Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
Soon, Rhode met those scholars from Ophenia in the Mercenary Association.
They were a little different from what Rhode had imagined. The robes they wore were simple and easy to move in, unlike the usual floor-length long robes that were used by old scholars, which made the wearer prone to tripping. Those scholars were wearing a wide-brimmed hat, carrying a variety of props behind them. There was an axe and shovel among other similar props, but they were not used for fighting an enemy. Instead, they were used to dig for and record information in the ruins. If not because of the frameless glasses that they wore, people might actually mistake them for adventurers.
The atmosphere of their meeting could be said to be quite good. Rhode used a cordial approach to communicate with the leader of the Ophenian scholars. He even showed his enthusiasm, which was very rare. Rhode actually did not do it on purpose; after all, in the game, Ophenia was quite popular with players just like the Munn Kingdom.
The Munn Kingdom was popular with the players because of the generous and beautiful ruler. However, the reason for Ophenian popularity was quite the opposite. The players did not really like the country, but they liked the things inside it. They were looking at Ophenia like a hungry wolf looking at a lonely fat lamb. They were truly feeling happy from the bottom of their heart.
As a small country that was part of the Country of Light Union, Openia was neither rich nor poor. Most of the people in this country were scholars who were studying about artifacts and the truth of history. They were digging and exploring the remains in all parts of the continent; then, they would bring back what they had acquired to their own country. As a small country, their military forces were not strong, but the reason they were still able to survive until now was precisely because of the knowledge and precious treasures that they acquired.
In the game, Ophenia was the country craftsmanship class players were most concerned with Ophenia had the most top production formulas and ancient knowledge in the entire Light Dragon area. Usually, craftsmanship class players would try to get these formulas. However, it was necessary to join the Ophenian forces and get a high reputation in Ophenia in order to have an access to those rare formulas.
For the players, behaving in such manner was totally a waste of time, so most of them usually chose another way, which was by looting.
It was well-known that every Ophenian scholars had their own unique formula. Although it was more favorable to complete the quest they were given and then took formulas as the reward, it was quicker and easier to kill directly and steal the formula. Most scholars had a lot of guards around, but for players, those NPCs meant nothing.
In the Dragon Soul Continent, the players often killed Ophenians and stole their formulas. However, doing so might reduce their reputation and make them unable to enter the Ophenian capital to buy materials and formulas. However, to a player from a powerful guild, they did not care about those guards who were trying to stop them from entering the city.
One of them was Rhode’s Starlight mercenary guild.
In the game, he had led his subordinates to Twilight City, the capital of Ophenia, four times for looting. The first time was when he had just acquired the stronghold; he decided to launch an attack to secure his guild. At that time, Rhode took the advantage of the King’s Expedition. He launched a surprise attack on Twilight City and obtained an artifact, which was a crystalline artillery design from the treasury.
The second time, Rhode attempted to loot the capital that had just been rebuilt. At that time, he stole an ancient formula to create a Gold Golem from the King’s body. The third time, which was also the last loot before he took his subordinates to the Abyssal Hell, Rhode decided to go to Ophenia to strengthen his mercenary group’s power. That time, he had chosen the City of Thousand Books and Rhode’s harvest there was very abundant. From the Princess and Queen bodies, he had stolen the core control of an ancient, large-scale conversion array. This brought the Starlight’s strength to the next level.
Looking at it now, there was a bloody history between Rhode and Ophenia… The first time, he looted the Country’s treasury. The second time, he killed their King. The third time, he killed their Princess and Queen…
For poor Ophenia, as a small country, there was no way to punish Rhode’s Starlight. Since they were even able to destroy the Country of Light, why would they care about a vassal state like Ophenia?
The importance of the country was not known until the Devil’s War broke out. They invented the Composition Adornment and used it to block the Devil’s attack. Of course, because of their hatred toward Starlight, they rejected Starlight’s purchase of the Composition Adornment. At that time, many players had laughed at Starlight, saying that they deserved it. Other guilds had actually also looted Ophenia, but no one had been as merciless as Starlight. The Composition Adornment was a very important equipment for the Devil’s War; at that time, they thought that Starlight would lose their members eventually and it would be a very good opportunity to suppress them… However, they did not expect that was actually the beginning of Ophenia’s last tragedy.
It was totally a waste of time to revert the reputation back, so it was only natural for Rhode to decide to kill them again. This time, he brought his subordinates to surround the entirety of Ophenia. He occupied the Composition Adornment factory and stopped the production. After this incident, the people who joined Starlight kept increasing and its position did not falter just because the Ophenians had declined to cooperate with them. To the contrary, their position had become steady.
However, it was a pity that the Composition Adornment design was lost and could not be found. Or else, Rhode would not waste his time to track it down since he was able to remember it. Although many players said that Starlight was even crueler than robbers, they could not do anything about it anyway.
“Well, it’s a deal then, Mr. Rhode.”
The elder of Ophenia paid respect toward him. Rhode only nodded and took the coin purse.
“No problem, I already received the deposit, so of course I will serve you. Please wait for two days. I will send some people to prepare the necessary travel items. Before departure, I will ask someone to contact you. Before that, please wait here for a moment.”
“Can it be faster?”
Hearing Rhode’s answer, a man asked anxiously, but the elder coldly snorted, telling him to shut up.
“I will try.”
Rhode lowered his head to look at the ground. He clearly knew what those Ophenians were thinking about; just like many highly educated and highly intellectual people, most of them looked down upon labor workers, let alone mercenaries who risked their lives to make money. To those Ophenians, knowledge was their weapon, and wisdom was their feet. Although they indeed accomplished considerable success in this regard, they generally lacked masculinity like many other intellectuals. Many people said that intellectual people looked down on barbaric people because they were too hot-headed. However, as a man who had conquered countless forces in the Dragon Soul Continent, he thought that the barbaric people who lived in this continent were harder to deal with than the seemingly knowledgeable people. If one invaded their territory, they would risk their lives to fight. Rhode understood this principle because he had experienced it before. But Ophenians thought their own life was the most important. As for country… Well, there were countless countries in this continent, recorded since the dawn of time. The destruction of old reigns and the birth of new nations. It was the wheel of history; the country could be rebuilt, but how about life? Even if their country had been destroyed, didn’t they still live in this land?
Because of that, Ophenia had a weak offense. At first, they fiercely resisted, but when they noticed that the sacrifice was not comparable to what would be earned, they were not as firm anymore. This was the reason Rhode was able to loot their country so many times… According to his assessment, they seemed to become stupid after digging too many artifacts.
However, the reason Rhode lowered his head was not because he wanted to escape from their sights. Instead, he was trying to suppress himself from killing the people here. It was not because he was mad, but his instinct told him to do so. There were about 20 Ophenian scholars before him—that meant a lot of ancient formulas and materials.
Thinking until here, even his saliva almost flowed out.
Fortunately, he had very good self-control and made the correct correspondence and judgment. He suppressed the impulse to kill this group of fat lambs and loot them on the spot.
However, after leaving the Mercenary Association, he began to consider one thing.
This time… should I just kill all of them?
Alive or dead, it was a really difficult and painful decision to make.
