Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 85: The Burgeoning Escort Agency

"I killed those people! What right do you have to exchange their heads for merit points?" the white-robed man protested.

"Fine, you can join the Hall of Protectionists and claim these merit points for yourself then," Fang Che said.

The white-robed man fell silent, but this still didn't sit right with him.

"You claim to be serving the people and fighting for the sake of the continent, yet you would stoop to falsely taking credit for someone else's feats?"

"How do those two things have anything to do with each other?" Fang Che scoffed. "You're saying I should just leave these six bodies here and let these merit points go to waste?"

"Of course!"

"Of course my arse!" Fang Che scoffed. "Has all that cultivation turned you into an idiot? Why would I not claim these merit points?"

After decapitating the six Warlords, he began to search their bodies before gleefully putting their belongings into a large cloth pouch, taking them as spoils.

"You're even going as far as to rob them?" the white-robed man exclaimed.

"They may be heinous people, but their money and treasures are innocent, so it would only be right for me to liberate these things."

"You're calling this liberation?" the white-robed man exclaimed in incredulity. "You're robbing the dead?"

"What am I supposed to do then? Bury their belongings with them?"

"Of course!"

Fang Che erupted into laughter at the man's naivete. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Which sect are you from? You're definitely a very formidable warrior, but you're as dense as a brick!"

"These are moral standards that everyone should abide by!" the white-robed man protested.

"Screw that! Your moral standards are way too high!" Fang Che scoffed as he tucked the cloth pouch away. "Do you know how many households just a single one of these silver vouchers can feed? Do you know how many people were displaced from their homes in the wake of the recent snow disasters?

“Do you know how many people I can save if I convert everything in this pouch into money and resources? Do you know how many low-tier warriors can benefit from the cultivation resources in here? Do you know how important those people will be for the future of this world? Do you know..."

"Alright, that's enough!" the white-robed man interjected to cut Fang Che off, his face flushed with embarrassment.

He then quickly regained his composure before returning to his original question.

"How did you know I was following you?"

"Because you have to kill three demonic church members for me," Fang Che replied. "Given your dogmatic personality, I knew you would definitely kill those people in my presence. Otherwise, you'd be worried that I would try to cheat you. You're clearly someone who doesn't leave his sect very often, so you must've come out to do something very important, and you must be in a hurry to get back.

“Hence, I knew you would follow me and appear before me as soon as I encountered three or more demonic church members, then kill them before departing. Even though I couldn't sense your presence, I knew you were definitely around."

The white-robed man instantly vanished from the spot, not wanting to speak to Fang Che any longer.

He was made to feel like a fool whenever he spoke to Fang Che.

Fang Che knew that he hadn't actually left. There was no way that someone like him would leave before he was certain that Fang Che was safe. He simply didn't want to speak to him anymore.

Fang Che released a second signal flare into the night sky, and before long, other Protectionists had arrived on the scene.

"There are six dead demonic church Warlords over here," Fang Che reported.

"Six Warlords? Did you kill them all yourself?"

"No. Someone else killed them, but they don't want to take responsibility, so the merit points all go to me," Fang Che admitted, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest.

"Congratulations, Administrator Fang."

Each Warlord was worth four hundred merit points, so the six of them amounted to 2,400. His current merit point total was 17,470, and these additional 2,400 merit points would take his new total to 19,770, only 270 points away from a promotion to a first-rank administrator.

Before long, the identities of the six deceased Warlords were confirmed, and Fang Che promptly departed.

However, this time, he was much more careful.

He knew that the white-robed man had to have already departed, so if he were to continue walking down the streets without any concealment, then he would be asking for death.

***

As opposed to returning home, he went straight to the Unmatched Escort Agency as Starlight.

It seemed to have been quite rowdy and bustling in the Unmatched Escort Agency, and Fang Che flew straight into the hall to discover over thirty people gathered inside.

All thirty of them were young Lords, and they were being spoken to by Zhao Wushang, while Zheng Yunqi was recording their information in order to prepare identities for them and turn them into legitimate armed escorts.

Starlight swaggered into the hall, observing everyone with a lopsided grin on his hideous face as he remarked, "Looks like you've been very busy during my absence."

Zhao Wushang, Zheng Yunqi, and all of the original armed escorts hurriedly gathered to bow and pay respects to Starlight, who suddenly yelled, "Stop moving! Can't you see I'm trying to count all of you?"

All of the new arrivals were given a massive fright by Starlight's sudden and ferocious outburst.

Starlight counted them one by one as if he were counting cattle, then mused, "So there are thirty-six of you. Looks like there are a few girls as well. Are you married yet?"

Zhou Mei'er and Wu Lianlian immediately slapped a hand to their foreheads in exasperation.

Once again, Starlight was trying to take the opportunity to find a wife for himself.

Clearly, all of the women had already been warned about Starlight's strange tendencies, and they quickly turned him down, but made sure to do so in a delicate fashion.

Starlight's expression instantly darkened as he flew into a rage.

"Why is it so hard to find a fucking wife?! And why are none of you bowing to your helmsmaster? Aren't you all supposed to be from prominent clans of the main church? Where are your manners? Get out of my sight!"

Zhao Wushang hurriedly stepped in to console him, and finally, he reluctantly accepted the presence of the thirty-six new arrivals.

He sat down on his throne, looking down upon everyone as he asked, "Have the rules all been explained to you?"

"Yes."

"Originally, I had no intention of expanding my branch helm, but these bastards have dug a massive hole, and my hand has been forced!"

With that, Starlight launched into a long story about how everyone had screwed him over, and the more he spoke, the more furious he became, scouring a malicious gaze back and forth over everyone as he searched for someone to beat up, both to vent his anger and to set an example.

However, the new arrivals seemed to have all been warned of Starlight's vicious nature, and all of them stood before him in an obedient fashion, listening to his furious tirade in silence.

In order to provoke a reaction, Starlight began directly insulting one of the new arrivals, declaring that he was as hideous as a pile of shit, yet even then, the target of his abuse merely smiled and agreed, "Whatever you say, Helmsmaster Starlight."

In the end, Starlight was put at a complete loss for what to do, left with no outlet through which he could vent his fury.

Regardless of what he said, everyone played along, and it seemed that they were all determined not to give him any excuse to lash out at them.

Starlight's fury was building by the second, but he was unable to provoke any insubordination out of anyone!

Left with no alternatives, he decided to take the completely unreasonable approach, pointing at one of the new arrivals as he asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Tian Wanqing. What can I do for you, Helmsmaster?"

Starlight slapped him to the ground without any warning, then gave him a vicious kick as he asked, "Why're you not wearing a hat?!"

Tian Wanqing instinctively clasped a hand over his sore cheek, staring up at Starlight with a dazed and confused expression.

Why am I not wearing a hat? It's so warm in here, why would I wear a hat? Besides, I'm not the one in here not wearing a hat!

However, he reacted extremely quickly, hurriedly apologizing to Starlight before pulling out a hat and putting it on.

"Who gave you permission to wear a hat?!"

Starlight sent him flying back over fifty feet with an enraged kick, while everyone else looked on in fear and apprehension.

It had become abundantly clear to them that Starlight didn't welcome them at all and was going out of his way to stir up trouble.

After throwing a completely unreasonable tantrum, Starlight yelled, "Zheng Yunqi!"

"I'm here, Helmsmaster!"

"Give each of them a legal code and test them tomorrow night! Anyone that scores fewer than eighty points is to be kicked out of the branch helm!"

Eighty points was a very high mark, and he hadn't stipulated which part of the book the test was going to be based on, so it seemed like the contents of the test would encompass the entire book.

Everyone had already arrived the day before, and each of them was immediately given a legal code. Up to this point, they had already read quite a bit of it, but having to score a minimum of eighty points on a test to be held no more than a day later was still an extremely daunting task, and they were all kicking themselves for not reading the legal code a bit longer the night before.

All of them immediately turned to Zheng Yunqi with pitiable expressions, imploring him to say something, and he mustered up all of his courage before asking, "Are we testing them on the first quarter or the first fifth of the book?"

Zheng Yunqi had intentionally given only those two options in the hopes that he would be able to mislead Starlight.

Everyone could tell what he was doing, and they all turned back to Starlight, anxiously awaiting his answer.