Chapter 299 The Gathering Begins

Mage Xueye, I don’t think we need to bother with this kind of intel. Standing nearby, Lan Wei'er has fully inherited the bloodline of the Roman family. Like Mage Roman, she also enjoys drinking. After taking a sip of wine, Lan Wei'er continued, "I believe those wandering mages who joined your organization are way more informed than regular folks. We could use drugs or other items to trade for their info."

Mage Roman and Shaoke ultimately agreed with Lan Wei'er's reasoning. However, before that, Mage Roman once again instructed Lan Wei'er to address Shaoke properly. Of course, no one knew if she took it to heart.

Finally, Shaoke decided to entrust this matter to Lan Wei'er, while the White-robed Cleric led some mages to transcribe manuscripts. This allocation suited the White-robed Cleric well, as she enjoyed reading, and the task was not too difficult, making it easy for her to manage.

After handling these matters, Shaoke released the magical signal he had designed. He took out a silver-white tube as thick as a baby's arm, engraved with many magic scripts, pulled the fuse at the lower end, and released the stored signal.

A black light emitted a low hissing sound as it flew into the air, continuously emitting strange magical fluctuations and unpleasant noises during its flight. When the black light reached its peak, it suddenly exploded. The black light exploded into a giant skull, with two crossed black scythes beside it. Surrounding the scythes and skull, nine black Blue Rhombus Flowers emerged.

This pattern floated in the air for a little more than half a magic hour before fading away.

After that, Shaoke sat quietly before the massive stone pillar on the tower’s lowest floor, waiting for some organization members.

Within a magic hour of the signal, over a hundred Black-robed Mages had gathered on the first floor. Although the highest among them was only a sixth-tier mage, they looked very serious and stern. According to Shaoke's judgment, this was all due to excessive killing. He’d had the same problem, but later learned to suppress the aura that gave away his kills. However, these mages before him lacked that ability.

Over a hundred mages stood silently in order of rank, wrapped in plain black cloaks, clutching ornate, ancient, or bizarre staves tightly in their hands. None of them spoke, knowing that the Ruler before them did not like anyone speaking before he did.

"Expel or kill any mercenary groups, whether from other empires or our own, that have recently entered our controlled area." After waiting half a magic hour with no one else arriving, Shaoke stated the purpose of summoning these mages. "The spoils are yours. For each group you hunt, you’ll be paid per head—the same rewards as always, and I’m sure you still want them." Shaoke took out a seventh-rank potion, casually fiddling with it in his hand, then raised his voice, "After this mission, the best-performing group and individual will receive special rewards. Hmm! Any top-tier Meditation Method below Eighth Tier." After saying this, Shaoke suddenly activated the flame on his staff.

"Expel or kill any mercenary groups or teams that engage in conflict with others here." Shaoke emphasized again, then pulled up his hood. "I hope you can come up with good reasons; otherwise, this killing will bring us trouble." Finally, he gave further instructions and waved them away.

The appearance of over a hundred Black-robed Mages in Shaoke’s territory caused chaos among merchants and residents, as these mages always meant bloodshed whenever they appeared in the Fallen Imperial Capital. However, this time they were not too panicked, as these Black-robed Mages were now dealing with the mercenary groups clashing in the streets.

After the wandering mages left, Shaoke informed Mage Roman and the Cleric of his situation and decided to take some mages outside to carry out the same mission. Mage Roman worried about Shaoke, but she knew they had no choice but to obey the orders of those eighth-tier mages. Moreover, Shaoke's actions were actually for the strength of their organization. Finally, after instructing Lan Wei'er to study books diligently, Shaoke led ten Sixth Tier Mages out of the estate, while the other Low-rank Mages temporarily guarded the estate.

This time, Shaoke didn’t take a carriage, so he saw the street chaos firsthand. Some foreign mercenaries were arguing with merchants in the Common tongue, and some mercenaries were even having verbal conflicts, confronting each other in the streets.

In such situations, Shaoke quickly led the Sixth Tier Mages to inquire about the specifics and, under their supervision, ordered these mercenaries to leave. Of course, Shaoke kindly reminded them that anyone who started conflicts here would be expelled, or even killed if possible.

This news made the smaller mercenary groups feel safer, as it somewhat prevented them from being attacked by larger teams here. If they could stay long-term, they might even grow stronger. Of course, all of that was just their imagination.

A fierce clash of weapons came from a tavern not far ahead. The mages felt the suppressed collision of Aura, and before long, they heard arguments and killing sounds. This forced Shaoke and his group to activate their Support Spells to quicken their pace and resolve the chaotic situation promptly.

Within a few thousand meters, the mages quickly cleared a wide path through the crowded streets to reach the tavern. The conflict involved three parties. One was the low-order warriors from various major forces of the Blue Feather Empire, who were maintaining order and traffic here. Acting on orders from high command, they were trying to stop the fighting.

However, against these combatants, their strength was too low, and three Second-order Warriors had already been casually cut in half by the opponents' High-rank Warrior.

"Stop it." Shaoke instantly released a Fireball. A basin-sized fireball with a long flame tail circled among them before slowly dissipating into the air. "Tell me what happened. Who allowed you to fight here? Don't you know the rules here?"

Both sides in the conflict seemed formidable. One side consisted of over twenty mercenaries with various common professions, all at least Fifth Tier. The other side, dressed in mercenary gear, had a different aura, suggesting they were a mix of wealthy young masters and high-ranking guards.

"Who killed these people?" Shaoke pointed to the three corpses on the ground, all wearing the uniform assigned by the major forces, making them easy to identify. "I think you should have known the rules here when you entered this area." Saying this, Shaoke tightened his cloak further, letting the hood shadow his face.

"Honorable Mage, he killed our comrade," said a warrior on duty, bowing to Shaoke and his group, then pointing at the guards. Clearly, one of the warriors had a bloodstained longsword, and those low-order warriors from Shaoke's side also identified him.

A sixth-rank warrior, Shaoke quickly noted. The dozen or so guards were all sixth rank too. He also sensed a seventh-rank Infiltrator near a young man, but because the infiltrator had just advanced, Shaoke couldn’t pinpoint him—his mental power wasn’t strong enough.

"I think you should pay for this," Shaoke said, waving for the low-order patrols to leave and disperse the ordinary residents and watching merchants to avoid casualties, which would cause trouble for his control over this area.

"One hundred common gold coins per death," said a young mage among the mercenaries, stepping forward under his guards' protection, offering his terms. "I think that's enough compensation for the deceased."

"They have wives and children. They need to give their children a good education, buy their wives nice clothes and good food," Shaoke spun his staff quickly. "They even have elderly to support. They fought in the war against the Esuoer Empire, didn’t die on the battlefield, but died keeping the peace here." Saying this, Shaoke took out a hundred common gold coins and threw them on the ground. "If I kill that guard of yours, would you agree?"

"Those without ability, even when death befalls them, we don't need to mourn for them," the mage stared at Shaoke, then shifted his gaze to the gold coins on the ground. "Everyone dies. He died and got this much compensation—isn't that enough?" He added, "In his life, could he have saved that much money?" The young mage finished, looking very displeased with Shaoke.