Chapter 344: Choosing a Store

The date of the duel between the dragonman youngster and Teng Dong Lang was destined to be remembered by the whole of Snow Bird Harbor.

Because on this day, two major events occurred simultaneously.

These two events were closely related to each other.

First, the leader of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, as a silver level battle qi cultivator, launched a heroic challenge and not only successfully defeated the gold level Teng Dong Lang, but also killed him on the spot.

Second, the Bayonet Gang was destroyed!

The leader of Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's army was known for his decisive actions.

He directly mobilized the magic teams, all the city guards, and even the military camps outside the city.

He struck like thunder, and nothing could stand in his way!

The Bayonet Gang's defenses were extremely weak.

At that time, the heroic duel between Teng Dong Lang, the leader of the Bayonet Gang, attracted almost all of the gang's high-ranking members. The only one left to preside over daily affairs was the dwarf ringleader.

The latter actually wanted to come and watch the battle, but unfortunately, he was the only loser in the lottery.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord took the lead and personally intervened.

The dwarf ringleader was only at the silver level, unlike the powerful dragonman youngster who could fight above his level, so he was unable to resist. He tried to escape, but his speed was not fast enough, and after suffering heavy losses, he was captured alive.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord spared his life because he recognized his talent for forging.

He wiped out most of the Bayonet Gang's base and rushed to the Snow Bird Dueling Arena.

When he burst in, the Bayonet Gang's senior members were completely unaware and did not have time to gather any military intelligence.

The current leader of the Bayonet Gang, Teng Dong Lang, was killed in the duel, and the former leader, Bing Xiao, had just stabilized the senior members when the army arrived at the city gates.

Bing Xiao still had fighting spirit, but the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord took the initiative and took out the head of the gold level giant slave.

It turned out that long before his large-scale operation, he had joined forces with the Sea Bird Bishop to launch a successful surprise attack and kill the gold level giant slave.

When Bing Xiao saw this, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He immediately realized that the Bayonet Gang was doomed and ordered a breakout and escape on the spot.

However, since the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord had already led his troops over, he was naturally fully prepared.

The magic teams had already formed their formation, waiting for the members of the Bayonet Gang to break through.

The city guards and the army outside the city acted as auxiliaries, forming a tight encirclement, like a giant net, trapping any small fry who wanted to escape.

Without the gold level at the helm, no matter how many silver level members the Bayonet Gang had, they were all small fry in the eyes of the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord!

After a period of chaos in the Snow Bird Dueling Arena, the scene became clear.

Inside the arena was the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord, and outside the arena was the Sea Bird Bishop.

All the ringleaders of the Bayonet Gang were caught, and Bing Xiao was no exception.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord had succeeded in his surprise attack just one day later, wiping out the entire Bayonet Gang!

The people heard this bombshell news amid the chaos and were stunned for a long time.

For a moment, they found it difficult to accept that the Bayonet Gang, once such a huge organization, had been destroyed in a single day!

After this battle, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's reputation suddenly rose to its peak in a single day, and he became the object of praise and admiration from the people.

His popularity was unmatched, comparable to that of the dragonman youngster.

Under the protection of Men Shi, Tripleblade, and Lan Zao, the dragonman youngster successfully left the dueling arena and returned to the flagship at the dock to rest.

The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps did not participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Bayonet Gang.

This was an agreement made when the two sides formed a contract earlier.

Late at night, one day later.

The city government palace held a large banquet, inviting almost all the celebrities and powerful figures in Snow Bird Harbor.

In the study on the second floor, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord was alone with the dragonman youngster.

The city Lord took the initiative to pour wine for the dragonman youngster and introduced, “This is Cold Emotion Wine.”

“Even in the capital of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, this is a very rare wine.”

“I only have one bottle of it in my wine cellar!”

“I'll offer a toast to you, Commander Long Fu. You are the biggest contributor to our defeat of the Bayonet Gang today.”

The wine was poured into a glass, and immediately a layer of frost formed on the surface of the glass.

The dragonman youngster took the wine glass handed to him by the city Lord. He knew nothing about wine, but he had no doubt about the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's praise for this wine.

This was because the bright red wine exuded a gold level aura.

This was a gold level potion!

The dragonman youngster was curious about the effects of the cold wine, but he also knew what to say at this moment.

“City Lord, your praise makes me feel uneasy!”

“Everyone knows that you made the greatest contribution to the destruction of the Bayonet Gang, and no one can compare to you.”

“Just one day has passed, and the people of Snow Bird Harbor all believe that you are the most accomplished city Lord in the history of Snow Bird Harbor!”

Hearing these words, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord laughed loudly, his eyes narrowing with laughter, making no attempt to hide his pride.

He handed over his wine cup.

The dragonman youngster also handed over his wine cup at the right moment.

Clink.

The two wine cups gently collided in the middle.

Immediately, the fine wine flowed into the mouths of the two.

Although the dragonman youngster's ability to taste wine was almost zero, good things were good things. The moment the Cold Emotion Wine entered his mouth, his eyes changed.

When the Cold Emotion Wine first entered his mouth, it seemed bland and cold, but then it exploded on his taste buds and in his throat, becoming warm and fragrant.

In an instant, the strong aroma of the wine spread throughout the dragonman youngster's entire body and mind, affecting his mood as if he were ascending to heaven.

What wonderful enjoyment!

For a moment, both of them in the room forgot to speak.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord was the first to open his eyes and break the silence: "Did you know? Every year, the entire Drunkard Harbor holds a Wine God Festival, and Cold Emotion Wine is one of the offerings. In other words, this is the enjoyment of the gods."

The dragonman youngster knew that Drunkard Harbor was one of the eight major harbors of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, with a trade status equivalent to that of Snow Bird Harbor.

However, he was unaware that the Wine God cult was so prevalent in Drunkard Harbor.

He couldn't help but feel curious: "As far as I know, there is no Wine God among your country's deities. I wonder which deity is being worshipped at the Wine God Festival in Drunkard Harbor?"

There were many Wine Gods in this world.

As far as the dragonman youngster knew, there were three among the dwarves, one among the humans, two among the elves, and one among the demons.

From this, it could be seen that competition for the identity of the Wine God was fierce.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord did not hesitate and replied immediately, “Of course, it is the Wine God of the Sheng Ming Empire.”

The dragonman youngster's expression became even more strange, "This is a human deity. Has your country's openness reached such a level?" 

Faith was a resource of the deities. 

Every parish was a contested area among the churches. 

The faith of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom was a resource of the snow elf's deities. Yet one of the eight great harbors, Drunkard Harbor, was actually holding a large-scale festival for the human Wine God. 

A large-scale festival was one that affected the entire city.

To give an example, it would be like the scale of the heroic duel between the dragonman youngster and Teng Dong Lang.

If there weren't many believers, it would be impossible to hold a festival of this scale.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord shook his head and said helplessly, "The Sheng Ming Empire is the world's number one power, with unparalleled strength. A few years ago, the human race used an astonishing trade shock to transform Drunkard Harbor. The original church had been completely defeated, and the faith in that place had been completely lost. Of course, the royal family would not admit this publicly. But you can completely regard Drunkard Harbor as the parish of the human race's Wine God!"

“I see.” The dragonman youngster fell silent.

The Empire's influence was everywhere and was constantly growing.

Even the independent overseas kingdom of Ice Sculpture Kingdom was not spared.

The dragonman youngster couldn't help but worry secretly: if they failed to atone for their sins, would the Ice Sculpture Kingdom become their place of refuge?

The two chatted for a while, then turned to the main topic.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord took out an activity map and spread it out on the desk between them.

After a few changes, the map showed several streets.

Most of the shops on these streets were marked with different colors.

“Choose one of these,” said the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord.

This was one of the terms of the deal they had agreed upon earlier—the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord would provide the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps with a shop.

Now was the time to fulfill that agreement.

The dragonman youngster looked closely and quickly discovered that these shops were not originally the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's assets, but all came from the Bayonet Gang.

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord had destroyed the entire Bayonet Gang this time, and he had made a fortune!

Not only did he gain explosive growth in terms of reputation and prestige, but the actual profits were also unimaginably rich. After all, almost all of the Bayonet Gang's assets had fallen into his hands.

Now, the dragonman youngster recalled the agreement he had made with the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord on the ship.

The dragonman youngster only intended to fulfill his heroic duel with Teng Dong Lang and did not want the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to participate in the upcoming battle.

At that time, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord did not hesitate and agreed to this request.

"I was worried that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps would become his henchmen and sacrifice too much. In fact, the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord was also unwilling to have our corps participate."

“Because this was a battle that was bound to be won.”

“The more people participated, the more the profits would be divided.”

The Snow Bird Harbor City Lord planned carefully before acting, and the entire operation went according to his plan from start to finish, without any unexpected incidents.

He reaped all the rewards.

Of course, he would definitely distribute part of the profits to the Sea Bird Church.

Before this operation, he must have reached an agreement with the bishop of the Sea Bird Church. The two sides must have discussed the distribution of profits in advance.

Whether it was the operation to surround and kill the mysterious assassin or the operation to destroy the Bayonet Gang, the Sea Bird Church was the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's most steadfast ally.

With the destruction of the Bayonet Gang, the political landscape of Snow Bird Harbor underwent a huge change.

Previously, there were four powerful factions, but now there were two strong ones and one weak one.

The weakest faction was, of course, the Clam Cloth Merchant Alliance.

The dragonman youngster and the Snow Bird Harbor City Lord reached an agreement, and on the day they returned to the harbor, the branch leader gave the order: gather all the men, retreat into a defensive position, and protect important places such as warehouses and shops.