An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

“Ms. Linsor, this is what we found around the camp. It has a strange smell, and it must have attracted the desert rats.” Osley held a pile of black stuff in his hands and walked over to Grace and others.

The pile of black stuff was the size of green peas. It appeared to be some sort of bait and had an awful stench.

“What’s this?” Grace was a little curious. She moved forward and gave the foul-smelling substance a sniff.

“It looks like a mixture of food and chemical substances. I experimented with it just now. The stench of this mixture can quickly attract desert rats, “Osley explained.

“Hence, the desert rat invasion of our food supplies wasn’t an accident. Is someone plotting against us?” Grace’s suspicions were quickly confirmed. It was obvious that this bait for the desert rats was not produced naturally.

“That’s very possible.” Osley nodded and replied, “This black substance was sprinkled around the camp of our food supplies. It was an obvious attempt to lure the desert rats here.

“Besides, all of our night guards dozed off almost around the same time. It’s very likely that they were drugged. Judging from all available evidence, I think there’s a rat among us!”

“They followed us all this way and decided to destroy our supplies when we took a break.

“In doing so, they know very well that we’ll be left without a backup plan. The mastermind is really cruel!” Grace’s gaze was chilly as she narrowed her eyes.

She was sure that she made no enemies, but it was also true that someone was out there to thwart her plans. First, it was the poisoning at the hotel. Now, it was the desert rat invasion. They were really out for blood!

It didn’t matter if she was a generous person. No one would tolerate this constant pestering.

“Damn it! If I find out the person behind this, I’d skin them alive!” Garett shouted angrily.

“The martial world is a dangerous place, and people are cruel. The trail that we followed is quite hidden, and how would an outsider find out?” Dustin’s question struck a chord.

They left around midnight, and there was a sandstorm on their way here. It’d be very hard to track them down, given that the sandstorm blew away any telltale signs of their existence. The possibility of having an inside rat was high, given the situation.

a mole?” Grace frowned and quickly

likely. There isn’t any other plausible explanation.” Dustin

are you suspecting

quickly explained himself to prove

never do such a despicable deed.

I believe you!” Dustin

were up to me, I’d never do anything as

a fight. I have no need for cowardly acts like this.” Aidan crossed

status as a grandmaster, who could stop him if he really

not commit such a crime.” Dustin seized

have concrete evidence, I suggest that you keep your suspicions to yourself. Don’t even try to pick a fight,” Garett said

more united than ever now that this happened. We shouldn’t be suspicious of

fallen into the enemy’s trap if we got into a dispute.”

just guessing. We can’t harbor ill thoughts toward others, but at the same time, we must remain vigilant,” Dustin

a very clever move as it would leave no evidence behind. This

Can we please think of ways to overcome this situation?” Osley decided

do

to take inventory. We can only survive for around three days with what we have left.” Osley sighed

to survive in the desert for a month. They didn’t have much left after the desert

That’s too little for us even to continue our journey. Not to

only reaching the oasis tomorrow, and she had no idea how long they would

Linsor, what should we do now?”

we came to replenish our supplies. When you have purchased