Mercenary Harem in Murim Novel

Fortunately, not a single one dared to attack. Not even the leaders moved. They realized Leo and his group had no large stone with them and commanded their people to withdraw.

There was no need to risk fighting a group of strong individuals who didn't bring the epigraph.

"Go to the ravine! We will be the one securing the epigraph!"

"Don't let those people from Namgoong Clan take it away. It's the treasure of the Murim Alliance!"

The leaders shouted and everyone followed suit.

Having all martial artists' attention away from them, Leo and his group managed to enter the forest without much fight. They stopped and gathered behind the trees' shadow. Coco returned to its usual size and sat on Chiaki's shoulder.

"Good work, everyone." Leo said, checking the condition of his group. "Let's regroup and rest for a bit. We will wait until the enemy is gone before heading back to camp with optical illusion. Once they realized we had taken the epigraph, they would definitely try to chase after us. So we will go straight to the warehouse after this."

"Understood, Leader."

"Haha, that was fun. I got so many target practice. That satisfied my urge to shoot a little."

"I am a little bit dissatisfied, but it's a good job. These corpses are lifeless. Their martial arts were tarnished. I am glad to help them ascend."

Chiaki, Jack, and Shui gave their comments, while Coco was silent. The toy only growled as it had no vocal cord.

Leo chuckled hearing their remarks. He had expected this mission to be difficult, but they finished it easily. Their only problem was with Heartless Undertaker and his annoying regenerative ability.

'It's not a bad start. But, we need to be careful not to overexert ourselves. Our mission hasn't finished yet.'

He looked at his group and checked his status.

[Status Window]

Individual name: Leo

Status: Healthy

Nanites: 46%

Railgun truly used too much Nanites to activate. This was the first time he used more than 70% of his Nanites and even had to regenerate 20% of them.

Martial artists weren't to be underestimated.

Still, their job was done, and they could finally return after delivering the epigraph to the warehouse.

As Leo and his group were resting, the other group was in chaos.

Some were angry and started accusing others for not being able to fight and letting the Thunder God and Black Sword Saint escape. They seemed to realize that the epigraph was gone from the ruin.

However, a lot of riches and scrolls left behind by Venom Sect could still be found. Although they weren't as precious as the epigraph, they were still worth a lot.

The ones who weren't able to escape, the ones who died and turned into ashes, were the unlucky ones. They were left behind and their bodies were scattered all over the place.

While the rest of the martial artists began to fight each other for what was left in the ruin.

Using their commotion as a cover, Leo and his group escaped and disappeared, blending in the shadows.

It was a perfect getaway.

***

Leo returned to the camp with his subordinates while trying his best to be stealthy. Many martial artists roamed the forest, hoping to get a little bit of rich from the returning advanced squad by ambushing them.

Engaging in an unneeded fight was foolish, so they had to avoid them as much as possible.

Thankfully, they weren't spotted, as those martial artists only tried to feel Qi. Moreover, their bodysuits allowed them to blend with nature. They were invisible and could move freely, which made it easy to sneak back into their camp.

Upon arriving at the camp, Leo detected a life signature inside the tent hidden by foliage. It was Zhen who had been waiting for them.

Knowing that it was an ally, Leo deactivated the optical illusion and made his presence known.

"You guys made it back safely, huh? That's good."

The representative from the Hao Sect greeted them.

"Sorry for taking so long."

"No, you're actually early. I just received news that the gate was opened. You must've had a hard time. I heard that the demonic Qi in the ravine was thick. And the martial artists gathered to investigate the gate, but the ones who arrived first were killed and turned into ashes."

"Yes, we are fortunate to have escaped unscathed. We also have the epigraph with us." Leo answered, not bothering to explain that he was the one who turned the guys into ashes.

"Oh? So, you succeeded. Then, let's pack up and go. Where is the epigraph?" Zhen's voice became clearly excited.

"The epigraph is inside a compressing capsule. Chiaki and Shui should have it. Bring it out."

"Sure." Shui answered and took out a capsule.

He pressed a small button on it and threw it into the air.

The capsule opened, and a large stone floated out.

The stone was pitch black and had a red mark on it. These marks created something similar to words, but indistinguishable. They were different from the words used at this age.

Seeing the stone, Zhen's eyes widened in surprise.

"This is..." He couldn't believe it.

The stone was something he never thought he would see in his life with his own eyes.

"The epigraph. How?" Zhen looked at Leo and the others with a questioning gaze.

He didn't ask how they managed to secure it, but how they managed to put it away in a capsule.

With the engravings that covered the epigraph, a storage ring or space bag couldn't be used. The epigraph's Qi was too thick and would disrupt the item's function.

"We have a special capsule that can compress and store items regardless of Qi. Well, you can call it our technology." Leo explained shortly and put the epigraph back into the capsule. "But that's not important, no? We need to go to the warehouse right now."

"Yes, you're right."

Now was indeed not the time to ask that. And there was no way Leo would expose his group secret to someone he barely knew.

"Then, let's pack up and go."

They were already ready. Everything they needed was inside their bag, and their weapons were ready. They only needed to disassemble the tent and go.

"Here is the map of the warehouse. We can only reach a certain spot before being forced to walk. The rest of the way is filled with traps and pitfalls."

Zhen gave a piece of paper to Leo and pointed at a red circle. Unexpectedly, it was pretty close to Luoyang City where they stayed before.

"Here is where the warehouse is located. Because you secured the epigraph faster than scheduled, I don't think someone arrived at that place yet."

"Then we can take a detour to avoid being detected. The last thing we need is fighting off more people."

Leo began to plan the route as he looked at his map. The usual path used to return to Luoyang undoubtedly had hidden scouts or ambushers.

After a few minutes, he nodded and gave out the order.

"Take out the humvee and follow the path I marked, Chiaki. Make sure you stay on the path and avoid any unnecessary trouble."

"Roger."