Chapter 328: Titch, Who Deeply Learned the Demon King's True Teachings

"Finally my turn to appear..."

At the port of the Shengcheng, the crowd welcoming Prince Kelin had long since dispersed, leaving only hurried pedestrians and leisurely walking seagulls in the busy port.

Baron Titch Kosia, standing on the wharf, rubbed his hands, ready to do a big job, but waited for a long time without waiting for his poor relatives to pick him up.

These guys probably forgot him!

Not only that—

It wasn't just the poor relatives who disappeared, even the creditors seemed to think he was already dead, and there were no newspaper reporters.

The eyes of the Shengcheng seemed to be focused on Prince Kelin alone.

"These snobs..."

Titch, whose expression was a bit unable to hold on, couldn't help but mutter.

Just when he was ambitious but didn't know where to start, a strange voice suddenly sounded from not far away.

"Sir! Please wait!"

Titch turned around, only to see a young man in his twenties running to him panting, his hands supporting his knees.

He was wearing a set of obviously faded noble dress, his expression was slightly haggard, but his eyes were flashing with eagerness and expectation. 【

Tichi looked him up and down and blurted out.

"Who are you?"

"Langdun Seglei! The heir to the... baronet title!"

The young man said, breathless, then straightened up, took off his hat in excitement, and bowed his head again. "I just saw you disembark from the Purple Moon; may I ask if you know Prince Kelin?"

Tichi stared blankly at this reckless young noble, feeling that he looked familiar but unable to recall who he was.

It took a long while for him to suddenly realize that this guy was his younger self—that naive youth who was unwilling to live under the shadow of his ancestors, wanted to carve out a career with his own hands, sold off his family property at the instigation of fair-weather friends to scrape together a huge sum of money, and ended up getting his head smashed in on his first voyage.

And in the end, he discovered that everything was a meticulously set trap, just to make him owe a mountain of debt and roll out of the land where he once lived.

"Of course... I know him!"

The desire for progress ultimately overcame his compassion. Tichi cleared his throat heavily and nodded, pretending to be profound.

"Rather than saying I know him, it's better to say that the lord is my benefactor... He has given me great help in every aspect, in every aspect."

Hearing this, Langdun's eyes lit up immediately, and he stepped forward eagerly: "That's great! Sir, can you tell me more about him? And about his territory... that Gana Continent. I heard that gold is everywhere there and everyone can realize their dreams. Is this true?"

Tichi revealed an unfathomable smile. He reached out and patted Langdun on the shoulder, his tone sounding like advice, yet carrying a hint of playing hard to get: "Gana Continent? Gold everywhere? Perhaps, I did indeed realize my dreams. But young man, it's not as wonderful as you think."

Langdun widened his eyes.

"Why?!"

Tichi squinted his eyes at the depths of the sea, his tone carrying a hint of nostalgia.

"Devils, pirates, thieves... it's full of things that eat people without spitting out the bones. The dirtiest scammers you've seen here are at most adventurers, but there... hehe, the ones cheating you might not even be human; they might even be devils in human skin. Take my advice, go get a university degree, and forget about the glory that has nothing to do with you anymore. The life in front of you is what you should cherish most."

He was moved after all; the latter half of the sentence was from the heart.

Even the first half was a little bit.

However, just as he expected, as soon as he said these words, the young man was not afraid at all; instead, he became even more excited.

"Sir! Please tell me! I know the land outside the Shengcheng is not blessed by divine grace and is full of death and barbarism... but I am not one of those students in ivory towers. I am much smarter than them; I can handle it!"

"Is that so? Hehe." Tichi sneered and continued in an old-fashioned tone, "I was just like you back then, stepping onto the land of Gana Continent with dreams, but I didn't expect a storm to sweep me to the desolate northern coast. The sea not only destroyed my dreams but also took away all the assets I had exchanged by selling my family property and incurring a mountain of debt..."

Tichi's voice gradually rose, deliberately letting his voice drift across the empty pier. The cadence of his voice seemed to carry a magical power, quickly attracting some passersby who were originally indifferent to stop and watch.

People whispered, and soon learned from a few words that this man with a face full of stories had come off the Purple Moon.

And—

It was said that his relationship with Prince Kelin was not simple.

"There were no traces of civilization there, only rocks and beasts everywhere. I relied on my own hands and will to open up a colony on the desolate coast that belonged only to me, and built a home that belonged only to me from scratch."

"Later on, I built a farm, harvested a batch of corn and sugarcane, built a mill with the remaining canvas, hemp rope, and wooden boards, and earned my first pot of gold in my life from trading with the local lizardman tribe..."

When his emotions reached their peak, Tichi paused and clenched his fists.

"This was the first time my pockets were full of gold coins, and they weren't taken from my father's pocket; I relied on myself as a man!"

Applause erupted all around.

Tichi nodded slightly to them in acknowledgment, then continued his storytelling, reciting the prologue of "The Travels of Kexiya."

The crowd of onlookers gradually grew.

At first, everyone was just watching the fun and didn't take what he said seriously, but when they heard Tichi's vivid description, they couldn't help but believe it.

After all, those who didn't believe wouldn't have listened from the start and would have left after the excitement. And those who stayed were naturally suited to be his followers.

Including Langdun, the gazes of some people gradually became eager, their eyes began to shine, and a look of longing appeared on their faces.

"Then how did you meet Prince Kelin later?" someone in the crowd asked, unable to hold back.

Tichi paused for a moment, sold the suspense, and then said in a slightly mysterious tone: "This is the wonder of fate. I learned from the lizardmen that I was not the only human on the Gana Continent. There was a place called Deadwood Port on the northern coast, where a human prince lived, and his family had lived there for five hundred years... The northern coast was so vast that even though we lived on the same coastline, we had never met."

"I sold all my accumulations again, took the gold the lizardmen gave me, and crossed mountains and ridges to defect to that lord. He really is a good man—benevolent, kind, generous, and righteous... and he values tradition and honor, and is pious to Saint Xisi. When he discovered that I was the same, he immediately promoted me, and I indeed did not live up to his expectations, managing the territory he bestowed upon me quite well."

"I thought I would spend my life peacefully and prosperously like this, but I didn't expect Saint Xisi to favor me and my friends in Deadwood Port once again. A sudden storm destroyed the barrier blocking the Gana Continent, and the Empire's fleet appeared in our field of vision, so we were able to return to our homeland with honor and wealth... Thanks to General Hamoer Dun, thanks to Prince Kelin, and thanks to the omnipotent Emperor. Without them, there would be no Tichi Kexiya today."

Hearing this, the crowd couldn't help but applaud and cheer, and the atmosphere at the scene was pushed to a climax once again. Langdun Seglei, standing in front of him, had an even more fiery gaze, almost unable to hide his inner excitement and yearning.

With so many people gathered together, it soon attracted the attention of the Imperial guards, but they didn't drive the crowd away; instead, they curiously joined in the fun.

Tichi took off his hat to acknowledge them while saying thank you, feeling extremely proud in his heart... although it was full of difficulties at the beginning, he finally completed the mission the Demon King had given him.

Soon, reporters lingering near the harbor also targeted him one after another, and more people squeezed into the middle of the crowd.

They held quill pens and manuscripts in their hands, their eyes shining, hoping to learn more details about the Gana Continent.

"Sir! I am a reporter for the 'Shengcheng Daily.' Are you interested in accepting our interview?"

"I am an editor for 'Light Weekly'... Your story should be known by more people. If you have any publishing needs, we can serve you!"

"Sir! Please tell me more about your territory!"

Tichi smiled and prepared to respond to their interviews, while the young man named Langdun had already been thrown aside by him.

But just at this moment, a rude and familiar voice suddenly pierced through the noise and squeezed to the front row from the crowd.

"Tichi Kexiya? Heh! You debt-dodging bastard actually dare to come back?"

"I will bury his honor and ashes in the cemetery of the Shengcheng; this was his lifelong wish. Now that there is this condition, I hope his soul can rest in peace on the land he dreamed of day and night, and return to the embrace of Saint Xisi. In addition, I have heard that the Empire's Academy has profound attainments in the field of magic. If there is an opportunity, I would also like to visit and exchange ideas there."

A slightly plump man squeezed through the crowd, stood in front of Tichi with a gloomy face, and continued with ill intent.

"Kexiya, long time no see... I wonder if you still recognize me." A fake smile squeezed out of that face piled with fat, revealing a row of yellow teeth, just like a shark smelling blood.

Hearing that the Kexiya kid had actually returned, his first reaction, having occupied the Kexiya family business, was fear, the second was greed and ruthlessness, and then he rushed to the harbor without stopping, intending to fleece this guy hard.

The crowd quieted down, and pairs of eyes fell on Tichi, including the young man named Langdun from earlier, whose eyes were now filled with a hint of suspicion.

Debt-dodging?

This was a very serious accusation... Could the respected Baron Kexiya actually be a deadbeat?

If it were before, Tichi would probably have grabbed that person by the collar in excitement and argued with him in the most ruthless tone.

But now—

Having experienced the baptism of the Demon King, he had matured far more than his former self. He wasn't even angry; he just calmly looked at that face, then a playful smile curled up at the corner of his mouth, and he joked.

"Isn't this Hoen? How could I have forgotten you? But come to think of it, ten years have passed, and you haven't changed at all, so much so that I almost didn't recognize you."

Hoen's smile immediately froze, and a hint of viciousness appeared in his eyes: "Cut the crap, Kexiya! You still owe me 100 gold coins from back then; it's time to pay up, right?"

A whisper spread through the quiet crowd, exchanging suspicious glances. Some shook their heads and left in disappointment.

However, compared to those who left in disappointment, more people looking for excitement joined in, including dock workers moving cargo in the warehouse area.

They were not interested in stories of colonial wealth, but were full of interest in the family gossip and grudges of the nobles.

Tichi looked at Hoen's ugly face indifferently, as if he didn't care at all.

Of course, he remembered this person—it was this so-called "old friend" who claimed to take him on a big deal back then, but colluded with another noble who had his eyes on the Kexiya family business to set a trap for him in secret, watching as he lost all the family real estate step by step, and finally had to pay with his title. However, Tichi couldn't say he hated this guy that much.

During those ten years as a pirate, he had experienced too many things and clearly understood that this fat vulture was actually an eagle standing on the shoulders of pirates, just a white glove managing business for the nobles.

And the reason this guy rushed over was actually because of fear... he was worried about his revenge, so he had to create trouble for himself in the most shameless way.

Whether it was forging debts or framing him.

However—

This guy's appearance happened to play right into his hands.

"Alright, Mr. Hoen, it's hard for you to still remember me, an old friend... I stopped remembering trivial matters like 100 gold coins a long time ago; I'll just assume it's true."

Tichi smiled slightly, didn't ask for any IOU, took out a heavy money bag from his arms in a leisurely manner, weighed it gently in his hand, making a pleasant metallic sound, and then with a flick of his hand, threw the money bag onto his chest.

"I know... how many times have you said it." Eldest son Lucien complained in a low voice, hiding his sleeves to the side, so as not to be rubbed by the fishy smell of the port.

"Also, from today on, we are square."

All the onlookers were stunned. They looked at Tichi in disbelief, especially at the money bag on Hoen's chest.

That was two hundred gold coins!

For most dock workers with an income of less than 4,000 copper coins, 2 million copper coins was already an astronomical figure!

Hoen was stunned at first, his face turning pale with shock, and he subconsciously grabbed the money bag, not even bothering to open it and count carefully.

Feeling the heavy weight, not only was there no joy in his heart, but he began to tremble slightly.

This is...

What's going on?!

How did this guy, who was so down on his luck that "even Saint Xisi, who shines on the world, abandoned him," suddenly become so rich?!

At this moment, low discussions reached his ears.

"My god, he can just casually take out two hundred gold coins?!"

"Are you new here? Haven't you heard? He is the Baron of Deadwood Port..."

"I heard he is now following Prince Kelin..."

"Can't be wrong... He came off the Purple Moon. I saw him talking and laughing with Prince Kelin on the deck with my own eyes, really!"

Kelin?!

Baron of Deadwood Port?!

Hoen looked up abruptly, the expression on his face changed instantly, and he could no longer suppress the fear and hesitation growing in his heart.

Not to mention Kaiderson hadn't seen it, Titch hadn't seen it either.

And his own fleet was planning to develop business on the Gana Continent because it was said that corn could be bought there for thirty silver coins a ton...

"Misunderstanding... it's a misunderstanding!"

The expression on Hoen's face changed rapidly, like a low-quality theater mask. Because his facial muscles couldn't keep up with the rhythm of his left and right brain, one eye was smiling while the other was crying—obviously, they hadn't agreed on a plan yet.

"Kexiya, my good brother, how could I possibly ask you for debt? This... this was just a joke? By the way, I just remembered, I actually remembered wrong; your debt was paid off long ago! I, I was just afraid you had forgotten me!"

If these two hundred gold coins were Tichi's entire fortune, he would of course accept it without hesitation and mock this guy for being an idiot. Even if it went to court, he could have his lawyer make an IOU and then humiliate this guy who couldn't even afford lawyer fees.

However, it was obvious that this was not Baron Kexiya's entire fortune; it was not even a leg hair on the latter.

He could be certain that if he really accepted this money, the other party would have ten thousand legal or illegal ways to play him to death!

The Empire's courts were very realistic. If both sides were powerless, then of course the judge and lawyer had the final say. But if both sides had a noble standing behind them, or if one side was a noble, then it was a battle of wits outside the law.

This lawsuit didn't even need to be fought—

He and his family would be sent to Prince Kelin as a political gift by his master to reconcile before the trial, including the money he cheated Tichi out of back then!

Regardless of whether Baron Kexiya agreed or not, he was dead...

The cold gold coins were as hot as a branding iron, falling from Hoen's hand and hitting the ground with a "clang"!

Also hitting the ground with a "clang" were his worthless knees. This scene shocked even young Langdun, who was a noble but knew nothing about this circle.

What's wrong with this person?

Isn't he the creditor?

How... like a dog.

Hoen wished he were a dog, growing a tail from his butt crack, just to make his fawning look more convincing.