Lord of Rot

Kunq Green Oasis’s body was also carried away.

The discovery of a half-eaten corpse—the slave master who had been attacked—was merely an interlude. Aside from ordering the Wandering Knights to be more vigilant, Leech had no better solution.

In the Desert Area, he was short on manpower, so many matters had to be prioritized.

Securing complete control over Baron Jin Fu’s Baron Territory was the first priority.

Then there was training the Soldiers and strengthening Bonta Market. He had handed these tasks to Lin Nuo, saving himself the trouble.

Next was opening up trade routes. His main goal for coming to the desert was to make money.

Of course, now that he had Jonney and 15 more slots for creating Corpse Ghosts, his ambitions had grown. Before, he only wanted to hunker down and make money, but now he thought bigger. His strength had made him swell with confidence.

”My lord, the caravan has arrived. The honey you requested is here, along with a few letters.”

”Just in time.”

He’d been worried about his dwindling supply of ’medicine’ lately. The delivery of the Extraordinary Honey was a timely relief, and subsequent caravans would help open up the trade routes.

...

Yellow sand filled the sky.

The scorching sun beat down.

The afternoon heat was suffocating.

On the outskirts of a desert camp, a dozen or so desiccated corpses hung from just as many wooden posts.

They were once the masters of this camp, but now it had a new owner.

A particular tradition for passing on ownership of a desert camp: hang the previous owner on a post.

A few vultures circled overhead, eyeing the shriveled corpses.

Finally, one vulture could bear it no longer and swooped down, wings outstretched.

It landed on a post and lowered its head to peck at a corpse. The high temperatures and blistering sun had caused the bodies’ moisture to evaporate quickly, so they hadn’t decomposed as much as one might expect.

Suddenly, a sharp CRACK split the air.

An arrow struck the vulture squarely in the chest. With a single, tragic cry, it plummeted to the ground.

It twitched a couple of times, then went still.

On the ground, there were already four or five other vulture carcasses, each pierced by an arrow.

”Haha! Got it!”

On a nearby watchtower, a Mercenary tossed aside his bow and smugly held out his hand to his companion. ”Pay up, you motherfucker.”

The other Mercenary spat in annoyance. ”I’m not used to shooting birds. If I were shooting your mother, I wouldn’t miss!”

He pulled two Silver Moons from his pocket and slapped them into the other man’s hand.

The Mercenary who had shot the vulture grabbed the Silver Moons, completely unfazed by his companion’s vulgarity. ”You’d have to ask my dad if he’s okay with that. If he is, I’ve got no objections.”

”Fuck!” The Mercenary who lost the bet cursed impotently, but there was nothing he could do.

”Wanna go another round?”

”Ten coins! I’m gonna win it all back, with interest!”

”I’ll give you a chance!”

Just as their competition was about to begin, a black speck appeared on the horizon where the sand met the sky. The speck grew larger and larger until they could finally see it was a horse.

”Someone’s coming!”

The Mercenaries on watch stopped their game. Once the dark shape drew near and they recognized the rider, one of them leaned out and shouted, ”What’s up?”

”Open the gate! It’s urgent!” the person below shouted.

But the two Mercenaries on watch didn’t move. They exchanged a look, and the one who kept winning said, ”You go.”

”Why the hell should I go?” the other grumbled.

The first Mercenary flicked two Silver Moons at him. ”Here.”

”This was mine to begin with!” The other Mercenary happily caught the Silver Moons and hurried down from the watchtower.

He unlatched the bolt and pulled the gate open.

The rider on horseback charged in, not even hearing the string of curses the gate-opening Mercenary muttered under his breath.

Hooves thundered, kicking up clouds of dust.

Upon reaching the camp’s two-story main hall, he vaulted off his horse and shoved the reins at a dozing guard. ”Water for the horse, quickly!”

The startled guard glanced at the newcomer and mumbled, ”I think you need water more than the horse does. Want me to get you some?”

”Where’s the Commander?”

”He’s inside. I’ll announce you,” the guard said, trying to hand the reins back. The last thing he wanted was to water the horse. The well was far away, the path was exposed to the sun, and it was much more comfortable to doze in the shade of his little shed.

”I’ll go in myself!”

He pushed the door open and went inside. The guard, resigned, could only lead the horse away.

The Camp Hall.

The walls were thick and the windows tiny. Though the heat outside was unbearable, it was pleasantly cool and comfortable upon entering.

A man was dressed in a nobleman’s robe unsuited for the season, with a heavy, multi-layered, pleated cotton collar that made one worry he might break out in a heat rash.

He held an exquisite Golden Cup, and a beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed maidservant in cool attire stood beside him, holding a wine bottle in attendance.

Compared to the man’s overly ornate robe, which looked suited for winter, the maidservant’s clothes were very simple and thin.

A sheer chemise cupped her pale globes, while a long skirt hid the golden fleece.

The two of them seemed to be in completely different seasons.

When the man who entered glanced at the maidservant, she showed no sign of shame, instead returning his gaze with a smile.

”Lu, you’ve come at a good time!” The man in the heavy robe beckoned him over, pointing at a map on the table. ”I’m preparing to surround Mama City from here. First, we’ll have our people move out the merchants and grain. Mama City’s remaining food can last ten days at most. As long as we besiege it for ten days, the city will be ours!”

”Commander,” Lu said, his expression grim. ”Something’s happened with Jones.”

”What’s going on?” The man called Commander straightened up. As he did, his robes parted, and a wave of cold air billowed out from within.

It seemed the source of the room’s chill had been found.

Lu shivered and said, ”Jones took fourteen Transcendents to meet with Baron Jin Fu for a joint attack on Bonta Market.”

”I was the one who told him to do that,” the Commander said. ”Count Water Buffalo enfeoffed me as a Viscount, but he did so reluctantly. He only gave me that small patch of land, Mama City, and we still have to conquer it ourselves. If we only take Mama City, we’ll end up just like the Hoof Clan, forced to continue working as Mercenaries or bandits. We’ll be nothing more than a blade in Count Water Buffalo’s hand.”

”The brothers don’t want to be Mercenaries licking blood off blades their whole lives. I have to think of everyone. This was the perfect opportunity to seize both Bonta Market and Baron Jin Fu’s territory. As long as we control this route, Count Water Buffalo can’t trap us, and we won’t end up like the Hoof Clan.”

For this reason, the Commander hadn’t hesitated to send 15 of his Transcendents, seeking a swift and decisive victory to eliminate all potential threats. He had even planned for the worst-case scenario, assuming Baron Porcupine might have as many as 10 Transcendents of his own.

It could be said he had used all his power to make the plan foolproof.

If things had really gone according to the Commander’s plan, the mercenary corps would have escaped the trap, swallowed the bait Count Water Buffalo had offered, and discarded the hook.

Once he stabilized his own position, Count Water Buffalo would no longer be able to control him.

Thinking of this, the Commander asked, ”So where is Jones? Why hasn’t he returned?”

”None of them came back,” Lu said.

”What do you mean?”

The Commander didn’t understand. It wasn’t that he was shortsighted; he simply couldn’t imagine a situation that 15 Transcendents couldn’t handle, or at least escape from.

Even if they couldn’t defeat an entire army, if 15 Transcendents wanted to flee, it was impossible that not a single one could escape.

”Jones and his men laid siege to Bonta Market with Baron Jin Fu, but no news ever came out. Now, Bonta Market is open for business, caravans from all over are coming and going as usual, and Baron Jin Fu has returned to his own territory. But Jones and his fourteen men have vanished.”

The Commander pressed, ”Vanished?”

Lu nodded. ”It’s highly likely they chose to betray us and defect to Baron Porcupine. He’s won quite a few victories in the East Gorge, he holds two territories, and he recently became engaged to someone from the Crocodile Clan.”

”Impossible!” The Commander shook his head. ”Jones would never do something like that.”

Though he said it was impossible, he already half-believed it in his heart.

On one side was a rising new lord, gaining momentum; on the other, a newly-enfeoffed, down-on-his-luck Viscount in the desert with no territory to his name. It wasn’t hard to guess which side they would choose.

Within the entire Wild Boar Mercenary Corps, only the Commander himself had been made a noble—a ploy by Count Water Buffalo to divide the corps. He knew his own men were surely dissatisfied with this.

”It could also be Count Water Buffalo!” the Commander said, his face dark.

’Besides betrayal, what other possibilities are there? They couldn’t have all been killed, all 15 Transcendents, right? A one-sided slaughter where no news could get out and no one could escape? Unthinkable. Absolutely impossible! If Baron Porcupine were that strong, he wouldn’t be holed up in Bonta Market.’

”What do we do now?”

”First, we proceed with the original plan to take Mama City!” the Commander declared. ”As a Viscount, I need a territory of my own.”