Chapter 85

"Little friend, are you not interested in women? Or do you prefer gold, silver, and treasures like that?"

"It's just a servant girl; if she dies, she dies."

"The 'beauty trap' (a honey‑pot scheme) failed, so choosing to try bribery counts as the last gentle measure before resorting to force."

"Gold, silver, and treasures—heh, how much can you produce?"

"Bai Ran: I want to see how much money you, a noble lord, can come up with."

"Fifty—oh no, how about five million gold soul coins?"

"Mai Ke Hao Wei Er tentatively opened his mouth to speak."

"Five million gold soul coins—that's more than two years' worth of pay for the 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers of the border legion."

"Bai Ran shook his head."

"Too little? How about eight million?"

"Seeing this little friend start to haggle, Mai Ke Hao Wei Er couldn't help feeling delighted."

"Being dissatisfied with this price almost means the matter is still negotiable."

"What Mai Ke Hao Wei Er worried about was that the youth would continue to act with righteous indignation and then denounce his corrupt behavior."

"Only such an unyielding attitude would make things even more difficult to handle."

"Eight million?"

"Bai Ran recalled that even the total wealth of Uncle Feng, a Soul Douluo, wouldn't come close to that amount if you added up everything he owned. (Never mind Ning Rongrong—she's a little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Glass Sect; she could easily produce ten million gold soul coins.) 'Ah, little friend, ten million gold soul coins is the most I can come up with. If you want more, I can't do anything about it.'"

"If you want more, I can't do anything about it."

"Ten million gold soul coins? Frankly, that would be enough resources for a Title Douluo to advance from rank 91 to above rank 95."

"(Of course, besides resources you also need talent; otherwise, take Du Gu Bo at the start when he was poisoned—even giving him ten million, let alone twenty million gold soul coins, wouldn't help.)"

'"Hehe, interesting, you're just a petty Soul Saint, a high‑ranking officer and deputy commander of the border legion, yet you can actually produce ten million gold soul coins—I see you're already courting death!"'

"It's because of parasites like you in the empire that the national strength keeps dwindling, reducing it to this weak and feeble state."

'"Little friend, from what you're saying, it sounds like you don't want to negotiate anymore."'

"Mai Ke Hao Wei Er finished speaking, and he also entered the martial soul avatar state."

'"Mai Ke Hao Wei Er, martial soul Azure Heaven Eagle, seventy‑fifth rank Agility Attack System Battle Soul Saint."'

"It's also rather strange that in the Douluo Continent, whether in the Douluo Tournament or a life‑and‑death battle, when martial souls are manifested, soul masters always tell their opponents their martial soul and soul power rank, supposedly out of respect for the enemy."

"But Bai Ran won't bother with you."

"Standing there dumbfounded, he simply tells you his martial soul."

"Moreover, an Agility Attack System Soul Saint with an eagle‑type martial soul, once he unleashes his martial soul true form and flies into the sky, Bai Ran can hardly do anything against him."

"So, when Mai Ke Hao Wei Er had just finished stating his martial soul and its associated soul power rank,"

"Bai Ran had already opened the two great domains of his martial soul, then applied various buffs to himself, took a step forward, flashed to Mai Ke Hao Wei Er's face, and threw a punch straight at his visage."

McHowell: Young man, lacking martial virtue……

This punch, Bai Ran pulled back most of his strength; after all, if he blew the guy up with one punch, that would be far too easy on this noble lord.

……

After subduing McHowell, Bai Ran began searching the manor.

Especially McHowell's room, where he could produce ten million gold soul coins for bribes—it's hard to imagine what miserable lives the soldiers of the Southern Legion endure day to day.

The upper class eats till their mouths overflow with oil, the middle class barely gets enough, and the lower class eats whatever they can get. Hard to bear.

"There really is a secret chamber."

After smashing the floor of the room, Bai Ran also successfully found the noble lord's secret chamber (a small vault); on a stone table inside lay three storage soul tools.

Storage soul tools in Douluo are extremely rare; I didn't expect a marquis to possess three, though of course they could have been passed down from his ancestors.

Since the original owner had placed no seals on these storage soul tools, Bai Ran didn't need to worry that violently breaking them would shatter the internal space, causing the stored items to vanish into spatial turbulence.

The first storage soul tool was filled with gold soul coins; Bai Ran roughly estimated it contained about seventeen million gold soul coins.

The second storage soul tool was packed with various precious medicinal herbs, the most valuable being a thousand-year-old dragon blood ginseng; even just boiling its roots in water can pull a heavily wounded, near-death soul master back from the gates of death and then sustain his life.

However precious these herbs are, they still fall far short of true immortal herbs.

The last soul tool—eh? Why is this one sealed?

Moreover, this soul power fluctuation is extremely strange and crafty! Strange—could it be that McHowell prepared this soul tool to present as a tribute to his superiors? "Help me, Human Emperor Banner."

Although Bai Ran's spiritual power is insufficient to forcefully break this extremely crafty soul power seal,

but his inability doesn't mean the Human Emperor Banner can't do it.

Place that final storage soul tool before the 'big brother' and let him instantly refine away the soul power seal on it.

Soon, under the Human Emperor Banner's powerful suction,

the originally faintly glowing soul power seal immediately dimmed.

With a 'crack,' it shattered completely.

Bai Ran hurriedly probed his soul power into this storage soul tool to see what was hidden inside.

"Huh? This, this is!"

Bai Ran was somewhat uncertain,

and took another look.

"Ah! A ten-thousand-year soul bone, and moreover a left arm bone dating back about twenty thousand years."

Because he hadn't properly studied the relevant knowledge, Bai Ran didn't know exactly which soul beast this soul bone came from.

"Wait, there's also a letter here."

Bai Ran first took out the letter placed beside the soul bone.

To the Platinum Bishop Salas of the Martial Soul Holy Hall……

In the letter, Bai Ran also learned that originally this General McHugh felt that war might break out soon, so he hoped to exchange this twenty‑thousand‑year soul bone for a black‑robed bishop position in the Spirit Hall, thereby enabling him to be smoothly transferred away from the front line.

As for why not bribe the senior officials of the Military Department?

Perhaps it's because McHugh feels that he has been too harsh in deducting military pay over the past few years, completely disappointing the Imperial Marshal; even if he were to offer this ten‑thousand‑year soul bone to the Marshal, the other side would definitely continue to keep him stationed at the border.

Moreover, once war breaks out, it is very likely that he will be forced to the front lines.

On the contrary, bribing the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall would be far simpler; moreover, if the two great empires were to go to war, the Spirit Hall would be a target both empires would seek to win over.

The Military Department would not dare to deny face to the Spirit Hall's Platinum Bishop just for this "worm" of his.

As for noble status?

Eh, never mind that; having made so much money, one must have a life to spend it.

……

(End of chapter)