Chapter 1 The Forest Ablaze

The forest encircled Rune City. Looking down from the city heights, the lush greenery embraced the white buildings. However, at this moment, a bald path appeared in the dense forest, as conspicuous as a man with flowing hair having a bald spot.

Black smoke billowed in the rain, visible from afar to the residents of Rune City.

"What happened over there?"

"I've been hearing faint explosions from that direction. Could Steelfire Fortress be attacking..."

"I got up before dawn to sort the goods. You know what I saw? Groups of rune guards marched into the forest, in the direction of the smoke."

Staring at the distant smoke, the residents of Rune City were filled with suspicion and speculation. The ruling class knew about the alien invasion first, but the information hadn't spread yet.

"It's him... it must be him..." A short, thin man, resembling a rat, was terrified in the crowd. People around him noticed his abnormality, their eyes lit up, guessing that he might know something. They all asked him questions.

"It's an alien! He landed outside the city last night. He can speak our language and made demands to Rune City..." This person was the smuggler boss from last night. He spilled everything he witnessed last night like pouring beans from a bamboo tube. His audience grew, all looking incredulous.

"There must have been a battle, proving that Rune City didn't agree to the alien's demands." The smuggler boss swallowed. The crowd stirred, looking at each other, seeing unease in each other's eyes.

Just then, commotion came from afar. A rune guard ran back with all his might, his face blackened by cannon fire. He looked back from time to time, terrified, as if chased by a monstrous beast. Behind him, more and more soldiers stumbled back.

This scene made the residents feel ominous. A middle-aged man found his soldier brother also running back. He hurriedly grabbed him and demanded to know what was happening.

"The higher-ups rejected the alien's demands. They wanted to capture the alien... Tens of thousands of troops were completely defeated. The enemy was only one person. We lost thousands of men and couldn't even touch his clothes. It was terrifying. Everyone else ran away. That guy is walking towards the city now. You all should run too!" The guard hadn't recovered from the shock. He said everything in one breath, shook off the entanglement, and ran out of the crowd in a hurry.

The crowd erupted, filled with anxiety and panic, as well as anger. They wished they could pin the Rune City Lord to the ground and beat him to death – it would have been better to agree to the alien's demands. Why provoke him for no reason, putting the entire city in danger? Was he just asking for it?!

At this time, a group of soldiers walked out from the direction of the central tower, pushed aside the residents, and cleared the road. The Rune City Lord, along with a group of officials, hurriedly ran towards the edge of the city. The guards behind him carried a strange statue.

The alien was about to enter the city. There was no time to escape. The Rune City Lord had no choice. Thinking of the alien's demands, he could only take the statue to beg for mercy. According to the information from the front line, the alien didn't chase the fleeing army, and he wasn't injured either. Maybe the alien didn't like killing. He took a chance, no longer coveting the alien. Now he only hoped that the alien would take the thing and leave, and forgive them.

Seeing this, some residents followed behind. More and more people joined along the way, forming a torrent, following the Rune City Lord's team, wanting to see the situation with their own eyes.

Tens of thousands of people came to the village on the edge of the city. Countless people craned their necks, their hearts filled with tension.

The Rune City Lord kept wiping sweat, feeling uneasy.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of footsteps stepping on fallen leaves and humus came from the depths of the forest, getting closer and closer. As the distance decreased, the faces of the residents and the Rune City Lord became more and more uneasy, as if the bell of judgment was approaching. Before long, Han Xiao finally walked out of the forest and came to the edge of Rune City.

As soon as he appeared, countless eyes focused on him, the center of attention, their eyes filled with curiosity, fear, worry, and other emotions.

He glanced at the large crowd and a group of guys who were obviously officials, his eyelids twitched. He knew what the other party was planning at a glance, and curled his lips.

They realized they had kicked a steel plate and planned to actively offer the statue. Did they not think it was too late to surrender now?

The Rune City Lord took the statue from the guard, hurried forward, carefully observed Han Xiao, and trembled, "Th-this should be what you want..."

Unsure of the alien's thoughts, the Rune City Lord didn't dare to say anything extra. Although he was a ruler, in front of a strong man who could easily destroy tens of thousands of troops, he had no confidence at all.

Although Planet Aquamarine didn't have systematic knowledge of espers, they had also explored the path of the supernatural. The War Rune Church was a gathering place for cultivators in Rune City, possessing a transcendent status. But even the founder of the church could only barely deal with a thousand rune guards, and it would take at least half a day of fighting. The killing efficiency was simply not on the same level as the alien in front of them. After the battle report came back, the Rune City Lord had held onto the last hope, wanting to ask the fighters of the War Rune Church to stop the alien, but was directly rejected. The War Rune Church, having touched the realm of the supernatural, knew their limits very well and knew they were powerless, not giving the Rune City Lord a chance to speak at all... even though they had to accept huge amounts of funding from him every year.

Han Xiao reached out and touched the statue. The panel information confirmed that this was the last lost statue.

When he reached out, the Rune City Lord's body visibly trembled. Meeting Han Xiao's gaze, he was terrified and quickly lowered his head.

Scanning the tense crowd, Han Xiao said calmly, "Don't worry, we mercenaries never kill innocent people indiscriminately."

Hearing this, the hearts of the crowd that were hanging in the air suddenly dropped, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, who is the ruler here?"

The residents all pointed at the Rune City Lord. The Rune City Lord hadn't had time to relax, and his face tightened. He forced a smile.

"You're the one who sent troops to attack me?" Han Xiao asked, "Why didn't you accept my request?"

The Rune City Lord's lips trembled, unable to answer.

"According to the mercenary's principle of equal exchange, you attacked me. If you want to settle this matter, you must make compensation." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, "What do you want to use to exchange for your own life?"

The Rune City Lord was sweating profusely, his heart filled with grief and indignation. This was the first time he had been threatened. Who would dare to talk to him like this normally?

Moreover, you injured so many of our people, and you still want us to compensate you?

How overbearing!

"We have many extraterrestrial objects..." The Rune City Lord gritted his teeth secretly, and could only endure the pain, letting his subordinates list the national treasury inventory and hand it to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao glanced at it roughly, somewhat disappointed. The local currency of Planet Aquamarine was meaningless to him. The only acceptable thing was extraterrestrial objects, but the inventory of Rune City was really a pile of garbage. Most of it was junk, and a small part was rune technology products, which were basically scrapped and had little value. Rune technology didn't fit his knowledge system either. After reading the list from beginning to end, he came to a conclusion -- looking at this thing was a waste of time. These were a bunch of poor people!

Throwing away the list, Han Xiao shook his head, "The things you compensate can't buy your life. Sorry, I can only let you pay for your mistakes."

The Rune City Lord's face changed drastically.

…

(More to come)