Chapter 703: Section 490: Targeting the Caravan
Snowball regretfully said, “I’d like to watch, too, but I have to prepare for the Warm Snow Cup Alchemy Conference. Sigh… Whoever’s going to watch, record a Magic Image for me, please.”
“But come to think of it, do you know if the duelists will have a public duel or a private one?”
If the brave duelists don’t want spectators, then it’d be a private duel, with only the duelists themselves present, and the dueling field turned into a sealed-off battleground.
In reality, private duels occur much more frequently than public ones.
Many people might extend an invitation, but only to a small group of spectators.
Devil Muscle said, “I don’t care one way or the other, a real man should face things head-on! Besides, letting everyone see me defeat Bao Ligen—that’d be pretty interesting.”
“Defeat me? In your dreams!” Bao Ligen roared, “Let’s make it a public duel then, and watch me crush you!”
Suddenly someone said, “Bao Ligen, aren’t you supposed to be in solitary confinement? Can you really get out and duel?”
Mei Lin: …
Snowball: …
Bao Ligen fell silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into an extreme rage, screaming his head off.
Devil Muscle mocked, “I can’t stop laughing. After all this talk, you can’t even get out of there!”
Bao Ligen retorted, “What’s confinement? I’ll sneak out tonight and make it to Aurora City by tomorrow!”
Devil Muscle sneered, “Fine, I’ll wait for you. If you don’t show, you’re nothing but a coward!”
“You’re the damn coward!” Bao Ligen bellowed.
“Sorry, Bao Ligen.” Mei Lin had already quietly decided that after this conversation, she would immediately report him through military channels.
She disliked seeing soldiers violate military discipline even more than she cared for the excitement of duels.
Gudong eyed the person who had reminded Bao Ligen of his confinement, “It’s Yunzhong, huh. True to form—doesn’t speak often, but when he does, he hits the bullseye.”
Yunzhong was an archer whose reputation had been rising in the Royal Capital as of late.
He was incredibly strong, and his fame came from participating in many brave duels.
Many powers, including the Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s prestigious Lijian family, had invited him, but Yunzhong refused all.
He was used to working alone and didn’t like restraints.
He had also recently become a Holy Fighter under the God of Duels.
The atmosphere was “lively.”
Bao Ligen and Devil Muscle kept arguing, their spiritual fluctuations getting so intense that they severely interfered with everyone else’s ability to communicate normally.
Without Long Meng there, Mei Lin couldn’t control the situation.
She tried to intervene, but Bao Ligen, in his fury, ignored her.
Devil Muscle was also furious and paid no heed to Mei Lin’s attempts at mediation.
Unable to stand it any longer, Mei Lin stepped away and directly reported Bao Ligen to the military using an emergency communication as an individual.
“What? There are reports that Bao Ligen is secretly planning to escape the military camp?” The military was surprised to receive the report.
But Mei Lin, although part of the Navy, had a far-reaching reputation, so her influence was strong even in the Army.
The Army did not take the information lightly and immediately sent personnel to break into the confinement room.
Disturbed, Bao Ligen was forced to open his eyes, stop his prayers, and thus left the remote communication session in Divine Country of Anqiu.
“Ah!” He kept screaming, his roars echoing skyward.
“Sure enough, something’s off with Bao Ligen!” said the Army, swiftly confirming Mei Lin’s intelligence, and immediately mobilizing experts to suppress Bao Ligen.
Chaos erupted in the military camp.
Mei Lin resumed her prayer, and her spirit returned to the Divine Country of Anqiu, reconnecting with everyone.
All were puzzled as to why Bao Ligen’s spirit had suddenly withdrawn.
Mei Lin calmly said, “I reported him.”
Everyone: …
It was no ordinary feat for Holy Fighters to communicate across distances, as each prayer required a significant amount of Divine Grace. But once their spirits entered the tombstone, no Divine Grace was needed.
This meant that Mei Lin’s consecutive prayers had used twice the Divine Grace as the others!
For a moment, everyone was awed by Mei Lin’s “ferocity.”
After an awkward silence, Mifang cautiously said, “If you’re targeting the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ caravan, I can lend a hand.”
Snowball quickly recalled details about Mifang.
He was a Human Race Pharmacist who’d come to Ice Sculpture Kingdom years ago to study. He had romances with numerous noble ladies in the academy and was targeted by many male students.
Therefore, Mifang had participated in numerous brave duels.
He was quite skilled at fighting, with more victories than losses, and ultimately, the Jingxiang family of the Kingdom took him as a son-in-law.
“The Jingxiang family has always been leading the Magic Potion Market in the Kingdom. Is Mifang targeting the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps now due to a conflict of interest?”
“Then…” Mei Lin was about to agree.
Suddenly, another spiritual wave transmitted a message: “Stand aside, I’ll take care of it.”
For a moment, many hearts chilled. Gudong felt a headache coming on, murmuring, “Green Red Eyes… another troublesome one.”
Gudong expressed concern, “Green Red Eyes, if I’m not mistaken, it was Teng Donglang who defeated and captured you alive, right?”
Green Red Eyes plainly said, “To be precise, Teng Donglang spared my life back then. Although he could have killed me, he didn’t. He was an outstanding soldier. Even after he retired and started a gang, he remained respectable in my eyes.”
“So, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps is my enemy!”
“Taking revenge on the enemy begins with cutting off their caravans, hehehe, hahaha, gagaga…”
While saying this, Green-Red Eyes burst into maniacal laughter, emitting a chilling killing intent!
“Has this guy gone mad again?”
“Violent Root and Devil Muscle might be a bit violent, but they are still sane. This Green-Red Eyes… Being with someone like him always means being on tenterhooks.”
“Green-Red Eyes, huh…” Mei Lin’s mind quickly flashed through the information about him.
Green-Red Eyes was a Snow Rabbit-man captured as a slave. After several transactions, he ended up in the hands of the alchemy master Luangai.
In Luangai’s alchemy experiments, he was transformed into a half-flesh, half-alchemy being, his combat power surged, but his mental state suffered severe damage.
During one alchemy experiment, he completely lost his sanity, destroyed the laboratory, seriously injured Master Luangai, and escaped, causing severe damage to the surrounding villages.
The Kingdom deployed troops to search the mountains. Teng Donglang was part of one such troop and encountered Green-Red Eyes, clashed with him, and ultimately captured him.
After Green-Red Eyes was captured, although he received treatment from the Royal Family, his mental state still had significant hidden dangers.
He couldn’t withstand irritations and would often become enraged over trivial matters, lose his sanity, and then fall into a dangerously furious state, indiscriminately killing friend and foe alike.
For this reason, he has been living in seclusion on Patchwork Mountain for years, keeping to himself.
“Is there anyone else interested in taking action?” Mei Lin asked, but no one responded.
She thought quickly: Should she choose Mifang, or Green-Red Eyes?
The former was backed by the Jingxiang family, while the latter was one of the elders of the Snow Rabbit Tribe. Green-Red Eyes also had a notable origin, being of the upper-class Bloodline of the Snow Rabbits. The Snow Rabbit upper class had mobilized fully to communicate with the Royal Family when he was initially captured as a slave. The Ice Sculpture Royal Family valued the Snow Rabbit Tribe greatly and had always strived to maintain relations with them.
Once Green-Red Eyes went berserk and broke out of the alchemy room, revealing his whereabouts, the Royal Family mobilized the army and ordered his capture alive.
Although Mei Lin was a Navy commander, her political awareness was naturally also sharp.
After some thought, she made up a reason to say, “Then let Green-Red Eyes take action. Your location is the closest to Snowbird Port.”
“I will inform you of the relevant details. In any case, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ production bases are all centered around Snowbird Port, and their caravans all set out from there.”
“You intercepting near Snowbird Port is the most convenient and efficient.”
“Of course, I’m not rejecting you, Mifang. You can take action as well, and I will send someone with your rewards.”
Mifang forced a smile: “Hehe. Since Green-Red Eyes is taking action, then I will not interfere.”
After Mei Lin assigned the tasks, she continued mentally, “The leader of the Axe Gang has died, and his Coffin Carrier is his son, Fu Zhao. Gudong, can you bring him back?”
Gudong immediately replied, “Of course, I am willing to undertake this mission!”
Mei Lin was relieved, having come from the regular army herself. This feeling was different.
Zhu Gan sighed and volunteered, “Lin and I were fishing buddies. Now that he’s gone, I’m also willing to help his Coffin Carrier.”
Snow Ball also said, “I can take care of Jia Bing’s end.”
Mei Lin pondered for a moment: “The responsibility for Lin’s Coffin Carrier will lie with Zhu Gan. However, Jia Bing has not yet appointed a Coffin Carrier, so unfortunately, there’s nothing to be done there.”
Not every God of Duels’ Golden Level Holy Fighter had a Coffin Carrier. To some extent, a Coffin Carrier is an heir.
And an heir is often very difficult to choose.
Gudong then asked, “Because of his visit to Anqiu, Ice Eagle has brought many outsiders with him. How should these people be dealt with?”
“He expanded the territory of the Divine Country inadvertently during his ritual. Such a Mutation could likely have been orchestrated by hostile forces to facilitate their spies’ entry into Anqiu!”
“Everyone knows that there have always been secretive forces or individuals continuously probing us and Anqiu.”
“Hegai concurred: “Perhaps this time the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps came specifically for us. We have already lost four Golden Level Holy Fighters to them!”
“Why not just kill them off? What’s there to hesitate about?” scoffed Devil Muscle, “Isn’t that simple?”
“Ice Eagle is our Silver Level Holy Fighter, though he has no right to set up a tombstone, he is trustworthy. It wouldn’t be good to just kill his people,” advocated Gudong straightforwardly for his military comrades.
Mei Lin agreed, “I’ve communicated with Ice Eagle one-on-one, and he has already shared with me his plan for dealing with things. I think it’s a sound strategy.”
Mei Lin sent a ripple of mental energy, sharing Ice Eagle’s arrangements with everyone.
“Let’s deal with it this way for now.”
“Will they be trustworthy once converted?”
“At least they won’t harm Anqiu, right?”
“I have no objections.”
“Relax, Anqiu is a Divine Country, after all.”
“Hmph, you’re responsible if anything goes wrong!”
Their opinions varied, but the majority accepted Mei Lin’s handling of the situation.
Next, everyone spoke their piece. The inability to converse privately led to a constant barrage of mental fluctuations, cluttering messages in a chaotic manner.
Mei Lin felt mentally drained.
She would rather command armies than make arrangements here.
But there was no helping it.
Even she had to admit: these Golden Level Holy Fighters were excellent individuals in combat, stronger than the experts in the military. They could be considered the backbone of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s military force!
“The army’s infiltration here is still insufficient.”
“The situation had been leaning continuously towards us, but with the departure of Teng Donglang and Jia Bing, the four of them suddenly tilted the balance back to square one.”
“In the short term, these individuals can only be regarded as Advanced mercenaries.”
“However, if Long Meng were here, with him stepping forward, this bunch would probably obey without question.”
To be honest, Mei Lin envied Long Meng for his position and prestige among these individuals.