Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1574 - 1135: Heisuo Mercenaries Corps

Chapter 1574: Chapter 1135: Heisuo Mercenaries Corps

"The Black Cord Mercenary Group? What a coincidence?" Negris muttered in disbelief.

"The Black Cord Mercenary Group is involved in this? Bullying the market, monopolizing the supply? That seems unlikely," Anthony mumbled, as everyone turned to look in the direction of the commotion.

Five humans holding wooden clubs came running while shouting, their light, careless steps making it obvious they lacked any martial skill.

"These people are from Black Cord? No way. Do they take in any trash now? Or are they impostors?" Anthony frowned.

Even at its worst, the Black Cord is a god-level mercenary group. They have strict selection standards for their members and wouldn’t just accept anyone, nor would they take on any random jobs. These light-footed, market-bullying thugs absolutely wouldn’t qualify for their recruitment.

Triggered by Anthony’s comment, Negris observed them carefully and remarked, "Actually, it could be possible. The Black Cord’s emblem is a circular crest with a black lightning-shaped whip in the center, but these guys don’t have any emblem on their clothes. Instead, they have a line of text: ’Black Cord Mercenary Group,’ as if afraid people wouldn’t know their name. However, the spacing between ’mercenary’ and ’group’ is overly wide, suggesting their name might actually be ’Black Cord Mercenaries Group’."

"Pfft—" Even after living for thousands of years, this was the first time Anthony encountered something so absurd. You can impersonate like this?

Whether they’re really from the Black Cord or not doesn’t matter. Even if they were, a god-level mercenary group is nothing to Ange and his crew.

Anthony strode forward, slapped each of the five face-first to the ground, and wiped his hands in annoyance, saying, "I need to bring a guard next time. I keep ending up handling these petty things myself—makes my hands filthy."

But that’s all he had to say. When traveling with Ange, he never brought guards anyway. Ange was the real boss; if a fight broke out, they were technically the guards.

Returning to the original spot, Anthony kindly asked, "Ketika Luti, would you be willing to work for us as the Silver Chamber of Commerce’s official sculptor? The monthly pay is two gold coins, including food and lodging, with a carriage escort for travel, and even opportunities for specialized study and training."

Ketika Luti maintained her polite smile, but at the mention of study and training, her expression slightly shifted.

Yet after Anthony finished his offer, she shook her head. "I can’t leave this place. If I leave here, I will die. But Yaya can; she’s skilled at sculpting Phantom Rock too. A great sculptor. Can you take her instead? One gold coin will suffice."

"Die if you leave here? Is there really such a thing?" Anthony’s curiosity piqued, and he glanced at Negris.

Negris shook his head and whispered, "I’ve never heard of such a situation. In cases involving undead or spiritual bodies, they might attach themselves to items from their previous life, but leaving these items doesn’t directly cause death. Usually, they vanish because their spiritual energy is too weak. There’s no way she’s one of those, right?"

As he spoke, Negris suddenly thought of something. "There’s another rare possibility. Some of the Dragon’s Lackeys, who’ve lived in environments saturated by Giant Dragon energy since birth, might weaken upon leaving. But this is extraordinarily rare because areas steeped in dragon power generally do nothing but strengthen the body—and even the kidneys, spleen, muscles, and bones. They tend to adapt well to other environments."

Anthony nodded in understanding. "As expected of the Lord—you could tell she wasn’t human at a glance. Truly peculiar."

Saying this, Anthony found himself in a bit of a dilemma as Ketika Luti couldn’t leave this place, and they couldn’t remain here either.

Ketika Luti was someone Ange recognized as special with merely a glance. Everyone knew Ange’s level—he had the Great Unified Origin of the Seven Forces. For him to stop and make the observation "not human," it had to mean she was extraordinarily unique.

Given her inability to leave this place, it was very likely her connection was with the Ancient God tied to these Phantom Rocks underfoot.

Anthony considered the fact he’d slapped the fake mercenaries earlier. They’d likely retaliate against Ketika Luti. If Kaluti couldn’t leave this location, these people would be better dealt with directly.

His dilemma wasn’t how to handle them; it was the annoyance of having to take care of the matter personally.

While he was still fretting, from the direction of the camp came the five beaten-up individuals, cheeks visibly swollen, now leading three fully armed mercenaries in a fury-filled charge toward them.

Anthony’s eyes brightened with relief, and he smiled, "Ask and ye shall receive. Saves me a trip."

Before Anthony could act, a massive figure lumbered out of the camp, roaring, "Don’t bully my sister!"

Charging like a raging bull, the figure barreled into the opposing team formation, swung both arms left and right, and scattered all eight of them like ragdolls.

Hearing the commotion, Ketika Luti stood up excitedly and poked her head out of the pit, shouting from afar, "Yaya, come back! Your sister is fine; no one’s bullying her."

"Pfft... she’s Yaya?" Anthony and Negris stared at the over-two-meter-tall, incredibly sturdy female giant with sheer disbelief.

"Yes, she’s Yaya. She’s still young and doesn’t know better. If she’s offended anyone, please forgive her. She’s a good girl," Ketika Luti hurriedly explained.

"Young? How old is she?" Negris asked.

"Yaya is eight years old this year," Ketika Luti responded.

"Pfft... THAT’S eight years old?" Negris practically coughed up blood.

"Are you sure you can afford to feed her on just one gold coin a month?" Anthony asked skeptically.

Ketika Luti blushed slightly and replied, "If we’re frugal, it’s just enough."

Yaya thundered back to her sister’s side, shielding her and glaring warily at Anthony’s group. With her booming voice, she asked, "Sister, I’m back. Did they bully you?"

Ketika Luti hurried to reassure her, "No, no. They didn’t bully me. They’re merchants who want to hire me to sculpt Phantom Rock. But I can’t leave this place, so I recommended you instead. Quickly, show them your sculpting skills so they’ll hire you."

Yaya seemed unenthusiastic. "I don’t want to leave my sister. I want to stay here with you. I’m not going anywhere."

Negris couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, "She probably wants her sister dead... If she doesn’t go, her sister will starve, right?"

Anthony couldn’t hold back a grin either. He started to feel reassured, though. With this "eight-year-old" Yaya protecting Ketika Luti, the concern wasn’t about anyone bullying them but rather them bullying others. Those fake "Black Cord Mercenaries" weren’t targeting Ketika Luti anyway—they were after outsiders like Anthony’s group.

With the matter seemingly resolved, Anthony handed over money to purchase the sculpture in Ketika Luti’s hand. As they prepared to depart, Ange floated back sulking.

"What’s wrong? Couldn’t find the meat?" Negris asked.

Ange shook his head. "No."

Then, casting a glance at Ketika Luti, he said, "Use hers, maybe?"

Ange added a questioning tone at the end, clearly unsure.