Chapter 375: Sixteen Slaughter Missions (II)
The soldiers of this group were clad in leather, and led by a low grade officer in chainmail. Seeing them hold their heads high, it could be seen that they didn’t come for pleasantries.
“Where’s your boss? Call him out!” The officer leading them drew a knife carried at his waist, while shouting this.
The ten soldiers he brought swiftly lined up in a row, the spears in their hands pointing at the inside of the caravan building, blocking its entrance.
Seeing these soldiers, some workers came to welcome them immediately, “Mister soldier, may I know what you came for?” The worker asked with special servitude.
That officer snorted coldly, “Your Yue Ye Caravan is suspected of entangling with the demons. This official came to arrest your boss and inquire about these circumstances.”
The worker was startled about that. It was the first time something like this was happening, “Mister soldier, we are freelance merchants, protected by the Alliance!”
Bang! With a slap, the officer replied to that, “What nonsensical freelance merchants. I’ll tell you that this group just went on a patrol, directed at this street. Reportedly, your Yue Ye Merchant Group was the richest on this street. Why is it like this? Is that not simply due to collaboration with the demons.”
Hearing his words, Long Haochen pulled Cai’er to the side, believing that the Yue Ye Merchant Group was going to handle the matter. As an employee of the Temple Alliance, he couldn’t control other people’s business. As long as this wouldn’t influence the fact that the Yue Ye Merchant Group would lead them into the demon territory, it didn’t concern him.
However, from the start, this affair clearly sounded quite nasty. What about the Yue Ye Merchant Group being the richest? Even Long Haochen who didn’t understand too much about these matters could roughly guess that these soldiers were up to no good.
This time, a manager from the Yue Ye Merchant Group hastily came from the rear. Seeing the soldiers that came this time, he also appeared startled, and gave a message to the worker, pointing at Long Haochen’s little group, and whispered some words in his ears.
Making his salutations to Long Haochen beforehand, the manager welcomed him before turning towards that officer, telling him with a smile, “Mister officer, I am the manager from the Yue Ye Merchant Group. I want to know what you are up to, blocking the entrance to our caravan? We are legal merchants protected by the Alliance.”
With a sneer that officer replied, “What legal merchants? Could it be that you’re not doing any business with the demons? Entangling with the demons, what kind of crime is that? Follow us now.” Saying that, he placed his hand on the shoulder of that manager.
The smile on the manager’s face remained unmoved. He shook slightly, but lightly dodged his hand, and gave the reply, “Mister officer, please conduct yourself with dignity. If this matter is heard about, it would be of no benefit to you. I think that I have means to prove our innocence.” Saying that, he took out a purse and handed it to the officer.
At first, the officer was infuriated when seeing the counterpart avoid his grab, and was about to explode, but seeing the purse handed over by that manager, the cold expression on his face immediately eased up.
Taking a look at the contents of the purse, he immediately appeared satisfied, “Seems that you understand things. You freelance merchants aren’t having an easy time doing business with the demons, please stay safe! All right, we are leaving now.”
Saying this, he waved his hand, and was about to lead the soldiers to the exit.
“Wait.” A clear and bright voice suddenly sounded from behind.
The officer was startled, turning his head to look at the one who spoke these words, only to see that it was one of the two people standing on a side of the room, wearing bamboo hats on their heads. Now, the person took his hat off conveniently.
“What’s the matter?” The officer’s voice suddenly became cold, and looking at the handsome and young sight of Long Haochen, he immediately tried to make a showoff of power.
Long Haochen indifferently spoke, “You are all staying here. Send someone to the Office Hall to call for the commanding officer or the military head of Starseeker City.”
The officer’s expression changed immediately, “Young man, are you insane?” Saying that, he raised the knife in his left hand. Taking off its scabbard he pointed it at Long Haochen’s head.
Long Haochen’s eyes flashed, and he let a surge of biting cold murderous intent burst out, “You dare?”
With this furious shout, the whole Yue Ye Chamber of Commerce was filled with shock. That officer was just a small fry, how could he be able to bear all the mental power contained in Long Haochen’s shout. Staring blank, he immediately fell to the ground, and one of his soldiers after another also fell in oblique trajectories.
Long Haochen lifted his right hand, and a gold light flashed up, enveloping one ordinary soldier, before a silver coloured light touched the chest of that soldier, “Go, do as I say, or else, you won’t ever leave this place again.”
Seeing that a mere shout of fury made this officer and all these soldiers lose their fighting strength, they looked shocked. How would they dare resist now? And when the officer saw the appearance of this emblem, his face looked ashened. He was completely speechless.
Calmed from the shock with a healing technique from Long Haochen, the soldier clutched the commander grade Demon Hunt Squad tile thrown by Long Haochen and left hastily.
Long Haochen coldly looked at the other soldiers, “Get lost. Go kneel beside the entrance.”
These people had only fallen to the ground due to fright, but no one lost the ability to act. Seeing Long Haochen show his power, who would dare resist? In particular, that officer looked like an inoffensive cock. He absolutely didn’t dare utter a word, simply taking the initiative to kneel.
Until now, Long Haochen’s furious face didn’t ease up in the slightest, tightly clenching his fists. If these soldiers had resisted just before, perhaps he would have really raised his hand against them.
Ever since Long Haochen became a knight, all the enemies he faced had been demons. All the humans he interacted with were heroic people. Galloping onto the battlefield and advancing against the enemy troops. Why did he do that? It was to let the humans live in peace and work happily.
But while officers and soldiers were risking their life on the battlefield against demons, this kind of shameless acts would happen in the rear. Good and honest to the core, seeing such ruthless unfairness, how could Long Haochen not get furious? He was really controlling himself not to kill that officer directly. Otherwise, if he did raise his hand against him, he would be bound to take the life of this officer.
Seeing their terrified sight before thinking about the lost lives of all the soldiers of the Alliance who died on the battlefield bathed in hot blood, Long Haochen felt his heart aching, wanting most of all to kill these worms.
Demon Hunt Squads’ obligations were not only directed against demons, but they also had some duties in the Temple Alliance. Demon Hunt Squads of any grade had a certain authority over people of any standing in the Alliance. The higher the grade of the Demon Hunt Squad, the greater would be their power of command.
To give a simple example, if a titled grade Demon Hunt Squad called the head of the Alliance into question, procedures of investigation for misconduct would immediately get started from the Alliance, with an unequalled degree of emergency. Given their innumerable military services, they perhaps didn’t have the power of commanding the army, but in terms of authority, they had the greatest power of the Alliance.
As the leader of a commander grade Demon Hunt Squad, Long Haochen had the authority to ask for the presence of the head officer or the military head of Starseeker City. He even had the right to directly call these two top powers of the city into question, and in case fault was found, they would very likely lose all prospects of a prosperous future after a thorough investigation.
That manager from the Yue Ye Merchant Group stood calmly in the same place while Long Haochen was handling the matter. When Long Haochen’s shout came, he was terrified to the core. That murderous intent wasn’t something anyone could project, but only one who really went on the battlefield and killed countless enemy powerhouses could possibly gain such a sharp presence. It is no wonder that President gave the instruction to help them in any situation, they are really not ordinary people.
Long Haochen turned to look at this manager, “Hello, my name is Long Haochen. Do situations like the one right before happen often here.”
This manager from the Yue Ye Chamber of Commerce shook his head, and replied, “Generally, it happens very rarely. This officer should have reached this rank pretty recently, but his actions don’t mean anything for the military.”
Hearing his reply, Long Haochen’s expression relaxed slightly, “Then, why didn’t you call his actions just before into question?”
The manager gave a calm smile, “Mister Long, please know that we are merchants, and cannot battle with officials.”
Long Haochen gave him a calm nod. He knew that in this aspect, his age of only sixteen years made him inexperienced. However, since they encountered this situation today, he would alert the officials from Starseeker City. Soldiers were guarding their home at the front, while in the rear, some worms were committing such acts. He really found that unbearable.
“Is Miss Yue Ye well?” Long Haochen asked in a low voice.
The manager gave the respectful reply, “Miss is very well. However, she’s not here right now. Before leaving, she explained that if Mister Long has any need from us, we are to cooperate as much as we can. The next caravan will leave in three days, and its goods are already pretty much allocated.”
Long Haochen nodded, “Okay, we’ll be following your caravan to enter the demon territory.”
The manager nodded, and didn’t say anything more. Clearly, he was very prudent and calm. Indeed, to have obtained Yue Ye’s trust, he was surely not an ordinary person.
A short time later, rushed noises of horseshoe were heard, and kept increasing until reaching the entrance of the caravan building. Two middle-aged men hastily came with large strides, among which one was a man clad in a gown and another man in plate armor.
These two looked like a warrior and an intellectual.
Reaching the entrance, these two looked at the soldiers kneeling on the ground, their expressions clearly turning unsightly. That soldier clad in plate armor stepped forward, and kicked that officer against the head, “Scoundrel, you’re making the whole Starseeker City lose face.”
These two were the consul and the military head from Starseeker City. By chance, it happened that when the message was sent, the two of them were present. When receiving this commander grade Demon Hunt Squad tile, these two almost had a heart-attack.
Starseeker City was a large city, and on the edge of the territory, making these two far more influential than the consul and the military head of a small town such as Haoyue Town. But still, offending Demon Hunt Squads was something they couldn’t afford.