What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

In fact, there are many cases where employees who are injured or killed have obtained compensation by presenting evidence of the employer’s additional liability in court. One of Father Auden’s regular jobs was to represent the merchant group and wealthy employers in settling these matters.

With him as an advisor, Leon basically doesn't have to worry about anyone suing him.

Leon, surprisingly, jumped into the pit himself, which Leon couldn't understand.

But Leon ignored his objections and continued, "Also, let them register the contacts and beneficiaries for handling the aftermath if needed. If they die while working for me, I will pay for their funeral expenses and provide a death compensation."

Father Auden paused, then suddenly looked enlightened, followed by a knowing smile. He lowered his voice and said, "Oh, I get it, I understand what you mean..."

"What do you know?" Leon asked, puzzled by Father Auden's reaction.

"You want to fish out these people's dirt! By looking at their beneficiaries, you can dig out their families and see who they can control and who they can manage to prevent betrayal. Heh, you've got some serious skills!" Father Auden said with some admiration.

Fenrir, what a terrible man.

Father Auden thought to himself, "In this line of work, this is certainly a compliment."

Leon looked at Father Auden with a strange expression.

Did this priest have some tragic past experiences? Otherwise, why would he always imagine people in such a dark light?

“Father, what do you think was the reason I started doing this?” Leon suddenly asked.

"What is it?" Father Auden asked, puzzled.

Leon was too lazy to explain further. Based on the money he had on hand, he briefly considered the compensation amounts for different degrees of disability and then asked the priest to add them to the contract terms.

The underworld mercenaries present watched Leon and the priest whispering uneasily, worried that Leon might be dissatisfied with the contract and try to lower the price further. They were currently unemployed and did have room to make concessions, but after all, it was a business that required risking their lives, and they couldn't give in too much.

Father Auden then turned to the mercenaries and announced Leon's new terms: "Thanks to Mr. Fenrir's generosity, all those who sign the contract will receive a special guarantee..."

Leon watched silently from behind as the mercenaries reacted to the workers' compensation regulations. Not many of them showed gratitude; most seemed confused, some curious, and others skeptical.

But Leon didn't care; he just felt the move was necessary.

He himself was trapped by the lack of protection from the church, which is why he embarked on this path.

Doing this may not necessarily win people's hearts and minds to the point of eliminating betrayal, but it can at least greatly reduce the risk that subordinates will betray him over such a small matter.

He certainly didn't want his gang to end up like the church, riddled with problems.

……

Two days later, a cargo ship slowly approached the shore.

Fully armed mercenaries began to disembark along the boarding ladders, and also led down a cargo wagon, the contents of which were covered with a black cloth.

"Watch out." Leon gestured behind him before disembarking.

Behind him, Lena, whose face was covered, grabbed his hand, carefully watching her feet, and followed Leon ashore.

The last person to disembark from the ship was Father Auden, who had a pained expression on his face; he was seasick again.

"Are you sure you want to let your precious witch into the labyrinth?" Father Auden whispered to Leon.

He knew that Leon had used Selene to take the witch's place in prison, so he naturally knew that their relationship was unusual.

So he was somewhat surprised to see Leon taking this witch with him as he explored such a dangerous labyrinth.

“Her power is indispensable to solving this maze,” Leon explained.

“Oh, I’ve witnessed her power. I hope she won’t affect anyone else. Don’t forget you promised those mercenaries 100,000 for every one of their lives,” Father Auden reminded him.

He still believed that the witch beside Leon had the ability to turn people into poison bombs and then kill a large number of people.

"..." Lena remained silent. Leon had told her that she didn't need to interact with anyone else present, she just needed to stick close to Leon.

She was still a little nervous, after all, there were so many fully armed mercenaries around, but along the way these mercenaries seemed to be quite obedient to Leon's orders.

"What did Viscount Arend say?" Leon asked the priest for confirmation.

The boat they used to land on the island this time was not the small boat they had used before, but a commercial cargo ship that could carry horse-drawn carriages and more than twenty people. It would be difficult for them to land on the island without being seen.

"Rest assured, I have fully informed Viscount Arendt, and I guarantee his daughter will not appear here," the priest said confidently.

"Take one person and guard the mountain path. If anyone comes from over there, stop them. Don't let me see any extra people near the maze," Leon instructed Father Auden.

“It would be best if I didn’t have to go into the mountains.” Father Auden had no objection to this arrangement.

Leon Lena and the rest of the group went into the mountains and arrived at the mine that served as the entrance to the maze.

"Assign manpower according to plan. Capture as many monsters as possible alive, except for the vampire mosquito bats and giant rats. Clear out all the monsters on your assigned routes." Leon began to give orders. "Simon, unload the things from the carriage."

Vampire-sucking mosquito bats are relatively difficult to raise, and giant rats have very low levels of magic energy. Not all monsters are worth keeping.

"Mr. Fenrir, are you sure that will work?" Simon asked, somewhat uneasy.

“Just watch,” Leon replied.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief and turned to instruct his men to follow orders. They first led the horses away from the front of the carriage to prevent them from being frightened by the contents of the carriage.

Then they pulled down the black cloth from the cart, revealing a huge square iron cage inside, with a wolf larger than a leopard lying in the center of the cage.

Although they already knew what was being transported in the carriage, all the mercenaries still couldn't help but gasp when they saw the demonic wolf.

"Open the cage," Leon ordered.

“Sir, this…” Simon hesitated.

"Please step aside." Leon understood their hesitation and stepped forward himself.

All the mercenaries moved away from the cage, and some even put their hands on their weapons. These dire wolves, with their physiques, were no less powerful or fast than lions or brown bears. They also possessed resilient bodies that could withstand multiple bullets without falling. If they were to go berserk the moment the cage was opened, there would almost certainly be casualties here.

Leon didn't open the cage first, but looked at Lena instead.

"Get up," Lena called to the cage.

The demon wolf opened its empty eyes and slowly got up as instructed.

Lena slowly approached the cage and reached out her hand towards it.

"Hey! Hey!" a mercenary exclaimed, seemingly already seeing the demonic wolf bite the girl's hand to pieces.

However, the wolf merely nuzzled Lena's hand through the gap in the cage, appearing unusually docile.

The mercenaries present looked at each other in bewilderment.

This time, Leon reached out and opened the cage. Lena pointed outside the cage, and the dire wolf stepped out. The mercenaries nervously retreated, but the dire wolf seemed completely oblivious to them and even lazily yawned.

Lena reached out and touched the dire wolf's drooping head. At that moment, the mercenaries finally believed that the witch in front of them could control the dire wolf.

"Simon, your squad will stick with us. We're going to deal with the wolf pack," Leon shouted to the dumbfounded mercenary captain.

“Yes… sir.” It took Simon a while to come to his senses.

"Then, let's go." Leon waved his hand, announcing the start of the operation.

Chapter 97 The Great Horror in the Labyrinth

"They're running that way, take them out!"

Mercenaries scurried through the maze's passages, using torches to drive away the blood-sucking mosquito bats through narrow passages with nets, while others used hunting spears to hunt down the giant rats that scurried about.

Slimes will temporarily become powerless if you sprinkle them with salt, then you can put them in a clay pot. As for the living vines growing in the soil, you need to tie the constantly twisting vines with rope and then dig them out by the roots and the ground...

Most of the monsters in this mine maze are harmless level 1 monsters, and they are not difficult to deal with as long as you have enough manpower and equipment.

Leon, listening to the commotion around him, led Lena, Simon, and the wolf controlled by Lena straight to the deepest part of the maze.

Upon reaching the end of the mine map, the open space reappeared before them. Simon and his men stood in front of Leon, spreading out slightly to allow their torches to illuminate more areas.

Leon scanned his surroundings; this time, he could see a much wider area.

The ground here is overgrown with weeds, yet it is unusually flat, and many broken stone bricks can be seen embedded in the soil, indicating that this was once an area built by people.

Leon nodded to Lena, and then the two of them each took out a flask from their pockets. The flasks were filled with a dark red liquid, which was a blood sample that they had drawn from themselves beforehand.

Leon first poured his blood into the prepared basin, then Lena poured in some anticoagulant extracted from the headhunter rabbit, mixed it thoroughly, and then poured in her own blood, followed by mummy powder made from dried corpses.

At this point, the wolf leader beside them began to stir restlessly. When Lena opened a test tube containing magic essence, a gleam of longing shone through the wolf leader's empty eyes once more.

"Sit down," Lena commanded the wolf leader. The wolf leader obeyed and sat down, but drool still kept flowing from his mouth.

Lena poured the magic essence into the basin, and then Leon placed a lantern nearby before immediately ordering, "Alright, retreat into the tunnel right now!!"

Everyone followed Leon back in the direction he had come from, except for the wolf leader, who remained seated, staring longingly at the mixture of blood and attractant in the basin.

"Come back!" Lena commanded again.

The wolf leader reluctantly followed the others away from the basin. They had only retreated fifty or sixty meters when rustling sounds came from the depths of the maze, followed by faint green lights appearing in the darkness.

The remaining labyrinthine space inside the mountain was very limited. Once these attractants were placed there, the high concentration of magic power from the smell of blood and magic essence quickly attracted the pack of wolves that used this place as their den.

Leon's lantern, which remained in place, cast a halo of light. As the will-o'-the-wisps approached, the outlines of demon wolves gradually appeared at the edges of the halo. There were nine demon wolves of various sizes. The mercenaries present held their breath—if these demon wolves attacked them en masse, some of them would surely perish.

Fortunately, the dire wolves' attention was completely off them; all of them were staring at the basin of blood, their mouths drooling.

Suddenly, two demon wolves charged towards the basin first. As if it were a signal, all the demon wolves swarmed over, eagerly burying their heads in the basin to lick the blood inside, like ants discovering honey.

The wolf leader, who had retreated to the vicinity of the tunnel with Leon and the others, was also poised to attack. It bared its teeth at the wolf pack, seemingly very dissatisfied with these wolves of lower status vying for what it had its eye on. However, under Lena's control, it remained obediently in place.

The wolves were drawn to the few hundred milliliters of liquid in the basin, and it quickly escalated into a fierce fight.

When the wolf leader was present, they could not resist the temptation of the food attractant. The absence of the wolf leader caused the order of the wolf pack to fall further out of control. In order to fight for it, they began to bite each other. The larger wolf drove away the smaller wolf, and then the smaller wolf took advantage of the chaos of the fight to sneak in and lick the blood.

The basin was quickly overturned, and the little liquid left inside spilled onto the ground. The wolf then began to lick the ground frantically, as if possessed.

Leon observed carefully; the scene was chaotic, but in the end, almost all of the wolves managed to eat the blood they had put into the basin.

It's about time to give it a try.

Leon glanced at Lena, and with a single look, Lena understood. She put her fingers in her mouth and began to whistle a melodious tune, a sound she used to assist when controlling large groups of monsters.

A gentle, simple whistle echoed through the space, and the demon wolves that heard the sound began to feel drowsy. Lena began to cast her Blood Oath Blessing, using the blood that the demon wolves had taken from her as a medium to make all the demon wolves resonate with the magic she was circulating.

But the dire wolves quickly broke free from their drowsiness. For Lena, controlling even one dire wolf was a struggle, let alone controlling so many at once.

The wolves quickly realized there was something wrong with the sound and their attention immediately turned to the direction of the group. The mercenaries tensed up and drew their weapons.

Lena's whistle suddenly added a rapid syllable, and the wolf leader seemed to be immediately activated upon hearing it. He leaped several meters away, blocking the way for the group, and growled at the pack of wolves.

With their former leader blocking their way, the wolf pack, which had been itching to pounce, suddenly hesitated. The alpha wolf was a size larger than the other wolves, a growth advantage it had accumulated over the years by enjoying its prey first. If the other wolves wanted to replace it, they would basically have to wait until it grew old and weak.

At this moment, Leon unleashed the Cursed Blood against these demon wolves.

In an instant, the howls of the demon wolves filled the air. All the demon wolves except the wolf king began to convulse in pain, and purple smoke billowed from their throats.

Leon tormented them for only a moment before calming their power. Then, Lena continued to blow her whistle, while the wolf leader let out a menacing roar to suppress the pack's will.

After a round of commotion, more than half of the dire wolves had tucked their tails between their legs and lowered their heads, choosing to submit. Once the thought of submission arose, they were quickly hypnotized by Lena's whistle, their eyes became vacant, and they stood motionless in place.

Four stronger dire wolves were still struggling, trying to howl at Lena behind the alpha wolf. When the alpha wolf saw this, it stepped forward and roared angrily, and the dire wolves retreated again.

Leon unleashed the Cursed Blood once more, and the demon wolves collapsed to the ground in agony, convulsing.

After the second round, the remaining four demon wolves could no longer hold on and finally gave up resisting, allowing Lena's whistle to invade their consciousness.

Finally, all the wolves fell completely still at the sound of the whistle, standing motionless like several lifelike sculptures.

Lena stopped whistling and tried to give the command: "Sit down."

The alpha wolf and the five demon wolves sat down as she commanded. The remaining four seemed not to hear. Lena thought for a moment, then tried to make the alpha wolf growl and gave the order again: "Sit down!"

This time, all the dire wolves sat down together.

Distributing the power of the Blood Alliance among so many demon wolves will weaken her control, but as long as she focuses most of her attention on the alpha wolf that she has repeatedly trained, she can use the social nature of the wolf pack and the alpha wolf's intimidation to help her control the entire pack.

"Good, it worked!" Leon finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Simon and the others were amazed by what they saw, and their eyes looked at Lena with a hint of awe.

Thanks to the witch's power, they subdued the ten demon wolves without firing a single shot. If they had been allowed to enter the labyrinth and take it by force, countless people would have died.

“Mr. Fenrir, should we bring the cage in?” Simon asked Leon.

He could also tell that these demon wolves would likely revert to their wild nature once they were separated from the witch, so it was best to keep them in cages as a precaution.

“We can bring the cage in first, but don’t rush to lock up the wolves. The depths haven’t been fully explored yet, and we don’t know what else is inside,” Leon said.

Having conquered the wolf pack, they would possess a fighting force far stronger than this mercenary group. If any further danger arose, these wolves should also prove useful.

"Leave three people here to build a campfire. Go check on the progress of the rest of the mercenaries. If they're almost done, call some more people in to help." Leon began assigning tasks to the mercenaries.

"Yes." Simon and the others immediately began to take action.