Chapter 616 - 595: The Name of the Butcher
Chapter 616: Chapter 595: The Name of the Butcher
An unprecedented bloodbath was sweeping through the latter half of the Gray Channel’s D Route.
The initiator of this slaughter offered no declarations or manifestos. Instead, there were only fearless war machines.
[D-22 Flight Segment. Target: "Cold Abyss" Els. Dawn Star Level Wizard. Mastered Laws: Frost, Curse.]
[Attack command issued.]
In the void, the massive body of PX-5 "Xiong Da" broke away from the formation, charging into the enemy lines alone.
Facing the [Extreme Cold Domain] that Els had erected around the flagship—a domain potent enough to freeze the soul—the Silent Extinction Silver Armor on Xiong Da’s exterior rippled with a dark luster, forcefully immunizing it against the majority of the Law Erosion. With engines at maximum output, it raised its sixty-meter Meteor II High-Frequency Vibration Ship-Slicing Blade, streaking past like a silver shooting star.
One strike. From front to back.
Els’ flagship—a heavy dreadnought renowned in the D Route as the "Ten-Thousand-Year Iceberg"—was cleaved open with a smooth, massive gap extending from bow to stern. Along the cut, the metal structure continued to melt under terrifying heat.
The hull slowly exploded and drifted apart in the vacuum. The terrified Black Wizards inside did not even have time to let out their final wails before they were completely purged by the incoming barrage of artillery fire.
A pitch-black silhouette silently appeared above the warship. Thanatos raised the ghostly green Soul-Trapping Lantern, sending out invisible chains to forcefully rip a clump of unwilling souls directly from the ruined husk of the enemy leader. After devouring countless fallen souls on the battlefield, the oppressive aura emanating from this Death God was becoming increasingly suffocating.
[D-20 Flight Segment. Target: "Thousand Faces" organization, entrenched in the "Twisted Fortress". Leader: Dawn Star Level Wizard. Mastered Laws: Phantom, Storm.]
[Mission Assignment: Thanatos.]
This time, the massive Golem Legion merely blockaded the entire airspace surrounding the enemy fortress without launching an attack. An invisible shadow slipped through the fortress’ heavy defenses and descended directly within.
Thanatos: one machine, an entire army.
The [Soul Law] domain unfurled silently. At that exact moment, the souls of all living beings within the fortress were forcibly frozen; even their thoughts ground to a halt. The halo of the [Decay Law] swept out like a rippling wave. In a state of sheer terror, those powerful Black Wizards and grotesque flesh-modified entities watched helplessly as their bodies began to age, decay, and ultimately turn to dust that scattered in the wind.
Half an hour later, Thanatos quietly returned to the bridge. Inside its Soul-Trapping Lantern, another restless, high-quality Morning Star soul had been added to the collection.
[D-17 Flight Segment. Target: "Giant Rock Brotherhood", large floating fortress "Heart of the Rock". Leader: Defected White Wizard. Mastered Law: Gravity.]
Facing this tough nut to crack, known for its impenetrable defenses, Allen could not even be bothered to dispatch a single Morning Star Golem for a one-on-one duel.
"Entire army, fire." Standing on the bridge of the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine, he looked at the massive red dot on the Star Map and issued a simple command.
Simultaneously, over a hundred thousand war machines aimed their cannons at the exact same coordinates. In that moment, it was as if the dark abyss of deep space was instantly illuminated. Countless dense beams of energy merged into an apocalyptic torrent, bombarding the floating fortress that rivaled the size of a small continent.
No Law could withstand such a sheer accumulation of pure firepower.
After the blindingly intense white light faded, the airspace was left with nothing but cosmic dust spreading for thousands of kilometers. The Heart of the Rock, along with the two Morning Star Wizards inside who had tried to put up a desperate fight, had been utterly erased on a physical level.
One month later.
Four entrenched Dawn Star Level Black Wizard factions, along with thirty-seven large and small Star Thief Gangs, had been reduced to ash under the baptism of steel and energy. In the D-25 to D-15 Flight Segments of the Gray Channel, less than one in ten Black Wizards who made a living as Star Thieves had survived.
The "Canal Butcher"—a moniker Allen strongly resisted—began to spread from the mouths of surviving Star Thieves to the communication channels of passing merchant vessels, to the resupply ports along the route, and finally, even to the distant Hub City.
In the D-16 Flight Segment.
The Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine was pursuing a notorious mid-sized Star Thief Gang, the Iron Jaws.
"Commander, a crossfire signal has been detected ahead," Jarvis reported. "A three-ship merchant convoy is currently being besieged by the Iron Jaws."
Allen shifted his gaze away from the Star Map, glancing at the three battered merchant ships displayed in the holographic projection.
"PX-3 Legion, Fourth and Fifth Wings, deploy," he ordered plainly. "Take them out in six minutes. Don’t delay our next itinerary."
With the order given, two thousand four hundred Heavy Armored Golems tore through space like drawn swords, inserting themselves straight into the battlefield. The Iron Jaws Star Thieves, who had been toying with their prey, were instantly engulfed by a dense barrage of artillery fire before they could even react.
Five minutes and forty-two seconds later, the battle was over.
The captain of the rescued merchant fleet, a plump middle-aged man, was brought aboard the bridge of the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine via a tractor beam. Trembling all over, he practically crawled in on his knees. When he saw the excessively young black-haired man sitting in the commander’s seat, his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.
"Y-You... you’re Lord ’Canal Butcher’? Thank you for your mercy! I’m willing to offer you half of our convoy’s profits as a token of gratitude!" The captain’s voice carried a weeping tone, whether out of gratitude or sheer terror.
Allen rose from his seat, wearing an impeccable, aristocratic smile on his face, and slowly walked over to him.
"Wesren Heavy Industry, Allen Wesren." Reaching out to help the captain up, he corrected the man in a gentle yet undeniable tone. "I’d much prefer you remember this name instead."
The captain froze.
"There is no need for a token of gratitude. Rather than taking your hard-earned money, I’d prefer you accept this." Allen did not say much more as a Memory Crystal floated toward the man. "This is the complete product catalog of our Wesren Heavy Industry, a transit permit for the Intermediate Star Gate in our G-771 Plane, and a custom-made three-year trade agreement tailored for you and your merchant guild, offering a twenty-percent discount."
Allen patted the captain’s stiff shoulder and smiled. "War is expensive. My fleet consumes a massive amount of Magic Stones every single second. I hope our cooperation can bring both of us some profit. Remember, high-end business warfare often requires the most solid backing."
Holding the Memory Crystal in both hands, the captain’s mind went completely blank.
This was an advertisement. War was business, and saving lives was just as much a business. Over the past month, similar scenes had played out exactly thirty-one times.
The news spread far faster than the speed of a sailing fleet. In every corner of the Gray Channel, a new topic of conversation had slipped into the merchants’ discussions.
"Have you heard? That ’Canal Butcher’ in the D Route isn’t just a simple maniac; he’s actually a very friendly merchant!"
"Exactly! My cousin’s fleet was saved by him just the day before yesterday. Without a word, he completely eradicated the Star Thieves, not even leaving ashes behind, and then turned around to shove a purchase order into my cousin’s hands!"
"That Morning Star Wizard named Allen who claims to be from ’Wesren Heavy Industry’? The one from the Plane Development and Exploration Association? Good lord! He wiped out all the Star Thieves in half the channel on a whim, just to sell his Golems? What kind of hardcore marketing is this?!"
When Allen’s fleet arrived at the D-14 Flight Segment, this one-sided hunting operation unexpectedly hit the pause button.
"Commander, I’ve intercepted two wide-area broadcasts from the Gray Channel’s public channel that mention your name," Jarvis reported.
Allen raised an eyebrow. "Play them."
On the light screen, two highly respectful "career change declarations" were displayed side by side. The senders were the last two Dawn Star Level Star Thief bosses entrenched in the D-14 Flight Segment: "Scorpion" and "Ghost Fire."
In their declarations, the two men bitterly confessed to their past crimes. In thousands of eloquently written words, they expressed their utmost respect for Lord Wesren’s efforts in maintaining the channel’s order and solemnly announced that, effective immediately, they were disbanding all their raiding crews, washing their hands of the business, and turning over a new leaf. They even stated their willingness to pay the majority of their fortunes to the Mystic Code Council, solely in exchange for the qualifications to become "lawful merchants," promising never to stand in the way of Wesren Heavy Industry’s wealth.
Reading the declarations, Allen fell silent for a moment before letting out a somewhat regretful sigh. "What a pity. Two perfectly good Law Crystals." He muttered to himself, the corners of his lips curling into an amused arc. "Why are there so many smart people? It makes me feel embarrassed to keep farming materials."
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Wesren Building in the distant G-771 Plane, Colin and Vera stared in sheer disbelief at a report that Jarvis had just synchronized.
"The boss... he actually did it?" Colin’s voice was a bit dry; he felt as though his worldview had taken a severe blow.
"The report indicates that the shipping insurance rates in the D Route of the Gray Channel have plummeted by forty-one percent within a single month." Vera adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, her eyes gleaming with shock beneath the lenses. "The number of transit applications for our Intermediate Star Gate in the G-771 Plane has surged by three hundred and twenty percent! There are even seventeen unfamiliar merchant fleets with whom we’ve never had any prior contact proactively submitting letters of intent for long-term cooperation!"
What made it even more unbelievable to them was that the merchant fleets Allen had saved "in passing" had become Wesren Heavy Industry’s "wild promoters." At five major resupply ports along their routes, they aggressively advertised just how excellent and affordable the industrial goods from the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Machines were. A few shrewd merchant fleets had even directly altered their courses, detouring to the G-771 Plane to prepare for large-scale purchases.
Looking at the rapidly skyrocketing financial forecast reports, Vera’s expression was one of gratification, yet tinged with a hint of hidden concern.
"The effects of free advertising are astonishingly good," she said softly, "but tall trees catch the wind. The boss’s reputation... is spreading too fast and too loudly."
Her gaze ultimately fell on a piece of intelligence at the very end of the report. The name "Canal Butcher" Allen Wesren was no longer just circulating in the latter half of the Gray Channel’s D Route. Within the core hub of the Wizarding World, it had already become a new name deemed worthy of mention by some of the top-tier factions.