CHAPTER 183 - MERCHANT ALLIANCE’S BOUNTY

The four remaining silver-armored Imperial Knights fell into despair when they saw the old man and the prince dead. Though they ranked as Platinum adventurers near the top of the hierarchy, they were nothing more than pawns under the Myriad King’s command within the Imperial Knight forces.

Their mission was to protect the prince, the golden-armored armor, during the contest this time. Once the prince was dead, survival was impossible for pawns like them. The Myriad King would probably spare them if they avenged his son by killing Han Wu. With nothing to lose, they threw everything into their attacks.

Unfortunately, Han Wu was too strong. Even when they threw their full strength into the fight, they couldn’t protect their own lives. He cut them down in moments, then casually flicked the blood from his greatsword. Afterward, he turned to Alice and Saurman, checking if they were hurt.

Alice had been rescued, but her heart still raced. Though she was already a Platinum adventurer, she was still very young, barely twenty. She spoke meekly. “Thank you.”

Han Wu gave a casual smile as he gathered the tokens from the corpses. They had earned 195 points in total, including a dazzling Diamond token. He offered to split the spoils, but the other two declined. Alice was shy, while Saurman was adamant in his refusal. The tokens belonged to the Imperial Knights, and he didn’t want to get involved with anything that troublesome.

Han Wu didn’t press the matter and took everything. He had no reason to fear the Imperial Knights. The three returned to their gathering point only after night had fallen. They chose to camp there for the night.

Alice used the opportunity to heal Xue Feng and Zhan Xiong. Though her strength was limited, her healing skill was exceptional. Still, it took her two hours to fully heal Xiong Zhan after Han Wu’s beating.

After the fight, Xiong Zhan understood he could not challenge Han Wu and kept his distance. Meanwhile, Lady Mei gazed at Han Wu dreamily, impressed that he had defeated two Diamond adventurers alone. She would gladly throw herself at him if he so much as glanced her way tonight.

Unfortunately for her, Han Wu showed no interest. After a night of rest, they set out together to hunt for more tokens. Having defeated two Diamond adventurers, they were unofficial champions. Yet it was only the third day, so they moved cautiously to avoid drawing the attention of other contestants

While they risked their lives fighting in the training site, the outside world buzzed with excitement. Using a secret technique, spectators could watch each team’s points update in real time.

At first, they saw the Shadow Alliance lose a significant number of points, followed by the Imperial Knights losing all of theirs. Meanwhile, the Merchant Alliance steadily gained points on both occasions. The factions were stunned by the unfolding events.

Even the Merchant Alliance was surprised by the unexpected bounty. Despite being one of the four largest factions, they hadn’t fielded a single Diamond adventurer. In fact, they had even recruited a Gold one. By all accounts, their lineup was weak. No one had expected a result like this.

The Merchant Alliance’s higher-ups were grinning from ear to ear.

“It must be Saurman,” one of them speculated. “He’s a seasoned fighter and has entered this contest twice already. I doubt even Diamond adventurers can match him.”

“No, I think it’s Xue Feng. He has the greatest potential and shouldn’t be any weaker than Saurman,” one man said confidently.

“It could be Lady Mei. With her tantalizing body, she could seduce anyone there,” another added with a smirk.

“Hey, do you think it could be Han Wu?” someone else asked, sounding uncertain.

“That’s impossible. He’s a genius, but only Gold rank. How could he defeat a Diamond adventurer two ranks above him?” a skeptic replied.

“That’s true. His spatial title is unusual, but it can’t make up for such a gap. He might handle Silver monsters but would flee from a Platinum one,” another added thoughtfully.

Someone laughed in agreement. “You’re right.”

Compared to the lively Merchant Alliance, the Imperial Knight squadron stood in heavy silence. Their points had been wiped out and remained at zero even after an entire night had passed. Even the slowest among them had figured out what had happened. It was almost certain the entire representative team had been eliminated.

“Damn it. The old man was with them, so how could this happen? How are we supposed to report this to the Myriad King?”

“Wait. When their points dropped, the Merchant Alliance gained the exact same amount. They must have been the ones who took out our team.”

“Merchant Alliance... They are just a bunch of rich snobs. How dare they trample on us? Do they want to die? We don’t have to wait for the contest to end. Send someone to inspect every single Merchant Alliance shop immediately.”

The Imperial Knights’ higher-ups issued their orders, and the lower ranks obeyed without question. They stormed into every shop affiliated with the Merchant Alliance, seizing on any excuse to wreck the premises.

The Merchant Alliance leader soon caught wind of the chaos and smirked. “Hmph.

I never expected the Imperial Knights to lose their temper so quickly. Let them rage. Once this contest ends, we will overtake them and become Myriad City’s rulers.”

Inside the training site, Han Wu and the others remained oblivious to the turmoil outside. They focused on searching for every token they could find. Thanks to their unique abilities, the six of them worked surprisingly well as a team.

Hunting tokens on their own took longer than stealing from other contestants, but it wasn’t so bad. In just three days, they had accumulated 200 points. While they hadn’t found any Diamond tokens yet, their collection of Platinum tokens already rivaled those of other groups.

While hunting as usual, they entered the Berserk Wolves’ territory. In the center of the pack, a Diamond token floated in plain sight. The scent it gave off seemed to please the wolves, who howled in eerie satisfaction as they circled around it.

Xue Feng hovered in the air, reporting everything back to the team. Xiong Zhan was the first to shout, “A Diamond token? What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

He had been searching for a Diamond token for a long time to prove his strength. One Diamond token outweighed 32 Iron tokens in value. Saurman remained silent, glancing at Han Wu. Lady Mei did the same, but her gaze toward Han Wu held a quiet yearning.

Han Wu cleared his throat. “We can fight. The pack is huge, but their average strength is only around Gold rank. They are weaker compared to other monsters we’ve faced.”

Xiong Zhan’s excitement surged. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s tear through their entire den!”

Saurman coughed, scolding him, “Why rush in? We can fight, but if we want to kill such a large pack, we need to prepare. There are too many of them. If we’re careless, they’ll tear us apart and gnaw our bones clean.”

He then proposed a plan and carefully instructed the team on how to handle the siege. His role was to shape the battleground using his abilities. By the time Saurman finished his detailed briefing, Xiong Zhan had already started dozing off. He was too dumb to listen to the strategy and earned Saurman’s complete disregard.

Once the preparations were complete, Saurman led the team closer to the Berserk Wolf pack. The wolves noticed them and howled a warning before charging forward.

Saurman summoned a towering wall of sand, encircling the wolves. He deliberately left three small gaps in the wall, allowing a limited number of wolves to escape at a time. This way, the team could face the wolves in manageable groups, ensuring easy victories.

Xiong Zhan, Han Wu, and Xue Feng positioned themselves near the openings, unleashing their abilities to strike down the escaping wolves.

“Bugbear Earthquake!”

“Golden giants!”

“Violent Windcut!”

The three powerful attacks dealt devastating damage, cutting down dozens of wolves. Behind them, Lady Mei and Alice provided vital support. Lady Mei enhanced the trio’s power while Alice kept their stamina and strength replenished without pause.

They fought for over an hour, killing 10,000 Berserk Wolves. Their pace remained steady, and they expected the Diamond token to fall soon—until two thunderous howls shook the ground.

Han Wu and the others peered through the small openings and saw two massive Berserk Wolves standing in the middle of the field. The overwhelming pressure they radiated confirmed they were Diamond monsters.