Chris walked into his room holding a piece of paper, and called the others over. The group formed a circle around him, eyes fixed on the writing on the paper.
"This is a new mission from the City Lord. Everyone, memorize it quickly," Chris said seriously, sweeping his eyes over the group. "You have only half an hour."
"Yes, sir!" The six responded in unison.
The paper contained notes, a few lines of dialogue, countermeasures, and target selection.
Half an hour later, Chris put the paper away and called out, "Time to change. You've got ten minutes."
"Yes, sir." The six immediately dispersed, each heading to their rooms to change and disguise themselves.
Chris sprang into action as well. He took off his black robe and armor, and put on a finely-made linen outfit—casual wear prepared by the City Lord, meant specifically for their disguise.
Once he was dressed, he took a small wooden box from a linen bag. Inside were strands of black fake hair. He immediately asked Number Two, his roommate, to help him stick on a beard, then began drawing his eyebrows with black charcoal powder.
Three minutes later, a man in his thirties stood before the mirror. Chris now looked seven or eight years older—so much so that even someone familiar with him would have trouble recognizing him.
"The disguise technique taught by the Lord is truly amazing." Number Two said in awe.
This "disguise technique" was actually just makeup skills. Before setting out for Pentos City, Lucas had spent two full days teaching it to the War Wolves, though they had only managed to grasp the basics.
"Alright, enough admiring. The City Lord has too many miraculous tricks to count," Chris said, standing up and taking the wooden box. "Hurry up and sit down. I'll do your disguise next."
"Okay." Number Two obediently sat down, letting Chris "work his magic" on his face.
Three minutes later, a man with an eclectic vibe appeared. His hair was parted in the middle, perfectly framing his broad, round face, making it look noticeably slimmer—he now had the face of a "small-faced" man.
"All done," Chris said, clapping his hands. Then he pulled out several coin pouches from the linen bag and handed one to Number Two, reminding him, "Here's the mission budget. Try not to spend too much."
"Got it." Number Two took the pouch, pulled open the drawstring, and peeked inside—there were about three hundred copper coins.
The money had been arranged by Nicole at Lucas's request. Every time Battle Wolf went on a mission, he'd provide them with some funds—part support, part compensation.
Tap tap tap…
The rest of the War Wolves returned to Chris after finishing their disguises.
"Here," Chris said, distributing the remaining pouches. "This is your mission funding. Be frugal when you can, but don't cut corners when you shouldn't."
"Yes, sir." The six responded.
"Time to move. Out the windows—don't let anyone track your movements." Chris said sternly.
"Understood." The six nodded, then dispersed, each slipping away from Blang Tavern in their own discreet way.
Chris chose the simplest method—climbing out the window. It was just around dusk, the sky dimming into darkness. After making sure no one was paying attention, he swiftly slipped out the window.
He stuck to the shadows as he moved, and while stepping into a few hardened piles of dung along the way was unpleasant, it was hardly new to him. His destination was the tavern where he'd been gathering intel earlier that day.
In this era, taverns were primarily places for bounty hunters and knights to drink. While commoners did visit occasionally, they were few and far between.
Dusk was an especially popular time for knights to hit the taverns. By evening, the merchants and nobles they served had typically retired for the night, leaving the knights free to unwind.
Tap tap tap…
Chris pushed open the tavern door. A flood of noise instantly hit his ears—loud, chaotic voices, as if everyone inside was trying to shake off the burdens of the day.
"Hey, Big Bear! Still tagging along with that stingy merchant?" Someone shouted over the din.
"Sigh, don't even bring it up. I'm thinking of quitting after this month. The pay's too low—I can't even afford to repair my knight armor."
"Hahaha... Man, that's rough! Want to join my baron instead?"
"I'll think about it."
"…"
Chris listened to the chatter as he made his way to the bar counter. He noticed two knights sitting nearby and ordered a mug of ale, casually perking up his ears to catch their conversation.
"Did you hear? The auction's got the Amos Notes up for bidding this time. That's bound to stir up some serious trouble."
"No kidding. Doesn't matter which noble wins it tomorrow night—it's unlikely to end well for anyone."
"…"
Upon hearing that, Chris's eyes narrowed slightly. He took a big gulp of his ale and subtly edged closer to the two. His eyes quickly scanned their armor—it was high-quality, the kind that only came from serving a wealthy noble. And wealth usually meant power. Power meant influence. And that… meant a potential target.
"Hey, sirs," Chris said, leaning in and lowering his voice, "mind if I ask you something?"
"Who are you?" One of the knights asked warily.
"Name's Ke," Chris replied calmly. "I just overheard you mention the Amos Notes."
Noticing the growing caution in their eyes, Chris quickly reached into his coin pouch and pulled out a handful of copper coins—about a dozen or so. He placed them lightly on the bar counter with a muted clink and said in a low voice, "Relax. I mean no harm. I'm just looking for information."
The other knight glanced at the coins, then gave a cold snort. "What do you want to know?"
"It's about the 'Divine Heavenly Kingdom'..." Chris said, his voice even lower now.
Chris lowered his voice even more, just a whisper now. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tavern server slowly edging closer. He gave a subtle smile and continued, "My lord heard there's another item in Pentos City… related to the 'Divine Heavenly Kingdom.' Do you two happen to know anything about that? If you do, my lord is willing to pay a high price."
"What? There's another 'Divine Heavenly Kingdom' artifact?" The two knights' eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh? You didn't know?" Chris feigned surprise, waving his hand quickly as if realizing he'd made a mistake. "Ah, sorry to trouble you then. I'll just—"
"Wait, Mister Ke! No need to rush off. Stay, have a drink with us." One of the knights suddenly said with unexpected warmth. He pushed the copper coins back into Chris's hand and even added four or five coins of his own.
"This…" Chris hesitated, then took the coins with a polite nod. "Just one drink, then."
"Of course, just one!" The two knights agreed eagerly, nodding like old friends reunited.
Chris knew he had them hooked.
In no time, the three of them intentionally grew closer, quickly calling each other brothers, as though they were about to form a sworn brotherhood in a tavern.
"I say, Mr. Ke, what was that other 'Heavenly Kingdom' item you mentioned? Could you tell us about it so we can have a look?" Knight Lang asked, his eyes flashing, signaling that he was starting to fish for information.
"This..." Chris pretended to hesitate, then gritted his teeth and said, "If I tell you, you must promise not to spread it around."
"Absolutely."
"Definitely."
The two knights said seriously, almost ready to swear an oath to the heavens.
"I also heard about it from our lord," Chris said mysteriously. "He learned through special channels that someone brought three bottles of 'Divine Wine' that leaked from the 'Divine Heavenly Kingdom,' and they've already arrived in Pentos City."
"Divine Wine? How is that possible?" The knight didn't believe it, a sly glint flashing in his eyes — a technique for probing.
"Really, our lord said the bottles of divine wine are made of black glass, and the wine inside is blood-red." Chris's voice became even quieter.
"This..." The two knights' pupils contracted slightly. Black glass bottles — just hearing that makes it sound noble, let alone the red wine inside.
The two knights exchanged a glance. This information had to be reported back to Count George. They might even receive a lot of silver coins as a reward.
"Make sure you don't tell anyone," Chris said as he stood up, sighing. "I still need to gather more information, so I can't stay and drink with you two."
With that, without waiting for them to stop him, he immediately left the tavern. He needed to find another place to continue his search; soon, other members of the War Wolves would come to this tavern. This was a form of interspersed distribution.
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