Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 224: Chapter 224. A Ploy to Take Out the Head

”That’s funny. I remember when I was in the junior class, I could freely beat up my fellow students in the city. No one bothers,” Xian Yang said. ”As long as no city guards were around, of course.”

”I guess time has changed. What about outside the city?” Gao Tien asked.

”Like I said, they are very cautious,” Gao Dou said. ”The second they spot us, one of them bolts. The others prevent us from giving chase. We can only rough them up a bit because of that. Any death or permanent damage will get us into trouble with the academy.”

”In the last two years, they also used this strange tool that creates thick smoke,” Gao Sou said.

”What tool?” Gao Tien asked.

”I don’t know. It looked like a small metal ball. When they threw it, it exploded,” Gao Sou answered. ”The explosion caused temporary blindness and deafness. When we could see or hear again, all around us was thick smoke. Because of that tool, we couldn’t even rough them up. All of them fled. We must go around looking for them. If we were lucky to find them again, they used another ball and fled again.”

”Such a unique tool and they have many?” Gao Tien asked in surprise.

”This ball is indeed unique,” Zong Hua was holding a small metal ball in her hand.

”Hey! That looks exactly like what they used!” Gao Sou exclaimed.

”How do you get that thing?” Gao Tien asked.

”I buy it from a Vicious member,” Zong Hua answered.

When the others gave her confused expressions, she laughed. ”Do you people truly never go and just ask one of them for it? They give one of these balls to every member who goes on missions outside the city. All I need to do is wait for these people to return from their mission. I approached them nicely near the city gate and asked them if I could buy these balls from them. Of course, before I did that, I investigated that the people I approached were greedy and were new Vicious members. They tended to be less loyal that way. I taught them to lie about encountering the other factions outside and thus used up the balls.”

”Have you tried using it?” Gao Tien asked.

”Of course, I have,” Zong Hua answered. ”I’m not going to demonstrate it here if that was what you asked. This is my last ball. I had my people dissect the others I bought to learn how they work. I’m very interested in reproducing them. This is a very sellable merchandise.”

”So, have you learned how to reproduce them?” Xian Yang asked.

”I have. Unfortunately, I can’t reproduce them,” Zong Hua answered.

”What do you mean?”

”This ball is made of a combination of techniques from alchemy, smith, and engraving. The technique from each field isn’t too complicated. It is the way they are combined that makes the method unique. The person who came up with the idea is truly exceptional.”

”If you are done praising our enemy, can you explain why it can’t be reproduced?” Gao Tien said. He didn’t mask his annoyance.

”Impatient as usual, Brother Gao,” Zong Hua said while smiling. ”As to why I can’t reproduce it. It is because one of the materials to make this ball is flame powder.”

”Flame powder? Isn’t that a restricted material?” Gao Sou asked.

”It is. Flame powder is highly combustible. It can be used to make all kinds of explosive weapons. That is why the kingdom controls the distribution of this material. All mines that produce flame powder are owned by the kingdom. Its distribution was heavily regulated. Normal civilians won’t have a chance to acquire this material.”

”Didn’t you come from a famous merchant clan? Your clan can’t get access to this material?” Gao Tien asked Zong Hua.

”Of course, my clan can, albeit for a limited amount. However, my clan won’t send the flame powder to me just because I ask for it. I need to go through a series of troublesome procedures before I can get it. I’m not keen on going through all the troubles. No. I will keep this ball and the knowledge to myself. If I can’t get a good position in the kingdom after I graduate, I will use the method of making this ball to secure a leading position in my clan.”

”It’s good that you have your future figured out. Now, can we get back to the topic of Vicious?” Gao Sou remarked.

Zong Hua laughed at the remark. She stored the ball back in her space ring.

”We can’t hit them in the academy and the city. We can’t prevent them from fleeing into the wilderness. What are our options?” Gao Tien asked.

”We take out its head,” Xian Yang uttered. ”The Vicious appears strong, but its anchor is its leader, Lin Mo. He is the one who holds everything together. If we take him out, the Vicious will disband by itself.”

”Easier said than done. Do you think we haven’t thought of that?” Gao Sou asked. ”To take him out, we must do it outside the city. That person is the sneakiest man I’ve ever known. He always did missions alone. I’ve sent my people to trail him countless times to catch him off guard when he went out for missions. They always lost him before he was even out of the city. I don’t know how he did it, but that guy is impossible to tail.”

”How about we learn what missions he is taking?” Xian Yang asked. ”If we know his mission, we can estimate the general area he is heading.”

”The guy always looked over different boards inside the mission center. We couldn’t tell which missions he took. When he submitted his mission request to the counter, we couldn’t overhear his conversation because he always did it in writing. It’s like he knew we were watching him.”

”So meticulous. I can understand why his faction thrives,” Zong Hua praised.

Gao Tien gave Zong Hua an annoyed glance. He then asked Gao Sou, ”How about bribing the officer who works the counter? To make him tell us what mission Lin Mo take.”

”Cousin, do you know who runs the mission center?” Gao Sou asked back. ”It’s the head tutor Lao Zen. That old dude runs a tight ship. None of the officers working there dare to play dirty.”

”Argghh...! All I hear are just problems. Why can’t any of you think of a solution?!” Gao Tien roared.

Gao Sou lowered his head. In his mind, he said, ’Why can’t you?’

Zong Hua chuckled. ”Well, I can’t give a solution, but I can give you information. Since the start of this final year, Lin Mo has been doing a lot of missions. In the past four months, he had completed two 5-star missions and is in the process of completing the third.”

Gao Dou’s eyes were wide hearing that. 5-star missions were the hardest. They were required to only do one mission a year if they took the 5-star mission. Yet, Amon was about to complete three in such a short time.

”That is surprising,” Gao Sou said. ”When we were still trying to get him, he only did two missions a year.”

”My conjecture is he is trying to get the first rank when he graduates to the junior class,” Zong Hua said. ”According to the board in the information center, the current first rank for freshman students is Sima Fang. Lin Mo is in second place. He is working hard to get more academic points to take over the first place. Unfortunately, Sima Fang also performs a sprint in this final year. She takes as many 5-star missions as Lin Mo, and her success rate doesn’t lose.”

”This means it will be difficult for Lin Mo to get the first rank,” Gao Sou said.

”Serves him right. I hope he loses,” Gao Dou hissed.

”This does not help us. Even if he fails, he is still the second rank,” Gao Tien said. ”He still has enough prestige to hold his faction together. It is a waste of time to meddle with his rank. What we need is to take him out completely!”

”Ah... I get what you are trying to tell us, sister Zong,” Xian Yang said. ”Since he is taking the missions madly. He is desperate for academic points. We can lure him with this!”

”What do you mean?” Gao Tien asked.

Xian Yang chuckled. ”We have difficulty finding where he is when he does a mission. But what if we make him take a case that we already know from the start?”

”I still don’t get you,” Gao Tien said.

”Remember that mission Tutor Ha Gild offered? The one that will commence next month. The participants are promised double the academic points of a 5-star mission.”

”The mission to survey the new spirit beast habitat?” Gao Tien asked. ”What about it? That mission is for senior students.”

”Right, but I’ve heard the tutors talk about inviting prominent students from the junior and freshman classes to let them get the experience.”

”Really?”

”He is right. I’ve also heard about it,” Zong Hua said. ”And as it happens, your uncle is the tutor who oversees this mission. You can ask him to invite Lin Mo into this mission.”

Gao Tien pondered the suggestion. He grinned. ”All right, I will talk to my uncle.”