The journey was long, and Dongdong slept deeply along the way, while Su Mo habitually stayed alert, fully awake throughout.

It wasn’t until the Rusted Wall of New Moon City appeared at the horizon’s end, when familiar scenes jumped into view, that his nerves slowly began to ease.

Passing through the Rusted Wall Inspection Station, Su Mo took Dongdong back home.

It was midday, KK was wearing an apron and preparing lunch. Hearing the knock on the door, he ran to open it: “Big brother and Dongdong are back?”

The moment he opened the door, he saw Su Mo covered in dirt, along with Dongdong, missing an arm, and KK was shocked to the point of speechlessness: “My God! What happened to you?! Future! Future, come quickly!”

Future yawned as she walked out of the kitchen: “I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t yell, what’s gotten you so agitated.”

She looked at Su Mo and Dongdong, and was also taken aback: “My God! What happened to you?”

For a moment, Su Mo was at a loss for where to start: “Uh, it’s a long story, I’ll shower and change first. Future, can you check Dongdong’s body? Iron Blood did a preliminary treatment, but I’m not confident, could you check again?”

Dongdong went to the basement with Future.

After showering, Su Mo walked into the basement and asked: “How is it?”

Future: “Everything is fine, the treatment was very professional, no issues.”

Dongdong lay on the medical bed, looking at the severed arm, sighed: “Ugh, it was just fitted a few days ago, and now I’m a one-armed hero again, it’s really frustrating…”

Su Mo laughed and said: “Out with the old, in with the new, you’ll soon have something better as a replacement.”

Not long after he spoke, the phone rang.

Su Mo glanced at the contact on the screen and smiled: “Look, here it comes.”

He cleared his throat and picked up the phone, deliberately speaking sarcastically: “Hey there, isn’t this the legendary Old D!”

“Seeing your call makes me so happy! When I was getting pummeled by the Mechanical Ferocious Beast at TL730, I thought I’d never see you again~”

On the other side, Dress toned down his usual flamboyant manner, apologetically saying: “Old Su, I’m really sorry, I never thought things would turn out like this…”

“I originally thought it was just a regular exploration mission, at most dealing with some wild beasts from the Land of No Master, who knew the Black Domain Group would get involved…”

Su Mo stopped the sarcasm and addressed the matter: “So what’s the follow-up?”

Dress replied quickly: “Your commission will be settled normally, Iron Blood also asked me to convey their thanks to you.”

Su Mo said displeased: “Don’t give me this useless gratitude, can gratitude be eaten? Let them give some tangible benefits.”

Dress: “Uh… they should prepare a bonus for you, about 50,000 moon coins.”

Su Mo was furious: “50,000? Is that for beggars?! I can earn more than 50,000 from a fight for Lady Countess!”

Dress tried to soothe: “Old Su, calm down, such large corporations have procedures, their initial budget only covered this much, there was no way to exceed it.”

“That 50,000 is even coming out of the project leader’s own pocket. Money is money, after all, isn’t it? And you should be happy, because you made me owe you a huge favor!”

Su Mo: “Oh? How’s that?”

Dress: “You have no idea, when those exploration teams went completely missing, Iron Blood directly sent people to my house to cause trouble!”

“They thought I was collaborating with others to trap Iron Blood! I really had no way to explain it, there was nowhere to cry…”

“Now it’s fine, you captured a traitor and brought back intel, Iron Blood stops bothering me, my reputation is preserved, I won’t socially die in the Mercenary Realm, I can continue being a middleman. It’s all thanks to you~”

This wasn’t just Dress exaggerating; it was actually true.

In the Mercenary Realm, the existence of a “middleman” is quite unique.

Theoretically, as long as the price is agreed upon, mercenaries can connect directly with employers for missions, no need for a middleman.

However, direct mission connections are extremely risky.

Due to mercenaries’ information channels, it’s tough to discern if the employer is reliable.

The reverse is also true for the employer.

In the early days of the mercenary industry when the middleman role hadn’t yet emerged, it was common for employers not to pay afterward, or mercenaries to abscond after getting the deposit, deceit, fraud, and sitting on inflated prices.

The existence of middlemen is to prevent these chaos, leveraging their reputations to recruit good mercenaries for employers and good employers for mercenaries.

Reputation is a middleman’s most valuable asset.

This time, all other exploration teams were wiped out with no intel returned.

If the TL730 exploration team had also been wiped out without Su Mo’s valuable intel, Iron Blood Alliance might indeed suspect Dress of foul play.

If that happened, forget about establishing oneself in the Mercenary Realm, if unable to explain, Iron Blood could easily make Dress vanish.

So, it’s no exaggeration to say Su Mo saved Dress’s life this time.

Su Mo languidly and deliberately appeared indifferent: “Old D, your favor is that valuable?”

Dress seriously said: “Of course! Absolutely! Haven’t you heard the saying—in New Moon City, the happiest thing is having Old D owe you a favor, because he’ll help you with anything.”

“I’m serious, Old Su, if you ever need help, just call me, as long as it’s within my abilities, I’ll do my best to assist you.”

Su Mo was waiting for this, his tone relaxed: “Alright, then let’s leave the unpleasant things behind. I don’t need help now, but surely will in the future, just don’t forget your promise.”

Dress’s mood turned joyful: “Aha! I knew Old Su was a generous person! Don’t worry, I never go back on my word.”

Su Mo: “By the way, don’t forget to handle Sun Min’s posthumous affairs, they died for Iron Blood, so at the very least, return their bodies for the families to bury properly.”

Dress seemed puzzled: “Hm? Sun Min? Which Sun Min?”

Su Mo said helplessly: “The Thunderclap Mercenary Corps who went with me this time.”

Dress then remembered, indifferently said: “Oh oh oh, them. The posthumous affairs aren’t my responsibility, body recovery and death benefits will be handled by Iron Blood Association, there’s a standard procedure for this, you don’t need to worry.”

Upon hearing this, Su Mo couldn’t help but sigh.

A few days ago, they were all drinking together, laughing and talking.

Now, they’ve been completely forgotten.

This is Dress; his reputation and fame are real, yet he’s someone disingenuous inside and out.

Dress, the streetwise, and Audiana, a noble-born, are two extremes.

Audiana’s attitude towards someone is entirely reflected in her actions.

For those she doesn’t value, she’ll appear cold and disinterested, reluctant to say much.

Send her a message of hundreds or thousands of words, and she’d reply hours later with a single “Hmm” or “Oh”.

But for those she values, like Su Mo, she’ll reply instantly to any message, always paying attention, often offering advice and suggestions.

Your status in Lady Countess’s mind is evident, she won’t act for show nor does she care to.

Dress is the opposite; always with a welcoming smile, outwardly kind to all.

Yet you never truly know what he thinks of you inside.

You think he invites you for drinks, all smiles and calling you “old X” as if you’re brothers?

It’s just his professional habit, treating everyone this way.

When he needs you, you’re a good brother.

If you die and are of no use, then sorry, we’re not acquainted.

Su Mo has no doubt that if he had died at TL730, if someone asked Dress, he’d likely say: “Su Mo? Which Su Mo?”

For people like this, the best way is to both trust and be wary.

Setting aside the hypocrisy, Dress is indeed an excellent middleman, with formidable business skills.

As long as there are mutual benefits, calling each other brothers isn’t impossible, associating as needed without moral purity.

Yet, one should never open up to someone like him.

Sincerity and true feelings should be reserved for someone like Audiana.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep