The Red Rain caravan was, just as the female ranger had said, not to be underestimated.
Though it had fewer wagons compared to caravans that typically fielded thirty or more, the wagons themselves were of a higher grade—they were two-horse cargo wagons, faster and capable of carrying nearly double the load of a single-horse cart, with a full twenty-four times the inventory space of an ordinary player.
Furthermore, because the wagons were of a higher tier, they could also take on two more guards per wagon than the standard models.
Being able to field a caravan of this caliber at the current stage of the game said a great deal about their capabilities and resources.
"Guild Master, there are still a few other caravans, but they won't depart until they've finished loading their full cargo. That'll be at least another three or four hours. And this particular caravan doesn't accept guards who might drop out midway," Watercolor Rose reported.
Caravans in Star Moon City were plentiful, but they didn't depart at all hours.
"Guards as strong as us, you couldn't find with a lantern—and they still pass us over. Talk about no vision," Ke Le scoffed. He had just equipped the Blue Fire Sacred Shield and felt his strength had climbed another notch. Being rejected by the Red Rain caravan rubbed him the wrong way.
Shi Feng glanced over at the Red Rain caravan in the distance, where they were recruiting guards.
The caravan had a total of sixteen Bronze-grade wagons. Each Bronze wagon could hold up to five people—two more than the standard models—which meant the Red Rain caravan could accommodate a total of eighty travelers. Subtracting their own personnel, they could take on at most fifty outsiders. Having a six-person squad eat up one-eighth of those slots would certainly make a dent in their overall combat power.
At the moment, Shi Feng and his companions were all clad in black cloaks, concealing their identities. Outsiders had no way of discerning their faces, let alone their guild affiliation.
Otherwise, given Zero Wing's influence across the Star Moon Kingdom, the Red Rain caravan would have at least shown them some face.
But Shi Feng had no intention of exposing their whereabouts.
Every major guild had its own intelligence network, constantly gathering information on or tailing key members of rival guilds, probing their movements or looking for opportunities to ambush them.
Zero Wing was now a household name in the Star Moon Kingdom, which naturally drew attention from all sides. On top of that, Zero Wing had no shortage of enemies, meaning the scrutiny was even heavier—and some of them might even come after them directly.
Shi Feng wasn't afraid of being ganged up on, but if their plans were disrupted, or the location and capture method of the rare guild mount was exposed, that would be a devastating loss. That was why he'd ordered the entire team to hide their identities.
"Let me go talk to them again." Shi Feng shook his head with a smile and walked over to the female ranger leading the group.
"You again? I already told you, our guard slots are precious. We can't take on people who might bail halfway through," said the ranger named Red Rain.
"What if we don't ask for any pay? Would one gold coin work as a travel fee?" Shi Feng produced a gleaming gold coin from his pocket.
The Red Rain caravan hauled a sizable amount of cargo, but it wasn't exactly raking in profits. A single gold coin was no small sum for them.
Shi Feng could see hesitation flickering across Red Rain's eyes.
"The Soraya Great Forest is only half the journey, but most of the danger on the route comes from that forest. Once we pass through it, the rest should be smooth sailing. How about we split off from the caravan after it clears the Soraya Great Forest?" Shi Feng added.
"That..." Red Rain was clearly tempted.