Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 38 Price, Negotiation, and Interception
When Chen Mo was on the floating spaceship, the guide mercenary Luke told him that there was a saying on the Star Continent: "Old Knife loves to drink, Long Stick loves to smoke."

"Old Knife" refers to an older warrior. Among the people Chen Mo has met, whether it's Luke himself, Old John, the One-Eyed Boss, or Blackhead and Charlie whom he met a few days ago, almost everyone is addicted to alcohol.

Why is this the case? Firstly, these soldiers have been risking their lives year after year, living on the edge, doing jobs where they don't know when they'll meet again. Living a life of debauchery is the norm for them.

Secondly, the soldiers endured harsh weather conditions everywhere, and almost everyone had several old injuries. When the weather changed, the pain was often unbearable, and they needed to use alcohol as an anesthetic to endure it.

The long staff refers to the mage.

There are two ways to distinguish a magician's identity: one is by looking at their robes, attendants, and entourage; the other, more intuitive way, is by looking at the length of their staff.

The longer the staff, the more senior the person.

Smoke is an almost essential tool for old mages who drag long staffs. It is said that this thing can help them quickly eliminate distracting thoughts and enter a meditative state of tranquility, which is of great benefit to daily meditation and magical research.

However, this thing is quite high-end, and this is the first time Chen Mo has seen the actual product.

The complete smoking set includes a wooden base, a spherical semi-hollowed-out bowl, a long star-shaped tube, and a bag of neatly cut tobacco leaves that exude a unique aroma.

The tobacco leaves were slowly and carefully placed into the tobacco bowl, the lid of the bowl was closed, and the bowl was placed on the base. The fingers were gently rubbed together, and a faint flame quietly rose from the hollow part of the bowl.

Deputy Director Vincent is also a mage.

Vincent the mage took a puff of air from the starlight conduit, squinted his eyes, and exhaled a long plume of white smoke, then shook his head contentedly.

During this leisurely process of lighting the cigarette, Vincent had roughly sorted out his thoughts.

Although this young master is still somewhat immature in his manners, the refined upbringing of a nobleman in robes is undeniable.

The key point is that the kind of judgment that seems to see right into one's own heart is something that ordinary people can't cultivate.

It is likely that only those top aristocratic families that have been training rulers for generations would cultivate the minds of their children in such a way.

After testing him a few times, I found that while the young master's words weren't entirely credible, I didn't sense any obvious errors or fabrications.

His eyes were open and honest, his attitude was sincere, and most importantly—he was willing to pay!

That's fine, as long as there's no ulterior motive... This deal seems to have been done!

Having made up his mind, Vincent took another puff and said to Chen Mo, "You're not old enough to know the wonders of this refreshing smoke. When I'm enchanting, I can't seem to get into the spirit without taking a few puffs."

"However, my smoking set is too crude. Last year in Jianshui City of the Federation, I personally saw the collection of a high-ranking mage—a base made of star tear stone and a smoking bowl carved from blue crystal. That set, wow, it was worth a full twenty gold coins!"

Vincent clicked his tongue, his eyes full of longing: "I thought to myself, if I could have such a set of gadgets, I would be so refreshed and efficient when I was working!"

Without cheating, Chen Mo instantly understood: twenty gold coins—that was the price offered by the other party.

The way people ask for money is also an art. He didn't rush to express his opinion. He first examined his watch carefully again before replying with a slight apology: "Mr. Vincent, those smoking paraphernalia are indeed a bit expensive. If I were at home, it would be no problem to get a set for the director. But now that I'm alone out here, I'm not exactly flush with cash."

"However, if I'm really sure I can get into the magic tower to study, I should be able to ask my family for some more support, and it shouldn't be a big problem!"

Vincent understood: as long as you can be sure, then money is not a problem.

The two smiled and looked at each other, their eyes full of admiration.

This old thing!
This little fox!

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Just as Chen Mo was racking his brains, trying to advance towards the Magic Tower through the convoluted route he had taken, a caravan from the Cloud Territory of the Emerald Duchy was met with annihilation in the Longwind Hills.

This is the territory of the Creek Moon Federation, one of the core areas of the human kingdom. Captain Peiwen, the leader of the guard, never expected to encounter a surprise attack by the orc legion here.

He had made thorough preparations according to the military manual, and even while marching on the main road, he cautiously sent out scouts to the high ground on both sides. However, the only effect they had was to buy him a dozen or so seconds of preparation time.

"Orcs—!!!"

The sentry only had time to utter that one shrill cry before he was stabbed into a bloody mess, and a few breaths later, the enemy cavalry leaped down the slope.

One rider, ten riders, twenty riders, thirty riders... More and more ferocious figures leaped to the top of the slope, then plunged down with the force of thunder!

The moment it came into view of the humans, it had already reached full speed.

The moment the sentry gave the warning, Peiwen issued the order for combat alert, but upon seeing the enemy's formation and scale, his heart sank to the bottom.

These are elite wolf riders from the orc tribe.

The wolves of the Starry World are clearly not the same species as the wolves of Blue Star. These war wolves from the Shattered Rock Plateau are over 2.5 meters long and weigh nearly 400 kilograms. They have outstanding attack power and strong reproductive ability, making them the most relied-upon combat partners of the orcs.

Most importantly, their spine and shoulder bones underwent some kind of strange mutation, which, together with the longissimus dorsi and iliocostalis muscles, formed a back support, giving the originally flimsy spine an extremely strong load-bearing capacity, enabling it to support the burly orc warriors and dramatically increasing the orcs' mobility.

Throughout the millennia-long bloody war between humans and orcs, the howl of the warg riders has torn apart the humans' formidable lines countless times, and has also repeatedly outmaneuvered the elves like ghosts.

When the deep, oppressive howls of wolves echoed across the plains, valleys, and ruins of towns, even the toughest Alliance veterans would find their eyes involuntarily clouded with bloodlust.

At this moment, on the official road of the Xiyue Federation, at least one full squad—hundreds of fully equipped wolf riders clad in half-body heavy armor and with ferocious head and chest guards covering their wolves—are charging toward this human army with overwhelming force!
"What are those bastards from Xiyue doing? How could they let these guys in???"

"Spread out your formation! Right front area, draw your bows! Fire! Fire!"

(End of this chapter)