When it ca to his real identity, Zachary tilted his nose toward the ceiling. "Hmph, go ask around about who I, Rudolf, am—"
"I did ask. Nobody knows you!"
Luo Wei didn't want to hear this nonsense. "Mr. Bunian, I think your na might not be as famous as you think. At least not famous enough for everyone in the world to know."
"Impossible!" Zachary felt insulted. Saying he wasn't famous hurt worse than killing him. "There's no one in this world who doesn't know the great na of Rudolf!"
Luo Wei: "Well, I don't know it. Never even heard of you. My undead haven't heard of you either. Right, Patrick?"
Patrick nodded in complete agreent. [Yes, Master.]
In the era when he was alive, only Master Mystical Smiths earned worldwide fa. A re high-level Mystical Smith really wasn't much.
Zachary couldn't hear the undead's voice, but he could see Patrick nodding. His face imdiately flushed red with anger.
"You—you don't know because you're ignorant!"
If nobody in the world recognized him, wouldn't his whole act of hiding under a false na in the Northlands be a complete joke?
Zachary angrily slapped his chest. His withered palm bones struck his ribcage, making his protruding ribs clang.
"I am Rudolf! Rudolf Minos! The greatest Mystical Smith of this age! Inheritor of the Minos Forging Technique! White-Robed Mage of the Magic Association's Spire Council! Half the Mystical Smiths in the Western Continent are my students! Who dares say they don't know Rudolf!"
Luo Wei: "Hmm..."
Sounded pretty impressive. The surna "Minos" seed familiar too, like she'd heard it sowhere, but she couldn't rember where.
She was about to ask Patrick when this action enraged Zachary. He started roaring at the top of his lungs: "Enough! You ignorant outsider! What's the point of asking him? You need to ask the Mages of the Western Continent—ask the living, renowned Mages! Do you understand or not!"
Looking at the broken-down old man before her, Luo Wei almost laughed out loud. "Didn't you not believe I ca from the Misty Plains? Now you're calling an outsider?"
Zachary's heart burned with frustration. He clutched his aching chest. "Western Continent people would never be as ignorant as you!"
Luo Wei: "To us people from the Misty Plains, you're pretty ignorant too. After all, you've never even t a Master Mystical Smith. Western Continent people are really pathetic."
Seeing Zachary about to blow up again, she skipped the topic and raised her voice. "So then, Mr. Bunian—Mr. Minos—since your status is so illustrious, why did you change your na and co to the Northlands to be a slave trader?"
Zachary's expression suddenly darkened, his tone turning cold as ice.
"Because my daughter died in the Church's witch hunt."
The atmosphere suddenly went quiet. Darkness clawed its way into the cell, as if trying to tear this weathered old man to pieces.
Luo Wei was silent for two seconds, then said softly, "I'm sorry."
"This is the tragedy of the Red-haired People," Zachary said, his eyes full of hatred. "The joke is, the Western Continent should have belonged to the Red-haired People."
"So you transford yourself into a slave trader, using the slave business as cover to hide people, train soldiers, waiting for the day you could overthrow the Church and establish a kingdom for the Red-haired People?"
"Exactly. Everything for the victory of the Red-haired People."
"Our goals align," Luo Wei said. "The Western Continent Church worships false gods as supre, devours the authority of true gods, and to eliminate dissent, they've slandered the God of the Undead as an evil god. Therefore, overthrowing the Church is one of my goals too. We can work together."
Zachary: "Worships false gods as supre? The false gods you're talking about—are they—"
"The Left Eye and the Right Eye," Luo Wei answered. "You must have heard about the Goddess of Life's fall before you ca to the island. That was the false gods' doing. They have no divine power of their own—they can only maintain their godhood by plundering authority and absorbing faith. That's why they tornt the world—to gain more faith from people's suffering."
Zachary's brow furrowed tightly. "So that's it. That's how it is. No wonder, no wonder..."
"No wonder what?" Luo Wei asked.
Zachary exhaled heavily. "Ten years ago, I t an old guy in the frozen plains who called himself a prophet. He sang a verse: 'The sun and moon will not fall, the Left Eye and Right Eye seize the throne.'"
Luo Wei was surprised. "You t the Silver Dragon Patriarch too?"
Zachary: "Silver Dragon Patriarch?"
"Yes," Luo Wei nodded. "He was the last silver dragon in the world, with the power of prophecy. But the Church killed him ten years ago."
Zachary felt so regret. If he'd known the man was really a prophet, he should have asked when he'd be able to overthrow the Church.
Ti was getting late. Luo Wei returned to business. "Mr. Minos, would you mind telling how many soldiers you have?"
"Just call Bunian," Zachary said in a low voice. "I can't tell you how many soldiers I have, but if you want to borrow them, I can lend you three thousand soldiers at most."
Given this era's social context, three thousand soldiers equaled the standing elite force of a small duchy. And this was only the military strength he dared lend to Luo Wei.
Using current minimum standards—three support personnel for every frontline soldier—his total deployable force should be around ten thousand.
If he also maintained cavalry, his troop numbers would far exceed ten thousand, because cavalry required armor and horses that consud enormous resources—at least ten ordinary soldiers' worth of logistics, supplied by a hundred people.
Her estimates might be a bit exaggerated, but even maintaining a three-thousand-man infantry army was extrely difficult in this era.
It ant he not only needed training grounds but also his own food production areas. Otherwise, stockpiling so many soldiers would easily be discovered.
Luo Wei realized she'd underestimated Zachary. To quietly build a massive underground kingdom in the Northlands, Zachary was definitely not as rash and hot-tempered as he appeared.
He deliberately acted simple-minded, probably wanting to fall into her trap so he could probe her secrets.
Luo Wei's thoughts shifted slightly. She asked again, "Mr. Bunian, if I asked you to help recruit soldiers, how many could you get ?"
Zachary's beard twitched. "Hard to say. Depends on how many refugees there are in winter, whether there's famine in sumr, how many duchies go to war this year."
"Within this year, delivering three thousand slaves to Demon Island, n, won, old and young—that shouldn't be too difficult, right?" she probed.
"You really know how to make demands," Zachary said, squinting. "You want that many slaves—do you have food to feed them?"
Luo Wei: "Guess?"
No food, but the sea had endless fish. The undead could catch them anyway.
"Hmph," Zachary sneered. "Three thousand is too many. You think people are livestock you can grab however many you want? One thousand at most."
"Fifteen hundred. And when I need them, you have to lend soldiers too," Luo Wei said firmly. "That's my bottom line."
Zachary glared at her viciously, holding back his anger. "Deal."
Luo Wei showed a sincere smile. "Pleasure doing business, Mr. Bunian."
Zachary's face darkened. "Working with a cunning person like you—there's nothing pleasant about it."
Luo Wei smiled faintly without speaking. She extended her hand in an inviting gesture, offering him a way to save face.
Zachary was tactful enough. Without more nonsense, he walked out with his hands behind his back, chest out, looking proud.
Except when stepping over the threshold, he tripped on a stone and nearly fell. When Patrick caught him, he looked like a hunched little old man, all dignity gone, his pale lips trembling.
Luo Wei quickly looked away, pretending she hadn't seen.
After all, he was now her partner. She had to give him so face. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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