City Gate

City gate.

The drizzling rain was still falling, but the city gate, usually sealed shut, had now been blasted open with a massive hole.

Wood chips, iron sheets, corpses...

When Fat Regiment Commander and Iron Rod stepped inside, a thick stench of blood surged into the air.

Even the heavy rain had failed to wash away the slightest trace of it.

"C-Commander." Iron Rod gripped the broadsword in his hands tightly, nervous.

"W-we..."

"Don't make a sound." Fat Regiment Commander spoke softly, telling Iron Rod to stand guard nearby as he swiftly approached the corpse of a soldier who had been stationed at the gate.

He reached out and wiped the man's neck, smearing the thick blood onto his hand before the rain washed it away.

"One strike killed him. He was killed by a Soul Skill," Fat Regiment Commander murmured.

He checked the other gate guards' bodies. They all had the same injuries.

And...

Fat Regiment Commander hurried over to the huge hole in the city gate and looked at the black-clad corpse beyond it, crushed into pulp.

After retrieving a Storage Soul Tool from the body, his heart immediately began pounding.

His throat worked as he swallowed.

They were dead. They were all dead.

That berserk Titled Douluo had killed all the Spirit Hall soul masters here.

And the soldiers were dead too.

They had been casually killed by the people from Spirit Hall, and the Soul Skills left behind a strong bloody stench.

So, a windfall from the dead.

A windfall from the dead!

As long as he—

"C-Commander!" Iron Rod nervously followed him over.

The blazing greed in Fat Regiment Commander's eyes instantly dimmed. In the end, he gave a bitter smile and tossed the Storage Soul Tool back where it had been.

"Iron Rod, let's keep going."

"Huh?" Iron Rod was dumbfounded. They were still going to continue?

"Go. The road ahead has already been cleared by that Titled Douluo. Going now is the safest option."

"And the military camp is on the other side of the fork off the main road. This route is also the fastest."

"Move." Fat Regiment Commander spoke quietly, dragging the still grimacing Iron Rod forward in a desperate sprint.

The faster they ran, the less likely they were to encounter trouble.

And they had to stick to the main road. Otherwise, if the Spirit Hall people had scattered while fleeing and they ran into them at a side road, they would be dead for sure.

The deaths of the gate soldiers had left Fat Regiment Commander's heart clenched tight.

He nervously followed the path opened up by that Titled Douluo, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest.

Boom!

The lanterns in their hands swayed wildly in the wind, creaking incessantly.

The corpses along the road flickered in and out of view beneath the lantern light.

"Commander." Iron Rod was nervous.

Fat Regiment Commander was nervous too. The farther they went, the more corpses appeared along the road.

Some were bleeding from all seven orifices, some had severed hands, some had their lower bodies smashed into pulp, some had their buttocks hanging from trees...

Rainwater and sweat covered Fat Regiment Commander's face as he nervously wiped at it.

"G-go... The fork is just ahead. Once we get past it, we'll reach the military camp. W-we need to hurry."

A crack of lightning suddenly tore across the sky. The two staggered down the main road and nervously rushed around a bend.

The fork was right ahead. If they held on just a little longer, the great merit would be theirs.

Boom!

Lightning flashed. Fat Regiment Commander abruptly stopped, and Iron Rod, unable to halt in time, slammed into his back.

In the middle of the road stood a tall, shadowy figure, one hand pressing down on a mangled corpse.

Blood dripped steadily to the ground. A faint smell of blood wafted over. Cold sweat poured down Fat Regiment Commander and Iron Rod's bodies as they trembled and lowered their heads in terror.

A corpse.

The corpse of a Titled Douluo.

Tap!

Tap!

The footsteps drew nearer from afar, then receded again. The silence was so terrifying that Fat Regiment Commander and the others trembled all over, their minds blank, forgetting even to kneel.

Only when the footsteps gradually faded and no sound came again did Fat Regiment Commander and Iron Rod finally gasp for air, relaxing as they leaned against each other.

They had almost—almost felt like they were going to die.

Fat Regiment Commander regretted it deeply. He had clearly believed that they would never encounter a battle between Soul Masters by taking this route.

After all, given the intensity of the battle between the Titled Douluo on Lake Heart Island, they should have been able to hear it from far away and avoid it.

Yet his little cleverness had nearly gotten him killed just now.

If that Titled Douluo had been even slightly more hot-tempered, they would have...

"You—are you the troops stationed here by the Heaven Dou Empire?" A deep voice suddenly sounded behind them.

The overwhelming pressure instantly chilled Fat Regiment Commander and the others to the bone.

A Titled Douluo—it was a Titled Douluo!

Fat Regiment Commander trembled, his face on the verge of tears. Yet he did not dare refuse to answer a Titled Douluo's question. He hurriedly lowered his head and said in a tearful voice, "Y-Your Excellency, I—I am!"

"Good."

Tang Hao's voice was low. He glanced at the identification token at Fat Regiment Commander's waist, then flipped his bloodied palm over and took out a crystalline card.

He said to Fat Regiment Commander, "There are one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins on this card. Remember to bury and collect the bodies of those soldiers for me."

As his words fell, the card containing one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins landed in Fat Regiment Commander's lowered hands.

B-bury the soldiers' bodies?

Fat Regiment Commander's trembling body went rigid in confusion, but once he came back to his senses, he hastily nodded respectfully.

"Yes, yes, Your Excellency. I will make sure those soldiers are properly buried."

"Mm." Tang Hao nodded lightly.

Those soldiers had died because of him, and money was not something he lacked.

That was why, after seeing that this fat man was a regiment commander, he had stopped to have him take responsibility for the burial.

As for whether the man would actually do as he was told—

There was no need to consider that on the Douluo Continent.

The strong preyed on the weak. That was no empty saying.

A light rain fell from the sky as Tang Hao departed.

Only then did Fat Regiment Commander, Iron Rod, and the others finally let out another sigh of relief, leaning against one another as they sat on the ground.

At the same time, they excitedly clutched the card containing one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

One hundred thousand!

Even if he gave every dead soldier a grand burial, it would not cost even ten Gold Soul Coins.

But there were one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins here!

The remaining money would be enough to raise his entire fortune to a whole new level.

He would be richer than some nobles!

But—

"R-Regiment Commander, when are we going to bury those soldiers?" Iron Rod asked nervously from beside him.

Fat Regiment Commander glanced at his trusted subordinate and said wearily, "Go. We'll go now."

"But it's not daylight yet, and the city gates haven't opened."

"Let's return to the barracks and gather some men first."

"Oh." Iron Rod nodded, then said somewhat enviously, "Regiment Commander, one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins... Those soldiers' families are truly fortunate. After using this money as settlement funds for them, it'll be enough for them to live peacefully for the rest of their lives."

"That Excellency is truly kind."

Kind?

Fat Regiment Commander forced a smile. Were there any kind people among Titled Douluo?

Still, it was true—mere burial expenses for soldiers would not require nearly this much.

There were also settlement funds.

And the city gates, the damaged houses and street stalls along the way, even the main road here—all of them needed repairs.

Perhaps that Excellency had intended for him to take care of all of that.

That was why he had given so many Gold Soul Coins.

Still—

Wasn't that truly too kind?