The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 363 - 254 I Want to Cling to a Thigh

Chapter 363: Chapter 254 I Want to Cling to a Thigh

As more and more people began to pour into Star Town, all the work was being rapidly set on the right track, with the True Silver Mine set to commence excavation soon.

In fact, the Mahara merchant had been urging repeatedly.

But this mine, dating back 1500 years, was incredibly complex; the vein ran very, very deep. The surveyors had been exploring for two days without reaching the bottom, and they had discovered many unknown passages that seemed not to have been carved out by human hands.

There was also severe pollution within the vein and even the presence of Crystal Monsters.

Yet, to ease concerns, Rod forcefully renovated and reopened the upper layers of the mine.

Even though the yield was only several hundred thousand silver coins, it brought stability to the Royal City.

However, the cost of mining the True Silver Vein was higher than expected. In addition to the miners’ wages and miscellaneous expenses, a special solvent was needed to dissolve the mineral structure.

No wonder the Mahara merchant fought so hard for a 20% production income—the gap between gross and net profit was vast, with 20% gross profit equating to more than half of the net profit.

But Rod didn’t mind; he had even roughly anticipated this outcome.

What he truly cared about was something beyond the silver coins.

When the first cart of True Silver Ore was delivered to Royal City, not only the Mahara merchant, but the entire Military War Department, especially the Material Logistics Department and the Equipment and Weapons Department, showed Rod extreme enthusiasm.

The confidence that tangible goods provided was countless times stronger than a thousand pleasing words. Royal City was desperate for resources yet afraid to take that step; Rod had helped them move forward. The moment they saw the harvest, their joy was immense, and they began to celebrate their decision not to retract, as if they had been supportive of Rod from the very beginning.

This brought one advantage.

They started to give the green light to Combatants applying for transfer to Star Town and opened the gate of convenience for them.

Apart from adhering to principles, they set up no more barrier thresholds.

Thus, more and more Combatants arrived in Star Town.

Rod’s Black Battle Group filled up quickly, and the surplus personnel had to join the defense forces of Star Town.

The regular combat power was filled swiftly, but a new problem arose—Star Town was in dire need of mid to high-rank Combatants.

After communicating with Velas, who was recruiting in Royal City on his behalf, Rod learned that high-rank and quasi-high-rank Combatants were under strict control.

They lacked neither money nor goods and were considered treasures by various defense areas, either holding important positions in the army or bearing significant responsibilities; they could not be easily moved.

The Mahara merchant also expressed powerlessness, only managing to offer as many Combat Potions and Training Potions as possible to help them enhance their combat strength as much as possible.

Alright then.

Rod felt a bit frustrated; he hadn’t expected to fall just short.

But it didn’t matter—if there were no high-rank Combatants, then he would become a high-rank Combatant himself!

Ever since he defeated the robed monster, he had obtained the final key to the sixth Star.

[A Very Strong Soul]

It had no Source; the Fire Seed was a condensed Source Material, indestructible. When the monster was slain, it fell out.

Rod was very interested in this Soul.

But he didn’t get many clues from it, only some echoing whispers.

"I failed."

"The Nightmare is coming, there is no salvation for us, darkness is corrupting us, Star Town is doomed."

"No, I must preserve the Fire Seed, the Fire Seed is hope... Her Majesty the Queen will save us... Her Majesty the Queen will surely save us."

The most echoed thought within his Soul was the last sentence; he seemed to firmly believe that their Queen would come to save them.

This must be the reason he devoured the Fire Seed.

Generally speaking, few monsters would swallow a Fire Seed.

The Fire Seed contained power they detested intensely. Monsters would destroy a Fire Seed, but since it was a Source Material, it was indestructible. Even if damaged, it would disappear and recrystallize somewhere unknown.

Of course, the Holy Fire Seed was different.

It was a Strong Source of much higher position than the ordinary Fire Seed, containing laws very close to the Primordial Law.

Its tremendous allure was something no monster could escape from; they would endlessly fight over it until a super-strong monster emerged that could intimidate the entire area, and only then would the strife end.

And this monster might possibly be the King who once guarded it.

The ultimate goal of the Holy Fire project was Tasnia Star City, the capital of the Starry Kingdom. In its Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground, the Star Queen had fallen into darkness.

To achieve this goal, the King had formulated a further expansion plan. They would advance westward until they reached Storm Pass, deep in the darkness. Using Storm Pass as a stronghold, they would launch an expedition to the Dead Soil Continent in the north, conquering Tasnia Starry Sky City, killing the Star Queen, and seizing the Holy Fire Seed.

The conquest of Star City was merely a prerequisite of the plan, and Star Town was just the first step.

And this step had not been fully successful yet. Star Town must exist for a long time and stably, able to continuously generate benefits instead of burdens, so that the Supreme Council could decide to completely turn the entire Trolian over.

Rod’s task was actually to make people believe that expansion was the best choice for humanity.

——

After Rod injected the soul into the star, "Divine Sense" was finally completed.

"Divine Sense"

"State: Constant Burning"

"Star Energy: Strong Spirit Perception"

"Inject: None"

"Fire Addition: None"

"Quantification: Divine Skull"

"Position: Eternal Fire"

"Strength: 10000"

"Description: My era has not yet arrived"

Rod let out a long breath, having waited for so long, finally another one was full.

His Soul Strength had also soared from 19205 to 26455.

But a qualitative change had not yet occurred.

The Soul Strength times two was approximately the Spiritual Power Strength.

He was now at the Fifth Level of Spiritual Energy; to ascend to the Sixth Level, the Spiritual Power Strength needed to exceed 54 thousand.

Just a little bit more.

He needed a "Great Soul" to fully level up "Spirit Elegy."

He also needed a soul with a source to ignite a new star.

This matter was also my urgent priority, Rod thought. I’ll use "Void’s Fury" to clear out the ordinary monsters in the surrounding area, then form a Hunting Squad to hunt down strong monsters.

This was the best choice.

The monsters killed by "Void’s Fury" had no souls, not even ashes.

Rod was no longer short of souls now; he only lacked powerful complete souls and souls with a source.

"No good, I need to quickly enhance our team’s combat power. Without high-ranking combatants as pillars, we can only rely on exquisite teamwork to kill strong monsters," Rod muttered to himself.

"There’s only me, O’Hara, Conrad, and Beowood as Fifth Level combatants."

"O’Hara is a punching bag who rushes up to take hits, Conrad stabs from behind like a sneaky rascal, and Beowood can both fight and take hits, kind of an in-between state."

"The others don’t seem to be much use. Molly is just an acceleration accessory; without her Black Silk, she’s utterly useless."

"Annabella can be used as a mount."

"Alora... can restore mana."

Rod calculated over and over and didn’t have a single strong hitter.

The saddest thing in the world is when you want to lean on a strong thigh, only to realize that thigh is yourself.

Rod was increasingly missing his best partner Mephist, but his letters had sunk like stones in the sea without a response, and neither Silver Oath nor Taboo Armament had paid any attention to him.

"No way!"

Rod jumped up all at once.

"Too weak, too weak, too weak!"

"I’m going to train them! Hurry up and get stronger! I need a thigh to lean on!"