Chapter 5: Setting Out
In the dead of night, within a quiet study, a single candle on the desk flickered with a dim, swaying light.
Before the desk sat a thin, tall man with an aquiline nose and long purple hair. He was flipping through a thick book, his features obscured by the faint candlelight. Just then, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The sound of knocking came.
"Enter." The aquiline-nosed man didn't look up, continuing to read his book.
"Creak." The door opened, and a seemingly shrewd, middle-aged man with golden hair walked in. As soon as he entered, he quickly closed the door, then bowed respectfully and said, "Your Excellency the Inquisitor General, Linley's forces have captured Mott County City."
The aquiline-nosed man was none other than Usono, the Inquisitor General of the Holy See's Inquisition.
The Holy See's public leader was the Holy Pope. However, to maintain its facade of holiness, the Holy See often dispatched members of the Inquisition to deal with powerful opponents. The Inquisition was known for its extreme cruelty, and its leader, the Inquisitor General, wielded influence within the Church no less than the Holy Pope himself.
"Oh." Usono continued looking down at his book.
The golden-haired middle-aged man continued respectfully, "Capturing Mott County City is a minor matter. The most important thing is... Linley's side used that mysterious Saint-level panther-type magical beast in this siege."
"They used a Saint-level magical beast?" Usono's head snapped up. His eyes were as deep as the ocean. Stared at by Usono, the golden-haired middle-aged man felt his heart tremble, but he forced himself to overcome his fear and said, "Your Excellency the Inquisitor General, by having a Saint-level participant in the war, Linley's side is clearly provoking us."
In ordinary wars, Saint-level experts did not interfere.
Once a Saint-level expert intervened, it meant there was no room for negotiation between the two sides; they were ready to fight to the death.
Although Mott County City was not under the Holy See's control, and Linley's actions did not constitute a direct challenge to the Holy See, having a Saint-level magical beast participate in battle sent a signal—a challenge to the Holy See. Linley's meaning was clear—
"My magical beast has already appeared. This force belongs to me, Linley. How will the Holy See respond?"
It was also a form of intimidation—since he dared to send a Saint-level magical beast, if the Holy See wanted to fight him, they should send Saint-level experts. There was no need to send ordinary soldiers.
"Your Excellency the Inquisitor General?" The golden-haired middle-aged man looked at Usono.
Usono's deep eyes revealed nothing of his current mood. Suddenly, Usono spoke: "Remember, from today onward, do not confront Linley head-on. We will endure!" The golden-haired middle-aged man was shocked, looking at Usono in disbelief.
Usono was an absolutely terrifying super-expert.
As one of the two giants of the Holy See, his strength was at least equal to, if not greater than, Hedderson's. Moreover, the Holy See had quite a few Saint-level experts in the Chaos Territory. There was no need to fear Linley and his few people.
"Your Excellency the Inquisitor General, Linley's side only has himself and two magical beasts," the golden-haired middle-aged man said, puzzled.
Usono said calmly, "No, their Saint-level experts are not that few. If my guess is correct, the five Barker brothers should be descendants of Amand. Now, all five of them are level 9 warriors. Once they transform, they become Saint-level primary. At the very least, a Saint-level intermediate expert would be needed to defeat them."
"Undying Warriors?" The golden-haired middle-aged man was very surprised.
Usono glanced at him.
Back when Hise rescued the five Barker brothers and threatened Suttler like that, Holy Pope Heiting had suspected that the Barker brothers were from the Amand family. After all, for Hise to go that far, and for their bodies to be so strong... there was only that explanation.
"They are not far behind us," Usono said, looking down at his book again. He said indifferently, "Remember, endure."
"What about when Linley's side establishes a duchy and attacks the territories under our control?" the golden-haired middle-aged man asked again. Although he was the overall person in charge of the Holy See's operations in the Chaos Territory, since Usono was here, Usono naturally became the overall commander.
Usono said indifferently, "If they attack our territories, we retreat. Give them the land."
"Ah." The golden-haired middle-aged man looked at Usono in surprise.
Usono said calmly, "He provokes us, and we endure. They attack our territories, and we give way. Let Linley think we fear him, that our strength is inferior to his... But you must understand, when he occupies our territories, he will naturally have to reorganize the armies of those cities. He will have to use the people of those cities."
"Ah." The golden-haired middle-aged man's eyes lit up. He understood Usono's meaning.
"Your Excellency the Inquisitor General is wise," the golden-haired middle-aged man said excitedly.
Usono smiled faintly: "In war, favorable timing and terrain are secondary. People are the most important! What can inspire true loyalty better than faith? Linley... I will let him know just how terrifying the influence of faith can be."
The golden-haired middle-aged man was secretly shocked.
Usono was too insidious.
With such formidable strength and so many experts under his command, he still used such a vicious tactic. The golden-haired middle-aged man could fully imagine... Linley's side, drunk with success, would be brought back down to earth.
"You may leave." Usono looked down at his book and said indifferently.
"Yes, Your Excellency the Inquisitor General."
The golden-haired middle-aged man respectfully left. The dim study was left with only Usono, quietly reading that book. Beside the book, on the desk, lay a dossier with a few words on it—Linley Baruch.
In the northern part of the Chaos Territory, a force that had captured one county city and nine small towns, governing nearly nine million people, had quietly emerged. Although Mott County City had been taken, the political center of Linley's side remained Blacksoil City.
Blacksoil City was now extremely prosperous.
Zero taxes had led many to try to immigrate to Blacksoil City, but the city was already overcrowded. The city's population management department had raised the threshold for immigration. However, as the political center of this force, Blacksoil City still attracted many people.
"Boss, Blacksoil City has changed so much," Bebe said, standing on Linley's shoulder as they walked down a main road in Blacksoil City.
Linley also looked around at the various taverns, clothing stores, weapon shops, and so on lining the road. When Linley first came to Blacksoil City, the residents wore tattered clothes, and most were malnourished and sallow. But a few months had passed, and Blacksoil City had been completely transformed.
Some run-down shops had been renovated.
The streets had been repaved. Many saplings had been planted on both sides of the road... In some taverns, Linley saw commoners drinking together and chatting freely about everything. The topic they talked about most was their five war gods.
Under the leadership of these nearly invincible five war gods, their lives had stabilized. Zero taxes had improved their standard of living by several levels.
"If one day the five war gods are defeated..." someone in a tavern started to say. Immediately—
"Damn it, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"The war gods are invincible. How could they be defeated? You're just talking nonsense here!"
Many people immediately started cursing. These ordinary people were enjoying this peaceful and stable life and naturally didn't want it to be disrupted.
"In the O'Brien Empire and the Holy Alliance, a stable life is easily obtained. But here in the Chaos Territory, it seems so precious." Linley suddenly felt a pang of emotion. "This is the result of prolonged war."
A sudden expectation arose in Linley's heart.
"If one day the Chaos Territory is unified and the wars disappear..."
Seeing the smiles on the faces of those commoners, he suddenly found a sense of happiness and satisfaction in his heart.
"Unification?" Linley shook his head with a smile.
His ambition did not lie there. Being able to make his loved ones happy and to continuously climb to higher levels of cultivation was enough for him.
"Leave the matters of war to Seth and Barker," Linley said. His figure suddenly blurred, a faint breeze stirring on the street, and Linley disappeared into the crowd.
Inside the lord's mansion of Blacksoil City, Jenny, Rebecca, Lina, and the others were having lunch in the living room. When Linley suddenly appeared at the door—
"Lord." Barker immediately stood up, and the others followed suit. Linley quickly said, "Everyone, sit down. I just came to see you and to discuss a few things." Linley smiled and walked to the table to sit down.
Seth immediately said, "Linley, we were about to go to you to report on the current developments. Since you're here, Jenny... you can report to Linley." Jenny was now the top person in charge of management.
Just as Jenny was about to speak, Linley smiled and raised his hand to stop her: "Jenny, sit down. No rush."
Jenny nodded and sat down.
"Leave the matters of war to you all. I'm thinking... it might be a while before we engage the Holy See. I want to take this time to go south and spar with some Saint-level experts."
Linley still remembered Miller's invitation.
Sparring with experts, especially those who had comprehended the same elemental laws, could give him a lot of inspiration. Besides, in a while, his side would start fighting the Holy See. Once the real battle began, he wouldn't dare to leave easily.
He could only take advantage of this time.
"Lord, rest assured," Barker said with a smile. "However, in about seven or eight days, we will launch an attack on the duchy secretly controlled by the Holy See. As we discussed with you, Lord, if the Holy See confronts us head-on, we won't hide it. A month later, the duchy's name will be Baruch. If they are afraid, we will play dumb and continue attacking them. We'll pick a random name for the duchy first."
Linley nodded.
"Alright, Hei Lu will stay here with you to prevent any danger. Bebe and I will set off first." Linley immediately stood up.
"Brother Lei, won't you eat with us?" Jenny suddenly said.
Linley smiled at Jenny and shook his head: "No." Then, with a flicker, he disappeared from the living room door. Jenny sighed softly in disappointment.
In the southern part of the Chaos Territory, in that quiet, mysterious little mountain village.
Ever since the news that Reynolds had settled in the village was made public, Reynolds had been ostracized in the village! The reason was—Monica! Monica was the most dazzling and beautiful girl in the mysterious little mountain village, and too many young men liked her.
Previously, many young men thought Reynolds would definitely leave, so they didn't see him as a threat.
But now, Reynolds wasn't leaving.
In the tavern at the village entrance, Reynolds sat drinking.
"Hey, kid, move aside." Three young men walked over, slammed the table, and barked at Reynolds.
Reynolds looked up at them.
"What, you don't like it?" The three young men's battle qi faintly emanated from their bodies. The strength of a level 7 magus was really nothing in this mysterious mountain village. Many in the village who had trained for decades had reached level 7 or level 8. Among the three young men in front of him, the weakest was a level 7 warrior, and the strongest was a level 8 warrior.
If the three of them wanted to beat him up, he had no way to resist.
Reynolds took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and was about to move from his seat. There was no other way... In this mysterious mountain village, he had no support. The other young men in the village had uncles, fathers, and grandfathers who were all experts. How could he compete with them? Moreover, many of the young men in the village had grown up together and would team up against him. As an outsider, how could he fight them?
"What are you doing!"
Monica came over with her maid. Monica shouted angrily.
"Princess Monica." The three young men immediately bowed. In the mysterious mountain village, Monica's father held the highest status. According to legend... this mysterious mountain village had existed for over a thousand years, and Monica's father had looked the same back then as he did now.
Monica glared angrily at the three young men, then took Reynolds' hand: "Brother Reynolds, let's go."
Reynolds stood up, took a deep breath, and followed Monica away.
"Relying on a woman, useless piece of trash," the three young men muttered curses under their breath. Reynolds, who was leaving with Monica, naturally heard this. He just trembled slightly but ultimately continued to follow Monica away.
In the mysterious mountain village, with no support, he had to endure!