Volume 3 Takeoff Chapter 333: On the verge of breaking out
Things went even more smoothly than Levi had expected, because on the second day, the news that Bane's followers had decided to attack the town was suddenly everywhere in Silver Town.
He had traded with many merchants here yesterday, updated his subordinates' equipment to a greater or lesser extent, and converted many precious items such as gems into gold coins. He then inquired about some information, so he did not go back for the time being.
But he didn't get any particularly outstanding equipment. After all, the local chosen heroes were not fools and they had already got the good stuff long ago.
There are only two things that he thinks are truly outstanding.
A green-quality campaign treasure - Dragon Eye Ring, with +1 attack and defense each, which is a set with the previous Dragon Eye Ring and Dragon Wing Robe.
Unfortunately, it couldn't be considered a lucky find. For this thing, he had a small competition with many God-chosen heroes and ended up spending more than a hundred gold coins.
Although the attributes it provides are very low, others still want it very much because of the information in the notes.
At the same time, Levi also vaguely realized that there should be someone behind the bidding against him for the chosen heroes, but he didn't care too much, because he really wanted this thing and didn't mind the money.
At worst, the next time we meet him in the wild, we can just kill that guy and his subordinates together.
Anyway, he has already remembered the other person's appearance and name, a dark guard from the evil camp. Even if this didn't happen, it would be very reasonable for him to beat him, right?
Next came a silver dragon fang. After some manufacturing, a level 5 dragon fang soldier appeared behind Alduin.
This is a real dragon tooth soldier made from giant dragon teeth, and its combat effectiveness is better than 99% of the previous dragon tooth soldiers.
In addition to comprehensive improvements in attributes in all aspects, it also inherits some of the characteristics of the silver dragon, including the alignment being locked to lawful good, dark vision, attacks that can cause additional cold damage, etc.
But Levi didn't care too much, because there was even a real dragon warrior nest built in the city of Ostak. Would he still care about this inferior product?
As for those slaves that were openly sold, Levi looked at some of them, but he found that their decorative significance far outweighed their practical use. They actually only looked at their face, figure, and racial rarity, and almost never considered their strength.
All I can say is that the natives may like it very much, but it is not suitable for a God-chosen hero like Levi who pursues combat effectiveness.
Originally, he planned to spend more time today and try to go around more places to see if he could find some suitable targets or something, but he never expected that things would develop so quickly, and the results were immediate.
For a time, people in the town were in panic, and even commercial trade activities were greatly affected.
And this was not just a simple rumor. Soon in the morning, many merchants and caravans rushed into the city, saying that they were robbed by the Bane Church.
Not only did the other party say some obscene words to provoke the Church of Wealth, but he also said very frankly that this might be the first time today, but it would definitely not be the last time.
From today on, as long as there are merchants who dare to approach Silver Town or cooperate with the Church of Wealth, they will dare to rob them.
The atmosphere in the town became increasingly strange.
All along, the reason why Baiyin Town has such a developed business is entirely because the Church of Wealth has the ability to ensure the safety of businessmen's lives and property.
But now the Bane Church is openly robbing them, so why are the merchants still coming here?
But in comparison, the twenty or thirty God-chosen heroes staying in the town were in a small carnival, because when conflicts occurred between the indigenous people, it was their chance to make a fortune.
Especially since the Church of Wealth is wealthy and has never been stingy in this regard.
Levi was naturally in a good mood, but besides being happy, he also felt a little weird, because everything happened too fast, as if there was some special force in the dark that was taking advantage of the situation.
Could it be that the Church of Xirik is behind this?
As the Prince of Lies, his portfolio includes strife, lies, conspiracy, fraud, murder, death, and the dead, many of which are about instigating fights among others so that he can reap the benefits.
Even one of his special job transfers is called Conflict Instigator, so it is completely understandable that his followers are working so hard to help promote it.
Moreover, if the two sects of Bane and Waukeen were fighting fiercely, Cyric's followers would naturally have a greater advantage in the subsequent battle.
Even followers of the God of Thieves may have been involved.
Although the duties of these two gods are very different, their followers act in exactly the same way, just like poisonous snakes or rats in the gutter, biting you when you are not paying attention.
Plus, Mask, the God of Thieves, already has a grudge against the Church of Wealth, so it would be abnormal for them not to get involved.
So Levi decisively used special magic props to send messages to Bitao Village and Ostak City, asking them to send hero-level units and lead part of the army to provide assistance.
He had recruited a large number of troops in the Black Castle before, but due to the lack of leadership of himself and his heroic subordinates, he did not bring all his forces here. But now he keenly realized that it was time for them to go out.
Then he left the tavern with his men, ready to gather more intelligence from the local God-chosen heroes he had just met last night.
Ever since the Red Brotherhood left, the Church of Wealth has recruited some God-chosen heroes as their replacements to do some shameful and dirty work for them.
In the beginning, the effect was not good because the Chosen Heroes were relatively weak, but now they have grown up and are more convenient to use than the previous Red Brotherhood.
There are even a few guys who have raised their reputation levels in the Church of Wealth. It is said that as long as they have enough financial resources, they can provide loans or deposits in other villages in the name of the Church of Wealth in exchange for handing over 25% of their income.
For the Church of Wealth, most things can be purchased, including this kind of agency privileges.
However, they have not taken any action yet, not only because doing so requires a large deposit, but also because in this dangerous world, you really have no way of being sure whether those who borrow money from you in the morning will be able to come back alive in the afternoon.
The Church of Wealth is wealthy and powerful, so they can afford to pay the losses, and they also have a strict review mechanism. They will only lend money to others when they believe that the other party is able to repay the money, but ordinary God-chosen heroes simply cannot afford it.
As for deposits, since depositors need to pay 10% of the amount as a custody fee, it is acceptable to some merchants in big towns, but it is not easy to do in small villages, and almost no one is willing to spend that money.
The reason why Levi knew it so clearly was because one of them told him that if Levi was willing to spend some money, he could help him apply and obtain the qualification in advance.
The Church of Wealth believes that money is supreme. The natives firmly believe this, and the chosen heroes immediately adapt to this set of rules and gradually carry it forward.
Levi declined at the time, but he felt that this set of things could actually be of some use.
He could open a pawn shop, so that even if the person was dead, he could still confiscate the other person's belongings. It would be a bit troublesome to exchange the belongings for money, but he would not lose everything.
But in that case, he wouldn't have to use the name of the goddess Waukeen to do it.
Goddess Lilith's duties include wealth, but the high elves are generally not short of money, and every household lives like a small human noble, so she has hardly ever promoted it in this direction before.
But if he does this kind of thing in her name, it should still be effective. He can set up a pilot project in his own city, and promote it if it's useful, and abandon it if it's not.
But that is a matter for later. He now needs to confirm the intentions of the Church of Wealth as soon as possible so that Tree Stump, Chen Cone of the Last Days and the three Amazon sisters can take action as soon as possible.
Then not long after he went out, he saw the outlaw - Zhang San.
As soon as he saw the excitement on the other party's face, he knew that the other party must have also received the relevant information. He had to admit that this guy was indeed well-informed.
After seeing Levi, Zhang San was also very excited, because he had already understood Levi's approximate strength, and in the upcoming war, he would be able to unite more allies, and naturally he would have the possibility of receiving larger tasks.
After a brief communication, Levi soon learned that Zhang San had a few friends in the city. Although the Church of Wealth had severed ties with the Red Brotherhood, it did not prevent them from working for the other party in their personal capacity, so he was able to rush over so quickly.
At this time, a slightly hurried bell rang, and then a magical message echoed in most of Silver Town. It was the war mobilization launched by the Church of Wealth.
Faced with the repeated provocations from the Bane Church, they have reached the point where they can no longer tolerate it, so now they have to formally declare war on the Bane Church and take the initiative to launch an attack to retrieve supplies for those merchants.
Of course, because the Church of Wealth itself has almost no formal military organization and most of its troops are hired, so this time in the foreign war, they also mobilized mercenaries, including indigenous people and God's chosen heroes, to launch the attack together.
The power of the Church of Wealth itself will join the battle at the most critical moment (or after the dust settles). After all, they still need to guard against sneak attacks from the two evil churches of Cyric and Mask.
After the matter is accomplished, in addition to the large amount of money that the Church of Wealth is willing to pay as a reward, the businessmen will also receive corresponding rewards. In short, they will never be disappointed.
Although the main forces of the Church of Bane are entrenched in the town, there are also more than a dozen villages around it, and many resource points, God-given buildings, etc. belong to them, and there are also God-chosen heroes as minions.
Therefore, the Church of Wealth will issue multiple different tasks at the same time and assign them to different mercenaries to complete.
If they are able to capture the enemy's town in the war, they will receive generous rewards. They can go to the entrance of the Church of Wealth to learn about the specific situation.
Hearing this, Li Wei and Zhang San were both a little excited, but the reasons for their excitement were different.
Zhang San did it because of the reward promised by the other party, but Levi did it because the scale of the war was bigger than he imagined, and they had more opportunities to fish in troubled waters!
"Levi, what do you think? Do you want to join forces?" Zhang San confirmed with Levi again.
Levi nodded without hesitation: "Of course, but for the early small tasks, we should act separately. If we encounter a strong enemy, we will join forces."
Zhang San did not refuse, because he also had several friends, and their combined strength was over a thousand. If Levi were added, after just attacking ordinary small villages and distributing the spoils equally, everyone would not get much.
It would be better to divide the work first and then join forces when we encounter a strong enemy.
"Okay, it's settled then. I'll go first!"
Soon Levi also took on several missions, and then he discovered that the theme of the Fortune Church's operations this time was very different from the previous indigenous forces.
They did not pay special attention to attacking villages, resource points or God-given buildings. Apart from the opponent's town - Deadwater Town, what they cared about most was the heads of many members of the Bane Church.
From ordinary believers to fanatics, to priests and guardian warriors, etc., each level has a clear price tag, and the price is unusually high, almost equivalent to one-third of the price of recruiting them.
If you can kill the leader of the Knights of the Church - Conqueror - Mark, or their chief priest - Jojim, you will receive a one-time reward of 500 gold coins.
If you can hand over the intact Deadwater Town to them, you can even receive a gift of up to 10,000 gold coins, and the reputation of the Church of Wealth will be directly raised to respected, and you can obtain corresponding privileges.
No wonder so many God-chosen heroes are willing to serve it, because the Church of Wealth is indeed generous!
However, the last mission is a bit foolish. Even if there is a hero chosen by God who can successfully capture and occupy Deadwater Town, there is a 99% chance that he will not hand it over.
Not to mention the value of Deadwater Town itself, the many treasures in its warehouses and armories alone are probably worth more than ten thousand gold coins, right?
With such an exclamation, Levi immediately passed the information to his subordinates, Stump, and the three Amazon sisters who were still staying in the village.
Plans are plans, but he doesn't want to earn less . After all, the Church of Wealth is a wealthy business, so he'll take as much as he can.
He was not sure whether Chen Zhui, the last man in the world, would come, because the beastmen attracted too much hatred in the human territory.
But others, including Amazon, will definitely come as promised.
After all, the reason they occupied the village was just to have a temporary place to stay and to find a reason to fight with the original owner of the village.
Now they had the chance to join a bigger fight, how could they refuse?
Since the journey was not particularly far, more than an hour later, Levi met his subordinates and allies somewhere in the wild.
Except for Chen Zhui, the last man in the world, everyone else came, and the Amazons simply looted the small village and ran away with all the resources.
The last Chen Cui wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge on the enemies who attacked his village yesterday, so he didn't come.
Levi didn't care. Even if he didn't come, with his current strength, dealing with ten or eight ordinary God-chosen heroes would be a piece of cake.
Let’s not talk about anything else, just his own magic, with one flaming skull, ordinary enemies will melt quickly like snow in the sun.
Facing 5th-level magic, even the Silver Guards, a type of soldier that specifically emphasizes magic resistance, can't withstand it, let alone other ordinary soldiers.
If you add his summoned creatures, as long as you are careful, before his magic is truly exhausted, low and mid-level troops, no matter how many there are, will be unable to do anything to him.
This is the power of high-level mages, a strength that other combat professions cannot even dream of.
After sharing some relevant information, they headed straight for their destination, which was a small village close to Baiyin Town.
Although Bane's sect is not as rich as the Church of Wealth, they also have dozens of God's chosen heroes to join them, and their own combat power is not weak, so you still have to be careful.
However, when they arrived, they found that the flag of the Church of Wealth had been raised at the entrance of the village, and other chosen heroes had already got there first.
This was their means of distinguishing themselves from one another, according to the previous requirements of the Church of Wealth.
Since the troops of several nearby forces, except for the core priests and so on, are not particularly recognizable, we can only use flags.
Although it sounds simple and seems easy to be cracked by others, there is basically no need to worry about the Church of Bane using tricks, because generally speaking, they simply don't bother to do so.
Bane is a god that symbolizes tyranny, fear, hatred, and strife. Only by making the enemy understand in an upright manner that the suffering they are experiencing is inflicted by Bane's believers, will the enemy feel fear and hatred, and only then can Bane's power be better strengthened.
Of course, this is what the people in the Church of Wealth think.
But there is not only the Church of Bane nearby, there are also the churches of the two evil gods, Cyric and Mask.
Levi felt that since the Church of Wealth made so much money, it shouldn't be so stupid as to not even realize this.
The greater possibility is that to them, these are actually unimportant.
Because their target has never been these small villages, but the Backwater Town of the Bane Cult and the heads of their important figures.
Even if Xirik and his men really intended to take advantage of the situation, the ones who would die would definitely not be those from the Church of Wealth who were still in Silver Town, but the mercenaries who were out.
For Levi, it doesn't really matter, because except for Zhang San who can be barely trusted, their army will not easily trust anyone, and naturally will not give the other party a chance to fish in troubled waters.
But no matter what, it seems that while Levi was waiting for Stump and the others, the other chosen heroes were indeed working very hard.
It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t believe that everyone is so efficient. Let’s just move on to the next target.
Then they found that there were four or five places in a row, all of which were like this. Even the fences and arrow towers of those villages had few damaged parts.
This time, not only Levi, even the relatively slow-witted Tree Stump felt something was wrong.
This can happen either because the attacking party is completely overwhelmed by the other party, or because the other party does not resist at all.
The former is simply impossible. Bane's side also has dozens of God-chosen heroes to help, and the natives themselves also have thousands of elite troops.
After questioning several groups of people in succession, Levi was able to completely confirm that the other party's resistance was very weak. Most of the time, it was as if they had voluntarily given up these villages and resource points, which allowed them to occupy them smoothly.
What else could be the reason for the other party to pay such a price? It could only be that the other party wanted more!
As expected, just as they were about to head to the next target to confirm again, Donna, who was on the Sky Slasher, suddenly shouted with a little surprise: "Levi, look in the direction of Silver Town!"
Levi turned around immediately, and then he saw the blazing flames that were clearly visible even from dozens of miles away.
No one knew what methods the Bane Church had used, but the Silver Town, which had become empty due to the dispatch of a large number of mercenaries, must be under siege by a large number of troops at this moment.
No wonder these mercenaries fought so smoothly, because the main force of the enemy had already ambushed near Baiyin Town by unknown means.
Even among the mercenaries hired by the Church of Wealth, there may be traitors.
The reward from the Church of Wealth can be considered alms at best, but if they go and rob it themselves, they will definitely get more gold coins!
"Brother Levi, what should we do?"
“Levi, should we continue the attack and seize some small villages, or go back to rescue?”
In addition to the tree stump and the anaconda who spoke, Donna and the others also looked at him, waiting for his latest orders.
In fact, Levi was also thinking about this problem, but the other mercenaries had set out more than an hour earlier than them. Even if they continued to move forward, they might not really gain anything.
There is even a possibility that they will run into the regular army of the Bann Church. If they are attacking Silver Town, they will definitely not send only the chosen heroes.
But if we go back to rescue, it will take time to get there after traveling dozens of miles.
More importantly, he also disliked the Church of Wealth. Why did he go to the trouble of saving them? Was it just for the little gold coins that the other party might give back?
As his mind raced, Levi resolutely made a decision that almost no one could have imagined: "Let's go to Xirik's Thorn Town."
In an instant, the scene suddenly became quiet, but Cindy quickly responded first: "Brother Levi, do you think they are likely to take advantage of the chaos to attack?"
Levi nodded in appreciation: "Yes, it was a three-way confrontation before. If Bane's followers succeed in occupying Silver Town, then the next unlucky ones will definitely be Xirik's followers. They will never tolerate such a thing happening."
"What's more, I'm increasingly suspicious that they are involved in this matter. Maybe they are planning to take over two towns at once. Now is our chance!"
Donna and the others were a little bit unbelieving at first, but when they thought about Xirik's arrogant character, they felt that this seemed to be a natural thing.
Xirik once dared to call himself the "only god". Even if his followers inherited one percent of his arrogance, it would be enough to make them swell to the point of wanting to occupy two towns at once.
After he explained it briefly, Luna, Alduin and others understood it all, and they immediately became excited.
If Lord Levi's speculation is true and their plan can be implemented smoothly, they may soon become famous in this area!
Although the three Amazon sisters still didn't understand some things, they heard one thing clearly: they would take the initiative to attack a town ruled by other churches of gods. That was enough!
"Haha, Levi, let's go, we Amazons are not afraid!"
"Yes, we can't wait!"
"For the glory of Zeus and Athena!"
Others also spoke out in support. Seeing this scene, Levi couldn't help but laugh: "At present, there is insufficient information. This is still my speculation, but no matter what, at least we can temporarily escape from this vortex and preserve our strength."
He felt that his guess was very likely. The only question was, what kind of power did Xirik's followers rely on to become so confident?
Even if the Snake Cult and the vampires support them at the same time, it still won't be enough, right?
The remaining elite of the Snake Cult are the Legion of Terror, and the vampires have been almost all killed by him and Lucia. The remaining cannon fodder can hardly play a big role when facing the priests of the two sects.
Unless, they got the support of the Church of the God of Thieves or the Beastmen?
But no matter what, going to Thorn Town is their best option at this stage.
"Okay, in that case, immediately send someone to notify Chen Zhui, the last man in the world, and ask him to keep an eye out for any enemy movements nearby and prepare to receive our reinforcements. Everyone else, move to Thorn Town!"
