Close Combat Mage
chapter-128

Hearing #1’s words, Suo Jia’s pupils ferociously shrank. This was simply too frightening; they had an unexpected loss of more than 600 companions! From this, one could infer that these girls had experienced the cruelty of life!

#1 continued to mutter, “We were numb and lost ourselves. Gradually, we turned hysterical. Whenever we saw a thief appear before us, we would immediately charge at them. Before they could harm our companions, we’d drain all of their blood! However even so, we were still unable to protect our friends. The thieves rushed outwards from all directions, instantly killing all of the people with us, and then stole all of our merchandise!”

Although Suo Jia had an exceptionally strong expression of resentment and grief on his face, Suo Jia had actually expected such circumstances to happen a while ago. This didn’t mean that Suo Jia was very experienced, as all of these things had been told to him by Eldest Sister. Everything had been planned with Eldest Sister’s help. The bitter experiences that these fire wind warriors had encountered had also been within their expectations.

#1 suddenly raised her voice and shouted in anger, “However, despite all this, we never retreated. Instead, we used all of our power to persevere in the situation. What we hadn’t anticipated was that….”

At this point, all of the girls had begun to cry in grievance. #1 continued through clenched teeth, “But what we hadn’t possibly imagined was that other Commerce Unions like us would join hands with the thieves to go against us after they had stolen our life goods! Having joined forces, we were unable to go against them. After 3 months, that was the first time we had ever been forced into defeat….”

Seeing the grieving girls, Suo Jia sighed as he shook his head. It seemed that….everything really had gone exactly as Eldest Sister had planned. After these girls had experienced so much, they would finally begin to grow. This growth was not only with respect to strength, but also in spirit! Without going through a baptism of blood and fire, one of crafty plots and conspiracies, a warrior would never be able to actually mature!

As a merchant from a Commerce Union, the Golden Flame girls could receive the thieves’ attacks. Even if they suffered great losses, they would still be able to clench their teeth and endure it. However….when the “black blade” had appeared behind them, they had been at a loss. Their spirits had already been crushed, and they were unable to resist the attacks.

If one tried to interfere with competitors of the same profession from obtaining their wealth, a “black blade” would inevitably appear to backstab them. Within this world, this was common sense, and these girls had yet to learn about the rules of this world.

Seeing the expressions of despair on the Golden Flame girls, Suo Jia said with a heavy voice, “Alright, I’ve pretty much understood the bitter encounters you girls have experienced. Right now, I only want to ask one question: Do you girls want to punish those immoral merchants? Do you want to discipline those rotten thieves?”

All of the girls abruptly raised their heads, and their eyes glowed. They shouted in unison — Yes!

Hearing the girls’ resounding replies echo together, Suo Jia smiled in satisfaction and nodded. He knew that although he was still worried, it seemed that he would have to leave the place. If he stayed in the White Villa, there would be no way he could mature.

Thinking up to this point, Suo Jia’s expression suddenly hardened as he said resolutely, “Alright. Now that you all have the determination for revenge, then you girls should tend to your injuries as quickly as possible. Leave everything else to me!”

While speaking, Suo Jia turned around and strode out of the underwater training area. According to Eldest Sister’s plans, they would be entering stage three of their plans. After these three stages finished, the Golden Flame warriors would have truly matured.

Maybe some people would ask in confusion: Why would the country support bandits? In fact this was something that nobody could do anything about. A merchant had the freedom to do what they wanted, and this was not something that could be controlled. With such great amounts of money in their hands, they held large amounts of power as well. Since ancient times, many merchants had rebelled, and the amount of times they had succeeded was too great to count.

In order to suppress the merchants and control their development, the government officially issued the Personal Plundering Law. All of the merchants were allowed to trade freely, but they would also be excused for any plundering as long as they passed 100 kilometers outside of the city walls. As long as they weren’t caught, it was perfectly lawful for any selfish plundering personnel to rob the commerce unions.

However, plundering also had to be authorized, and any unauthorized plundering was called robbery. Although being authorized to private plundering was still robbery, it was nevertheless lawful.

The appearance of these thieves made it difficult for merchants to rise up in power, and in the last thousand years, there hadn’t been any other merchant rebellions. At the same time, each thief family had gradually begun to rise. Now, even if the government wanted to stop supporting personal plundering, they would not dare to rashly abolish the Personal Plundering Law. The thief families might not necessarily be held back, and if all the thieves came together to rebel, then the government would certainly be overthrown!

According to the rules, a private plundering group had to have their own banner, and the items they stole could still be pulled into the city to sell. Of all their profits, 20% of it had to be given over to the government. In actuality, the government was secretly raising its income. They could increase their treasuries by a tremendous amount every year from plundering. Since the times of the emperor that had issued this law, there had not been any thoughts of abolishing private plundering.

In order to restrict private plundering, they were required to pay the private plundering fee. The commerce unions that were robbed had to report to their superiors, and the people who committed the private plundering would also have to report to their superiors their income. If any of the plunderers dared to conceal that information, once they were found out, not only would their qualifications be taken away, they would also be chased and killed no matter where they hid!

Since then… Suo Jia alone had formed the three great organizations: Golden Flame Commerce Union, Golden Shield Mercenary Group, as well as the Golden Blade Private Plundering Corps. This was precisely the third stage of his plan!

After applying for the other two great groups, Suo Jia had returned to the White Villa and brought out his mother. He had delivered her to the home of the city lord, and placed her under Wen Ya’s care. With her there, it was absolutely safe, and no one would dare disturb the city lord’s residence.

As for Eldest Sister and the other sisters, Suo Jia was completely not worried about them. They were under both Wen Ya’s and Emma’s care, and even without it, the six sisters’ upbringings had definitely taught them how to advance and retreat. Leaving the White Villa to them was something that Suo Jia was completely at ease about. Suo Jia had explained everything: If there was any danger, then they would have to immediately abandon the White Villa, as their safety was the most important!

After arranging everything, Suo Jia guided the 36 Golden Flame warriors out of the Holy Light City walls. They headed for the dwarf assembly area. Based on calculations, by the time they got there, the weapons and armor would have already been finished!

They moved swiftly, and after half a month, the group finally reached the Dwarf Canyon. After stating their identities, Suo Jia’s party received an enthusiastic welcome. When Suo Jia inquired where Master Han Sa was, they unexpectedly found out that he was forging behind closed doors!

Helpless, Suo Jia could only stay temporarily at the Great Dwarf Canyon for a while. During the daytime, they practiced by fighting amongst themselves, and during the evening, if Suo Jia didn’t practice the Ice and Snow Pact, then he was in the meditative state extracting information.

After continuously waiting for half a month, finally… the dwarves sent some news. Master Han Sa had come out! After carefully counting the amount of time spent, every month, Master Han Sa could only forge ten battle armors. This was something that was only possible with the cooperation of the other dwarf masters. In actuality, a dwarf master had to spend an entire month to complete a set of battle armor, and Master Han Sa was in charge of this large operation.

Under the Dwarves’ guidance, Suo Jia hurried towards the Dwarves’ holy forging land — Volcanic Island. Right as they entered the island, Suo Jia saw the red faced Han Sa. Although he looked thin and pallid, his spirit was extraordinarily good.

Seeing Suo Jia personally come over, Master Han Sa laughed heartily before saying, “Little brother, this Master Han Sa’s promise has already been honored. There are 40 battle armors; not a single one is missing. In addition, the armors are also half Epic-ranked level sets, hahahaha…”

While speaking, Master Han Sa hugged Suo Jia, and enthusiastically said, “Come come come… quickly follow me and take a look. Within these four months, we were working without stopping to sleep!”

While speaking, the two entered the forging area. Immediately… a layer of golden red lights flickered and almost blinded Suo Jia’s eyes. He looked around; forty sets of battle armor were displayed on the forging models!

Excitedly looking at the result of his work, Master Han Sa said in a loud voice, “I’ll first introduce these Golden Flame armor sets. They are separated into the breastplate, abdomen armor, buttock armor, leg armor, battle boots, arm armor, gloves, helmet, and cloak. These nine parts are part of each other, and each part has a unique function. They completely fit the Golden Flame warriors’ fighting specialties and tactics!”

Speaking up to here, Master Han Sa proudly led Suo Jia towards a row of shelves and easily removed a battle sword from the shelf and introduced it. “This is a battle sword designed according to the Holy Cross Blade. Since the Golden Flame warriors do not use Holy Force, and since they pay more attention on attack rather than defense, I removed the cruciform hand protection!”

Hearing Master Han Sa’s explanation, Suo Jia gasped and looked at that battle sword. Within Master Han Sa’s hands was a flowing curve. It was full of power and it had a beautiful long blade. There were many indentations from the forging, making it so that the user would not lose their grip during battle. The entire battle sword appeared to be one entity, and it seemed like a naturally formed object.

Sighing in praise as he stroked the long sword in his hand, Master Han Sa chattered about the benefits of the battle sword and the battle armor. Unfortunately, Suo Jia’s two eyes had already been engrossed in the sword and armor. Either way, these items were not going to be used by him. It was better for the Golden Flame warriors to understand their functions, right?

Looking at Suo Jia’s absent-minded expression, Master Han Sa could not help but sigh. Stopping his jabbering, he forced a smile and said, “Essentially, after wearing this set of battle armor while matched with this battle sword, the girls’ strength will double at the very least!”

“Ah! That little…” Hearing Master Han Sa’s words, Suo Jia could not help but yell out. He was used to the power of Legendary and Epic-ranked magical equipment, and increasing one’s power by twofold was already quite little in his eyes.

Angrily looking at Suo Jia, Master Han Sa shouted with fury, “While I was explaining carefully, you did not listen. Now you are carelessly speaking. You really infuriate me!”

Seeing Suo Jia’s innocent expression, Master Han Sa helplessly let out a sigh, and said weakly, “Alright, I’ll summarize again and try to be a bit more brief. However, you need to listen carefully this time, and don’t give such immature evaluations. Otherwise, I will really explode from anger!”