Gabriel spoke to Daniel.
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
After Daniel gave his instructions, the two left Daniel’s courtyard.
Luke, naturally, followed closely behind Daniel.
Very soon, the two arrived at what was still called Void Town.
The name hadn’t yet been officially changed.
At this moment, the two sides were in a standoff.
“You people from Void Town are so despicable! Using such underhanded methods—do you really think Gold Sea Town is that easy to bully?”
Because Luke was absent, Void Town’s deputy mayor had stepped forward to confront them.
“Bully? You’ve got it backward! It’s clearly you people from Gold Sea Town who repeatedly come to Void Town to cause trouble. We haven’t even dealt with the troublemakers you’ve sent—that’s already giving you a lot of face!”
“And what now? Are you planning to attack Void Town directly? Let me tell you—we don’t seek trouble, but we’re not afraid of it either!”
The deputy mayor spoke with righteous confidence.
“Hah! And who doesn’t know that it was you people from Void Town who made all the shops in Ascension City increase their prices tenfold for us from Gold Sea Town! Are you still going to deny it?”
Gold Sea Town’s mayor retorted.
“What? Did you even think before saying something that ridiculous? How could Void Town have the power to make all those shops raise their prices? Do you think those shops in Ascension City take orders from us?”
The deputy mayor was naturally unwilling to accept such blatant nonsense.
After all, the shops in Ascension City were all backed by various powerful connections and factions…
If Void Town truly had that kind of influence, they would have had Ascension City’s lord kick out the people from Gold Sea Town long ago.
These guys must have had their brains kicked by donkeys to spout something this absurd!
“I’m telling you, the reason I dared to come here and say this is because I have evidence! You there, step forward and explain what happened!”
At the order of the Gold Sea Town mayor, a man stepped forward.
“We were in a shop, preparing to purchase some items, and we ran into that Crane from Void Town. After some disputes, the person next to Crane said something to the shopkeeper.”
“The result? Our prices were inexplicably raised tenfold! The shopkeeper even told us that from now on, all shops in Ascension City would raise prices tenfold for people from Gold Sea Town!”
Hearing this, the deputy mayor couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
The anger he initially felt dissipated, replaced by amusement.
He hadn’t expected Gold Sea Town to be so desperate that they would come up with such a flimsy excuse…
It was pathetic!
This accusation was so poorly fabricated that even a five-year-old child would have trouble believing it.
“If you want to start a fight, then we at Void Town will gladly accompany you to the end! There’s no need for such ridiculous excuses. It’s laughable just to hear it!”
The deputy mayor said coldly.
“Where’s Luke? Why isn’t he coming out? Is he too afraid to show his face, so he’s sending you instead?”
“Gold Sea Town, you’ve crossed the line! Such behavior disrespects Ascension City. Do you think Ascension City will tolerate this?”
Luke’s reprimanding voice came from behind.
“Ascension City? Hmph! Everyone knows Ascension City never cares about these matters! This is the outer city; Ascension City has no authority here…”
The Gold Sea Town mayor spoke arrogantly while turning his head to look at Luke.
However, as he turned, he was struck with a horrifying sight.
Because behind Luke stood another figure…
Even though he hadn’t met this person many times, he still recognized the familiar face instantly!
It was Ascension City’s lord—Gabriel!
In that moment, the Gold Sea Town mayor felt as though his vision blurred, as if someone had hit him over the head with a brick.
His mind was spinning, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
Luke…
Why was he here with Gabriel, the lord of Ascension City?
How did he manage to align himself with someone as powerful as Gabriel?
Had he just offended Lord Gabriel with his earlier words?
“Mayor, now that Luke has shown up, we can move forward with the plan we discussed…”
At this moment, someone beside the Gold Sea Town mayor whispered quietly.
But he was shocked to see the mayor trembling uncontrollably, his face pale and his body shaking instinctively.
Clearly, this was the reaction of someone in extreme terror.
But…
There was only Luke here! What was there to be afraid of?
And Luke wasn’t even that strong!
The person beside him had clearly never seen Ascension City’s lord before.
And that made sense.
Gabriel, as Ascension City’s lord, had many responsibilities and rarely showed himself.
Even these mayors had only seen him a handful of times.
As for their subordinates, it was natural for them to be unaware.
That man even shook the Gold Sea Town mayor’s arm and continued:
“Mayor, this is our best opportunity now that Luke has shown up! Those people agreed to help us secure major benefits for Gold Sea Town!”
As the man kept whispering in the mayor’s ear, the Gold Sea Town mayor’s consciousness began to return.
Finally, he emerged from his earlier dazed terror…
Only to transition into conscious terror.
Worst of all, the fool beside him was still openly discussing their plans!
Didn’t he realize that Gabriel, a god lord-level powerhouse, was standing right there?
No matter how quiet his voice was, it was no different from plotting in Gabriel’s face!
Was this man trying to get him killed?
And considering that the outer city had spiraled into such chaos…
Surely someone would have to be made an example of.
And who better to be that “example” than him, the instigator?
The Gold Sea Town mayor began trembling again, wishing he could punch the fool next to him and kill him on the spot.
Just then, Gabriel began walking toward him.
He turned to Luke and said:
“Leave the rest to me.”
…
After Gabriel and Luke left, Daniel no longer concerned himself with the matter.
With Gabriel handling it, there was nothing to worry about.
After this ordeal, Daniel realized there was a problem.
This new courtyard he had bought was good, but it wasn’t exactly secure against intruders.
If the visitors were polite, like Gabriel, and waited outside, that was fine.
But if they were like Luke, barging in without warning, there was no guarantee Daniel would always detect them in time.
So some necessary protective measures were needed.
Daniel began searching his personal storage space for materials to set up a magic array.
At the very least, it had to prevent such malicious disturbances.
With a proper magic array around the courtyard, it wouldn’t be so easy for people to intrude.
As Daniel searched, he found something interesting.
It was the last stalk of the strange grass he had previously fed to Big White.
Now that Big White was in a deep sleep for its ascension, the grass was no longer needed.
After the ascension… this tiny bit wouldn’t be useful anyway.
So… why not use it as the core of the array?
The grass had peculiar properties that even Daniel couldn’t fully grasp.
Using it as the core might create an array with unexpected effects.
Although he didn’t understand the exact principles, as long as it achieved the desired results, that was enough.
Daniel set up the magic array along the courtyard’s perimeter, close to the walls.
The array amplified the grass’s peculiar properties.
Anyone attempting to enter by irregular means would be blocked outside, as if trapped in a ghostly maze.
Breaking through the array was simple—one would need strength equivalent to Daniel’s,
or comparable to the strange aura of the grass itself.
And anyone with such power…
would give Daniel ample time to react and deal with them!
