Warriors will die if they charge.

"We paddled and paddled, from the mountaintop to the sky, like rain... ugh~"

Bardin, who was leaning against the gunwale, stopped singing, turned his body to one side, stretched his neck towards the river, and fed the bait that had been pickled in the dwarf's stomach into the mouth of the bitch Niloka, round after round.

The river was very turbulent during the rainy season, and waves crashed against the hull of the ship, which was loaded with food and supplies and rocked and swayed in the folds of the deck.

The Nileca River has a very wide expanse of water. Looking ahead, under the gloomy sky painted by the rain, clusters of jungles with black tips can be vaguely seen at the edge of the field of vision.

"Not so rough around the edges today, Bardin."

After vomiting, Bardin swallowed the food churning in his throat and, feigning nonchalance, asked Marcus, who was gazing at the distant forest:

"What does this mean, tough guy?"

Marcus pulled a hand out, took a bottle of ale from his backpack, bit off the cork, and handed it to the aching, tough guy:

"Hurry up and have a drink, everyone knows you're a tough guy."

Bardin took the bottle, quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls, and rubbed his stomach, looking like he'd just escaped a disaster: "Much better, I was so itchy all over just now."

Then his stomach churned, he made a gurgling sound in his throat, and his cheeks, covered by a thick beard, swelled up, turning into two large fleshy balls.

He glanced at Marcus furtively and saw the tough guy, who wasn't seasick, squinting and thinking about something. Then he turned his head and, with a whoosh, fed the bitch fresh bait into her mouth.

After vomiting for the second time, Bardin noticed that Drow had turned his head to look at him, and at the same time noticed that Trissy, who had never been on a boat before, was not affected at all!

The dwarf gripped the ship's railing and yelled, "What on earth made me come out of the mountains? Was it to spit on this bitch? Or did this woman want to try a dwarf's corpse she'd never eaten before?!"

The Morgan sailed across the Nileca River amidst Bardeen's complaints and curses. It was Marcus's first time crossing a whore's bed, and this relentlessly flowing behemoth reminded him of a familiar geographical wonder—

The Amazon River has a drainage basin that covers half the continent.

Fortunately, Nileka is just a bitch whose greatest hobby is tormenting those who disrespect her. She won't cause a massive flood that submerges the rainforests on both sides, turning them into an inland sea and a forbidden zone for life.

The journey was uneventful, and Boss Hawk did not make any strange demands, such as saying that the Water Queen wanted a dwarf to carry her foot bath or that she was short of a concubine to serve her in bed.

The Morgan docked at the makeshift pier. Hawke didn't let Marcus help with the cargo and instead used his whip to urge the lazy sailors to get to work.

When the rye wine disembarked from the gangplank and arrived at the makeshift dock in the riverside forest, they were greeted by pairs of eyes full of suspicion and distrust.

Hawke was the first to realize something was wrong. He looked around on the walkway and loudly called for the union personnel in charge of the coordination to come over:

"What, I brought you food and drinks, and this is how you welcome me? Do you think the black bread is too cheap and want to raise the price?"

The middle-aged man pursed his lips and shook his head, waving to the adventurers who were waiting for orders, and hurriedly loaded the goods onto the trailer.

They were very efficient. The people who came to move the cargo were mainly strong young soldiers. They hunched over and moved the cargo boxes to trailers as quickly as the sailors placed them on the pier.

Two strong legs ran swiftly along the muddy forest path, their tireless and uncomplaining appearance resembling a group of two-legged mules.

The person in charge tossed a heavy bag of gold to Hawke, remained silent throughout, and hurriedly followed the mule caravan. The entire transport took less than ten minutes.

Hawke was amazed by their incredible efficiency, saying that they had been delivering supplies to this area for ten years, but these adventurers were always so slow and sluggish, working like they'd eaten dog shit, afraid of losing face if they did even a little more than others.

"Alright, Marcus, I'll be delivering the goods as usual this time next month. I hope you'll still be wearing your arms when I see you next time."

"it is good."

After waving goodbye to Boss Hawke, Marcus pondered what he had just witnessed and thought it shouldn't have happened.

Although some adventurers would sneak around the town, they would be caught and beaten by Kuran, and a few who were blind and liked to harass women had already been thrown into the Nileka River by the fierce dogs to feed the water ghosts.

But I'm not a militia member, so could it be...?

They were afraid of my heroic and righteous appearance, thinking I was there to arrest them.

Yes, that must be it.

Bardin muttered a few words about the terrible weather, noting that the east side of the Nileca River was much wetter than the west side where the town was located.

The sun appeared after the rain, and the scorching temperature left the rainwater hidden in the mud and sand with nowhere to escape. Wisps of steam drifted out from the gaps, seeping into Marcus's pores through the seams of his trousers and collar, causing Marcus to groan in pain.

He looked up at the sun, which was radiating a scorching light, and was about to curse, but then he remembered the effects of the "gift of the tongue" and held back.

You can't mess with the sun, can you, Orion?

"Let's go. The campsite is in a valley not far away. Hopefully it'll be cooler there, and we can get some ice-cold beer." Bardin pointed the way and set off first.

The rainforest was still the same rainforest, sweltering and uninhabitable. The three of them walked along the muddy path for about twenty minutes before arriving at the camp that Badin had mentioned.

The rainforest mist, bathed in sunlight, transforms into diluted milk, outlining simple wooden huts and tents that resemble broken pine needles.

The murmur of falling peach tree leaves, the rustling of the bushes in the breeze, and the whispers in the house were all suppressed by the silent atmosphere, making it hard to breathe.

Suspicious eyes peered through the gaps between the cabin and the tent at the three men walking along the path. With his good hearing, Marcus vaguely heard a few strange whispers.

"Is it them?"

"It might be, it might not be..."

The strange situation caused a slight clicking sound of a scimitar being drawn from beneath Trish's cloak, but this time Marcus did not stop it.

The three strolled along the winding path and arrived at the large wooden hut in the center, marked with a longsword, shield, and scroll—the Adventurers' Guild.

There were many people carrying goods outside the guild. These were supplies brought by Hawke. The adventurers were all in a hurry, seemingly more uncomfortable in the sunlight than the drow.

Upon entering the union compound, one finds a bar-like structure with long tables and counters, and a few yellowed service requests sparsely hanging on the walls.

In the bright light, only a blonde girl's head was slumped on the counter, listlessly looking at the rye beer that had just come in.

"Hey little girl, do you have any chilled beer? Old Bading's been itching for a beer after all this walking."

The blonde girl said weakly, "We don't have any chilled beer. We've sold out of beer. If you want one, go outside and get one."

Bardin complained that the beer he'd been drinking all day in the sun wasn't much better than goblin urine, and the girl sighed and said:

"You've come at the wrong time."

"Why?" Marcus asked curiously. The atmosphere in the camp was indeed strange, unlike the noisy and bustling atmosphere he had expected.

Every time he passed by the Adventurers' Guild in town, he assumed they were having a cockfight, but when he went in to take a look, he found two fools arguing loudly over the ownership of a goblin ear.

The girl sighed again, beckoned the three of them closer, and said in a very soft voice:

"Recently, a monster appeared in the camp. It can disguise itself as anyone and has killed many people. Everyone is afraid that the monster will disguise itself as the people around them, so they all hide in the houses and tents and dare not come out."

"What about your counter-infiltration methods? The mage's divination, the hunter's scent tracking—it's impossible for a monster to hide under the noses of so many professionals and do evil," Trish asked calmly.

"It's no use." The girl shook her head, her freckled, youthful face revealing an overwhelming disappointment and a hint of fear.

"Some say it's a shapeless mud monster, others say it's a shadow, or even... a demon."

Triss nodded, then pondered for a moment: "Since staying in the camp will most likely attract the attention of monsters, why hasn't anyone left?"

The girl peeked out, looked around, and, confirming that there were only four people in the hall, her voice became even softer:

"This is an order from the supervisor: entry is permitted, but exit is not. This monster must not be allowed into civilized society before it is dealt with. This is the duty of the Adventurers' Guild."

Trish asked for details about the monster, and the girl said that no one had actually seen it, only that there must be a monster disguised as a human, using various methods to kill the adventurers in the camp.

Some people were swallowed by the swamp, some committed suicide with swords in their mouths, and one halfling even drowned in his most prized cream of mushroom soup, his face covered in thick sauce with a satisfied smile.

Zhuo'er analyzed in his mind that if this monster ruled the camp with fear, then the guild leader who set the rules was the prime suspect...

She was about to whisper her suspicions to Marcus when she saw Captain Rye, who was drinking beer, slam his hand on the table and say with absolute certainty:

"It must be the Water Druid's doing."

"Water ghost, druid?" The blonde girl stared blankly, unable to connect the two words together.

"Yeah, a water druid." Marcus nodded, gulping down several mouthfuls of beer, exclaiming how satisfying it was, and explained to the naive girl:

"You know, druids like to change size at will. A person can turn into a monkey, a cow, a horse, or something. But there's no rule that says a water ghost can't become a druid and turn into a human. There are always rumors in town that water ghosts can turn into human form and kidnap children. They don't smell of fish at all in broad daylight. You must have encountered a water ghost druid."

"But, sir..." Seeing Marcus's unwavering expression, the girl explained somewhat hesitantly, "Druids can transform into animals because they worship the forces of nature, but water ghosts can transform into humans..."

"You're really ignorant. Of course, water ghosts want to become human. Otherwise, why would they look like half-human, half-fish? If they wanted to become fish, they would just stay in the water." After Marcus finished speaking, he asked another question:

"Is this job profitable? I mean, how much will the union pay if we find this water ghost?"

Seeing Marcus's confidence, the girl's earlier dejection faded somewhat. There are so many fantastic and bizarre things in this world, maybe there really are water ghost druids who can turn into people?

"I'll go ask my supervisor."

The girl flew away from behind the bar and ran towards the staircase that led to the intersection.

Trissy stared at Marcus, who was opening his second beer, with a strange look on her face: "Why did you bring this water druid...?"

Even the usually calm and collected Drow couldn't help but laugh at the mention of this word: "Bring out the Water Druid."

"Of course, I'll curse it out." Marcus said, sipping his beer, already having a plan in mind.

He didn't interrupt when Trish was talking to the girl, but he listened quite carefully.

The fact that the monster only acts in the shadows suggests that it may lack the ability to launch a direct attack, or that it would expose its identity if it made a move.

Analyzing the second hypothesis, we first rule out professions with unique abilities, such as spellcasters like mages, priests, and druids. Then we consider thieves, who possess stealth abilities, and rangers, who require archery proficiency...

After eliminating most possibilities, the monster is most likely to disguise itself as...

Damn, he's just a warrior who only knows how to wield swords and sticks; anyone could be one!

He used his tongue to mock every race in the camp, from humans to elves, orcs to dwarves, sparing no one. Who didn't rush up and beat me up?

He is the Water Druid!