Chapter 494

Chapter 494: Discovering the Deception

On the other side, after signing the contract, Mares did not put away the communication stone.

Instead, he began to contact his colleagues in the foreign affairs department, notifying them that he needed to be away for a while and would be back in at most six months.

He wasn’t lying to Morris.

During this time, he was indeed pursuing a strong member of the Time Tribe’s Intelligence Organization alongside powerful individuals from the foreign affairs department.

However, it wasn’t as urgent as he had told Morris.

Of course, the most important factor was his extensive connections.

Even with tasks from the foreign affairs department, taking a leave of absence for half a year was not a big deal at all.

Once he sorted this out, he used his Perception Ability to scan through the various energies in the communication stone.

He quickly settled on a friend named Hashi, who, like Morris, was also a strong friend from the foreign affairs department.

Since he needed to go to the distant star cluster outside their main region, just listening to Morris’s description wouldn’t be enough; he needed to fully understand the situation of this star cluster outside their main region, just in case.

“Mares? What suddenly made you think to contact me? I heard your War Department has been busy chasing down the Time Tribe and Reincarnation Tribe’s Intelligence Organization personnel. Are you facing some trouble?”

Hashi quickly connected the call.

“I really need your help with something. Are you free?”

Mares didn’t rush into the main topic.

Since he had many friends, he decided to take the opportunity to strengthen their bond.

“Of course I’m free! If you need help surrounding and attacking a strong opponent or gathering rare materials, just let me know!”

Hashi clearly didn’t have Mares’s expertise in dealing with social matters and, given that he owed Mares a significant favor, he straightforwardly affirmed his willingness to help.

“Actually, it’s nothing major; I just want to ask you a few questions.”

Mares explained.

“Other than the strict ban on secrets from the foreign affairs department, whatever you want to know, even if I don’t have the answer, I’ll find out for you quickly.”

Hashi responded eagerly.

“Thanks in advance! I recently obtained a batch of Healing Stones and will be heading to your foreign affairs department headquarters in a few days to deliver some to you. If you aren’t there, you won’t get any.”

Mares laughed.

“Healing Stones are valuable things! Even if I’m not there, I’ll make it over.”

Hashi replied without hesitation.

“Alright then, I’ll come over half a day early.”

Only then did Mares get to the point, inquiring, “The reason I’m contacting you is that I was entrusted by someone to run an errand to the star cluster outside our main region in a few days. Since we only met once, I’m a bit uneasy; I wanted to ask you about the situation in that star cluster outside our main region.”

“Star cluster outside our main region?”

Hashi paused, slightly surprised, and said, “Those star clusters are so resource-poor that they’d practically give them to strong individuals like us as territories; no one really wants to claim them. Even you and I look down on them, not to mention our entire Tree-Dwelling Tribe.”

“The only exception is a smaller race called humans. Although this race is weak, they possess weapons that can transport troops over long distances on a large scale, and the eighth elder has granted them the status of a vassal race to our Tree-Dwelling Tribe.”

“Exactly! I’m talking about the star clusters where this human race is located.”

Mares immediately felt reassured.

From Hashi’s tone, Mares easily judged that the star cluster outside their main region was indeed invincible for them with their strength realm, just as Morris had said.

As long as safety was guaranteed, everything else would not be a problem.

“The star cluster outside our main region that you are being entrusted to go to is this one?”

Hashi’s tone shifted slightly.

“Yes!”

Mares nodded.

“Hurry up and refuse! It’s definitely Morris who contacted you. This guy is stingy and selfish; he only knows how to take advantage, and his reputation is terrible in our foreign affairs department. The farther you stay away from him, the better.”

Hashi asserted.

“Really?”

Mares was somewhat confused.

“Absolutely! You don’t doubt my words, do you?”

Hashi replied irritably.

“Alright! Once I finish what I promised, I’ll stay away from him.”

Mares suddenly felt regretful.

He had interacted with Hashi many times, and since they had built a good friendship, he naturally trusted that Hashi wouldn’t deceive him.

Had he known this would happen, he would never have agreed to help Morris.

After all, he would waste several months and have to abandon his current tasks.

Although the benefits weren’t much, he valued the connections more.

Given the resources and treasures he had accumulated, he didn’t lack this little bit of resource.

If this Morris truly was petty and stingy, even if he asked for major help, it was likely he would gain nothing in return.

“Don’t even go after finishing this task. If you can’t speak up, I’ll help you contact Morris to turn it down.”

Hashi said decisively.

“Well… I already agreed, and given Morris’s stingy nature, he offered the benefits of a thousand years of territory income as a reward, which shows this task is probably very urgent.”

Mares shook his head.

“Just refusing without reason will definitely make him extremely unhappy; he might even hold a grudge against you.”

“What nonsense about a thousand years of territory income… Even if it were ten thousand years of income, it wouldn’t be worth anything.”

Hashi scoffed.

“You don’t know; the planets in his territory have been squeezed dry. The tribe members have mostly run away.”

“Most simply, the tax department is preparing to send someone to take over the jurisdiction of his territory because the tax income has long been low.”

Mares was stunned.

The income was so low that it warranted the tax department stepping in?

So, whether it was for a thousand years, ten thousand years, or even a hundred thousand years, it wouldn’t amount to much in his eyes.

Damn it.

Had he actually been deceived?

He truly hadn’t expected that a powerful being would seek his help while calculating against him to reduce the reward.

Moreover, this person was a strong individual!

In his lifetime, he had helped countless strong beings; he had never encountered a situation like this before.

“It’s not just that the territory income isn’t worth anything; he has always been this way—extraordinarily stingy. Only he takes advantage; it’s impossible for anyone else to gain from him.”

Hashi sighed.

“The most important point is that this star cluster outside our main region simply doesn’t suit our Tree-Dwelling Tribe. In the foreign affairs department, Morris is the third envoy sent there.”

“But the first two envoys faced major troubles: one lost his body, and the other, although being strong, ended up with his soul completely destroyed.”

“Morris is the luckiest; even though he hasn’t completed the task, at least he’s still alive…”

“Isn’t it said that the strong there are invincible?”

Mares was somewhat puzzled.

“They are invincible, but the strength ceiling of that star cluster is only level 150. However, strange accidents always happen; the experiences of the previous two envoys are the best proof. The fact that Morris hasn’t completed his task yet is also the best proof.”

Hashi explained.

“Even if we sent our foreign affairs department people there, we would resolutely avoid going, even if it meant paying a hefty price.”

“Morris was sent there precisely because of his bad reputation. Don’t be fooled by his offer of worthless territory income; given his character, unless he encountered major troubles there, he wouldn’t go to such lengths.”

“In our eyes, his territory income is worthless. But for him, it’s considered very generous.”

Mares was enraged by this statement, nearly exploding with anger.

He had seen shamelessness before, but this was the first time he encountered such extreme shamelessness.

What a bastard this Morris was, a powerful being from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, considered a prominent figure among the entire tribe.

He actually deceived him, using completely negligible rewards to trick him into helping in the most dangerous place.

Moreover, to prevent him from changing his mind after discovering the truth, he had even tricked him into signing a related contract prematurely.