Chapter 145: Money Over Life

Victor now possessed over a hundred alchemical ravens. While these excellent reconnaissance units could not monitor the entire territory, they were capable of keeping watch over several vital areas: the banks of the Goldenwater River at the southern end of the domain, the borderline of Count Chapman’s territory to the east, the junction near the Buryat domain to the northeast, and the border of the Esker domain to the north. As long as any retreating ant-man leader passed through these locations, Victor would be alerted in the shortest possible time and could make the corresponding deployments.

This advantage granted Victor the initiative on the battlefield. Nine ant-man leaders had already been buried deep underground; once the scent of their blood was neutralized by the leaves of the ram-horn flower, Victor would send men to unearth them and transport them to his secret fortress to be broken down into precious materials.

Viscount Tennis had been spotted by an alchemical raven the moment he entered Victor’s territory. Similarly, Victor was quickly informed that two ant-men were hunting down a female knight.

Victor nimbly climbed to the top of the tallest redwood tree on the hill. The tree stood over thirty meters high, and from its crown, Victor could see clearly for several kilometers in every direction. More than three kilometers away, an alchemical raven circled in the air. Below it, a knight clad in women’s armor was sprinting in this direction, pursued relentlessly by two ferocious ant-man leaders.

Although the distance was vast, Victor, with his extraordinary vision, could see them clearly. The female knight was entirely encased in gleaming silver armor; she was tall and slender, wielding an impressively sized silver greatsword. Every stride covered ten meters, and her running speed reached eighteen meters per second. The two hideous, grotesque ant-man leaders kept pace behind her, letting out sharp, piercing hisses. One of them ran on all fours like a centaur, while the other appeared in a more wretched state—its carapace was cracked in several places, and one arm was missing, forcing it to run upright. Clearly, it had been wounded in a fierce battle. Looking at the green bloodstains covering the female knight’s armor, there was no doubt that she was the one who had severely wounded it. She was undoubtedly a Silver-rank grand knight; only a high-ranking knight could inflict such damage on a Silver-rank ant-man.

Victor’s expression was as calm as water. He knew the uninjured ant-man leader could easily catch up to the knight; it was deliberately slowing down, likely to avoid taking risks while waiting for the support of other ant-man leaders. The green blood on the knight acted like a beacon, pointing the way for the swarm.

Victor observed the south for a moment. Sure enough, two alchemical ravens were circling five kilometers away, signaling that two swarms were closing in. It would not be long before the female knight was cut off by the swarms, at which point she would have no chance of survival.

Victor’s face flickered with indecision.

As the York family intensified the war against the ant swarms, most of the swarms on the western side of the kingdom had been drawn toward Blackfort Town. Lords suffering from the ant plague would no longer sit idly by while their crops were destroyed; they were bound to organize forces to eliminate the scattered swarms, and the existence of the ant-man leaders would likely be discovered. However, because the leaders were mixed in with ordinary ants, they were hard to distinguish. As long as the leaders weren't killed immediately, the swarms would not spiral out of control, and their weaknesses wouldn't be exposed—at most, people would just discover that there were Silver-rank ant-men among them. Furthermore, the situation in the Centaur Hills was already set; it didn't matter if the secret of the ant-man leaders was exposed. There was no evidence to prove that the York family knew the swarms' weaknesses, a point Victor and Sylvia were in full agreement on.

Victor did not fear exposing the secret of the ant-man leaders; his dilemma was the Therion heavy crossbow. The Therion heavy crossbow was a critical component of Victor’s plans, and such a weapon of mass destruction would inevitably be stained with a knight’s blood. If Victor wanted to remain the power behind the scenes, he could not let his connection to the Therion heavy crossbow be revealed. Yet, he could not bear to watch the female knight be devoured by the swarm.

If someone holding a hunting rifle saw a tiger about to eat a person, would they shoot the tiger to save their fellow human? Victor believed most people would choose to fire; it aligned with the values of modern society. Although a Silver-rank ant-man was far more ferocious than a tiger, Victor had absolute confidence in killing it with a single bolt, provided he could launch a surprise attack. Thus, he needed to set an ambush in advance.

As he watched the female knight draw closer, Victor finally made up his mind. He slid silently down from the treetop and commanded his men: "Shack, take your team and set an ambush in the rear. Once the ant-men enter the optimal range for the Therion heavy crossbows, kill the injured one. Nelson, Renault, come with me to set up in the front. When Shack makes his move, I will shoot the uninjured one. Jack, keep the mastiffs under control. If I miss, let the war dogs entangle the ant-man leaders and the female knight. But do not kill her—I want her alive."

Victor decided to save the knight, but if even the war dogs were exposed, he would have no choice but to imprison her in his secret fortress.

After issuing the orders, Victor led Nelson and Renault to hide in the dense bushes at the foot of the hill. Beside him were two cocked Therion heavy crossbows. These crossbows and their double-silver bolts had been coated in herbal juice, turning them from a bright, reflective cyan-white to a dull, dark green so they would not be detected due to glinting in the light.

Victor entered the stealth state of the Golden Toad Secret Form. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing became almost imperceptible, and not only did his perception sharpen significantly, but he also blended perfectly into the environment.

Soon, the female knight and the two ant-man leaders entered Victor’s firing range. None of them noticed the anomaly in the bushes; they rumbled past Victor, exposing their backs to the sharp double-silver bolts. Victor remained motionless, waiting for Shack’s team to strike first to create a pincer attack and take down both leaders in one go.

However, an unexpected turn occurred. As soon as the female knight stepped into the range of Shack’s team, she veered sharply toward the monkey-folk militia hidden in the bushes.

Victor felt a surge of resentment. The female knight had discovered Shack and the others; she was drawing the disaster toward them to escape. Fortunately, the alchemical militia lacked the capacity for shock or surprise. As soon as the injured leader came within 300 meters, they fired decisively. Regrettably, because of the knight’s maneuver, they had been exposed. Although the ant-man leader was wounded, it was still a powerful Silver-rank monster; it reacted in advance, leaping sideways. The powerful Therion bolts flashed past like four streams of light, but ultimately missed.

At the same moment, Victor pulled the trigger of his Therion heavy crossbow. The sharp double-silver bolt, wreathed in a light breeze, traveled silently across the 20-meter gap and instantly pierced the back of the uninjured ant-man’s head. Whether it hit a vital part of the brain or not, the creature immediately collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently.

The female knight’s reaction again caught Victor off guard. The moment the leader fell, she turned and lunged at the other one. A yellowish aura emerged around her; she stomped down, creating spiderweb-like cracks in the ground, and covered the 20-meter distance in a flash. Her mithril greatsword slashed down at the ant-man. Green blood splattered everywhere as the blade sank into the creature's tough body, nearly cleaving it in two. The mortally wounded leader grabbed the sharp blade and threw a punch at the knight’s head. The female knight countered with a fist of her own, colliding with the leader's strike. With a dull thud, she flew backward, using the momentum to rip her mithril sword from the creature's body, while green blood erupted like a fountain from the massive wound. The ant-man leader stumbled two steps and collapsed, dead.

The female knight, covered in green blood, turned toward Victor and was about to speak when Victor shouted, "Run!"

The knight paused, and then, as the earth began to tremor, she decisively chased after Victor’s retreating figure. As she rounded the hill, two war dogs darted out, each snatching up the corpse of an ant-man leader and fleeing in different directions.

Victor led his men in a rapid retreat, with the knight following closely behind. After running several hundred meters, Victor turned back and roared, "Stop running together! Are you trying to get us killed?"

The knight was covered in the green blood of the ant-man leaders. Although Victor had made some preparations, the scent of the leaders' blood was far more intense than that of ordinary ants and would attract many swarms to track them.

Ant-men were fast, and their leaders were faster. Fortunately, an ant-man leader would not abandon its swarm while tracking; the swarm was like its weapon, and no one would abandon their weapon in battle. Thus, the ordinary ants slowed the leaders down. With her Silver-rank strength, the knight could have easily shaken off the swarm, but while Victor was fast, his stamina was average; if they kept running like this, they would eventually be caught. It was a vicious move on the knight's part—like intentionally leading monsters into a crowd—and Victor could not help but feel angry.

Nelson whispered as they ran, "My Lord, she seems unable to run much further."

Victor noticed then that the knight’s stride was uneven and her breathing ragged; it was clear her battle aura was exhausted and she was reaching her physical limit. Victor instantly understood why she had been following them: she had lost the ability to escape on her own.

"If you don't want to die, drop the armor and the sword," Victor shouted a warning.

Not only was the knight’s equipment covered in the leaders' blood, but it was also extremely heavy. Dropping such dead weight would be the sensible choice in a life-or-death flight. Yet, her answer surprised Victor.

"Never!" The knight’s voice was hoarse, but it carried an unshakable will.

Seeing her grip the greatsword even tighter, Victor asked angrily, "Is your gear more important than your life?"

"Mithril equipment is worth risking one's life for," she replied resolutely—a typical Chapman family attitude.

Victor stopped arguing and kept his head down, pushing forward. After running five kilometers, Nelson whispered again, "My Lord, I don't think she can make it."

Victor didn't need to look back to hear the knight’s heavy, labored wheezing. Even though she was exhausted, she still refused to drop that mithril greatsword.

"Can you drop that sword?" Victor couldn't help but yell.

"Huff... this is... huff... this is forged from mithril and adamantine," the knight panted.

"The ant-men don't eat metal! You can come back for it later," Victor persuaded patiently.

"Huff... don't try to trick me! Ant-men use weapons!"

"You're going to be caught by the swarm."

"Don't worry about me."

"Then why the hell are you following us?!"

The knight’s "money over life" attitude truly drove Victor mad, yet he couldn't bear to see her die like this.

"Fine! There’s a lake ahead with a small island in the center. Throw your gear into the lake, wash the blood off yourself, and swim to the island to rest. The ant-men can’t swim, so they won't be able to take your gear. We’ll cover you, and then we’ll meet up on the island."

"Good." The knight was overjoyed, her speed even increasing.

Watching the knight run along the Blackwater River toward Lakeview Village, Victor said to Nelson, "Call the dog-cart over; we’re going back to camp!"

"My Lord, didn't we agree to meet up on the island?" Nelson asked, bewildered.

"I couldn't care less if she dies!"