Marshall Malone brandished two sharp Tang swords as if by magic and said fiercely, “Of course, we’ll hack him to death with random slashes!”
Ripley gritted his teeth and said, “That’s too quick and easy. I think we should roast him over a fire. That way, he won’t die immediately and will suffer until he finally expires.”
“Alright, let’s do that.” Marshall Malone put away his swords. “I’ll go find some rope.”
The Ninja leader clearly understood Mheffada and was so terrified by Marshall Malone and Ripley’s conversation that he was trembling in fear.
Bonnie Hale, feeling some pity, said, “Just give him a quick death. Is it necessary to be so cruel?”
Leo smiled but did not comment. Instead, he squatted down, looked at the Ninja leader with a troubled expression, and asked, “What do you think? Should I give you a quick death?”
The Ninja leader wanted to nod vigorously but couldn’t move. He could only make desperate grunts.
Compared to the excruciating pain of being roasted alive, the Ninja leader now only wished for a quick death.
Leo seemed to ponder for a moment, then unlocked the Ninja leader’s ability to speak and said, “A quick death isn’t out of the question, but I have a few questions for you. You must answer truthfully, or else…”
The Ninja leader hurriedly replied in somewhat broken Chinese, “I swear by Amaterasu, I will answer truthfully.”
Leo nodded and asked, “Did The Sakura Order come here for the treasure?”
“Yes.”
“How many of you are there?”
“In addition to us, there are ten more.”
Leo was very satisfied with the Ninja leader’s cooperation and continued to ask, “Does The Sakura Order have any exact clues about the treasure?”
“No,” the Ninja leader shook his head with a troubled expression. “In fact, as far as I know, none of the Esper organizations know much more than the others. Everyone is just searching blindly around Fort Salisbury.”
“Then why did you come to Latzburg?”
“The Sakura Order heard rumors about The Reich’s Treasure near Latzburg, so we came to try our luck,” the Ninja leader replied.
“Where are the rest of The Sakura Order?”
“They’re on the northern hill. Since our attack here failed, they should have retreated,” the Ninja leader answered truthfully.
“You’ve been very cooperative, so I’ll keep my promise and give you a quick death.” Leo decisively snapped the Ninja leader’s neck. Leo had no mercy for Orientians, especially Orientian Ninjas.
Bonnie Hale finally understood that Marshall Malone and Ripley were just trying to scare the Ninja leader into telling the truth.
After dealing with the Ninja leader, Leo turned to Bonnie Hale and curiously asked, “Why didn’t you take action earlier?”
Bonnie Hale replied shyly, “My Esper isn’t combat-oriented.”
“Oh?” Leo was curious. “What is it then?”
Marshall Malone chimed in, “Bonnie Hale’s Esper is healing. No matter how severe the injury, as long as there’s still breath left, it can be mostly healed instantly under her Esper.”
Leo praised, “That’s the strongest healing and support ability.”
“Yes,” Marshall Malone said proudly. “That’s why our team always dares to fight; we’re not afraid of getting injured.”
Bonnie Hale blushed and said, “Every time we go on a mission, you all have to protect me…”
Ripley laughed and said, “Compared to your contribution, protecting you is a minor inconvenience.”
Leo thought for a moment and said, “Alright, let’s clean up and rest early. I believe those Orientian bastards won’t dare come back tonight.”
The four of them then cleaned up the battlefield and rested.
The next morning, Leo got up and stepped out of the tent to find Bonnie Hale already boiling water.
“Good morning,” Leo greeted with a smile.
“Good morning,” Bonnie Hale nodded politely. “How did you sleep?”
“Not bad,” Leo sat by the warm campfire. “Just that the wind was a bit loud.”
Bonnie Hale smiled slightly. “It’s always like this in the mountains; you’ll get used to it.”
As they spoke, Marshall Malone and Ripley also woke up. They yawned as they crawled out of their tents and joined by the fire, warming themselves while rubbing their sleepy eyes.
When the water boiled, Bonnie Hale quickly poured some hot water into a small basin. “Alright, everyone washes up quickly; breakfast will be ready soon.”
The three men quickly washed their faces and brushed their teeth by the stream. By the time they returned to camp feeling refreshed, breakfast was ready.
Breakfast was beef noodles again, but everyone ate heartily.
After breakfast, they packed up and set off again.
Climbing over mountains and ridges took half a day. Although the weather was still cold, Leo and his team were sweating and exhausted.
“Let’s rest for a while.” Bonnie Hale, being a girl, couldn’t hold on any longer. She plopped down on a rock and refused to move.
Leo was also tired and called out, “Everyone rests here. We’ll continue after lunch.”
Marshall Malone and Ripley sighed in relief. They were also exhausted and sat down.
Bonnie Hale massaged her sore legs and complained, “We’ve found nothing all morning. How much longer do we have to search like this?”
Leo thought for a moment and smiled wryly. “It might take several days. There’s no other way; The Hexagram is quite vague. We have to use this clumsy method to search slowly. Actually, we haven’t come up empty-handed.”
Bonnie Hale asked curiously, “What have we found? Tell me.”
“In the past day or so, we’ve searched almost all the valleys and caves along the way. But now that I think about it, it wasn’t necessary.”
“Think about it: The Reich’s Treasure is an enormous amount of treasure. It would take hundreds of trucks to transport it all.”
“So those remote and rugged valleys and caves can’t possibly be hiding places for the treasure. It has to be somewhere with relatively good road conditions.”
Bonnie Hale nodded. “That’s right. To hide such a large treasure quickly and effectively without drawing attention, it couldn’t be in some inaccessible place.”
Marshall Malone agreed. “That narrows our search area significantly and increases our chances.”
Ripley thought for a moment and said, “I think we should focus on abandoned mines from World War II.”
This suggestion was good; Leo and the others looked at Ripley simultaneously.
Ripley continued, “First, abandoned mines would be unnoticed because their resources are depleted. This makes them safer hiding places for treasure.”
“Second, if they were abandoned during World War II, their road conditions should still be relatively good for trains or trucks, making it convenient for transporting treasure.”
“That makes sense. Let’s rest for now and focus on finding mine next!” Leo nodded.
As they finished resting and were about to set off again, Leo suddenly sensed something and stood up abruptly, shouting, “Who’s there!? Come out!”