The Empire's Current Situation, or Should I Run and Lie Low First!

Bane picked up the RC Cell Injector from the suitcase, toyed with it for a moment, and asked, "How do you use it?"

"Stick it into your kidney and inject it," Frant explained, though he hesitated for a second before adding, "But I've never actually seen it used myself. You'd best not use this thing lightly."

"Afraid I'll eat you?" Bane chuckled.

Of course, even if Frant hadn't said that, Bane wouldn't have injected it. Before he had consumed the Dark-Dark Fruit, he might have considered it, but now he had plenty of options and no need to take such a risk.

However, the injector wasn't without value. Perhaps he could take it to the world of pirates and find someone to test it on. If the results were decent and there were no unacceptable side effects, he could consider it then.

Putting the injector back into the case, Bane asked casually, "How many more of these do you have?"

"How many? Do you really think this is some common junk? This is stable superpower from another world. Even with the side effects, there are plenty of people in the black market willing to take the risk." Frant wore an expression that suggested Bane was joking.

In fact, his words held water. Despite the side effects, such an item was bound to be highly sought after on the black market; even if the side effect was cannibalism, there would still be plenty of desperate outlaws who wanted it!

Bane didn't respond to that, instead tapping the ash off his cigar before asking again, "So, how many needles?"

"I give up on you. Three needles. Do you want them or not?" Frant asked.

"What's the price?" Bane asked again.

"Cough, I bought these from someone else at a high price. I won't even try to make a profit off you—eight hundred thousand per needle." Frant rubbed his hands together, looking at Bane with a grin.

"Fine. Including the one you said you'd give me, that's three needles for one million six hundred thousand pesos. Deal!" Bane struck the deal immediately.

Frant froze for a moment, then wailed, "What pesos? I want Imperial Silver Coins!"

"Where in this hellhole would we find silver coins? Even if there were any, do you think people of our standing could get our hands on that many?" Bane waved his hand, acting like a rogue.

Speaking of pesos and silver coins, one had to mention the current situation.

On this continent, there were once two powerful empires: Sodis in the west and Seris in the east.

Both empires had long histories spanning a thousand years, but over three hundred years ago, internal strife broke out within the Sodis Empire. The Seris Empire seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, dragging the Sodis civil war out for two or three generations—over sixty years.

Sixty years of bloodletting brought the once-mighty Sodis to the brink of collapse. Deeming the timing right, the Seris Empire launched a full-scale war against the Sodis Empire. This war lasted another twenty years, effectively shattering Sodis.

The Sodis Empire lost nearly half its territory, and the remaining regions fractured into several so-called "kingdoms" and "duchies." From then on, there was only one empire on the continent.

That was the Seris Empire. Over the last two hundred years, the Empire slowed its westward expansion to digest the newly conquered lands. As the saying goes, it is easier to conquer than to occupy; the Empire paid a heavy price and exhausted much of its national strength to stabilize these new territories.

Twenty years ago, the Empire prepared to restart the war in the west to completely wipe out the remnants of Sodis. But before the war had truly begun, World-Crossing Gates began appearing all over the world. The resulting chaos within the Empire forced them to abandon the war, despite their tactical advantage.

Since then, the mode of warfare shifted from absolute control by the Imperial military to a collaborative model with the private sector—a model now known as the "Westward Expansion."

The Empire encouraged private forces to spontaneously erode the west, seizing land and resources, and promised titles and legal status to those who performed well.

To a certain extent, this was a way to divert the massive internal conflicts piling up within the country, hoping to guide ambitious and capable individuals into this Westward Expansion to wreak havoc on the people of the west.

History proved that the Westward Expansion achieved significant results. New Dar City, where Bane was currently located, was a city occupied and established by the Empire during the Westward Expansion over the past decade.

Because this was an area where the Empire's control was weak and it served as a frontline, New Dar City was incredibly chaotic.

However, a new territory had been conquered recently; it was estimated that the new area would become the new frontline, and this place would become a logistics transit hub, which should improve the order here.

But even with the successes of the Westward Expansion, rebellions had frequently broken out within the Empire over the years, especially in the western regions that once belonged to the Sodis Empire.

Three years ago, a guy named Tornis appeared out of nowhere in the western region, claiming to be a descendant of a great Sodis noble. Having mastered a World-Crossing Gate, he incited a bloody rebellion, turning many in the territory into vampires and establishing the Eternal Night Empire.

Although everyone viewed this "Eternal Night Empire" as a joke and it was quickly crushed by the Empire, those vampire remnants had yet to be completely wiped out and would occasionally pop up to stir the pot.

Examples like this were not rare.

Consequently, Bane initially felt that the Empire's situation was even less ideal than his own, and it might collapse at any moment.

So, the current situation could be summarized as follows: the Imperial military was suppressing rebellions everywhere, and various ambitious figures were either rebelling or participating in the Westward Expansion. The national situation couldn't exactly be called precarious, but it was certainly very unstable.

And these pesos were the local currency circulating in the Westward Expansion zones due to the Empire's relaxed regulations; they were certainly incomparable to the silver and gold coins issued by the Empire.

After some haggling with Frant, Bane successfully secured the three RC Cell Injectors for two million six hundred thousand pesos.

Without selling his property, this effectively emptied Bane's coffers. In fact, even Frant hadn't expected Bane to spend so much money on this medicine.

After concluding the transaction, Bane asked, "With the Westward Expansion achieving more results, I expect the environment in New Dar won't be as lax as before. You're well-informed—have you heard any interesting news lately?"

"Information isn't free, you know," Frant habitually tried to squeeze out a bit more.

However, seeing Bane weighing the injectors in his hand and glancing occasionally at his kidney, he quickly smiled and said, "But given our relationship, talking about money hurts our friendship."

He was genuinely afraid Bane might stick him with a needle. Even if the needle was expensive, he didn't feel he had the fortune to enjoy it.

Looking left and right again to ensure no one was eavesdropping, Frant whispered, "There is a rumor. I overheard it by chance while doing work for a real noble."

"What kind of information?" Bane couldn't help but lower his voice as he asked.

"I don't know if it's true, but I heard that in the Imperial Capital, the Dragon Emperor has finally lost patience with the endless rebellions in the west. He intends to dispatch the Dragon Guard Imperial Army to completely annihilate the chaotic rebel forces here. This is a completely different level of intensity compared to the local armies' suppression efforts. Everyone knows what kind of ruthless man the Dragon Emperor is—he is the iron-blooded emperor who truly slaughtered an entire other world," Frant said, looking somewhat terrified.

Bane fell silent upon hearing this. A moment later, Frant continued, "So the situation in New Dar City is likely even worse than you predicted. Who knows, when the Dragon Guard Imperial Army comes to suppress the rebellion, they might just sweep this place clean while they're at it."

After saying this, Frant added with some regret, "I only told you this news. We probably won't see each other for a long time after this."

"You're leaving?" Bane raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Why else would I be offloading all my stock? It's to quickly recoup my capital and run. Maybe when things are more peaceful here, I'll have a chance to come back and take a look," Frant nodded in admission.

Bane clicked his tongue and said, "Actually, I'm planning to run too. The water in the Empire is too deep. I'd better find a place to develop myself first."

"You're leaving too?" Frant's eyes lit up. "Where to? Should we travel together?"

"Where I'm going, you can't follow. Let's just go our separate ways. Maybe we'll meet again if fate allows." Bane shook his head, rejecting Frant's proposal.

His friendship with Frant wasn't even worth two million six hundred thousand pesos, let alone worth entrusting with his secrets.

That's right, Bane intended to head to the world of pirates first to avoid the storm and develop his strength.