Lann’s calm words, combined with the entire camp being slaughtered by him and the terrifying marks left by various punishments, created an astonishing psychological pressure!
Neken’s mental defenses crumbled from the moment he woke up, and during the subsequent intimidation process, this man who could eat human flesh raw didn’t even dare to say a useless word like "spare me" or "give me a quick end."
It was as if he wished to pour out all his information, which he indeed did to Lann.
Then, Lann granted him a swift death.
This world possesses magic, but Lann has not heard of any research in this world on the afterlife.
In his mind, if in a world death signifies a person’s complete end in every sense, then execution alone suffices.
He dislikes using torture.
The strange taste in his mouth made Lann nauseous, and he wanted to fetch a bottle of strong alcohol from his alchemy pouch to rinse his mouth.
But upon opening the pouch, what lay on top was the small cloth bag with meticulously fine stitching.
It exuded a floral fragrance, gray and dusty but without any dirt.
Lann had always kept it well.
The young man pursed his lips and instinctively rubbed his hands together as if trying to rub something dirty off.
But when he came back to his senses, he realized that the blood stuck to his gloves during the torture had already been cleaned off.
Lann frowned slightly, sighed, then opened the small cloth bag and pulled out a bottle of Redania Herbal Wine from underneath, pouring it into his mouth.
The alcohol hit his brain with a punch, and after a sip, Lann sobered up a bit, leaning against a tree, speechless.
"If the information is true, the situation becomes increasingly complex, sir."
Only after Lann swallowed the liquor did Mentos speak at the right moment.
It wasn’t in the Human Union now and couldn’t access psychological treatment modules in real-time. Lann’s mood earlier made it dare not say more.
Now, it finally dared to come out and divert attention.
"Damn," the young man cursed, ripping off his studded leather gloves, wiping his palm against his face hard.
"Neken didn’t lie, nor did he hide anything. Whether it’s his eyes or the subsequent Yakxi Rune, I can be sure."
White was kidnapped, or rather, Head Eaters’ large-scale abduction of children made Lann think it wasn’t simple from the start.
In Northern Countries, slavery is illegal, but if children are not used as slaves, instead sold to families without children, the number of missing would be too high.
Kidnapping children doesn’t work this way.
With so many children, if you can’t find buyers in a day, you must provide meals and care for a day.
And those families without children certainly don’t order in groups, they’d purchase sporadically.
Keeping a group of children is more dangerous and costly over time.
Some will do business risking their heads, but no one will do losing gambling .
Perhaps the Head Eaters’ brain went mad from eating human flesh, but their leader, the "Head Eater," was rumored to be very intelligent, unlikely to make such a mistake.
And after Neken completely collapsed, his statements further confirmed this.
"A small camp varies from five to seven people, and in the entire hilly area, the camps Neken rotated through number thirteen... Optimistically, they have at least sixty-seven thugs."
Lann leaned against a tree trunk, arms crossed, fingertips lightly tapping the outer leather armor sections on his arms as he thought.
Mentos supplemented, "Don’t forget their main base, there’s at least fifty people in that secret port."
This means a criminal organization with over a hundred people, equipped with a basic organizational structure!
"Was Viserad raised on crap?!"
The young man cursed in anger.
"A gang of over a hundred armed people emerges in his domain, and as a lord, how could he remain completely unaware before they started committing crimes openly?"
"Over a hundred sword-wielding individuals! If his cavalry troop reached the hill region, they’d be chopped into mince!"
"What about census statistics? What about population movements? What about population disappearance distribution? Lord of Velen?! A pig might be better at this than him, damn..."
"From this, it seems Veltrest, who appointed him, is also a fool!"
If the Demon Hunter’s words were uttered in the city, undoubtedly the City Defense Captain would be holding his helmet, grabbing his weapon to "arrest the rebel."
Onlookers would retreat three meters away, to avoid getting blood splattered and looking too unsightly.
But fortunately, Mentos completely inherited Lann’s historical perspective.
Regarding a king, this world’s noblest status, the mind and the main body held a unified attitude—
"No matter how stupid the king is, sir. We must make our own judgment."
Mentos calmly analyzed.
"In this group of over a hundred, they can’t all be Head Eaters. If their appetites reached the level of the guy who was burned, all of Velen wouldn’t last them months."
Lann pinched his nose, his mouth twitching.
Damn... what is this, some kind of biohazard?
But Mentos’s meaning was already clear.
The Head Eaters are a criminal group, but the child trafficking business seems to be backed by another faction.
A dozen small camp posts, a main base and a secret port...
The resources and building capacity could not possibly belong to a group of Head Eaters.
Which means the masterminds are another faction.
"We can’t think about so much for now, Mentos."
Lann shook his head gently.
"The matters of the Head Eater gang and that unknown group can be reported to Viserad afterward, but for now we’ve got one task only—"
"Get to that secret port and rescue Little White!"
The young man’s tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
But one of Mentos’s duties was to pour cold water on the subject’s heated head.
"With all due respect, sir. We do not have skills like [Stealth], [Silent Assassination], or even [Lock Picking] in our skill library... I doubt the children would be held behind a door barred shut with a wooden latch."
"Then we face them head-on. We still have a trump card left untouched."
Lann’s expression was cold and hard, as if Mentos’s listing of shortcomings couldn’t sway him.
His hand reached into the very bottom of the alchemy pouch, touching a hard container the size of a can.
"Though our preparations are just short, when the time comes, we can finish this in two hours."
Mentos reacted extremely fiercely, in that instant, it almost blotted Lann’s retina entirely in blood-red!
"I emphatically reject this plan!"
"Repeat! I emphatically reject this plan!"
"The current proficiency in [Surgery] is only 60%, an unacceptable level even for medical students in clinical medicine!"
"Moreover, with the hygienic conditions we can achieve, the surgery is impossible without magic potion support! Before the potions are in place, I refuse to provide any support for gene seed transplantation!"
Lann was nonchalant despite the blood-red scene before him, waving his hand indifferently.
"Relax, Mentos. As I said, it’s a last resort, I’m not someone who rushes in carelessly."
The surgical procedure was a result of detailed discussions between him and Mentos.
Since they didn’t know what reaction would occur post-gene seed implantation, whether it would be long-term adaptation or short-term violent transformation.
So the surgery plan included preparations for Lann’s inability to stitch himself up.
Additionally, they couldn’t have a proper operating room, which necessitated magic potion support.
Currently, they only had the magic potion left by Bordeaux and some alchemy notes.
The formula for restorative potions existed, but mostly were in the primary stage.
According to Mentos’s calculations, completing the surgery would require heavy consumption.
However, this would lead to severe cumulative toxicity, even a Demon Hunter couldn’t handle magic potion consumption as if it were water.
Fortunately, the alchemical recipe included a formula for the Enhanced White Honey potion, which could be used as an antidote at the final critical moment.
The missing white begonia petals were precisely for crafting the Enhanced White Honey potion.
Mentos was silent for a moment, the retinal projection returned to normal.
Yes, you’re not a rash fool, but now you’re...
Lann hadn’t inquired about mood index for a long time, and Mentos had kept this indicator to itself.
Since the incidents involving Bernie and White in quick succession, the trend of this curve had made the biological brain anxious and uneasy.
"In any case, this surgical plan will be sealed until the magic potion is ready."
"Suit yourself, actions must be adapted according to the situation, we can first go to that secret port to assess the situation."