Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence

Chapter 170: Chapter 164: An Unsurprising Accident

Night fell.

After his conversation with Haman Valen, Raylo didn’t linger in the hall.

The Old Earl needed time to digest the bitter fruit of defeat and to arrange the future of the Valen Family.

Raylo had given him dignity and a choice. The rest was up to the family’s last helmsman.

The prisoners were temporarily held in a warehouse on the south side of the castle, guarded by Knights assigned by Ed.

The air was thick with oppression and despair. The occasional soft sob could be heard, only to be quickly swallowed by the heavy silence.

”Fire! The south warehouse is on fire!”

A piercing cry shattered the tranquility of Red Iron Castle.

It was immediately followed by a cacophony of shouts, footsteps, and the clash of weapons. The commotion spread rapidly, like a stone tossed into a calm lake.

An orange-red blaze shot into the sky on the south side of the castle, dyeing half the night sky crimson. Billowing smoke stained the darkness an inky black.

”Protect the Lord!”

Ed immediately brought men to guard the outside of Raylo’s room, his expression wary.

”What’s all the panic about?”

Raylo’s voice came from inside the room, as calm as still water.

”Send men to fight the fire. Don’t let it spread.”

”Yes, my Lord!” Ed acknowledged the order and departed.

Meanwhile, in a high tower at the other end of the castle, Haman Valen stood by a window.

He wasn’t looking at the raging flames. His cloudy gaze pierced the night, settling on the shadows along the castle’s outer perimeter.

A dozen dark figures, using the chaos as cover, nimbly scaled a poorly defended section of the wall and vanished into the dense forest outside the fortress.

The man in the lead was none other than his eldest son, Robert Valen.

At his side were a dozen or so of the Valen Family’s most loyal Knights.

”My Lord, it’s the young master Robert... they’ve escaped!”

An old servant ran hurriedly up the tower, his voice filled with pleasant surprise.

Haman didn’t turn around. He just stared quietly at the dark forest, as if he could see his son’s retreating back.

He knew, of course, that this was no simple prison break.

The soldiers guarding the warehouse seemed to have suddenly gone deaf and blind. The firefighting team also appeared less than ”professional.” The chaos was perfectly orchestrated—enough to provide cover, but not so much as to cause any real casualties.

’That young man... he fulfilled his promise this way.’

’He allowed an heir to escape, along with a force strong enough to protect him.’

War was cruel, but the ”generosity” shown by the victor left Haman with a bitter cocktail of emotions.

He let out a long sigh, a sound that seemed to drain the last of his strength.

Fate was fickle. The Valen Family had ultimately declined under his leadership, but to have preserved a spark for the family’s future was the best possible outcome after a defeat.

”Relay my orders.”

Haman’s voice was hoarse and weary.

”All members of the Valen Family are to cooperate fully with Lord Raylo’s arrangements. From this day forward, we are vassals of the Black Stone Territory.”

The fire was quickly ”brought under control.”

An ”accidental” fire took with it the future hope of the Valen Family, as well as its most defiant troublemakers.

Those who remained were either family members with ties that prevented them from leaving easily, or soldiers whose rough edges had long been worn down by war.

When Ed came to report the ”final count,” Raylo was polishing his Long Sword.

”My Lord, Robert Valen and a dozen or so Knights escaped in the chaos. Our men were ’unable to catch up’.”

”I know.”

Raylo sheathed his Long Sword and stood up.

”Let’s go. We can’t be late for Count Gao Wen’s victory banquet.”

...

Red Iron Castle.

The Lord’s Hall was brightly lit. Long tables were laden with roasted meat and ale, and the Knights and nobles, long suppressed by the war, were freely venting their joy of victory.

Raylo’s arrival immediately made him the center of attention.

”Haha, Baron Raylo, I drink to you! You deserve the highest credit for taking Red Iron Castle so quickly!”

A chubby Viscount sidled up with a wine cup, his face wreathed in smiles.

”Yes, yes! I’ve long said that Baron Raylo is young and promising! He’s destined to be a pillar of the Duchy!”

The compliments were endless.

Raylo handled it all with ease, a perfectly measured smile on his face as he clinked glasses with everyone.

He knew these compliments were worthless. They didn’t respect him, Raylo; they respected the overwhelming military Power he had displayed.

”Raylo.”

Count Gao Wen’s voice came from the head of the table.

The boisterous hall instantly grew much quieter.

Gao Wen raised his cup.

”This cup, I raise to our greatest hero, Baron Raylo of the Black Stone Territory! It was he and his Warriors who broke through the gates of Red Iron Castle with the force of a Thunderbolt, winning us this war!”

”To Baron Raylo!”

Everyone shouted in unison.

Raylo raised his cup in acknowledgment and drained the wine in one gulp.

The biting liquid slid down his throat, bringing a wave of heat.

He could feel countless gazes fixed upon him, filled with envy, jealousy, and awe.

This feeling of being the center of attention was subtly intoxicating.

The atmosphere of the banquet reached its peak.

Lillian, sitting beside Raylo, was growing impatient with the surrounding clamor. She nudged him gently with her elbow.

”Brother, they’re so loud.”

Raylo smiled and said in a low voice,

”Just bear with it. Isn’t it fun to enjoy the treatment of a victor?”

Lillian pouted, grabbed a golden-brown roasted chicken leg, and took a fierce bite. Her cheeks puffed out, making her look like an angry little hamster.

The banquet continued late into the night.

Early the next morning, Count Gao Wen and the other Lords’ armies broke camp and set out for their next objective.

Raylo’s and Lillian’s forces remained at Red Iron Castle to rest and sort through the spoils of war.

The Valen Family’s Forging workshop.

Before Raylo stood more than a dozen Melting Furnaces as large as small hills. Piled beside them were mountain-high heaps of high-quality iron ore and already-smelted Refined Iron Ingots.

The walls were covered with all sorts of tools and molds.

And this was just one of the workshops.

All of Red Iron Castle contained dozens of such Forging workshops and smelting yards, large and small.

This place wasn’t just a military Fortress; it was a massive Forging base.

”Coal Ball, time to get to work!”

Raylo shouted.

A black shadow flashed, and Coal Ball appeared out of thin air.

Its large, Obsidian-like eyes were currently glowing. One eye was on Raylo, while the other was fixed on an entire slab of Tier Four Giant Lizard steak sizzling with fat on a nearby rack.

”Get to work. When you’re done, this is all yours.”

Raylo patted its head.

Having received the promise, Coal Ball was instantly energized.

It opened its mouth wide, and a black vortex, invisible to the naked eye, formed within.

WHOOSH!

A huge Melting Furnace, along with its foundation, vanished into thin air, swallowed into its endless storage space.

”Another one!”

But Coal Ball seemed to think ”eating” them one by one was too slow. It simply jumped to the center of the workshop, its small body suddenly expanding. The black spatial vortex instantly grew, becoming like a giant black hole that sucked in all the surrounding Forging equipment, ore, and tools like a whirlwind.

The scene was, for a moment, quite spectacular.

Ed and the others watched, dumbfounded.

They knew Coal Ball could store things, but they never imagined it could store *this* much.

In less than half a day, all of the most valuable smelting and Forging equipment in Red Iron Castle had been ”eaten” clean by Coal Ball.

To reward this ”tirelessly dedicated” Minister of Logistics, Raylo kept his promise: an unlimited supply of roasted Tier Four Magical Beast steak.

Coal Ball let out a cheerful cry and dove headfirst into the pile of roasted meat, its mouth quickly becoming greasy.

Raylo stood in the empty workshop, his heart soaring with heroic ambition.

With this equipment and these artisans, the Black Stone Territory’s arms production capacity would take a quantum leap forward.

The Valen Family’s accumulation of nearly a century was now all his for the taking.