Chapter 124 - 114: Bait, Countdown to Downfall

Chapter 124: Chapter 114: Bait, Countdown to Downfall

"Befitting the scale of a Duke Clan."

Roy replied.

What?

Tony stared at Roy, his face a mask of surprise.

When he first saw the Gold Coins and jewelry in the box, he thought the Dark Night Knight was incredibly generous, giving away valuables worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins without a second thought.

However, upon hearing that Roy wanted to expand the army to the level of a Duke Clan, his perspective shifted. Suddenly, the Gold Coins and jewelry before him seemed far too little.

This amount of Gold Coins and jewelry wasn’t nearly enough to expand the army to the level of a Duke Clan.

In fact, it was far from sufficient even to reach the scale of a Count Clan.

Expanding an army required more than just recruiting a large number of new soldiers.

The associated equipment, Grain and Grass, training, and so on all represented a massive expenditure.

After a few seconds of silence, Tony spoke slowly. "Be honest with me. What exactly does the Dark Night Knight intend to do?"

"My teacher doesn’t have any grand schemes. He simply plans to settle things with the Ironblood Duke one month from now."

"If he wins, the Northern Territory will need a new master."

Roy gazed at Tony, his expression placid and his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to have for dinner.

Although Tony didn’t know why the Dark Night Knight wanted to have a final confrontation with the Ironblood Duke in a month, he didn’t press the matter. "A month is only enough time to recruit new soldiers," he said.

"That’s fine. The one-month mark is just when my teacher and the Ironblood Duke will determine a winner, not when we’ll be taking over the Northern Territory."

"Just recruit and train the new soldiers at a normal pace."

Roy didn’t need Tony to tell him that it was impossible for new recruits to become combat-ready in just one month.

He might not have understood how to lead troops in battle or train them, but he did possess basic common sense.

"Alright!"

Tony nodded.

After his meeting with Tony, Roy returned to his bedroom.

After resting for a few minutes, he entered Chaos Square. He walked straight to the corner where he kept miscellaneous items and opened the box containing the Breathing Technique Inheritance Maps.

He took out the Inheritance Maps for the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique and the Golden Deer Breathing Technique, examining them for a moment. He then returned the Golden Deer Breathing Technique’s map to the box and carried the one for the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique to the center of the square.

He had already grinded the Bronze Bear Breathing Technique to the Tier Seven Limit.

Since he had no other Defensive Breathing Techniques, he decided to first grind the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique and the Golden Deer Breathing Technique to Tier Eight.

Both the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique and the Golden Deer Breathing Technique were Perfect Level, meaning they could be cultivated all the way to the Tier Nine Limit.

After obtaining the special ability Middle Level Defense, Roy had deliberately cultivated the Frost Moon Silver Wolf Breathing Technique for an hour to see how much the Bronze Bear Seed, obtained from reaching the Tier Seven Limit, improved his cultivation efficiency.

points per hour!

The Bronze Bear Seed provided a 120-point per hour boost to his efficiency!

’In other words, at my current cultivation efficiency, if I guarantee ten hours of practice a day, it would only take nine days to grind a Breathing Technique to Tier Eight.’

’A month is more than enough time for me to grind both the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique and the Golden Deer Breathing Technique to Tier Eight.’

The only thing he was unsure about was whether the Thunder Beast and Golden Deer Breathing Techniques needed to be grinded all the way to the Tier Nine Limit before they would generate a special ability.

He had already cultivated three Perfect Level Breathing Methods.

However, the ones he was practicing now had all been obtained through fusion and upgrades.

Before being upgraded to Perfect Level, he had already grinded them to the limit of their original tiers, which had generated their special abilities.

Upgrading the Breathing Techniques had, in turn, upgraded their special abilities as well.

Arriving at the center of the square, Roy took a few deep breaths, completely calming his mind.

Then, following the Cultivation Positions depicted on the Inheritance Map, he began his cultivation of the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique.

The Thunder Beast Breathing Technique truly lived up to its reputation as a Special-type, Perfect Level Breathing Method.

It took over an hour of cultivation before Roy finally mastered the basics of the technique.

[Thunder Beast Breathing Technique Skill Level +2]

[Thunder Beast Breathing Technique: Tier One (2/1000)]

Roy immediately closed the Skill Proficiency Panel and continued cultivating the Thunder Beast Breathing Technique.

Time ticked by. As night fell, Roy, who had been cultivating in Chaos Square for over five hours, stopped his practice. He opened the Skill Proficiency Panel to check his progress.

[Thunder Beast Breathing Technique: Tier Three (1456/3000)]

Roy closed the Skill Proficiency Panel with a satisfied glance.

After confirming that his bedroom was empty, he returned from Chaos Square and headed for the dining room on the first floor.

He soon arrived at the dining room, a surprised expression on his face.

Allen!

The people dining there were not just Tony and Erin, but Allen as well.

’What’s this guy doing here?’

As soon as Roy sat down, Tony said, "He’s here to see you. Says he has something important to discuss in person."

Hearing this, Roy immediately turned to Allen.

"What do you need?"

"This isn’t the best place. Could we talk somewhere else?"

Allen put down his knife and fork and replied quickly.

"Let’s talk after we’ve eaten, then."

Roy replied.

"Alright!"

Allen nodded.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Roy and Allen moved to the drawing-room.

"Alright, spit it out. What did you want to see me about?"

Roy took a sip of the black tea a maid had just brought and spoke calmly.

"Are you about to advance to Great Knight?"

Allen didn’t answer his question, but posed one of his own.

"If all goes well, I should be in a few more months."

"Stop beating around the bush. What is it you really want?"

Roy put down his teacup and spoke slowly.

Although Allen hadn’t said what it was, Roy already had a good idea.

’If I’m not mistaken, he wants my help killing someone.’

"I’ve set my sights on Gaoyan County. I want it to have a new master."

"If you’re available, I’d like you to accompany me on a trip to the Serrated Crocodile Domain to pay a ’visit’ to the Saw-toothed Crocodile Count."

’Gaoyan County?’

’He’s just assuming I’m going to help Miria take control of Gel County!’

Although Gaoyan County and Gel County shared a border, the Giant Monster Domain did not.

Traveling from the Giant Monster Domain to Gaoyan County would require crossing through the territories of several other nobles.

"Does Charles know you plan to take Gaoyan County?"

Roy asked Allen.

"Of course he knows!"

"If my father didn’t approve, I wouldn’t have come to you."

Allen replied quickly.

Although Allen’s expression was calm, Roy felt something was off.

In his memory, the Baron Giant Monster wasn’t the type to proactively provoke a war.

Besides, even if the Baron Giant Monster wanted to expand his territory, he should have targeted the families neighboring the Giant Monster Domain first, not gone straight for the Saw-toothed Crocodile Count.

After a moment of thought, Roy asked Allen, "Did you receive some sort of intelligence?"

Allen didn’t answer immediately, falling silent instead.

After several seconds, he sighed and said slowly, "I’ve been using Contribution Points to purchase intelligence from the organization."

"This afternoon, the organization sent the latest intelligence on the Kalin Kingdom by Raven."

"The Kalin Kingdom has completed its war mobilization. In three days, they will dispatch troops to invade the Southern Territory."

"The Green Forest Duke cannot possibly withstand the Kalin Kingdom’s invasion. The countdown to the complete fall of the Southern Territory has already begun."

"And that’s not all. The Kalin Kingdom’s target this time isn’t just the Southern Territory. They intend to annex our entire Kingdom."

"In other words, we’re running out of time."

"The Giant Monster Domain’s war potential is nearly tapped out. If we can’t significantly increase our clan’s strength before the Kalin Kingdom’s army reaches the Northern Territory, the Adams Clan will lose all initiative."

Although Roy hadn’t received this information himself, he wasn’t surprised that the Kalin Kingdom was preparing a full-scale invasion of the Laine Kingdom.

From the moment the four Dukes rebelled and seized the Royal Capital, it was inevitable that the Kalin Kingdom would sooner or later invade the Laine Kingdom.

For the Kalin Kingdom, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Even if the Kalin Kingdom’s King, Hiram Thompson, were an idiot, its other Dukes would have urged him to dispatch his forces.

After a moment of consideration, Roy said to Allen, "I won’t be going to the Serrated Crocodile Domain. I have other matters to attend to."

"Also, I’ll give you a piece of intelligence in return. The Ironblood Duke will be dead in one month. When that happens, the Northern Territory will surely descend into chaos."

"If the Adams Clan wants to take Gaoyan County, you might as well wait another month before making your move."

...