Chapter 38: Emperor of Equino

Rumour had it that this tharok was grandmaster Chen's first contracted beast that is before it was mercilessly shot down by the president of Sola City, the biggest of all of Equino's cities. In return, he had left a nasty scar on the culprit resulting in a long-lasting conflict with no end in sight.

Being that it was a rare creature it was the last tharok to be sighted which was a major loss to Jin Chen. He dunked the creature in gallons of a preservation elixir and put it on exhibition behind his throne. Whether it was in remembrance or a true show of strength that was yet to be determined.

Adorned in a white robe he casually sat on his throne with his eyes closed like he had fallen asleep. But judging from his posture he was a true reflection of the saying heavy is the head that wears the crown.

The serene environment conducive for sleep was suddenly disrupted when a man with partially purple skin and long ears entered the hall and bowed before him. Judging from the sweat running down his face you could tell he had been running all the way here. He seemed panicked that his body was even trembling. Whether it was because he was frightened by the news he came to report or afraid of Jin Chen that was yet to be discerned.

"Speak," said Jin Chen without even bothering to open his eyes. From where he was he could sense this man's uneasiness but he didn't seem shaken.

The man rose on his feet and said, "A rogue group infiltrated the borders of Rykan at the southeastern side and slaughtered several residents..... though we managed to kill all of them there were still casualties," trembling like a leaf.

From his report, one would say Jin Chen should be at least glad that the rogue group was annihilated but that wasn't the issue. The fact that someone even managed to get through their defences meant they weren't simple people.

Counting the incident with the bear claw guy it was safe to say someone was deliberately messing with him. "What did they want?" he asked curious to know what was so important that they had to risk their lives just to get it.

"They got word that a novice outlier found his way into Rykan's territory and a large bounty was put on his head dead or alive. All the client needs is the crystal energy core of that outlier," explained the man fearing that Rykan will soon be under siege just for that one person.

Jin Chen scoffed as he finally sat up straight. This wasn't the first time these savages had hunted down outliers for their crystal energy core but this was surely the first time someone was willing to offend him just to get that person.

He himself was an outlier that got hunted down as a novice just because his constitution made him superior. He survived so could any other outlier out there which is why he never interfered.

But now someone had deliberately planted a diamond in his soil just so that a group of brazen idiots would come digging in his back yard.

If this wasn't to take him down then what else would be the reason. "Deploy all guild members and they have permission to use deadly force lest these small fries think we are easy to bully. And find this outlier... I need to have a little chat with him," he spoke in a rather flat tone as though disinterested.

Such coincidences happen in life but in Equino there is no such thing as a coincidence. Someone was definitely pulling the strings in the shadows and he had some idea who that someone could be.

That very someone was sweeping everything off his desk in anger. His plan to infiltrate Rykan had failed yet again. Du She was the one who built this entire system after his uncle figured out a way to enter a different dimension which is Equino.

His uncle had sent countless subjects across the threshold but failed each time. Just when he found a way to reconfigure the human DNA to adapt to Equino's harsh environment he was arrested and hauled to prison for his unethical practices.

It was Du She who took his uncle's secret findings and convinced a bunch of rich countries that his uncle's research could make them powerful beyond imagination. This ultimately led to his uncle being released from prison and the two built this successful project disguised as a game. That alone should have earned him the right to be the king with everyone bowing before him as the true emperor of Equino.

One would assume that would be so because the man literally built this entire place but no. There was still one person who dared challenge his authority. One person who had other city lords growing enough balls to challenge him as well. He built Sola city in a strategically advantaged territory in terms of resources, route and climate.

The rest of the cities were meant to be for rejects. Those who were too poor and unqualified to stay in Sola would reside there but Jin Chen screwed with his plans. He built Rykan from the ground up and flipped Du She off with his middle finger. Soon other cities followed suit having seen that it was possible to outsmart the system.

Du She was so upset that he shot Jin Chen's bird out of the sky but in return, he got a terrible scar that even his own mother couldn't recognize him. This meant the respect and fear of him took a terrible hit which is why he decided to bring this person down using the man's little brother.

Without getting his hands dirty he catalyzed the chain reaction from the novice base which is also nearest to Rykan's borders but the little worm slipped away straight into his older brother's territory.

This was fine by him so he spread the word with a hefty bounty on top of the blue-haired boy's head but who knew Jin Chen's people would actually manage to slaughter everyone and intensify security. Talk about having such a fuckin bad day.