Chapter 48: Taking Charge
At noon, the scorching sun hung in the western sky, sending waves of fiery heat down upon Blacksoil City. A brigade of the city's garrison force was lazily patrolling the streets at random, while a few pitiful soldiers stood atop the city walls, baking under the sun.
"What wretched weather—scorching hot during the day, freezing cold at night!" a burly man in tattered armor muttered curses under his breath. Beside him were nine other companions, forming one of the squads within the garrison brigade.
Seeing these soldiers, the nearby commoners timidly gave them a wide berth.
Witnessing this, one of the soldiers muttered quietly, "Working under that greedy fat pig, even some of my elders look down on me. That pig is just too avaricious!"
"Dammit, if it weren't for feeding my wife and kids, I wouldn't be doing this!" another soldier chimed in agreement.
In Blacksoil City, the obese city lord had a notoriously terrible reputation. These soldiers, who had joined the army just to fill their own or their families' bellies, secretly cursed the detestable lord as well. Yet they dared not rebel, because the city lord had a powerful and domineering son—rumored to be at the peak of the seventh rank. Such strength was enough to rule with an iron fist in an ordinary small city.
"Giddyup, giddyup!" A knight on a fine horse came charging from a distance. Spotting the squad ahead, he immediately shouted, "Brothers, hurry and pay respects to the new city lord! That greedy fat pig is dead! Go pay respects to the new city lord!"
The ten members of the squad froze, exchanged glances, and then burst into excited laughter.
"Haha... quick, to the city lord's mansion!"
In a place like the Chaos Territory, the populace had almost no sense of belonging. One month, this person was the city lord; the next month, it might be someone else. The people's demands were simple—just enough to eat and keep their families from starving.
The city lord's mansion in Blacksoil City could be considered a city within a city.
The entire military force of Blacksoil City consisted of two high-strength brigades, each with 1,800 men. One brigade was the city garrison, and the other was the city lord's personal guard. Using half the army to protect his own mansion showed just how afraid of death that city lord was.
At this moment, the city lord's mansion was packed with soldiers. Nearly all 3,600 troops had gathered there.
The mansion's training ground could easily hold 1,800 people packed together. In the center of the wide training field stood the five Barker brothers. Their bulging muscles and thick, iron-cast frames made them look like war gods, commanding awe. Especially striking were the terrifying black battle axes strapped to their backs.
The mass of soldiers stood around in fearful silence.
"Brothers!" a burly man with short golden hair roared loudly. "That detestable fat pig and his son have been chopped into minced meat by the great axes of these five lords! These five lords are mighty ninth-rank experts—invincible ninth-rank experts!!!"
The shout of "ninth-rank experts" sent shockwaves through the soldiers.
"Ninth-rank experts? Coming to a small town like ours?" whispered murmurs spread among the troops.
"Boom!" Gates stepped forward, his demonic aura making the soldiers retreat a step. Grinning widely, he declared, "Listen up, every one of you! From today on, Blacksoil City belongs to us five brothers. My big brother Barker is the new city lord!"
Gates pulled out the massive axe from his back and looked around at the crowd. "My big brother Barker is the city lord now. If any of you have objections, you can spar with me!"
Spar with this terrifying war-god-like figure?
The former city lord's son, who had once terrorized Blacksoil City, had been split in two by Gates with a single axe blow. Of course, most of the soldiers here hadn't witnessed that. The fierce local customs made these soldiers stare at Gates. Being tall didn't necessarily mean being strong!
"This axe of mine is forged from countless precious materials and weighs five thousand three hundred jin!" Gates casually swung the axe, which felt weightless in his hands. The blade struck a massive stone used for weightlifting training.
The ten-thousand-jin stone didn't budge at all. The soldiers were puzzled: "Is that axe made of wood, painted to look like metal?"
"Boom!" The stone suddenly exploded, shattering into fine powder.
Effortless weight handling!
All the soldiers stood dumbfounded. Smashing a ten-thousand-jin stone was something they'd heard of, but turning it instantly into powder required more than just strength... Every soldier gazed at Gates with admiration.
Gates grinned smugly. He'd used this trick often in the eighteen northern duchies. The Chaos Territory, like the northern duchies, worshipped the strong.
"Looks like no one has objections," Gates boomed. "Good! From today on, you're all my big brother's soldiers. And there's a perk to serving my big brother—from now on, your pay will be triple what it was!"
Triple pay?
The three thousand-plus soldiers froze, but then erupted into thunderous cheers—
"Long live Lord Barker!"
What more could they ask for? Five incredibly powerful, almost invincible warriors, plus generous pay—this was the kind of leader they loved.
...
Blacksoil City had a new city lord. The great Lord Barker and his four brothers were all mighty ninth-rank experts, wielding weapons weighing five thousand three hundred jin! Having such powerful leaders made the entire city's populace rejoice.
What thrilled the people most was—
The city lord publicly declared that under his rule, the citizens of Blacksoil City would never pay taxes!
Never pay taxes! In the entire Chaos Territory, this was nearly a miracle. After all, without taxes, where would the money come from to support the army? But this problem was nothing to Linley. He possessed the terrifying wealth accumulated by the Fenlai Kingdom over thousands of years.
Just pulling out a hundred million gold coins would be more than enough.
A powerful leader, generous pay, and no taxes—these three points quickly fostered a sense of unity. The people wanted to live forever under such a ruler. The high pay also drew many more to enlist.
Meanwhile, commoners from surrounding areas, hearing the news, immediately migrated into Blacksoil City.
*******
Half a month after Blacksoil City got its new city lord.
In the city lord's mansion, the newly appointed steward, "Nemi," was reporting to the mysterious "Lord Lei" about everything in Blacksoil City. As the manager of daily affairs, Nemi knew that while the nominal city lord was "Barker," the true supreme leader was this mysterious Lord Lei.
"My lord, Blacksoil City has nearly eighty thousand residents. Including the many towns and villages under our rule, the total population under Blacksoil City's governance is over seven hundred thousand. The army is also expanding, now at five brigades, all high-strength, totaling nine thousand men," Nemi reported respectfully.
Linley, seated above, nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"Alright, Nemi, you may withdraw," Barker said, glancing at him.
"Yes, my lord city lord." Nemi immediately left respectfully.
In the living room sat Linley and the core members. Following the original plan of Seth and the group, they publicly claimed that the city lord was Lord Barker. The name "Barker" was common, and no one knew who he really was.
"My lord, you really surprised us—just casually pulling out a magic crystal card with a hundred million gold coins," Barker said with a chuckle.
Linley smiled. "Don't worry about money." Back then, Linley had essentially looted the Fenlai Kingdom's millennia-old treasury.
Seth, however, spoke up, "Linley, treating the people of Blacksoil City so well is meant to make this our most solid foundation, to earn their absolute support. Tax exemption can work in one place... but in the future, at most we'll implement low taxes. And for a nation to function, it must form a healthy cycle. It can't rely forever on external funds. It needs to be self-sufficient!"
Linley nodded.
"I don't know much about governing a nation or such matters. I'll leave that to Seth and Jenny," Linley said, glancing at Jenny with a smile. Seth had once governed a duchy in the Chaos Territory, and Jenny had managed the city of Cerre for her brother for several years. Both were far more skilled at administration than Linley.
Jenny nodded with a smile. "Brother Linley, as a leader, you just need to know how to delegate. Leave everything to us."
Seth agreed, "Jenny's right. Linley, you are our banner. In the Chaos Territory, a supreme expert's influence is immense. Look at the War God—he stays on War God Mountain for long periods and doesn't meddle. Yet everyone knows that as long as the War God exists, the O'Brien Empire will never fall."
"My lord, your role in our faction will be like the War God's to the O'Brien Empire," Barker added.
Linley nodded slightly. "I understand. By the way, I took a stroll around Blacksoil City yesterday. About a few dozen miles northeast, there's a small hill called Black Crow Mountain. I plan to train there."
Whether it was the laws of the earth or the elemental laws of wind, Linley felt their vastness. He longed to immerse himself in them, to contemplate and absorb their truths.
*******
In a county city in the south-central Chaos Territory, home to hundreds of thousands, a room on the fifth floor of a five-story inn held an old man with graying hair. He was opening a letter, reading its contents carefully.
"Just what I feared," the old man frowned. "The Pope ordered us not to attack Linley, only to keep watch. When we learned that Linley and his group had entered the Chaos Territory, we thought it was just a journey. But now he's taken over a city. What exactly is he planning?"
The old man had a bad feeling.
Linley was a great enemy of the Radiant Church, one they didn't want to confront.
But now...
"I hope Linley is just fooling around in the Chaos Territory," the old man frowned. What he feared most was that Linley had come specifically to the Chaos Territory to target the Radiant Church. "We don't want to provoke him, but if he provokes us, we'll have no choice but to act."
As a high-ranking member of the Radiant Church in the Chaos Territory, the old man knew well how powerful Linley's side was.
"For now, we can only watch and see what Linley is really up to."
...
Outside Blacksoil City, near the direction of the Dark Forest, on a small hill over a thousand meters high, Linley sat cross-legged atop the crown of a large tree. As the wind blew, the branches and leaves swayed, and Linley himself moved gently like a leaf.
A heavy sword was strapped to his back.
Carrying a three-thousand-six-hundred-jin Blackdusk heavy sword while sitting on a tree crown—Linley's control over the wind had indeed reached an extremely high level.
"Slowness and speed aren't so simple either," Linley mused, continuously simulating the move "Rhythm of the Wind" in his mind. The Rhythm of the Wind perfectly combined two forms of wind into a single strike, with opposing principles creating an air blade on the sword's edge.
But Linley realized that studying slowness and speed individually also had its remarkable aspects.
"Pushing slowness to its extreme, pushing speed to its extreme..." Linley was completely immersed in comprehending the elemental laws. Sometimes a flash of insight would strike, or he'd suddenly grasp a principle of the earth laws, and he'd delve into that. Other times, he'd discover a principle of the wind laws and pursue that.
Days of hard training and contemplation on Black Crow Mountain passed quickly...