The flash of dissatisfaction quickly passed, and in an instant, Seth's face was like ripples on a lake, squeezing out a seemingly kind smile. He gestured for Robert to go to the side window of the carriage. He saw his large, fat hand reach out from the curtain and land heavily on Robert's shoulder. Robert was obviously a little shocked. His body shook violently. He never expected Seth to do such a thing.
“You have a promising future, and I value you. This bag of gold coins is something I've saved especially for you. Robert, take it back and celebrate with the members! I look forward to even greater achievements from your squad in the future!”
As he spoke, Seth slowly reached into the side pocket of his clothes and pulled out a bulging bag of gold coins. Seth's fat fingers tightly gripped the bag, which slowly reached out from outside the curtain and was handed to Robert.
Just one bag of gold coins?!
Robert felt furious in an instant. The Iron Mine was full of ore, and the Dark Iron refined from that ore was so plentiful that even just 10% of it could easily be exchanged for hundreds of bags of gold coins. And now this despicable, untrustworthy Seth has only produced such a small bag of gold coins to get rid of them.
Robert's fist involuntarily clenched, and his knuckles turned slightly white from the force. He slowly looked up, his eyes filled with anger and dissatisfaction, staring fixedly at Seth's “hypocritical” smile and the bag of pitiful gold coins he was holding out.
Robert was full of pent-up frustration. He sighed inwardly, knowing full well the disparity between the two sides. Seth's power was like an untouchable mountain, while their small group was like ants before it. From the beginning, the two sides of this negotiation had been extremely unequal. If he continued to be obstinate, Seth's hypocritical mask would surely be ripped off in an instant, revealing his hideous true face.
Just as Robert was helplessly preparing to reach out and take the bag of gold coins and prepared to swallow this silent loss, his squad members could no longer hold back their anger.
A dark-haired beastman standing not far from Robert flushed with anger, his neck veins bulging as he let out a loud tirade. His eyes bulged as he spat, cursing Seth for being a despicable man with no integrity, and calling his appearance ugly, a disgusting fat pig!
Upon hearing these vicious curses, Seth's face, which had been full of a smile, instantly became expressionless, but a cold light flashed in his eyes, concealing a strong desire to kill. He glanced at Edgar near the carriage and slightly raised his hand to indicate.
Robert caught the murderous intent in Seth's eyes, his heart tightened, and before Edgar had a chance to respond, he hurriedly came forward, his face full of a smile of ingratiation.
“My lord, my lord, please don't be angry. This ignorant fellow has offended you, and I will definitely teach him a lesson so that he knows how wrong he has been.”
Without waiting for a response from Seth, Robert immediately put on an expressionless face, and every step he took was heavy as if he were chained with heavy chains. He slowly walked up to the dark-haired beast-man, who was glaring angrily and still trying to continue cursing. Seeing his captain Robert come over, he thought he was going to curse the bastard Seth with him.
However, without saying a word, Robert swung his right arm, as thick as a tree trunk, and slammed it down on the black-haired beast-man's face like a hammer. There was only a muffled “bang” sound, and the black-haired beast-man's expression was instantly replaced by pain, and a stream of blood immediately spurted from his mouth and nose.
Robert didn't pause for a second. His left fist continued to pound the black-haired beast-man's abdomen, blow after blow, each with a whooshing sound. The black-haired beastman's body curled up like a shrimp, moaning in pain.
The rest of Robert's squad saw this and their faces first revealed a look of shock and disbelief, as if they couldn't believe that their captain would hit their teammate so hard. Next, they began to rant and question Robert's actions. One grey-haired beast-man, with a reddened face and bloodshot eyes, rushed angrily forward, trying to stop Robert's crazy actions. But Robert was like an unshakable mountain. He casually swung his hand, and the enormous force knocked the grey-haired beastman back several steps, causing him to stumble and almost fall to the ground.
In the process, no one noticed that Robert had been watching Seth furtively out of the corner of his eye. Seth, on the other hand, was sitting leisurely in the carriage, his eyes gleaming with interest, quietly watching Robert's actions as if he were enjoying a unique and interesting performance, without uttering a word the whole time.
Robert's heart sank, but he maintained his composure. He took a deep breath, the air rolling around in his chest. Then, his left hand, which had quickly bent down, grabbed the black-haired beastman, who was already covered in bruises, like a pair of iron pincers. Robert lowered his head slightly and slowly brought his ear closer to the black-haired beastman's mouth. In a very low voice, as if he were speaking through gritted teeth, he said, “Bear with it, brother.”
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Then Robert's face suddenly revealed an expression of extreme cruelty and disdain. He suddenly lifted his sturdy legs like stone pillars and, with all his strength, he stamped down hard and without hesitation on the black-haired beastman's shinbone. There was a “crack”sound, the crisp, chilling sound of bone breaking echoed in the air, like a sharp sword piercing the eardrums of everyone present. The black-haired beastman let out a heart-wrenching, pitiful scream, and the sound echoed in the silent air for a long time.
Seth couldn't help but look surprised at Robert's cold-blooded act. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked back and forth between the black-haired beastman, who was already dying on the ground, gasping for breath, and Robert, who seemed to have no intention of stopping and was still preparing to continue brutally beating the black-haired beastman. After a moment, he finally grinned and said, “Okay, Robert, calm down. I don't even have that much anger in me, so why are you getting so angry? Your teammate was just defending your team's honor, thinking that the reward I gave was too little, isn't that right?”
After hearing Seth finally speak, Robert's hand movements finally stopped, but his nerves were still extremely tense. He knew very well that Seth's question was laced with sarcasm.
“Haha, Lord Seth, it's impossible, you're joking!”
Robert bent slightly, and his originally cold face was once again full of a smile, and his tone was also ingratiating.
“It was inconsiderate of us to ask for 10% of the ore in the first place. Our squad can't use the ore at all, so it would be best to give it all to you. We only want some gold as payment, and the bag you have is more than enough. But...”
Robert paused slightly, glanced at the black-haired beastman he had beaten half to death on the ground, and continued with a face full of difficulty.
“Considering that my reckless team members have offended and contradicted you, I really have no face to take this reward. Now that the mining work at the Iron Mine has been successfully completed, I would like to take my stupid team members away first, so as not to disturb your mood here. Moreover, we also took on other tasks this time, and we also promised the guild at the time that we would go and complete them immediately after helping Lord Seth mine the ore. Now there is not much time left, and we must hurry!”
Robert deliberately emphasized each word, making it clear that the Adventurer's Guild knew that his team had come to mine the Iron Mine. His eyes were fixed on Seth.
Seth narrowed his eyes and looked at Robert up and down, and once again, an amiable look appeared on his face, as if all the displeasure just now had never existed. He nodded slightly and said in a very gentle tone that seemed to soothe people's hearts.
“Never mind, I didn't take your team member's rebuke to heart. When we get back to town, I will still reward your team well.”
After saying this, Seth waved his hand, indicating that Robert could quickly take his team and leave.
Robert saw Seth's gesture and bowed deeply, performing a grand, extremely respectful salute. At the same time, he let out a few servile, ingratiating laughs. Then he ordered his team to leave the area with him.
However, Robert's earlier violent beating of the dark-haired beastman had made most of the team very unhappy. They frowned, stuck out their necks, and simply ignored Robert's order.
A white-haired beastman who was delicately and perceptively, wiping the wounds of the dark-haired beastman sensed the tension and strangeness of the situation. He hurriedly helped to lift the dying dark-haired beastman, while at the same time nudging the other team members with his elbow. The team members, who were originally mentally resentful, gradually came to their senses under the white-haired beastman's sign. After all, they were not stupid and finally realized that something was wrong. Although the Beastmen were still angry, they helped carry the dark-haired Beastman and quickly followed Robert as he left the dwarf caravan.
As he watched the figure of Robert and the others recede into the distance, Seth's mask of perpetual amiability finally came crashing down. His face instantly turned dark, his eyebrows knitted, and his eyes flashed with a cold light, like the venomous fangs of a snake, sending shivers down people's spines. The corner of his mouth twitched downwards, revealing a sneer of disdain, and a low growl escaped his nose.
“This Robert is perceptive, much cleverer than I thought.”