My stats are higher than yours!

【Red Heart Staff】

Rank: First Rank

Quality: Silver

Type: Staff

Attack power: 10-15

Durability: 30/30

Equipment requirement: Spirit 15

Weapon characteristics:

① Mental Strength +20%

②When unleashing a fire element attack, the fire element intensity is increased by 30%.

Description: A staff inlaid with a fiery magic orb, possessing immense power.

"What an amazing staff!"

Bai Shuodong's eyes widened instantly. This silver-grade staff was no ordinary weapon. Using it would at least increase the intensity of his fire-attribute attacks by several levels, doubling the strength at the very least.

Unfortunately, this staff doesn't seem very sturdy. It would be really interesting if we could enchant it and use it as a weapon.

Immediately afterwards, an even stronger sense of crisis rose in Bai Shuodong's heart.

This is a warning of a crisis!

If even the old village chief in this world can wield a silver-grade staff, then the Demon King must have even better equipment, perhaps even a full set. Just thinking about a guy with all his stats higher than mine, carrying a whole set of powerful equipment, makes me feel like it would be really hard to fight him!

It seems we need to develop further. Without relying on the Holy Sword's special attack effect, it's unlikely we'll be able to defeat the Demon King head-on under normal circumstances.

Um...

[Hint: Your grand ambition—to eradicate corruption in the military—has been fulfilled.]

[Courage Value +5]

"?"

Chapter Forty-Six: The Hero is the Root of Corruption!

hiss!

Is that correct?

That's so damn right!

Based on the results, Bai Shuodong deduced that the root cause of the country's downfall and corruption was neither the king nor the nobles, but... the brave men.

Because the kingdom has heroes, and every hero is reliable, with excellent combat strength and character, the kingdom itself doesn't need to cultivate high-end combat power; the battle against the demons can be fought entirely by the heroes.

Then why bother valuing geniuses?

Then why bother training geniuses?

What if a commoner rises up and replaces the princes and nobles, shouting, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

With brave individuals to resolve external threats, they can confidently engage in infighting. Therefore, when they encounter a commoner genius, their first reaction is, "Can we take this kid in as a dog?"

If so, then accept it.

If not, then just kill him to avoid threatening your position in the future.

Moreover, among those geniuses, there are many exceptionally talented individuals who have grown despite adversity, but their numbers are clearly small and insufficient to overturn the status quo. Their existence, in turn, makes the old aristocratic forces even more wary of commoner geniuses, thus incentivizing them to eliminate them.

Moreover, the embezzlement of military funds by border guards was extremely serious.

The claim that Hecas single-handedly broke through the demon race is not an exaggeration, but a very objective and accurate description. He truly did break through the entire demon race's battle line all by himself.

The hero has no teammates by his side. Is it because he doesn't want to lead any? No, it's simply because no one can keep up with him and can't help him.

This is how heroes of all time have been: they are incredibly strong and extremely responsible, playing a vital role on the front lines, so much so that the existence of border troops becomes irrelevant. They are so strong that those in the rear can confidently engage in infighting, even considering whether to kill them and wait for a new hero to emerge, shaping them into their desired form.

result...

The new hero encountered a slightly unexpected situation.

The kingdom's front lines have been blown up, and now they face the crisis of national annihilation.

The hero didn't come, and the crisis of national annihilation has arrived. Of course, they are extremely anxious now.

More importantly, the main reason why the Kingdom of Heckler is still able to hold on is that Hecas killed off the powerful demons, resulting in the current overall strength of the demons being at a low point.

However, even at its lowest point, the demon race was still far stronger than the chaotic kingdom. The longer the timeline extends, the greater the gap in strength between the two sides becomes.

The king is now frantic with worry.

The nobles were also frantic with worry.

These guys are experts at infighting, and they're all shrewd individuals. They've long considered bribing the demons to cooperate from within.

But the problem is I just can't figure it out!

Because humans and demons have a long-standing feud, and because their strengths are not equal, the demons don't need them to surrender at all; they don't even have the value of rebelling.

You don't even deserve to be called a traitor!

The Demon King hasn't even reached the main battlefield yet! And the front lines are already in such a mess! If the Demon King were to personally go to the battlefield, that would be unacceptable! Those nobles are just wicked, not stupid; they're all crying in despair right now!

"Well..."

"In other words, if I really follow the main storyline, I will be facing a group of nobles who are addicted to the hero."

"Moreover, these guys not only depend on me, but they will also try to mold me into what they need. If I don't meet their needs, they might even kill me."

Bai Shuodong gasped. Unlike the local heroes, he would lose attributes after drawing the holy sword. If he were to be dealt with by these noble lords, he would probably suffer a terrible fate.

I really shouldn't have gone to the holy mountain!

It's right to be a hero without drawing the holy sword!

"Oh, by the way, old man, I have another piece of good news to share with you," the old village chief said.

"What news?"

"The nobleman Leo was executed, and the execution was quite a spectacle. His crime was obstructing the arrival of the hero at the Holy Mountain. The specific details are..." the old village chief recounted.

"hiss..."

Bai Shuodong became increasingly alarmed as he listened.

On the normal route, when he heads to the Holy Mountain, he will encounter Leo, who deliberately makes things difficult for heroes. Leo will specifically exclude heroes with a strong sense of justice, and may even actively attack and kill him to prevent someone like him from drawing the Holy Sword and becoming a hero.

He had to outwit the nobles and choose between abandoning saving passersby and drawing the holy sword—a situation that sounded disastrous.

If he doesn't draw the holy sword to destroy the nobles, those nobles will probably have to find another way to use underhanded tactics against him.

Hey~

Bai Shuodong sighed, thinking to himself: I am weak, pitiful, and fragile. I have nothing but stats. If I really get to that point, all I can do is show off my stats to those nobles.

...

Evening

The sun sets over the clear sea, the wind carries a salty smell, and the waves crash haphazardly against the rocks, splashing up sprays of water.

On a remote, deserted coastline, a dark shadow flashes in a corner where rocks intersect.

Those are the Tide Demons.

A powerful demon race that excels in naval warfare and is born with the ability to control water elements.

In the shadows, five dark blue figures slowly crept from the rocks onto the shore, looking around to see if there was any human activity.

"Nobody's here."

A Tidebringer has come ashore.

This demon has bluish-black skin, deep green vertical pupils, an incredibly slender body, a few scales on its body, barbs in some places, and a unique mist surrounding it.

That is the innate talent of the Tide Demon race, the protection of the tides, which can only be awakened by a sufficiently powerful Tide Demon.

With the protection of the tides, you can reduce some of the damage when attacked, and gain additional buffs when releasing water element attacks, making it extremely valuable in actual combat.

Soon, four more Tidebringers followed them ashore, but they were not protected by the tides and were even shorter.

"Our mission is to scout and gather intelligence about the Holy Mountain. We must not engage in combat with humans," said the Tide Demon captain.

"Yes."

"clear."

The other team members nodded seriously.

"Ah."

The Tide Demon captain nodded slightly, then said, "You are all quite strong, but you haven't experienced the trials of the battlefield. I hope this mission will help you grow and become true warriors... You must survive!"

"It's alright. Humans are all weak. Those guys are much weaker than us. As long as we don't encounter any heroes, we'll definitely make it back alive."

"Exactly, Captain, you're being too pessimistic. We'll all make it back alive."