GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The two events are most likely independent of each other, but that won't stop him from being suspicious.

However, it it didn't matter if he believed it because he had been instructed to accept Amelia and get on with things as if nothing happened to him.

So even if Amelia had returned with a shoddy and unbelievable excuse, he would have still accepted her back in the group and continued with what they were doing.

Legion watched as Amelia was given entry past the defenses of the base. They couldn't see anything from where they were, so they didn't know exactly what had happened in the base.

They didn't know what Amelia was asked or what excuse she gave for her absence. This lack of awareness didn't sit right with them. They didn't like it at all.

Legion-4 tsked in annoyance and said, "This is the shortcoming of the pathway of slavery. There is no way to ensure loyalty when we are just starting out in the pathway."

Legion-12 said in agreement, "In fact, using the mark of bondage so early is like digging a grave. We will be screwed immensely if something goes wrong. It is why slavers die early. They get carried away and they screw up."

Legion-8 shrugged. "At least we can see the emotions of the two of them through the mark of bondage. That way we will be able to tell betrayal before it happens. Maybe we might even be able to dissuade the betrayal."

Legion-10 shook his head. "We might or we might not. Either way, I think it is a good thing that we didn't let the two of them know that the other one is a slave. They can keep an eye on each other for us."

Legion-2 nodded. "Yeah. If they knew that both of them had been compromised, they might work together. They can only suspect each other for now. Unfortunately, it isn't going to be enough to stop betrayal."

Legion-3 sighed and said, "At the least, the direct threat to us has been resolved. They don't know that we are the person that Amelia went to track. If something bad happens, there will only be a tenuous link between us and the person who enslaved them. The link will be largely based on suspicion, and we already have a public persona as killers, so we should be largely off the hook."

Legion-7 said, "Whatever. What matters now is that we grow stronger, and this bunch can help us with that."

They continued to watch for a while to make sure that Amelia or any other person in the group doesn't come out to try and track them or figure out their identity.

This wait lasted for four hours. But they didn't see anything out of place, and they couldn't tell anything suspicious about the emotions of their two slaves.

This made them slightly relieved. They were only slightly relieved because they expect that this calmness can be the calmness before a storm.

They have tried their best with what they have, but they know that what they have done is not enough for what they intend to achieve with the crew of five.

They have many reasons to be worried, one of which is that they can't ensure the loyalty of their slaves. The second reason is that they have no means to kill their slaves if they betray them.

They can give their slaves a lot of pain through the mark of bondage, but it is not enough to kill them. The worst thing they can do if the two slaves disregard the pain is to crack the minds of the two of them and turn them into suicidal idiots who can't put together too many thoughts but are fixated on killing themselves to end the pain of their fractured minds.

That isn't enough to eliminate them as a threat in the future because there are many abilities that can resolve the issue of a fractured mind. Once they are healed, they can then tell people about what they know about the person who enslaved them.

So these two people are a source of danger to them. It is minimal danger because they covered their tracks well. But it is only to a certain extent. A powerful seer will still be able to find them.

They could have avoided this problem by killing Amelia and even her group. But they didn't want to do that because they were greedy for more. They wanted to turn the dangerous group into a useful tool for them, not just to eliminate the threat that they posed to them.

They didn't keep the group for money. They don't lack money. What they lacked was a way to do things secretly.

For example, in the matter of energy waters. They can have this group of people buy energy water for them.

This will let them avoid the danger of exposing their wealth and having someone try to track them down. But this is just the start of what they could use the group for.

They can use the group for other things that they want to do but don't want to do themselves, such as robbing people. At the end of the day, they can always kill the five godclads for their divine flesh and their possession if they turn out to be useless.

They are clearly being greedy. They wanted to resolve a threat and gain a useful tool at the same time. They wanted to eat their cake and have it. It is why they risk exposing their identities like this.

But they are not cowed by the risk. As long as they keep their distance from the group, they should be mostly fine.

After making sure that there was nothing amiss, they decided to go home. On their way home, the brand of the oath to the god of justice began to burn. The mark was glowing and causing them both physical and mental pain.