Lord of Rot

Kuer Oasis excused himself and left.

His heart had been through a great deal tonight. His legs had gone soft several times, and if he hadn’t drunk so little water, his pant leg would probably be dripping right now.

One moment he thought he was going to die, and the next he had a chance to become the new lord of Bonta Bazaar.

As he left, Kuer Oasis thought to himself, ’If I get Baron Porcupine’s support, I can definitely become the lord of Bonta Bazaar. After all, my arrogant, look-down-his-nose-at-everyone brother only managed to renew some old business dealings with the Little Bill family. I heard their entire Monkey Clan was scared witless by Baron Porcupine.’

”The Elf Mother Tree possesses countless treasures. As long as you take a team with me back to the Panbo Continent to save the Mother Tree, avoiding those detestable Half-Beastmen...”

”Miss Bai Lu!”

Leech quickly raised his hand, stopping the silver-haired elf maiden from continuing.

”I’m just a minor Baron. Setting aside whether I could even handle millions, or tens of millions, of Half-Beastmen, my ship alone can’t handle a long voyage across the ocean to another continent.”

Seeing the elf maiden lower her head in dismay, Leech said, ”However...”

She jerked her head up, looking at Leech expectantly. ”However what?”

Leech said, ”If you can come up with 100,000 gold right now, I can immediately hire the best shipwrights in the entire Eastern Gorge to build a massive warship capable of carrying ten thousand people. We could head straight to the Panbo Continent and save the Elf Mother Tree!”

Bai Lu said, ”I don’t have any money on me.”

Leech shrugged. ”Then there’s nothing to be done.”

He could tell from Bai Lu that the Elf Race was full of handsome men and beautiful women with excellent genes. ’If I could get my hands on an Elf Maid Corps, that would truly befit my status as a lord.’

Still, the heavy burden of saving a beautiful maiden wasn’t as important as money.

From her rambling account, Leech had picked up some rather crucial information. For instance, the Snake-women and Cat-eared Ladies were actually races from the southern Panbo Continent. Due to the frequent wars there, some people would flee by ship, and only a very small, extremely lucky fraction managed to reach the Lu Leiyi Continent.

Bai Lu was one of the lucky ones.

But those who made it ashore weren’t necessarily truly lucky. Leech had seen Sub-humans for sale in the Black Market on more than one occasion.

’That southern continent is a paradise for us otaku,’ he thought. ’Beautiful elves, Sub-human girls... it’s even more like an Otherworld than the Lu Leiyi Continent is.’

It was just a passing thought, however. Leech had no intention of going there to die. According to Bai Lu, the Half-Beastmen on the Panbo Continent had an extremely high reproductive rate and a ’whole-nation-as-soldiers’ mentality. Even though they weren’t greenskins, the thought subconsciously gave Leech a headache. ’I’d better wait until I’ve conquered the Lu Leiyi Continent before thinking about that. I just hope the Sub-human girls and elf maidens can wait a decade or two for me.’

The others who heard the elf maiden Bai Lu’s words just felt it was no different from an Immortal Spirit myth. It was all too distant from their own lives to be worth worrying about.

”I want to serve you!” Bai Lu said. She had recognized Leech’s potential. With so many Transcendents already gathered around him, he would surely be able to return to the Panbo Continent with her in the future.

Leech immediately replied, ”Welcome!”

’Bai Lu is a fairly powerful Transcendent. As long as she’s willing to work for me, there’s absolutely no reason to refuse.’

’Besides, she’s a beautiful woman with delicate features. Just having that face around to look at would be pleasing to the eye. Even the beauties I once considered top-tier—Red Rose, Charming, Water Hyacinth—all pale slightly in comparison to her.’

Although he knew it was impossible, he couldn’t help but have a strange thought. When a man is actively looked at twice by a woman, even if he doesn’t say anything, he’ll feel smug inside, thinking she must be interested in him.

’So I’m really that charming, huh.’

As for the other two, Leech took a colder approach.

The female barbarian from the Northern Territory, Lin Nuo, didn’t say much about staying to work for Leech. As long as she was paid, it was fine.

As for Vendra, who clutched the Golden Holy Grail, he didn’t dare have any objections. He trembled every time he saw Leech, which baffled Leech completely. ’I don’t think I’ve ever cursed at him or hit him. The scratches on Vendra’s face are even self-inflicted. Why does he look at me like he’s seen the Grim Reaper?’

He touched his cheek. ’Am I that scary-looking?’

...

「Early morning.」

The lord of Bonta Bazaar, Baike Oasis, pushed away the two young women clinging to him, whose combined age was still less than his own.

”My lord, just a little longer~”

They wrapped themselves around him again, which perked Baike Oasis up a bit.

He raised his hand and brought it down with a sharp SLAP, making the voluptuous young woman cry out, though her face still held a smile.

Baike said smugly, ”I have important business today. I’ll come back and punish you properly later!”

The young woman said, ”Then you must come back quickly, my lord. I’ll be waiting for your pun~ish~ment~”

Baike Oasis got out of bed and laughed heartily. ”Haha, good! You won’t escape me!”

These two might not have been the most beautiful prostitutes in Bonta Bazaar, but they were definitely the loudest. Men love to hear the thundering of hooves when galloping across a battlefield; when he was with them, it was as if he still had the vigor to take on all comers like in his youth.

At least the two of them put on a convincing performance.

At his age, even though his body couldn’t keep up, it was enough to satisfy his vanity.

After getting dressed and leaving the room, Baike Oasis’s expression changed.

Outside the door, two Knights in plate armor were standing guard.

Baike Oasis asked, ”Who are you! How did you get in here!”

He spoke as he tried to walk past them.

Two swords crossed, blocking Baike Oasis’s path at his neck.

Unlike the armor, the swords were clearly meticulously maintained every day.

The blades gleamed coldly, bright as mirrors, reflecting Baike Oasis’s entire face, each whisker on his chin distinct.

Moreover, he could smell the stench of blood on the swords. They had probably killed someone not long ago. It might have been an illusion, but he could almost feel the warmth from the blades.

”What do you want?” he demanded, his voice fierce but his heart trembling. He knew there had to be a reason they weren’t killing him. His mind raced, but he couldn’t figure out the key to the situation.

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. ”Ao Kai, Hoover, put your swords away!”

Seeing the person hurrying over, Baike Oasis was stunned.

”Kuer?”

It was actually his useless second son, Kuer Oasis.

After hearing Kuer’s words, the two Knights actually sheathed their Longswords.

”Father!” Kuer walked up to Baike Oasis. Placing his right hand over his heart and his left hand behind his back, he bowed. ”I’m sorry you were frightened. These two are Knights loyal to me. I only had them protect you, but I never expected them to dare draw their swords. I will discipline him... them...”

As he spoke, Kuer’s gaze met that of the two Wandering Knights. He noticed the unkind look in their eyes, and his voice faltered, not daring to continue his bluff.

But his father, Baike Oasis, didn’t notice this detail.