Chapter 46: Ready to Betray Each Other at Any Moment
“I have a hobby of collecting things. 15 million Imperial Gold Coins, plus 15,000 Holy Silver Coins, and I’ll help you deal with the Heavy Hammer Troops in the Northern Border.”
Upon hearing Su Xiao’s words, Diplomat Difton regretted his earlier move. He had only brought out the Holy Silver Coins to properly demonstrate Duoyin’s techniques and let their collaborators know how powerful Duoyin was.
“This… is very difficult to arrange.”
“Then see you in three days.”
Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the tent, with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha following closely behind.
After leaving the vast encampment of the Duoyin side, Su Xiao arrived at his own troops’ stationed area and walked into a two-story wooden house. This was a unique Elven technique, rapidly building structures from seeds.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the second floor, a snow bear pelt beneath him. While meditating, he had Baha open an alternate space, just in case something went wrong.
Bubu Wang yawned and soon fell asleep beside Su Xiao. Baha, meanwhile, took out a tablet nearby to supplement his mental vocabulary database, enhancing his own “combat effectiveness.” As a trash-talker, one had to keep up with the times.
Drip~
A drop of pale red liquid fell onto the floor, wisps of red mist rising. When it spread a few meters, a figure walked out from within the red mist.
“You could have taken the chance to get rid of me just now.”
Mu Xiao stood with her arms crossed, leaning by the window, looking out at the Wolf Cavalry. Her expression was calm.
“Last time you stirred up the Insect Race, and now you’ve recruited hundreds of thousands of Wolf Cavalry. Have you ever considered the feelings of us ordinary Contractors?”
As Mu Xiao spoke, her gaze shifted to Su Xiao.
“You’ve got guts, actually daring to come.”
Baha landed on Amu’s shoulder. Amu was the slowest; if something happened, Baha would help Amu enter the alternate space. For Mu Xiao to come alone, she must have prepared some mutual destruction method at the very least.
“Last time, you almost threw an explosive into my mouth. That near-death experience made me get an explosive of my own—one produced by your Reincarnation Paradise.”
Mu Xiao took out a pitch-black crystal sphere. The power of this thing was not to be underestimated.
“Detonating it would kill me too. I came here just to know why you spared my life and what you want me to do. In my view, this is an opportunity. Being afraid of death doesn’t qualify one to become a strong person.”
Mu Xiao put away the explosive in her hand. She needed a qualification to negotiate, not to blow herself up.
“I know you’ve already prepared ways to evade it. This thing can only blow me up. But if I die, you get nothing—not even a chance to loot my corpse while it’s still warm.”
Although Mu Xiao usually didn’t talk much, her speech was exceptionally bold.
“Perhaps.”
Su Xiao took out a cigarette and lit it. He hadn’t dealt with Mu Xiao earlier because he wanted her to do something.
“What do you want me to do? Infiltrate Duoyin’s high ranks? The Royal Capital? Or the Royal Capital’s outer counties? That’s impossible for now. I’m currently a trusted aide of Chief Physician Aofu.”
“…”
Su Xiao took out a palm-sized stone disc covered in alchemical arrays. This item was precious and could facilitate long-distance communication at fixed points.
Soon, Mu Xiao received two notifications.
[Notification (Holy Light Paradise): Your reputation with the Duoyin Kingdom has increased by 12,000 points.]
[Notification (Holy Light Paradise): You have gained the appreciation of an ‘Unknown High Noble.’ After this message is conveyed to Chief Physician Aofu, you will receive a new transfer order, requiring you to return to the Duoyin Empire’s Royal Capital within two days.]
Upon receiving these two notifications, Mu Xiao found it hard to imagine that among Duoyin’s high ranks, there was actually a collaborator of Su Xiao’s—and a High Noble at that.
“I’m suddenly a bit regretful. I should have run away just now.”
“You can still leave now.”
“How is that possible? If I don’t dare to gamble on an opportunity like this, I might as well go mining.”
Mu Xiao walked over to the blood mist, caught a bottle of potion thrown by Su Xiao, and her aura vanished. Seeing this, Baha severed the connection with the alternate space.
“Boss, is this woman reliable?”
“Not reliable.”
“Then…”
“Compared to her, that High Noble of Duoyin is even less reliable. Mu Xiao going to the Royal Capital will keep that High Noble in line.”
Su Xiao extinguished the cigarette in his hand. The High Noble of Duoyin’s Royal Capital was someone he had let go in Blackmelt City.
That person had escaped together with Mage Apprentice Pepeini. To facilitate this, Su Xiao had even orchestrated a small-scale internal conflict in Blackmelt City to ensure that when the High Noble returned to Duoyin, he wouldn’t be treated as a spy.
That High Noble was afflicted with alchemical poison, which flared up every two days. During the flare-up, he experienced intense pain lasting 10 to 20 minutes. Each time, the duration of the pain extended until it would eventually last 24 hours a day.
Mu Xiao went to the Royal Capital carrying alchemical potions. These potions could moderately alleviate the High Noble’s alchemical poison, giving him a taste of relief.
Moreover, Mu Xiao’s presence itself was a deterrent. Mu Xiao was very strong within the Seventh Rank, belonging to the top tier. Her ranking in the top few dozen of the Branch Arena was no mere decoration.
Now, all that was left was to wait. Unless Duoyin offered benefits, Su Xiao wouldn’t deploy the Wolf Cavalry Legion.
At 8 PM that evening, Diplomat Difton came knocking. He brought 7,500 Holy Silver Coins. The remaining 15 million Imperial Gold Coins and 7,500 Holy Silver Coins were to be paid after the victory.
Selling 7,500 Holy Silver Coins to Reincarnation Paradise would yield 750 Soul Coins. The first battle in the Northern Border Warzone had earned 1,500 Soul Coins, which was already quite good—equivalent to about 70% of the total income from a Seventh Rank early-stage world.
Upgrading the ‘Technique Sublimation’ ability and purchasing ‘Basic Passive’ skills would both consume a large number of Soul Coins.
Additionally, Su Xiao needed to replace three pieces of equipment with Holy Spirit Rank items, which was also a huge expense in Soul Coins. The Holy Spirit Rank equipment he had his eye on averaged over 1,000 Soul Coins per piece.
Su Xiao planned to wait until his strength had improved to a certain level before “visiting” Arcane Eternal Star. He had prepared a big gift for them for a long time.
Su Xiao’s eyes opened in the darkness. It was time to attack the Northern Border.
There was no moon tonight. 600,000 Wolf Cavalry assembled. No one spoke; only the sound of breathing could be heard.
“Roar!!”
The Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos roared to the sky, and the Wolf Cavalry raised their weapons.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
After the earth-shaking shouts, led by Orc Hero Wobor, the Wolf Cavalry swiftly marched toward the ‘Yatade Wall.’
The Black Dragon flew in the sky, with the vast Wolf Cavalry Legion below. The scene was magnificent.
Inside the Duoyin camp, on a wooden watchtower, Diplomat Difton and Chief Physician Aofu watched the distant scene.
“Lord Aofu, how is Legion Commander Tuerte’s preparation going?”
Diplomat Difton spoke in a low voice. The Legion Commander Tuerte he mentioned was the leader of the Holy Emblem Knights.
“The Legion Commander… is very angry. I’ve never seen him that angry before.”
Aofu sighed helplessly, the night wind stirring her hair.
“Has that Lord refused?! If our side gains an overwhelming advantage, we must immediately eliminate the Wolf Cavalry Legion! This is the King’s order!”
Diplomat Difton was somewhat anxious. The Royal Capital had long planned this; the alliance with the Chaos Legion was only temporary.
Both sides knew full well that after the war, betrayal was inevitable. It was just a matter of who was more ruthless and who struck first.
“Don’t panic. The Legion Commander agreed—very angrily agreed. For the Empire, he is willing to sacrifice a lot.”
“Admirable.”
“Let the Chaos Legion become history. The times… are about to change.”
Aofu walked down from the watchtower. Diplomat Difton stayed alone, watching the Wolf Cavalry Legion disappear into the night. A sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart. He had risked his life to drag the Wolf Cavalry Legion into the battlefield.
Under the watchtower, a small grass-type plant familiar struggled to lift its head, feeding the intelligence it had overheard back to Bubu Wang.
The Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos flew through the night sky. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the dragon’s back, with Bubu Wang crouching beside him.
“Woof.”
“As expected.”
Su Xiao stood up. The ‘Yatade Wall’ appeared ahead. The Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos dove down. Before even reaching the ‘Yatade Wall,’ it began to accumulate Dragonflame. It couldn’t burn through stone walls, but ice walls were different.
Su Xiao intended to completely destroy the entire ‘Yatade Wall.’ Since Duoyin and the Northern Border wanted to fight, let them fight fiercely. Accelerate the Northern Border’s defeat while also severely reducing Duoyin’s forces. The more chaotic the battle, the heavier the casualties on both sides.
Whoosh!
Dragonflame illuminated the night sky, blasting onto the ‘Yatade Wall.’ Under the impact of the Dragonflame, ice shards flew everywhere, and water flowed down the ice wall. Soon, a large section of the ice wall was destroyed.
The ‘Yatade Wall’ had a characteristic: once damaged, ice energy would surge to repair the breach. Su Xiao had noticed this last time.
Amu leaped from the dragon’s back, landing with a thunderous crash on top of the ‘Yatade Wall.’ He slapped his hands onto the ice wall, rapidly absorbing the ice energy while using it to create a massive ice block.
The Dragonflame shifted to the left, continuing to scorch the ‘Yatade Wall,’ while the right side was handled by Amu.
Amu first absorbed the ice energy, then used it to construct an ice mountain. There was simply too much ice energy; if he only absorbed without releasing it, Amu would be burst apart within minutes.
The ‘Yatade Wall,’ which had stood for a thousand years, was being destroyed at an alarming rate. A gradual warm-up between Duoyin and the Northern Border? Then a slow escalation into war? That didn’t exist at all.
Once the ‘Yatade Wall’ was completely destroyed, the Northern Border’s natural barrier would vanish. The Northern Border would have no choice but to engage in a decisive battle with Duoyin, unless they wanted to be slowly devoured by Duoyin. Duoyin was invincible in a war of attrition; the Chaos Legion was a prime example.
An ice mountain rapidly rose. The destruction of the ‘Yatade Wall’ had only been going on for a few minutes when the ground began to tremble. The Northern Border’s troops had arrived.
600,000 Wolf Cavalry were already on high alert. At this moment, the Wolf Cavalry Legion was at its peak state.
Su Xiao looked toward the approaching Northern Border forces. In the darkness of the night, he vaguely saw a familiar figure.