Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

However, these Paladins didn’t seem as well-off as the Made Team. Their armor was old and damaged with some rusty spots. The patches of leather on collars and joints were frayed, and their weapons were in poor condition with many chips on the blades.

Feirick kept his calm; he manifested his physical form, knelt down, and took out five demon crystals. “I believe in the Light. Here’s my tax!”

Negris was taken aback. Why did this scene feel so familiar?

The leading Paladin came forward and picked up the demon crystals, weighing them in his hand. “So, you’re a follower of the Light. You’re one of us, then. But the tax has increased, so you should pay more.”

Feirick took out another demon crystal. “This is a small business. It takes a little over a long time. If the tax is too high, I’ll find another route next time.”

The Paladin quickly explained, “No need, you brought someone with you this time. We’ll give you a discount next time, given your devout heart.”

Where did they see a devout heart in this undead exuding deadly air?

The Paladin then turned to Ange. “How about you? Do you believe in the Light? If you do, then pay your tax.”

Negris sighed, “Just pay it. Let’s avoid the hassle. Give the same as Feirick.”

So Ange took out five demon crystals, and now they were in trouble.

“Oh? A rich man? Hands up! I suspect you smuggled forbidden goods and possessed mass-destruction weapons. Open up your spatial magic artifact for us to check,” the leading Paladin declared.

Feirick couldn’t help grumbling in a low voice, “Why would you give so many? I should have offered it for you. You should have said you didn’t have any. Why did you expose your spatial magic artifact? Now we’re in trouble. If we don’t bleed a lot, these vampires won’t let us go.”

Negris roared inside Ange’s soul, ” Kvada! I’m infuriated! We were planning to get along with you guys, but you forced us to reveal our identities. Ange, show your Divine Riding Badge.”

Ange took out Leonardo’s Divine Riding Badge.

“Ah! A knight of the Gods! Oh, fishing executioner… Lord above, I’m sorry, sir! We didn’t know who you were!” With that, all the surrounding Paladins dropped to their knees.

The leading Paladin knelt on both knees, with a look of sincere fear on his face. He held up eleven demon crystals in his trembling hands, rapidly apologizing, “We’re sorry, sir! We didn’t know who you were. We didn’t mean to, please forgive us.”

Negris roared directly into Ange’s body, “Have you never heard of taxing people at will just because you don’t know their identity?! Which department are you from? I’m going to report you to your boss!”

“Sir, you don’t know our department?” the leading Paladin asked.

Negris was taken aback. How was he supposed to know what department they were from?

“If I knew, would I still ask you? Speak up!” Negris responded impatiently.

“Sir, you’ve offended us.” The lead Paladin threw the demon crystals toward Ange, leaped back, and yelled, “Brothers, run! Don’t get caught…”

The surrounding Paladins sprinted in all directions before he could even finish his sentence, disappearing without a trace.

The lead Paladin couldn’t finish his words either, because as soon as he finished saying ‘get caught’, Ange grabbed his neck and lifted him up like a little chicken.

Divine power erupted from the Paladin, but before he could do anything, Ange cast Holy Light on him, dispelling his divine power.

The Paladin stared in horror, recognizing this as Devouring! The legendary Devouring could only occur when one person’s power was overwhelmingly superior to another’s.

Realizing that the ‘Knight of God’ in front of him was far beyond his ability to resist, the lead Paladin’s face turned ashen and he went limp. As soon as Ange put him down, he obediently knelt on the ground, face down.

Negris was also a little puzzled and asked in Ange’s mind, “Are you this strong now? Can you overpower a Level 7-8 Paladin single-handedly?”

Ange tilted his head, clearly puzzled. Was it that hard?

Negris gave up trying to analyze Ange’s strength. This skeleton was growing strong just by gardening and studying a Druid handbook. Plus, he had collected so many pieces of Elf Druid’s soul fragments, who knew what new abilities he had acquired?

Negris shifted his attention to the Paladin and asked sternly, “Name.”

“Sir, my name is Brand.”

“Age.”

“Forty-three.”

“Gender.”

“Er, sir, isn’t it obvious?”

“Answer when asked, no backtalk, slap.”

The last word ‘slap’ made Brand pause. Was he being told to slap himself? Before he could figure out what was happening, Ange’s slap had landed on his head causing a buzzing sound.

“Gender.” Negris repeated the question. Asking an obvious question and insisting on getting an answer is a part of obedience training. It can break down your resistance and condition you to answer other questions more freely.