Clockwork Bride

Page 102

...There really is one?

"Angela, gather all the mercenaries as soon as possible."

He ignored the town mayor and immediately turned to give instructions.

"The two of us alone are not enough."

Angela nodded, but still seemed somewhat confused: "I don't quite understand. Even if it's called a land god, it's still just a natural creature that has lived for a very long time and possesses intelligence because it's connected to the earth's ley lines. It's not a particularly powerful monster, is it?"

"what?"

Her words surprised Hayden.

"No, I didn't gather the mercenaries here to gang up on them."

Then he realized what he meant and immediately shook his head.

"If it's just a beast god with a primitive tribe of demi-humans, to put it bluntly, it's a huge monster like a moving mountain or river. The two of us will find a way to deal with it."

The earth god who absorbs the spiritual energy of the earth's veins will become extremely strong, gain wisdom and supernatural powers, and not only will he not die of old age, but he will also be invulnerable to swords and spears... But what use is invulnerability to swords and spears these days?

This is no longer an era where land gods can wield their power with impunity. Modern rulers, the new capitalists, can flatten mountains and divert rushing rivers to build up upscale residential areas. Last month, Hayden himself transformed into a behemoth. He knows very well that such a beast god is no match for Angela, let alone those large corporations.

The earth god is nothing more than an old, outdated thing, clinging to life in a barren corner of the world...

...However, it can still be considered a kind of god.

“Angela, didn’t you tell me that?”

So Hayden stroked his chin.

"It is very important to distinguish who my friends are and who my enemies are."

"Such power shouldn't be wasted, right?"

111: I am an immortal dragon!

Following Hayden's instructions, forty mercenaries, under Eric's command, flew to Shuainan Town one after another. The whole process went smoothly and didn't take much time.

However, when the mayor saw a group of mercenaries land in his town, he felt something was off—were they guests, soldiers, or bandits?

He may not have many other skills, but he certainly has a keen eye. He could tell at a glance that these mercenaries were no less skilled than the elite mortal guards of ordinary gods.

A platoon of elite mercenaries could probably tear his entire town apart.

Fortunately, Hayden did not intend to cause trouble for these people.

"Could you please find accommodation for my soldiers?"

So he spoke first, before the mayor became overly worried.

"Of course, they will pay for all their expenses in town as usual. I will also ask them not to cause trouble with the residents. I hope everyone can get along harmoniously during this period."

Since Hayden, who was mistaken for an important person, said so, the mayor naturally felt reassured.

"Of course, of course. We will do our best to entertain our guests and provide you with a comfortable travel experience."

He quickly nodded and bowed, then made the arrangements.

Mercenaries' spending power is obviously not comparable to that of the Protoss gentlemen who spend lavishly, but they are indeed a profession where money is spent rather extravagantly. Some of the young Russian mercenaries in the "Retribution" company don't even keep any money overnight; they spend it all as soon as they receive their paychecks.

After all, whether you're a mercenary or a gangster, it's a profession where you never know if you'll even survive three days.

This was hardly a good habit, but Hayden wasn't their father, so he didn't care how they spent their money, and this was actually just fine. Once the mercenaries found lodging, supplies, and various services, they immediately began happily spending money, and the townspeople happily (while inevitably wary) began to welcome them. The scene was, in a way, quite harmonious.

As for whether the townspeople would secretly curse the mercenaries or think they were being taken advantage of, Hayden didn't care. There are priorities; problems that can be solved this way aren't really problems.

Taking advantage of a slightly more harmonious atmosphere, he seized the opportunity to continue inquiring with the mayor: "You just mentioned 'primitive demi-humans living in the mountains to the north.' Are there really demi-humans in the primeval forests around here?"

The mayor nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands together hastily: "Yes! They've been living over there for a long time. Sometimes we even do some bartering with them!"

Hayden stroked his chin thoughtfully: "So you have a good relationship with those demi-humans? That's a good thing. Don't worry, I don't plan to cause trouble for them."

Hearing this, Angela, who was standing nearby, became increasingly confused. Finally, she asked curiously, "Master, what exactly is this 'demi-human' you've been talking about?"

The mayor, seeing the fully cyborg woman in a maid outfit next to Hayden, assumed she was a modified maid of an important person and didn't think much of it, nor did he find it strange that she didn't know what a demi-human was. He directly explained, "Madam, a demi-human is like a talking monkey, a savage creature that is not human."

These words elicited a strange look from Angela at the mayor, who seemed to be wondering what Angela was thinking.

"Oh?"

Hayden's interest was piqued further: "So you still barter with them?"

"It's a tradition in our town."

The town mayor answered with a forced smile.

"Those demi-humans migrated to the mountains and forests about a hundred years ago, after the natural resources in the northern mountains were depleted and the company began to withdraw. After all, the company would never have allowed a group of talking monkeys to live near the mining site before that!"

“We also faced many difficulties during that period. The company withdrew, and our abandoned freight hub lost business. We were in the middle of nowhere, and although we weren't starving, we were short of all sorts of things. Since outsiders were willing to come and exchange goods, of course we had to accept!”

"So, starting from my great-grandfather's generation, we have maintained a trade with those primitive demi-humans in the mountains and forests. Generally, it's once a month. We give them synthetic food, sugar and soap, acid-resistant clothing, and other light industrial products that we can make here. In return, they give us old parts they've collected, barely usable natural resources, materials to corrupt magical beasts, and the like."

Hayden nodded in understanding, but also frowned: "But seventeen years ago you had that Peacock King business opportunity that fell from the sky. After that, you were busy developing the tourism industry, and you're still doing small business with demi-humans?"

“Sir, you can’t say that. More opportunities mean more paths!” The mayor immediately shook his head. “Recently, the climate and environment have become worse, and the pollution has become more serious. We’re about to lose our livelihood from tourism. Having those demi-humans help us collect recyclable waste on the mountain every month is a small but beneficial thing for the town.”

That's true. This town mayor is indeed not stupid.

"However, although I say this, they have actually provided us with very little useful material in recent years."

The town mayor frowned as he spoke.

"Thinking about it carefully, it seems that we have rarely seen them give us anything useful since more than ten years ago, and even the materials for corrupting magical beasts are scarce."

...Starting more than a decade ago?

More than a decade ago, wasn't it when Peacock King and Karen were hunting serpent dragons here that gave this Shuainan Town the opportunity to transform into a tourist destination?

Could the changes in these demi-human states be related to the development of tourism in Shuainan Town?

Besides, Hayden always remembered reading papers about demi-humans, which said that most demi-human tribes were constantly migrating and wandering around. How could they suddenly settle down in the northern mountains? That place is heavily polluted, not exactly a blessed land.

Is it because there happens to be a gorilla-like local deity in that area?

The land god needs constant sacrifices from its followers to maintain its existence. Did these demi-humans willingly become followers of that gorilla-like beast god, endlessly offering sacrifices to it?

Hai registered that he had read in a book that the Earth God, by taking root in the earth and becoming one with its veins, could, to some extent, manipulate the climate and environment of a certain area, thus performing some "land management." For example, making plants grow faster or, when necessary, sending a certain amount of rain.

But truly interfering with the climate, changing the world, and increasing or decreasing environmental pollution—those are powers only the gods of the new era possess.

That's why Hayden found it increasingly strange.

He always felt there was some strange causal relationship between these events, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. A prophetic gift might offer hints, but it wouldn't provide direct answers, let alone the specific steps to solve them.

"Has your town been attacked by demi-humans?"

Finally, Hayden asked the question that needed to be confirmed.

Regardless, if these primitive people attacked the town and killed civilians, then the nature of the matter is different.

"Of course not." But the mayor immediately laughed, "That's impossible! We have a barrier! How could a talking monkey possibly break through? Besides, we're stronger!"

Hayden thought about it and agreed.

Normally, while demi-humans are primitive creatures, fierce and savage, they wouldn't dare attack human towns. Even the smallest rural town is connected to the Star Network, has a powerful arcane barrier, and likely has a stockpile of firearms. How could primitive demi-humans, with only spears, bows, and a few rudimentary spells, possibly attack a town?

Now that the subhuman tribes in the mountains have trade relations with Shuinan Town, it is even less likely that they will resort to force.

So after Hayden finished asking the mayor these questions, he turned around and found Eric, who was managing the mercenaries.

"We'll rest in this town for one night, and tomorrow we'll head into the mountains to find a demi-human tribe. It must be their beast god who captured Terasque."

As Hayden recounted this, recalling the visions he had experienced during the divination, his expression turned somewhat bitter.

“They dismantled the Terasque, used its bones and flesh to build houses, and probably even ate it.”

Even though Eric had a chivalrous spirit and was never lacking in courage, he was still taken aback when he heard this: "Huh? Is Terasque still alive?"

"Telasqui is an ancient dragon that is absolutely immortal."

Hayden shook his head.

“Even if you squeeze it into juice, it will still slowly regenerate. If you leave it alone, it will recover in half a day. There is no way to kill Terasque in the world. Even if those demi-humans take its ribs to build houses, it should only take an hour or two for it to grow back. Needless to say, skinning it, drawing its blood, and eating its flesh would make it heal even faster.”

"...The directors of Smoke Mirror Company treat this infinitely renewable resource like a pet?" Eric was shocked upon hearing this. "Not to make money?"

"How can we make money from it?"

Hayden countered with a question,

"Telasqui is just a beast that can regenerate infinitely. Although its regeneration speed is not slow, it cannot compare to the speed of industrial production. It takes two hours to regenerate a rib after it is removed. How can it be used on a large scale? Moreover, it cannot be cloned. It is truly unique in the literal sense."

"For us poor people, ordinary folks, such a thing has countless uses and values. But to those high and mighty capitalist gods, Terasque is nothing more than a rare and exotic beast. If you want to keep it as a pet, then keep it."

As a wizard who specializes in the study of ancient magic, Hayden himself felt very sad when he talked about this.

These ancient, immortal beasts, terrifying embodiments of destruction, have now fallen to this state. It's one thing for the new capitalist gods to bully them—after all, they are the rulers of the modern world, capable of plucking stars from the sky and seizing the moon.

So even a giant gorilla land god could capture Terasque and tear him apart? 《Gorilla vs. King》?

That's terrible. Hayden definitely needs to go check if that gorilla has any ancestral battle axes.

"From this perspective, we should go and negotiate with those demi-humans and gorilla beast gods to bring Terasque back. That would be doing a good deed. Letting Terasque fall into the hands of the demi-humans and be tortured to death is worse than death. Sending it back to the new gods to be kept as a pet would actually give it better food than we do, and maybe experts would even massage its shell every day."

Therefore, Hayden said so.

Eric nodded, indicating his understanding: "So, Master, you asked me to call the mercenaries over not to attack that demi-human tribe, but to increase our numbers and make our presence felt?"

This disciple is indeed clever. It's no wonder Hayden took him in and entrusted him with most of the mercenary affairs.

“The demi-humans are savage, ignorant, and fierce. If only Angela and I go in, it will be difficult to frighten them without killing them to establish our authority. But killing them will cause a lot of trouble. If more than forty mercenaries go in, the momentum will be different, and it will be easier to negotiate peacefully.”

Hayden frowned again as he said this.

"However, forty-odd people alone are probably not enough to be imposing."

But Hayden couldn't muster any more mercenaries in the short term. The twenty remaining in New Yatu all still had jobs to do.

What should I do? How can I make myself look more impressive?

Can you use illusion magic to create more troops? But if the enemy's land god sees through it, things could get a little awkward.

So Hayden thought and thought... and actually came up with a strange idea.

The next morning, the mercenaries, having enjoyed a pleasant and comfortable night, were all in high spirits and ready to go into the mountains to fight the demi-humans.

However, when they gathered in front of the serpent dragon skull pedestal in the center of town, they saw Hayden standing next to the pedestal, holding a bottle and pouring some emerald-green liquid onto the ground.

"Earth, spirit of this land, I offer you the nectar of the peacock! Accept this life from the gods!"

As he poured out the nectar, he chanted loudly and tapped the ground repeatedly with a moonlight staff, creating a peculiar rhythm, like a priest of some strange primitive religion.

Clearly, he was performing some kind of shamanistic ritual magic again.

"Dying earth! I heal your wounds and offer you sacrifices! May I also be honored as a god!"

Not only that, Hayden also took out a white wolf skin and draped it over himself.

Oh—the Russian mercenaries immediately understood. The chief镖头 (chief镖师, a term referring to a high-ranking镖师 in Chinese martial arts) was going to transform into his wolf form today.

But why does this incantation and ritual seem different from usual?

Eric was even more confused: "Master, why do you transform before going into the mountains?"

"What else could it be?" Hayden retorted. "Forty men might not be enough. We need to find a way to boost our morale."

Having said that, he planted the Moonlight Staff in a tributary of the ley lines, which emitted a silvery-white light, and loudly proclaimed:

"Moon, oh moon, silver full moon! I am the son of the surging earth, and also the white wolf from the bright moon! My fur is winter snow, and my breath is the north wind!"

"O cow of the earth, I have brought you abundance! Swallow the peacock's nectar, and grant me, the earth god, life!"

The former mercenary students who had previously witnessed Hayden transforming Alastor into the Dragon God immediately realized that the scene looked familiar.

They're not mistaken.

This time, however, Hayden was no longer resorting to last-minute, hasty ritual magic.

This time, he had practiced beforehand and designed the entire procedure in advance, so he was very confident!

The moment he finished speaking, Hayden's body began to change. His eyes glowed red, his bones swelled, every inch of his skin sprouted thick, snow-white hair, his hands curled into claws, and his bulging muscles expanded outwards, growing taller and taller rapidly!

It became taller and bigger than when he fought the ninjas last month!

He transformed into a giant white wolf as tall as a building!