Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1519 - 1080: Destiny’s arrangement? It’s clearly your arrangement!

Chapter 1519: Chapter 1080: Destiny’s arrangement? It’s clearly your arrangement!

Smoke curled to one side, morphing into the figure of Durken, who wiped nonexistent cold sweat from his brow and muttered, "So that’s Heisuo? Almost snatched Your Majesty’s monster, but their strength doesn’t seem all that impressive after all."

It was quite simple, really. The Monarch’s spirit was projected, inhabiting a random skeleton. In just over a decade, it broke through to become the Lord of Mourning—a feat without much foundation. Even so, the Heisuo Mercenary Group had to put in a lot of effort to capture him.

But that’s what made it all the more humiliating. For the illustrious Undead King, the Great Unified Origin of the Seven Forces, Ange’s sovereign ruler, to be captured alive by a mere mercenary group was scandalous. You could already see its repercussions from how Negris was spreading the tale like wildfire.

If the Monarch didn’t wake up soon, stories of a "feral Lord of Mourning captured alive" would probably circulate throughout the entire Alliance and Empire before long.

The Heisuo Mercenary Group’s level of strength was just enough to capture the Lord of Mourning alive. But with Durken now at the Mourning Undead Soldier level, if he accidentally exerted too much force and wiped Heisuo out, it’d spell trouble.

And the degree of trouble was evident in Negris. To stop Negris’ incessant babbling, the Monarch had erased portions of his memory. Durken certainly didn’t want to end up having his own memory tampered with.

Thankfully, thankfully, the enemy had escaped safely. But as for the other mercenaries who had arrived in groups, their luck wasn’t quite as good. With Liliana guarding the outside, not a single enemy airship managed to flee, resulting in over three thousand captives.

Seeing the rows upon rows of prisoners, Anthony couldn’t help but frown and asked, "What’s going on? Who did you provoke this time? Why are there so many people? Did you discover a Demon Crystal Mine?"

The Violet Underground City had just a few tens of thousands of inhabitants, most of whom were ordinary people. The number of combat-capable individuals was likely no more than one or two thousand. So how could anyone organize a three-thousand-mercenary assault?

Gathering three thousand mercenaries wasn’t exactly an easy feat, but it wasn’t impossible either. Issue a bounty, and naturally, mercenaries with equipment would show up to assemble.

But to organize these mercenaries, load them onto airships, and task them with assaulting an unknown underground city wasn’t simple. First, you needed a trustworthy organizer.

The Heisuo Mercenary Group was god-level and had a solid reputation, meeting this requirement.

Next, adequate logistical support was essential. Coordinating food, drink, and other essentials for thousands of people wasn’t a casual undertaking. Such a scale of mobilization placed a strain on any system.

However, since they were mercenaries on a Void mission, many carried Space Ornaments and airships, which reduced the complexity considerably.

Finally, sufficient profit was required. Mercenaries worked for commissions—without enough pay, they’d be just as likely to kill the employer instead. Since the Violet Underground City hadn’t found a Demon Crystal Mine, how could it possibly attract a god-level mercenary group and so many others to work together?

Roland, still a bit dazed from his recent Rebirth, rolled his eyes as he heard this and looked at Anthony with a trace of bitterness. "It’s because of your grain..."

Anthony immediately caught on. "Grain? The Light Disaster? They’re targeting the grain from the Sea of Omniscience? What’s the outside situation now?"

The Lord of Omniscience had prepared 967 million tons of grain in advance, of which 1 million tons were burned by the Undying Divine Fire. This left 860 million tons remaining.

Of the million tons burned, 400,000 tons sprouted and were taken by Ange to make wine. Another 300,000 tons turned to ash and were extracted by Ange for fertilizer. The remaining 400,000 tons were roasted to make long-lasting food supplies.

Just from the Sea of Omniscience alone, Ange already had over 8 million tons of grain, 200,000 tons of wine, and hundreds of thousands of tons of cooked food. Keeping these resources idle would be meaningless—they gained value only when circulated.

And the most suitable party to handle this circulation task was, of course, the Violet Mercenary Group. Over this period, Violet had gradually sold 200,000 tons of grain and 2,000 tons of wine. The roasted grains were either popped into rice puffs or pressed into rice cakes and distributed to residents of the Sea of Omniscience.

"So they’re targeting you just for some grain and wine? Could it really be that bad out there? Don’t we have the Little Saplings?" Negris asked in astonishment.

The Light Disaster had undoubtedly wreaked havoc on all the Void planes, causing severe crop failures and mass deaths of insects and small animals. However, the Great Ruler had acted quickly, distributing numerous World Tree Saplings to mitigate the damage.

The World Tree not only curbed the Light Disaster’s effects but even improved the ecological environments of planes, allowing various life forms to thrive in harmony. Over time, it would not only recover the losses but also lead to greater yields and reproduction.

This was beneficial for the Little Saplings too, granting them the chance to spread their branches across multiple planes. Without the Great Ruler’s intervention, superorganisms like the World Tree would likely be chopped down before they fully grew in the Master Plane.

The Great Ruler had only approved this distribution because of the mistaken belief that these Saplings belonged to the Lord of Life.

But with Little Saplings around, how could there still be grain shortages? Negris wondered aloud, "The main planes under the Great Ruler’s jurisdiction are surely fine. But aren’t there numerous smaller planes across the Void? Many with just tens of thousands, or even less than 10,000 inhabitants? Those places have turned into literal hellscapes—they’ve nearly eaten all edible food available."

Negris hesitated and questioned, "But those small planes don’t grow grain, right? Take the Giant Crystal Plane, for example—where could you plant anything there? Don’t they all import grain? If the Master Planes aren’t producing less, why can’t they keep buying it?"

Anthony’s expression grew solemn as he shook his head. "They can’t buy it anymore. Under such circumstances, the Master Planes will always tighten grain exports. That’s precisely why I arranged for Roland to sell grain everywhere. I didn’t expect to draw attention. It seems the grain shortage is severe enough to entice even god-level mercenary groups."

"It’s not necessarily god-level mercenaries pulling the strings," Silver Coin chimed in. "But anyone with the means to hire Heisuo isn’t a small-time player. What do we do now?"

Negris scratched his head. "This feels a bit off. Hearing you guys talk about god-level mercenaries makes them sound so formidable. But just now, weren’t they driven into such a pathetic retreat? At this level of competency, they’re only good for capturing wild Lords of Mourning at best."

Anthony rolled his eyes. "Why don’t we subtract the big boss from the equation and count only ourselves? Fine. Now we’re facing a god-level mercenary group and whoever’s backing them. With the big boss too busy to act, you come up with a plan."

Negris shrank back, flashing an awkward grin. "Then what’s your plan?"

Anthony spread his hands. "The Great Ruler wants us to spread the faith. When’s the easiest time to spread faith? During a major crisis. And isn’t that now? Truly, fate’s arrangement."

"Damn it! What fate’s arrangement? Are you fate? It’s all your doing!" Negris snapped, fuming.