Chapter 347: Becoming a Dark Sun envoy
Han Shuo stayed deep in the underground for several days. With the help of Ancient Lizard King Dagassi, he collected the magic crystal ores deep within the underground.
Han Shuo exited the gourd mountain ruins when his space ring couldn’t hold any more. This trip to the underground world had bestowed him with rich harvest, not only was Celt dead, but, Han Shuo had even won the friendship of the lizardmen.
Han Shuo’s space ring was also filled to the brim. He’d looted the Redbud Knights thoroughly, as well as the wealth that Celt had accumulated over many years, and some of Arlen’s magic equipment as well. The total harvest, if converted to gold coins, would amount to more than two million.
“Alright, I will ttinave the underground world for now and collect the rest of the ores next time I come back. I’ll also bring more weapons for you in my next visit, so you can resist the dark elves’ invasion.” Han Shuo said to the lizardmen leader.
“Next time you come, I should already have left this underground world. I hope for the chance for us to meet again. I also hope you can take care of them for me.” Dagassi reminded as he looked at Han Shuo about to leave.
“Rest assured, I will help you take care of them.” Han Shuo agreed with a vow.
In the past couple of days, Dagassi had been like a kind elder, imparting Han Shuo with many interesting things. Han Shuo had unconsciously developed favorable impression of Dagassi. Now as he was about to leave, he actually felt somewhat reluctant. From Dagassi words, Han Shuo knew that this time the old lizard didn’t simply intend on leaving the underground world, he seemed to want to depart the plane containing the Profound Continent.
Dagassi only glossed over some of the deeper secrets and didn’t tell Han SHuo much. Han Shuo couldn’t understand the thoughts of the demigods, so he didn’t pursue things to the end by asking too many questions. He only faintly understood that the power of Dagassi’s enemy was just as much terrifying.
Han Shuo’s farewell to Dagassi was cool, calm and didn’t drag on. He didn’t remain in the underground world after leaving the area. Ge followed the old road back to the surface by using his astounding memory.
Han Shuo didn’t encounter anything out of the ordinary along the way. He occasionally met a few attempts of others races wanting to rob him and used heavy handed methods to kill them instead. He easily made his way back to the Dark Forest.
Having stayed in the underground world for more than ten days, Han Shuo felt a comfortable sensation as if he was being reborn when he saw the sun shining above his head. The warm sunlight shone down, lifting his mood into an extremely happy state.
The Dark Forest was rich with lush green trees mixed with exotic plants. Fragrance overflowed in the warm spring light and permeated the heart with a peacefulness that refreshed the mind. Han Shuo luxuriated in this warm and comfortable feeling that was a far cry from the gloomy humid, underground world, heading for the direction of the Cemetery of Death.
When he was back in the Cemetery of Death, Han Shuo didn’t linger and went directly to Brettel City. Rich harvest in hand, he immediately set up a small meeting with little fatty Jack, Dorcas as well as Faulke and Chester.
“You were gone all of a sudden for more than ten days, where did you go?” Jack had the closest relationship with Han Shuo, so he started peppering the latter with questions immediately.
“Hehe, I made a trip to the Dark Forest. Have things been quiet in Brettel City recently?” Han Shuo smiled slightly and didn’t hide his trip to the Dark Forest. Only the existence of the Cemetery of Death remained under wraps.
The Redbud Knights and dark elves had suffered heavy losses in the underground world. However, a small number of them had still escaped. News of Han Shuo’s actions in the underground world must have spread already.
Dick, the local Dark Mantle liaison, bowed respectfully towards Han Shuo and said, “My Lord, I would like to report some information alone.”
“This is all our own people here. There is no need to hide anything, you can speak directly.” Han Shuo knew Dick must have gathered some information from his higher-ups. Jack, Dorcas, Faulke and Chester were all his trusted people. Since Faulke had been sent here by Lawrence, the latter must have mentioned Han Shuo’s identity as a Dark Mantle member to Faulke already. Han Shuo had nothing to hide in front of him.
Jack and Dorcas had spent much time with Dick lately, so they more or less knew of his identity. The existence of Dark Mantle in the Lancelot Empire wasn’t much of a secret. Although people didn’t talk about it openly, they all knew about it in their minds.
“Master Candide relayed that your deeds in the underground world are highly appreciated. The Dark Forest is on the edge of the border of our Empire. For the Redbud Knights to suffer heavy losses, even though the Brut Business Alliance will likely be extremely indignant, they presumably won’t make any radical responses. Master Candide told you to be at ease.” Dick started his report when he saw Han Shuo was nonchalant about his privacy.
Nodding his head, Han Shuo smiled, “You may carry on.”
Dorcas, Jack and Faulke listened but couldn’t understand anything. However, Faulke and Dorcas knew that Candide was one of the three heavyweights of Dark Mantle. From Dick’s words, they knew Han Shuo’s relationship with Candide wasn’t superficial. They were inwardly amazed.
“Master Candide said this time you achieved a great deed this time. His Majesty has approved that you will be a one star Dark Sun envoy from now on. You only need to visit the Dark Mantle headquarters to upgrade your badge. Congratulations to you, my Lord!” Dick’s face was full of worship as he grew excited himself.
“Dark Sun envoy, hehe, it seems that Cecilia didn’t conceal any of my credit. This woman knows what to do.” Han Shuo smiled contentedly and murmured to himself.
Going from Star to Moon was one level, from Moon to Sun was another. Becoming a Dark Sun envoy meant that from now on, Han Shuo was officially a high ranked member of the Dark Mantle and was now able to enjoy even more special treatment. He could recruit his own subordinates and redistribute the organization’s members in a location.
“My Lord, Dark Sun envoys have the rights to assign missions to Dark Star members, and can also can directly bestow credit on them and raise their level.” Chester looked excitedly at Han Shuo and stated a reminder.
“Rest assured, now that I’m a Dark Sun envoy, you will naturally receive some benefits.” Han Shuo laughed as he responded, then turned to Dick, “Anything else apart from this?”
“Master Candide said you don’t have to worry about anything else, he will help deal with the detrimental remarks against you, you only need to take good care of Brettle City.” Dick hesitated a little before answering this time.
Nodding his head, Han Shuo appeared to understand it completely. He was aware that Cecilia had reported everything correctly, even last time’s matter when he stopped her from acting against the forest trolls.
“Alright, I understand.” Han Shuo looked at Dorcas and Faulke, asked, “How is the situation in Brettel City recently? Have the mountain people come down from the mountain? Any action from the seven grand duchies?”
“A total of twenty thousand people have come down the mountain and are currently residing in Brettel City. The five chiefs of the mountain people are actively cooperating, so the process is going smoothly. The fighting in the seven grand duchies had slowly subsided, only Helen Tina of Helon Duchy has been struggling with the rebels within her land. However, it’s drawing close to an end now.” Dorcas replied.
Ever since Dorcas joined the army, he had gradually replaced Faulke’s position due to his own efforts and Han Shuo’s deliberate arrangements. Dorcas was a military man through and through and had never hidden this desire to fight. Due of many years of formal military education, he was much more adept in leading operations than Faulke, who had originally a knight.
Faulke also understood in his heart that Dorcas was supper to him in this aspect. Coupled with the fact that the latter had won Han Shuo’s trust, Faulke was powerless against this gradual shift in power. Fortunately, Han Shuo didn’t mistreat him, letting Faulke form his team of trusted confidants and strongest soldiers in Brettel into a brigade of a thousand knights.
Han Shuo provided this knight brigade with the most luxurious equipment. Their armor, weapons and equipment were all the most expensive in Brettel City. Han Shuo had poured a great deal of resources into this brigade as it was equipped with the best goods currently in the market. Currently, his investment stood at three hundred thousand gold coins. Except for a lack of horses, just based on the equipment alone, this brigade was no inferior to the official Royal Knights of the Empire.
Of course when compared to the top ten knights associations in the Profound Continent, this brigade was far inferior in whether fighting power or equipment. However in Brettel City or even in the seven grand duchies, this fledgling brigade couldn’t be underestimated.
As a pure knight, nothing moved his heart so much as commanding an official knight brigade, so Faulke didn’t feel too much unpleasantness at the loss in military power. On the contrary, he poured his heart into training the brigade.
“So for the time being, the seven grand duchies seem to have not enough power to deal with us?” Han Shuo asked with a smile.
Nodding his head, Dorcas confirmed, “The seven grand duchies won’t do anything for at least a month. But when they start to act again, it won’t be just one duchy coming alone. News of the four great bandit regiments suffering heavy losses has spread all over the seven grand duchies. Even if each duchy puts all their strength behind an attack, their power still can’t compare to the combined force of the four great bandit regiments. With the bandits’ defeat as a lesson, they definitely won’t act rashly before they are completely confident.”
Dorcas continued after a short pause, “In other words, the seven grand duchies won’t act now, but once they do, I’m afraid Brettel City would face a hard battle!”
“Hmph! The seven grand duchies want Brettel City to be their hunting ground, I think it’s time to change this perspective of theirs. Only when we kill each and every one that comes, will they commit this to their memories for the rest of their lives.” Han Shuo said with a cold face. He was silent for a while after, then suddenly spoke to Dorcas and Faulke, “Make good use of this time period when Brettel is still safe to train your soldiers. Make the bandits that have invaded Brettel in recent years your target. I know that beside the four great bandit groups, there are also seven or eight smaller bandit groups. All of you can think of ways to make them spit out everything they looted from us.”
Dorcas’ eyes sparkled with a fierce light after he heard these words, he immediately replied, “My Lord, rest assured, I know what to do.”
“Heh heh, from my trip to the underground world this time, I suddenly realized that in order for Brettel City to quickly become powerful, the fastest way is to plunder the resources from others. Train our soldiers on one hand, plunder others on the other. We get the best of both worlds in this world.” Han Shuo made a fortune on dirty money in the underground world, he finally understood why there were so many bandits in the seven grand duchies. Even one of the top ten knight troops of the mainland, the Redbud Knights, didn’t mind traveling thousands of miles all the way to the Dark Forest.
“My Lord, I have some interesting news.” Dick put on a creepy smile as he spoke to Han Shuo with a smile.
When he saw Dick smile despicably, Han Shuo knew the words about to come out from his mouth were definitely nothing serious. He wasn’t angry however, “What interesting news? I can’t help but want to beat you after seeing that smile.”
“Heh heh, the Narsen Duchy was originally friendly with the Helon Duchy, but they seem to have been extremely unhappy with each other lately. Grand duke Benedict of the Narsen Duchy didn’t even help Helen Tina with her internal strife. Do you know why, my Lord?” Dick looked at Han Shuo with an evil cackle.
Furrowing his brows, Han Shuo said, “Why?”
“It’s to your credit, my Lord. Now all the seven grand duchies know that you’ve had Helen Tina, Benedict, an ardent pursuer for many years, also knows. He has been pursuing Helen Tina for so long in vain, but my Lord was able to have her after having just arrived at Brettel City a few months ago.”
“For Benedict, a used woman has naturally lost her flavor. His attitude towards the Helon Duchy also changed greatly. He only stood on the sidelines to watch when Helen Tina faced her enemies.” Dick explained while laughing, then he sighed, “My Lord is very farsighted, easily splitting up the two most solid allies.”
“Indeed, my Lord has great vision. We are lack his charisma and definitely have to learn from my Lord!” Chester had the same look of admiration on this face as he nodded and sighed emotionally.
Han Shuo’s expression darkened. He looked at these innately dirty fellows and grunted, “So you spread this news, I didn’t think you would be so despicable.”
Chester and Dick laughed awkwardly without a word, while Jack was full of interest and said with envy, “Bryan, I heard that that woman is very beautiful, you are really blessed!”
It appeared these fellows wouldn’t believe his explanation, so Han Shuo didn’t try to explain himself anymore. He took out Celt’s space ring with all the armor from the Redbud Knights, along with an enormous amount of magic crystal ore, and said to Jack, “This ring is loaded with armor from the Redbud Knights and magic crystal ore. You go put them in the warehouse and keep the ring.”
“You are giving this space ring to me?” Jack looked with surprise at Han Shuo handing over the space ring, his voice high.
“Mhm, this ring originally belonged to the Redbud Knights leader Celt. The space inside is enough for you to transport goods.” Han Shuo smiled at Jack, then took out fire grand magus Marceau’s space ring and handed it over as well, “There are a number of crystals, jade and a variety of jewelry inside, worth nearly a million gold coins. They are to be used as the capital for Brettel’s operations, you have full control over them.”
Jack sensed Celt’s space ring and discovered the massive amount of armor and magic crystal ore inside, he smiled excitedly at Faulke, “Faulke, you can have even better armor now. The magic crystal ore inside is also enough for our magic crystal cannons to use for a while.”
“Very good, His Lordship took one trip outside and truly really rich harvest!” Faulke let out a happy cry hearing Jack’s words.
There were the harvested ore, armor from the dead Redbud Knights, plus the crystal, jade and gold coins that Celt had plundered from the underground world in Celt and Marceu’s space rings. Han Shuo had stored some magical equipment, the “Starry Sky” and the magical space tent in his own space ring.
The things he gave Jack were all related to money as they didn’t provide any practical uses for Han Shuo. Brettel City was currently his greatest asset, what he cared about the most was to make Brettel more powerful. These gold coins would fully demonstrate their value in Jack’s hands.
“Good, I’m counting on you to make good use of these things.” Han Shuo said to Jack and the bunch. With these things, he knew that Brettel City would become even more powerful.