Chapter Summaries

Landen used Hogg’s interrogation technique to extract information from Bonucci while making the village hear his screams as a warning against secretly resisting him. On the third day, Bonucci confessed, and Hogg’s Interrogation Technique leveled up again.

• Hogg interrogated Bonucci for two hours without leaving visible injuries, then told Landen she would need two more days to make him confess.
• Landen brought Hogg back the next day, and Bonucci’s screams carried through the village as Hogg tortured him for two hours.
• Landen left Bonucci unable to speak after the interrogation, while Brook’s wife worried about the screams and Brook told her to stop asking.
• On the third day, Hogg told Landen she would need only one hour, then interrogated Bonucci until he confessed.
• Landen checked the Lord System and saw that Hogg’s Interrogation Technique had leveled up and was one level from its maximum.

After Bonucci confessed that he belonged to the Tree Planters, Landen questioned why the organization had targeted the Hundred Cities Federation. Zhu Lingqi and Hogg proposed investigating the Federation’s interests by contacting Avina rather than Calista.

• Landen read Bonucci’s confession and learned that the captured Peak Silver was connected to the Tree Planters.
• Landen doubted Bonucci’s explanation that the Tree Planters had robbed the Hundred Cities Federation merely for profit, and Hogg interrogated him again.
• Bonucci repeated his confession, and Hogg judged that his mind was too close to collapse for him to be lying.
• Landen considered whether the Tree Planters’ members had been deceived about the organization’s true objective.
• Zhu Lingqi suggested investigating what the Tree Planters wanted by looking into the Hundred Cities Federation, and Hogg proposed finding Avina instead of Calista.

After learning that the Tree Planter Organization could trace his involvement in the Carola Mountains incident, Landen decided to leave the village and cooperate with Calista while investigating the mountain fragment. He arrived in Golden Rose City to contact Calista and prepare to travel to his next settlement.

• Landen concluded that staying to investigate the Carola Mountains was too dangerous and decided to take the fragment to an Alchemy Workshop for examination.
• Landen ordered Hogg to kill Bonucci after the interrogation was complete.
• Landen teased Brook before leaving and warned him that Kaido might return to avenge his parents.
• Landen departed the village and traveled to Golden Rose City, where he planned to contact Calista.

Landen asked Calista about the Babula Mercenary Group after revealing that he had fought its members and left them short one person. Calista allied with Landen and asked him to keep the group occupied in the Fei Ling Duchy, where their base was located.

• Landen described the mercenaries he had encountered, and Calista identified Schneider as a mage and the Babula Mercenary Group's personal alchemist.
• Calista deduced that the group had traveled to find Landen and asked whether Landen had attacked them; Landen confirmed it and said one member had failed to return.
• Calista revealed that Babula wanted to enter Gold and Wealth through him and proposed that Landen cause the mercenaries trouble for at least a year.
• Landen agreed to an alliance with Calista in exchange for assistance, then learned that the Babula Mercenary Group was based in the Fei Ling Duchy.

Landen and his companions traveled in Calista’s luxurious carriage to Fei Ling City, where Landen showed them around before leading them to the Babula Mercenary Group’s compound. He told the gate guard they had come to take revenge on Blake and Schneider.

• Landen and his companions left Golden Rose City in Calista’s extravagant carriage and reached Fei Ling City after more than twenty days.
• Landen left their luggage at Calista’s residence and guided the others through the city, pointing out its markets, Christie's Auction House, and royal palace.
• Landen and the others arrived at the Babula Mercenary Group’s compound in the western district.
• Landen asked the guard whether Blake and Schneider were there, then said they had come to take revenge.

Landen and Zhu Lingqi went to the Main Force Second Regiment headquarters, claiming they had come to seek revenge. Blake and the other mercenaries recognized Landen from their previous encounter in Farview Town, and Landen reminded them they still owed him a debt.

• Landen and Zhu Lingqi announced their arrival at the headquarters, and Zhu Lingqi summoned a fireball to impress the gatekeeper.
• Blake recognized Landen, ran inside to retrieve his greatsword, and charged toward the gate as his companions chased after him.
• Blake stopped several meters from Landen and insisted he had armed himself only because he feared another trick.
• Landen calmly told the mercenaries he was satisfied they remembered him and had come to collect the debt they still owed.

Landen provoked Blake and used the Babula Mercenary Group to make himself appear more powerful by borrowing the momentum of influential figures. Just as Blake prepared to fight him, Schneider arrived and said the commander wanted to see Landen.

• Landen argued that Blake's men had attacked his territory and that Pannu's death had been justified.
• Blake accused Landen of using underhanded tricks and prepared to fight when he could not win the argument.
• Landen explained to Zhu Lingqi and Hogg that he was using the mercenaries to make his reputation seem larger and establish his own momentum.
• Schneider stopped Blake and politely told Landen that the commander requested his presence.

Landen rejected Babula’s invitation and insulted the Lion Hunter to his face, leaving Babula curious about the source of his confidence. Babula decided to devise a new punishment for Landen, while the confrontation remained unresolved.

• Schneider invited Landen to meet Babula and discuss their misunderstanding, but Landen mocked Babula and walked away with his companions.
• The mercenaries and onlookers were stunned by Landen’s insults, while Blake and the others wondered what he was planning.
• Schneider returned to Babula and reported that Landen had called him a dog and challenged his worth.
• Babula speculated about Landen’s connections and strength, then recalled how he had once punished someone who insulted him.
• Babula dismissed that old punishment as outdated and said he would think of something new for Landen.

Landen explained how he had concealed his intentions from Babula and used a public confrontation to make the group seem powerful and unpredictable. After Hogg attacked the men following them, Landen and his companions left amid a crowd of onlookers, leaving the Babula Mercenary Group facing a public scandal.

• Landen told Old Wang and Zhu Lingqi that Babula had seen through their intentions and warned them not to underestimate him.
• Landen explained that he had insulted Babula to make their group appear bold and backed by greater power.
• Landen ordered Hogg to deal with the people following them, and she tore off their arms before returning to the restaurant.
• Landen praised Hogg and gave her more ribs as onlookers gathered and learned the injured men belonged to the Babula Mercenary Group.
• Landen led the group out through the crowd as Zhu Lingqi formed a fireball to keep the spectators back.

In Fei Ling City, Landen’s public confrontation with the Babula Mercenary Group made him famous, and Babula’s strategist Nancy proposed using that fame to make him seem like a powerful ally of Calista. The chapter ended with Babula smiling as Nancy’s plan hinted that Calista’s other enemies might also become targets.

• Fei Ling City’s rules allowed personal fights as long as they did not interfere with transactions, so security officers let Hogg’s attack pass without intervening.
• Landen became the city’s most famous person after he and his companions publicly provoked the Babula Mercenary Group.
• Blake complained that Landen was using the group to gain prominence, but Babula told him to control his temper.
• Nancy proposed encouraging people to believe Landen had come to Fei Ling City on Calista’s behalf to deal with Babula.
• Blake realized that the rumor would make Landen appear powerful and could frighten Calista’s other enemies; Babula asked Nancy what they should do.

Landen discovered that visitors had barged into Calista's residence to test whether he was worthy of representing her, and he responded with overwhelming force. After Old Wang threw the intruders down, Landen ordered them expelled and proposed finding more people to fight.

• Old Wang told Landen that visitors had arrived, and Landen went to the front hall to meet them.
• Landen found a balding old man seated in the host's chair, with two arrogant men and two bodyguards, while Flynn stood aside.
• Landen insulted the visitors and demanded that the old man leave the seat, but the old man explained he had come to judge Landen's fitness to represent Calista.
• Landen called for Old Wang, who struck the two seated men, disarmed and disabled the bodyguards, and pinned the old man in place with a sword attack.
• Old Wang launched the old man onto the two fallen men, and Landen ordered Old Wang to throw them out and look for more people to bring in for a fight.

Berikri was humiliated by Landen and found that the story had spread across Fei Ling City, while Landen and his companions realized someone was deliberately raising their profile. Landen suspected the publicity was meant to set them up against powerful enemies.

• Berikri went to Calista’s residence to test Landen and prevent him from becoming her ally, but Landen had him thrown out.
• Berikri learned that news of his humiliation had spread throughout Fei Ling City and could not retaliate without losing more face.
• Zhu Lingqi returned and told Landen that news of their actions was spreading unusually quickly.
• Landen and Old Wang concluded that someone might be elevating them only to expose them to powerful opponents.

After Landen drove Berikri away, he trusted that Calista would prevail in their contest for a seat in the Federal Council. The chapter ended by noting that Berikri never earned a noble title in Landen’s previous life.

• Landen had not recognized that Nancy had devised the scheme involving the Babula Mercenary Group.
• Landen drove Berikri away and warned the onlookers, keeping them from disturbing him for the rest of the day.
• Landen was not afraid of Berikri because he trusted Calista to win the Federal Council seat.
• In Landen’s previous life, Calista won the seat and advanced, while Berikri never obtained a noble title.

Landen visited Fei Ling City's raw-material market to buy supplies and rented an Alchemy Workshop to analyze a fragment without damaging it if possible. He prepared for the examination to take several days, while his trackers wasted the day waiting outside.

• Landen went out with Hogg to shop for materials while Old Wang and Zhu Lingqi continued investigating Calista's enemies and shook off their own tails.
• Landen browsed the bargain-hunting stalls, bought the materials he needed in the retail section, and headed to an Alchemy Workshop.
• Landen rented the workshop for a week and began preparing to identify the fragment using responsive materials, with dissolving solutions as a last resort.
• Landen's trackers waited outside the workshop all day, then followed him as he made another market stop and returned to his residence.

Landen returned to the Babula Mercenary Group to collect what he called a debt, using his arrogance to provoke the group and everyone watching. As Hogg and Old Wang seized onlookers at his command, Babula prepared to meet Landen while a mysterious man vanished into the wall.

• Landen left the Alchemy Workshop and went with his companions to the Babula Mercenary Group’s headquarters.
• Landen told the gatekeeper he had come for revenge and added the crowd’s presence and laughter to the debt he planned to collect.
• When the onlookers laughed, Landen ordered Hogg and Old Wang to seize people from the crowd and threatened them with broken limbs.
• Babula discussed Landen with an ordinary-looking man, then went to meet him as the man disappeared into the wall.
• Babula opened his office door just as one of his men raised a hand to knock.

Landen confronted Babula at the Mercenary Group headquarters, punished a fallen man who glared at him, and faced the team that had once taken him from the underground world. Babula apologized and offered compensation, while Landen realized Babula intended to make his visit look like a public surrender.

• Babula emerged and apologized to Landen for keeping him waiting, while Landen used his words to hint at demanding more compensation.
• Landen warned the onlookers to remove their injured companions, then kicked a man who glared at him and made him thank Babula.
• Landen entered the headquarters with Babula and faced Blake, Schneider, and the team that had taken him from the underground world.
• Babula admitted the team's actions were wrong and ordered large chests of compensation brought in for Landen.
• Landen suspected Babula planned to spread word that he had forced the Mercenary Group to surrender and pay him a huge amount.

Landen confronted Babula at the Mercenary Group headquarters, accepted his apology, and demanded an arm from each of the people who had harmed his group. Later, Landen examined the sphere that had absorbed Lilith’s Demon Mark and concluded that a closely connected demon was hiding in or near the Mercenary Group.

• Landen asked Babula for the identity of the person who had hired him, but Babula refused to reveal the employer’s information.
• Landen accepted Babula’s apology and ordered one arm from each person to make things even before leaving with his companions.
• The Babula Mercenary Group spread a misleading account of the confrontation around Feiling City while keeping the mission and Avina’s identity secret.
• Landen and Zhu Lingqi discussed how the group had covered up Avina’s trail and publicized the events at its headquarters.
• Landen showed Hogg, Zhu Lingqi, and Old Wang the sphere that had absorbed Lilith’s Demon Mark and said its reaction indicated a closely connected demon was in or near the Mercenary Group.

Landen extorted a large payment from Babula, then continued testing a mysterious fragment with Zhu Lingqi’s Disintegration Spell and an array of decomposition solutions. After three days of experiments, one solution finally melted the fragment, and Landen began examining the result.

• Babula delivered several chests of goods to Calista’s residence, and Landen welcomed the payment as a way to anger Babula.
• Landen concluded that he could only stay cautious and handle demons if he encountered them, since he lacked the power and credibility to confront the larger threat.
• Landen brought Zhu Lingqi to destroy the fragment with her Disintegration Spell, which also erased the tweezers, tray, chain, and part of a metal beam.
• Landen tested the fragment with decomposition solutions for three days, while Zhu Lingqi stayed with him in the Alchemy Workshop.
• A pale-purple solution finally melted the fragment, and Landen hurried to inspect it through a magnifying glass.

The chapter explained how specialized Decomposition Solutions could break down materials, including solutions designed to ruin enemy weapons. It described Demonic Steel and the appeal of a solution that could destroy weapons made from it, but ended mid-thought.

• The chapter described Decomposition Solutions that broke down materials and could target enemy weapons.
• It explained that iron weapons had limits, while advanced forging techniques were difficult for ordinary blacksmiths to master.
• It introduced Demonic Steel, an alloy made by smelting iron with many other materials, as Daxia’s popular weapon-making material.
• It imagined using a liquid to ruin an enemy’s expensive Demonic Steel weapon and leave them fighting with an inferior weapon.

Landen and his companions killed a group of assassins who had infiltrated Calista’s residence, then Landen confronted the servants over a suspected leak. He left the informants facing his threat of severe punishment.

• Hogg detected the intruders by their scent and warned Landen, Zhu Lingqi, and Old Wang, who killed more than ten attackers without being injured.
• Landen noted that the assassins were weak and accused the residence’s steward of failing to protect the property or explain how the intruders found them.
• Old Wang reported that no one had been watching from outside, and Landen ordered the assassins’ bodies displayed at the gate.
• The steward gathered the servants, and Landen warned that someone had revealed where he and his companions lived.
• Landen threatened the suspected informants, telling them they would suffer if they did not kill themselves.