Chapter 1351: Ransom
It wasn’t as though Nighteye didn’t react to the name, but the result was rather unexpected for the duke. She asked him rather calmly, “Does that name have anything to do with me?”
“How could it not…” The duke looked alarmed after blurting out those words, knowing that he had committed a mistake.
Nighteye glanced at him. “Do you think you can ignore my rules just because you’re a duke?”
The duke’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat. He fell onto one knee and lowered his head. “I was simply too anxious, please forgive me!”
Seeing his humble posture, the chill on Nighteye’s countenance relaxed somewhat. “How’s Larga? Not dead yet?”
The duke was stunned. He knew that the vampires never liked the demonkin, but such ominous words weren’t exactly appropriate.
However, Nighteye’s status was extremely high—not only because she had racked up great accomplishments, but also because her methods were ruthless. There was once a disrespectful vice-duke whose four limbs were cut off. Since then, no one dared to challenge her authority.
Since Nighteye had asked, then a reply had to be made. “Larga’s injuries are grave, and his demonic furnace was also damaged. There’s only a sixty percent chance that he pulls through the current crisis, and he’s bound to drop in rank even after a full recovery. The environment of the new world isn’t friendly to us.”
Nighteye seemed distracted for a good while. She then said, “That person went for his life right off the bat, yet Larga still managed to escape. I’m guessing he was busy with something and didn’t have the time to deal the final blow.”
The duke replied, “We’ve lost contact with the three squads under Larga’s command. Considering that person’s strength, he probably didn’t want to bother with dying trash like Larga.”
The duke spoke tactfully and even placed Qianye in a higher position. His intent was clear and seemed to be effective as intended. Nighteye’s coldness melted quite a bit as she said, “Probably busy taking prisoners.”
Seeing that his strategy was effective, the duke said, “But since that lord is here, we need a way to deal with him. We lost seventy thousand men in one battle. If this goes on a couple more times, even we won’t be able to take it.”
Nighteye said, “Combine the squads two-by-two and put a duke in charge of them. They won’t die as long as they don’t challenge him one-on-one. The humans will likely attack proactively, so all you guys need to do is whittle away at their military power. The humans can’t outlast us, he cannot outlast us.”
The duke hesitated for a while. “But the casualties will be very high.”
“They need to die anyway.”
The duke was speechless. “Your Majesty, this…”
“Are you questioning me?”
“I wouldn’t dare! But Your Majesty, please consider your subordinates’ mood. Even Larga has been reduced to such a state, I think all the dukes are in low spirits now.”
Nighteye said after a moment of silence, “What is your opinion?”
“I believe only you can deal with that person. Of course, it’s best if he can join us. The council will surely give him a place.”
Nighteye replied calmly, “Do you think it’s possible?”
“If he isn’t willing to do so at the moment, the only way we can secure victory is for you to take the field.”
“I’m tired.”
“This…”
Nighteye tossed the Tempest at the duke, saying, “I’ll lend you this one. You can’t lose with such a weapon, can you? If you lose the Grand Magnum, go to the Wolf Sovereign and forfeit your life.”
The duke’s hands were trembling as he caught the Tempest. There was no telling if he was excited or scared, but he gritted his teeth and said, “Your Majesty, I’m willing to die for you, but I also want to know why you’re not willing to fight.”
Nighteye said calmly, “We still owe the new world two dukes, remember?”
The duke felt a chill in his heart, and the Tempest felt heavier in his hand. He went down on one knee and said, “If you order it, I won’t hesitate even if it means my death.”
“Very well, go.”
The duke stood up and left with the Tempest in his arms.
Nighteye returned to the balcony and continued gazing at the distant pillar of black fire. No one knew what she was thinking.
…
Back in the Imperial base, Qianye was currently holding a war meeting. It was just that the atmosphere was rather odd—on one side were the three divine champions and Imperial generals, while on the other was Tatumu, Margo, and over half a dozen t.i.tled experts. This lineup wasn’t at all like an Imperial war meeting.
The Empire and Evernight had been fighting for a thousand years. Early on, the races would always fight to the death, so there were few instances of taking prisoners. The Empire slowly toned down its ruthless policy after solidifying its foundations and started taking captives.
Even so, something like this had never happened before. There might be some exceptions on the lower continents or in zones of active conflicts but never was it done publicly.
As though he never saw the odd expression in the generals’ eyes, Qianye merely gazed at the map on the wall. No one knew what he was thinking, and no one dared break the silence before he had spoken.
But the lull went on for far too long. Finally, Duke Minghai decided to take advantage of his seniority to speak up, “Sire Qianye, we managed to route the enemy’s first attack in a glorious victory, but we’ll need you to decide on the direction.”
Qianye remained silent.
“Sire, Sire?!”
Duke Minghai had to call out twice before Qianye woke up from his reverie. “What did you say just now?”
Duke Meinghai was able to remain fairly composed. He said with the same smile, “Our army gained a huge victory, but there are a lot of problems left. We need you to make the decisions.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Well… we have too many prisoners. You issued the order to spare all who surrender, to capture and not kill them. Currently, we have over forty thousand prisoners, almost more than the number of soldiers we have. We simply cannot hold more captives.”
Margo and Tatumu seemed alarmed. The words just now were a hint—either, deal with the current captives or stop taking in more.
In truth, the war in the new world was waged at a national level, with neither side taking captives. The Empire had no capacity to do so while the dark races had suffered too much in the early phases of the war. They could not control the experts’ bloodl.u.s.t, nor did they want to control them.
At this point in the war, things were beyond what could be described as ruthless.
Qianye’s glory was at its peak because he had not only routed the dark race army but had done so almost single-handedly. No one dared go against the orders he had given. Even someone of Duke Minghai’s status could only remind him indirectly.
Qianye replied, “The Imperial decree states that all military affairs will follow my decision and the spoils will be mine to distribute.”
The three divine champions nodded. The authority granted to Qianye was almost unheard of. This was also because of his willingness to take on this role when the Empire was in such dire straits. Moreover, the so-called spoils would only exist if a battle was won. There would be nothing in the case of a defeat.
Qianye said calmly, “That means all these captives are my property. I will send them to Fort Continent and have them join my country. Do you have any complaints?”
The three divine champions exchanged glances at the unexpected development. These were the strongest elite soldiers of Evernight, with a large number of experts in their ranks. The destruction would be shocking should they revolt. Qianye was indeed quite brave to dare take them in. Fortunately, these captives were heading to Fort Continent and not the Empire mainland, so the one who would suffer in the case of a mutiny was Qianye.
Tatumu stood up. “Sire, rest a.s.sured. I will be fully responsible for watching over them. I a.s.sure you no one will dare to make a move!”
Qianye said after some thought. “Well, there’s no need to keep all of them. If there’s anyone who doesn’t want to stay, they may leave after paying the usual ransom.”
“Understood, Sire. I will arrange it.”
Qianye said to the experts at the table. “The same applies to all of you. This is your last chance if you don’t want to remain. You may leave after paying a ransom.”
Duke Minghai and the old general Liu Chengyun exchanged glances, feeling that Qianye had ulterior motives. They felt that he was allowing the disobedient ones to jump out on their own, making it convenient for him to slaughter them. It was just that his methods were too crude and obvious.
Some of the dark race members were more candid than expected. Two arachne counts stood up and said, “We’ll pay double the ransom!”
“Out with it then.”
An arachne placed his dagger on the table. “This is a token of our clan, I will have them deliver the ransom to Fort Continent and redeem the item.”
Another arachne removed a bracelet from his wrist. “This is a Spatial Gear. The s.p.a.ce might not be big, but it should be enough to pay for my ransom.”
Qianye gestured to his men to receive the items.
“Very well, you may leave now.”
The two arachne counts couldn’t believe their ears. Exchanging glances, they walked slowly out of the camp and fled into the distance.
During the entire Process, Qianye sat at the table without moving.
The three divine champions were stunned while the Evernight side heaved a sigh of relief.
Qianye fell deep into his thoughts once more, returning only after a while. “Margo.”
“What would you have me do?” Margo now considered himself Qianye’s servant.
“Go back, tell her to pick a time and place for a fight!”
Not to mention the three divine champions, even Margo himself couldn’t believe his ears. “Sire, are you letting me… go back?”
Qianye nodded. “After delivering the message, you may return if you wish. Otherwise, send someone to deliver the ransom money.”
Margo’s expression became complicated, clearly conflicted inside.
Duke Wenyuan could no longer hold it in. “Sire, this is a path to future calamity! Besides, the dark races have never been trustworthy. What if he doesn’t pay up after going back?”
Qianye said, “He knows that there’s a place for me at the council. If he reneges and I happen to take that seat one day, his clan will be paying more than just several times over. As for trust… heh.”
There was no need for further elaboration.
Duke Minghai tried to persuade Qianye against it. “Sire, this… Brother Margo is not weak. The Empire will be facing yet another strong foe if you let him go. You mustn’t!
Margo’s ident.i.ty was special at this point, so Duke Minghai didn’t know how to address the man. Long-lived species were all much older than the humans, so he decided on an ambiguous address in the end. Even Margo couldn’t help but roll his eyes upon hearing it.
Qianye shot the marquis a glance. “Afraid of returning a tiger to the mountains, eh? No matter how many of him… well, it would be a bit troublesome if eight of him came at me at once.”
Margo looked rather embarra.s.sed.