Chapter 174: Great Hammer Arena

"Mercenary corps?"

Lei En doesn't know much about mercenary corps, so he is somewhat doubtful, "Can their strength match that of Mo Du's nobles?"

The seven noble families of Mo Du each cultivate private forces within their domains, even developing unique superhuman occupational branches; not only are they powerful, but their numbers are far beyond what ordinary mercenary corps can compare to.

Even with such powerful mercenary corps, the pay is frighteningly high, possibly beyond one's means.

"Lord, Mo Du has several large mercenary corps with very strong capabilities; having them guard the castle and maintain order and tax collection within the domain will certainly be fine."

Fabian saw Lei En's concern about the pay and continued, "The treasury has a sum of tax revenue collected not long ago that hasn't been dispatched yet, totaling over thirty thousand gold, enough to hire a large mercenary corps for more than three months."

"It's that cheap," Lei En said, a bit surprised.

In the ledger Fabian just submitted, the tax data from the past few years under the Earl of Glamorgan's jurisdiction were compiled.

Nearly two million gold per year on average!

Of course, this money cannot all go into the lord's pocket; a share must be handed over to the respective Title: Duke, and the Empire also takes a portion—those two are the bulk, leaving less than forty percent.

That forty percent is the lord's actual income, used to maintain the castle, hire servants, support a large number of subordinates, cover daily expenses, and so on.

The biggest expense among them is the formation of a private army.

The violent groups in this world are entirely composed of superhumans. Even the weakest first‑grade superhumans receive salaries dozens or even thousands of times that of ordinary people, plus their weapons and gear, training grounds, cultivation resources, mounts, allowances, daily consumables…

It's literally a bottomless pit!

Previous Earl of Glamorgan stewards were not lords, lacking both authority and incentive to build private armies; they saved wherever possible, and castle guards were recruited on a semi‑hired basis, hardly constituting an army.

The steward funneled the collected taxes straight into the pockets of Mo Du's nobles.

The exact distribution is known only to the few Mo Du noble families themselves.

Lei En estimates that once he fully controls the domain, he'll have at least five hundred thousand gold in annual revenue; if thirty thousand gold can hire a large mercenary corps for a few months, it would be an extremely profitable deal.

As for the mercenary corps' loyalty and whether they could be bought, the Soul Eye watches them covertly at all times, so he need not worry too much.

Lei En thought for a moment, then nodded: "The plan is feasible."

Fabian was very pleased that his first proposal had been adopted by the lord, and said eagerly, "Lord, I have some contacts in this area; allow me to act in your name to reach out externally and spread a bit of rumor. The result should appear by tomorrow noon."

Someone else might suspect Fabian's motives.

But Lei En could tell that the wind spirit had no ulterior motives, and immediately agreed.

Having received approval, Fabian hurried away.

Lei En made a round of inspection in the castle, ordered the documents and ledgers left by the former steward to be moved into his study, and began reading by lamplight through the night.

As a lord, one must know one's domain inside out.

While flipping through the records, Lei En copied everything—resident population, power zones, land, buildings and owners, shops, companies, streets, past tax data, and so on—into his phone.

With the aid of his personal library, his reading efficiency improved dramatically; by late night, Lei En had a fairly deep understanding of his domain.

Moreover, he created a spreadsheet on his phone, which looked more intuitive.

As night faded, the sky brightened without his noticing.

Lei En set down the final document; he hadn't slept all night yet felt no fatigue, still full of vigor.

He stepped out of the spacious, luxurious study, stood on the balcony, faced the rising sun, inhaled deeply, and stretched his muscles and bones.

From the balcony he could overlook most of the castle and the area below the hill.

Several silver‑armored knights stood like statues at various posts and on the walls, never relaxing their vigilance the whole night.

That was Pan Xier and Mengdeba's arrangement, dividing the limited manpower into two shifts for rotating duty.

"Twenty silver‑armored knights are still too few."

Lei En shook his head; the Azure Water High Castle is several times larger than a typical castle, and with the hill and the walls at its foot, even two hundred guards couldn't cover both defense and patrol.

A castle this massive is like a sieve; enemies could slip in too easily.

He hadn't slept last night, actually keeping watch for any enemy that might infiltrate; unexpectedly, the night passed smoothly.

From the high point, his gaze swept over most of the castle, yet he found no sign of enemies.

"Mo Du's nobles are more cautious than I thought," Lei En said softly.

Aoxiliya's voice sounded beside him: "They're not fools; without first figuring out the details of your weapon, they won't send anyone to die in front of you."

A smile appeared on Lei En's face; this was exactly the result he wanted.

A heavy machine gun isn't that terrifying in a Legend Grade warrior's battle, but beneath legend it is definitely a killing weapon; with one gun, one can slaughter enemies by the hundredfold!

Cultivating the armed forces of each Mo Du noble family is costly and consumes endless wealth; of course they don't want to be lost beneath a gun barrel.

Lei En can foresee that the other side would never dare a large‑scale assault on the castle, nor even step into the domain.

His peripheral glance swept over Aoxiliya.

The dragon mage had been invisible and following all night; while he was discussing with Fabian, she was in the study, and Fabian didn't notice her at all.

Many times Aoxiliya wanted to speak up and ask, but held back.

Now, she could no longer restrain her curiosity.

"Your Excellency the Earl, did you invent that soul gun?"

"Of course." Lei En shrugged calmly, "You saw it with your own eyes; I fabricated it in the workshop."

"I don't understand," Aoxiliya frowned.

The nature of an iridescent dragon gives her a strong thirst for unknown knowledge.

She thought it over the whole night but still couldn't grasp the principle; clearly there was no magical application, no soul energy fluctuation when firing, yet it possessed such terrifying power.

That kind of rapid gunfire was unprecedented.

Even now it seems to echo in her ears; recalling it makes her heart tremble.

If she hadn't seen with her own eyes that Lei En made it and called it a Legend Grade weapon, she wouldn't have doubted it.

"Its name is the Lambo Gun, that's my secret." Lei En said seriously; of course he wouldn't kindly explain the machine gun's principle to her.

"Lambo Gun…" Aoxiliya nodded, didn't press further, though her face remained conflicted.

Lei En returned to the study, began today's meditation, and simultaneously restored all the spell uses he had spent from the rune book.

At noon, Fa Bian returned to the castle and reported the results to Lei En.

After lunch, Lei En got into the car and drove out of the castle.

He did not make a fanfare of departure, only taking Fa Bian and the hidden Ao Xi Li Ya, leaving Pan Xi Er behind to guard the castle.

A moment later, a massive building appeared before him.

"Great Hammer Arena!"

Lei En stepped out of the car, gazing at the structure—a Roman‑style coliseum built entirely of stone, oval in shape, with columns and arches stacked tier upon tier, the highest reaching over thirty meters, grand and impressive.

Outside the arena, the street bustled like a market, rows of stalls hawking all kinds of goods, food, and fine wine; people crowded together, chatting loudly, a lively scene.

Human super‑beings were everywhere, mixed with countless non‑human races.

Lei En merely swept his gaze and saw several elves—wood elves, wind elves, sea elves, and even two high‑ranking elves.

Other races also filled the surroundings.

Besides the common dwarf elves, there were stout orcs from various clans bearing different tattoos; towering, hulking barbarians; trolls with a pair of tusks; bull‑headed minotaurs that looked like moving hills; short, nimble halflings and gnomes, and so on.

Lei En's eyes were dazzled; some races he could not immediately identify.

The feeling was like being in a zoo or a race exhibition hall.

He finally deeply realized that Ai Lun E Si was a complex world, with innumerable intelligent races beyond humans.

From the arena came waves of enthusiastic cheers, indicating a performance was underway.

"Sir, please follow me," Fa Bian whispered.

"Hmm, you lead."

Lei En followed Fa Bian, threading through the crowded crowd to the nobles' side entrance of the arena, up a hidden passage to the top tier, and entered a luxurious private box.

The box faced the arena floor; an entire wall had been opened, allowing a bird's‑eye view of the whole arena.

As soon as they entered, a deafening roar slammed at them.

"Xi Ka Liu Si!"

"Xi Ka Liu Si!"

"Xi Ka Liu Si…"

In the center of the arena lay a long, massive pit ten meters deep, surrounded by concentric rows of seats that rose higher toward the back, capable of holding twenty‑to‑thirty thousand people; at this moment most of the arena was occupied, a sea of heads.

The crowd stood, shouting at the arena with hoarse, strained voices.

In the Soul Eye, the spectators' souls glowed red, each brimming with heightened emotion, in a highly excited state.

Lei En looked toward the arena's middle, where a tall figure bared his upper body stood.

He stood over two meters twenty centimeters tall, clearly not human; his whole body was muscular, limbs thick, bearing several steel‑forged javelins on his back, wielding a heavy greatsword, with short black hair, features chiseled like marble, sharp‑angled, eyes deep, standing there to receive the crowd's cheers.

At his feet lay several corpses stretched out, blood forming pools on the arena floor.

Lei En glanced once, curiosity stirring: "Is this Xi Ka Liu Si a barbarian or a half‑giant?"

Ka wen is so tragic, there's even an update tonight!

(End of chapter)