diff --git a/src/main/java/rs/iggy/clients/blocking/tcp/BytesDeserializer.java b/src/main/java/rs/iggy/clients/blocking/tcp/BytesDeserializer.java
index 2ec17da..e6bdc50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rs/iggy/clients/blocking/tcp/BytesDeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rs/iggy/clients/blocking/tcp/BytesDeserializer.java
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import rs.iggy.consumergroup.ConsumerGroup;
 import rs.iggy.consumergroup.ConsumerGroupDetails;
 import rs.iggy.consumergroup.ConsumerGroupMember;
@@ -21,8 +19,6 @@
 
 final class BytesDeserializer {
 
-    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BytesDeserializer.class);
-
     private BytesDeserializer() {
     }
 
@@ -60,7 +56,7 @@ public static TopicDetails readTopicDetails(ByteBuf response) {
         return new TopicDetails(topic, partitions);
     }
 
-    private static Partition readPartition(ByteBuf response) {
+    static Partition readPartition(ByteBuf response) {
         var partitionId = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
         var createdAt = readU64AsBigInteger(response);
         var segmentsCount = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
@@ -105,7 +101,7 @@ public static ConsumerGroupDetails readConsumerGroupDetails(ByteBuf response) {
         return new ConsumerGroupDetails(consumerGroup, members);
     }
 
-    private static ConsumerGroupMember readConsumerGroupMember(ByteBuf response) {
+    static ConsumerGroupMember readConsumerGroupMember(ByteBuf response) {
         var memberId = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
         var partitionsCount = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
         List<Long> partitionIds = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -131,24 +127,10 @@ public static ConsumerOffsetInfo readConsumerOffsetInfo(ByteBuf response) {
         return new ConsumerOffsetInfo(partitionId, currentOffset, storedOffset);
     }
 
-    private static BigInteger readU64AsBigInteger(ByteBuf buffer) {
-        var bytesArray = new byte[9];
-        buffer.readBytes(bytesArray, 0, 8);
-        ArrayUtils.reverse(bytesArray);
-        return new BigInteger(bytesArray);
-    }
-
-    private static BigInteger readU128AsBigInteger(ByteBuf buffer) {
-        var bytesArray = new byte[17];
-        buffer.readBytes(bytesArray, 0, 16);
-        ArrayUtils.reverse(bytesArray);
-        return new BigInteger(bytesArray);
-    }
-
     public static PolledMessages readPolledMessages(ByteBuf response) {
         var partitionId = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
         var currentOffset = readU64AsBigInteger(response);
-        var messagesCount = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
+        var _messagesCount = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
         var messages = new ArrayList<Message>();
         while (response.isReadable()) {
             messages.add(readMessage(response));
@@ -156,7 +138,7 @@ public static PolledMessages readPolledMessages(ByteBuf response) {
         return new PolledMessages(partitionId, currentOffset, messages);
     }
 
-    private static Message readMessage(ByteBuf response) {
+    static Message readMessage(ByteBuf response) {
         var offset = readU64AsBigInteger(response);
         var stateCode = response.readByte();
         var state = MessageState.fromCode(stateCode);
@@ -167,21 +149,44 @@ private static Message readMessage(ByteBuf response) {
         var headers = Optional.<Map<String, HeaderValue>>empty();
         if (headersLength > 0) {
             var headersMap = new HashMap<String, HeaderValue>();
-            ByteBuf headersBytes = response.readBytes(Long.valueOf(headersLength).intValue());
+            ByteBuf headersBytes = response.readBytes(toInt(headersLength));
             while (headersBytes.isReadable()) {
                 var keyLength = headersBytes.readUnsignedIntLE();
-                var key = headersBytes.readCharSequence(Long.valueOf(keyLength).intValue(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8).toString();
+                var key = headersBytes.readCharSequence(toInt(keyLength), StandardCharsets.UTF_8).toString();
                 var kindCode = headersBytes.readByte();
                 var kind = HeaderKind.fromCode(kindCode);
                 var valueLength = headersBytes.readUnsignedIntLE();
-                var value = headersBytes.readCharSequence(Long.valueOf(valueLength).intValue(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+                var value = headersBytes.readCharSequence(toInt(valueLength), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
                 headersMap.put(key, new HeaderValue(kind, String.valueOf(value)));
             }
             headers = Optional.of(headersMap);
         }
         var payloadLength = response.readUnsignedIntLE();
-        var payload = new byte[Long.valueOf(payloadLength).intValue()];
+        var payload = newByteArray(payloadLength);
         response.readBytes(payload);
-        return new Message(offset, state, timestamp, id, checksum, headers, new String(payload));
+        return new Message(offset, state, timestamp, id, checksum, headers, payload);
+    }
+
+    private static BigInteger readU64AsBigInteger(ByteBuf buffer) {
+        var bytesArray = new byte[9];
+        buffer.readBytes(bytesArray, 0, 8);
+        ArrayUtils.reverse(bytesArray);
+        return new BigInteger(bytesArray);
     }
+
+    private static BigInteger readU128AsBigInteger(ByteBuf buffer) {
+        var bytesArray = new byte[17];
+        buffer.readBytes(bytesArray, 0, 16);
+        ArrayUtils.reverse(bytesArray);
+        return new BigInteger(bytesArray);
+    }
+
+    private static int toInt(Long size) {
+        return size.intValue();
+    }
+
+    private static byte[] newByteArray(Long size) {
+        return new byte[size.intValue()];
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/rs/iggy/message/Message.java b/src/main/java/rs/iggy/message/Message.java
index c7fd067..75a73ea 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rs/iggy/message/Message.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rs/iggy/message/Message.java
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package rs.iggy.message;
 
 import java.math.BigInteger;
-import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
@@ -12,11 +11,6 @@ public record Message(
         BigInteger id,
         Long checksum,
         Optional<Map<String, HeaderValue>> headers,
-        String payload
+        byte[] payload
 ) {
-
-    String getDecodedPayload() {
-        return new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(payload));
-    }
-
 }