Two Million Gold Soul Coins? Too Sweet!

After parting on bad terms with Norman, Dales immediately returned to the City Lord's Mansion and ordered one of the four Soul Grandmaster who had followed him to Falling Star City to go outside the city to find the guards and maids who had fled at his behest.

"Lord Dales, what should we do after finding it? Directly—"

The Soul Grandmaster raised his hand and wiped his neck, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"No need. Have them disguise themselves as Fallen Ones and head to Falling Star Slope, which is fifty miles South Gate Falling Star City."

Falling Star Slope.

Legend has it that a meteorite once fell near Falling Star City, compressing the rock layers and forming an undulating hillside.

There used to be a bandit stronghold there, made up of villagers who couldn't make a living. They often robbed passing merchants and travelers. It was later wiped out by the previous lord of Falling Star City.

It was a clear autumn day. After the bandits were wiped out, the former city lord wanted to burn down the bandit camp, but he was worried that the fire would be spread by the wind and ignite the surrounding woods, so he gave up on the idea.

"The bandit stronghold there still exists. In recent years, many people who have offended nobles and Soul Master have nowhere to go, so they gather there and have even started charging tolls."

Dales instructed, "Send those men to that bandit stronghold to gather those refugees. When the time comes, the Fallen Ones and bandits will be wiped out in one fell swoop, and it will all be my achievement."

"My lord, you are wise!"

The Soul Grandmaster flattered him.

"Don't rush to flatter me. Do you know why I only called you over?"

In an instant, the smile on the Soul Grandmaster's face froze—he was the person Dales trusted most among the four Soul Grandmaster, but also the only one who knew about Dales's relationship with Hu Fangyuan.

But he never expected that this trust would now become his death warrant!

"Have you forgotten who saved your life back then?" Seeing that this Soul Grandmaster was actually wavering, Dales shouted in a low voice.

"It's you! Sir!"

The Soul Grandmaster immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Dales.

"Get up."

Dales helped him up. "Don't worry, I will take good care of your wife and daughter. Besides, I have made contact with Elder Zhong. Perhaps your daughter can go to the Star Luo Academy for further studies."

"I am willing to serve you like a dog or a horse!"

"Good! I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

Dales was overjoyed. "However, after we've established a foothold at Falling Star Slope, I'll also send someone to look for Hu Fangyuan. I need to confirm whether that guy has really run away."

"What if they really run away?"

"That would be even better. The higher-level Spirit Hall will send people to investigate, and if they find they aren't Fallen Ones, they won't interfere. And if they don't interfere, I can secretly spread rumors about the Spirit Hall's inaction, making the city's people disappointed in the Spirit Hall. Finally, I can take this opportunity to make a fortune! After such an incident, I will definitely be punished by my superiors, my salary will be deducted! They might even confiscate all my properties in Star Luo City! I have to make up for these losses elsewhere..."

After saying this, Dales ordered the Soul Grandmaster to take immediate action, while he himself summoned the nobles and Soul Master families in the city to discuss the matter of defeating the Fallen Ones.

"Why is one missing?"

Dales glanced at the list and noticed that among the five noble families and Soul Master families in the city, only the You Family had no one coming. But then he remembered that the You Family's heir, You Hui, had temporarily left Falling Star City with Zhou Qing.

"Never mind, she's just a little girl, it doesn't matter."

"The reason I invited you all here today is to deal with the matter of eliminating the Fallen Ones. I have found out that the Fallen Ones ' gang is hiding in Falling Star Slope."

The members of the Four Great Families present all knew that the so-called Fallen Ones were most likely connected to Dales, otherwise how could they have found out so quickly?

But they didn't want to dwell on that; they just wanted to know what Dales was trying to tell them.

"But going out of the city to exterminate the Fallen Ones requires a lot of money to buy weapons, armor, supplies, and so on."

Dales scanned the four people present and cut to the chase, "Therefore, I hope that the four of you here can..."

"Lord Dales!"

One of them stood up and interrupted Dales, "To eliminate the Fallen Ones and protect the safety of Falling Star City, my Li Family has an unshirkable duty, but we are really short of funds and can only provide a maximum of 100,000 Gold Soul Coin."

"I can only donate 100,000."

Once the first person speaks, a second person will naturally follow.

"I also have 100,000."

"One hundred thousand."

Dales glanced at the four of them, chuckled coldly, and said, "You all underestimate me too much, don't you? A mere 400,000 Gold Soul Coin, let alone expenses, I can't even gather enough people."

The four men looked at each other, their faces twitching in surprise.

Dales has no shame! He doesn't want to spend a single penny of his own money; he just wants to fleece them and even wants to drink their blood!

In that instant, the four of them made up their minds: if Dales dared to cause their family to suffer heavy losses, they would not hesitate to unite and kill Dales now, and then bribe Norman to pin the blame on the Fallen Ones.

They've now discovered that the excuse of Fallen Ones" is actually quite useful!

As for the threat of the Fallen Ones?

Joke!

Now that the Fallen Ones have been exposed, how dare they dare to cause trouble in the city again?

Those civilians died, so be it; it didn't matter, as it wouldn't affect their own families anyway.

"What are your thoughts, Lord City Lord?" It was the Li Family family member who spoke first, and he gestured to the others with his eyes, ready to take action at any moment.

Could those four Soul Grandmaster really not defeat a Soul Elder of level 31?

"Of course—"

Dales remained calm and uttered two words: "Set an example by Tax Donation."

"Um... I'd like to hear more details."

The Li Family family members exchanged glances with the other three families, temporarily suppressing the flow of their Soul Power. They picked up their teacups, but just as they were about to put them to their lips, they immediately realized and put them down, worried that the tea might be poisoned.

"Now, there are Fallen Ones gathering outside the city, threatening the safety of the people in the city. I want to increase taxes and raise funds to eradicate the Fallen Ones. As the four of you are prominent figures in the city, you should naturally set an example for those fools and pay the money first. Only when you pay will they follow suit."

Dales grinned and chuckled, "After it's all done, I'll return all your money, and we'll split the money paid by those fools 60/40, how about that?"

"We each get 10%?" The Li Family family member squinted.

"Ten percent is not too little." Dales took a sip of tea and chuckled. "How many people does my Falling Star City have? Around twenty thousand. If we calculate based on the number of people, each person must hand over at least one Gold Soul Coin. Ten percent is two million Gold Soul Coin!"

In an instant, all four people present were unsettled.

Two million?

There are so many!

"Isn't one Gold Soul Coin a bit too much?" It was the Li Family member who spoke first. "One Gold Soul Coin is no problem for us, but for the people in the city, it's the savings of most of their lives. And it's calculated per person. How can they survive?"

"Brother Li, you're overthinking it."

Dales chuckled, "Our Falling Star City is not like the countryside. Which commoner who can live in the city doesn't have eight or nine Gold Soul Coin in savings?"

"You won't die!"

"If they really can't pay, they can use the house as collateral. I don't want them to sleep on the streets afterward. They can still live in the original house, but they have to pay me, no, we have to pay part of the rent every month."

The members of the Four Great Families all gasped in shock, secretly condemning Dales's ruthlessness, but the two million Gold Soul Coin—

It smells so good!