The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 425 - 358 update, [The Era of the Great Rift Expedition] has arrived

Chapter 425: Chapter 358 update, [The Era of the Great Rift Expedition] has arrived

The autumn night wind swayed past the thistles by the horseshoes.

The mosquitoes were still rampant, and the horse’s tail flicked lightly.

"Smack!" Someone slapped their face, then bent down close to the campfire, saw the bloodied mosquito in their palm, laughed with delight, then grabbed a handful of dirt, rubbed it in their palm, and dabbed away the blood.

Lind was eating a thin wheat cracker with a bowl of thick "gravy" made from peas and potatoes—it was so thick that if you turned the bowl upside down, the gravy wouldn’t even spill out, akin to solidified lard.

The accompanying military chef would kindly wipe the splattered soup off the rim of the bowl with an apron before serving, ensuring the rim was clean and tidy. However, when Lind stuffed a mouthful of the dish with his cracker, the complex flavors made him nostalgically realize he was indeed no material for hardships.

Lind was preparing to head to Snake Catcher Fortress. The first "Crystal Defense Tower" was about to be completed. The wizards had been busy for days and nights, and along the way, he would conceal his presence to check out the black market conditions in the small market of Black Hoof Village.

The soldiers accompanying him also enjoyed these dishes during their camping rest.

Meat was still a scarce resource, animal husbandry was harder than expected, but soldiers always received the best benefits. Without enough food, they couldn’t fight—a sentiment Lind strongly agreed with since he had often gone into battle on an empty stomach and deeply detested it.

Perhaps that was why many people, despite knowing the perils of joining the army, were still desperate to join Lind’s forces.

The sour meat juice meatballs, which were actually more like dumplings, had a shell made from minced root flour of Solanaceae plants. Their only merit was their filling and hard-to-digest nature, which risked constipation if consumed in excess. However, the chefs were now working on eliminating these drawbacks.

The plant roots were baked, ground into powder, mixed with water into a dough that formed small lumps, soaked in meat juice, and then shaped into small dumplings. The sour sauce was an omnipresent ingredient, significantly reducing the dish’s cost.

As a Duke, Lind also had a salad that sometimes included some fennel and various spiced sauces. However, Lind found the dish mediocre at best; the spicy salad sauce enriched the flavor, but that was about it.

He would eat all the food, strictly against any wastage, but his mind was already considering dismissing the veteran chef from Raven City who had come with the army; so many good ingredients resulted in just a pot of stew hard to swallow, which was such a waste.

Just as he sat by the fire, spooning up the last of the stewed beans, the team’s chef approached.

"My lord?" The chef held a large ladle with a wooden handle.

He would use his wrist to scoop a hefty ladleful of boiled beans from the edge of the pot, no need to worry about him shaking the ladle because the dish was too sticky.

Then you had to hold the bowl with both hands because he would smash the ladle heavily on the bowl to get the sticky beans to let go of the ladle.

Only then would the beans "drop" down.

"Thank you, I am already full," Lind declined politely, "Give it to those young lads still growing."

"They’re never full; they’d grow from eating dirt!" The chef clearly didn’t want to waste his culinary efforts, but still didn’t dare to counter Lind’s order.

The young lads truly weren’t picky, hungrily gobbling down their additional servings.

Lind set the bowl down, and a sharp-eyed lad ran over: "My lord, let me wash your bowl for you!"

"What’s your name?" Lind had noticed that the lad had appeared frequently before him lately.

He didn’t mind people using their wits to climb to higher positions—it was a good thing to have ambition, but capability was also important.

"Fuller, my lord!" The lad stood up straight, though his posture wasn’t exactly standard.

"Where are you from?" Lind nodded and then asked.

"Black Island, my lord." Fuller answered earnestly, his eyes shining.

But that was all there was to it, Lind wouldn’t treat someone special just for washing his bowl; otherwise, the maid washing his clothes should be made a baroness directly.

He remembered Fuller—perhaps one day, if needed, he would choose him first to assist with his matters.

After a brief rest, the troop was once again on its way. At nightfall, they camped, and Lind specifically went to look at the small market in Black Hoof Village to sort out his finances.

Miss Aisley Reyes, his ’lover,’ was very reliable in her actions and never thought of betrayal or anything else.

She used to be cautious, but now she worked directly for the Duke, almost without any reservations.

The scale of the black market in Black Hoof Village was wildly expanding, selling ever more outrageous items.

Even more outrageous was the presence of many mutants, Green Skins, Blood Clan, Fishmen, etc. The Blood Clan had no idea this was Lind’s territory; the Undead Blood Wart Demons even arrogantly thought this was the perfect place for a chaos-loving dark player.

There were also some small forces that Lind had to let go because they were too good at hiding; they would come here to exchange for equipment and survival supplies.

Lind chose not to take action; this group of people would never pledge allegiance to Rand Kingdom, and even if they did, their demands, such as becoming nobles and owning land, would never be met.

So, he let them continue living in a state of being wanted, desperately making money, hiding all over the place, and then funneling the hard-earned money back to Lind through the small market.

"If you want to become Blood Clan..." Lind flipped through the ledger, estimating that Lania could never imagine that the tax revenue of her diligently governed territories was less than one-twentieth of the black market at the small market.

Here, money was being snatched, and everyone was willing to come here to be robbed.

After all, you could buy any core item from Rand Kingdom here.

The stronger Lind’s forces became, the higher the prices of goods circulated at the small market.

"Can I also?" Aisley Reyes raised her head in surprise, her eyes filled with irresistible joy.

"Yes, whether becoming Crimson Lady or Crimson Nobility, either is possible," Lind closed the ledger and nodded gently.

In his eyes, these were trivial matters.

The benefits brought by Aisley Reyes surpassed his expectations, and she also saved him a lot of thought, so allowing her to become an immortal species was no big deal.

However, the skyrocketing favorability made Lind feel a bit uneasy.

Because of one opportunity to become Blood Clan, Aisley Reyes’ favorability surged from 5 directly to 75, and her eagerness to escape being human made it difficult for Lind to take any real interest in her.

It was as if he had encountered someone willing to sacrifice everything to betray and leave their nation; even if he knew he was using her, it still felt somewhat disgusting.

"I choose to continue my loyalty to you," Aisley lowered her head and said.

She had waited a long time in Black Hoof Village, not encountering Diana, but if she could become Blood Clan, she was willing to sacrifice everything.

"No matter what you are, you will definitely continue to be loyal to me," Lind spoke, not intending to let go of such a useful ally.

He took a small cylindrical container from his body and placed it on the ground.

The dull sound it made on hitting the ground showed it was anything but light.

"This is Rand Legion’s ’latest’ alchemical tool; you can put it up for sale at the small market, and then..." Lind suddenly paused.

Aisley Reyes watched Lind’s expression change dramatically, and her intended words were stuck in her throat.

"Damn!"

It was the first time she had seen anger on his always calculating and handsome face.

"My lord?" Aisley instinctively called out.

Then she saw Lind put away the cylindrical container: "These things are no longer needed; the transactions in the small market will continue, don’t worry, and soon I will arrange for you to become Blood Clan."

Lind stood up, leaving without giving Aisley Reyes a chance to reply, wrapped in a gust of wind.

She was puzzled, wondering what could have caused the lord to act like this.

Lind, heading toward the camp, looked very distressed.

There was supposed to be a month left until the official test; Lind had even planned for the immortals to disappear for a few years starting now, this being his last chance to profit before the update.

That’s what he thought.

But unexpectedly, the untimely update arrived abruptly.

The version named "Expedition of the Great Rift 1.0" officially arrived, and the update would continue for 24 hours.

That alone would have been fine, but Lind saw that the immortals on the forums were all celebrating. The forum connections hadn’t been disrupted, and the time on Earth was synchronized with here.

This indicated that with this update, the immortals wouldn’t disappear for a year or more; they would disappear today and then reappear 24 hours later!

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