Chapter 255 - 174: Le Ti’s Investment
Luo Ge gazed at the familiar face before him, his expression calm as he let out a soft chuckle.
"Go on. You went to great lengths to find me. What do you want?"
This Le Ti was clearly not the same one he had previously burned to nothing, but there was undoubtedly a strong connection between them.
The Shadow of Deceit clearly had more than one Le Ti. Even if he killed this "Le Ti Number Two," a "Le Ti Number Three" was sure to pop up.
So, what interested Luo Ge wasn’t this particular Le Ti, but his purpose.
Seeing that Luo Ge didn’t immediately attack, Le Ti breathed a silent sigh of relief. ’This is one tough assignment.’
Le Ti chuckled slyly and rubbed his hands together, a hint of sleaze in his demeanor.
"Honorable Candlefire Controller, I’ve come at the behest of the Shadow of Deceit’s Will to propose a deal. I wonder if you might be interested?"
Facing Luo Ge, the master of the players, Le Ti didn’t dare adopt the same attitude he had used with Forgotten Dao. His tone was respectful and humble.
"Oh?" Luo Ge’s eyebrow twitched. "Are you sure you can make a deal with me on behalf of the Shadow of Deceit?"
"Of course."
Hearing Luo Ge’s words, Le Ti’s eyes lit up. Luo Ge was clearly interested in his deal.
"We of the Shadow of Deceit have always prized our integrity. Our promises are ironclad, you can rest assured."
Le Ti puffed out his chest in assurance.
"But certain colleagues of yours didn’t seem to think so. I recall he was more interested in packaging my Warriors up to sell for a good price."
"And it seems he sold his own body in the process."
Luo Ge said with a smile.
"Er..." Le Ti was at a loss for words, his expression growing awkward.
He apparently hadn’t expected Luo Ge to know the original Le Ti’s objective so clearly.
He could only clear his throat and try to recover. "Well... you see... our organization is quite large, so we’re bound to have a few rebellious types crop up. They’re clueless, and their actions don’t represent our organization’s official position. I hope you can understand..."
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"In fact, by eliminating him, you’ve done us a favor by getting rid of a bad apple. It’s a good thing."
Le Ti said with righteous conviction, throwing Le Ti Number One under the bus without a moment’s hesitation.
The gist of it was: ’Those were the actions of a temporary employee and are in no way affiliated with the company.’
"How about this? Even though this wasn’t our intention, as a token of our apology, I can give you a piece of information for free. What do you say?"
Le Ti said with an air of utmost sincerity.
"Let’s hear it." Luo Ge nodded slightly, quietly watching his performance.
"Heh heh... If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already had a run-in with those tin cans from the Firewood Thieves, haven’t you?"
Le Ti spoke conspiratorially. After seeing Luo Ge nod, he dropped what he considered to be a bombshell.
"Then I bet you don’t know that they’ve already pinpointed your coordinates, do you?"
"I’m sure it won’t be long before they gather their forces to make trouble for you..."
As he spoke, he watched Luo Ge’s expression.
To his surprise, however, the other man’s expression remained calm. There was no trace of shock, only a look that seemed to say...
’That’s it?’
"...I already knew," Luo Ge said, unperturbed.
"Try another piece of information. For instance... who are your usual clients."
Luo Ge said, staring at him.
He didn’t use the Power of the Spirit Candle to apply pressure, nor did he unleash his Warfire. He made no overtly threatening moves at all.
And yet, Le Ti felt a Formless pressure suddenly bear down on him.
"That... Please forgive me, but I can’t reveal that for now." Despite the immense pressure, Le Ti managed to say through gritted teeth.
This attitude made Luo Ge a little curious.
Le Ti Number One had been terrified of dying, but this Le Ti Number Two was suddenly a tough nut to crack?
"I’m surprised. You’ve actually got some backbone," Luo Ge said, astonished.
"..." Hearing this, Le Ti gave a helpless smile and spread his hands. "You’ve misunderstood. The reason I’m not telling you is because this pathetic life of mine is worth far less than that information..."
’Value?’
Luo Ge keenly picked up on a new detail about the Shadow of Deceit hidden in Le Ti’s words.
The feedback from burning out Le Ti Number One had provided a lot of information, but very little of it was about the Shadow of Deceit itself. It was as if it had been blocked by some powerful entity, so Luo Ge only had a superficial understanding of the organization.
Now, judging from Le Ti’s words, it seemed the Shadow of Deceit placed great importance on the "value" of information.
"To be honest, I would not advise you to kill me."
Seeing Luo Ge lost in thought, Le Ti’s expression was utterly sincere.
"If I live, you can establish a relationship with the Shadow of Deceit and conduct trade."
"But if I die, all of that naturally goes away."
"You’d lose a contact for trade and information, and I’d suffer a great loss as well. It wouldn’t be good for either of us..."
’Interesting.’
After hearing him out, Luo Ge’s interest in the Shadow of Deceit grew even stronger.
He had previously assumed the Shadow of Deceit and the Firewood Thieves were cut from the same cloth, but now... things didn’t seem so simple.
It looked like this Shadow of Deceit was planning on playing both sides...
Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was just another trap.
Luo Ge wasn’t worried, though. The worst-case scenario was just a one-on-two fight, or maybe more. In the end, it would all come down to who had the stronger fist.
If that was the case, then he might as well see if he could neutralize the Shadow of Deceit as a potential enemy.
"That’s reasonable." Luo Ge nodded, feigning reluctance. "Alright, let’s go with different information, then."
"Alright..."