# Chapter 14: Hess City
Dellinger was rendered speechless by Linley's questioning.
"Linley, let me tell you, if you mix just a little bit of Blackstone powder into a weapon, its hardness will increase to an extremely high level. If an entire weapon is forged entirely from Blackstone, even if you gave it to a Saint-level expert to strike, that Saint-level expert couldn't destroy it."
Dellinger was truly helpless.
Linley clearly didn't have a full understanding of how precious Blackstone was.
"Then, Grandpa Delling, can I use this Blackstone to forge a 'heavy sword'?" Ever since he had heard Dellinger talk about the benefits of a 'heavy sword', Linley had very much wanted to obtain one. Originally, Linley had planned to buy a good heavy sword to use. But now that he had obtained this 'Blackstone', he naturally wanted to make good use of it.
Linley was by no means short of money now.
"Forge with Blackstone? A heavy sword is relatively large in volume; it should be made by combining Blackstone with some other ore materials. Of course, I don't know much about forging either. But I've heard that using Blackstone to forge a weapon is no simple matter. Blackstone is too hard; ordinary forging masters can't melt it." Dellinger said with a smile.
Linley nodded inwardly.
Blackstone — it was a substance that even Deity-level experts found difficult to destroy. But since Blackstone could be forged into weapons, there must be a forging method. It was just that the method was too difficult.
"I understand." Linley nodded.
******
Linley and Second Prince Shaq's group continued advancing northward. The further north they went, the fewer magical beasts there were. Today especially, Linley's group had already traveled a full three to four hundred li, yet not a single magical beast had appeared in that entire distance. Some cities and villages here hadn't suffered any casualties either.
However, many cities and villages had very sparse populations. It was estimated that many people, fearing danger, had migrated northward.
"Haha, thankfully, the Hess Kingdom hasn't fallen yet." Shaq laughed heartily. "We've been traveling for several days now; we can finally rest."
Shaq said as he looked at Linley.
Seated on his fine horse, Linley sat as firmly as an old tree with deep roots, not swaying at all. His entire body was steady. With his indifferent expression and silent demeanor, Linley naturally exuded a composed temperament. Shaq felt a hint of reverence toward Linley. Although Shaq was a few years older than Linley, he always respectfully addressed him as 'Lord Linley'.
"Lord Linley, look, the military camp is ahead." Shaq said, riding side by side with Linley.
Linley nodded.
The Radiant Church had apparently decided to establish a defensive line at the border of the Hess Kingdom. One could tell how many soldiers were stationed there just by looking at the endless rows of camp tents.
"Two kingdoms and five duchies — that's roughly a third of the territory of the Sacred Alliance. I believe the Radiant Church doesn't want to retreat any further." Linley said with a faint smile. When Linley's group reached the checkpoint, they were easily allowed through.
This checkpoint was only meant to guard against magical beast hordes.
Humans were not obstructed at all.
"Second Prince, where will we be stopping?" Linley asked, his expression calm.
"Hess City. It's one of the locations my father and I agreed upon. It's still over three hundred li from here to Hess City. If we hurry, we can arrive by evening." Shaq answered without holding anything back.
"Hess City!"
Linley committed this name to memory. "Clayde, Hess City is where you will die."
……
Traveling at a gallop, Linley, Shaq, and the other thirty-plus people rode their fine horses, leaving a trail of dust behind them. When Linley and Shaq's group caught sight of Hess City, the sun had not yet fully set. The light of the setting sun shone upon the earth, dyeing it a reddish hue.
"Hess City, the capital of the Hess Kingdom, only slightly smaller than Fenlai City." Linley looked at the massive outline of Hess City's walls, feeling a sense of awe.
To be able to build such a huge city — how much manpower and resources must it have consumed?
"Whoa~~"
Linley's group was stopped at the city gate of Hess City.
"Dismount." The Hess City guard shouted loudly.
"Why should we dismount?" Shaq bellowed angrily.
Seeing that Shaq's group seemed to be of unusual background, the guard replied, "By His Majesty's order, riding horses is forbidden within Hess City. Gentlemen, Hess City is now overcrowded. There simply isn't enough space for riding. It would be best if you dismount."
"Dismount." Linley said to Shaq with a smile.
Shaq nodded.
Linley and Shaq could well imagine that many people fleeing from the two kingdoms and five duchies, as well as those near Hess City, had escaped to Hess City. The population of those two kingdoms and five duchies numbered in the hundreds of millions.
Even if ninety-nine percent had died, there would still be several million survivors. Moreover, the area within a few hundred li of the Hess Kingdom had almost no magical beasts. Most of the residents there hadn't died.
"So many people."
Entering Hess City, Linley, Shaq, and the others couldn't help but be astonished. Hess City could normally accommodate at most a million people. But Linley estimated that the current population inside Hess City had to be at least several million. The streets were packed. Even in Fenlai City, Linley had never encountered such a situation.
"First, find a hotel to stay at. Come find me here immediately." Shaq immediately ordered his men to book hotel rooms.
"Lord Linley, let's go have dinner first." Shaq said with a smile. Linley naturally wouldn't refuse. Shaq then led Linley and the others into a nearby hotel. The ground floor was completely full, but there were still private rooms upstairs.
"Three private rooms." Shaq said very generously.
But when everyone sat down and Shaq saw the price list, he was a bit stunned. Shaq grabbed the nearby waiter and shouted angrily, "Do you take me for a fool? At your prices, wouldn't this table of food cost several thousand gold coins? Are you trying to rip me off?"
Although this hotel was high-end, given Shaq's status, he had naturally been to high-end hotels before.
For a hotel of this level, spending a hundred gold coins on a table of food was already quite good.
"Sir, if you don't want to eat, you can leave." The waiter was very confident. "Hess City is overcrowded now, which has caused prices to skyrocket. The people from the great families who fled here all want high-end service."
This left Shaq speechless.
That was right. Most of those who had fled from the two kingdoms and five duchies were either powerful experts or members of great families with elite guard teams. Those great families naturally wouldn't settle for low-end consumption.
"Hmph."
Shaq snorted but still ordered the food. After Shaq, Linley, and the others had been eating for a while—
"Second Prince." The man who had gone to find hotel accommodations returned.
"How is it? Did you find a place?" Shaq asked.
The guard shook his head and said, "All the rooms in the major hotels are booked. I only checked five big hotels, but I could already tell that too many people are booking rooms. Your Highness, we arrived in Hess City too late. The great families from the five duchies and the Hannu Kingdom were faster than us."
Shaq nodded.
"Sit down and eat." Shaq looked at another guard with short blue hair. "Are you full? Go find a mansion for me and buy it directly. I expect mansion prices in Hess City are very high now, but even if they're expensive, buy one anyway. Remember... don't buy one that's too conspicuous or too large. This mansion will only be a temporary residence for my father and me."
"Yes, Your Highness." The guard immediately acknowledged the order and set off to find a mansion for Shaq.
Linley quietly drank his wine on the side, calmly observing everything.
"A mansion? Let's see which one it is. When Clayde comes, he'll probably go to that mansion too." Once he knew where Clayde would be going, all he needed to do was wait by the tree stump for the rabbit, and he could calmly wait for Clayde to come and die.
******
Hess City, a common mansion on Keyan Street.
Under normal circumstances, a mansion like this, not located in the central district of Hess City, would typically cost around two to three hundred thousand gold coins. But Prince Shaq paid a full million gold coins to buy this mansion. The influx of wealthy nobles and rich families into Hess City had caused real estate prices to skyrocket.
That night.
Linley also stayed in this mansion.
"Clayde should be staying in one of these two or three rooms." Linley walked through the mansion, carefully observing its layout to prepare for when he would come to kill Clayde.
The night wind was chilly, but Linley meticulously examined every part of the mansion.
"Lord Linley, why aren't you resting yet?" The seductive princess consort called out softly to Linley from her doorway.
"It's stuffy inside. I'm getting some fresh air outside." Linley replied casually.
"I feel a bit stuffy too." The princess consort walked out of her room toward Linley. Her flirtatious gaze made Linley's heart uneasy, and he immediately said, "Then the princess consort should enjoy the fresh air. I'll go back to my room and rest." With that, Linley quickly left.
Seeing Linley leave, the princess consort snorted in dissatisfaction.
……
The next morning.
"Second Prince, Princess Consort, Princess, I have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Linley began to say his goodbyes.
"Lord Linley, why are you leaving in such a hurry? You should wait until my father arrives." Shaq immediately tried to persuade him to stay.
Linley sneered inwardly: "Wait for your father? If Clayde sees me at your residence, I'll probably have to kill him openly. Killing him openly has far less chance of success than killing him in secret." Linley had already suffered several losses.
This time, Linley was determined.
"This time, I must be patient. I'll wait until Clayde is not together with Caesar. When Clayde is alone, I'll kill him. That will definitely succeed." Linley understood that if Caesar was present, he wouldn't be able to kill Clayde quickly.
But if Caesar wasn't there, he would surely succeed.
"Then where will Lord Linley be going?" Shaq asked.
"I plan to leave Hess City and continue north. As for the exact location, I haven't decided yet." Linley replied. "Alright, Second Prince, Princess Consort, Princess, I'll be going now."
With a slight bow, Linley took Bebe and directly left the mansion.
……
That evening, Linley was staying in another small courtyard on Keyan Street. The mansion Shaq had bought was quite large, able to accommodate thirty-plus people without feeling cramped. But the small courtyard Linley had bought could only house three or four people.
Linley had spent fifty thousand gold coins to buy this small courtyard. Normally, a small courtyard like this would cost only a few thousand gold coins.
"Big One, Big Two, have you seen anyone enter that mansion?" Linley sat at the dining table, asking the two men.
"No."
These two men were hired by Linley off the street today. Among those who had fled to Hess City, besides nobles, there were also many commoners. Those commoners who had escaped to Hess City had no food or shelter and could only beg or do manual labor. Linley had easily hired them. With a daily wage of two gold coins plus room and board, a group of refugees had been fighting for this job.
Linley had chosen these two brothers because they seemed like reliable people.
"You can sleep at night, but during the day, keep a close watch. If any strangers enter that mansion, especially a large group of strangers, you must notify me immediately. Pay attention to observing a man without a hand." Linley instructed again.
There was no need to keep watch at night, because the city gates of Hess City were closed at night.
And Linley believed that with these two keeping watch during the day, as long as Clayde's people arrived, he would definitely find out. Prince Shaq and his group thought Linley had left Hess City, not knowing that he was staying in a mansion not far from them.
"Clayde, I'll wait here to the death. Let's see when you come." Linley's gaze was icy cold.
Seeing Linley's expression, the two brothers couldn't help but tremble inwardly.
"You may go." Linley dismissed them.
"Yes, sir."