26: Chapter 26 Intelligence

The trio left the Myriad Races Market, crossed the low hills, traversed the outskirts of the Savage Beast Forest, and returned to the Bright Camp at dusk.

After returning to the camp, Wang Sheng did not rush to the Chiefs Tent, but instead went first to the Ancestral Spirit Altar.

Shen Xun'er was performing the evening Moonlight Blessing on the altar.

Her moon-white ritual robes shimmered with a soft, silvery-blue luster in the sunset's afterglow. Her long, ink-black hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. Her almond-shaped eyes were slightly closed, and her hands were clasped together, resting on the main sacrificial altar.

Silvery-blue moonlight flowed from her palms, shrouding the entire altar in a layer of gentle silver gauze.

In her posture during the Moonlight Blessing, she looked like a fairy from a moon palace. Her slender neck, delicate collarbones, and the exquisite curves faintly visible beneath her ritual robes,

were like a flowing ink painting in the silvery-blue moonlight.

Devout and holy, she was so beautiful that it almost made one forget to breathe.

Wang Sheng stood below the altar, waiting for her to finish the blessing, silently taking stock of the day's gains and losses in his heart.

Three hundred gold crystals for ten packs of spirit potato seeds, one hundred gold crystals for Savage Beast bone materials, and the remaining gold crystals for spirit herbs—the Bright Tribe's entire fortune had been spent clean on this trip to the market.

But the most precious harvest was not these tangible resources, but the intangible intelligence.

The power structure of the Central Wasteland Region was far more complex than he had imagined.

The Blood Wolf Tribe was only upper-middle tier, yet they already had a Barbarian General-level chieftain and a population of seven hundred.

And in the corners of the market, Liu Ruyan had even caught glimpses of even stronger factions.

It was rumored that the strongest tribe in the Central Wasteland Region was the Iron Hoof Tribe, with a chieftain at Rank 5 Barbarian General and a population of over two thousand, supposedly reaching the threshold of a city-state level.

And what about the Bright Tribe? Sixty-some people, camp level, with a Rank 2 Barbarian Warrior chieftain.

The gap was too vast.

But Wang Sheng was not discouraged.

On the contrary, his gaze was sharper than before they set out, like a newly quenched blade.

When he was humiliated to his face by Zhao Mang of the Blood Wolf Tribe at the market, he had not felt anger, not because of cowardice,

but because he knew clearly that anger could not change anything.

Only strength could change the status quo, and the accumulation of strength required time, resources, and strategy.

Zhao Mang, I will remember you.

It was not holding a grudge. It was remembering—remembering the gap, remembering the goal,

remembering that one day, he would make that burly man with dark red pupils kneel on the ground and take back every word he said today.

"You're back?" Shen Xun'er's voice interrupted his thoughts.

She walked down from the altar, her moon-white ritual robes fluttering in the evening breeze. Her almond-shaped eyes scrutinized his face, and only after confirming he was uninjured did she breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Then her gaze fell on the backpack in his hands, and she raised an eyebrow slightly: "Did you buy them?"

"I did." Wang Sheng handed her the backpack, "Spirit potato seeds, Savage Beast bone materials, and spirit herbs. Though, the gold crystals are all spent."

Shen Xun'er took the backpack and rummaged through it, a flash of heartache appearing in her almond-shaped eyes: "Spent them all? Then what about the backup in your system store..."

"Backup? There is no backup." Wang Sheng chuckled, "We are completely broke."

Shen Xun'er couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to gently push him on the chest, her almond-shaped eyes curving into two crescent moons: "Poor Chieftain."

"A poor chieftain is still a chieftain." Wang Sheng took her hand, his thumb gently stroking her fingertips, "Once the tribe upgrades to the village level, we won't have to be so tight on resources."

Shen Xun'er's cheeks flushed slightly. Her almond-shaped eyes lingered on his face for a moment, then she gave a soft "Mm," put away the backpack, and turned to walk toward the camp.

After taking two steps, she turned back to look at him again. The hem of her moon-white ritual robes fluttered in the evening breeze like moonlight, and her voice was as soft as a breeze in spring:

"Liu Ruyan said she has a discovery? Let's talk in my tent; I've brewed some spirit tea."

Inside the Chiefs Tent, the light from the fire pit bathed the four walls in a warm glow.

Liu Ruyan sat opposite the fire pit; she had already changed out of her grey-brown short combat gear into a simple, plain-colored long dress.

Having shed her combat gear, Liu Ruyan looked like a different person. Her face, that of an Oriental classical beauty, was poetic and picturesque in the firelight, and her willow-slender figure looked even more perfect in every curve beneath the long dress.

Those smoky, misty eyes shed their coldness in the warm light, replaced by a calm gravity, adding a touch of seriousness she rarely showed.

"I discovered traces of the Shadow Clan at the market."

The first sentence Liu Ruyan spoke made Wang Sheng and Shen Xun'er's expressions change simultaneously.

"It wasn't that members of the Shadow Clan appeared directly at the market; they aren't that stupid. It was a Shadow Clan spy."

"A spy?" Shen Xun'er's almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly.

"A Beast-kin merchant who specializes in collecting intelligence on the various tribes of the Central Wasteland Region at the market—the chieftain's profession rank, tribe population, resource output, and territory location."

Liu Ruyan's voice was unhurried, but every word was like a hammer striking a nail.

"I used the Phantom Assassin's stealth ability to track him for half a day and discovered that he disappears once every two hours,

going to an abandoned stall in the southeast corner of the market where there is a Spirit Rune mark unique to the Shadow Clan."

"Is he passing the intelligence he collects to the Shadow Clan?" Wang Sheng asked.

"Not just passing intelligence." Liu Ruyan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, "He is collecting intelligence on Transmigrators."

The tent fell silent for a moment.

"How do you know?" Shen Xun'er's voice held a hint of nervousness.

"Because he was asking multiple stall owners about 'people who descended from the sky,' which is what the natives of the wilderness call us Transmigrators."

Liu Ruyan's phoenix eyes flashed with a cold light in the fire, "And he is particularly focused on newly emerged tribes composed entirely of young women."

Wang Sheng's gaze sank.

The Bright Tribe: sixty-some young women, one male chieftain, camp level, just appeared at the Myriad Races Market.

If the Shadow Clan really is collecting intelligence on Transmigrators, then information about the Bright Tribe has likely already been recorded.

"Is this related to the dark-attribute user detected by the Star Divination earlier?" Wang Sheng looked at Shen Xun'er.

Shen Xun'er bit her lower lip and pondered for a moment, a flash of unease crossing her almond-shaped eyes:

"I'm not sure. But the timeline matches. The dark-attribute user appeared the day before the Iron-Armored Bear attack,

and the Shadow Clan spy appeared on the first day the Myriad Races Market opened. If these two things are connected..."

"Then it means the Shadow Clan is systematically monitoring the Central Wasteland Region." Liu Ruyan took over, her phoenix eyes like two precision mirrors reflecting the firelight,

"The Iron-Armored Bear's attack might not have been accidental. Do you remember the eyes of that Iron-Armored Bear? There was a strange light surging in its dark red pupils that didn't belong to a Savage Beast."

Wang Sheng's pupils contracted slightly.

The Shadow Clan. Dark-attribute users. A driven Iron-Armored Bear. A spy collecting intelligence on Transmigrators.

A dark thread was gradually becoming clear before his eyes. The traces of animal paths Liu Ruyan discovered,

the dark-attribute spiritual power fluctuations Shen Xun'er detected, the abnormal attacking behavior of the Iron-Armored Bear,

and the Shadow Clan spy at the Myriad Races Market—these pieces, when put together, pointed to an unsettling possibility:

The Shadow Clan is secretly controlling Savage Beasts and monitoring Transmigrators, and the Bright Tribe may already be exposed to their view.