Secretly The Overlord

Chapter 8

"Is this truly necessary? me playing dress up." with his brows raised in stubborn frustration, Henri slowly emerged from a small makeshift tent that was obviously crudely constructed.

 Currently, Henri was clad in a unique get up — a sleek black short sleeve top that hugged against his body like a second skin, as well as baggy pants. If one peered closely, they would be able to notice that running across the fabrics of the top were faint patterns, that bore a striking resemblance with scales.

 — Reptilian scales.

 Normally in such a scenerio, the top was supposed to be both thick and heavy. But as the one wearing it, Henri noticed the top was extremely lightweight. No, scratch that — it made him feel as light as a feather .

 "You wanted to enter a place thriving with Feinds, in your regular clothing? you must be either stupid or completely oblivious. Either way, someone like you would only cause trouble for our party." finishing his piece, Chuck Tucker stomped away.

 It was like just the mere sight of Henri brought him endless annoyance.

 "He isn't always like that." while Henri was left feeling stunned by the other party's outburst, one of the female Raiders in the party approached him with a small smile.

 Vitoria Michigan.

 She was a typical blonde with a friendly face and a warm disposition. Of the seven members in the raiding party, she was the only one who didn't seem to bear a silent grudge with Henri. She was even the one who offered to lend him his current getup.

 "So it's because of me? what did I ever do to offend him?" Henri retorted, causing Vitoria to release a sigh.

 "You joining the raiding party was completely last minute. Not to mention it means the profit split will be lesser than they estimated. Chuck's wife is currently expecting their third child so he is in serious need for money." 

 "I hope you can understand."

 Henri shook his head. "Sure I understand. But that doesn't give him the free rein to act like a jerk. I am also doing this because I need the money too. He isn't the only person with money problems." Henri clicked his tongue.

Vitoria opened her lips as she was about to say something. However she was unable to do so because of the voice that suddenly cut in. "Alright guys. Gather round let's revise the strategy."

 The speaker was the raiding party's Captain; Liam Jobs. According to what Vitoria told Henri, this man was actually somebody on Damian West' payroll whose job was to supervise one of the many Nighthawks Inc affiliate raiding parties.

 Liam Jobs particular hefty body size made him easily stand out as a leader amongst men and following his announcement that was neither too loud or low, the other raiders began to gather around.

 With his gaze sweeping past Henri for a fleeting moment, he cleared his throat before he began addressing them. "I'll say this for the sake of our latest newcomer.. but once we step past those gates, we are no longer separate individuals but a team.. that means we face danger together and retreat together as well.. no greedy disposition is encouraged."

 Taking a dramatic pause, Liam continued; but this time in a more solemn tone.

 "As a weaponsmaster and an awakened Elite, I will be taking the vanguard in this operation. Vitoria as our healer, you will be running your normal route.. behind the group."

 "However unlike our early operations, Chucker won't be in charge of Vitoria's safety. You'll be providing me support at the front lines." 

 "As for the rest of you all, it is the same regular routes. Any questions before we begin?"

 "Just one." 

 "What do you want to know.. Tucker?"

 Exchanging eye contact with Henri, Chuck Tucker clicked his tongue. "The position on ensuring miss Vitoria's safety comes with a lot of responsibility."

 Although he didn't spell it outright, everyone present already knew what Chuck was driving at — Henri the new addition, was unreliable.

 "I am the Captain, so I know what I am doing. Do you think I would risk the safety of our healer?" Liam retorted sharply.

 "That's right. I didn't think so." taking Chuck's silence as a tactic sign of retreat, he added in a decisive manner that left no room for further questioning.

..

 Henri's group were not that only raiding party who were exploring St. Birdman's Park at that moment, there were more than a dozen. Passing through the gate with the rest of the group as well as other Raiders from separate parties, Henri marveled at the topography that spread out before his eyes.

 Barely a couple seconds ago he clearly remembered standing in the middle of an abandoned industrial street but as soon as they stopped past the towering gates of the pack, it was like they had just stepped into another world entirely.

  Stretching before his eyes was a plain of brown colored grass. However unlike regular grass, the ones before his eyes were nearly as tall as the average human.

 "Let's advance." displaying a peerless courageous disposition, Liam began leading the party forward.

 At first Henri was tensed. But after walking for nearly ten minutes without encountering a single mishap, he slowly began growing bored.

 "I thought you said this place was dangerous." he gave the person who happened to be walking besides him, a doubtful look.

 "It is." Vitoria replied with a small smile.

 "Tch. How many times have you guys been here?"

 "It's hard to give an accurate number. But if I were to guess, I'll say ten?"

 Henri shook his head doubtfully when he heard this response. Sensing his thoughts, Vitoria continued solemnly.

 "You must be wondering whether after repeated visits, the Feinds inside St Birdman's Park must've been completely wiped out, right?"

 "Are they not?" Henri sounded a bit disappointed. The truth of the matter was that he had actually lied to Vitoria earlier.

 Sure he wouldn't reject the money he was going to make if the expedition in St. Birdman's Park was a success. But the truth of the matter was that he was really here to earn DMG points. And he could only do that through receiving HP damage.

 Although completing the system daily quest gave him ten thousand DMG points, that value was completely worthless considering a single gold ticket was worth about a thousand DMG points and none of the ten gold ticket draws succeeded in getting him any loot from the System Lottery.

 As such, he wanted to earn DMG points in bulk and joining a Haunt Exploration Company was the wisest move. After being turned down, Henri thought joining a Raiding party was the next best thing. But from the way things were going, he was no longer sure.

 "Even if they were no Feinds present in St. Birdman's Park, that doesn't make it any less dangerous ." after pausing a bit, Vitoria finally replied in an ambiguous manner.

 "W--What is that supposed to--" Henri was forced to swallow back these words when a sharp cry reached his ears, followed by a discomforting sound.

 "Cursed Spectres spotted! everyone get into formation!"

 Gi. Gi. Gi. Gi