Chapter 6: The Plan
As Su Xiao activated the title refinement authority, a blazing crimson light surged before his eyes, forming a circular disk. The disk was about half a meter in diameter, with a somewhat dark metallic color, covered in fiery red patterns like flowing magma.
At the center of the disk was a circular gap, the place for the main title. Around the edge of the disk were five symmetrical circular gaps, emitting a dim red glow. These five peripheral gaps were for placing secondary titles.
Consuming one to five secondary titles could enhance the attributes of the main title. The more secondary titles consumed and the higher their rank, the greater the enhancement to the main title.
Su Xiao currently had six titles: [War Lord], [Skilled Warrior], [Walker's Elegy], [Old Hunter], [Team Slayer], and [Uphold Justice].
Among them, [War Lord], [Old Hunter], and [Walker's Elegy] were titles he absolutely had to keep.
[Skilled Warrior] was decent but only a mid-to-low-tier title. Its attribute, "Reincarnation Paradise facility usage fee -10%," was only useful at the fourth rank and became ineffective by the fifth rank.
As for "Increase damage dealt to contractors by 12%," while this attribute was good, Su Xiao usually equipped [Walker's Elegy] to avoid being ambushed by charm-type contractors.
After activating the title refinement authority, Su Xiao received many prompts related to titles. Title quality was divided by star rating, ranging from ★ to ★★★★★. Whether there were higher ratings? Absolutely, but Su Xiao had never obtained any.
Among his current titles, [Uphold Justice] was a one-star title, [Skilled Warrior] was a two-star title, and [War Lord], [Old Hunter], and [Walker's Elegy] were all three-star titles.
Strangely, [Team Slayer] was also a three-star title. This title had no attributes. When first obtained, it was forcibly equipped for three worlds. Whenever an allied contractor approached Su Xiao within a certain range or formed a temporary team with him, they would receive a warning.
After wearing it for three worlds, all attributes of [Team Slayer] disappeared, turning it into a "blank" title. Su Xiao had previously been unaware of its purpose, but now it seemed useful—it could be used during title refinement.
Su Xiao's plan to deal with the violators was actually quite simple. Based on his estimates, those four violators should all be top-tier combatants at the seventh rank, and none of them would be stupid. In fact, one or two might even be old schemers.
Directly confronting these violators head-on or trying to outmaneuver them seemed unreliable to Su Xiao. His current advantage was that three violators hadn't entered this world yet, giving him time to develop.
The temporary title refinement authority rewarded by Reincarnation Paradise already indicated that if Su Xiao fought the violators head-on, his chances of winning were low.
Su Xiao's idea was to make the most of available resources. First, he needed to obtain a small portion of military authority from the Flame Sand Kingdom—not too much, just a few thousand to tens of thousands of soldiers. Since Flame Sand and Peru were in constant conflict, going to the front lines to fight was the best way to quickly elevate his status and command more troops.
Su Xiao had never led soldiers in war, but he had participated in various wars. In the Ghost World and Black King World, his subordinates included talents highly skilled in troop deployment.
Given Su Xiao's former status, learning a few things from his men was no problem. Asking subordinates for advice wasn't shameful; it actually boosted their pride and sense of belonging.
Sometimes, when a leader "does nothing," the subordinates become more capable. Doing everything personally isn't a leader's role—that's a babysitter. What a leader should do is gather the people under them. They can choose not to act, but they must never be completely ignorant.
Once he gained command of a few thousand or ten thousand soldiers, Su Xiao would leave Sand Capital. Using the [War Lord] title to buff his troops, as long as he won battles, recruiting more soldiers wouldn't be a problem.
A small number of battle-hardened soldiers, a large military establishment (even if it was just a shell), and a substantial amount of gold coins—these three things were what Su Xiao needed to obtain in Sand Capital. With them, his plan would officially launch. When his plan fully took shape, even if those violators knelt and called him "daddy," it wouldn't matter—they would all die. Moreover, with his troops, Su Xiao could reap huge benefits in this world.
Furthermore, enhancing the [War Lord] title was crucial. [War Lord] was a three-star title that could be refined three times, meaning it could consume up to fifteen titles.
Su Xiao's goal was to upgrade [War Lord] to four stars. If he could reach five stars, that would be truly stable. A five-star title—he hadn't even heard of one, let alone seen it.
With these thoughts, Su Xiao's mind became clearer. Forget the violators—as long as he developed well, even if forty violators came instead of four, they would all die here.
After arriving in Sand Capital, he needed to secure a large sum of gold coins, conservatively estimated at over 100,000. War was burning money—soldiers' pay, food, weapons, armor, medicine, even containers for transporting fresh water—all of it cost money.
Only by going to the front lines and winning battles could he obtain substantial military funding from the Flame Sand Kingdom. As for battlefield spoils, they would all go to his soldiers. Su Xiao wasn't trying to hoard wealth; he wanted many soldiers willing to fight for him. Without giving them a bright future and immediate benefits, why would they risk their lives for him?
Su Xiao never thought he had much personal charisma. He only let his soldiers see the rewards—get the job done, and there would be big payoffs.
Everything was clear. The only problem was that he hadn't reached Sand Capital yet, so he had nothing.
After Baha cleaned the corpses off the giant rock dragon's back, they scavenged 609 gold coins. Once in Sand Capital, Su Xiao planned to sell the giant rock dragon. Kaisa would handle this, as they had already agreed, with Kaisa taking a 5% commission.
Su Xiao intended to let Kaisa manage the existing gold coins. The guy was indeed greedy but never embezzled. If things developed, having him as a quartermaster would be excellent—returning to his old trade. Kaisa was very skilled in this area.
"It'll work, definitely work. First, secure things in Sand Capital, then head to the front lines. Once we develop, hehehe."
Kaisa rubbed his hands together, as if he had already taken on the role of quartermaster.
"Kaisa, we haven't even reached Sand Capital yet."
Baha glanced at Kaisa. Whether things would succeed depended on the situation in Sand Capital. As the saying goes, plans never keep up with changes. The plan might be forced to change. If he couldn't get military authority, he would have to recruit strong individuals from this world.
"Uh..."
Kaisa was choked up. Indeed, Sand Capital wasn't even in sight yet—everything said now was just empty talk.
The giant rock dragon flew high in the sky. Survival instinct had allowed Adler to lock onto Sand Capital's location midair. Within a few hours, they would arrive.
Over eight hours later, just before nightfall, a desert city appeared below. Sand Capital had arrived. Even from a bird's-eye view, one could sense how massive Sand Capital was.
A towering statue stood in the center of Sand Capital, conservatively estimated at a hundred meters tall. The statue wore a cloak, raised a long curved saber in its right hand (representing royal power), held a scepter in its left hand (representing the divine), and its lowered left arm signified that royal power was above divine power.
The giant rock dragon landed outside Sand Capital's city walls. The towering walls were a dusty yellow, as if made of piled sand, but were actually a type of extremely strong underground rock. They served both to repel enemies and to form a cycle between earth elements and the land's veins, completely blocking the wind and sand.
Before the giant rock dragon landed, Adler had already jumped off. He fell with a drawn-out scream, stumbled a few steps after a fish-like leap, then collapsed to the ground, losing all signs of life. Since Minister Carols had been so "enthusiastic" earlier, Su Xiao naturally had to return the favor appropriately.
Outside the city walls, sand flew everywhere as the giant rock dragon flapped its fleshy wings and landed. As soon as it steadied itself, an enraged burly man rushed forward.
"Where are you people from? The east side of the capital is my territory for rock dragon transport—I've paid my taxes. No one can steal my business."
Clearly, this burly man was a legitimate giant rock dragon passenger merchant. He had the east side business for the day, and suddenly another rock dragon appearing was stealing his livelihood.
"Dear friend of Sand Capital, don't be angry. We're not stealing your business. But, I'd like to ask—do you buy giant rock dragons?"
"Huh?"
The burly man's anger quickly subsided. Before long, he was whispering with Kaisa. In the end, Kaisa sold the giant rock dragon for 4,250 gold coins.