Lord of Rot

The flames crackled.

The light didn’t reach very far.

Heavy footsteps approached from a distance.

The weapons-delivery party, who had been resting, came to a halt and drew their weapons.

Bright, sharp Longswords reflected the firelight, illuminating the Night.

As the figure drew near, a hideous, ugly face came into view.

”So ugly!” He had never seen a Half-Beastman before, but after seeing that face, he was sure. ’A monster this ugly that tries to dress like a human must be a Half-Beastman!’

The figure let out a roar.

”Can’t understand human speech?” The yellow-haired man was surprised. He then looked at the Knight beside him. The Knight pulled out a booklet, craned his neck to hold it under a torch, and stammered out by its light, ”Ooh-ooh-wah-hoo, ah-bah...”

Leech, who was currently controlling the Demon Beastman Mennen with his Spiritual Power, wasn’t surprised by this. ’They must have some way of communicating with Half-Beastmen.’

’I can quickly master a language through memory; Prince George must have similar methods.’

The words the man stammered out meant, ”We’re here to deliver the weapons.”

Leech spoke normally in the Half-Beastman language, perfectly disguised as one of them.

Backed by four nine-foot-tall Mad Beastmen wrapped in iron chains, one look at the trembling Soldiers with their swords at the front was enough to know that their presence was quite intimidating.

”What’d he say?” the yellow-haired man asked.

The Knight holding the booklet shook his head. ”I don’t understand him. I can only read it.”

”Then what the hell good are you!”

The yellow-haired man snatched the booklet, glanced at the jumbled mess of text, and shoved it back into the Knight’s hands with a headache. ”You tell him who I am!”

The Knight immediately said to the Demon Beastman Mennen, ”He is Lord ’Gadong,’ under the ’Prince.’ Very powerful!”

Not knowing how to translate the two words ’Prince’ and ’Gadong,’ the Knight had said them directly in the Lu Leiyi tongue.

”Did you just call me Gadong? You little bastard, you’re asking to die!” The yellow-haired Gadong’s expression changed abruptly, and he raised his fist as if to strike.

”M-My Lord...” the Knight pleaded. He had spoken without thinking, using the man’s nickname but forgetting that while Gadong couldn’t understand the Half-Beastman language, he could certainly understand Lu Leiyi.

The Prince could use that name, and other lords could use it, but for him to say it directly was an offense.

Gadong suppressed his anger, not wanting to be a laughingstock for the Half-Beastman Barbarians. He gritted his teeth and said, ”Tell him to leave the things here and get a move on. Don’t take too long!”

The Knight quickly flipped through the booklet with a RUSTLE, finally saying with a pained expression, ”M-My Lord, I don’t know how to say that. It’s not written in here.”

”What the hell did that witch give you? What’s written in there?”

”It has ways to say hello, thank you, and... ’I like men, please have your way with me vigorously’...” The Knight’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

Gadong’s rage surged. ”I’m going to kill her!”

”My Lord, don’t go. She’s the Prince’s esteemed guest, and besides, you can’t beat her.”

”But I can kill you!” Gadong couldn’t believe his subordinate was undermining him like this. ’Good thing the Half-Beastman can’t understand us.’

He forced a smile and said to the Half-Beastman, ”What the fuck are you looking at? Once we’re done using you, we’ll slaughter you all!”

”...” Leech was speechless, but he still made the corpse squeeze out a smile, pretending he didn’t understand.

’Half-Beastman Barbarians are as stupid as they say! And that witch, this isn’t over!’ Gadong had no intention of talking any longer. He said, ”Leave all the wagons for him. Tell him we’re heading back now, and they must act quickly, or the Prince will be very angry...”

Seeing the difficult expression on his subordinate’s face, Gadong said resignedly, ”Fine. When I get back, I’ll report to His Lordship myself and have him contact the Half-Beastmen. You just say we’re leaving the things here.”

The Knight once again stammered a few words of farewell to the Half-Beastman. They were very formulaic and even interspersed with profanity.

Being cursed at so politely gave Leech a strange feeling.

The party departed, leaving all the wagons and equipment behind.

Leech controlled the Half-Beastman to walk over to the wagons. He lifted the cloth covering a cart’s contents, revealing pieces of weaponry. He picked up a sword and examined it in the moonlight; it glinted coldly.

As he lightly ran a finger over the blade, the sword shaved off a small piece of rough callus.

’Extremely sharp!’

He put it down and picked up a long-handled, double-headed axe. In the nine-foot-tall Mennen’s hands, however, it could be wielded as a one-handed weapon.

’The balance is good, and it has a nice feel.’

They were all outstanding weapons, much finer than those used by the Soldiers in Bonta Market.

’The price of these several thousand sets of equipment is probably even more staggering than I first guessed.’

’What is Prince George planning, to invest so much capital?’

’Thick armor to stop arrows, sharp blades to kill men.’

War, in the end, was a contest of financial strength. Barring an absolute disparity in numbers or quality, whoever had the better equipment would win.

’My armor can withstand three blows, while my sharp sword only needs to strike you once—that’s the advantage.’

However, as Leech picked up a piece of armor to examine it, he felt a twinge of regret.

’It’s too wide, too large. Unsuitable for ordinary Soldiers.’

Dwarf Half-Beastmen were indeed about the same height as humans, but their builds were vastly different.

’If I send this batch of armor back to Porcupine Territory and have the smithy modify it, it should be done quickly. The armor is modular, built from separate parts, much like the method I employ.’

’Standard-issue means it’s not custom-fit, but it also means it can be mass-produced.’

’If it doesn’t fit, you just wear an extra layer of clothing underneath. There are always more solutions than problems.’

Now that the weapons and equipment were in his hands, the strength of the Half-Beastman legion would likely be halved, or even reduced by several times over!

「Inside Bonta Market.」

Leech opened his eyes and said to the Soldier guarding the door, ”Have Kuer come here at once.”

Kuer Oasis was drinking with his father.

His other son had already been devoured by Half-Beastmen, and Baron Porcupine had also demonstrated his power. Seeing Bonta Market grow ever stronger, Baike Oasis had reconciled with his son. Not that he had much choice.

When Kuer learned that Leech was looking for him, he immediately abandoned his old man and trotted off.

Leech watched him run over, panting. He wasn’t sure if Kuer was genuinely in a hurry or just putting on a show, like Chancellor Cao who rushed to greet a guest without his shoes.

”Send someone to pick up a batch of goods immediately,” Leech said. ”Don’t bring them back to Bonta Market. Find a place to hide them for now, and make sure you’re not seen.”

He gave Kuer the detailed location.

Kuer nodded immediately. ”Yes, sir!”

He knew not to ask unnecessary questions; just do the job.

Leech sat in his chair, his mind split as he controlled several Half-Beastman corpses to hide and stand guard in the shadows. They would wait until they confirmed Kuer had taken the goods and secured them properly before leaving.

’Prince George has a powerful witch by his side. The witch understands the Half-Beastman language, and Prince George can contact the Half-Beastman legion at any time!’

Gadong and his men thought the Half-Beastman couldn’t understand them, completely unaware that Leech was controlling the corpse from behind the scenes. Understanding the Half-Beastman language might have been difficult due to slang and profanity, but there were no such problems with Lu Leiyi.

’This is getting complicated.’

When the Prince eventually chats with the Half-Beastmen...

The Prince will say, ”I sent the goods.”

The Half-Beastmen will say, ”Where? We didn’t see anything.”

Trouble would erupt immediately, and Leech didn’t have much time.

If Gadong and his men returned the way they came, it would only be about ten days to the royal capital. If they were going to Cold Winter City, it would be a few months, which was better. But Leech was afraid they might release a raven halfway there.

This was why Leech had cautiously told Kuer to hide the weapons and equipment quickly; he didn’t want anyone to know he had obtained this shipment.

The ”fact” of the Demon Beastman Mennen’s betrayal was something that absolutely could not be hidden.

’Do I really have to run for it?’

Smuggling these weapons away would be a guaranteed profit. Leech could use Magic to teleport them, but the quantity was too large. He estimated that teleporting all this equipment would drain his Corpse Ghost dry.

’There’s another problem. If I run now, I’ll likely end up on Prince George’s hit list.’

Leech couldn’t care less why the Prince was committing treason. He only cared about how he could get out of this in one piece, and preferably, maximize his own profit.

Suddenly, a graceful figure appeared before Leech’s eyes.

It was a ’connection request’ from a Corpse Ghost. Leech transferred his consciousness over and found himself in the body of the Corpse Ghost in Mama City. He was standing on the city walls with Lisu Muma.

Lisu Muma, dressed in a light set of long-sleeved clothes and pants, had just found the Corpse Ghost. Using some unknown method, she had actually managed to ask it out for a chat.

Corpse Ghosts, it was true, weren’t very good at refusing people. They didn’t like to think and had no desires. One would have to be at least above the Extraordinary level to have some thoughts of its own, and probably at the Legendary level to be just like a real person.

”...Mama City is in imminent danger.” She had probably said a lot already. When Leech’s Spiritual Power transferred over, he heard her say, ”Mama City is willing to swear allegiance to Lord Leech, to raise horses, train Cavalry, and conquer the desert!”

Leech’s first reaction wasn’t that it was a trap, but that this scene was all too familiar!

’Could Lisu Muma and Lady Jie Lin know each other?’

The difference was that Lady Jie Lin had never, from start to finish, said she would give Waterfall Land to Leech. Lisu Muma, on the other hand, was offering her city up on a silver platter.

Comparing the two, Mama City’s situation was worse; it was truly isolated and helpless. Back then, Lady Jie Lin at least had the option of bearing a child as an escape route.

’She’s trying to get me to be her sugar baby again!’

Leech had the Corpse Ghost shake its head, then turn and walk away.

He already had a headache from the Half-Beastman affair; he didn’t have the spare energy to help Lisu Muma defend her tower.