Star Gate

Chapter 722: Fool (III)

How was this even possible? Huang Yu was well and truly bamboozled. He was seized by an urge to curse loudly! So the soldiers of the ancient civilization were this black-hearted? This was clear nepotism!

If the rest of them wanted to be a troop leader, they had to undertake all sorts of missions and wish for plenty of luck. It was very hard to become a troop leader.

But Li Hao?

He’d gotten the title as soon as he entered Battle Heaven. And now he commanded a reinforcement troop. What was this nonsense? Huang Yu was very jealous! So what of the eight families?!

As irritated as he was, he didn’t voice it. Instead, his thoughts ran rapidly—so this meant that Silver Moon’s army could be further outfitted!

“Will do.” He nodded. “I’ll send over my best and brightest. One thousand, was it? What specific requirements do you have?”

“They need to know how to read and be healthy. It doesn’t matter if they’re martial masters or not. Also, don’t send me troublemakers, they need to take orders! And they need to be smart, I don’t want dumb people...”

Huang Yu laughed and immediately nodded again. “I can do that!” This was a good development. “Why don’t you take a nominal position in the provincial army...”

“Forget it!” Li Hao shook his head. “It won’t come with a salary. I’m already the acting head of the Silver Moon Guards, a deputy director at the central Night Watchers, a vice minister at the Ministry of the Inspectorate, a deputy director at the Silver Moon Night Watchers, the Skystar Governor General, Skystar Marquis, and Skystar vice commander. But none of that’s paying me a salary!”

The greater the title, the lower the salary. Everyone thought that another department was paying him, so no one paid him. It was also a highly confusing mess! He was involved in so many institutions, but no one seemed ready to send him any pay. It’d gotten to the point where he was famous, but didn’t have anything to show for his fame. The hell were any of these titles good for?!

Huang Yu burst out laughing. The kid was concerned about salary at a time like this? He was... certainly unique!

“That works too... when do you go back to Skystar City?”

“As soon as I’m done here.”

“Then very well, I’ll make the arrangements now and have them be on their way. They should arrive in about a week.” The commander paused. “You can trade for more armor?”

“Yes.”

“I had no idea this was possible,” Huang Yu hesitated. “How about... Black Armaturas?”

“The ancient Skystar army? That works too!”

“When Silver Moon warred with the Skystar Dynasty, we killed many Black Armaturas,” Huang Yu lowered his voice. “That was a very long time ago and we sealed away some of the armor that we collected. We’ve been unable to use it, so it’s not with me. I’ll look around for you.

“The royal family sent in more than one hundred thousand Black Armaturas and the old guard of martial masters killed several thousand. There has to be at least one thousand sets of armor...”

“When was this?” Li Hao sucked in a sharp breath.

“Two hundred years ago!” Huang Yu laughed. “Some Silver Moon martial masters might have the armor in their private collections. If your teacher and the others have an unbroken legacy, then they might have some! The dynasty was built two hundred years ago and Silver Moon was the last one to surrender. We fought the Black Armaturas for many months and suffered countless casualties, but also collected many sets of armor.

“When the dynasty later wanted to recollect the armor, we reported that martial masters had taken it all. Hence, Silver Moon martial masters and the dynasty have been at odds with each other for a very long time. They’ve continuously wished to reclaim their property, but they never succeeded.”

Li Hao grinned. So martial masters had killed many Black Armaturas two hundred years ago!

Huang Yu ended his recounting and started thinking elsewhere. “Will armor from any troop designation do?”

“Yep, any!”

“Then give me a few days!” Huang Yu grew excited. “I need to collect them. Right, did Battle Heaven say anything about you becoming a supernatural?”

“They did.”

“What?”

“Work hard!”

“......” That was it? Huang Yu was baffled. That was it? Nothing else?

It was extremely odd as Silver Moon focused on martial masters. Martial masters held down in the fort in each of the cities and supernaturals were just supplemental force. Hadn’t any of those martial masters said anything?

One had to know that it wasn’t empty speculation. The ancient cities of Silver Moon all despised the supernatural. Take Battle Heaven, for example. Supernaturals instantly came under attack when they entered!

It wasn’t just one place like this, but almost all places. That was why everyone thought that the ancient civilization hated the supernatural! Was Li Hao an exception because of the eight families?

Though questions swirled in Huang Yu’s heart, he didn’t ask them. Li Hao didn’t say anything else either. He was ready to visit the province’s administration after this. Ole Hou had something to give to the director general.

......

After bidding farewell to Huang Yu, Li Hao swiftly traveled to the administrative government building. He saw Director General Zhao and Deputy Zhou half an hour later. The director general looked at Li Hao. There were only the three of them in the small office. What an oddity it was that Deputy Zhou shared an office with his superior!

“Director General Zhao, Director Hou wanted me to give this to you!” Li Hao took out a storage ring; he hadn’t looked into its contents.

The director general assessed it briefly and inclined his head, smiling at the young man. “You’re much more mature than before. Hou Xiaochen left some black ink in here that would’ve been spat at your face if anyone else other than me took a peek. It looks like you really didn’t look into the ring.”

“......” Li Hao was at quite a loss for words! How much time does Ole Hou have on his hands?? Black ink? Do I look like someone like that? I have money and resources. I wouldn’t be interested in a mountain of gold or silver even if you put it in my hands!

The director general laughed and changed the topic. “You did well in Skystar City. It’s good to take them down a few notches. We’re old and we’re lacking some impulse and hot bloodedness. But in this era, or any era really, impulsiveness can be found in any of the youth!

“Youngsters are marked by cockiness!” He rather approved of Li Hao’s actions since when should one act with wild abandon, if not when they were young?

"Thank you for your understanding, director general!”

“It’s nothing, and this was just a minor affair.” Director General Zhao was noncommittal. “So I know about your goals for this trip. Hou Xiaochen mentioned that you wish to find your footing in Skystar City. That is up to you. Silver Moon cannot offer you much support, but one thing we can promise, and it is that an Arcanus will come to support you the next time there is a major battle! It won’t just be Huang Yu, but the caveat is that you need to give us enough time beforehand!”

“How many Arcanus do Silver Moon have?” Li Hao couldn’t help but ask.

“Not that many,” the director general snorted with laughter. “Do you think they’re found by the side of the road? Not to mention, Silver Moon doesn’t have many supernaturals. The Arcanus I speak of are Arcanus-esque. They may not be actual Arcanus!

“I can also give you a list of friends in Skystar City. You can go to them if you have need. They may not be able to help you that much, but they’ll more or less be of some effect. I also hope you don’t need up killing them in a random killing spree...”

Secret agents?

Li Hao understood. “I don’t randomly kill people, I only kill bad people!”

“It’s all the same,” chuckled Director General Zhao. “There is no difference between good or bad in this age. It’s just as well if the entire team is full of villains. Also, remember that if there is a second awakening of the supernatural... you must hurry back to Silver Moon as soon as possible. You are dead without a doubt otherwise! Skystar City is safe enough now, but tremendous changes will occur as soon as the supernatural revitalizes again!”

“I understand, thank you director general!” Li Hao nodded.

“You’re welcome!” Director General Zhao concluded his brief mention of a few points.

“I do need a few things,” Li Hao quickly added. “A large amount of seeds and preparations for accepting refugees. I plan on opening the waterway over the sea or breaking through the Near River blockade. It’s almost officially winter and there are too many refugees from the unrest in the north...”

Director General Zhao’s expression shifted and he frowned slightly. Deputy Zhou also jerked his head up at Li Hao. The two old men looked at each other with the beginning of a splitting headache. This was no small matter! It would plunge Silver Moon into disaster!

“There is no need to force the passageway open,” responded the director general. “If you tell Near River that we are willing to accept refugees... They will immediately deliver the people to us, whether you offer to house one million or three million people! There are so many refugees that they will instantly drag us down, do you understand?”

“I can supply food.” Li Hao nodded. “But I need time. I can feed thirty to fifty million, much less three to five. One good thing about more refugees is that they can work in our infrastructure, like building a transportation system that crosses Silver Moon. This has been the case since the ancient times. If they have enough food and clothes, their needs won’t be too much in the short run!”

“You’ll find that there is no food to be purchased now, no matter how much money you have!” Director General Zhao exhaled heavily.

“That’s fine, I’m having a plant spirit cultivate it...”

“Where does such an idiotic plant spirit exist?” blinked the director general. “How is that possible? They’re having trouble recovering their strength. Creating food like that will expend too much energy. None of them will offer that service unless they’re an idiot!”

“......” Li Hao paused, stunned. Was cultivating those seeds... the mark of an idiot? So the little tree was an idiot?

Director General Zhao was heavily surprised, as was Deputy Zhou’s eyes wide open. Did you meet an idiot plant spirit somewhere? Which one of them would do something like that these days?? Why do you think none of the major factions do so? The key thing is, no plant spirit is willing to offer a service like that!

It’s more of a loss than a gain and a waste of energy. With this amount of time and energy, they’d rather improve themselves!

Li Hao’s jaw dropped and he laughed drily after a while. So the little tree was an idiot! It hadn’t had any opinions otherwise!

Meanwhile, the two old men were rapidly wondering about the existence of this foolish plant spirit. Hot damn, we should’ve gone digging around for one like that! Where did the boy find his? The two were suddenly gripped by an impulsive fit. How about we dig around too? Maybe we can find some more silly plant spirits!