Leave a comment

At this moment, in the opulent living room of the Viscount’s residence, “So, none of you know where he hid the Black Magic Crystals and the banknotes?” Viscount Yelu, his face slightly pale, pointed a trembling hand at the ground where a disfigured, nearly dead, obese middle-aged man lay, grunting in rage.

He was so furious, it felt as if his lungs might burst. The minion he had sent to frame the Black-hearted Princess had betrayed him instead, leading to massive losses. It was a miracle he hadn’t died outright from anger.

“Y-yes, yes…” a man with a crooked nose knelt on the ground, his voice trembling.

“Useless, utterly useless! He played you all for fools. A dog would be more useful than you lot!” Viscount Yelu stomped on the obese man’s body, roaring in fury.

In that moment, he seemed like a man-eating beast.

“It hurts, stop kicking! I’m going to die!” The nearly unconscious man on the ground cried out, jolted awake by the pain.

“I’ll kill you, you b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!” Viscount Yelu shouted, delivering another hard kick. “Tell me, where are the Black Magic Crystals and banknotes?”

“Ouch! I swear, I don’t know—I never took them!” The man curled up into a ball, rolling on the ground as he tried to protect his vital organs, a pitiful sight.

“You won’t learn your lesson until it’s too late,” Viscount Yelu growled, his face grim. “Take him to the underground chamber for interrogation.”

“My Lord… Lord Viscount, please, no!” At the mention of interrogation, the man began screaming hysterically.

In the blink of an eye, two strongmen dragged him away, his hysterical screams fading into the distance.

“You, take my seal to the Imperial Bank immediately and freeze all those banknotes!” Viscount Yelu ordered after calming down slightly, remembering he could halt any large transactions linked to his account.

Once frozen, that damned Black-hearted Princess wouldn’t be able to use them. Though he might never recover the money, he wouldn’t let anyone else have it!

The tall man took the seal and hurried off.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned in haste, speaking in a fluster.

“My Lord, it’s bad. The banknotes have already been traded in!”

Viscount Yelu nearly choked in fury upon hearing that.

That Black-hearted Princess was truly cunning!

“My Lord!” At that moment, the underlings who had taken the obese man to the underground chamber returned.

“Speak,” he commanded.

“Here’s the situation, Lord Viscount. No matter what we try, that damned fatty won’t confess.”

“Since when did this scum become so tough? Could the Black-hearted Princess have hypnotized him…?” As he said this, Viscount Yelu’s eyes flashed with sudden realization.

“He might be under mind control! Get a Psychic Magician here immediately!”

After thirty minutes of inspection, however, there was no sign of mind control.

“How could this be? Did that damned fatty actually dare betray me?” Viscount Yelu clutched his forehead, disbelief evident in his voice.

“Lord Viscount, although there’s no sign of mind control, the fatty seems to have gaps in his memory,” the magician in a black cloak and gray mask spoke respectfully.

“Lord Viscount, I just remembered!” The tall man suddenly smacked his forehead. “When we cornered him earlier, he was acting strangely, like he didn’t know what was happening. I thought he was just playing dumb!”

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” Viscount Yelu snapped in exasperation.

Despite his irritation, Viscount Yelu felt a small sense of relief. If he could prove that this fatty had been tampered with, he was certain Grand Duke Keene wouldn’t be too harsh on him.

Meanwhile, in the backyard of Behn’s Equipment Shop, the [Omni-Furnace] roared at full capacity, sending powerful waves of heat across the yard.

Behn, drenched in sweat, focused intently on controlling the massive contraption, not daring to make even the slightest error. One mistake could ruin the entire strengthening process.

Failure would mean a harsh beating from that incredibly dazzling beauty.

Behind him, Yaeger stood silently, arms crossed. She showed no concern about the strengthening process. After all, Behn was one of the best craftsmen in Jade City, and the chances of him failing were negligible.

‘So boring,’ she thought. Rather than worry, she sought something to relieve her boredom.

‘Come to think of it, I have plenty of valuable materials. Why not summon Yunuen and Little Fairy to strengthen their weapons too?’

Thinking of the little cuties still grinding levels outside, Yaeger quickly opened the game interface and sent a message.

‘It’ll take at least half an hour for them to return. Might as well browse the forums to pass the time.’

After receiving their reply, Yaeger closed the communication interface and opened the game forums.

The forums were as lively as ever. A quick skim revealed that nearly all the popular posts were discussing the Imperial Auction House and Taurus.

“This guy’s already solidified his popularity,” Yaeger muttered to herself, pouting slightly.

In her view, Taurus and S.K.Y. were always restless. Now, with their rising fame and influence, they were bound to make a big move soon.

“Just to be safe, I should reduce the cooldown time on my abilities,” she thought. With nearly 100,000 players in Jade City, the sheer numbers alone could pose a threat. If Taurus and S.K.Y. decided to move against her, they’d surely rally the elite and veteran players to their cause.

“As expected, they’re building an army,” Yaeger noted as she spotted a new recruitment post from the [Death of Love] Guild among the trending topics.

Opening the post, she saw they were offering a monthly salary of 10,000 along with various benefits, with even more perks listed below.

“Pointless gimmicks, but intriguing. Typical of an elite capitalist’s son,” Yaeger chuckled after reading it.

The benefits sounded good on paper, but in reality, only a few were truly useful.

“These flashy promises will definitely attract a crowd. The world’s full of idiots, after all.”

As she read further, she quickly discerned the real reason behind the recruitment by reading between the lines.

The talk of preserving justice, maintaining order in Jade City, and fighting for freedom and peace sounded noble, but in reality, they were just after Yaeger and the items she carried.

No, they wanted the treasures she possessed.

“The average player level in Jade City isn’t that high yet. They won’t be a problem for now. But if Taurus keeps pouring money into this, that could change,” she muttered indifferently as she closed the post.

To Yaeger, a golden goose like Taurus was only good for one thing: being her personal ATM. As for being an actual threat, she wasn’t concerned in the slightest.

“Whatever comes my way, I’ll kill them all.”

As long as she was prepared, Yaeger had no fear—even if it meant facing every player on the Linhnan server.