Man on the ark, forced to become king

Unless it's right now...

"Of course, that's all in the past, nothing to brag about."

Lin Lu casually placed her divine body, now transformed into a sword, against the throne. She glanced at the expressions of the two men, and her expression softened again.

This was exactly the result he wanted. The divine body transformed into a sword was incredibly powerful. He couldn't unleash its full power yet, and could only use it as a special weapon. However, it was enough to serve as a deterrent—provided that someone recognized its value.

However, it now seems that both Wei Yanwu and Kal'tsit have clearly recognized some of the essence of this thing, which makes things much easier.

Cooperation is always based on equality between the two parties. From a comprehensive perspective, the strength of Lungmen and Babel Tower is undoubtedly far superior to that of the newly born Golden Tree. Therefore, if the cooperation is to proceed smoothly in the future, it is necessary to show off some strength appropriately.

However, there are ways to flaunt military power.

The opening of the Great Blessing was that opportunity. The purpose of the divine body transforming into a sword was to intimidate. A weapon forged from the body of a god may not be the strongest among his collection of weapons, but it is undoubtedly the most suitable for intimidation.

So far, it seems to be quite effective.

"Mr. Wei, Miss Kal'tsit, I've invited you both here today not only to witness this event, but also to discuss another matter."

Seeing that both of them looked thoughtful, Lin Lu was not in a hurry and said slowly, "From today onwards, Golden Tree will accept commissions from partners, including but not limited to material transportation, military support and medical services. If you two are interested, some basic technology sharing can also be included in the future cooperation scope."

“I can represent Lungmen in facilitating this in-depth cooperation.”

Wei Yanwu agreed without much thought, as Lin Lu's suggestion coincided with his own ideas.

Longmen and the Golden Tree are far apart and have no real conflict of interest. If they can leverage the power of the Golden Tree, they can entrust some tricky matters to them. All Longmen needs to give up is some money, which is the least important thing.

Through cooperation, Lungmen can obtain military support, and Golden Tree can obtain the resources it wants. Since it is a win-win cooperation, why not do it?

“The Tower of Babel has no objections, and we now have a task to entrust to the Golden Tree.”

Kal'tsit pondered for a moment, then nodded and looked at Wei Yanwu, her meaning self-evident.

Wei Yanwu was sensible enough to take his leave. Since he had already achieved his purpose in coming here and had many affairs to attend to in Longmen, there was no need for him to stay any longer.

After he left, only Kal'tsit remained among the outsiders present. Lin Lu didn't try to hide it from the others, quietly watching Kal'tsit and waiting for her to continue.

“Mr. Lin, our Babel Tower will soon be undertaking a crucial operation. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we would like to entrust the Golden Tree with military support to ensure that the item arrives safely in Kazdel.”

"Military support? What level of military support? We don't mind accepting Babel's request, but the price needs to be agreed upon in advance."

Lin Lu didn't care what Babel Tower was planning; he only cared about how much profit he could make from this deal. As long as there were enough resources coming in, the growth of the Golden Tree could be accelerated, and that was the most important thing right now.

"I intend to ask you to take action personally. Babel Tower is willing to pay five hundred Pure Origin Stones for this task, which will last for ten days."

After careful consideration, Kal'tsit gritted her teeth and finally gave a price that even she herself found a little painful.

Five hundred pure source stones in ten days—that's a very high price, more than enough to hire a large mercenary group.

The appearance of the divine body transformed into a sword elevated the Golden Tree's status in her heart, and with its changed position, its price naturally soared.

"Okay, I'll take this task."

Five hundred pure source stones for a single escort mission—such a generous deal is rare. Lin Lu made the decision without hesitation, a friendly smile appearing on her face.

He could tell that Kal'tsit's thoughts were complicated. He didn't know what her purpose was in inviting Golden Tree to take charge of this mission, but as long as she was paid, he didn't care!

Now that the Great Blessing has begun, he has gained even more confidence. Let alone a small guard mission, if the Tower of Babel dares to offer a sufficient price, he might even consider assassinating the Regent.

As for what the Tower of Babel wants to plot, let them think about it. Once the Golden Tree has truly grown up, all its schemes and tricks will be no match for absolute power!

Chapter 86 Wilderness, Girl, Potatoes

Babel Tower offered a high price but had low requirements, so the final agreement was that Lin Lu would be assigned to carry out the mission alone.

In fact, given the rare high price, Lin Lu wouldn't mind bringing Mostima and Fiameta along, as this would reduce the chances of many unexpected events.

However, Kal'tsit didn't seem to want them to participate in the mission, and the Golden Tree didn't have any other available manpower at the moment, so Lin Lu had no choice but to go alone—and brought W with her.

Melina and the awakened Lani, along with Mostima and the others, stayed under the Golden Tree with the Soul-Summoning Bell to make some simple environmental modifications. After all, this was their future base, and even if they didn't have the necessary conditions now, they still needed a decent place to live. They couldn't all just pitch tents in the wasteland.

It is worth mentioning that Hedley showed great enthusiasm for this and 'voluntarily' took on most of the physical work. Lin Lu was very satisfied with this. After explaining some follow-up plans, she took W to the mission location. There was still plenty of time, so she could teach W a little along the way.

However, W's talent in fire prayer seems to be a little unbalanced.

She could never steadily control the simplest Prayer - Fire, but she progressed very quickly in learning the more profound Flame Sin technique. Before long, she could use it quite well, which made Lin Lu very suspicious that this girl might have some hidden self-destructive tendencies.

"I don't have that kind of thing. Who would want to die when they can live?"

In the makeshift camp under the cover of night, W held a tiny flame in his hands and vehemently denied it.

"You say no, but your actions don't tell you the truth?"

Lin Lu scoffed at this, leaned against the withered tree and stretched, teasingly reminding him, "Don't blame me for not being clear, the Flame Sin is a life-or-death move for you right now. After using it, you'll either die or be badly injured. Most importantly, your clothes aren't fireproof. You don't want to be running around naked in front of the enemy, do you?"

"Of course I know!"

W's face flushed red, and she shouted angrily. The flame she was holding suddenly flared up, almost burning her hair off. Startled, she quickly extinguished it and glared at Lin Lu: "Can't you be quiet! Don't disturb my practice!"

"There's no other way. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there's no one else here but you. If I don't talk to you, who else can I talk to?"

Lin Lu rolled her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips, and lowered her voice.

"Speaking of which, you actually dared to come out with me. Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of the situation?"

"If you really wanted to do this, do you think I could have avoided it?"

W curled her lip in disdain, making no attempt to avoid the topic. After spending some time with him, she had come to realize that this person only liked to take advantage verbally. At most, he would try to take advantage of her while riding a horse, but he would never do anything else.

Since I've already seen everything and touched everything, what's there to be afraid of?

Moreover, she didn't think that a mercenary with such rude behavior who wandered the wilderness all day was really that attractive. If Lin Lu really had feelings for him, then what should have happened on the first day he was captured would have happened already. Why wait until now?

"You're a girl, after all. Don't speak so rudely. You should learn to be more polite sometimes."

"You're talking politely to a Sarkaz mercenary? That's for noblemen."

"In terms of status, you are now far more noble than those worthless nobles."

Lin Lu smiled casually, not continuing the topic, but instead asking about something else.

"Speaking of which, this mission might involve contact with that princess. Don't you have any ideas? I've heard she's a hero admired by many Sarkaz people."

"What does that have to do with me?"

W replied nonchalantly, flames reigniting on his fingers, seemingly uninterested.

"Some people say she's as warm as the sun, and I thought you would admire her."

"Tch, even I know that the sun can burn a person to ashes."

The girl turned around, her back to Lin Lu, staring at the flame on her finger, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips.

What kind of sun-like figure is she... Hasn't she already found her own sun? Why go looking for another one?

Having witnessed countless acts of deceit and life-or-death struggles over the past decade or so, and constantly teetering on the edge of survival, W doesn't believe that many people can truly treat them as 'human beings' like Lin Lu does, even if that person is the king of Sarkaz.

She enjoys being treated equally and trusted, so why would she go to great lengths to chase after some hero?

That might be another Sarkaz hero, but not hers.

"It seems I still have quite a bit of charm."

With a touch of narcissism, Lin Lu straightened up, glanced at the crooked tree trunk behind her, and suddenly had a bold idea.

He subtly rubbed against the cushion beneath him, moving closer to W. When he got close enough, he suddenly leaned back and rested his head on W's lap.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

The flame on W's finger flickered and almost went out. She lowered her head in dissatisfaction, pushed the head on her leg with her elbow, and looked disgusted.

"Don't blame me if your hair gets burned later."

"Your little fire won't even touch me."

Lin Lu didn't take it to heart, rubbed her head back again, let out a comfortable sigh, and felt a little regretful.

Unfortunately, W was wearing field pants that were practical for combat, so lying down didn't feel particularly comfortable. It would have been much more comfortable if she had worn shorts or a skirt like Mostima or Fiameta.

"Does this make you feel better?"

W's expression showed even more disgust.

However, despite saying that, she still straightened her slightly bent legs.

Perhaps she herself didn't realize that, although they hadn't spent much time together, she had subconsciously become accustomed to this level of intimacy. If it had been someone else in the past, they would probably have been blown away by a bomb long ago.

But it was Lin Lu who did this. She would instinctively lower her guard and even take it for granted, which was unbelievable for a mercenary who was used to being vigilant about everything around her.

Lin Lu was happy to do so; even through the thick combat pants, the girl's legs felt much more comfortable against the rough tree trunk than against it.

"……What are you doing?"

But as he lay there, he suddenly felt something was off. Why did he smell a faint aroma of something roasting? It smelled like... potatoes?

Opening his eyes, he saw W with a dagger stuck in his hand, holding a potato he had somehow pulled out, while orange flames rose from his other hand, scorching the potato's skin.

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just a little hungry."

W flipped the potato over, and then, as if struck by a strange thought, his expression turned somewhat comical.

"Look at this potato, doesn't it look like..."

Chapter 87 Conflict in the Night