Mysterious Disappearance

Revenge against Wester was not something that could be achieved in the short term.

Medivh did not dwell on him in his thoughts. The urgent task was to develop Kurd, strengthen his own power, and increase the quantity and quality of his Time Skeletons.

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The Blood Crow Mercenary Group had been eliminated, but the crisis was not yet over.

If Wester could hire the Blood Crow Mercenary Group, he could just as easily spend heavily to invite other forces in the Pioneer Territory to deal with Medivh.

Before facing the Hobarton Family head-on, Medivh could only counter Wester's schemes as they came, adapting move by move.

Every move Wester made came at a cost. These two bounties had cost him a great deal of money.

The thought of Wester spending a fortune on bounties and gaining nothing, left to rage impotently in Loran City, filled Medivh with satisfaction.

Fresh corpses were useless to Medivh. After special treatment, those bodies were transported to the Underground Palace in the Graveyard District for storage.

After wiping out the Blood Crow Mercenary Group, Medivh methodically continued building Kurd.

He selected Minotaur bones ranging from one hundred to two hundred and ninety years old for smelting into skeleton components. Bones below one hundred years or above two hundred and ninety years were sent to the Underground Palace for preservation.

Kurd already possessed a decent foundation. Medivh began making long-term plans and no longer smelted every bone he came across.

Heavy Skeleton Warriors resurrected from smelted Minotaur bones were exceptional soldiers.

Using low-year Minotaur bones to resurrect Grey Bone or White Bone Skeletons was far too wasteful. It was better to store them in the Underground Palace, letting time enhance their historical value.

In Medivh's vision, his skeleton legion would start at Green Bone Skeletons, with Grey Bone and White Bone Skeletons serving as logistics personnel to build his territory.

Odyssey had once been a prosperous region, and there were still many ruins of human residential districts.

The Skeleton Assassins had been continuously scouting outward. The hand-drawn map was marked with many red dots, each corresponding to a residential district ruin.

Kurd had a professional archaeological team that went out every night to excavate bones, providing Medivh with a steady stream of spellcasting materials.

Ordinary human bones, unless they were just a few years short of entering the next historical stage, were not specially preserved. Whether Grey Bone, White Bone, or Green Bone, all were smelted.

Medivh's ambition was vast. He wanted to gradually annex the Wilderness and swallow Odyssey by continuously expanding the large square zones.

The production of Grey Bone and White Bone Skeletons could not stop. The more logistics builders, the better.

"Medivh, it's wheat seeds!"

Not long after Medivh returned to the High Tower, Audrey came running over carrying a sack.

While sorting through the spoils of the Blood Crow Mercenary Group, she had found a batch of high-quality wheat seeds.

The Blood Crow Mercenary Group's scouts had done preliminary reconnaissance and knew that Kurd had several farmlands.

Before the Blood Crow Mercenary Group set out in full force, Blood Crow had his men go to the strongholds in the Pioneer Territory to buy a batch of wheat seeds at a high price.

Once the Blood Crow Mercenary Group occupied Kurd, Blood Crow planned to capture some refugees and slaves to farm for him.

A stronghold with stable output was far more noble than a Thug Gang that never knew where its next meal would come from.

Blood Crow hadn't even taken Kurd yet, but he had already brought all his belongings, ready to move in. This showed how much he craved a stronghold.

Who would want to endure wind and rain in the Wilderness every day when they could live in a city that sheltered them from the elements?

"What a pleasant surprise!"

Medivh joyfully tossed the golden wheat grains in his hand.

He had been wondering how to solve the wheat seed problem, and now the Blood Crow Mercenary Group had delivered it right to his door.

With this unexpected batch of wheat seeds, Medivh immediately assigned a squad of Skeleton Farmers to reclaim and cultivate the fertile fields.

Medivh's future territory would be assembled from individual Kurd Nine-Grids.

Each Nine-Grid zone included one city district, two reservoir districts, three farmland districts, one livestock district, one workshop district, and one graveyard district.

The three farmland districts of the Kurd Nine-Grid were already planted with potatoes.

Medivh ordered the skeletons to open two new farmland districts directly east of the northeastern farmland district and the southeastern livestock district. These belonged to the second Nine-Grid zone.

These two farmland districts were near the fully functional East Reservoir District, making irrigation convenient.

No new farmland districts were opened near the West Warehouse District.

Because the wheat seeds brought by the Blood Crow Mercenary Group were only enough to plant two farmland districts. Leaving the land fallow would have been a complete waste of labor.

"Lord Wester, the intermediary has sent word. The Blood Crow Mercenary Group claims they have already killed Medivh."

While the skeletons were tilling the wheat fields, the intermediary relayed the intelligence to Loran City.

This was the second time Wester had heard the Blood Crow Mercenary Group claim Medivh was dead.

"And the corpse?"

Because of the additional mission, Wester had no trust in the Blood Crow Mercenary Group.

When he added the mission, he had included an extra sum of money, asking the intermediary to have Medivh's corpse sent back.

"The intermediary says the Blood Crow Mercenary Group refused to allow an autopsy."

At the time, Blood Crow was already in a panic. He didn't even have the mind to find a disfigured corpse to pass off as a fake.

The intermediary had been scared off. How could he possibly bring back the corpse Wester had specified?

"You think my money is that easy to earn!"

Wester slammed the table and stood up. As composed as he was, being toyed with repeatedly still stoked his fury.

"Have the middleman keep pressing. If they can't bring back what I want, don't blame me for throwing the rules out the window!"

Wester said coldly.

While the Blood Crow Mercenary Group stayed in Odyssey, Wester couldn't easily move against them.

The middlemen were different. They often operated within the Gewalt Federation, and Wester had plenty of ways to deal with them.

"What a troublesome employer!"

After the reply came from above, the middleman who had been scared off had no choice but to steel himself and approach the Blood Crow again.

Their organization couldn't afford to offend those nobles. This task had indeed been mishandled on their end. He could only hope the Blood Crow's foul mood had settled.

"The Blood Crow isn't at camp?"

The middleman didn't find the Blood Crow. The Blood Crow Mercenary Group's camp had only a few mercenaries left.

"Where did the Blood Crow go?"

The middleman did some digging in the Pioneer Territory and learned that the Blood Crow Mercenary Group had mobilized in full force days ago and plunged into the Wilderness.

Currently, all parties were watching the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's movements closely.

If the Blood Crow didn't show up soon, the restless factions would devour the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's assets.

If the Blood Crow Mercenary Group withdrew, other forces would naturally fill its place.

The middleman didn't care about the power shifts in the Pioneer Territory.

Right now, he only wanted to know where the Blood Crow had gone. The employer's task was still waiting for the Blood Crow to answer for it!

"Is the Blood Crow dead?"

After waiting a full half month, even the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's base had been taken over by other forces, yet neither the Blood Crow nor the group's vice-captains or squad leaders had appeared.

The Blood Crow Mercenary Group had been gone for over a month now.

Under these circumstances, it was basically safe to conclude that the Blood Crow Mercenary Group had died in the Wilderness.

Unable to wait for the Blood Crow, the middleman could only relay the sudden development back to his organization.

"They're saying the Blood Crow vanished mysteriously?"

Soon, an urgent message reached Wester's ears.

The middleman organization knew Wester was losing patience. Fearing he might act against them, they passed along information eagerly.

Receiving the middleman organization's reply, Wester's expression turned grim.

Was it really this hard to commission a simple elimination task?

First, he was strung along multiple times. Now, the Blood Crow Mercenary Group that took the job had mysteriously disappeared.

Previous elimination tasks had gone smoothly. Why was it failing now, just when it came to him?