Chapter Seventy-Three: Preparing to Do Beast Business

  The recruitment fair was postponed due to Li Xie's assassination. The gates of Chrysanthemum City were closed, and no one was allowed in or out unless they had Jack's command.

  Li Xie himself shrank in the city master's mansion and didn't dare to go out. After all, that heavenly ranked killer hadn't been found yet. The heavenly ranked killer was someone who collected payment before killing, once a task was accepted, they wouldn't rest until it was done, and would definitely come again sooner or later!

  Li Xie now only has Zeenath, a reliable master by his side. Vandy Sel is still recovering from excessive blood loss but will be back in about ten days.

  The castle lord's residence, inside the study.

  Zain sat on one side in a daze, Li Xie and Xiao An sat face to face on both sides of the desk, with a chessboard on it, Meow was squatting beside the chessboard, looking curiously.

  "General! Hmph, Xie Ge, you lost again. Hand over 1,000 gold coins."

  For the past ten days, Li Xie had nothing to do and naturally thought of something to pass the time. He soon thought of playing chess and immediately ordered a custom-made set. However, Zayn Nadir was completely uninterested, so Li Xie could only ask Xiao An to play with him. After Xiao An understood the rules, he made rapid progress and defeated Li Xie repeatedly.

  After several days, one plate cost ten thousand gold coins, Li Xie had lost over a hundred thousand gold coins.

  Gambling indeed ruins the family! Li Xie felt this way after losing this round. Xiao An laughed with eyes like a crescent moon: Who says gambling ruins the family? Small bets can make you rich, big bets can bring peace and stability to the country!

  "It's no use!" Li Xie said in a depressed tone.

  "Xie Ge, you can't stand losing, huh?" Xiao An said with a smile.

  "Meow......" Meowed once, poked at the chess pieces with its paw, then sat in front of Xiao An, facing Li Xie, with the right corner of its mouth raised, revealing a small fang: "Meow... meow meow..."

  "Yah! You're a dead cat!" Li Xie didn't need to ask Zayn to know what Miao meant: "You think you can win against me?"

  Li Xie was convinced that Xiao An was a genius girl, the kind with an IQ of 250, and although Li Xie thought his chess skills were superb, he wasn't a match for this reverse heavenly genius girl. But a cat? Li Xie really didn't believe he couldn't beat it!

  "Come on, then! Xiao An, let me play a game with Miao Miao." Li Xie rolled up his sleeves, gave Miao Miao a disdainful glance, and arranged the chess pieces in position.

  The little cat looked at Li Xie with a slanted gaze and was also very disdainful: "Meow... meow meow!"

  "What's up, Zane?"

  Zayn Nad looked at Li Xie and said: "Meow sister says, one plate per finger."

  "Hmph! Afraid you won't make it... No, wait, you only have paws, no fingers, almost got fooled by you. Change that." Ever since Meow bit Li Xie, this little cat liked to eat Li Xie's flesh, normally besides drinking wine, he wouldn't eat anything else, just occasionally biting Li Xie with a mouthful of meat, making Li Xie depressed.

  However, Li Xie didn't mind her, anyway he was used to being bitten, and since the last assassination attempt, Li Xie had been storing a large amount of fresh blood in his spatial ring, so he wasn't bothered about losing one or two pieces of flesh.

  Meow...

  "She said if you win, she won't bite you."

  "Hmm... This can be done. Master Mian is witness, whoever goes back on their word will be a puppy."

  Meow!

  Then, one person and one cat started playing chess. After that, Li's forehead was sweating profusely, and then he died of handsomeness!

  "My goodness! I'm not coming again!" Li Xie was very depressed: "I'll never play Go again! Damn it, can't even beat a human, let alone a cat!"

  "Meow......" The little cat swung its tail and raised the right corner of its mouth: This cat's IQ is over 250!

  "Hmph, don't be so smug! We won't play chess, we'll play Go! No, Go requires intelligence too... Ah, grandma's! Let's play Flying Chess!" Li Xie was fed up and decided not to compete in anything that required intelligence, but rather something that tested character. But even in a test of character, he couldn't beat the cat?

  Xiao An's eyes widened: "Go? Flying chess? Xiao An has never even heard of it! Xie Ge, how do you know so much!"

  "Haha......" Li Xie said with a pleased tone: "You can't learn even a little bit in this lifetime, I understand you, my brother..."

  Li Xie had no idea that his modern thinking and the knowledge he accumulated from reading various books for a long time would bring him so much help. This knowledge was the result of thousands of years of cultural sedimentation.

  Xiao An pouted, somewhat disdainfully saying: "With just a little bit of learning, I can beat you until you're defeated and fleeing in disarray. Hmph! Next time we'll play Go or Flying Chess, hmph! One game for 10,000 gold coins!"

  "Oh no! You little scamp, you're still showing off, okay! I'll get someone to make a flying chess piece right away, just watch my generosity... Ah! Dead cat, biting my finger without even saying anything first!"

  "Adults." Jack walked into the study: "Found out who the killer is."

  "Who!" Li Xie became serious: "Sit down and talk, Xiao An, bring a chair for your brother."

  "No need, I'll do it myself." Jack moved a chair to sit down and continued: "I sent someone to the Gunsmoke Auction House in City of Sun God to investigate the conditions set by the top ten on the kill ranking. One person has already met their condition, which is Sid Wesya, ranked ninth on the kill ranking."

  Jack said, handing a sheepskin paper to Li Xie, and continued: "Xide Wuyi, an eighth-level summoner, known as the shapeless killer. This person is proficient in disguise, has a way to stretch and shrink his body, even change his facial features, and can also hide his aura fluctuations. Until now, no one knows what he really looks like. His assassination technique is extraordinary, and those who are targeted by him will die without exception."

  "I've personally experienced his assassination techniques." Li Xie's voice was cold: "How can he be only an eighth-level summoner? Can you be certain it's him?"

  "It should be." Jack said, "His contracted beast is a 9th-tier Galewalker, its speed can be considered top-notch among magical beasts. If it were to armorize, Xide's running speed would probably not be much different from that of a Saint-level expert."

  Li Xie glanced at Zeennard and it was no wonder that even a 9th-level giant dragon like Zeennard couldn't catch up.

  "Adults." Jack continued, "Since we know that the Intangible Killer is going to kill you, it's not difficult to deal with. Any stranger within ten meters of an adult will be killed outright. And to prevent the Intangible Killer from disguising himself as someone we're familiar with, adults should establish a password. When meeting with adults, they must first say the password."

  Li Xie nodded: "Hmm, he won't stop until he kills me, and I can only kill him to be safe! But we can't always be on guard like this, and he's most likely to disguise himself as someone I'm familiar with. He'll probably kill the person he wants to impersonate first. You all have to be careful too, Xia An shouldn't leave the city lord's manor."

  "Rest assured, sir," Jack said with a smile. "Professional killers have their own code of conduct. One of them is not to kill innocent people, only the target. This is something they take pride in and would never need to kill others just to get one target."

  Li Xie shook his head: "In short, be careful!"

  "Yes! Sir!" Jack added: "And another thing, Kano has returned, accompanied by the Beast Minister Skarmond."

  "Ah, bring them on."

  Kano and Skamot soon arrived at the study, after paying their respects, Li Xie said: "The thing I want, how is it prepared?"

  Scammon replied: "I originally thought of sending it to your lordship once every three months, but I didn't expect you to be so anxious. However, I have collected quite a few, and I will give them to you now."

  "Ah, wait a minute, I invited you here, not just for this matter, but also to discuss the Warcraft business with you!"

  After being stabbed, Li Xie realized the importance of his own strength. To increase his strength, he must obtain a large amount of high-level demon beast or strong human blood. However, it's hard to get human strong blood and the quantity is too small. Therefore, he set his sights on demon beasts.

  But the magical beasts Mercedes VII had on hand were far from enough, after all, Mercedes VII's magical beasts were to be equipped for the military, and there were very few high-ranking magical beasts without an owner.

  Li Xie also thought of manipulating the army of Mercedes VII, such as the Earth Lion of the Crazy Lion Legion, or the high-ranking magic beasts equipped by the Imperial Guard. However, this would likely harm the country's foundation, and Mercedes VII would not agree to let Li Xie extract blood from his military's magical creatures every day.

  Thus, Li Xie naturally turned his mind to buying and selling demons! It's nothing more than a transaction of money and goods, and with the foundation of Chrysanthemum City, once it stabilizes, he can still develop Plum Blossom and Orchid, the other two cities. He believes that money won't be lacking, what's lacking is where to go to buy demons and how to trade them.

  This is the purpose of inviting Skamold.

  Scamode understood Li Xie's meaning and hastily said: "Your Excellency, except for His Majesty, anyone in the country who buys or sells high-ranking magical beasts is breaking the law. I know that Your Excellency wants a high-ranking magical beast, but... why not ask His Majesty first? If His Majesty permits it and issues an edict, then Your Excellency can do so openly..."

  "Cut the crap! Don't you know I have the Emperor's Golden Token in my hand? Speak up if you have something to say! Tell me clearly and straightforwardly." Li Xie was getting impatient, this matter concerned his own power enhancement, so he decided to take a bold move.

  When Mercedes-Benz arrives, even if you don't want to respond, you have to respond.

  Is Mercedes VII looking for another Marquis Panson, another cheetah legion? Perhaps Lee Xie is not yet capable of resisting Mercedes VII. After all, by his side, except for Zeinard and Kano, Jack and Vandy Ser may not necessarily stand on his side!

  Mercedes VII wanted to use Li Xie to hold back or even devour the Sunflower City's Cheetah Legion, if he didn't even give him the convenience of buying and selling magical beasts, what else could make Li Xie serve him?

  These are Li Xie's thoughts, of course, he doesn't know what kind of person he is in the eyes of Mercedes VII. Mercedes VII can't refuse any of Li Xie's requests, otherwise, how could Mercedes VII bear to give such a master like Vandy Cell and a talent like Jack Rothschild to Li Xie? Unless one day Mercedes VII discovers that Li Xie is not a demigod or an avatar, but a complete waste without magic or aura fluctuations!

  Li Xie's reputation as the "Evil Duke" had already spread, and the nobles naturally showed more respect to him. Scamode was no exception, seeing Li Xie's displeasure, he quickly pulled out the imperial gold card and didn't dare say anything else. He hastily said: "Sir, fifth and sixth-tier magical beasts can be purchased from the Continental Merchant Guild, sometimes they also sell seventh and eighth-tier magical beasts, but seventh and eighth-tier magical beasts are mostly traded with the Mercenary Guild, only..."

  "What's that?"