As Xu Feng finally came clean and decided to be honest, mainly because he was tired of this detective kind of game, Carmen herself was stunned.
For some reason, she could sense that his words were genuine, but that was what made it confusing.
Not once had she truly displayed any potential of being an expert, but Xu Feng seemed confident in her more than she did for herself.
How was it possible?
'Is he a prophet and knows about my future?' Carmen thought to herself, before quickly brushing the idea off.
Prophet… yeah, it was mostly a scam to deceive others and let them learn what they wanted to know.
After taking a few moments to compose herself, she flashed a solemn expression and questioned, "Are you trying to recruit me in your future guild? And it's not out of some other nefarious intention?"
Xu Feng equally showed a solemn expression and nodded his head.
"That's right, I know a diamond in the rough at a glance. You just haven't met me during your earlier interactions so you stumbled quite a bit." He readily said in the most natural manner. If others were to suddenly hear what he just said, they would most definitely call him a boaster or scammer.
However, contrary to ordinary people's responses, Carmen simply smiled.
"Phew, so you are really just interested in my potential." She exclaimed, clasping her hands. "But don't say I will disappoint you when you see my actual combat style. You can retract your invitation by that time too."
"We shall see then." Xu Feng smiled, clearly thankful for his honesty, rewarding him dearly this time.
Had he chosen to continue to lie, then it was most likely over for him, or at the very least, troublesome for him to interact with her.
Meanwhile, Jeff seemed very annoyed when these two were taking their sweet time conversing regardless of his presence.
"Are the two of you going to continue to talk and wait until it's nighttime?" Jeff questioned, seemingly feeling irritated by their attitude.
"Let's continue talking while we follow him, Carmen." Xu Feng chuckled softly and suggested.
"Jeff is getting jealous that you are paying attention to me and not him, but serve him right for rejecting the 10 copper coins payment. If it was me, I'd gladly accept it in a heartbeat." He added, taking a jab at Jeff.
Who told him to be so rude as to interrupt his coercion— convincing and persuading Carmen to sign a contract with him in the future guild he would create when the time was right?
"Will you really do that though?" Carmen asked, a tinge of anticipation sparkled in her eyes.
"No," Xu Feng coolly said, and before she became disappointed, he continued, "I will do it for free as long as you agree to become my future guild member."
"You trust me that much?"
"Yes, and I want you!"
Startled, Carmen was speechless by his response. Others might have mistaken him for wanting her in a naughty way, but she knew he meant her as a member of his future guild.
"I'm starting to believe you are taking in the joy of messing with Jeff." Carmen flatly commented, unwilling to give him an edge to continue his tease.
"Welp, I've been exposed." Xu Feng shrugged. Having done so much scheming behind the scenes lately, it was indeed somewhat relaxing to take a break and just enjoy himself.
It was especially true when the conversation was with Carmen, someone who looked naive at first glance but was actually quite sharp in nature. She knew when he was joking and serious without needing him to emphasize anything.
So far, only Zhao Kai had been able to do that with him, but now Carmen was added to the list.
Sometime later, the trio walked across the streets and Carmen was astonished by the clear path.
"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing left and right in confusion. "Where did all the players from earlier go?"
Previously, when she exited the library and attempted to head to the Mercenary Association, the street was overflowed with players, causing her quite the distress.
It was only supposed to take her a few minutes to get from the library to the association, but the result was a far cry from it.
A whopping 34 minutes was how long it took her to navigate from the crowded traffic. To make things worse, she nearly missed her stop with so many players pushing her from behind.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng merely smiled, keeping silent on the matter. Though it wasn't much of a secret as long as one opened the game forum and checked on the current news.
OneManMedia's video exploded in popularity with nearly a million views already. Many even commented on the posts, asking for him to reveal more hideout locations.
After all, the location they went to raid might not have a rare piece of equipment dropped, with many dying in the process from the rebels, they still managed to gain Uncommon equipment.
In the current stage, getting Uncommon equipment was amazing already. Not to mention, the risk was worth it once they realized these rebels killed would gain them a reputation for their respective town they started in.
Therefore, numerous players were now turning their attention to raiding the hideout.
Of course, uninterested players such as Xu Feng and Carmen were exceptions.
"Hmm, we'll need to take the East side exit but remember to stay close to me. There are tricky monsters in that side of the region, so it's best to remain alert." Jeff suddenly warned, seemingly trying to be relevant.
"Don't worry about it and just make the way for us." Xu Feng calmly responded. "Even if we do get injured somehow by them, I can easily heal Carmen to full."
"You're a healer?" Carmen exclaimed in surprise, clearly not expecting Xu Feng to be a Cleric class.
After all, Clerics are known to be in the backline, providing support to the tanks and DPS.
Their roles are important, but they were also the most unrecognizable in regard to achievement. When successful, it was not the Cleric's credit, but when it was a failure, it was definitely the Cleric's fault.
"That's right, I'm a one-of-a-kind healer." Xu Feng smiled.