014 The Five Werewolf Brothers

In the end, this farce finally drew to a close.

Karen ultimately chose not to raise the slaughtering blade to wipe out the three factions of Dorn—not simply because Dorn was a charming and endearing antagonist.

More importantly, for Karen, the benefits of killing them paled vastly in comparison to the gains he could secure by keeping them alive.

Eliminating them would at most yield a few fourth-tier corpses, dozens of third-tier corpses, hundreds of second-tier corpses, and some of their materials from this market. The value was there, but compared to the 2,000 gold coins each merchant could earn from the whispers of the undead and the redemption fees for corpses, it was a far cry.

Converted into RMB, 6,000 gold coins equated to nearly 6 billion—a staggeringly immense sum.

If Dorn’s entire price list were exchanged solely for fourth-tier corpses, the maximum would be 150 such corpses.

On one side, there were just a few; on the other, 150—an order of magnitude difference that no one sane would ignore.

More crucially, should Karen raise his blade against them, it would inevitably provoke resistance from these three guilds.

Since the battlefield was the market itself, a real fight, though ultimately won by Karen, would certainly wreak havoc on the market and possibly drag other merchants into the fray.

Resolving matters in this gentler manner, leaving them alive, ensured they would not rebel too fiercely.

In a sense, the punishment meted out to Dorn and his allies served as an advertisement, effectively promoting the exchange method Dorn had impulsively proposed.

Once promoted, judging by the merchants’ expressions, Karen clearly understood that they stood to gain tremendous profits.

Yet Karen cared little; after all, no matter how the exchange played out, the ultimate beneficiary would be him.

As for whether his handling this time would make the merchants perceive rebellion as an inexpensive option, encouraging reckless thoughts—Karen was hardly worried.

There were certain ideas beyond his control. Even if he had slain Dorn and company today, once the market grew stronger and more dominant figures emerged, such rebellious notions would inevitably surface.

By the nature of the market, bloodshed would only paint Karen as timid, fearful of dissent.

Therefore, rather than attempting deterrence through slaughter, Karen deemed exploitation far more reliable.

Furthermore, once the ransom from the three guilds arrived, Karen’s strength would soar tremendously.

Only with such power could Karen truly face everything with confidence.

Soon after, Dorn, Wenger, and Kari were captured by Karen’s undead army and directly sent to the White Bone Tower within Karen’s territory.

Of course, upon their departure, each gave instructions to their subordinates.

In this situation, the three appeared particularly docile—no sign of resistance or negotiation.

Primarily, this was due to Karen’s fearsome undead legion; even if they wished to resist, they were powerless to do so.

With everything settled, Karen departed with the three, once again entrusting the market to Ogoron.

However, unlike before, this time Karen left behind a second-tier undead force of about five hundred, along with one of his scarce fourth-tier undead.

With this elite undead contingent and the formidable reputation of Karen’s legions, Ogoron’s confidence swelled.

Watching the disciplined undead force and the newly empowered Ogoron, the merchants knew that from now on, they would have to keep their tails tightly tucked.

Yet these merchants were, by nature, profit-driven. As long as the market continued to bring them gains, they would be the first to keep their tails firmly tucked.

After bringing the three to his domain, Karen believed the farce was over and that he could now await his rewards in peace.

But unexpectedly, barely had he arrived home when another piece of bad news reached him.

This new calamity was the news of monsters ravaging the mines.

While Karen was resolving the previous matter, yet another mine had come under attack.

At first, Karen was somewhat stunned upon hearing this, but he quickly summoned the five werewolves.

Though he had not yet met them face to face, intelligence from various sources revealed that these five were responsible for the monster attacks on the mines.

Meeting these five werewolves only reinforced and reshaped Karen’s understanding of their kind.

He had been in this world for nearly half a year, and during that time, he had heard much about werewolves.

In Karen’s subconscious, werewolves were a fierce and violent race.

Yet these five werewolves, upon appearing, were anything but fierce.

Except for the last one, who was somewhat reserved, and the fourth, who seemed a bit foolish, the remaining three were obsequiously ingratiating.

Their tails wagged like helicopter blades, making one think they were Karen’s beloved pets.

But appearances were deceiving; these five werewolves were no ordinary pack.

They had once been soldiers of the Werewolf Empire but were expelled due to misconduct.

For several years afterward, they wandered the continent, visiting multiple nations and gaining extensive knowledge of diverse customs and landscapes.

Karen had initially summoned them to inquire about the monster attacks on the mines, but inadvertently, they led him astray.

Sensing Karen’s interest, the five launched into a boastful recounting of their experiences, captivating Karen with their tales.

Though a bit dim-witted and endearing, the five werewolves’ luck at crucial moments was remarkable; their storytelling effectively quashed Karen’s earlier intent to eliminate them.

While wiping them out would have granted Karen five additional fourth-tier undead, given his current circumstances, as long as Dorn’s ransom arrived, the difference of five fourth-tier undead was negligible.

In fact, keeping them alive was far more beneficial.

On one hand, their experience and intelligence provided invaluable information.

On the other, though Karen’s undead were powerful, they had inherent limitations—intellect being chief among them.

For this reason, many matters could not be entrusted to the undead, at least not yet.

Thus, after meeting these five werewolves and learning of their backgrounds, Karen resolved to enlist their loyalty.