An Arm and Five Million Gold Coins

"Brother came back in a hurry this time and didn't bring you anything to eat."

Moke took out a few silver coins and stuffed them into Wharton's arms. "Take this money. Buy yourself something whenever you're craving a snack."

"Silver coins!"

Wharton's mouth fell open in delight. Then he sneakily tucked the silver coins into his pocket, grinning from ear to ear. "Hehe, now I can buy things from Auntie Deli!"

As he spoke, he cautiously glanced at Hogg.

Only when he saw that Hogg did not seem to have noticed did he relax and pat his pocket.

Seeing Wharton like that reminded Moke of children from his previous life secretly buying spicy snacks behind their parents' backs, and he could not help smiling.

Who could have imagined that this little fellow would become a Saint Realm Dragonblood Warrior twenty years later?

"Young Master Moke,"

While the two were fooling around, the butler Hiri walked over carrying a plate of roast lamb.

There was surprise and gratification in his eyes as he looked at Moke.

Seeing Moke's transformed appearance yesterday had kept old Hiri awake all night.

He had served the Baruch Clan for three generations, and now he would finally see the Baruch Clan regain its glory. Old Hiri was filled with excitement.

After the meal, Hillman arrived as well and could not help looking Moke up and down.

"Uncle Hillman, is there something on my face?" Moke touched his face.

Hillman's face was full of amazement. "I really can't connect you with that golden-scaled monster. The Dragonblood Warrior Family truly lives up to its reputation!"

His face was filled with wonder. It was hard for him to imagine that the monster who had easily crushed a Seventh-Level Warrior yesterday was actually Moke. The contrast was simply too great.

"Hillman, I'll have to trouble you to escort Moke to Ernst Institute..."

Hogg, who was clearly much more relaxed today, stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because Moke was countless times stronger than Hillman.

Moke chuckled. "Father, there's no need for Uncle Hillman to escort me."

Hillman laughed as well. "If we really ran into bandits, I'd probably just hold you back."

"Haha, true." Hogg laughed heartily.

Before leaving, Moke said to Hogg, "Father, don't sell the things at home for now. I'll find a way to cover Wharton's tuition at O'Brien Academy."

"In a few days, have Uncle Hillman come find me. I'll give him the gold coins."

After transforming, he was a Ninth-Level Peak Warrior. A casual trip to the Magical Beast Mountain Range could earn him hundreds of thousands of gold coins. There was no need to sell the family's possessions.

Besides, in reality, he did not even need to go to the Magical Beast Mountain Range to kill magical beasts.

Why exchange magicite crystals for gold when robbing people was faster?

"Mm, all right."

Hogg was rather calm now. "No matter what you plan to do, be careful."

"Also, don't tell Linley about your mother."

"Don't worry, Father. I know what I'm doing." Moke nodded solemnly.

"Brother, you went home yesterday?"

On the back mountain of Ernst Institute, Linley found Moke, his large eyes wide open. "Why didn't you tell me? I wanted to go home too."

"It was only a spur-of-the-moment decision."

Moke casually waved his hand. The earth in front of him immediately rose up, forming a smooth earthen stool. "Sit down. I have good news for you this time."

"Good news? What good news?" Linley was quickly drawn in by Moke's words.

"He can cast a second-rank earth-style spell instantly so easily. His spiritual force has definitely reached, or even surpassed, the Fifth Level." The illusory Doering Cowart beside Linley noticed the extraordinary nature of Moke's casual move.

"He has strength, yet he hides it. What secrets does this boy have?"

Doering Cowart had been observing him all along. He was extremely interested in Moke.

He always felt that the youth was shrouded in a hazy mist that even he, a former Saint Realm expert, could not see through.

"Wharton has awakened the Dragonblood Warrior Bloodline. Father has already decided to send him to O'Brien Academy. In a few years, our Baruch Clan will probably become famous through Wharton."

"Ah? Really? Then won't we be unable to see little Wharton for a long time?"

Linley was delighted at first, then his little face wrinkled. "And O'Brien Academy's tuition is expensive too. Father will probably have to put in a lot of effort."

"Don't worry. I'll find a way to deal with the tuition." Moke smiled.

"You?"

Linley stared at him. "Brother, how are you going to make money?"

"Secret!"

"Brother, you won't even tell me?" Linley's eyes widened at once.

Fenlai City

As the younger brother of King Clayde and a duke who held real power in the Fenlai Kingdom, Duke Patterson's Mansion was extraordinarily luxurious.

Recently, however, the guards in this magnificent mansion had clearly increased in number.

"Still no news of Luke?" In a hidden underground chamber, Duke Patterson looked at his subordinate with a grim expression.

"My lord, not yet." His subordinate shook his head fearfully.

"Useless trash!"

Duke Patterson gritted his teeth. "First Hall, then Luke. Two Seventh-Level Warriors died under such strange circumstances, yet you people have no information at all!"

"Please forgive me, my lord!"

The Sixth-Level Warrior immediately knelt on the ground and said in terror, "I've already sent more people out. It shouldn't be long before we receive news of Lord Luke."

"Hmph!"

Duke Patterson snorted coldly, then casually waved his hand and dismissed the subordinate from the secret chamber.

It had already been several days, yet there was still no news of Luke.

No one alive, no corpse dead.

Duke Patterson knew that Luke had most likely died just like Hall.

"Who is attacking my men from the shadows?" His face was filled with murderous fury.

"Is it Duke Mobley, Duke Bailey, or some Eighth-Level expert I offended?"

Several names of people he suspected flashed through Duke Patterson's mind.

Naturally, Hogg was not among them.

After all, Duke Patterson did not believe anyone could know what he had done back then.

Besides, a mere rural noble could not possibly have the ability to kill two Seventh-Level Warriors.

Hogg's name had never even crossed his mind.

"Mm?!"

Just as he was thinking, the man who had just left the secret chamber let out a muffled groan.

"Who?!"

Duke Patterson shouted, only to discover that the chamber had somehow been enveloped by a black curtain. His body involuntarily trembled.

"A darkness-type soundproofing spell?"

"Is he here for me?!"

Duke Patterson immediately realized something was wrong. The battle qi of a Seventh-Level Warrior surged from his body, and he grabbed the sword hidden beneath the stone table.

However, as the stone door of the chamber shattered, countless tiny stones shot through the air at him, forcing Duke Patterson to block them with battle qi.

And behind the flying rubble, a golden afterimage arrived in an instant!

"So fast!"

Duke Patterson only saw a blur. Before he could even make out the intruder's face, the sword in his hand was knocked away, and a chill touched his neck.

A longsword radiating coldness had already been placed against his neck from behind.

"At least an Eighth-Level Warrior, perhaps even a Ninth-Level Warrior!"

Duke Patterson's heart turned cold. When did I ever offend such an expert?

"I ask, you answer. Say one extra word, or give one wrong answer..."

Moke applied slight pressure with the Iron Leaf Sword in his hand. Duke Patterson's neck immediately hurt, and warm blood flowed down it.

"Y-yes, yes!" Duke Patterson, standing at death's edge, nodded frantically.

"You have anonymous magicite crystal cards from Four Nations Bank, right?"

Four Nations Bank's anonymous magicite crystal cards recognized the card rather than the person when money was withdrawn. Even a dog could take the card and withdraw the money.

That was the reputation of Four Nations Bank.

"Yes!"

Duke Patterson relaxed slightly inside.

The intruder seemed to be after money. Perhaps that meant he could keep his life.

"Where is it? Tell me, and I'll spare your life." Moke spoke coldly.

He wanted to leave Duke Patterson for Hogg to kill. Today, he was merely here to collect some interest.

The family happened to be short of money, and Moke felt no psychological burden robbing him of his wealth.

He only found it satisfying.

"In my bedroom, in the hidden compartment behind the landscape painting on the wall."

Duke Patterson hurriedly said, "There are five anonymous gold cards from Four Nations Bank inside, each containing one million gold coins."

"That's all the wealth I have."

To save his life, Duke Patterson did not dare hide anything.

Slash!

A flash of cold light swept past, and one of Duke Patterson's arms was severed outright.

Blood sprayed everywhere, splashing across his face. The warmth and the pain shooting through his arm made Duke Patterson want to scream.

But the sound caught in his throat. Before he could cry out, Moke knocked him unconscious.

"Even if your own brother invites a Radiant Church mage, he should be able to reattach that severed arm, right?"

"Fine. It'll be even more satisfying for Father to kill you whole."

Moke swiftly left the secret chamber.

With his transformed Ninth-Level Peak strength, not to mention a mere Duke Patterson's Mansion, even infiltrating Fenlai Palace would go unnoticed.

After all, Fenlai Palace did not have a Saint Realm expert either.

"As expected, he didn't dare lie." Moke took out the five anonymous magicite crystal cards Duke Patterson had hidden and chuckled. "A full five million gold coins. Even Duke Patterson must be aching over this, right?"

The Fenlai Kingdom had existed for so many years, yet it had only accumulated a little over one billion gold coins.

Duke Patterson's total wealth probably only exceeded ten million gold coins.

Five million in cash was enough to make his heart bleed.

More importantly, knowing that such a hidden expert had set his sights on him would probably leave Duke Patterson living in misery from now on.

"Unless you hide in the palace forever, you might be assassinated the moment you step outside. Scare you to death, you old bastard." Moke felt utterly refreshed.

Under the moonlight, he left Duke Patterson's Mansion, left Fenlai City, and returned to Ernst Institute, as though nothing had ever happened.

"Patterson! Patterson!" King Clayde hurried over after receiving the news.

On Duke Patterson's bed, he saw Duke Patterson with a deathly pale face.

At that moment, only the two brothers were in the room. Everyone else had been sent away.

"Brother!"

In such a private setting, Patterson addressed him so intimately.

But he looked utterly miserable now, and even his voice carried fear.

"What exactly happened?!"

Although Clayde was older than Patterson, Clayde was a Ninth-Level Warrior. With his head of golden hair, he looked very young.

As he stared sternly at Duke Patterson, Duke Patterson's heart trembled.

"Brother, I don't know what happened either!"

Duke Patterson hurriedly explained, "Yesterday..."

"An Eighth-Level, perhaps even Ninth-Level expert infiltrated your mansion, cut off one of your arms, and did it only for several million gold coins?"

King Clayde shook his head. "Impossible. A Ninth-Level expert wouldn't lack that amount of money. The attacker was either Eighth Level, or your enemy."

"Brother, how could I possibly provoke such an expert?" Duke Patterson hurriedly shook his head. "At the time, I only saw a blur, and then he appeared behind me. Even an Eighth-Level Warrior couldn't reach that kind of speed, could he?"

"Some who specialize in speed can." Clayde merely offered that explanation.

"Enough. I'll invite a great mage from the Radiant Church to reattach your arm."

Clayde frowned. "But for now, you should live in the palace."

"Yes."

Patterson nodded repeatedly, then asked, "What about that assassin?"

"Can he be tracked down?"

"Trying to track an Eighth-Level or Ninth-Level Warrior? It's far too difficult."

Clayde shook his head. "Unless he attacks again, there's no hope."

"My five million gold coins..." Duke Patterson fell into despair.

That was the work of half his life, gone in a single day!

"Keep your life first."

Clayde glanced at his younger brother, then left the room.

"Patterson has always handled matters for me. Could someone be trying to deal with me this time?"

After leaving Patterson, the golden-haired Clayde began to ponder.

"But he only dared attack Patterson and didn't dare target me."

Clayde sneered. "Most likely, just an Eighth-Level Warrior skilled in speed."

"But even if he's a Ninth-Level Warrior, attacking me is nothing but courting death!"

Clayde himself was a Ninth-Level Warrior, and the captain of his guard was also a Ninth-Level Warrior. The rest of the guards were all elite Eighth-Level Warriors.

Working together, they could hold their own even against several Ninth-Level Warriors joining forces!

"Moke, where did you get so many gold coins? There must be twenty thousand here, right?"

Several days later, Hillman took a heavy bag from Moke's hands in utter shock.

The bag was truly quite heavy. Even as a Sixth-Level Warrior, he found it extremely weighty.

Moke gestured for Hillman not to worry and handed him a magic crystal card. "Uncle Hillman, take these twenty thousand gold coins back to Father to improve your daily lives."

"There are one hundred thousand gold coins in this magic crystal card. It's Wharton's tuition."

"As for the magic crystal card, to avoid attracting attention, wait until you reach the O'Brien Empire before using it."

"One hundred thousand gold coins?!" Hillman was instantly dumbfounded.

"It's only been a few days, and you've gotten more than a hundred thousand gold coins?"

Hillman leaned close to Moke and lowered his voice. "Did you go rob someone?"

Moke glanced at Uncle Hillman in surprise, then chuckled. "Uncle Hillman, as expected of the man who watched me grow up. You really do understand me."

"Understand my ass!"

Hillman rarely swore at Moke. Then he frowned. "Your mother was very kind... You robbed bad people, right?"

"Duke Patterson," Moke said. "I even cut off one of his arms. You can tell Father about that when you return."

"Tell him that I'll leave Duke Patterson's life for Father."

"..."