Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  Reynolds was dressed like the other slaves, in absolutely raggedy clothes, and his body was covered with scars. Because the other slaves had fled as well, on many occasions, those thugs would see some other slaves, think they were Reynolds, and immediately rush over to seize them. Unfortunately, they were wasting their time.

  An hour later.

  The one-eyed man stood at the harbor, his heart filled with rage as he stared angrily around him.

  “Milord, we’ve discovered over ten slaves downstream, but we didn’t find that magus,” a thug ran over to report. The speed at which they had travelled on land was definitely faster than the speed of the flowing river.

  “Milord, we didn’t find that magus upstream either.“

  “Milord, we didn’t find that magus in the surrounding areas. All we found were those common slaves.”

  Hearing one report after another from his subordinates, the one-eyed man stared at the surrounding area. He was so angry he could die. This harbor was the harbor for a small town. Their organization didn’t have any forces here.

  This was why the one-eyed man had no choice but to send those few dozen thugs to search for Reynolds.

  Several dozen people had spent an hour without finding Reynolds. Then… there was no way he could be found. Because one hour was more than enough time for a person to travel a great distance. And how could several dozen people search an area of several dozen square kilometers?

  “Bastard!” the one-eyed man snarled and cursed. “Let’s go. We have to report this immediately to the organization. That pretty-boy better hope that I don’t catch him. Otherwise… I will make sure his fate is worse than death.”

  The sky was dark now. The one-eyed man and the others had already left helplessly. Several thousand meters away, next to the riverbank, a human form emerged from the water.

  “Patooey.” Reynolds spat out the breathing reed from his mouth.

  Glancing at his surroundings, Reynolds finally let out a long sigh. Reynolds hadn’t dared to be the slightest bit incautious during this escape attempt. After casting his spell, he had immediately dove into the water, then plucked a hollow reed and used it to breathe. Each time he dove down, he would travel more than a thousand meters before daring to raise his head.

  “I’m very far away now. Those people can’t possibly find me now.” Reynolds went onto the shore.

  Reynolds body suddenly began to emit a white steam. A few moments later, Reynolds tattered clothes were totally dry again. Glancing at the surrounding area, Reynolds centered himself through using the flow of the river.

  “That slaving organization has people in all the major cities. It’s better if I stick to the smaller cities. I can’t go back through the border between the two Empires. The slaving organizations have quite a few people in the border cities.” Although Reynolds believed that they wouldn’t spend too much effort searching for him, it was better for him to be careful. Reynolds had decided to first enter the Anarchic Lands through the Rohault Empire, and then return to the O’Brien Empire through the Anarchic Lands.

  The world was very dark now. The only light that could be seen was sporadic campfires. A dark shadow was flying through the skies, slashing through the air at high speed.

  “Whoooooosh!” Their high-speed flight caused Old White to unconsciously narrow his eyes. From the skies, he could clearly make out the various roads, and so it was easy for him to make out the various landmarks.

  “Master Linley, it is right below us.” Old White pointed at a distant countryside town.

  “Oh? That little town is your organization’s headquarters?” Linley glanced at Old White. The town seemed no different from any other ordinary little town. In the darkness, a few lamp lights could be seen.

  Old White hurriedly nodded. “It is. This is just some of our organization’s camouflaging abilities.”

  “Whoosh!”

  Linley immediately charged down, leaving a black shadowy trail of afterimages behind him. He landed in the middle of the headquarters of the slaving organization… this countryside town.

  Linley was wearing a deep blue robe. Hovering in the air, he loosened his hand, allowing Old White to fall to the ground. “Have the leader of your organization come out.”

  Old White didn’t dare to disobey.

  At this moment, a number of people ran over at high speed, surrounding them. But when they saw Linley was standing in mid-air, they were all stunned. Generally speaking, only Saints were capable of flight. Naturally, powerful wind-style magi could fly as well. In truth, right now, Linley was only capable of flight without transforming because he had already cast the Windshadow spell.

  “Old White, why have you come?” a middle-aged madame glanced at Linley, then whispered to Old White.

  Old White shouted loudly, “Quick, quick, have the leader come! This is Master Linley, the mighty Dragonblood Warrior, Master Linley!”

  Master Linley?

  These words were quite effective. A slaving organization, in terms of power, was far inferior to even the three major trading unions or the four great assassin’s guilds. Naturally, it didn’t dare to offend a Saint. Many people immediately ran to get their leaders, and all of the high-ranking people quickly began to assemble.

  Linley stood there in mid-air, calmly waiting. Bebe stood atop of Linley’s shoulders.

  “Boss, this little town looked quite ordinary, but the insides of these buildings are quite unique! Many of them have underground basements,” Bebe spoke to Linley mentally.

  Linley nodded slightly.

  In just a short while, a large group of people began to head in this direction from afar, with their leader being a tall, thin man who was dressed in a gaudy long robe. This man was half-running, half-walking, his forehead covered with sweat.

  “Master Linley, my name is Dennis, and I am the leader of this organization. Is there something we can do for you, Master Linley? If there is, please inform us, Master,” the tall, thin man said humbly, filled with terror.

  Although he had never met Linley before, a Saint who could hover in mid-air, no matter who he really was, wasn’t someone he dared to offend.

  Linley glanced at him, then said, “Dennis! A month ago, you bought a magus from Old White over at the border city. He should have arrived here by now.”

  Dennis was startled.

  A somewhat fatter, older man next to Dennis hurriedly said, “Master Linley, I was responsible for this assignment. Halfway here, at the Bonai River, that magus burned our slaving vessel and fled.”

  “Fled?” Linley was surprised but also relieved.

  Fourth Bro was quite impressive, to be able to escape from the clutches of the slaving organization.

  Only now did Dennis come to his senses, and he nodded. “I’m aware of this event as well. After the magus fled, we sent our forces to some cities to try and recapture him, but we’ve yet to find him. This was over ten days ago now.”

  “Leader, that magus is Master Linley’s bosom friend!” Old White hurriedly said.

  Dennis’ face immediately turned ugly to behold, while at the same time he was filled with fear.

  Linley glanced at them. “From today onwards, you are forbidden from attempting to capture my friend.”

  Dennis hurriedly said, “Of course. If we find him, we will definitely treat him as an honored guest.”

  Linley nodded calmly. Without wasting any more words, Linley and Bebe flew off and left.

  Given the current situation, the slaving organization didn’t really matter much now. Fourth Bro had escaped over ten days ago. By now, he should’ve fled quite far.

  In mid-air.

  “Bebe, you go back first. Immediately have Zassler and the others head out towards the Anarchic Lands. I plan to spend a bit of time scanning the area around the Bonai River and between the borders of the Rohault Empire and the O’Brien Empire. I want to see if I can find Fourth Bro. After I finish my search, I will join up with you.” Linley had already come to this decisi
on.

  Searching using spiritual energy was actually quite a painful experience for most Saint-level warriors.

  Most Saint-level warriors would only be able to occasionally search using their spiritual energy, because in truth, their spiritual energy wasn’t extremely strong. It was magi who had powerful spiritual energy. In terms of spiritual energy, that Haydson who had been training for centuries was at most on par with Linley.

  It would only take a short hour to cover that distance, but if one were to search carefully, one would definitely have to spend at least several days.

  “Got it.” Bebe obediently nodded his little head, then flew at high speed towards the O’Brien Empire.

  47

  Establishing a Base in the Anarchic Lands

  Transforming into his Dragonblood Warrior form, Linley began to trace from the Bonai River all the way to the border City of Neil, carefully scanning the surrounding areas. Every so often, he would have to rest to recover his spiritual energy.

  He spent six full days and nights searching, and viewed all the nearby cities as well.

  However…

  He didn’t find Reynolds.

  “Master Linley, don’t worry. As soon as our Dawson Conglomerate discovers young master Reynolds, we will definitely make sure he safely makes it back home,” a supervisor for the Dawson Conglomerate within one of the prefectural cities at the border of the Rohault Empire said respectfully to Linley.

  Linley nodded slightly.

  Right now, the only choice he had was to entrust this task to the Dawson Conglomerate. In his heart, Linley felt a bit puzzled. “Where did Fourth Bro run off to? Why didn’t he go to the Dawson Conglomerate’s branch headquarters? The Dawson Conglomerate has branches in each of the various prefectural cities.”

  Actually, Linley didn’t understand.

  Reynolds had been truly terrified by his time spent aboard that slaving vessel. Reynolds had decided that so long as he was within the borders of the Rohault Empire, no matter what, he would not enter any large cities. Although large cities had branch headquarters of the Dawson Conglomerate, it also had slaving organizations. If he were to be caught by slaving organizations, once he was discovered by them, he would be in dire straits.

  “Any risk of being caught is too much risk. I’d rather take some side routes.” Reynolds was very firm in his decision.

  Given his power, heading towards the Anarchic Lands via some cross-country travelling wasn’t too hard. Once he reached the Anarchic Lands, he would then make contact with the Dawson Conglomerate. By then, he would be able to return safely.

  By nightfall, in an ordinary courtyard within a prefectural city of the O’Brien Empire’s Southeast Administrative Province. Zassler, the Barker brothers, Rebecca, Leena, and Jenne were all here.

  The sound of knocking could be heard. Carrying that massive greataxe on his back, Gates strode forward and threw the door open. In front of the door were three attendants, all pushing food carts.

  “What took you so long?” Gates swept the three men with his ox-like stare, causing their hearts to tremble. In front of the massive Gates, the three of them were like small children.

  Suddenly, a bestial roar could be heard from the courtyard. The three attendants turned towards the sound…

  The Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, lazily padded his way over. The natural, baleful aura of a top-class magical beast such as the Blackcloud Panther was more than enough to set hearts trembling. Haeru glanced at the three with his dark, cold eyes, and then disdainfully turned his head and lay down on the ground.

  The three attendants exchanged glances, not daring to make any sound.

  They immediately put all the plates of food onto the table, then quickly left. When they walked out of the courtyard, they wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.

  “Who the hell are these guys? Those five men were enormous!”

  “And those axes were so huge. They have to weigh at least a thousand pounds each.”

  “And that old man. He looked like a skeleton. All he did was glance at me, and I felt fear. But those three ladies were certainly pretty. If I could marry such a beautiful girl, I’d be willing to have my lifespan shortened by a few dozen years.”

  In the eyes of these hotel attendants, the guests in this courtyard were definitely extremely, terrifyingly powerful entities. While Zassler and the others ate, Bebe and Haeru remained within the courtyard. This was because they could sense… that Linley was heading back at high speed.

  A short while later, Linley, dressed in a deep blue robe, landed from the skies.

  “Lord Linley.” Barker and his brothers ran over to welcome him excitedly. Jenne, Rebbeca, and Leena all came over to welcome him as well.

  “Linley, how did it go? Did you find Reynolds?” Zassler asked.

  Linley shook his head. Right now, Linley was in a fairly good mood. Since the slave trading organization hadn’t found Reynolds, given Reynolds’ power as a magus of the seventh rank, as long as he didn’t anger someone powerful, he shouldn’t be in any danger.

  “Fourth Bro has been a soldier for many years now, and the slave trading organization is no longer after him either… given the circumstances, he should have a 100% chance of escaping and returning.” Linley was very confident in his friend.

  “If Reynolds isn’t able to make it back safely under such favorable conditions, he wouldn’t be worthy of being your bro, Lord. The Rohault Empire is usually very stable and very safe,” Gates said loudly. “In the past, when we brothers were just warriors of the seventh rank, we lived a wonderful life in the Eighteen Northern Duchies.”

  Linley laughed.

  He entered the room with the others and began to eat dinner.

  “Linley.” Zassler put down his utensils, then asked, “We are about to head off to the Anarchic Lands. What are your plans?”

  Linley knew that Zassler was the most experienced member of his team. With an eight-hundred-year-old man by his side, many things would be much easier to accomplish.

  “Zassler, what do you feel we should do?” Linley asked.

  Barker said, “Lord Linley, actually, I imagine that the Anarchic Lands must be very similar to our Eighteen Northern Duchies. You do all your talking with your fists. Given our tremendous power, we definitely would be able to quickly establish a mighty force.”

  Zassler nodded. “What Barker just described is one type of method, yes. Linley… I believe we have two options right now. The first is what Barker just said. Using our reputation as Saints, we can quickly dominate a very wide swathe of territory. In the Anarchic Lands, the rally call of a Saint is very effective.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  The Anarchic Lands were often in a state of chaos and warfare. The citizens caught in these chaotic battles desperately hoped for their leader to be a powerful figure. If he publicly announced himself as a Saint, there would definitely be many people willing to follow Linley.

  After all, Saints would be able to provide their followers with a good deal of safety and security.

  “The second method is to, at least at first, not announce your status, Linley. We’ll start in the smaller regions. First, we’ll find an ordinary little city where the lives of the commoners are unbearably bad. Even if I were to act by myself, I could easily take over such a small city. And then, we will slowly expand to larger cities, then erect our own duchy. And then, we continue, one step at a time. In the past… I was a Grand Duke in the Anarchic Lands, myself.” Zassler laughed.

  The second method was the method which many ambitious people used.

  After all, the first method could only be used by powerful experts with overwhelming force.

  “Milord, what method do you wish to use?” Zassler looked at Linley. “The benefit to the first method is that it is fast. Within a year, we can easily take over countless duchies in the Anarchic Lands. The second method is slower, but it allows us to have a more stable foundation.”

  Jenne, the other two girl
s, Barker, and his brothers all stared at Linley, waiting for his decision.

  “Zassler, we’ll carry out the second method.” Linley made his decision after pondering for a while.

  “Our target is the Radiant Church, and the Radiant Church is very skilled at seducing the masses. We need to move slowly, one step at a time, and let the commoners be fully willing to follow our orders. We need to give them a strong sense of belonging. Otherwise… even if we take over a large amount of territory, when we fight against the Radiant Church, we will have many traitors and riots,” Linley said.

  Zassler laughed and nodded.

  “Very well then. We’ll secretly expand. We won’t attract any attention. Otherwise, if we start raising Linley’s banner from the start, we will attract a great deal of hostility from many areas.”

  Zassler was quiet for a moment, then continued. “Linley, the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows both have tremendous influence in the Anarchic Lands. If you wish to expand there, I think… the first step would be to begin closer to the Forest of Darkness. In other words, the northernmost area of the Anarchic Lands.”

  Linley raised an eyebrow. “The northern part of the Anarchic Lands?”

  “Right. The area near the Forest of Darkness. Because it often suffers attacks from the magical beasts of the Forest of Darkness, the people of that area are extremely sturdy and very violent. Few of the citizens of that area have much faith in the Radiant Church. They worship the strong. In addition, given our power, we don’t need to fear those low-rank and medium-rank magical beasts at all.” Zassler smiled.

  Hearing Zassler’s words, Linley agreed in his mind.

  “From the east edge to the west edge of the northern part of the Anarchic Lands is roughly a thousand miles. There are many small cities with only a few tens of thousands of citizens in them. There will be plenty of options for us,” Zassler said confidently.

  As Zassler saw it, occupying and taking over a city in the Anarchic Lands which had a population of just a few tens of thousands was as easy as breathing. Either Zassler or the Barker brothers could easily erect a Dukedom in the Anarchic Lands, all by themselves, much less occupy a small city.