Chapter 5: Title Forging
Inside a tent with a white cloth hanging at the entrance, painted with a goat head, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Kaiser sat around a small round wooden table. On the table was a wooden tray holding half a round-tailed sheep.
The tail sheep had been boiled until the meat fell off the bone. A single fork could lift a large chunk. Not grabbing food directly with hands was a tradition in the Sand Flame Kingdom. Food was precious, and with the heavy sandstorms, using hands would get sand on the food. As for washing hands before meals, this was a desert kingdom, water was scarce. Commoners only used fine sand to clean their bodies; only the extremely wealthy could afford to bathe with water.
Su Xiao chewed the mutton in his mouth. The meat was soft and sticky, a rich meaty flavor filling his mouth. When it felt greasy, he took a sip of cactus fruit juice. This slightly bitter juice instantly eliminated the greasiness.
"Su, ptooey ptooey, Bai Ye, when do we set off?"
Kaiser spoke with grease dripping from his mouth. He swallowed the last bite of mutton, let out a satisfied burp, and was already full up to his neck, unable to eat any more.
"After this meal, we head to Sand Capital."
Su Xiao took a sip of juice, lit a cigarette, and placed a gold coin on the table.
"So soon? Aren't you going to say hello to the Violators? They've been very active. If it weren't for the last batch of Battle Angels arriving, they would have been ready to kill a god. Ah, Kaiser is very sincere. Those Battle Angels actually said I was cunning. My dear friend, do you think I'm cunning?"
"..."
"Kaiser understands. In your heart, Kaiser must be a simple person."
"..."
Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the tent. After a while, the small restaurant owner chased after him, holding the gold coin, looking anxious. He really couldn't make change.
"Good taste."
"Guest, this..."
The small restaurant owner was flustered, not knowing what to say for a moment, and could only watch Su Xiao and the others walk away.
Sand Capital was not close to Es Saba. They had to cross a large desert. Of course, this was the case if they had no money. With enough gold coins, they could go to the city edge and ride a Giant Rock Dragon.
The Giant Rock Dragon was not a dragon race, but an extremely large super-sized creature. After generations of domestication, they had become a means of transportation. Flying from Es Saba to Sand Capital would take at most 9 hours, provided they didn't encounter an air disaster.
The sky above the desert was not a safe place. There were many flying super-sized creatures, some even preying on Giant Rock Dragons.
Under Kaiser's lead, Su Xiao followed the main street through Es Saba and arrived at the oasis area on the opposite side of the city.
The oasis area was a lush green, with an oval lake located here. Unfortunately, the water here was undrinkable. Fine sand, too fine to filter, was mixed in the water. Anyone who dared to drink this water would have kidneys harder than stone within a few days.
Arriving at the city edge, Su Xiao saw the Giant Rock Dragon. He had previously thought it was a small hill.
The Giant Rock Dragon was astonishingly huge. On its back were wooden structures, dozens of wooden huts connected, fixed to the Giant Rock Dragon's back with iron chains.
"Sand Capital, Sand Capital, departing in half a ke (1 ke equals 1 hour 7 minutes)."
A man with a turban shouted loudly. On the Giant Rock Dragon's back sat a young man, carrying a strong bow, chewing something in his mouth, his eyes a muddy yellow. This was a super-sized being with a Holy Soul.
"Count us in. What's the price to Sand Capital?"
"5 Gold Shields each."
"Why don't you just rob us? 5 gold coins?!"
"Now it's 6 Gold Shields."
The turban man gave a wry smile and crossed his arms.
"For your personal safety, it's better to stick with 5 gold coins."
Kaiser was very sincere.
"Hmph, of course not..." The turban man stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Baha staring at him. This made him change his tune, saying, "20 Gold Shields total. This way, please."
The turban man made a gesture of invitation. The young man on the Giant Rock Dragon's back breathed a sigh of relief.
Using the Giant Rock Dragon's long tail as a staircase, Su Xiao climbed onto the back of this giant beast. The turban man walked quickly ahead and pushed open a wooden hut.
"Departing in half a ke, no matter how many guests are on this trip."
Leaving this sentence, the turban man quickly walked down the Giant Rock Dragon's back and started shouting again.
Sitting inside the wooden hut, Su Xiao looked at the slightly grimy glass window. Kaiser beside him looked around, clearly having never ridden a Giant Rock Dragon before.
"Kaiser, are you sure riding this thing will get us to Sand Capital quickly?"
"Yes, as long as we don't encounter an air disaster, definitely."
"The way you say that... wait! I can fly too. Why did I buy a ticket?"
Baha finally realized. Kaiser gave a mysterious smile, meaning, in this world, you wouldn't want to fly long distances, Baha.
Not long after, Su Xiao felt the wooden hut shake, starting to tilt upward. The view outside the window rose. Within a few minutes, clouds appeared outside the window.
The Giant Rock Dragon flew relatively smoothly, only slightly bumpy. Amidst the howling wind outside the window, Su Xiao triggered a side mission.
[Tip: You have triggered a side mission: Aerial Raiders.]
[Side Mission: Aerial Raiders]
Difficulty Level: Lv.50 ~ Lv.52
Mission Info: Stop the aerial raiding group.
Mission Time Limit: 1 hour.
Mission Reward: Soul Crystal (Large) x2 + Uphold Justice (Low-Grade Title)
Mission Penalty: Deduct 900,000 Paradise Coins. If Paradise Coins are insufficient, Soul Coins will be deducted. If Soul Coins are insufficient, currently worn equipment will be deducted.
...
Su Xiao had seen in the prompts earlier that this world had many side missions and hidden missions, but he didn't expect this many. Riding a Giant Rock Dragon actually triggered a mission.
This was no coincidence. Only one Giant Rock Dragon flew from Es Saba to Sand Capital each day.
Compared to the side mission, the situation with the second part of the main mission was a bit strange. Not only did he have to reach Sand Capital, but he also had to obtain 30,000 gold coins before it could be activated.
"Boss, are we going to uphold justice?"
Baha's voice was almost cracking. After all, Su Xiao's team had done everything, but stopping a robbery was indeed a first.
"What?"
Kaiser was dumbfounded. He felt he might have misheard.
"Baha, you handle it. Kaiser, I'll leave the follow-up negotiations to you."
"Subdue that raiding group?"
"Kill them all."
"Got it."
Baha disappeared instantly. After a few seconds, screams came from the neighboring wooden hut. A few seconds later, the screams abruptly stopped.
Baha returned, blood still on his claws. He placed a few money pouches on the table.
"Boss, I found something very interesting."
"What?"
"That raiding group seems to be in cahoots with the owner of this Giant Rock Dragon."
Bang!
The wooden hut door was kicked open, followed by a roar.
"Idiot, don't break my door. Kill them all. Lady Carros doesn't want to see them in Sand Capital."
"As you command."
Several men in leather armor, holding curved swords, walked into the wooden hut. At the door was the young man carrying the strong bow, and behind him was the turban man. It was he who had shouted that sentence.
"Carros, the Sand Flame Kingdom's Minis..."
"Minister of Finance, that's the financial officer. These are Carros's people!"
Kaiser finished this sentence and shrank into the corner. He wasn't afraid of getting hurt, but worried about blood splattering on him.
"Then leave one alive."
As Su Xiao spoke, Banishment peeled away from his sleeve.
Whoosh~
A blue flash passed. A man holding a curved sword stood frozen in place, blood seeping from his forehead. With a thud, he fell to the ground.
"Run!"
After a desperate shout, Banishment stabbed rapidly, leaving semicircular blue traces in the air.
A few minutes later, the turban man, who called himself Adler, knelt on the ground. Around him were corpses lying in disarray, the smell of blood spreading.
"So, you knew Kaiser was from Sand Capital and had offended Minister Carros, so you planned to take our heads to claim the reward?"
Su Xiao exhaled a faint wisp of smoke. With his control, Banishment split into three short blades, hovering around Adler's neck.
"No, no, that's not it. We have nothing to do with Carros. We can't get close to such a big shot."
Adler, kneeling on the ground, quickly defended himself. They had done this many times. In fact, this Giant Rock Dragon wasn't even flying to Sand Capital. Their routine was to kill the men and loot, play with the women, and then sell them to the Peru Kingdom.
"Have this Giant Rock Dragon fly near Sand Capital."
"Impossible. It doesn't even know where Sand Capital is..."
As Adler spoke, Banishment hovered in front of his forehead.
"If you can fly, you can refuse."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Adler swallowed his saliva.
"I'll try."
Adler stood up and walked out of the wooden hut. After a while, a bumpy sensation appeared, and the Giant Rock Dragon changed its flight direction.
"So it wasn't Carros. What a disappointment."
Kaiser looked a bit disappointed. Judging by his expression, he must have been dealt with quite harshly in Sand Capital. Last time, he had hidden his identity as a member of Reincarnation Paradise, infiltrated the Battle Angels, and tried to work things from the inside, but his teammates were useless, so he couldn't do anything.
"No, these are all Carros's people. A raiding group wouldn't dare to do this kind of thing in Es Saba."
Su Xiao looked out the window. Before even reaching Sand Capital, the enemy's greeting had arrived. No wonder Kaiser had failed before. The young Sand Emperor, the beautiful Queen, the scheming High Priest, and the Queen's sister, Minister of Finance Carros. The situation was far more complicated than imagined.
"A Minister of Finance would get involved with this kind of scum? Oh~, I see. They do the dirty work, and she gives them some 'privileges.'"
Kaiser looked thoughtful, beginning to brew a plan in his mind to avenge his past humiliation.
Su Xiao checked the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise. The side mission was already completed.
[You have obtained Soul Crystal (Large) x2.]
[You have obtained Title: Uphold Justice (Low-Grade Title).]
...
A low-grade title. Seeing this title, Su Xiao remembered the Title Forging Authority. He activated this authority.
[You have activated the Title Forging Authority. Please select a main title for forging.]
[Tip: Each time you forge a main title, you need to consume 1 to 5 other titles to enhance the main title's strength. Each main title can be enhanced up to 3 times.]