Chapter 46: The Order
The red-robed one-eyed man led a group of thugs off the slave ship, while the leather-headed man stood on the foredeck, casually chatting with the others, occasionally glancing in Reynold’s direction.
“Piel, we’ll finally reach the provincial city tomorrow. Once those ordinary slaves are handed over, we can go out and have some fun. This damn life, stuck on the boat every day,” the bald man beside him muttered curses under his breath.
Piel also laughed.
But just at that moment, Piel and the others suddenly heard a terrifying roar from a magical beast—
“Roar~~” Completely out of nowhere, a terrifying giant fire snake, as thick as a water vat, formed entirely of flames, burst out from the cabin, directly melting a large hole in the side of the ship.
The giant fire snake, as thick as a water vat and nearly a hundred meters long, roared as it coiled around the slave ship. The entire ship immediately caught fire. At the same time, the giant fire snake charged straight into the bottom of the cabin, piercing through the entire slave ship. Among the hundreds of slaves in the lowest level, except for a dozen who were burned to death, the rest frantically rushed out through the hole melted by the fire snake.
“Damn it, that pretty boy!” Piel and the other man’s faces changed drastically.
“Quick! Catch him!”
The two bald men immediately charged toward Reynold’s room. At this point, they no longer cared about the ordinary slaves. But then, the giant fire snake turned and charged at them as well.
“Damn it, it’s a Blazing Fire Snake. Watch out!” Both Piel and the other man tensed up.
A seventh-level fire magic—Blazing Fire Snake!
This was the most powerful Blazing Fire Snake Reynold could unleash. If this Blazing Fire Snake advanced further, it would become the eighth-level magic ‘Dance of the Fire Serpents.’ The Dance of the Fire Serpents involved seven giant fire snakes attacking simultaneously, with even higher temperatures. But this ‘Blazing Fire Snake’ was already terrifyingly powerful.
An ordinary seventh-level warrior wouldn’t dare to face it head-on.
The bald man ‘Piel’ dove like a fish, dodging the Blazing Fire Snake’s attack while also reaching the room where Reynold had been. Piel looked into the room—there was nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor, the remains of the two thugs burned to cinders. On the wall, there were two large melted holes.
Clearly, Reynold had escaped through one of those two holes.
“Ah! Ah~~” A piercing scream suddenly rang out. The other bald man hadn’t dodged the Blazing Fire Snake in time. He was only touched by it, but the Blazing Fire Snake instantly coiled around him, wrapping him up. His protective battle-qi shield quickly shattered, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Piel’s face turned pale at the sight.
“Darrow!!!” Piel was going mad. “Damn it, you bastard!”
At that moment, many ordinary slaves who had escaped from the bottom of the ship were frantically fleeing in all directions. Having been captured as slaves, they had already lost all hope. But now, hope surged within them, and they all scrambled to escape.
Piel also leaped out through the hole in the cabin wall. His terrifying jumping power allowed him to land directly on the shore.
“That damn pretty boy.” Piel stared at the slave ship in the middle of the Bonai River. The damaged ship was steadily sinking, flames still burning fiercely, thick smoke billowing. The ship was finished.
“Piel! Darrow!” A furious roar came from a distance.
The red-robed one-eyed man rushed over quickly, his single eye blazing with endless rage. As soon as he saw Piel, he roared, “Piel, where is he? Where is that mage?”
“Sir, that mage cast a Blazing Fire Snake. I don’t know where he escaped to. Darrow is dead too.” Piel was also filled with hatred.
The one-eyed man panted with rage.
A Blazing Fire Snake was enough to handle a seventh-level warrior. But if it faced the one-eyed man, with his eighth-level warrior strength, he could definitely break through the Blazing Fire Snake and capture Reynold.
That was precisely why the trafficking organization had sent an eighth-level warrior.
But the one-eyed man hadn’t expected that the mage, who had just been taught a lesson, would still dare to fight for his life at this moment.
“Quick, catch him! Bring that mage back to me!” The one-eyed man immediately barked orders at the thugs around him. “You ten, search upstream and downstream carefully. You few dozen, search the surrounding area. You must bring that mage back to me. Now!!!”
“Yes, sir!”
The furious thugs scattered in all directions. Their main focus was on the nearby land, while only five thugs were sent upstream and downstream respectively.
Reynold, like the other slaves, wore tattered clothes and was covered in wounds. Since the other slaves were also fleeing, many thugs mistook some slaves for Reynold and immediately charged to catch them. Unfortunately, they were wasting their efforts.
An hour later.
The one-eyed man stood by the riverbank, his heart filled with rage as he glared at the surroundings.
“Sir, we found a dozen slaves downstream, but not that mage,” a thug ran over to report. Their speed running on land far exceeded swimming speed in the water.
“Sir, no sign of the mage upstream either.”
“Sir, we didn’t find the mage in the surrounding area either—just those ordinary slaves.”
…
The one-eyed man listened to the reports from his subordinates and looked at the vast surroundings. He was absolutely furious. This riverbank was near a small town, and there were no members of their organization here.
This forced the one-eyed man to rely on only a few dozen thugs to search for Reynold.
A few dozen people searching for an hour and still not finding Reynold… That meant there was almost no chance of finding him. Because an hour was enough for a person to travel a long distance. Within a radius of dozens of miles, how could a few dozen people possibly find him?
“Bastard!” The one-eyed man cursed under his breath. “Let’s go. Report to the organization quickly. I hope that pretty boy doesn’t fall into my hands… Otherwise, I’ll make his life worse than death.”
…
Night fell. The one-eyed man and his group had no choice but to leave. On the riverbank, about a few kilometers upstream from the dock, a person emerged from the water.
“Pfft.” Reynold spat out the water reed he had been using to breathe.
He looked around and let out a long sigh of relief. Reynold hadn’t dared to relax at all during his escape. After casting the magic, he immediately went into the water, picked a hollow water reed, and used it as a breathing tube. Each time he dived, he swam over a kilometer before daring to surface.
“I’m this far away now. There’s no way those few dozen people can still find me.” Reynold finally climbed ashore.
White steam rose from Reynold’s body. In just a moment, his tattered clothes were completely dry. He glanced around and used the Bonai River to determine his direction.
“That trafficking organization has people in every big city. I’d better take the remote small towns. I can’t go back through the border between the two countries—the slave trafficking organization has plenty of people stationed in border cities.” Although Reynold believed they wouldn’t put too much effort into hunting him down, he decided to be cautious. He planned to first enter the Chaos Territory from the Rohault Empire, then pass through the Chaos Territory to return to the O’Brien Empire.
******
At this moment, the world was pitch black, with only a few scattered lights on the ground. A black shadow streaked across the sky at incredible speed, cutting through the air in an instant.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!” The rapid flight made old White squint his eyes. From above, he could clearly see the roads and easily identify the path.
“Lord Linley, it’s down there.” Old White pointed to a rural town in the distance.
“Oh? That rural town is your organization’s headquarters?” Linley glanced at old White. The town looked no different from any ordinary small town. In the darkness, a few lights occasionally flickered from some houses.
Old White quickly nodded: “Yes, it’s just a cover for the organization.”
“Whoosh!”
Linley immediately dove down, leaving a beautiful afterimage in the sky before landing at the headquarters of the slave trafficking organization—this rural town.
Linley, wearing a deep green robe, hovered in midair. He casually released his grip, and old White fell to the ground: “Tell your organization’s leader to come out.”
Old White didn’t dare to disobey.
At that moment, people nearby quickly gathered around. Seeing Linley hovering in midair, they were all shocked. Those who could fly were usually Saint-level experts. Of course, powerful wind mages could also do it. At this moment, Linley was actually using ‘Wind Shadow Technique’ to fly without transforming.
“Old White, why are you here?” A woman glanced at Linley and then whispered to old White.
But old White shouted loudly, “Quick, quick, call the leader over. This is Lord Linley, the great Dragonblood Warrior ‘Lord Linley’!”
Lord Linley?
That name was more effective than anything else. A slave trafficking organization, far weaker than the three major trading companies and the four major assassin organizations, naturally wouldn’t dare to offend a Saint-level expert. Many people immediately went to summon their organization’s leader and high-ranking members.
Linley hovered in midair, waiting calmly. Bebe stood on Linley’s shoulder.
“Boss, this town looks ordinary on the surface, but the interiors of these buildings are anything but. Most of them have underground structures,” Bebe communicated with Linley through their soul link.
Linley nodded slightly.
After a short while, a large group of people ran over from a distance. Leading them was a tall, thin man dressed in an ornate robe. At this moment, he was almost jogging, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Lord Linley, my name is Dennis. I’m the leader of this organization. May I ask what Lord Linley requires of us? Please, just say the word.” The tall, thin man spoke with fear and humility.
Although he had never seen Linley before, any Saint-level expert who could hover in midair was not someone they dared to offend.
Linley glanced at him and said directly, “Dennis! A month ago, you bought a mage from the border city where old White was stationed. He should have been transported here by now.”
Dennis was stunned.
A slightly plump older man beside Dennis quickly said, “Lord Linley, I’m in charge of that business. That mage, halfway along the Bonai River, burned our slave ship and escaped.”
“Escaped?” Linley was surprised, but at the same time, he felt relieved.
His fourth brother was really impressive, managing to escape from the slave organization.
Dennis also snapped back to reality and nodded, “I know about this. After the mage escaped, we’ve been pursuing him in the cities where our people are stationed, but we haven’t found him yet. It’s been almost ten days now.”
“Leader, that mage is Lord Linley’s brother!” Old White quickly added.
Dennis’s face immediately turned pale, and he became terrified.
Linley glanced at them: “From today onward, you will stop pursuing my brother.” Dennis quickly replied, “Of course, of course. If we find him, we will treat him as an honored guest.”
Linley nodded indifferently and, without another word, flew away with Bebe.
At this point, the matter had nothing to do with the slave trafficking organization anymore. Besides, his fourth brother had escaped over ten days ago. He should be far away by now.
Midair.
“Bebe, go back first. Immediately have Sethler and the others set out for the Chaos Territory. I plan to search along the Bonai River in the Rohault Empire, all the way to the empire’s border, to see if I can find fourth brother. After I finish searching, I’ll meet up with you all.” Linley had already formed this plan in his mind.
Using mental energy to search was an extremely painful task for a Saint-level warrior.
Most Saint-level warriors only used it occasionally. Their mental energy wasn’t particularly strong. Mental energy was the forte of mages. In terms of mental energy alone, the Blackderson, who had cultivated for centuries, was only on par with Linley now.
Flying this distance had only taken an hour. But to search thoroughly would take several days at least.
“Got it.” Bebe nodded obediently, then quickly flew back toward the O’Brien Empire.