Lord of Rot

Ever since dropping the trio of mercenaries off at the docks, Leech hadn’t given them a second thought.

It wasn’t that Leech was truly unconcerned about them escaping. Rather, with the Water Nymph keeping an eye on them, could they really run? Could they even get away?

All of them, including the four-armed mercenary Trevor who had been with him for some time, were prisoners. They couldn’t be assigned any important work.

Take training soldiers, for example. The young nobles under Leech weren’t particularly powerful, but they were all properly educated. While they might not have been masters of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they at least understood the basics of drawing a bow on horseback, dismounting for infantry combat, and arranging battle formations.

This was also why Leech had always wanted nobles to swear fealty to him—their overall level of education was simply higher.

The mercenaries, in contrast, were mostly undisciplined rabble with no organization. Putting them in charge of troops would only produce a band of thugs.

After placing the twins into the coffin, putting on the pot lid... oh, the coffin lid, and starting the steaming process, Leech left the crypt, casually shutting the door tight behind him.

He only brought three Corpse Ghosts out with him. The other two were left in the crypt to watch over the headless four-headed snake corpse, lest it stretch its limbs and destroy the Magic Array.

Although the snake was dead, its vitality remained. It would probably still be moving around even a few years from now.

The massive throne in Iron Wall Castle had been dismantled and replaced with a luxurious chair acquired from Burning City.

It was made of solid wood, seemingly treated with a special process to make it resistant to moisture and insects, and it constantly emitted a faint, relaxing fragrance.

It was densely adorned with gold and gems, its main purpose being to scream luxury, letting anyone see at a glance that the person sitting on all that gold and jewelry was no ordinary individual.

”Tsk, a chair worth several hundred Jinri really does feel different!”

Baron Leech, now the lord of two territories with tens of thousands of people depending on him for their livelihood, sat down and gently caressed the gold-and-jewel-encrusted armrests.

His body still felt a little weak.

’This thing is worth more than ten times the total assets Porcupine Territory acquired after a whole year of hard work. I’m not just sitting on a chair; I’m sitting on a small mountain of gold. Extravagant! Utterly extravagant! If I had the chance to exchange this thing for actual gold, I’d rather sit on a small mountain of it, even if it was uncomfortable.’

”My lord,” said ’Cinderella’ Lily, ”Pig is waiting outside.”

”Let him in.”

Lily nodded and walked out quickly.

A moment later, the mercenary ’Orc’ Pig followed Lily inside. Upon seeing Leech, he let out a smug grin, his face radiating self-satisfaction.

”Pig, you have business with me?”

”My lord,” Pig nodded. ”I remember you said before that if someone hired me to kill you, you’d be willing to pay double?”

Lily, who had returned to Leech’s side, snapped her head up, forgetting for a moment that the movement might reveal the scars on her face hidden by her hair.

’Could it be?’

’Is there really someone that stupid in this world?’

’No way.’

Leech’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”Of course!”

He gently patted the golden armrest. ”My word is always good!”

Pig bared his teeth in a grin, the folds of flesh on his face piling up in layers. It was a greasy smile, the kind you could wring oil from.

”Someone wants me to kill you,” Pig said. ”They’re offering me 100 Jinri, a noble lady for a wife, and the title of Knight.”

Beside them, Lily stared at Pig as if he were an idiot.

’To call him an idiot isn’t quite right; he has a bit of low cunning. But to call him smart... I’ve never seen someone so determined to get himself killed.’

Leech asked, ”And what price do you think I should offer you?”

’It’s not surprising that someone wants to kill me. People have been trying to kill me since the first day I transmigrated. Over the past year or two, I’ve made plenty of friends and a lot more enemies. If I really had to list them all out, I’d probably need to write up a character profile sheet with over ten thousand words.’

’But someone as straightforward as Pig is a rare sight.’

Leech even found the piglet’s stupidity a little endearing.

Pig started counting on his short, stumpy, carrot-like fingers, which looked as if they’d just been pulled from the ground. ”Two hundred Jinri, two Knighthoods, and two noble ladies... Heh, to be honest, my lord, to be honest, I’ll just take the Knighthood, and you can give me a fief. But I absolutely must have two noble ladies!”

’People like Pig, both stupid and malicious, are a rare breed.’

Leech had learned from ’Scorpion’ Allen that no one ever treated Pig with any respect. They all called him a piglet, impossibly stupid.

He reminded Leech of a certain bodybuilding ”influencer” from Earth. Aside from not having a mole on his lip, the pointy head was a perfect match.

’No, that’s not right. Pig does have some real strength.’

’Hadn’t Pig ever considered *why* I would be willing to offer double the price? Perhaps because mercenaries have no allegiance and will go back on their word for profit. Or because I might be in a dangerous situation with no other option but to beg for mercy. Or because I couldn’t beat him. Any of those reasons might force me to fulfill my ”promise,” but the current situation was definitely not one of them. A mercenary showing up in my own territory, in my own castle guarded by my own soldiers, to tell me he’s come to kill me?’

Leech looked at Pig, his gaze was three parts coldness, three parts mockery, and four parts nonchalance.

He retorted, ”And what do you plan to do if I don’t give you the money?”

Faced with the counter-question, Pig froze.

His subconscious urged him to answer, ’If you don’t pay up, I’ll kill you and go collect the reward.’

But then he immediately realized something was wrong. ’I can’t beat Leech at all!’

His entire assumption was based on the idea that as soon as Leech heard someone was out to kill him, he would immediately fork over double the price.

But the reality was, Pig himself was Leech’s prisoner.

’Why didn’t I realize from the start that I can’t beat Leech? Why?’

’How many brain cells do I even have? Why is my head so pointy?’

”My lord, someone set me up!” Pig reacted quickly. Though he couldn’t think of a suitable excuse, that didn’t stop him from yelling, ”Someone put me up to this! I have great respect for you!”

Leech waved his hand dismissively.

Pig’s logic wasn’t entirely flawed. If it had been Trevor or Allen, their choices wouldn’t have been much different. No, wait... considering how smart those two are, they would have proactively told Leech about it for free and then waited quietly for a reward.

Or they would have just launched a sneak attack.

However, Leech had no intention of being lenient with a hostile mercenary who was already a prisoner.

Two Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts came in through the door, grabbed Pig from either side, and began to drag him away.

Although Pig possessed immense strength, he was no match for the two Corpse Ghosts. His pleas for mercy turned into furious curses, berating Leech for being untrustworthy and breaking his promise to pay double.

...

As night fell, Leech held a flesh-colored ball of light.

This was the Extraordinary power extracted from Pig’s body.

Unfortunately, the Rhino Horn couldn’t extract Extraordinary power from a living person.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the twin Corpse Ghosts to emerge from their coffin.

The coffin lid was lifted.

Two small, completely naked figures stood up stiffly.

One of them had a very long scar on her back, which had cost Leech a considerable amount to deal with, but the result was quite good.

Their memories were unremarkable, so he quickly skimmed through them.

As for their abilities, the twins retained their leg enhancement and telepathic connection.

After fusing with the extracted Extraordinary substance...

The older sister, Ella, could spit physical Fireballs.

The younger sister, Meira, could draw blood and form it into various weapons for close-quarters combat.

But what truly surprised Leech was an ability he hadn’t paid much attention to before.

The so-called telepathic connection.

Because Leech had actually acquired this ability from them. It wasn’t an Extraordinary power, but a unique way of using Spiritual Power, similar to the legacy of the Dragonborn or the heritage of the Insect Control Clan.

He quickly injected his Spiritual Power into the Corpse Ghosts, establishing the environment for it to operate.

”How is it?”

Leech looked at Aina, who was standing to the side, and then at the newly added ’Snake-man’ Biqi.

Aina nodded, indicating that she could communicate.

Leech then extended his Spiritual Power into Aina and issued a command to Biqi. Sure enough, Biqi, standing off to the side, heard it too!

”Excellent! HAHAHA!”

Before, he had to act as a central hub, connecting to all the Corpse Ghosts individually, then integrating and relaying information.

But now, with the telepathic connection, everyone was on the same ”Magic Local Area Network,” able to coordinate freely.

Leech even thought further ahead. If this Magic Local Area Network could be expanded, the range issue that had always been his biggest headache could be solved effortlessly.