Chapter 496: Chapter 121: Seeing Moon Scar Again_1
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The two mercenaries were startled and hurriedly dodged, their bodies emanating the faintest yellow aura in an attempt to resist Olivia’s wind blade attack. However, their strength was far from being bold, the wind blade launched by Olivia accurately hit the leather armor of the mercenary who had spoken earlier. With a thud, the mercenary staggered almost to the point of falling over, his leather armor already broken. Olivia didn’t mean to kill anyone; her control over magic was very precise, as she used just enough energy to cut through the leather armor without hurting the skin, but this scared the mercenary into a sweat.
The attack ignited the anger of the two mercenaries, they didn’t think twice about it, swearing hatefully, they both pulled out their broad-bladed longswords from behind and lobbed the wrapped package aside before lunging at her.
Olivier didn’t even pay them any attention, she cast a speed spell on herself and floated back while chanting a spell, and simultaneously slashing blue wind blades towards the enemy. She was very measured in her actions, the energy of the wind blade was just enough to break the protecting aura and scratch the skin, but not to cause an irreparable damage.
"I’m gonna kill you, oh my hair." "Ah! My leg." Under Olivia’s fooling around, in just a short while, the two mercenaries were covered in wounds and they looked in a state of utter disarray. They couldn’t even touch Olivia’s clothing. At this moment, Ah Dai’s figure flashed and he landed next to Olivia, his white light shone brightly and immediately pushed both mercenaries to the side, falling to the ground, unable to get up.
As it turned out, Ah Dai and the others were watching Olivia from under the tree go to buy pears but ended up entangled with two mercenaries. Ah Dai, fearing for Olivia, and also fearing that she might stir up unnecessary trouble, came over to see what was happening, "Vila, what’s going on? How did you get into a fight with them?"
Olivier huffed, saying, "These bastards were too arrogant, they bought people’s pears but didn’t pay. When I said something to them, they cursed me, so I had to discipline them."
Ah Dai smiled slightly, saying, "Why stoop to their level? You first take the pears and go back. I’ll handle this." Saying that, he turned to the two mercenaries. The two mercenaries woke up from the shock of Ah Dai’s fall and they knew very clearly that the man who kept emitting a blue glow was a magician. At their level, how could they not be frightened of magicians? As Ah Dai came over, one of the mercenaries shouted threateningly, both of them trying to overcome the pain and managed to stand up from the ground. They retreated a few steps and kept a certain distance from Ah Dai.
Ah Dai indifferently said, "It’s a common sense to pay for something. Pay for the pears and you can leave." His eyes radiated with an intimidating aura, which made the two mercenaries shudder; they couldn’t think of resisting at all. One of them pulled out two silver coins from his pocket and threw them at Ah Dai, warning him, "Young man, remember this, the Moon Scar Mercenary Group won’t let this pass." After finishing, he turned around, dragged his injured comrade and walked away.
Hearing the words ’Moon Scar Mercenary Group’, Ah Dai’s body trembled; the images of Moon Scar and Yue Ji clearly emerged in his mind, he felt a warmth in his heart, he suddenly darted forward, blocking the two mercenaries, his eyes gleaming and asked eagerly, "What did you say? Are you members of the Moon scar Mercenary group?"
The mercenary was startled to see Ah Dai suddenly appear. But when he heard his question, he thought that Ah Dai was frightened by the strength of his mercenary group, he suddenly became proud: "That’s right. We are members of the Moon scar Mercenary Group, what about it? Now you know fear, why didn’t you realize this earlier? You must know, our Moon scar Mercenary Group is a Special Class Mercenary Group, offend us and you can’t stay in the Red Hurricane Clan anymore."
To encounter an old friend in a foreign place is such a delightful thing! The news of Moon Scar and the others in this place made Ah Dai overjoyed. He didn’t care about the other party’s threatening words, but asked urgently: "Is the group leader of your mercenary group Brother Moon Scar, is he alright?"
The mercenary paused for a moment, looked up and down at Ah Dai who was dressed in a red magician’s robe, and asked doubtfully, "Do you know our group leader?" He felt a little scared at heart. Magicians were the second only to the clergy on the continent and had a very noble status. The other party knew the group leader and was not someone he could offend. Although he was quite arrogant usually, he wasn’t foolish and knew his place. His demeanor changed, the arrogance from before receded a lot and he waited for Ah Dai’s response.
"Of course I know him. In the past, I worked together with Brother Moon Scar. Where is he now? Tell me quickly. I must see him."
The mercenary smiled sheepishly, "Oh, so you are our group leader’s friend! That was a misunderstanding earlier then. The group leader is very well, he’s at the headquarters, may I ask, which mercenary group are you from?"
Ah Dai answered, "I am the deputy group leader of the Evil Sky Mercenary Group. Is your headquarters far from here? Take me to see Brother Moon Scar, we haven’t seen each other for a long time."
The moment the mercenary heard Ah Dai say that he was the deputy head of the Evil Sky Mercenary Group, he was greatly taken aback and exclaimed, "What? You are from the Evil Sky Mercenary Group. That’s great, our leader once gave an order, saying that whoever encounters a member of the Evil Sky Mercenary Group must invite him or her to our group. So, you really are a friend of our leader!" All the doubts entirely disappeared, and the mercenary looked at Ah Dai in astonishment.
At this point, Xuan Yue, who saw that Ah Dai didn’t respond for a while, walked over while eating the pears that Olivia had bought, "Big Brother, why such a hassle? They’re just two mercenaries, hurry up and invite them over to eat pears. This Crystal Pear is really good." Saying this, she had already walked to Ah Dai’s side, looked at the two mercenaries a few times, showing a hint of disdain.
Ah Dai said excitedly to Xuan Yue, "Brother, do you remember Moon Scar that Yue Yue once mentioned? They’re members of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group! I want to go and see Moon Scar and the others. It’s been a few years, I don’t know what they look like now." As soon as Ah Dai mentioned the Moon Scar Mercenary Group, Xuan Yue’s beautiful eyes lit up. Moon Scar and the rest were the first people she met after she left the church and entered the continent besides Ah Dai. Upon hearing news about them, she immediately revealed an excited look similar to Ah Dai, "That’s good! I want to see them too."
Ah Dai said to the mercenary, "In that case, can you take us there? I think Moon Scar will be delighted to see us."
The mercenary respectfully replied, "Since you’re a friend of the leader, of course we can take you there." After saying this, he paused, exchanged glances with the other mercenary, and said with some difficulty, "But, could you not tell the leader about what happened earlier? I’m afraid he would blame us." With that he lowered his head in shame, his dark face turning slightly purple.
Ah Dai smiled, "I’m not a big talker, but you should fix your bad habit of not paying when buying things, otherwise, you might get into big trouble in the future. It’s also not good for the reputation of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group." At that, the two mercenaries were overjoyed and hastily replied, "We won’t, we won’t. We will never do it again."
Ah Dai said, "That’s good. Let’s go, rest in the shade for a while, then we can hit the road." After saying that, he paid for the pears with the silver coins the mercenary had just given him, then they all returned to the large tree. Xuan Yue casually cast a low-level light system recovery magic spell, treating the minor injuries of the two mercenaries. Olivia, puzzled, asked when she saw Ah Dai bringing the two mercenaries back, "Boss, why have you brought these two guys here? Isn’t it enough to teach them a lesson?"
Ah Dai bit into a pear, the sweet juice providing relief to his somewhat dry throat. He smiled and said, "They are under my friend’s team. I plan to visit that friend and will need them to lead the way. Although they were wrong before, they have promised to correct their mistakes. Here, let me introduce you. This is Wind Magician Brother Olivia, this is Fire Magician Brother Kino, and I’m Ah Dai, this is my brother Xuan Re. By the way, I still don’t know your names."
The mercenary who had been talking with Ah Dai earlier almost fell when he heard that Olivia was a Magician. That was a status even their leader would not dare to offend! "My name is Lin Da, this is my brother Lin Er, we are both third-level mercenaries in the group. Magician, I did not mean to insult you just now, it was my foul mouth’s fault."
Olivia grunted but did not speak, continuing to eat her pear.
Ah Dai smiled slightly, saying, "You don’t have to be so restrained. Now that what happened just now has passed, the Vila brothers won’t bear a grudge against you, let’s talk about the Moon Scar Mercenary Group. It’s been a few years, how has the Moon Scar Mercenary Group been developing?" Upon hearing Ah Dai asking about the Moon Scar Mercenary Group, Lin Da immediately became enthusiastic, spewing out everything he knew. As it turns out, after Moon Scar and his companions parted ways with Ah Dai and Xuan Yue in the Elf Forest, they returned to the Red Charming Clan. They used the two top-grade magic crystals they got to complete the tasks for their own Moon Scar Mercenary Corps and Ah Dai and Xuan Yue’s Evil Sky Mercenary Group. The top-grade magic crystals were of excellent quality and were collected by a master alchemist, who gave them a reward of five hundred thousand gold coins. Moon Scar, being ambitious, expanded his Special Class Mercenary Group by investing five hundred thousand gold coins. The prestigious title of Special Class Mercenary Group attracted thousands of members in a short time. These members underwent continuous training by him, Yue Ji, Miao Fei, and Wan Li, and made significant progress in a short time, greatly increasing the strength of the mercenary group. Moon Scar knew that the weakest point in a mercenary corps was the lack of masters. Therefore, he limited all tasks to below the first level. With the support of many hands, they had not made any mistakes over the years, which enhanced the reputation of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group. It now has nearly three thousand members and has subtly become the second-largest mercenary group in the Red Charming Clan. In the mercenary world, it is well known along with the Skeleton Mercenary Group as the fastest-growing mercenary group.
Ah Dai exclaimed with surprise, "Brother Moon Scar is really capable! In just three years, they have achieved such results. Our Evil Sky Mercenary Group only has two people till now."
Xuan Yue smiled and said, "I really want to see soon how far they’ve developed. Lin Da, where is your headquarters? Is it in Red Hurricane City?"
Lin Da shook his head, saying, "There is only one mercenary group in Red Hurricane City, which is the Red Charming Mercenary Group, the number one in the continent. They do not allow other mercenary groups to station there. Unless one day, a mercenary group surpasses them and takes the position of the number one on the continent. For this goal, several current Special Class Mercenary Groups are striving secretly. Our headquarters is located in Varo City, not far from Red Hurricane City. Although the city is smaller, we are the only mercenary group there. Even the City Lord respects our group leader Moon Scar. We left the headquarters this time to carry out a small task of delivering goods. We just turned back and ran into you all here. It’s such a coincidence. The group leader will be very pleased to see you."
Olivia mocked, "Yeah! As soon as he meets me here, he starts swearing." He still could not let go of Lin Da’s previous insult to his mother, and he had a poor impression of this man who had been disrespectful at first but was now overly respectful.
Lin Da was muttering and couldn’t say anything, Ah Dai intervened for him, "Let bygones be bygones. Alright, we’ve rested enough now, let’s get on our way. Let’s go to Varo City to see Brother Moon Scar first." The group of six set out on their journey. Olivia played a little wind trick on Kino on the way to cool down since she had previously mocked him a bit too much, which eased Kino’s anger.
On the way, Lin Da and Lin Er were always apprehensive and extremely vigilant, fearing that they would annoy Ah Dai and his friends by making any mistakes. They both knew that they absolutely could not afford to offend these people - not to mention that they were friends with the group leader, just their terrifying strength alone was enough to make people shudder!
Two days later, led by the Lin brothers, the group finally arrived at the outpost outside Varo City, where the Moon Scar Mercenary Group headquarters was located. From the outside, the scale of this city was similar to the first city Ah Dai visited when he left the Xi Bo Clan. A short distance from the city gate, the Lin brothers suddenly stopped and looked around in confusion, as if they were looking for something.
Ah Dai walked over to Lin Da, saying, "Brother Lin, what’s the matter? Is something amiss? Let’s go into the city." Due to the respectful attitude of the Lin brothers towards him during these two days, his previous displeasure towards the two had decreased significantly. Only Olivia maintained a lukewarm attitude towards these two.
Lin Da furrowed his brows, saying, "Usually, you can always see many of our group’s brothers outside the city. At the very least, there are a few standing guard outside the city, so why isn’t a single one in sight today? It’s really odd."
Ah Dai laughed and said, "Perhaps Brother Moon Scar has given the members a day off. There are as much as three thousand of you in your group, nothing will happen surely. Let’s enter the city first."
Lin Da nodded his head and, along with Lin Er, lead everyone towards the West City Gate of Varo City. The city gate was wide open, the drawbridge was laid across the banks of the moat. Perhaps due to Varo City being inland within the territory of the Red Charming Clan, there were only a dozen or so guards at the city gate. There was a constant stream of pedestrians and no one was there to interrogate them. By this point, even Ah Dai found things strange. Since entering Red Charming territory, this was the first time he had not seen a mercenary at the entrance of a city. He couldn’t help but ask Lin Da, "So there really isn’t a singe mercenary around?"
Lin Da’s face turned anxious as he said, "Deputy Commander Ah Dai. Let me go ask about it. This is simply too unusual. Normally, one in every ten people entering the city would be a mercenary."
Ah Dai nodded, and Lin Da swiftly ran towards the city gate soldiers. He started murmuring to one of them. After a little while, he returned, his face pale as he said in a deep voice, "Something big has occurred." Ah Dai could clearly feel his intense heartbeat. Seeing his slightly trembling body, he frowned, "What happened? Did something happen to Brother Moon Scar...?"
Lin Da shook his head, saying, "Not the chief, but the entire mercenary group is in serious trouble. Someone is trying to encroach on our territory. This is terrifying news for us."
Xuan Yue said, "What exactly is the issue? Explain clearly. What do you mean by someone is trying to encroach on your territory?"
Lin Da wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, "Here’s what happened. I just went asking the city guard soldier why no mercenaries have been coming into the city. He told me that Moon Scar, our chief, had issued an order prohibiting all members of our mercenary group from leaving the headquarters. Meanwhile, all the mercenaries from other groups have left the city, fearing to get into trouble. Two days ago, a team of mercenaries came to Varo City, openly declaring to our chief that our Moon Scar Mercenary Group should vacate Varo City within three days and hand over our territory to them. Otherwise, they would resolve the issue using mercenary methods outside Varo City three days later, which is tomorrow. Whoever wins, gets to station here. It’s so audacious! As for which mercenary group it is, I’m afraid only Chief Moon Scar knows."
Xuan Yue chuckled, "And here I thought it was a serious matter! So it’s just a challenge from a mercenary group? That’s easy! We just need to defeat them. Ah Dai, our timing is really superb! We encountered a duel between two Mage Guilds in Andis City, and now we’ve run into a fight between mercenary groups. It’s quite interesting, we can help Big Brother Moon Scar."
Lin Da gave a bitter smile, "It’s not as easy as you think. According to the rules in the Red Hurricane mercenary world, as long as a mercenary group has more than one thousand members, they can choose their own city to settle in. They can make that city their headquarters and promise to assist in the city’s defense whenever necessary, and the Red Hurricane authorities won’t interfere. This means that if your mercenary group is strong enough, you can monopolize a city, or even dominate a region, enjoying rights not unlike those of the authorities, and you can enjoy up to 5% of the city’s taxes. This encouraging policy has made the Red Hurricane clan a paradise for mercenaries. But the resident mercenary group of a city can be threatened under certain circumstances, a threat that can affect the entire mercenary group. That is a challenge from other mercenary groups. The challenging party must be of lower rank than the challenged party. They must follow the rules of the Mercenary Guild. If they win, they can not only take over the other party’s base, but also accept the title of the other party’s mercenary group. The original defenders will be demoted by two ranks. In our case, if we were driven out of Varo City, we would be demoted to a second-class mercenary group, and I’m afraid there would be no chance of turning things around! Because of the imminent conflict between the mercenary groups, no other mercenaries are willing to get involved. This is bad, we’re really in trouble, can we survive this crisis?" His pale face looked somewhat distraught, obviously very worried.
Ah Dai asked, "So how will the challenge work? Will it be by rounds, or a complete brawl? What if there are casualties?"
Lin Da gave a bitter smile, "Casualties will just be left to fate. No one usually interferes in these kinds of conflicts between mercenary groups. Because the consequences are serious, the mercenary world tends to be strict with the challengers. The challengers must win in all the parts: team battle, one-on-one duel, and prove that they are indeed much stronger than the original defending mercenary group. If they fail, they must disband their own mercenary group. Because of this condition, direct challenges to the defending city mercenary group rarely occur. Because as a challenger, one would not dare to take risks easily without absolute confidence in victory. This direct challenging rule is called the ’decisive victory’, which means that the challenge party must win all rounds of the competition. This kind of challenge is judged by the city lord of the city where the challenged party is located. Our mercenary group’s ultimate goal was to replace the Red Hurricane Mercenary Group through such a challenge when our strength was sufficient. But we didn’t expect that before we could act, someone was ready to take our territory."
Ah Dai smiled slightly, "Let’s go, you take us to see Big Brother Moon Scar first. We won’t sit idly by in this matter. By the way, can the defending party in a city invite other mercenary groups to assist during the other party’s challenge?" Although the Evil Sky mercenary group has been established for nearly four years, Ah Dai knew very little about the rules of the mercenary group.
There was a flicker of joy in Lin Da’s eyes, "Yes, the challenger cannot invite assistance, but the challenged can make an open invite to friends and family within three days. However, the challenger has clearly assessed our details in order to complete more tasks, our mercenary group has kept the price of low-level tasks very low, making a lot of mercenary groups unhappy. Apart from your Evil Sky Mercenary Group, I’m afraid no one would be willing to help us. But with your addition, we will definitely overcome this, and repel those daring challengers back home." The members of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group were treated very well, and they didn’t have to do any dangerous tasks. He didn’t want to cut off his own source of wealth this easily, naturally hoping that Ah Dai and others would help the Moon Scar Mercenary Group overcome this difficult situation.
Ah Dai nodded, "As long as help is allowed, it’s manageable. Let’s go. Let us enter the city." Led by Lin Da and his brothers, the six of them entered Varo City. Although the city was not very large, the population was quite substantial. Both sides of the street were full of bustling shops. After passing through several broad streets, the people came to the southern part of the city. Lin Da pointed to a large courtyard in front of them and said, "This is our headquarters. I heard that this was originally the mansion of a rich merchant who sold it when he moved his family. When the head of the group bought this place, it cost him more than two hundred thousand gold coins. After remodeling, all the decorative elements were removed, except for the space for the practice arena, and everything else was turned into houses. Now, our headquarters can accommodate five thousand people."
Ah Dai exclaimed, "This courtyard is really big, it must be tens of thousands of square meters in size. Big Brother Moon Scar must manage the mercenary group very well."
Lin Da said, "Our headquarters covers nearly a hundred thousand square meters. On the continent, apart from the Red Hurricane Mercenary Group, I doubt any other mercenary group has such a complete headquarters."
As they spoke, the group had already arrived at the front gate of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group Headquarters. There were two mercenaries standing guard outside the door. Upon seeing the Lin brothers, their faces instantly broke into smiles. The mercenary on the left said, "So, have you completed the mission? Huh? Why have you brought so many people back with you? What do they do?" Seeing that Ah Dai and his companions were dressed as magicians, the gatekeepers became slightly tense, for the Moon Scar Mercenary Group was in a precarious situation these days.
Lin Da hurriedly explained, "They’re all friends of our leader. They’re here to visit him. I heard someone was audacious enough to issue us an invincible challenge, is that true?"
The Gatekeeper obviously had a good relationship with Lin Da and did not doubt his words at all. He relaxed and said concerningly, "Yes! Our leader is distressed about it. The city is abuzz with people saying that the mercenary group in charge is about to change. Everyone has become much more indifferent to us. The wealthy businessmen of Varo City who used to assign tasks to us are all biding their time now. We’ve suffered heavy losses!"
Lin Da laughed heartily and said, "We don’t have to be afraid this time. With the help of the leader’s magician friends, those daredevils who issued the challenge will certainly disband. Okay, I won’t chat with you anymore; we’re going in."
Listening to Lin Da’s words, the gatekeepers looked at Ah Dai’s group with new respect and opened the large door with great reverence, gesturing them in with bows and nods.
The headquarters only had a small courtyard. There were houses densely packed on both sides. Lin Da explained, "Everybody should be in the practice arena for exercise at this time, so there are not many people in the front yard."
Ah Dai and his comrades followed the Lin brothers through two courtyards and arrived at the center of the Moon Scar Mercenary Group Headquarters. Lin Da pointed to a tall building not far in front of them and said, "The leader should be in there. That’s our conference hall. Please wait for a moment. I’ll go and report first." After finishing his sentence, he quickly proceeded. There were two mercenaries guarding outside the conference hall. Lin Da whispered a few words to them and then went in. Ah Dai turned his head and said to Xuan Yue, "It’s been four years. I wonder if Big Brother Moon Scar will still recognize me."
Xuan Yue smiled faintly and said, "Although four years have passed, you’ve only grown a lot taller. That endearingly foolish look of yours has not changed at all. How could he not recognize you?"
Ah Dai, surprised, said, "How do you know I haven’t changed, you hadn’t seen me four years ago." He looked at Xuan Yue with confusion, feeling as if he had caught onto something.
Xuan Yue realized her slip of the tongue and quickly covered it up, saying, "Even if I haven’t seen you, can’t I guess? Besides, my little sister also described you to me. She surely can’t be wrong."
"Ah Dai, is that really you?!" A startled cry of joy sounded. The door to the conference hall opened wide, and a Silver Armored Moon Scar stepped out from inside. His apparel was the same, but he looked a few years older than before, with a taste of middle age, his formerly thin figure now much sturdier. His face beamed with excitement as he stared at Ah Dai. His body trembled slightly. Clearly, he was extremely excited.
Ah Dai felt a rush of warmth flooding his heart, producing a shivering sensation throughout his body. Seeing Moon Scar again made his heart pound with irresistible excitement. The ever familiar sight of Moon Scar filled him with affection. With great effort, he finally managed to call out, "Big Brother Moon Scar."
Moon Scar floated over to Ah Dai, grabbed his shoulders, and said excitedly, "Brother, how many years has it been since we’ve seen each other? Have you been all right?"
Ah Dai nodded vigorously, grabbed Moon Scar’s shoulders in return, and said, "Big Brother, it’s almost been four years. Your Moon Scar Mercenary Group has grown so much. It’s really impressive!"
Moon Scar calmed down a little, but his face was still full of joy. For the past two days, he had been worrying about the invincible challenge. However, upon seeing Ah Dai, he seemed to have forgotten all his troubles and laughed, "Isn’t all this thanks to you? If it weren’t for those two top-grade crystals you gave me, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all this even if I had risked my life. Ah! That’s right, where’s Yue Yue?"
Upon seeing Moon Scar, Xuan Yue was also quite stirred but also somewhat uneasy. She was well aware of Moon Scar’s intelligence and was afraid that he would recognize her true identity. Hearing him mention her, she quickly said, "Hello, Big Brother Moon Scar. I am Xuan Yue’s elder brother, Xuan Re. My sister has stayed behind in the Holy See to learn magic under the Pope’s guidance. I’ve heard a lot about you from her in the past. You are much more handsome than she had described. It is truly an honor to meet you."
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