Chapter 23: Mud in the Pants
Su Xiao picked up the treasure chest on the ground and turned to leave. His next target was the Gatekeeper, Frank.
He really hadn’t expected that Frank, who had nearly been castrated by the little vice officer at the start, would turn out to be one of the mission targets.
Su Xiao returned to the Imperial Capital overnight. At 11 PM, he arrived at the clothing store where Frank was located. Beneath it was the secret prison.
Standing on the roof of the clothing store, without any visible movement, he leaped to the window of the third floor.
Opening the window easily, Su Xiao entered the room on the third floor. In front of the fireplace inside sat a figure, throwing the last book in his hand into the flames.
“The Soul Walker is dead, huh.”
The speaker was Frank. He took off the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and tossed them into the fire as well.
“So it’s you, Mr. Kukulin. Lucky you didn’t bring that fierce vice officer of yours. Is she really a woman?”
Frank smiled at Su Xiao. Su Xiao looked him up and down. Same feeling as before—he was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.
“From a physiological standpoint, she is a woman.”
Su Xiao walked to the fireplace, pulled over a chair, and sat down. He felt he might learn something from Frank.
“Having such a beautiful vice officer is the dream of many men.”
Frank showed a knowing smile. He rolled a cigarette with brown paper, lit a match with slightly trembling hands, and after lighting the cigarette, took a deep drag.
“Cough, cough, cough. Mr. Kukulin, ask what you want. After you’re done, give me a quick end. No other requests. I’ve enjoyed everything life had to offer. No regrets.”
Though Frank wasn’t strong, he faced death head-on. He was a real man.
“Hand over the key to the Earth City.”
“As expected, that’s your goal. Truly remarkable.”
Frank reached into his collar, grabbed a pendant, and snapped it off with a crack.
“This is the key. By the way, let me tell you, this is something our Middleton family has guarded for dozens of generations. The current Soul Speaker is actually my biological sister. I was supposed to become the Soul Speaker, but she was too hungry for power, even forgetting family bonds.”
Frank tossed the key on the pendant to Su Xiao. Su Xiao caught it, and a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[The Hunter has obtained the Key to the Earth City.]
……
“Dozens of generations of inheritance, most of the secrets lost along the way. Even gods can fall, so what’s impossible? The soul flame of the Middleton family died out long ago. What’s the point of still believing in the so-called Moon God?”
Frank sneered, as if venting his pent-up dissatisfaction.
“Those who believe in the Moon God are either seeking power or are empty inside, hoping—no, no, no—they’re kneeling and begging the gods to protect them. In the end, they’re just a bunch of cowardly hypocrites. If you want something, you have to earn it with your own hands! Your own wisdom! Your own effort!”
Frank puffed out his chest. Everything he had now wasn’t gained through his special status, but through his own struggle.
“The Moon Prayer Chapter, verse 173: ‘Suffering is God’s test for people.’ My family believed in that bullshit theory. In my view, never believe that suffering is worthwhile. Suffering is just suffering. What truly leads to the light is only personal ability, wisdom, and diligence—doing what ordinary people can’t.”
Frank let out a long sigh, as if finally speaking the words that had been weighing on his heart.
“I was born a gatekeeper. I barely became an imperial official, only to end up as a prison warden. Maybe that’s fate. Mr. Kukulin, forgive my rudeness. Do you have any questions?”
“Is Earth Dragon Tamen also from your family?”
Su Xiao’s third target was Earth Dragon Tamen. This one was troublesome—he was the top combatant under the Moon Goddess.
“Of course not. If my family had a powerhouse like that, we wouldn’t have fallen so low. But he is indeed connected to my family. Legend says Tamen ate an earth dragon to gain his current power. Actually, that’s not just a legend. That earth dragon was originally raised by our Middleton family, and Tamen caught and ate it. He’s the strongest human I’ve ever seen in my life—stronger than you can imagine.”
Frank looked somewhat helpless. He vaguely remembered riding on Sba’s back as a child (Sba: the earth dragon’s name), running around with him. And Sba was only brutal to enemies.
“No more questions.”
D·Assassination appeared in Su Xiao’s hand.
“Damn it. Suddenly I don’t want to die. It’s not as peaceful as I imagined. Mr. Kukulin, how about I work for you?”
“……”
Su Xiao said nothing.
“Sorry… let me calm down…”
Bang.
The bullet from D·Assassination fired, piercing Frank’s head. His cry of “Someone, help!” never left his throat. In truth, aside from those who often face life and death, most people can’t face death calmly.
“Cunning but not smart enough.”
Su Xiao picked up the shell casing on the ground, cleaned up the scene, and then leaped out the window.
The Imperial Capital’s night seemed calm, but undercurrents were already stirring. All that was needed was the final spark to ignite the powder keg.
The next morning, the Flower of the Empire, Sonia, came knocking.
Though Su Xiao’s reputation at the Moon God Monastery was nearly negative ten thousand, Sonia still smiled when she looked at him.
Today was the day the Simoro Empire’s envoy arrived. The empire’s representatives on their side were Su Xiao and Sonia, who would negotiate war reparations.
This reparation was interesting. The Simoro Empire publicly claimed they came to the Dawn Empire to demand reparations, but in reality, they were here to pay reparations to the Dawn Empire. Of course, the amount wouldn’t be large—just a token gesture, since the previous war had only given the Dawn Empire an advantage in local battles.
Both foreign ministries held their ground, neither willing to concede publicly. The Simoro Empire’s stance was clear: they could pay reparations, but they couldn’t announce it.
Old Holy King didn’t really care about that. As long as the gold pounds were in hand, the subsequent bickering didn’t matter. This wasn’t the first time—last war, the Dawn Empire had paid reparations and similarly denied it.
At 8 AM, the Simoro Empire’s escort entered the Dawn Empire’s capital. The envoy, Nigal, arrived at the mansion at 9 AM.
By 10 AM, 2,000 soldiers were stationed near the mansion. 1,000 were sent by the Simoro Empire, and the remaining 1,000 were disguised as soldiers from their own empire’s Transcendents.
On the surface, the Simoro soldiers stood in neat formation, looking imposing. But if a fight broke out, their 1,000 Transcendents could shove those soldiers’ heads up their own asses.
The mansion was lavishly built. In the main hall, a round negotiation table was set up. The Simoro envoy, Nigal, sat across the table, flanked by a man and a woman. The man was the Simoro military representative, and the woman handled financial matters.
On their side, Sonia wore a pair of narrow-rimmed glasses, flipping through documents. Beside her, Su Xiao leaned back in his chair, resting.
“Ms. Sonia, do you have any objections to the specific amount?”
Envoy Nigal spoke. His manner of speaking was clever—he didn’t directly say “reparations.”
Envoy Nigal had his hair slicked back with oil, and the perpetual smile on his face gave him an innate likability. His actual Charm attribute was as high as 117 points, and his language and negotiation skills were rated by Reincarnation Paradise as Master Level Lv.56. No wonder the Simoro Empire sent him.
“This amount is insufficient to compensate for our country’s losses. The war was initiated by you Simoro.”
As soon as Sonia finished speaking, a harsh whistling sound came. Su Xiao beside her leaped up instantly and swung his blade.
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave spread. Wood chips and gravel flew. Envoy Nigal and the man and woman beside him vanished, turned into a spray of minced flesh. Two dark, gaping holes appeared in the ground. This was an assassination from the world’s strongest weapon—the Steam High-Pressure Cannon.
Su Xiao’s hand holding the blade went numb. He had slashed at that high-pressure shell and cut it in two. But even though he drastically reduced the power of that damn thing, the enemy envoy was still blasted into bits.