At this time, Ames was hovering in midair. Everyone on the dock felt pressure deep in their hearts. More Dragon Guards had arrived, surrounded the mercenaries, and pointed countless firearms at them. The members of the three large mercenary groups could not figure out Ames’ attitude toward them—there were scared.
The Silver prisoners stood aside, and Ames knew roughly what had happened with just one look. She said with an interested tone, “Silvers… I see, so you’re the mercenaries hired by Silvers?”
Her voice was not crisp at all. It was rather husky and magnetic instead.
“Yes,” Goa said, “Silvers were getting sold to Floating Dragon Island, so we chased here. We are very sorry for dealing accidental damages, but we hope you can let them go.”
She wanted to make a final attempt. She could only hope that Ames would forgive them for the sake of the Silvers, since the Silvers were Universe Royalties and had a very strong background.
Ames only smiled faintly, completely not caring about the Silvers’ status. “This is the Shattered Star Ring, not the Sea of Star Spirits.”
Then, she controlled the throne and flew toward her residence in the heart of the Floating Island while leaving a sentence behind. “Bring all the mercenaries to me.”
The Dragon Guards brought everyone to the center of the Floating Dragon Island, and the mercenaries had no choice but to follow. At least Ames did not kill them immediately, so there might still be hope.
However, they did not lighten up at all. Looking behind, the Silver captives, which they had gone through so much hardship to rescue, were being brought by another group of guards toward the slave market. Horlaide was in the team, too, and he had joy all over his face. The Silvers issue in Ames’ eyes was just a small matter. She did not want to bother about it at all—it was just because she had heard the report of someone making trouble, only then did she decide to casually strike. The other issues were left for her subordinates to deal with, which benefitted Horlaide.
Horlaide had retrieved the Silvers finally, and regardless of whether Peggy was alive or dead, he did not even have to pay, making him the biggest winner.
The mercenaries’ rescue originally made him very anxious, but now, he only felt it was funny. These people spent so much effort, yet it had led to him getting the biggest profit, what a complete joke! Horlaide felt very good. He sneered at the mercenaries and left with the Silvers.
The people of the three mercenary groups were very upset and downcast. Porter was straight forward—he had been cursing all along the way in his native language. Nobody liked the feeling of everything going to waste.
The team escorting them happened to be Theon’s team. Theon pushed Han Xiao and sneered, “You people are done for. You dared to attack the Dragon Guards. Lord Ames will definitely use her great power and turn you people into powder!”
Having been pushed, Han Xiao turned around and glanced at Theon.
“What you looking at? Keep walking.” Theon yelled.
Han Xiao was pushed again. The strength was like a weak breeze, not able to move him at all. Han Xiao shook his head and forgot about Theon. He pondered about the upcoming situation. From what he knew about Ames, as long as her subordinates were not killed or hurt, there was a possibility to turn the situation around. Although Ames was protective, willful, and her mood was very hard to guess, she could not be considered bloodthirsty.
The center of the Floating Dragon Island was Ames’ residence, a huge fortress-like palace with dragon bone decorations everywhere. They passed one room after another until they reached the luxurious hall, waiting to be dealt with.
After some time, Ames floated in from the side gate of the hall. The throne stopped before them—she held her cheeks and said casually, “You attacked my subordinates. Although there was no injury or casualty, I need to punish you. Wilsander, what’s our rule?”
Someone walked out from the side. He was almost like bamboo, making people worry that a slight wind would blow him away. He had a pair of horns on his head, red skin covered in lines, a tail, and bony wings behind his back. This was a hybrid as well; he had some kind of Demon gene.
This guy was called Wilsander, the commander of the Dragon Guards and Ames’ direct subordinate. He stepped out of the crowd, narrowed his eyes, and casually stroked his beard. “According to the rules, all who fight back will be executed.”
The people all became nervous.
Ames nodded and said, “Then the people of Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold shall be imprisoned. Tell their army captain to pay a ransom.”
“Ahem…” Wilsander coughed and said cautiously, “The rules say executed…”
“My words are the rules,” Ames said coldly, showing her dominance.
Feeling wronged, Wilsander’s eyes twitched. “Then why did you ask me?”
With an innocent look on her face, Ames blinked. “I was just asking randomly.”
She basically did not do any management and had forgotten what rules she had set before. She only asked because she felt like it, and she changed it as she liked; she was indeed very willful.
“Contact your captain and tell them to make the payment, then I will let you go.” Ames had a bit of a relationship with the three large mercenary groups. She occasionally hired them to do some stuff. The three armies never asked money for it, and every time, the captain personally did the things for her, all to create a good relationship with her. As the saying went, ‘don’t slap someone with a smile’. Ames did not want to make things difficult for the people of the three large mercenary groups.
Hearing this, Goa, Cerleni, and Porter heaved sighs of relief simultaneously. They did not know that Ames knew their captain—they only felt that they had escaped death.
However, Ames turned to look at Han Xiao with a playful face and said, “Now it’s your turn. If you have nothing much to say, I’ll start attacking.”
Unlike the three large mercenary groups, this small Mercenary Group was a nobody. There was no need to give them special treatment.
The atmosphere became tense, and the emotions of the three large Mercenary Groups changed.
These mercenaries were not unaffected—they had fought alongside each other and had already made a connection with each other. They could not watch their comrades get killed in front of their eyes, and they all became anxious.
The air around became stagnant—it was Ames’ force field starting to gather.
“Oi! This differential treatment is way too obvious!” Herlous felt like his bladder was shivering.
Chapter 372 - Getting Employed (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“So, it has still come to this…”
Han Xiao had already thought up many scenarios on their way to. He had a certain understanding of Ames. The air of a powerful being revolved around her. With her level, most things that were unsolvable to most other people could be fixed with a snap of her fingers. However, she was not one to be fond of thinking, and she mostly just did whatever she wanted.
If they could, who would not want to live life like her? The power that Ames possessed guaranteed her a free life.
On the other hand, this also meant that she was not a very ambitious person. The other four powerful beings who had surpassed class A had all built up their own factions, with Ames’ forces being the most carefree. She basically did not care about managing her ‘faction’. Ames seemingly did not have any ambitions, so the other civilizations and major powers in the Shattered Star Ring left her to her own devices as they did not want to get into conflict with this neutral party.
The best way to deal with this kind of neutral character was to bait them with benefits. As long as they were treated kindly, and if could present to them with something of interest, then he most likely would not be in any serious danger in front of them.
Han Xiao just so happened to have something that might just pique Ames’ interest.
As the force field slowly inched toward th
em and froze the air in the process, Han Xiao cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, “Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. I hope to offer a piece of information in exchange for the lives of myself and my group members. I believe that you will be interested in this.”
Ames lifted her finger, and the force field immediately stopped expanding, instead acting like a shapeless barrier that surrounded the group. Second Prince tried to poke at the barrier a few times and felt that the air just twenty centimeters away from the group had become rock solid.
Ames remained silent and looked at Han Xiao with amused eyes, as if telling him to speak quickly.
She was not fond of killing people, so she wanted to hear what this little mercenary had to say to save himself. One’s struggle at the brink of death often made for the most entertaining show, and it might be able to cure her boredom for a short while. She did not care that these people were as good as formless ash in front of her and was willing to give her time to listen, just like how humans studied other animals.
Han Xiao prepared for a bit and then started his performance.
“It hasn’t been long since I came to the Shattered Star Ring, and I have mostly stayed in the Juberly Hub. One day, I met a person on the street. He looked like your usual Galaxy Human and didn’t seem to be too old. He was also dressed like an ordinary traveler. Just as we passed each other, he called out to me and said something made zero sense to me at the time…”
“What did he say?” hurried Herlous. He noticed that Ames was starting to yawn, seemingly losing interest in this story, and quickly tried to get Han Xiao to get into the main topic.
Han Xiao coughed and continued. “I was completely confused back then, as I didn’t know the man, let alone what he was talking about. But now, I finally got the meaning behind his words…”
“Oh my god, c’mon!” Herlous gritted his teeth. They were already at the point where they could almost see the reaper’s scythe on their necks, yet he was still trying to act dramatic‽ He still had a planet to save. He could not die there!
“He said, ‘When you meet Ames, tell her to stop waiting. I still don’t want to see her.’”
Bang!
The force field collapsed instantly, knocking the surrounding people out of the room before they slammed back onto the ground. They were still grimacing from the pain when they saw Ames lazily getting up from her throne. However, her face was no longer expressionless and was instead filled with both joy and anger. It was like she had finally received the news that she was waiting for, but it turned out to be bad news.
The people present were shocked as they did not know what could cause someone as powerful as her to suddenly lose control of her emotions and power.
Ames slowly floated down to the ground, and her black hair cascaded down to her legs. She stepped onto the warm and bony ground surface with her bare feet and slowly walked toward Han Xiao, with her power blasting out at maximum. She then questioned threateningly, “What did that person look like‽”
The lower-ranked Dragon Guards were all knocked out by the force field’s collapse and were struggling to get back up on their feet even after they have recovered their senses. Han Xiao had to let out a deep breath to calm his nerves. Ames approached him with such a tremendous pressure around her that it was as if she could use the Conqueror’s Haki 1 . It was difficult to just open his mouth. “I don’t remember the details, but he looked like a poor person with messy hair, and he didn’t appear to be different from the average passerby… Oh, I remember. The most notable thing about him were his eyes. His pupils were sort of shining, like…”
He pretended to be unsure about it, as if the word was stuck on the tip of his tongue.
“His eyes are dark like the emptiness of space, while his pupils are like a bright star in the endless darkness, lighting up the whole universe despite its flickering light… Is that what you mean?” asked Ames.
“Yes… yes, yes. That’s it.” Han Xiao could finally let out a deep breath. Ames must have thought about the person that he wanted her to think about it. The situation was under control.
Ames seemed to dwell in her memories as she murmured to herself, “Why don’t you want to see me? Does our promise mean nothing? Didn’t you agree to find me again when I became a big name in space?”
The guard captain, Wilsander, was shocked. He had never seen this side of his boss. It was as if she had become an abandoned teenage girl in love, and he could hardly take it.
Ames was like a goddess in his heart. Strong, beautiful, and mysterious. He had been moved to his core the first time he saw her, and he had decided to give up on developing his own faction to instead work under her out of respect for her. He had stayed under her wing ever since, managing this chaotic dumpster day after day…
Yes, he was secretly in love with his boss. This was also his motivation for doing his work.
At this moment, Wilsander could not have been more jealous of those underlings who were blasted away by Ames’ sudden outburst. If he had been knocked out like them, he would not have had to witness this shocking scene.
“Who is that man that she’s speaking about? It can’t be her lover…” Wilsander felt bitter in his heart, but he also felt a strong sense of curiosity toward this mysterious person.
After Ames got back to her senses, she returned to her throne and stared at Han Xiao for a good while before saying slowly, “Since he has already chosen you to send the message. I will give you two options—disintegrate into dust or work for me.”
“I am more than willing to work under you,” said Han Xiao.
Becoming Ames’s employee was much better than getting a game-over on the spot. Ames’ past was full of mystery, but Han Xiao knew her secret. A powerful character like Ames had been a focus of the players’ attention in the past. The players were able to put together her story from various mission descriptions, and this information was then released onto the forums. Han Xiao basically knew more about her than she did herself, as he also knew about her future.
With the advantage of information, Han Xiao had finally chosen this plan to save himself and the others. The mysterious person that he had spoken of was a special person to Ames, and he held an important position in her heart. However, this person had gone missing a long time ago, and Ames had been constantly trying to hire mercenaries to look for him.
That person was someone with genuine foresight ability. Making himself the messenger for that person automatically made Ames think that Han Xiao was important to him, and his life would no longer be in any immediate danger.
Ames had also never told anyone about this, so she would never suspect that Han Xiao somehow knew about her past and was using it to his advantage. In her eyes, it was far more probable that Han Xiao was simply a random small-time mercenary that person had predicted would go there and so was used as the messenger.
Who knew that even someone as strong as Ames would not even suspect Han Xiao’s words?
Although the Great Mechanic Han did not like being a replacement, he would not let his pride get in the way of his survival. Whenever his strength was clearly not enough, he would not foolishly try to fight his opponent head on.
Even if he had once been someone who was worshipped by all, he would never let this restrict his actions. Han Xiao had only been able to escape from Germinal all those years ago because he was able to hold himself back. He had no problem of doing it again.
But of course, Ames was much better than Germinal. At least she was maintaining a neutral position, so Han Xiao would not be forced to burn any bridges with anyone. However, she was a million times more powerful than the Germinal Organization, and this meant that trying to escape from her clutches would be astronomically more difficult than getting out of the Germinal base. Even if Han Xiao tried all sorts of ways to make himself stronger, it would still undoubtedly be a long and arduous journey.
This was not an optimal scenario for him, but even he could not go against the universal law
of the strong ruling over the weak.
Han Xiao sighed secretly.
He was afraid that for a good part of his future, he would have to tightly wear the label of the ‘Dragon Emperor’s Subordinate’ around his head. That label was to be both a protective charm and a new responsibility.
_____________________
You have made contact with a new Faction!
Floating Dragon Island: Cold (0/300)
Chapter 373 - Getting Employed (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ames seemed a bit lost and floated away after signaling for Wilsander to deal with the rest of the matters.
The mercenaries were shocked. Just what was happening? She was just about to kill everyone in the Black Star Mercenary Group a short while ago, yet now they had become her underlings? Were they really people in the same line of work?
“How come I didn’t know about anything you said?” Herlous said quietly. “You couldn’t have been lying, could you?
“You don’t know a lot more things,” replied Han Xiao with a calm expression. “She is someone at the top of the food chain. Do you think it would be that easy to trick her?”
“That makes sense.” Herlous took what Han Xiao said at face value. If Han Xiao could not even trick him, how could he trick the “Dragon Emperor” of the Shattered Star Ring?
Just as the guards were about to take away the other people from the three big Mercenary Groups, Goa shuffled close to Han Xiao and said, “We’re getting locked up, and you’re the only one who can move around freely. Now that you’ve become Ames’s underling, see if you can convince those people to let the Silvers go. You’re now the only one left who can complete the mission.”
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