Free Web NovelChapter 148: Chapter 112: Wandering Souls Out for Air
They had already recognized Zhang Peng. He was the Human who followed the Master of the Undead, and he was the one who had given them the meat.
’Does his appearance mean the Undead have noticed our Tribe? Is our Tribe no longer safe?’
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind in an instant, and the more she considered it, the more terrified she became. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen if the Undead discovered their Tribe; the scene of the Alliance Army’s annihilation was still fresh in her memory.
The Catman Race Leader didn’t notice the strange behavior of the sisters behind him. Instead, he frowned. "Intelligence? What kind of intelligence do you need?"
"All kinds of intelligence—as long as it’s something I don’t know, it’s fine. For example... information on what Tribes are nearby or what resources are in the area can all be traded with me for food." Zhang Peng glanced at the Catwoman Sisters out of the corner of his eye. The moment he said "for example," the two sisters obviously grew flustered.
"Oh, that? We know about that. Can we really trade it for food?" The Catman Race Leader’s eyes lit up as he spoke with pleasant surprise.
’Although their Tribe was small, they had always lived here, so they were quite familiar with the surrounding environment. They didn’t know much about resources and the like, but they certainly knew which Tribes were nearby. To think that such useless information could be traded for food.’
Zhang Peng nodded and pointed to the Catwoman Sisters hiding behind the crowd. "Yes, you can. I’m a man of my word. They should know that quite well."
The Catman Race Leader looked confused. He followed Zhang Peng’s finger and saw the Catwoman Sisters. He was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on him.
’Oh, I get it.’
’The meat they brought back must have been traded from this Human in front of me!’
’And they had the nerve to spout that nonsense about going to a forbidden land and seeing Undead. Liars.’
The Catman Race Leader was a little angry and wanted to teach the Catwoman Sisters a lesson. But with Zhang Peng present, he suppressed his anger and put on a smile. "Understood. I know what to do. I will prepare the information on the surrounding Tribes. Please have the food ready."
"That’s wonderful. When you’re ready, have them come and inform me. They know where to find me," Zhang Peng said, nodding with the same smile.
"Alright, then it’s settled." The Catman Race Leader laughed heartily.
"Well, I must be going. The sun will be setting soon. Until we meet again, Your Excellency Catman." Zhang Peng gave a small bow and left with the Gophers without dallying.
"Take care, Human Merchant." The Catman Race Leader’s attitude had completely changed as he waved enthusiastically.
’Even though he didn’t know how much food the information on surrounding Tribes would fetch, trading worthless information for any amount of food was pure profit. How could he not be enthusiastic?’
Only when Zhang Peng’s back was no longer in sight did the Catman Race Leader turn around. He walked up to the Catwoman Sisters with a dark expression. "Don’t you two think you owe me an explanation?"
...
The journey out to explore had been slow, but the return trip was much faster. He traveled unimpeded through the underground tunnels back to the Bone Plate Platform. After the Mobile Fortress docked with the platform, Zhang Peng made it just in time for dinner.
"Hello!"
Seeing Zhang Peng walk into the hall, Liu Xingxing waved and greeted him, pulling him down to sit at Li Ziyu’s dinner table. That’s right, these two guys had come over to freeload a meal.
Li Ziyu looked at the two of them and sensed something was different. "What is it? Good news?"
The two exchanged a glance and a smile. Liu Xingxing began recounting his treasure-hunting adventure from that day. It was the ruins of a Tribe, likely not an abandoned one, and he had managed to scavenge some resources.
"Oh? Not bad." Li Ziyu raised an eyebrow. ’This was exactly what he had hoped for. Both Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing were bound to him by contract—they were his people. Of course, he wanted to see them both develop well.’
He then turned to Zhang Peng. "And you? You look pretty happy yourself."
Zhang Peng popped a piece of roasted meat into his mouth and spoke while chewing, "Boss, you want a wife? The kind that are sisters? If you say the word, I’ll send them right to the fortress."
"What Race? If you dare send me goblins, I’ll bash your damn head in!" Seeing Zhang Peng was up to his usual antics, Li Ziyu immediately joined in on the nonsense.
"No goblins? How about Catmen?" Zhang Peng asked suggestively.
Li Ziyu paused in the middle of eating. He lifted his gaze to look at Zhang Peng and snorted with a laugh. "You found them?"
"Mhm, an unexpected find." Zhang Peng calmly went back to eating his meat.
Seeing the two acting all mysterious, Liu Xingxing got impatient. "What’s going on? What’s with the secret code? Why can’t I understand? Am I an outsider here?"
Zhang Peng looked up, gave Liu Xingxing a strange look, and couldn’t resist reaching out to pat his head. "I really don’t get how you became a Treasure Hunter with a brain like yours."
"Get off, get off! Just tell me what happened already," Liu Xingxing snapped, swatting Zhang Peng’s hand away.
"The Catwoman Sisters. The two who came to deliver intelligence before," Zhang Peng said with a helpless sigh.
"Oh, them. The older one is fine, but the younger one... isn’t that illegal?" Liu Xingxing said suddenly after a moment of thought.
The moment he said that, the corners of both Li Ziyu’s and Zhang Peng’s mouths twitched. Li Ziyu said pleasantly, "Xingxing, just eat. Pretend you didn’t hear anything."
"But why? I heard it," Liu Xingxing asked, confused, as he continued to eat.
"Because the boss is afraid he won’t be able to stop himself from beating you to death," Zhang Peng added, twisting the knife.
Er... Liu Xingxing looked at Zhang Peng, then at Li Ziyu, and obediently lowered his head.
