Demon Bible

Chapter 183: Baiter Merchant Guild

For example, as long as Leah released her aura, the surrounding environment would protect her.

At the very least, as long as Leah paid attention, other people generally had no way of discovering her existence through perception.

Unless Leah had been away from Angel A for too long and entered a berserk state.

At the same time, Leah was extremely sensitive to the scent of whale products. As long as any whale product appeared within a certain range of her, she could easily sense it.

This was exactly why Purr had her act alone this time.

The Baiter Merchant Guild was not particularly large. They were not nobles and could not live in an estate, so they opted for a "pseudo-manor."

This meant using a single mansion as a centerpiece, purchasing all the surrounding residences and houses, and then executing a specific layout to form a pseudo-manor that functioned like an actual estate.

They were forbidden from erecting perimeter fences, but they could still establish guard posts and the like.

Technically speaking, the Church District was also a pseudo-manor of this sort.

The main commodity handled by the Baiter Merchant Guild was crops.That was right, the Baiter Merchant Guild grew vegetables.

However, they had monopolized the vast majority of vegetables, fruits, beans, and similar cultivated crops throughout the entirety of Tail Fin Town.

Aside from possessing numerous farmlands on both banks of the Tail River, they also owned a significant amount of fields in the outskirts.

They were even the suppliers for the Church dining halls.

The entire guild kept a relatively low profile in the North District, and they routinely delivered numerous special offerings to the Church.

Even Nemus had received gifts sent over by them.

This merchant guild had roped in quite a few clerics. Among them, three older Iron-rank priests were particularly fond of dining at the high-end hotel established by the Baiter Merchant Guild.

This could essentially be considered publicly endorsing the Baiter Merchant Guild.

Under such circumstances, the Baiter Merchant Guild itself also possessed an armed force that was by no means weak.

The guild master's son, Little Baiter, had advanced to the Iron Rank a few years ago.

He also had a number of guild enforcers under his command.

These enforcers were basically Black Iron-rank individuals with decent attribute values.

They could not be considered experts, but they were more than enough to deal with commoners and ordinary gangs.

Therefore, in stark contrast to their low profile in the North District, the Baiter Merchant Guild was exceptionally "ferocious" in the South District.

They controlled the vast majority of crop seeds. Other than themselves, any other farmer household wanting to grow vegetables had to purchase seeds, fertilizer, and the like directly from them.

Furthermore, the Baiter Merchant Guild held absolute priority purchasing rights over the vegetables grown by these farmers.

And this purchasing right superseded the farmers' own rights.

Even if a farmer grew the vegetables themselves, they were not allowed to eat their own produce.

There had been past instances where people were beaten to death by the Baiter Merchant Guild's enforcers over exactly this kind of thing.

Under the Baiter Merchant Guild's thumb, a farmer household was not necessarily better off than a slave.

The reason they were so tyrannical was, naturally, to maintain the prices of fruits and vegetables.

If lowly farmers could eat fresh fruits and vegetables whenever they wanted, how could the guild ever justify raising prices?

Such behavior naturally drew hatred, and it was not as if there were no incidents of farmers trying to turn the tables.

There were also times when other merchants eyed the lucrative fruit and vegetable trade with envy.

Yet, over the years, the Baiter Merchant Guild had consistently maintained a firm grip on the market.

No one could beat them in the open market, and underhanded tricks proved equally useless.

For example, a while ago, a peasant was driven into a corner by the Baiter Merchant Guild. At that very moment, a competitor of the guild quietly delivered that peasant to the Construct Protocol.

And that peasant willingly underwent a dual modification.

He was implanted with a Rampage Augment, while also having demonic power sealed within his body.

This kind of dual modification was highly discouraged by the Construct Protocol.

Because Rampage Augments were also crafted from demonic power. If demonic power was introduced into the body, the user would gain greater strength in the short term, but even the more stable Rampage Augment Type II would degrade into a Type I as a result, causing the recipient's mind to become exceptionally volatile.

As the two powers were continuously drawn upon, the barrier between them would break down. Then, nine times out of ten, the user would go completely out of control, transforming into a quasi-demon that had entirely lost its self.

However, upon hearing that he could obtain even more power through this method, the peasant made up his mind.

And once he completed the acclimation process, he charged right into this compound.

He did not believe he could defeat that so-called Iron-rank powerhouse; he merely wanted to kill as many people from the Baiter Merchant Guild as possible.

However, after rushing into the Baiter Merchant Guild that night, he died very quickly without causing much damage.

It was as if some string had suddenly snapped, and then the man's body simply perished. From angrily slaughtering his foes to becoming a lifeless corpse, not even a single breath of time had passed.

Nemus's observation through the Oath Rope was not omnipotent; it required relying on the perception of the contracted individual to a certain degree.

Unless Nemus completely descended into his body.

Therefore, at that time, even Nemus had failed to notice exactly how the man suddenly died after killing a few guards.

This time, Nemus intended to take a good look at exactly what the Baiter Merchant Guild was hiding.

Leah's infiltration went extremely smoothly.

The guard posts set up around this pseudo-manor were mostly manned by Black Iron-rank guards. They were completely incapable of detecting Leah, who had blended seamlessly into the aura of whales.

She quickly bypassed the outer residences and approached the central mansion.

Even at night, the mansion was brightly lit.

A large number of guards stood around the building, while quite a few large dogs were kept on the premises.

According to Nemus's observations, some of these large dogs were even dangerous creatures.

However, these defenses were only good for warding off gangs. Leah was almost completely assimilated into the environment, so those dangerous creatures failed to notice anything amiss at all.

"Hmm? Lord Nemus, there are whales, blocking, not allowed," Leah transmitted a few disjointed words through their mental link. Although her vocabulary had increased over the past six months, it was still difficult for her to articulate a complete sentence.

Nemus understood what Leah meant. She had sensed whale products, but due to the obstruction of a magic array or special materials, she could not determine if whale oil was among them.

"Enter the mansion," Nemus instructed without overthinking it, telling Leah to go straight inside.

Leah nodded, resting her hand on the nearby windowsill, preparing to slip into the mansion through an unlatched window.

However, the very instant her hand touched the sill...

"Who's there?!" Accompanied by a sharp cry, a "sword light" darted out from the empty air and slashed toward her. But right as the sword light struck Leah, a flicker of black flashed across her body, completely blocking the attack.

"Fall back!" Nemus immediately issued the command.

Leah nodded and hurriedly turned to retreat and flee.

Following that, a young-looking man still clad in his pajamas leaped out from the second floor of the mansion.

A pair of golden-yellow eyes swept over the surrounding tracks, searching for the intruder.

Soon, he seemed to latch onto some kind of trail, giving chase in the direction Leah had retreated.