Winner Takes All

Three days later.

At the Hun's Royal Palace thirteen cities, on one of the streets in Star City.

The lights were dim, and the night was approaching, but there were still many people on the streets. Under the light, it didn't look much different from daytime.

A group of young people walked amidst the snow and wind, sauntering on the street. The people around them stared at them bizarrely at times.

It was because they were from inner territory and they looked different compared to the others on the street who were from the foreign tribes. The group of young people stood out like a sore thumb. They were obviously an Undercover Guard team.

Even though the people from both inner territory and foreign tribes openly hated each other, the the people from inner territory still had trade relations with the citizens here in secret.

With the help of the Hughes family and the protection from the merchants, they easily entered the Hun's Star City.

"Chief, we got lost in the snowy field and wasted a lot of time. I'm afraid..."

One person said in a low voice.

The man, who was walking in front, was much taller than the others. He grimaced and his expression turned wintry.

They originally planned to rush here relentlessly throughout the day and the night and they were expecting to arrive at the Hun's Royal Palace thirteen cities within a day or two.

But as soon as it got dark, the road ahead wasn't visible anymore. The storm was howling on the snowy field, and they were getting lost even while using the equipment that they had.

The foreign tribes lived their whole lives on snowy fields and had more experience with determining the directions and figuring out which way to go even when it was dark, windy, and stormy. The Undercover Guard were trained, but it was still hard for them to manoeuvre themselves in that situation.

They got lost before even crossing the west side of Skyline Mountain. They managed to arrive at the Hun's thirteen cities, but they wasted a lot of time in between searching for directions. The person who asked the question gulped and swallowed his words, seeing the change in Chief's expression.

Chief said sternly, "Nothing to fear! The master put his life on the line and we have arrived here. We will do everything to find the young master, dead or alive. Don't forget, we are only alive today because of the master. Our lives belong to the master since the beginning!"

His voice sounded bleak and determined.

The people around him had stern looks on their faces. They nodded and were surer of themselves now.

Their lives belonged to the master!

It was because of the master that they were even alive today!

They were long dead if it wasn't for Patrick.

The Undercover Guard had a special status. When Patrick first founded this group, he didn't use the influence of the Hughes family. Everything was done in secret.

And they were all mercenaries. They were rescued by Patrick from the scaffold, and then he recruited them!

They are not as skilful as Brent, but they all had experience with real war.

One person said, "But Chief, the Hun's Royal Palace's defence is stronger than Star City's defence. It's nighttime right now and I assume that they will strengthen their defence even more. Can we really enter the Royal Palace in three days?"

Chief arched his brow, "Let's not think about that first. Right now, we should split up. One of you should come with me to the tavern and the rest seek for information outside. Remember to go to chaotic places, the more chaotic the better, as there will be more information to extract."

"Why couldn't we just go buy information from the intelligence agency?"

Chief shook his head, "That's our last resort. It's in polar night now and the Northern Territory is known to be dangerous. Everyone would be on their guard. On the way here, we also heard about the situation here from the foreign tribes small villages. From what they say, I think something is off around here."

He paused and frowned, he then said in a low voice, "We disguised ourselves as merchants and the people from the villages shouldn't be too cautious of us, judging on how they normally act. But along the way, some villagers were taking precautions against us.

They all nodded in agreement.

They were different from other merchants even though they disguised themselves as merchants on their way here. It was because they were trained and moved more with discipline.

But when they entered a village to seek information, some villagers were extremely cautious of them.

This wouldn't happen if it was back then!

Chief waved his hand, signalling others to go seek out information.

He then walked towards the bustling street with a companion.

"Joseph Wallace, what do we do if we cannot find the young master at all?"

He looked at Chief and said, "I didn't dare to say this just now when the others were there. Though, there is a possibility that this can happen. Many people tried and couldn't find anything. So, we should consider all possibilities!"

Joseph looked at him coldly. The person who was talking was one of the oldest amongst the Undercover Group. Both of them entered the group around the time when the group was founded. Hence, this

person didn't talk too politely to him.

"We'll look first."

He answered briefly and walked forward.

The noises were getting louder.

It was boisterous.

This was common in any city on the snowy field.

At night, things couldn't be controlled properly. The management loosened up and the taverns became chaotic and turbulent.

A similar scene could be seen in the taverns in the inner territory, but the chaoticness was incomparable!

Scenes of debauchery could be seen everywhere, everyone was leading voluptuous lives.

All kinds of people could be found in the tavern, elites and peasants alike. Even people working undercover would come out around this time and go to the tavern to enjoy their time.

The two of them walked past the crowd and walked along the path near the entrance. The lights were getting dimmer, but the music was getting louder.

It was similar to a pub, but the tavern was more crowded. The decorations were also simple and all over the place.

But Joseph and his companion weren't here for debauchery. They were here for information and hence they couldn't care less about the decorations.

They sat in front of the bar counter and asked for alcohol. They pretended to be in a conversation while eavesdropping on other people's conversations around them.

Alcohol would make you gutsier and make you speak the truth.

Under the influence of alcohol, people tended to talk without reserve as they were less rational.

"Do you remember hearing a beast howling around 3 days ago?"

A drunk and burly man said as he raised his beer bottle. He looked pleased with himself.

Joseph frowned, why would there be beasts in here?

Their conversation attracted his attention.

The burly man's companions got excited hearing what he said.

"Yes, I heard that. Rumours say that it came from the palace. My cousin works in the palace as a guard and he said that the king opened the Beast Fighting Cage that night!"

"The Beast Fighting Cage? No wonder we heard the beast howling that night. But oh my god, the king opened the Beast Fighting Cage? The beast was known to be extremely vicious and the cage wasn't oper since forever!"

"But something was odd about that night. The howling startled a lot of people, even us living in the Star City could hear it. But it got quiet really quickly and the royals didn't even give us an explanation."

3 days ago, the beast howled as the cage was opened. Many people were frightened.

And within 3 days, discussions about the Royal Palace were all over the city!

The Hun's King ordered to sweep

the case under the rug and the people involved weren't allowed to talk about what happened with the Beast Fighting Cage. The people were in heated discussions about it as they didn't know what was going

on.

So in the past 3 days, the beast and the fighting cage were the hot topics for discussion amongst the people of the Royal Palace thirteen cities!

The burly man who started the conversation looked pleased, seeing that the others were talking about what he started.

He chugged his beer and wiped his mouth. He smiled, "You guys don't know, but I do. I'm telling you, this is huge! I heard that the king opened the cage that night because of a person from inner territory!"

"What?!"

Joseph who was eavesdropping, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes flickered.[]