Mysterious building complex.
In front of the strangely shaped gate, the rustling footsteps on the snow became the main anthem that echoed.
The opponents surrounded Chen Shen.
Despite finding out the other party’s identity to be murlocs with ugly appearances, Li Hu did not dare to make any movements to alarm them, nor did he dare to initiate a firefight.
Meanwhile, Chen Shen’s team, who stood right before them, could naturally see their appearances even more clearly.
The “humans” that emerged from the darkness were not the humans they had expected but a group of foreigners!
Their facial structure was similar to that of humans.
However, they had scale-like outer armor, and when illuminated by the fire, it reflected an unusual and terrifying turquoise color that made shivers run down their spine.
Their body structure was also closely identical to humans, and the only difference was they were covered in scales.
Upon close observation, the scales on their legs opened and closed as if they were breathing through them!
That was not the most terrifying part about them!
As the distance between the two parties decreased, the four of them could clearly see the weapons in the hands of these murlocs.
It was not just familiar but was exactly the same as theirs.
In addition to the streamlines being more detailed than their M-1 rifles, the overall build of the guns looked much more advanced.
The weapons these murlocs had were obviously…
Rifles!
“Village chief, this is bad. They…they don’t seem to be humans!
“Sh*t, their weapons…are those guns? I’m not the only one seeing this, right?”
“F*ck! We walked right into enemy territory and delivered our heads right to them!”
Their shelter leader was absent, and the other party was equipped with guns.
Both forces could be considered to be on the same level and likely had the same combat strength.
Under such circumstances, they would have had the upper hand and could have won the battle by launching an ambush if they had gathered the information much earlier.
However…
“Shut up! I’m not blind!”
Chen Shen’s forehead was covered in a cold sweat as he scolded the others. His right hand clenched on the torch and trembled subconsciously.
He had already mentally prepared himself before approaching the complex.
There was already a backup plan if things turned out differently than expected. He was prepared, whether it was a foreign race or an immediate battle that broke out.
Unfortunately, his plans were utterly useless under the current situation.
No one expected them to be a foreign race group with guns more advanced than humans!
‘This is simply foul play!
‘Where the f*ck did these freaks come from?
‘There’s no way this is how my life ends, right?’
Chen Shen understood that things had gone beyond his control after seeing that the people approaching them were not humans as he had expected.
The situation was caused because of a greed for power and reward.
There were not many options left for him.
‘Should we attack…?’
Watching the hundreds of murlocs advancing the front line unhurriedly, with decent tactical cooperation, Chen Shen was tempted to throw his torch and motion for Li Hu to attack to make up for the mistake in judgment that he made earlier.
Ultimately, he was the village chief of Hope Village, and this was a critical moment that might lead to a massive war between them.
Chen Shen wisely halted his movements and ordered the three people behind him to stop in place.
He decided to avoid direct conflict and increase the chances of peaceful negotiation.
Unexpectedly, the consequence of his decision was four of them being closely surrounded in just two minutes, giving them no possibility of escaping.
“Ha…haha!”
Seeing the murlocs slowly surround him, Chen Shen laughed awkwardly.
The collective strength was much more potent than a few individuals.
The coercion and tempting rewards he had thought about immediately went down the drain.
Under the suppression of more vital forces, the only thing he could do as a negotiator was to ease the atmosphere and gather as much information as possible.
Whatever happens, in the end, could only be decided by fate!
“Our honorable guests, we’ve no malice toward you. It’s just…just your village suddenly appeared in our territory.
“We’re open to discussing the details if you’re willing to bring me to your leader.
“Our goal is to strive to live together in peace, and there is no need for a war between us…”
Chen Shen tried to negotiate with them regardless of whether the murloc could understand or not.
At the same time, Chen Shen’s paid close attention to the expressions of the surrounding murlocs, trying his best to grasp their true intentions.
Reality proved that he had overthought it.
Despite hearing him speak, the murlocs only showed a slight hesitation on their faces.
Ultimately, under the instruction of the commanding murloc wearing a cape, the other murlocs took out ropes that were as thick as a human’s forearm and were about to tie all four of them up.
Their actions did not seem friendly at all, but it was unfair to say they were unfriendly since the other party was just doing what anybody would do to unwelcomed guests.
Similar to how they locked up the mysterious group of people that arrived in their village two days ago, in a sense, these murlocs were doing the same thing.
Fortunately, there was good news!
Chen Shen noticed a few relieving information from his observation.
First of all, there was an 80% chance that these murlocs understood human language!
It was a crucial piece of information.
Follow-up communications, regardless of whether to resolve the misunderstandings or to coerce and induce them to take the bait, understanding each other was necessary for them to reach a conclusion.
Without adequately understanding each other, the negotiation would naturally fall through.
Secondly, these murlocs’ attitudes toward humans were not the same as the other foreigners that came to the wasteland during the first wave who despised humans.
Upon seeing the four of them, it could be seen that the murlocs had a glimmer of joy flashing in their eyes.
Although it was not evident, Chen Shen managed to notice the momentary joy that flashed on their faces.
While being tied up, Chen Shen raised his left hand and gently shook it to signal Li Hu not to take action.
“Could you please let the three of them go?
“I’m the village chief of Hope Village. I can represent the village to make further negotiations!”
“Could you please let the three of them go?
“I’m the village chief of Hope Village. I can represent the village to make further negotiations!”
Chen Shen’s legs were firmly tied with a hemp rope, and he felt like he had received the treatment of ancient prisoners.
Helplessly, he turned toward them and tried to plead with them.
He never expected that the murlocs would easily let them go despite requesting it.
After all, he would never agree to anything, especially just arresting one of the sudden intruders if strangers came knocking on his village.
Unexpectedly, a miraculous scene unfolded before him.
The murloc who had already tied up the other three soldiers subconsciously halted his movements and turned to the cloaked murloc who stood behind him after hearing Chen Shen’s plea.
After giving it a thought for a few seconds, the commanding murloc nodded his “fish head.”
After being granted permission, the ropes that had already been tied were quickly removed, and the encirclement that surrounded them also spread out, giving them a path to leave.
The whole process was simply unbelievable.
“Village chief, they…”
“Just go! It’ll be useless for you to stay anyway. I’ll talk to them!”
It would be disadvantageous for them to say too much in front of their enemies. Thus, Chen Shen hurriedly used his eyes to gesture to the other three to where Li Hu’s team was hidden.
The three were not stupid and immediately turned their head to leave the murloc’s encirclement.
Chen Shen, still surrounded in the center, was finally relieved after watching the three figures gradually disappear from his field of vision.
He turned his head back to face the murlocs.
All that had happened until that point were signs that showed there was a possibility to negotiate with the group of murlocs.
Regardless of whether they reached an agreement, Chen Shen still believed that anything was possible as long as the shelter leader returned.
As for now, his responsibility as the village chief was to maintain a friendly stance with the other party and not let the situation deteriorate any further!
