CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: SHUT UP

These five soldiers in black armor, riding two-horned warhorses, were clearly here for those thieves. But the eagle flying overhead gave away the situation, which let those thieves escape just now.

Ethan had [Cave Treasure Intel] on him. Once he used it, he could get the exact location of the treasure.

As long as he reached the spot and made a little noise, he could lure the thieves in the cave out.

They wouldn’t just watch someone take their treasure and do nothing, right?

Ethan thought it through. He could totally use—no, help—these five soldiers find the thieves hiding in the Frost Valley cave.

Then, after they had mostly cleared the thieves inside, he could move quietly and take the treasure with almost no effort.

But before that, Ethan needed to learn how strong the cave thieves were, and how strong these five soldiers were.

If he followed the plan, went into the cave, and it turned out the five soldiers weren’t a match for the thieves, that would be way too dumb.

So Ethan lifted his head a little, looked at the Ice City settlement soldier who had spoken just now, and said:

"The thief I killed was pretty strong. It took me a lot of effort. There are only five of you. If you go into the cave, it will definitely be dangerous."

As soon as he finished, a soldier snapped back in a harsh tone:

"What do you know? The moment those thieves saw us, they ran. Clearly we scared them. If they’d been even a bit slower, they’d already be corpses on the ground.

"If the underground caves in Frost Valley weren’t so complicated, making it hard to find the thieves in hiding, we would’ve cleared them out long ago.

"Ignorant fool, do you know how strong our captain is? He has an Orange-quality talent..."

Before that soldier could finish, the one who first spoke to Ethan waved his hand and cut him off: "Alright, no need to waste time. Since we can’t wipe out those thieves for now, let’s go do other tasks first."

Clearly, this soldier was the squad’s captain, the one with the Orange-quality talent.

Ethan had gotten the info he wanted, so there was no way he would just let them leave. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to clear the thieves in the cave by himself.

As the soldiers on their warhorses were about to turn and leave, Ethan used the [Cave Treasure Intel] from his [Inventory].

At once, a complex map appeared in his [Inventory].

His eyes lit up a little, and he quickly said to the five soldiers: "Sigh, looks like I have to wait until I get stronger before I follow the map to explore the caves."

As soon as he finished, the captain of the five-man squad pulled the reins and stopped, then quickly looked back at Ethan.

The others also froze on the spot, staring at Ethan in surprise.

The captain asked fast: "Wait, the map you mentioned—what map is it?"

Ethan took out the map he had just gotten after using the Intel in his [Inventory], gave it a little shake, then quickly put it away and said:

"What else could it be? It’s the map of the underground caves in Frost Valley. I happen to have something to do and need to go back to the Ice City settlement, so exploring the cave will have to wait."

After he said that, Ethan started walking toward the exit of Frost Valley. He hadn’t even dealt with the arrow in his arm yet, so he pulled it out as he walked and used a healing item.

He had only gone a few meters when the captain shouted:

"Wait, hold on—don’t rush off yet."

Ethan stopped. With his back to the five soldiers, a slight smile came to his face, which he quickly hid.

He turned around slowly, looked at the captain, and asked in a puzzled tone: "Is there something else? Weren’t you planning to leave?"

The captain swung down from his horse and walked quickly to Ethan’s side. He no longer looked down at Ethan from the saddle like before, but stood eye to eye with him.

The captain asked seriously: "Are you sure that map is for the Frost Valley underground caves?"

Ethan didn’t answer. He just glanced at the headless body of Thief Simon on the ground.

The captain made the connection at once. The map must have been found on that thief’s body. He didn’t know why the dead thief was carrying a map, but this was a chance they couldn’t miss.

Their five-man squad had come to Frost Valley to hunt down the thieves hiding here.

Without a map or the right guidance, if they rushed into the caves, they wouldn’t be able to find the hidden thieves and might even fall into danger.

He had been ready to give up and head back to the Ice City settlement. He didn’t expect this player to be so lucky and get a map of the Frost Valley underground caves.

No—today was his lucky day.

So the captain took a slow breath and said to Ethan: "I’m Shane, captain of the Black Armor Squad from the Ice City settlement.

"I need your help. If you can lend me the map for a while, I’ll pay you, and I’ll also give you some Ice City settlement contribution points.

"You can use those points in the Ice City treasury to trade for weapons, gear, items, and even a house in the settlement."

Ethan looked at Shane, the Black Armor Squad’s captain. He wasn’t going to hand over the map. It marked where the thieves’ treasure was.

If he gave it to Shane, who knew if Shane would just take the treasure as loot for killing the bandits.

Ethan spoke up: "I can help you, but in a different way. I’ll go into the caves with you and show you the way."

Shane frowned and looked Ethan up and down, clearly thinking about whether to accept.

Ethan said calmly: "You know I’m a player. I won’t side with those thieves. I even killed one of them. I’m not going to lie to you."

Right then, the soldier who had called Ethan ignorant earlier suddenly said: "If we hadn’t shown up and scared the rest of the thieves away, you’d already be dead."

"We saved you. You should just give us the map to thank us, but instead you’re haggling with us!"

Ethan frowned a little and said coolly: "Weren’t you the ones who scared off my prey? Besides, I’m the one who offered to help you."

The soldier froze for a second, then shot back without a pause:

"Your prey? Are you kidding me? The only reason you took down one thief was because Lady Luck smiled on you."

"If we’d been a bit later, you’d be a corpse."

Ethan replied flatly: "Killing those thieves would just take some time. Don’t be so full of yourself."

"Since you’ve got such a problem with it, there’s nothing more to talk about."

With that, Ethan didn’t hesitate. He turned and walked quickly toward the exit of Frost Valley.

The treasure was in the Frost Valley caves anyway. Give him some time to level up and get stronger, then he could come back and clear out the thieves at his own pace.

If they had just agreed to his terms, the five-man team would get what they wanted, and Ethan would save time and effort. It would have been a win-win.

But they hesitated, and even tried to guilt-trip him. That was what Ethan hated most.

He didn’t see himself as a good or moral person, so guilt-tripping wasn’t going to force him to agree to anything.

He also thought that kind of guilt-tripping was disgusting.

It only makes good people fewer. And when there are fewer people with high morals, Ethan has to think harder if he wants to use others to gain an edge.

So he was ready to drop his earlier plan.

When the team’s captain saw Ethan leaving without a second thought, he glanced back at the soldier who had argued with Ethan and barked: "Ryan, shut up!"

The soldier named Ryan started to speak, but one look at Captain Shane’s eyes made him close his mouth. He still held his head high, clearly not convinced.

Shane took a deep breath. Wiping out all the thieves in the underground caves of Frost Valley wasn’t just a job from the Ice City settlement—it was also the revenge he’d been chasing for a long time.

The chance was right in front of him. He had to take it.

He bent his knees, pushed off hard, and jumped straight up. His body drew a wide arc in the air, then he landed lightly in front of Ethan.

Ethan’s pupils tightened. He knew Shane was still wearing heavy black armor, yet even so, the landing barely made a sound.

Clearly, Shane was even stronger than he had thought.

Ethan stopped and looked at him, about to speak.

Shane bent at the waist toward Ethan and said, in a steady voice: "Sorry."