefore, setting one's own identity to be the type that Freddy expected would make it easier to gain his trust.

  They didn't even realize they had been calculated by Raymond. Freddy, as expected, showed an "unsurprising" expression. He chuckled and said, "No wonder you guys did things so recklessly, I really appreciate that."

  "Never mind, I almost got hit by that shop owner, and the last few deals have all been losing money, it's really unlucky."

  Freddie said calmly: "So, are you guys short of money?"

  "Money?" Raymond's eyes lit up.

  At this time, Ruz said very cooperatively: "We are always short of money."

  A gleam of delight flashed in Freddy's eyes, and he said sincerely: "To be honest, with your skills, you shouldn't be bothered by such a small thing. I happen to have something here that needs people with your exceptional skills to help out. Are you all interested?"

  He added, "Besides, the pay is a number that will absolutely not disappoint you."

  Xin Dao thought this guy was indeed well-prepared. Raymond pretended to be interested and asked: "What are you doing?"

  "Sorry, I'm afraid I can't reveal that," Freddie shook his head. "Just follow me and you'll find out later."

  He then pulled out a small pouch from his bosom and slammed it onto the table: "Here is a gem worth 10,000 gold coins as a deposit. Once the deal is made, we will offer more, are you satisfied now?"

  Having said that, Freddy leaned back in his chair, confidently waiting for Raymond's reaction. Apparently, he had already decided that Raymond would undoubtedly agree without hesitation.

  But then he saw Raymond stretch his waist, also leaning back against the chair and smiling slightly: "Sorry, I refuse."

  "What?" Freddie sat up with a start, his eyes wide with incredulity.

  Raymond picked up the bag of gems in his hand and weighed it, then threw it back to Freddy: "We may do anything, but we never do sloppy things. This is our first principle for living until today."

  "You..." Never thought Raymond would come up with such a move, Freddy's eyes flashed with anger, and he stood up with a push of the table.

  Raymond still had that infuriating look on his face, leaning back in his chair and smiling at Freddy's discomposure.

  "If it's a matter of money, I can increase it." Fredy said, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

  "Either tell us what to do, or don't mention it."

  Raymond's unyielding attitude dealt a significant blow to Freddy's confidence. He glared at Raymond with an ashen face that was even slightly flushed.

  As Amada said, Raymond is indeed very talented in driving people crazy. He wore that annoying smile, leisurely showing off his calm and composed demeanor, with an attitude of "if you don't follow my rhythm, then let's not talk about it".

  This posture is naturally and effortlessly adopted, without any pretentious or artificial connotations.

  Before sitting down, Freddy had absolute confidence that he could persuade these unruly guys. But after getting in touch with them, he realized that the opponent in front of him was not simple at all.

  Freddie's mind was racing, rapidly comparing all the possible consequences. In an instant, he unexpectedly bowed to Raymond: "In that case, let's pretend I never came, goodnight."

  After finishing speaking, he grabbed the bag on the table, turned around and left, and didn't make any attempt to negotiate again.

  This time, it was Raymond's turn to be surprised. He had originally thought that even if he couldn't get Freddy to reveal his own purpose, he could at least provoke him into losing his composure and thus extract more information.

  But this person was more in control of his emotions than he had imagined, and once he realized things were not under control, he immediately left, without making any unnecessary attempts to salvage the situation.

  Originally, Raymond was just a little curious about Freddy's intentional approach, so he gave the other party a set, but didn't have any desire to investigate further, at most it was just to see what he wanted to do.

  However, Freddy's unexpected performance piqued Raymond's interest. This person is not a minor role, and the purpose behind it may not be so simple.

  Then he said to Bastard: "Follow him and see where the guy is going."

  From start to finish, Catwoman kept her attention on the food spread out before them, and the exchange between Raymond and Freddie had no effect on her.

  Upon hearing Raymond's words, Bastet nodded and wiped her mouth before standing up. She let out a rather unbecoming belch before disappearing into the crowd in the tavern with a few quick strides.

  At this time, outside the tavern, Freddy walked out and turned into a small alley. In the alley, a man was already waiting there.

  "Ah, sir, how are you?" The man bowed upon seeing Freddy.

  "Failed," said Freddy with a sigh.

  "What, how could it be..." The man exclaimed in surprise.

  Freddie chuckled in a low voice: "This afternoon, I inadvertently saw their skills and thought they were just a few fugitives who lacked money. I didn't expect that the guy named Raymond would be much smarter than I imagined. I also thought it would be easy to find some useful scapegoats, but it seems I was wrong."

  "So, shall we...?" The man said, making a chopping motion with his hand.

  "Never mind," said Freddy, shaking his head. "They don't know anything, no need to provoke this kind of guy, or it might backfire."

  He said, "What's going on over there?"

  The man said: "They have already agreed to cooperate with us on that side. After the young lady leaves the city tomorrow, they will take action."

  "Alright, let's proceed with the original plan. Once they've succeeded, you immediately lead the troops over and don't let a single one escape."

  "Remember, this matter cannot have any mistakes, otherwise you and I will not be able to live."

  The man was so frightened that he hastily lowered his head: "I understand."

  "Alright, let's go." Freddy habitually pressed down on the brim of his hat and quickly walked away with the man.

  However, neither of them noticed that on the rooftop behind them, a pair of bright golden and silver pupils were hidden in the darkness, watching their every move.

  Half an hour later.

  "...Finally, they entered an inn in the city and didn't make any special moves again." Bast reported to Raymond the result of her tailing.

  After finishing speaking, she couldn't help but add another sentence: "That inn is so beautiful, Young Master, let's stay there tonight too."

  Raymond ignored the last sentence automatically and asked: "Have you encountered any obstacles?"

  "You say that... " Bastard's palm slap: "Actually, there have always been two people secretly protecting them, using techniques suitable for acting in the dark, should be what humans call thieves."

  "How could you not mention something so important earlier?" Raymond exclaimed in surprise.

  "Bastard said nonchalantly, 'Because they didn't cause me any trouble, I easily avoided those two guys, and from start to finish, they didn't even notice my existence.'"

  "For Pete's sake, when are you going to grow up? Don't think this isn't being reported, this is important intel." Raymond tapped her impatiently.

  The cat girl covered her head and said in a wronged tone: "Two thieves with terrible skills, what's there to care about? If they make a move, I can easily take them down."

  At this time, Rudes calmly said: "Firstly, it represents that the person named Freddy is not ordinary; secondly, it shows that they are hiding something, and even their place of residence is not willing to let people know."

  "Oh... I see..."

  "Ah, you numbskull, remember this well!" Raymond jabbed his finger at Baster's forehead.

  "Meow, young master, it hurts so much!"

  At this time, Rutz said: "Young master, according to Bast, it seems that they mentioned attacking someone in their conversation. What do you want to do?"

  "What do you think?" Raymond asked back.

  Rud said: "The other party is unknown, and what they want to do has nothing to do with us. I think it's best to ignore them."

  "That's well said." Raymond clapped his hands: "However, Ruz, you're great in every way, it's just that you're a bit too negative and lack the most basic curiosity."

  "So you're going to intervene?" Rude asked calmly, not taking Raymond's teasing seriously.

  "Who says I'm that bored?" Raymond shook his head, but then added, "But I can go take a look anyway?"

  Rouge: ……

  "Anyway, after leaving the northern wilderness, I haven't thought about what to do yet. It's better to join in the excitement than to have nothing to do." Raymond stretched his waist: "Okay, find a hotel to sleep well, and see what those guys want to do tomorrow."