Gerard and Warstar's guess was completely correct; the father and son targeting Gerard were confirmed to still be in the south.

After locating the two individuals, Zhan Xing swiftly tied them up. They were spineless and confessed everything without much interrogation.

None of their tasks were completed, and not even a single group managed to enter the Misty Forest. The mercenaries who had initially jeered at Gerard in the mission hall, after joining their mission, not only proved to be cowardly but also continued their mockery. In the end, none of them were willing to actually enter the Misty Forest, and they freeloaded off the two for several days.

The two couldn't take it anymore and canceled the task themselves. But the group happily freeloading wouldn't have it, calling them liars was the least of it, they even ganged up and beat the father and son.

The subsequent events involved the two of them fleeing in embarrassment. On the way, they encountered a few mercenaries who were also in the south and unable to contact their headquarters. After a round of discussions, they decided to prepare for revenge against Gerard.

Hearing this, Zhan Xing and Gerard, who were sitting in the pavilion, were truly speechless. They failed their mission and still managed to blame the person they had bullied back then. How shameless!

"There's no need to ask anymore. They can't get in touch with the northern headquarters, so they're worthless. Just let me devour them directly!"

Gerald was startled: "E-eat it?"

Zhan Xing was puzzled: "What else can you do? If you don't eat it, they'll still come after you."

"Perhaps we could hand them over to the authorities..." Gerard scratched his head, suddenly feeling a twinge of fear towards the war star. "It's not really good for us to take action directly, is it? If we hand them over, the soldiers will kill them."

Zhan Xing looked at Gerard's expression in silence, and in the end, he didn't say anything. He just nodded, as if agreeing with Gerard's idea.

Gerard tied the two people up and delivered them to the officers. However, to Gerard's surprise, as soon as the officers heard that the two were from the Wolf Pack Mercenary Group, they immediately released them, completely ignoring Gerard who was standing nearby.

The father and son arrogantly mocked Gerard, "Didn't expect that, did you, kid? This trick doesn't work on us!"

Zhan Xing didn't like attending such occasions, so the official sending-off was left to Gerard alone.

At this moment, facing the indifference of the officers and soldiers and the ridicule of the father and son, Gerard suddenly felt a twinge of bitterness in his heart.

He seemed indeed excessively naive.

He understood what Zhan Xing's unspoken words meant in the end.

It turns out that it's not just Northerners who look down on Southerners; Southerners also look down on themselves. Why is it that when Northerners commit crimes, they don't get caught? Could it be that recently Southerners are afraid to go out and interact with Northerners alone because of the double standards of the authorities?

"I!" Gerard was just about to speak when someone pulled him back.

It was an old soldier who had previously received Gerard; he helped Gerard interrogate the northerner who had assaulted someone on the road.

Gerald felt a glimmer of hope, thinking he could still withstand the pressure and deal with the father and son. However, the old officer had the same attitude and let the two leave first.

However, the old soldier was different. He sighed and explained why he had to hold Gerard back.

"Young man, don't be impulsive, we can't afford to mess with these two people."

"Then why could we catch them before..."

The old soldier shook his head: "They've all been released. All the northerners in the prison have been let go. Because recently, quite a few people from the north came to the south and caused trouble, our leader has been demoted."

"Young man, you can't afford to provoke this, stop making trouble. Don't push us either, it makes things harder for us." The old soldier's tone carried resentment, but even more helplessness.

Gerald stared at the old soldier. In just a few days, the old soldier had indeed aged considerably. Having said all he could, Gerald didn't say anything more.

"Okay, thank you."

Gerald, filled with resentment, went straight home and woke up Zhan Xing, who was resting.

Zhan Xing was just getting into his morning grumpiness when he realized that Gerard was even angrier than he was!

"You..."

"Go eat people! Eat as much as you want!"

Gerald said very seriously, "I was really wrong. I always thought that except in times of crisis, one couldn't kill."

"Then... has it changed now?" Zhan Xing was awake and could somewhat guess what grievances Gerard encountered when he went to hand the person over to the authorities.

"Yes, I've changed. We are righteous, if we don't kill the wicked, then who should we kill?!" Gerard kept pulling the dragon's claw, dragging it out. "Hurry up, if we're any later, those two will get away!"

I'm sorry, but it seems like the source text is missing. Could you please provide the text you would like translated?

When Su Yao emerged with her first Level 2 weapon, Zhan Xing and Gerard had already dealt with the father and son, not sparing even the northern murderers who had been to prison.

Since Su Yao had been busy all along, the staff hadn't had much chance to discuss the details with her, but now everything was explained clearly all at once.

Su Yao nodded to show she understood: "Zhan Xing handled it well, there's no need to keep such enemies around."

The north is in turmoil, and the south is also in chaos. The laws of the Longyin Continent are now virtually nonexistent. Since that's the case, one can only take up a sword to defend one's own rights.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Gerald is still young. When I first met him, he had just been misled, so everyone should teach him a few things."

Su Yao didn't dare to mention herself. Compared to her staff, Su Yao was also excessively young, so she felt it was enough to let the staff do the teaching.

Zhan Xing nodded, "No worries, I'll keep an eye on him for you."

The launch of the delivery service allowed Zhan Xing and Gerard to spend more time together. Although Zhan Xing thought Gerard was a bit silly, he couldn't really refuse someone so honest. "I like that kid, I'll teach him!"

"Okay."

Gerard was safe now, so Su Yao was going to ask about the rice.

Zhan Xing answered instead, "The harvest is complete, and the yield is very high. I also took Gerard to the southernmost part to have a look. We rented a piece of land and hired a dozen workers, which can be considered the first successful step."

Su Yao inquired about the yield and the situation of the newly rented land. After roughly calculating, she said, "If there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities, we should have a good harvest." If the growth is favorable, they might even complete more than half of the task.

"We still need to quickly develop a large-scale defensive weapon."

Percy and Bernice had long been aware of Su Yao's idea and had been trying to find a way for her.

"This kind of weapon is rare, but someone really has made it." Percy sighed, "I should have brought my old buddy along to run with me. Now I have no idea what's going on over there."

The old buddy Percy mentioned is Sharp. If Percy and Bernice only design weapons that are either aesthetically pleasing or simply practical, being utilitarians, then Sharp is the curious one, creating all sorts of bizarre and oddly shaped weapons.

Percy first heard about this kind of weapon, which is applied to an external object to protect all its internal components, from Sharp.

"How about letting the Dragon King give it a try?"

At first, Bernice was a little afraid of Zhan Xing, but after discovering that Zhan Xing enjoyed others' flattery, she immediately stopped being afraid. Instead, she joined the ranks of those showering compliments, becoming second only to Su Yao.

Every time Bernice called Zhan Xing "Dragon King," Zhan Xing was very pleased, and no matter what Bernice asked for, Zhan Xing generally wouldn't refuse.

"Right now, it's the same," Zhan Xing patted his chest and promised, "No problem, I'll wait for the next time to go north and help you take a look."

"I'll go too."

Su Yao stretched her muscles and bones. After spending a long time in the weapon workshop, she clearly felt her physical condition had declined. "It's just as well, I can also conduct an on-site investigation of the situation in the North."

The Wolf Pack Mercenary Group had been scrambling to deal with other forces for quite some time, but there was no news of them being targeted to the point of destruction.

"It seems the prophet really knows their stuff." The Wolf Pack Mercenary Group actually managed to hold on.

Zhan Xing nodded, "Sure, sure, where should we go first?"

Su Yao said, "Let's go to the Wolf Pack Mercenary Group first."

If the Sharp family is really rescued, then two more people will have to be taken to the Wolf Pack Mercenary Group, and the risk of exposure will be even greater.

"Alright, I'll go see if there are any orders." Zhan Xing said he was going to check for orders, but in reality, he was looking at the treasure mineral map. "Not bad, not bad, there's still an energy stone mine over at the Wolf Pack Mercenary Group."

Although Zhan Xing was a dragon, it was also an evil spirit, and it liked the energy stones that other evil spirits favored.

Su Yao heard Zhan Xing's words and leaned over to look. The map really did mark quite a few locations of energy stone mines.

"System! I want to diss you!" Su Yao was angry. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Back when she was trying to complete that task, she was so anxious, asking the system for a solution, but the system remained silent. However, when it came to buying a map for Zhan Xing, the system generously provided this one. If Zhan Xing hadn't mentioned it today, Su Yao would still be in the dark!

[That's a mission, it's different.]

"I want to draw cards." Faced with the system's indifference, Su Yao would resort to spending money.

The system was momentarily a bit stuck, not knowing what Su Yao was up to.

Su Yao didn't draw too many times, just three, and with the scattered draws from before, it was just enough to reach a small guarantee.

Three hundred gold coins deducted, three cards appeared from the card pool.

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a three-star ○#? four-star Eavesdropping Card: a one-time use card, perfect for those who like to sneak around and listen in. Limited to three hours.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a three-star ○ # ? four-star invisibility card: a one-time use card that allows you to become invisible when worn. It is extremely useful when combined with the eavesdropping card, like adding wings to a tiger! Limited to three hours. (Note: It can be detected by magicians of level seven and above, so please be careful to avoid them.)]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a four-star Instant Kill Card: a one-time use card that allows you to instantly kill a level five or lower magician. It cannot be used on magicians above level five.]

The system stuttered and paused as it finished broadcasting the three cards. It finally understood Su Yao's intention; it turned out that all it took to get back at it was a good luck virus.

Su Yao quietly glanced at Felix, who seemed to be pondering something. After such a long period of observation, Su Yao was almost certain that the source of the good luck virus was Felix.

System: [Aren't you afraid?]

"Who would be afraid of auspicious signs?"