Chapter 630.5: Unrivaled!
A few minutes later.
Councilor Arad, snapping out of it, looked at the cheerful Carlos walking out and couldn't help but ask:
"What did you go in there for?"
"What else? Secured 10 transformation slots, of course!"
"What the hell? You spent my money?"
"What do you mean your money? That's my money!"
"You...!"
"Don't overthink it. From what I know about Bay Territory, the sooner you make the deal, the better the bargain you get."
Seeing Arad's disgruntled expression, Carlos couldn't help but laugh, patting him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him:
"Of course, Bay Territory is making even more, but they deserve it!"
Arad recalled Butler Ralph taking them to observe the experimental process of the second round of surgeries.
A rush of inspiration flooded his mind.
He was especially thrilled by the new experimental devices he saw during the process.
He could already imagine how these new devices would bring all sorts of smooth benefits to the experiments.
He suddenly realized that, in fact, he wasn't in conflict with Bay Territory. Even if problems arose in the future, it'd be the Sevinton Council's headache, not his.
Since they didn't give him much support or even consider asking others to help, why should he care too much?
With this figured out, Councilor Arad immediately understood Carlos's thinking.
The thought that Carlos had "scammed" tens of millions in public funds made Arad's heart ache.
Looking at Carlos's grinning face, Arad suddenly remembered something, put away his annoyed look, and walked over with a touch of flair, asking deliberately:
"You must be broke now, right?"
Hearing this, Carlos immediately felt offended.
Watching Arad's cold sneer, Carlos sensed he had recovered his old shrewd, sinister self, and thought to himself:
"Why is it after I blackmailed him, he's back to his old self?"
"Did his intelligence retake the high ground?"
Carlos knew there was a pit ahead, but the truth was, he was actually broke now.
"I'm only a little over a hundred kilos. No matter how much I get scammed, it won't bankrupt me, right?"
Meeting that scrutinizing gaze, Carlos nodded slowly and said:
"That's right. To feed my personal guard, I've sold everything I have."
Carlos's meaning was very clear.
If you can pay, and I can solve it, then let's talk.
As long as it concerns my personal guard, I'll let you handle it!
Councilor Arad simply shook his head, slung an arm over Carlos's shoulder, and whispered a few words in his ear.
At first, Carlos felt a little nervous, but his eyes immediately brightened, and he couldn't help rubbing his hands with excitement:
"This will really work?"
Arad nodded without hesitation, recalling how those people excluded him before, a cold gleam flashed in his eyes as he said confidently:
"Trust me, there's big money in this!"
After a brief discussion, the two of them left the lord's manor in different directions.
Watching them leave, Matthew's eyes flashed with curiosity.
He was also interested to see what kind of tricks those two would play.
Councilor Arad first reported the situation in Bay Territory to the council, detailing every aspect of its development.
It was obvious—Councilor Arad wasn't a generous person, deliberately mentioning the potential threat Bay Territory could pose.
Then, he shifted the topic to the Dragon Warrior transformation.
He didn't go into detail about their combat strength, instead focusing on the lifespan extension brought by the transformation.
"Based on my careful examination, Dragon Warriors who complete physical transformation see both their vitality and lifespan greatly increased."
"Spell detection estimates that Profession holders who undergo the transformation will gain at least a hundred years of additional life."
At least a hundred years of life!
That's equivalent to casting 'Iolum's Longevity,' isn't it?
You know, 'Iolum's Longevity' is a powerful 11th-tier high-level legendary spell!
Created by Grand Arcanist Iolum, and in theory, it can indefinitely extend the life of the recipient.
But the cost to cast an 11th-tier legendary spell is enormous!
Just the spell components and magic expenditure cost millions of gold coins!
And throughout the entire Netheril Empire, only a dozen or so Grand Arcanists could even learn and cast such a spell.
Even ordinary legendary spellcasters would struggle to hire one of them.
That favor alone is worth more than a million gold!
Which means 'Iolum's Longevity' is not something regular spellcasters can hope to enjoy.
Even those Extraordinary spellcasters and Arcanists unable to break through to the legendary rank due to impending death…
Not everyone can get their hands on the 'Longevity' spell!
Now, if the Dragon Warrior transformation could achieve this effect, then even disregarding other factors, the value of lifespan extension alone would pay for itself!
The council's response left Arad very satisfied—especially after receiving another fifty million in 'operating funds.'
Without hesitation, he went to Butler Ralph, not to discuss Dragon Warrior transformation, but instead said bluntly:
"I want to order forty million gold worth of magical equipment—the very devices used in Dragon Warrior transformation..."
Seeing this, Matthew immediately understood Arad's little trick.
"Goodness, embezzling public funds and getting the job done—Sevinton's councilors really know their stuff!"
With a wave and a smile, Matthew immediately notified the magical item research and manufacturing center to increase the price of these devices a little—just tenfold, and gave them a 'transformation' for their prices.
All sorts of rare magical materials, immediately put on the list!
All sorts of useless spell enchantments, add them all in!
The appearance must be striking—full of artistic flair!
Have the elven magical item crafters design them—Netheril Empire spellcasters love this stuff!
They're willing to pay millions for a single surgery.
They'll surely want to buy surgical devices at a hundred thousand per set, right?
Want longevity? Then spend the gold!
Otherwise, how can you rest easy while living long?
Watching Councilor Arad busily contacting Arcanists and all the major spell organizations, and Carlos scrambling to raise funds and bargain with Old John, Matthew couldn't help but smirk:
"Maybe you're earning a fortune, but we'll never lose!"
With such a huge injection of capital, Bay Territory's development was about to reach a whole new level.
But Matthew wanted the storm to be even fiercer.
So he decided to add more fuel to the fire for the other hesitant party.
January 2nd.
The northern Carl Plains.
Blood Castle.
Clear weather.
The bright, clear sky temporarily dispelled the chill of winter.
The snow that fell last night had already melted quietly away.
A temperature of five or six degrees couldn't stop the orcs from launching suicide attacks on Blood Castle.
The old and frail orcs, after their last full meal, howled as they charged forward to exhaust the human garrison's strength.
Orcs who could live to such an age actually had outstanding combat power and experience.
Otherwise, they would have long since died in infighting or the daily dangers of hunting.
No creature surviving on the wild highlands is ever easy to deal with.
Even with their numbers, orcs are just one link in the highlands food chain—not even a top predator.
But time, and their crude weapons and gear, ultimately defeated them.
Now, all they could do was muster their last strength for a final desperate charge.
But no miracle occurred.
Over ten thousand elderly orcs, at most, managed to reach the walls of Blood Castle—only to be completely wiped out.
Next came a new wave: young, well-fed orcs.
At best, only a third of them would make it back to the wild highlands.
The rest would die at the foot of Blood Castle's walls, or be abandoned due to injury or disability.
Only a rare few 'lucky ones' might escape the battlefield by chance and leave the deadly highlands, becoming wandering bandits or mercenaries.
But today, fate took a turn for them.
Carlos, standing atop the city wall, expertly directed his soldiers to kill orcs, confirmed the strength of the defense, and surveyed his confident troops with satisfaction.
Watching their skilled combat maneuvers, their high morale, and the heavy losses inflicted on the orc warriors, he sighed deeply:
"Every single one's an elite—money well spent."
The legion commander beside him nodded in amazement, sizing up this force that Bay Territory had trained for less than half a year, full of praise:
"They really are excellent, as good as veterans who've served two or three years, and their casualty rate is under great control…"
As he said this, a complicated look flashed in the commander's eyes, and he shook his head with regret.
He just didn't have that drive anymore—at his rank, life and death were no longer his own to decide.
At that moment, a sharp whistle sounded from the distance.
The commander and Carlos immediately looked over and saw, bathed in sunlight from the southeast—
A ragged battalion of a thousand was charging toward them at breakneck speed.
Others on the wall noticed and looked that way, too.
They saw this thousand-man force charging straight into the tens of thousands of orc horde, eyes wide with shock.
That direct?
That reckless?
In the sky, Matthew smiled and said to Yaya:
"Only this way can we fully display the power of the Dragon Warriors!"
Yaya also looked down expectantly. Seeing over ten thousand orcs break off and charge at the Dragon Warriors with howls, she shook her head and muttered:
"Are orcs always this reckless? Don't they ever test the waters first?"
"That's their test. Unless it's a core tribe member, they don't care how many regular orcs die…"
The cold wind whipped against his face, but Jifan, unfazed, lightly gripped his spear, staring at the approaching, twisted faces, and shouted in a clear voice:
"Charge!"
As soon as he finished, all the Dragon Warriors, Jifan included, shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow.
The orc warriors, already feeling suffocated, saw these foolish humans abandon their defensive advantage to fight on the open plain, and howled as they charged.
The two sides drew closer—
And collided!
Squelch!
The vibrating spearhead pierced through an orc warrior's chest with no resistance, then skewered the orc behind him.
Jifan flicked his spear, flinging the two mortally wounded orcs aside and disrupting the nearby orcs' formation.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, gripped the spear's butt with both hands, and swept it hard to both sides!
Boom! Boom!
The four-meter spear, like a silver dragon, smashed into the orcs, sending them flying left and right with irresistible force.
The sweeping spear struck orcs in the belly or legs.
With a strength of 28—close to the Extraordinary limit—he easily crushed the ordinary orcs' bodies.
The orcs struck suffered brutal blunt force trauma.
They simply couldn't withstand it and toppled to the ground.
The hit areas were flayed, flesh torn, bones broken.
Watching these ferocious monsters fall, Jifan felt nothing—he pressed forward, repeating the simple sweep and thrust technique.
Boom! Boom!
Another wave of orcs charged, but before they even got close to Jifan, they were swept aside like trash.
Screams and roars filled the air.
Jifan advanced without a word, eyes fixed on the commanding orc leader.
As long as he took out that one, the already disorganized orc troops would pose no threat to the Dragon Warriors!
When fighting simple-minded orcs, use simple tactics!
Jifan pressed forward, sweeping aside any charging orcs.
He never paused, eyes unwavering, his attacks utterly ruthless.
Whether orc soldier or orc champion, none could last more than two rounds against Jifan.
Most were not dead, but their severe injuries left them unable to block his way.
Jifan moved faster and faster, felling more and more orcs, the red light around him growing ever brighter.
That was the power of Beelzebub's "Endless Rage"!
With his own strength, he had already charged into the center of the orc army.
Only 50 meters separated him from the orc Warlord!
Seeing Jifan's rampage, everyone on the city wall felt like they were going crazy.
"Is he insane?"
"Going to kill the orc Warlord alone?"
"The surrounding orcs could just wear him down to death!"
"Does he really stand a chance?"
"Did the Dragon Warrior transformation scramble his brains?"
"Is he trying to challenge an army single-handedly?"
"This is truly unrivaled!"
Even Carlos couldn't help but stare, muttering under his breath, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
"If he really pulls this off, I'll become a Dragon Warrior too!"
The dangers and challenges of Dragon Warrior transformation, before the temptation of such unrivaled power—
Simply don't matter at all!