Lord of Cinder in American Comics

George said, "Is there something wrong with that actuary next door to your house?"

"How to say?"

"In one week, he went to three shooting ranges and completed at least two full-size shooting tests... all of them precision shooting. This guy would shoot until night whenever the range was open, which scared the range owner so much that he called the police. Now everyone is wondering if he's planning something big, which is why he's training so hard..."

A family bucket contains 14,000 rounds of ammunition, which means John now fires 4,000 rounds of ammunition every day, and that's not just randomly splashing water on the gun, but precision shooting during training.

There are 133 magazines of 30 rounds each, not to mention the time it takes to load them. Anyone would be afraid of this madman, so it's no wonder he alarmed George.

Only after repeatedly assuring George that John would not act irrationally did George lift the surveillance on John.

But this wasn't a solution either. In order not to frighten ordinary people and cause a bad influence, Ash still dialed John's number.

Ash said, "John, go to the Control Bureau's base and contact Anderson. He'll arrange training facilities for you and might even find you a group of sparring partners..."

Since we found the people ourselves, we should make proper arrangements. There are only a handful of people in the Control Bureau whose performance surpasses John's, so it wouldn't be bad to let John teach them a lesson.

As for why John was training so hastily, it was entirely because Ash had told him the time of the battle. Time was running out, and the countdown was pressuring John.

As for John's fatigue injuries from training, that's not a problem; it's something that can be easily healed with a simple healing spell.

Furthermore, Ash lied. For someone like him who was already the Lord of Cinder, changing the abnormal state and restoring Helen's condition was a trivial matter.

The worst-case scenario is that Helen dies, and Ash goes to hell to rescue her; at worst, she can just create another body for her.

But the things that are free in this world are the most expensive. As long as Ash helps, John will definitely acknowledge the favor, and favors are the hardest to repay.

Ash needs to win, and John is motivated; it's a win-win situation, good for everyone. Everyone contributes, and there are fewer favors owed.

Ash told John this lie in order to save face as a man and to avoid leaving too many connections to the story.

Everything is ready now, we're just waiting for the final moment.

"Oh right, we also need to find a witness..."

Geralt isn't the only one who needs to find a witness; Ash will also look for one. Only Constantine doesn't need one; his Dragon Academy will witness the entire war.

Ash took out his phone and called Cassel, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Ever since Beckett decided to run for senator, he had become Beckett's manager. Now that Beckett's status was confirmed, it was time to bring him out to fill the void.

"Kassel, are you interested in going on a trip to another dimension? You can bring your family; maybe it will provide new material for your novel..."

## Chapter 288: Rose's injustice stems from Ash's past

Having done all that, Ash decided to go back to sleep; now, sleep was his only pleasure.

But a communication from Lothric forced Ash to deal with the matter.

A flash of white light appeared, and a list appeared before Ash. This was the list of Lothric Knights who were about to participate in the war, all of whom were battle-hardened elites of the Faction of the First Flame.

But Ash still found a special name among them: Thaddeus E. Ross.

How could Rose, Ash's former superior, appear on the Lothric Knights' battle roster? This indicates that Rose not only gained the Lothric Knights' approval but also secured a crucial position within them.

This kind of thing, undeniably, piqued Ash's interest.

------

Rewinding to the night of the Hulk's fight, after Ash handed the Lothric Knight's Sword, a symbol of power, to Ross, Ross delegated everything to Sheffield and his staff.

That night, at the time Ash gave him, Ross took his luggage and the Lothric Knight's Sword and left his house.

A faint white light emanated from the knight's sword in Ross's hand, flashing continuously like a beacon. The Lothric Dragon Riders, capable of long-distance teleportation, followed the guidance and arrived beside Ross.

Everyone saw Ross dressed in a field uniform and carrying a backpack, but the Knights of Lothric did not have a good attitude towards Ross.

After the three men finished examining Ross, the lead gun-and-shield knight said, "Put down your backpack; the destination doesn't need this junk..."

Ross was not surprised by the Knights' businesslike attitude. After all, the most annoying thing in the military system is the nepotism, and such unique individuals often break the existing discipline.

Ross did not object. He simply dropped his luggage, picked up his knight's sword, and waited for instructions. Ross was also a soldier, and he understood the meaning of discipline.

Seeing Ross throw away his luggage, three Lothric knights surrounded him, with the sword and shield knight grabbing Ross's arm to prevent him from moving freely.

As the Lothric Knights' standard lance was swung, platinum light enveloped the four of them. A flash of white light, and the four of them vanished from their spot.

For Ross, the feeling of traveling through time and space was simply seeing a flash of white light before he appeared on another land, without any sense of weightlessness or other unusual sensations.

Ross observed his surroundings. When he looked up, he saw another continent overlapping his head. In his opinion, Ross could even see large creatures crawling on the opposite continent.

Just as Ross was observing his surroundings, a Lothric knight arrived, except that his cloak was blue.

"Alright, leave him to me, I'll train him..."

"Yes, Commander!"

The knights who escorted Ross bowed to the knight commander and then left, while the knight commander circled around Ross, observing him and making sounds of admiration.

Ross simply stood at attention, without uttering a word or making any unnecessary movements. He knew that if people with connections couldn't follow the rules in remote areas, they would face exclusion.

The knight commander looked at Ross and asked, "Ash brought you here. Is there anything you want to ask? Or is there anything you need?"

Ross seemed to have returned to his youth when he first joined the army. After saluting the knight commander, he said, "I don't need anything. I'm here for training. There's one question—where is this place?"

The knight commander hadn't expected Ross to be so disciplined, and even the crimson eyes that were faintly visible through his helmet softened.

The knight commander said, "This is the Earth's core. The sky you see is the Earth's crust. This is the Lothric Legion's newly established camp. We need to capture some animals here that can help us..."

Ross was somewhat taken aback. He had originally thought it would be in some other dimension, but he didn't expect it to be at the Earth's core.

The knight commander noticed Ross's surprise and patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, saying, "Let's go, let's head to the camp first..."

The knight commander took the lead, and Ross could only follow closely behind. In Ross's opinion, the camp should be built in a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the opposite foothills would be the best choice. However, the knight commander led him into a dense forest.

The forest path was not an easy journey for the elderly Ross, but the knight commander leading the way moved at a steady pace without stopping for a moment.

Ross, panting, noticed that there wasn't even a trace of the knight commander's footprints on the grass, as if the armor was nothing to him.

Looking at the muddy road behind him, Ross took a deep breath and chased after him.

After passing through the woods, we arrived at a lake. This was the Lothric Legion's encampment, surrounded by simple chevaux-de-frise defenses made of trees, though the chevaux-de-frise were excessively large.

The knight commander did not lead Ross directly into the camp. Instead, he went to the lakeside and pulled out a giant longbow. It was a recurve bow, but with metal fixed to the bow limbs for added strength.

[Drakenger Bow: A longbow for dragon riders who yearn for the Ancient King. The Ancient King required that dragon riders serving as his guards possess considerable strength; ordinary people could not draw this bow. Only those with strength could wield its deadly power. Dragon riders typically worked alongside their wyvern companions, wielding powerful arrows capable of hunting Ancient Dragons. However, while the wyverns could not withstand the passage of time, the dragon riders' equipment remained.]

After nocking a massive arrow—which could be called a siege spear—to the bowstring, the knight commander turned to Ross and asked, "Where is the most dangerous place here?"

Ross quickly searched his surroundings and only saw a lush giant tree on the other side of the lake. He couldn't find any other creatures. The only danger was the lake, where some creatures might be hiding.

Seeing Ross's gaze fixed on the lake, the knight commander scoffed dismissively.

The knight commander drew his bow, aimed it at the giant tree across the lake, and said, "Here, don't believe what you see with your eyes."

After saying that, the knight commander released the bowstring, and the great arrow broke the sound barrier on the spot and flew towards the other side.

Even with a supersonic attack, it took several seconds to cross the lake, which was several kilometers wide, allowing Ross to clearly see how the target was killed.

The giant arrow struck the tree, generating a visible shockwave that then blasted the entire tree apart.

The branches and leaves on the tree were destroyed in the explosion, and only a small number of lucky people escaped death.

Ross then realized that these creatures were flying creatures with natural biological camouflage. Their wings were leaf-shaped, and their heads, connected to their slender necks, protruded forward as if they were covered with spikes.

The knight captain sheathed his bow and said, "This is a leaf-winged dragon, a creature as annoying as a mosquito. Today is an exception; from now on, you'll be in charge of keeping the mosquitoes around the camp occupied."

This humiliating experience made Ross remember his recent responsibilities; judging by their size, these creatures with wingspans approaching two meters were no pushovers.

Upon arriving at the camp, the knight commander assigned housing to Ross, but before he could even rest, he gave him another task.

The knight commander said, "The camp is running low on drinking water. Go and fill up the water tanks in the camp, and today's mission will be complete..."

Without wasting words, Ross saluted the knight commander and found the so-called drinking water barrels according to the camp division he had just noted down. Looking at these barrels that were more than two stories high, Ross sighed silently.

As a soldier, he could only obey orders. Fortunately, there were water pipes and manual pressure equipment, so he didn't have to carry buckets to fill them up again and again.

Everyone else in the camp was watching the newcomer; no one spoke to him or offered any help.

This unique unity and cohesion strengthened Ross's resolve to stay.

Next to the large lake outside the camp is a small puddle formed by water seeping out of the lake. Because of the filtration of sand and gravel, it is usually cleaner than the water in the lake.

Now, simply drain the water from the puddle and see if it can fill up again to determine if it is still running water.

Ross pulled on the hose, approaching the puddle step by step. Just as it was about to jump in, a strange warning from its nerves made it stop.

'Here, don't believe what you see with your eyes.'

The Knight Commander's words instantly jolted Ross awake; this was a trap!

Hastily taking two steps back, Ross turned around and saw a small squad of Lothric Knights standing there with their weapons raised, ready to strike. If he were to be in danger, this squad would be capable of taking Ross's life in the face of death.

"The newcomer didn't step in, the knight commander's trick failed, and there's no need to keep this food. Brothers, kill it!"

The first to rush into the puddle was the spear-shield knight, who smashed it in directly against his rectangular shield.

Food has fallen into the trap, and Himida, below the puddle, is about to close its mouth, preparing to swallow the spear-shield knight whole.

However, Himida's predatory instincts caused it to burst out of the ground, and its mouthparts, which had not yet closed, were cleanly severed by the sword and shield knight who appeared out of nowhere with the Lothric Knight's sword.

Then the sword and shield knight appeared beneath the spear and shield knight, providing support for the spear and shield knight with his phoenix-shaped shield.

The lance-shield knight plunged his lance into Himida's head and then forcefully pulled it out of the soil.

As soon as Himida landed, the damp earth flew everywhere. Before Ross could even confirm Himida's height, a man wielding a knight's greatsword appeared above Himida's head, raised his weapon, and chopped off its head.

This smooth baiting and killing made Ross certain that this wasn't the first time they had done this, and that the behemoth had been deliberately left here to wait for him.

Ross's eyes were filled with longing; he increasingly felt that this was a training session that absolutely could not be failed.

Ignoring the troubles at the camp, Ross filled all the buckets as the knight commander requested. When he dragged his tired body to his quarters, he found the knight commander waiting for him there.

The knight commander said, "How are you? Can you adapt to this place? If not, I'll send you away immediately..."

"No need, I'll stay here indefinitely..."

The concern shown by the knight commander at this moment made Ross realize that only this person in front of him was targeting him in the entire camp.

She felt that her misfortune was entirely due to his misplaced anger, and she didn't know what Ash had done to him in the first place.

Now that they were in a private setting, Ross wasn't afraid of being overheard, so he asked, "Can you tell me about the conflict between you and Ash..."

Upon hearing Ross's words, the red glow beneath the knight's helmet intensified. His hand involuntarily reached for his lower back.

The knight commander said, "I don't have much of a conflict with Ash. On the contrary, he's our superior now. It's just that back on the walls of Lothric, he stabbed me when I wasn't looking..."