Warriors will die if they charge.

Infiltrating is still too difficult for a tough guy.

On the dock at night, Marcus squeezed into the shadow of a wooden crate, muttering a complaint to Drow next to him:

"Do we really have to be this cautious? If we infiltrate, can't we just kill everyone and then nobody will know we've infiltrated?"

Zhuo Er also crouched in the shadow of the wooden box, his tall figure seemingly shrunken in the shadow, only a blurry outline could be seen.

Compared to warriors who crouch on tender buds like bears, assassins who specialize in this skill are far more adept.

"If you're not going to do it, go back. Do you want that woman's head or her hand?" Zhuo'er asked coldly, clearly telling Marcus to shut up.

If you don't want to be discovered, then obediently do as she says.

"Alright, alright, you're the mistress, you're in charge."

Trissy nodded in satisfaction, now she finally looked like she was serving her father.

The two moved cautiously along the deserted dock walkway. The rotten wooden planks, devoid of any light, creaked under the weight of their footsteps. Trish kept telling him to walk softly, tiptoeing first.

Marcus stepped onto a rotten, moldy board with a snap, his right foot slipped into thin air, and he fell into self-doubt.

The Warrior's Handbook mentions instances where warriors attempting to infiltrate a mage tower were tricked and killed, often because their hesitation led them to believe they had successfully infiltrated the tower, unaware that they had fallen into a trap the moment they stepped inside.

Therefore, it's impossible for the soldiers to successfully infiltrate; they're no longer hiding.

He pulled his right foot out of the hole and walked confidently step by step toward the merchant ship moored at the dock, his posture natural, as if he were preparing to go home.

Knowing that Marcus wouldn't infiltrate undetected, Zhuo Er didn't warn him. He just needed to get the job done. He distracted her while she went to find the woman hiding in the cabin.

Marcus arrived at the Vichy family's three-story sailboat, wondering if he had come to the wrong place, as there wasn't a single guard in sight.

A tall, thin figure suddenly stood up from the sandbags piled on the boardwalk. He wore a tall leather hat, and his thin, cold face looked harsh. He was dressed in a brown leather coat that looked very strange in the rainforest, with the lining of chainmail showing at the collar.

The figure drew closer step by step, and the man and Marcus stood facing each other between the gangplanks of the sailboat, both observing each other.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Marcus thought that this was obviously a stranger from the north, and must be a guard of the Visi family. The tall, thin man with a serious face seemed to have the same idea.

Marcus moved his lips, breaking the deadlock first.

He shook his head, sighing in the pitch-black night:

"Hey friend, the weather's nice today, how about we go up on the boat for a drink? It's on me."

The thin lips of the lean man trembled slightly as he spoke in a very strange, somewhat arrogant accent:

"Of course, you should definitely do that. Let's go on the boat and have a drink."

His voice was... sharp and sarcastic. Marcus didn't know how to describe his way of speaking, but it was just like the eunuchs he remembered who had their testicles removed, speaking in a sharp and mean way.

"My name is Marcus Norfitz, sir." Before knowing the other party's background, Marcus chose to act cautiously. He felt that the man in front of him was dangerous and that his strength was no less than that of Kuran, who was the main force of Riverside Town.

He had fought Kuran several times, and the giant python had its throat bitten off by a fierce dog without him killing it. He would probably have a hard time dealing with the man in front of him without putting in some effort.

But it's okay, Trish is here, she'll definitely support me.

"Viktor Valk, Viktor Valk." Viktor seemed to pay a lot of attention to his name, repeating it twice.

He scrutinized Marcus, who looked like a brute, from head to toe, especially noticing the feathered serpent tattoo on his right arm, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The two men walked onto the gangplank without saying a word. On the quiet and spacious deck, Marcus sniffed the air and smelled a foul odor... the stench of the snake people.

There was no one on the ship, which was very unusual. Marcus kicked open the wooden door to the captain's cabin, took out two glasses and a beer, and handed one to Victor as agreed.

With his back to the Nileka River, Viktor held up a glass of ale, watching with a subtle expression as the warrior downed it in one gulp.

"Norfitz, given the unique circumstances of Riverside Town, I can understand your sin of being misled by heresy and worshipping barbaric and evil gods. Lay down your weapons, confess your sins, and Tyr will forgive your foolishness."

"What? What are you talking about, Victor?"

"Call me Valker, Norfitz." Victor loosened his grip on the glass, the fragile container falling to the ground, spilling the murky wine all over the deck.

He stared at Marcus's exposed right arm and reprimanded him passionately:

"Now that things have come to this, do you still want to deny it! You heretic who worships the swamp serpent god Seth!"

"No, friend, this tattoo is..." Marcus was about to correct Victor's mistake. Quetzalcoatl was my backer, the boss who called me "kid".

Unexpectedly, Victor's sword was faster than his mouth; a slender, sharp blade, like a ray of dawn piercing the darkness, aimed straight for Marcus's throat.

The warrior reacted with lightning speed, dropping his wine glass and drawing his magic longsword, Blood Oath, precisely blocking the incoming blade with the hilt.

The two grappled together, and the tall, thin Victor, relying solely on strength, was no match for Marcus; Marcus clearly had other methods up his sleeve.

"O sublime Tyre, you have granted me unbreakable strength and will..."

Viktor murmured to himself, a burst of pure, flawless white light suddenly erupting from his hand. His gray-brown eyes blazed with a divine flame, and he increased the force in his hand, the blade spinning out.

"Priest? Damn it, you're one of the church's men!" Marcus gritted his teeth. Nobles, the church, and merchants—the three mountains that had once weighed down Linhe Town.

The Visi family had indeed planned ahead, using the construction of irrigation canals to win over the militia and prepare for their next move.

The powerful warrior and the priest, empowered by divine magic, began a brutal fight. Victor's sword was long and thin, and with his lean physique, he seemed to be a skill-based fighter.

His skills were only passable; his reckless and headstrong style surpassed even Marcus's. Through the amplification of divine magic and his extreme fervor for hunting heretics, he surprisingly gained the upper hand.

As the blades clashed, a burst of golden flame flew from Victor's hand and landed on the ship's flammable canvas. His eyes were fixed on Marcus, who worshipped heretical gods.

What kind of environment allows people to openly brand evil gods as totems on their bodies?

Ships burned in the fighting, and broken, thick cables fell onto the deck, continuing to spread deeper and wider.

Meanwhile, Trish, who had infiltrated the cabin, successfully returned to the deck after a fierce battle.

The snake-man's head she was holding momentarily brought Victor and Marcus, who were still locked in a fierce battle, to a standstill.

When Victor saw the drow charging at him with a knife, he suddenly realized that Marcus was not a member of the Visi family, but most likely a local who just happened to run into the priest who was hunting down heretics.

The priest struggled to fend off the two attackers, noticing that the divine fire of justice had no real effect on them. He clenched his left fist, prayed silently, and unleashed a powerful beam of golden light that sent the warrior and assassin who had joined forces flying.

Victor seized the opportunity presented by the divine spell to explain frankly:

"I am a priest of Tyr, and I have no connection with the Church of the Goddess of Wealth. I have come to Riverside Town to hunt snake people. I have received intelligence that the Visi family has ties with snake people."

Marcus shook his left hand, which was burning from the golden-white flames, while still holding his sword. He asked Trish in a low voice, "The woman who gave the advice to the Vizi family, was she a snake-woman in disguise?"

"Yes, she was the one who spread the news about the silver. The Visi family failed in business and lost a lot of money. The snake people gave them an idea to fabricate the news that silver had been discovered again in Linhe Town, and then raise funds through... yes, that's the word in Common Tongue."

By raising funds to fill the funding gap, several chambers of commerce have already invested in this project.

Marcus slowly lowered his sword, thinking to himself, "Damn snake people again. So they didn't chase us in the rainforest; they were aiming for Riverside Town."

Instead of using force, they employed their most effective methods—infiltration and lies—to dismantle the superstition surrounding the Water Queen.

How disgusting!

On the burning deck, the warrior gazed at the wounded but incredibly spirited and fanatical priest:

"Alright, Reverend, I am Marcus Norfitz of Riverside. If your purpose is to hunt snake people, I believe we will have some common ground. But if you are here to promote your oppression and rule, I will throw you into the Nileka to feed the water ghosts."

"I care about justice. The history of Riverside is none of my business, Marcus Norfitz."