The leader looked at the expressions on the faces of the four men and guessed what was going through their minds, but he didn’t hide anything, addressing the team members following him directly, "I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I did it on purpose.

After this mission is completed, there are actually two settlement bonuses. One is the settlement bonus posted on the notice board, and the other is the disability compensation given by the employer after the mission is completed."

Seeing that the third was about to speak again, the leader quickly interrupted, "Don’t be anxious, if you have any questions, wait until I’ve explained everything.

In fact, the so-called disability compensation is only paid according to the number of people who die inside the institution. The stronger the person, the more compensation is paid, but it’s limited to those who die inside. Those who die outside won’t receive any compensation."

Seeing the fluctuating expressions on the other team members’ faces, the leader sighed again and continued with some struggle, "Just as you are thinking right now, as long as we retrieve the target on the altar, the more people die inside the institution, the more compensation we’ll receive after the mission is completed.

You should have also guessed, for a higher reward, what some teams would do.

Any smart person, from the decrepit appearance of the institution, could guess that the items revealed in those boxes inside the rooms must be fishy. After all, after several rounds of natural disasters, how could any building remain intact outside?

Don’t just look at that courtyard. While it may seem very dilapidated on the outside, if you think about it, both the courtyard walls and the buildings inside, other than looking old on the surface, show no signs of even being on the verge of collapse.

From these aspects, we can sense the strangeness of this courtyard, and those boxes are actually bait for fishing, looking very tempting but at the same time dangerous and deadly."

Having opened his heart as though unburdening himself, the leader poured out why he had taken on this mission, "Actually, I’ve already known about the restlessness in our team, so I specially took this mission to test how many people were willing to listen to me."

With a cold laugh, the leader continued, "But what I never expected was that my own brother would betray me. No matter what, I’m his elder brother. If he had complaints about me, couldn’t he have just told me to my face? Does betraying me so directly make him happy?"

Before leaving, I thought about warning them, but seeing the resentment in my brother’s eyes, I couldn’t be bothered to remind them. Heavens may forgive misdeeds, but self-inflicted ones are often beyond salvation.

Since they have betrayed the team, there’s no need for me to worry about their safety anymore. After leaving the team, their fate is no longer my concern."

After his venting narration, the leader posed another question to the rest, "In the past, following me may have earned you less, but when we carried out missions, there were hardly any casualties.

They were jealous of the other teams that made more money and wanted to collectively force a change in leadership. But did they ever consider that seeing a thief being beaten doesn’t show how the thief was actually caught?

I originally thought that this time, one-third of the team would oppose me, greedy for the items inside the building, and the rest would trust me and leave with me.

When the time came to collect the mission reward, I hoped they would realize where the extra money came from after seeing a larger sum in their hands, and from then on follow me without any foolish thoughts.

But never did I imagine that only the four of you would remain with me this time, not even my own brother trusts me anymore.

Well, well, well, fate dictates everything, and humans can’t control any of it!"

Hearing the leader’s self-consoling remarks, the four men remained silent, bowing their heads and quickening their pace on the road.

Since it involved his brother, even though his brother had been the one to betray him, they were still blood brothers after all. At a time like this, outsiders interjecting, whether to support or to separate, could potentially lead to discontent at some point in the future, which is why staying silent was the best course of action.

Watching his subordinates quicken their pace in silence, Zachary was somewhat at a loss for words. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

However, based on his recent narration, combined with having seen a controlled survivor voluntarily place an object on the altar before they left, Zachary speculated that there was definitely a connection between that place and the camp he was about to reach.

And hearing about the actual situation of that courtyard’s mission, which was kept from the common people but was an open secret among middle and upper management in the camp,

he realized that many Adventure Team leaders, like the one below, would use the eerie situation of the courtyard to test their team members’ obedience to themselves.

Reflecting on this, Zachary couldn’t help but feel that the ways of the world were quite peculiar.

In some areas, to increase the population to combat the impacts of disasters, single men and women would be forcibly paired to create new families, and families with more children would receive material rewards.

Yet in other areas, where the population was already abundant, Adventure Teams had specialists to conduct danger tests, and these leaders, in order to assess their team members’ obedience, would choose such fatal methods of testing.