Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 47, Establishing a Base in the Anarchic Lands
Transforming into his Dragonblood Warrior form, Linley began to trace from the Bonai River all the way to the border city of Neil, carefully scanning the surrounding areas. Every so often, he would have to rest to recover his spiritual energy.
He spent six full days and nights searching, and viewed all the nearby cities as well.
However…
He didn’t find Reynolds.
“Master Linley, don’t worry. As soon as our Dawson Conglomerate discovers young master Reynolds, we will definitely make sure he safely makes it back home.”
A supervisor for the Dawson Conglomerate within one of the prefectural cities at the border of the Rohault Empire said respectfully to Linley.
Linley nodded slightly.
Right now, the only choice he had was to entrust this task to the Dawson Conglomerate. In his heart, Linley felt a bit puzzled. “Where did Fourth Bro run off to? Why didn’t he go to the Dawson Conglomerate’s branch headquarters? The Dawson Conglomerate has branches in each of the various prefectural cities.”
Actually, Linley didn’t understand.
Reynolds had been truly terrified by his time spent aboard that slaving vessel. Reynolds had decided that so long as he was within the borders of the Rohault Empire, no matter what, he would not enter any large cities. Although large cities had branch headquarters of the Dawson Conglomerate, it also had slaving organizations. If he were to be caught by slaving organizations, once he was discovered by them, he would be in dire straits.
“Any risk of being caught is too much risk. I’d rather take some side routes.” Reynolds was very firm in his decision.
Given his power, heading towards the Anarchic Lands via some cross country travelling wasn’t too hard. Once he reached the Anarchic Lands, he would then make contact with the Dawson Conglomerate. By then, he would be able to return safely.
By nightfall, in an ordinary courtyard within a prefectural city of the O’Brien Empire’s Southeast Administrative Province. Zassler, the Barker brothers, Rebecca, Leena, and Jenne were all here.
The sound of knocking could be heard. Carrying that massive greataxe on his back, Gates strode forward and threw the door open. In front of the door were three attendants, all pushing food carts.
“What took you so long?” Gates swept the three men with his ox-like stare, causing their hearts to tremble. In front of the massive Gates, the three of them were like small children.
Suddenly, a bestial roar could be heard from the courtyard. The three attendants turned towards the sound…
The Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, lazily padded his way over. The natural, baleful aura of a top-class magical beast such as the Blackcloud Panther was more than enough to set hearts trembling. Haeru glanced at the three with his dark, cold eyes, and then disdainfully turned his head and lay down on the ground.
The three attendants exchanged glances, not daring to make any sound.
They immediately put all the plates of food onto the table, then quickly left. When they walked out of the courtyard, they wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
“Who the hell are these guys? Those five men were enormous!”
“And those axes were so huge. They have to weigh at least a thousand pounds each.”
“And that old man. He looked like a skeleton. All he did was glance at me, and I felt fear. But those three ladies were certainly pretty. If I could marry such a beautiful girl, I’d be willing to have my lifespan shortened by a few dozen years.”
In the eyes of these hotel attendants, the guests in this courtyard were definitely extremely, terrifyingly powerful entities. While Zassler and the others ate, Bebe and Haeru remained within the courtyard. This was because they could sense…that Linley was heading back at high speed.
A short while later, Linley, dressed in a deep blue robe, landed from the skies.
“Lord Linley.” Barker and his brothers ran over to welcome him excitedly. Jenne, Rebbeca, and Leena all came over to welcome him as well.
“Linley, how did it go? Did you find Reynolds?” Zassler asked.
Linley shook his head. Right now, Linley was in a fairly good mood. Since the slave trading organization hadn’t found Reynolds, given Reynolds’ power as a magus of the seventh rank, as long as he didn’t anger someone powerful, he shouldn’t be in any danger.
“Fourth Bro has been a soldier for many years now, and the slave trading organization is no longer after him either…given the circumstances, he should have a 100% chance of escaping and returning.” Linley was very confident in his friend.
“If Reynolds isn’t able to make it back safely under such favorable conditions, he wouldn’t be worthy of being your bro, Lord. The Rohault Empire is usually very stable and very safe.” Gates said loudly. “In the past, when we brothers were just warriors of the seventh rank, we lived a wonderful life in the Eighteen Northern Duchies.”
Linley laughed.
He entered the room with the others and began to eat dinner.
“Linley.” Zassler put down his utensils, then asked, “We are about to head off to the Anarchic Lands. What are your plans?”
Linley knew that Zassler was the most experienced member of his team. With an eight hundred year old man by his side, many things would be much easier to accomplish.
“Zassler, what do you feel we should do?” Linley asked.
Barker said, “Lord Linley, actually, I imagine that the Anarchic Lands must be very similar to our Eighteen Northern Duchies. You do all your talking with your fists. Given our tremendous power, we definitely would be able to quickly establish a mighty force.”
Zassler nodded. “What Barker just described is one type of method, yes. Linley…I believe we have two options right now. The first is what Barker just said. Using our reputation as Saints, we can quickly dominate a very wide swathe of territory. In the Anarchic Lands, the rally call of a Saint is very effective.”
Linley nodded slightly.
The Anarchic Lands were often in a state of chaos and warfare. The citizens caught in these chaotic battles desperately hoped for their leader to be a powerful figure. If he publicly announced himself as a Saint, there would definitely be many people willing to follow Linley.
After all, Saints would be able to provide their followers with a good deal of safety and security.
“The second method is to, at least at first, not announce your status, Linley. We’ll start in the smaller regions. First, we’ll find an ordinary little city where the lives of the commoners are unbearably bad. Even if I were to act by myself, I could easily take over such a small city. And then, we will slowly expand to larger cities, then erect our own Duchy. And then, we continue, one step at a time. In the past…I was a Grand Duke in the Anarchic Lands, myself.” Zassler laughed.
The second method was the method which many ambitious people used.
After all, the first method could only be used by powerful experts with overwhelming force.
“Milord, what method do you wish to use?” Zassler looked at Linley. “The benefit to the first method is that it is fast. Within a year, we can easily take over countless Duchies in the Anarchic Lands. The second method is slower, but it allows us to have a more stable foundation.”
Jenne, the other two girls, Barker, and his brothers all stared at Linley, waiting for his decision.
“Zassler, we’ll carry out the second method.” Linley made his decision after pondering for a while.
“Our target is the Radiant Church, and the Radiant Church is very skilled at seducing the masses. We need to move slowly, one step at a time, and let the commoners be fully willing to follow our orders. We need to give them a strong sense of belonging. Otherwise…even if we take over a large amount of territory, when we fight against the Radiant Church, we will have many traitors and riots.” Linley said.