Chapter 15: Uno's Slightly Crumbling Mentality
A cool breeze blew into the tent, carrying away some of the pungent, eye-stinging smell.
Layton Redbeard, though captured alive, had not yielded. He admitted to being a close relative of the Peruvian King, displaying an attitude of 'kill me if you want, you won't get any information from me.'
In truth, Su Xiao had no intention of extracting information from Layton Redbeard. His goal was development; the immediate small objective was to capture 'Segona City.' Whether to counterattack the Peruvian Kingdom remained to be seen.
"Bai Ye, we've captured Layton Redbeard. We can send an envoy to the Peruvian King and have him pay a ransom for his cousin."
"Will the Peruvian King agree?"
"Of course he will. The Grand Commander of the Sand Flame, Niboso, was captured once before. Uno paid a hefty price to get Niboso back."
Hearing Kaiser's words, Su Xiao nodded subtly. There was no doubt Layton Redbeard was valuable, but Su Xiao felt it would be a loss to just exchange him for gold coins.
"Kaiser, how many Soul Crystals do you estimate the Peruvian King would be willing to pay to ransom his cousin?"
"At least 30, and all intact ones."
Kaiser's eyes gleamed with greed. The mention of Soul Crystals made his eyes shine even brighter.
"Hmm, then demand 40 intact Soul Crystals. But... who will go negotiate?"
Su Xiao glanced at Kaiser, then at Vice Commander Oss. Catching Su Xiao's gaze, Oss thudded to his knees, kneeling right beside Layton Redbeard.
"Spare me, my lord."
Oss knew full well Su Xiao had thoughts of eliminating him. As the Vice Commander of the Sand Flame Kingdom, if he went to the Peruvian Kingdom, would he ever return? The Peruvian King would likely just tie him up and use him to exchange for his cousin, Layton Redbeard.
Layton Redbeard, kneeling beside Oss, was puzzled. He was increasingly unable to figure out the relationships among the people in this tent.
"Oss, did I say you were going?"
"N-no."
"Then what are you so excited about?"
Baha interjected, and Bubu Wang beside him barked in agreement, as if saying, "Exactly, what are you so worked up for?"
On the cool summer night, Oss wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He knew his immediate superior was capable of anything.
"The choice of person needs careful consideration. The Peruvian King has a bad temper. Hey! What are you all looking at me for? I'm not going!"
Kaiser took half a step back. At this moment, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha were all staring at him, wearing smiles.
"Kaiser, after it's done, I only want 40 Soul Crystals. Whatever you can extort from the Peruvian King beyond that is all yours."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Kaiser's expression twisted in conflict as he began calculating in his mind. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Deal. You take 40, the rest is all mine."
"Correct."
Obtaining 40 Soul Crystals (Intact) was already a windfall for Su Xiao. According to market prices on Trade Street, 40 Soul Crystals (Intact) were worth 800 Soul Coins.
"Alright, I'll be back by morning."
Kaiser muttered some addition and subtraction calculations as he walked out of the tent.
Su Xiao had never underestimated Kaiser. This guy had considerable wealth, always went where danger lurked, and more importantly, he had never even been injured.
As soon as he left the tent, Kaiser took out a crumpled piece of parchment. He kissed it affectionately before crushing it.
With a poof, Kaiser vanished, and a grey stone fell to the ground—a coordinate he had left behind.
Inside the tent, Layton Redbeard glared at Su Xiao.
"Hmph, a sacrificial pawn of Sand Flame."
Layton Redbeard snorted, then raised his chin.
"Someone like you will eventually be killed by that mad dog of Shadu and the False King. If you were born in Peru, you would command at least 300,000 elite troops."
Though Layton Redbeard acted like he was ready to fight the world, he wasn't a sore loser.
"Oh?"
Su Xiao looked at Layton Redbeard with interest. This dwarf had some backbone.
"Those soldiers under you are defeated troops, aren't they? At least ten or more groups of defeated troops hastily cobbled together. It's your Holy Soul that made them so fierce."
Layton Redbeard sneered and continued, "If it were in our Peru, someone with that kind of Holy Soul ability, as long as they were willing to follow our King, Spring Steelgoat, they would be heavily favored. A False King is a False King. Even sitting on the throne, he only knows how to play with women. Someone like you gets sidelined? Ridiculous."
"False King?"
Su Xiao had heard this term from Layton Redbeard more than once. It seemed to refer to the Sand Emperor.
"You don't know?"
Layton Redbeard's eyes flashed with surprise, then he shook his head.
"That mad dog of Shadu and that female scorpion both know about it. Even Niboso, another Grand Commander, knows. How could you not know? Stop playing dumb. This matter is common knowledge among the high-ranking officials of both countries."
"Tell me about it."
"You really don't know?"
Layton Redbeard looked at Su Xiao suspiciously. After a moment's hesitation, he said with a hint of sarcasm, "The Sand Emperor of the Pernier surname was wiped out long ago. The current Sand Emperor is a False King. His father and that mad dog Uno were both traitors who killed the king. Otherwise, how would Uno, a mere High Ritualist, have the right to control all the military power of Sand Flame?"
Having said this, Layton Redbeard changed his tone and continued, "Kukulin Bai Ye, your Brave Skull Clan isn't clean either. Back then, when the mad dog and that brat's father went to kill the king, your clan was at the forefront. And now? You've been wiped out."
Layton Redbeard sneered. From his tone, he clearly had some respect for that line of Sand Emperors bearing the 'Pernier' surname. Although Peru had been badly beaten back then, the Peruvian dwarves, by nature, wouldn't hate a stronger opponent; instead, they would acknowledge and respect them.
In those days, war between the two countries didn't involve selling captives as slaves. All that had changed in the last few decades.
Su Xiao was indeed unaware of these matters. However, in the world introduction, he had seen a piece of information: this world's history had large blank spaces, likely caused by this 'regicide.'
This history of regicide surely contained many hidden secrets, which also meant potential profit. But considering it now was too early.
He ordered Layton Redbeard to be taken down and held under tight guard. Then, Su Xiao began to consider the current situation.
The first battle was won, but he only had 12,650 soldiers left. He needed to replenish them quickly. He also needed to contact Shadu. Having won a victory, especially against the Horn-Breaking Unit, Shadu had to show some appreciation.
Su Xiao stood up and walked to a large birdcage. Inside were three pitch-black crows, a type of supernatural bird called Night Crows.
Opening the cage, one Night Crow flew onto Su Xiao's arm. He tossed a pinky-sized sand pouch towards the crow, which caught it and swallowed it into its belly.
Soon, the Night Crow flew out of the tent and disappeared into the night. This supernatural creature had excellent stealth at night and was fast enough to reach Shadu by morning at the latest.
...
The next morning, inside the Rosei Palace. A gentle breeze blew, rustling the thin gauze curtains. The Sand Emperor and Queen were sound asleep on the bed.
"Caw, caw."
The Night Crow flew into the bedchamber. A hand grabbed it. The Night Crow's black eyes stared at Red Sand, its head feathers bristling.
"Is it a battle report from the front?"
The Sand Emperor sat up on the bed, yawned, and still looked listless. He had been very tired last night; his legs were a bit weak.
"My lord."
A soft, boneless hand embraced the Sand Emperor from behind. He cleared his throat, his voice revealing some weakness.
Red Sand brought the Night Crow before the Sand Emperor. Seeing him, the crow spat out a sand pouch. The pouch scattered, forming a line of text and the image of a Peruvian dwarf.
'Horn-Breaking Unit more than half annihilated. Layton Redbeard captured alive. A minor victory.'
Seeing this battle report and the sand-constructed dwarf image, the Sand Emperor was stunned.
"Kukulin... annihilated more than half of the Horn-Breaking Unit?!"
"Your Majesty, with such a feat, shouldn't Grand Commander Kukulin be allocated more soldiers? Perhaps he really can capture Segona City?"
No sooner had the Queen finished speaking than the bedchamber fell silent. The Sand Emperor looked askance at the Queen. His gaze was such that even the delicate Queen, let alone Red Sand, dared not meet it.
"Camilla, are you teaching me how to make decisions?"
The Sand Emperor looked at the Queen expressionlessly.
"I... I wouldn't dare."
Queen Camilla knelt on the bed, lowering her head, her body trembling slightly.
"Scared, were you? How was my expression just now? Did it have a sense of authority?"
The Sand Emperor's expression changed. He smiled and grabbed the Queen's hand, as if everything just now was just a boy's caprice.
"Your Majesty, you... you scared me."
The Queen's eyes were tearful, looking very wronged. Seeing this, the Sand Emperor comforted her for a long time before the Queen sniffled and broke into a smile. She knew that the one she was accompanying was actually a young lion. One moment he could be doting, the next he might tear out her throat and devour her frail body.
"Red Sand, go find Carols and dispatch a batch of 'supplies.' Send it to the front lines with utmost speed."
The Sand Emperor emphasized the word 'supplies' heavily.
"Yes."
Red Sand withdrew. Inside the bedchamber, the Sand Emperor sat cross-legged on the bed, tossing a small ball in his hand. He said nothing about dispatching soldiers to Su Xiao.
Soon, High Ritualist Uno also learned of this news.
In a luxurious dining room, Uno, still in his nightgown, put down his fork. The lamb in his mouth instantly lost its flavor.
"This works too?"
Uno took a deep breath to calm himself, then picked up the camel milk on the table, thinking, 'Luck, it's probably just luck.'
While comforting himself, his mind raced.
Just then, a servant ran in, knelt on one knee, and reported urgently, "Reporting, my lord! His Majesty has ordered Lady Carols to send 30,000 war beasts to the front lines as reinforcements."
"Cough... cough~"
Uno wiped the camel milk that had sprayed from his nose. After calming himself again, he asked, "For whom? Niboso has petitioned His Majesty many times for these war beasts..."
Uno didn't finish.
"These war beasts are for, are for..."
The reporting servant stammered for a long time without getting to the point.
"Speak!"
Uno's anger made the kneeling servant flinch.
"They are for... Grand Commander Kukulin Bai Ye, my lord."
Hearing this, Uno slammed the dining table. He began to feel uneasy. If this guy could defeat the Horn-Breaking Unit with 20,000 defeated troops, what would he be capable of after getting 30,000 war beasts? He'd probably take off.