A'Shou and the Magician were extremely lucky; had the Flying Owl Army been preparing here, they would have been in grave danger of not being able to escape once discovered.
On the other side, the team escorting Bo Gang finally arrived.
Not a large number of people, but each one was an elite!
Since it was a clandestine operation, there was no grand welcoming ceremony.
Leading the group was an ugly man with a large black birthmark on his face. The first thing he saw upon entering the room was the Human Skin Doll.
He greeted enthusiastically, "Long time no see."
The Human Skin Doll nodded, "Hu Lian Hu, thank you for your help back when we joined forces to fight Bo Gang."
"Hahaha, not at all, you were the one who was powerful to begin with."
Following Hu Lian Hu into the room was a mysterious individual.
Dressed similarly to the Human Skin Doll, the person was enveloped in a thick cloak, with a hood and high collar obscuring their face.
A muffled voice emerged from the hood, "The Tailor greets the Speaker."
"You are the Tailor, one of the Ten Heroes of the North! I've heard of your great name for a long time, and today I finally have the honor of meeting you!"
Mo Du welcomed him enthusiastically, showing no airs of a Speaker.
Whether it was genuine or not, his humble demeanor was certainly well-executed.
"Speaker, you are too kind."
Also among those who followed were familiar faces: Jun Qing's partner Heng Xing, and his younger brother Ba Dao.
And also Haru, whom they hadn't seen in a long time!
And other emerging talents from the North and the Black List who were not yet widely renowned.
Haru remained silent after entering the tent. After a long pause to sort out the relationships, he spoke in astonishment, "Zhang Wei… you are not Zhang Wei! Who are you really?"
These words struck like thunder!
Haru questioned Mo Du, "Where did you put the original Zhang Wei?"
The others were surprised, "Haru, what madness possesses you!"
Haru explained, "Two months ago, I was on a mission deep into the frozen hell plains of the North. You all know this, right?"
"Yes, you encountered a mysterious chef who defeated you."
"You wanted to invite him to your team and gave him your backpack… and made a pact to fight again."
"That chef was Zhang Wei, and that backpack is currently with Speaker Mo Du…"
"Ever since that incident, the entire allied forces know your story!"
…
Haru said angrily, "But the Zhang Wei I knew and this person are completely different! This person is clearly an imposter. The Speaker must have killed the original Zhang Wei and found someone to impersonate him!"
"Imposter?"
Everyone exchanged surprised glances!
Impossible!
With such culinary skills, how could he be an imposter!
And based solely on Haru's word…
Zhang Wei and Mo Du exchanged a look and smiled helplessly.
"Haru, I didn't expect you to remember so clearly."
"Alright then, I suppose I have to tell the truth."
Saying this, Zhang Wei dispelled his illusionary technique, revealing his true appearance.
It was the same as when Haru first met him.
"Haru, the one you met is the real me! I apologize, but for certain reasons, I had to adopt a different appearance when participating in the Northern Chef Competition!"
"Over time, I grew accustomed to it and continued to operate under that disguise."
"If it weren't for you, I might never have revealed my true self… after all, constantly switching appearances is quite troublesome."
"And my culinary skills are undeniable."
Illusionary technique?
Everyone was stunned!
So, the Zhang Wei who had been with them day and night had been using an illusionary technique all along!
Everyone looked at Mo Du, then at the Human Skin Doll.
"But the illusionary technique was invented by Senior Human Skin Doll of the Black List. How did Mr. Zhang Wei learn it? Could it be that Human Skin Doll and Chef Zhang had prior dealings?"
Mo Du sighed deeply, removed his mask, and dispelled his illusionary technique, revealing his true appearance.
"Mr. Zhang Wei's illusionary technique was taught by me, and my original identity was a mere executive of the Heavenly Thief Alliance under the Black List!"
The Speaker of the North was actually from the Black List?
This news was like a thunderbolt!
Had the North been infiltrated by the Black List to such an extent?
What was going on?
Chu Xiang instinctively felt that something was amiss, sweat beading on his forehead!
"That Speaker, everyone has traveled far. Let's save the stories for later. Why don't I arrange some resting places for everyone, and we can tell stories tomorrow!"
Haru: "Shut up!"
Hurricane: "Get lost!"
Wolf Butcher: "Is this a place for you to speak?"
Qing Cheng: "Oh~ Mr. Representative seems to be in a hurry~"
Mo Du glanced at the Human Skin Doll, "Senior, you knew that Zhang Wei and I have been maintaining our illusionary techniques, right? Why didn't you expose us?"
The Human Skin Doll replied, "I had intended to play along with the deception, but Mr. Zhang Wei's culinary skills impressed me. I felt that with such skills, there must be a hidden reason for using the illusionary technique… and Mr. Zhang Wei did not recognize me."
If one cultivated the illusionary technique, how could they not have heard of the Human Skin Doll's fame?
The Human Skin Doll had no intention of prying into the complex circumstances.
The story began.
The Heavenly Thief Alliance was a hidden organization under the Black List, specializing in theft missions.
The thieves under the Heavenly Thief Alliance were known as Executives.
Four months ago, Mo Du, an outstanding emerging Executive, received a mission to steal the Rainbow Fruit.
It was said that a more accomplished senior Executive, Bruce, had been captured.
If Mo Du could rescue Bruce, he would be entitled to Bruce's stored insurance money…
"Wait a minute? What is 'insurance money'?"
Mo Du sneered, "Regarding insurance money, let Mr. Chu Xiang explain! After all, Mr. Chu Xiang was previously the General Manager of the Heavenly Thief Alliance!"
Chu Xiang's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Um, I… that…"
Chu Xiang stammered for a long time, unable to utter a coherent explanation.
Mo Du continued, "After Executives complete their missions, they deposit a portion of their remuneration into the Heavenly Thief Alliance, which is called insurance money."
"Once someone is captured, this can be used to exchange for their stored insurance money in the Heavenly Thief Alliance. This way, the Executives have a form of insurance, preventing them from being executed if caught."
So that's how it is!
Everyone nodded.
A rather advanced mechanism, indeed. Compared to venting their anger, money was more tangible.
"Unfortunately, I was caught!"
"But I never received any insurance money!"
"Instead, I was met by Haru, the top expert of Progress City!"
"And Haru's mission was to seize the Rainbow Fruit and kill both myself and the former Chief Executive, Bruce!"
"According to the rules of the Heavenly Thief Alliance, once an Executive dies, their insurance money becomes public property!"
"At that time, Haru did not belong to the Heavenly Thief Alliance… Bruce and I could only be considered casualties of circumstance!"
What a convoluted and bizarre story!
Everyone looked at Haru, then at Chu Xiang.
Everything was understood without words.