Chapter 86: On the Blacklist?

Looking at the bustling streets and strolling leisurely down the avenues, it felt as if it had been a long time since he’d been this relaxed.
In just one afternoon, he explored several streets. Remembering that he was still a mercenary, he searched around and found the location of the Imperial Capital Mercenaries Association.
Seeing the mercenaries coming in and out and the massive mercenary building, he couldn’t help but marvel—truly worthy of being the headquarters of the Imperial Mercenaries Association. It was nothing compared to Blue Ice City; almost the entire street seemed to be occupied by this building.
Entering, he took in the grandeur of the building and after typing something, took a deep breath before walking inside.
The hall was packed with countless mercenaries—some there to take missions, others to submit them. It was an extremely bustling scene.
He hurried forward, remembering that he still hadn’t handed in the escort mission he’d undertaken with the Swift Wind Mercenaries Team. After waiting in line, he finally reached the counter to submit his mission.
“Hello, I’m here to submit a mission!” Rod politely said, handing over his mercenary card to the lady in front of him.
“Please wait a moment!” She quickly processed the card. Moments later, a hint of surprise appeared on her face!
“Hello, esteemed guest. You are a member of the Swift Wind Mercenaries Team. For completing this A-grade escort mission, your team will receive 1,000 contribution points, and you will receive 200 honor points! They’ve already been credited to your card. You’ve now been upgraded to a two-star mercenary. Congratulations! If you wish, you can go register now to receive your two-star mercenary badge!”
She politely handed Rod’s card back, smiling.
“1,000 contribution points? 200 honor points? Upgraded to a two-star mercenary?” Hearing this, Rod was shocked inwardly. Hadn’t this mission originally been classified as B-grade? When did it get upgraded?
But after a moment, he understood—missions issued by the Mercenaries Association could be updated and revised from time to time. It was normal for changes to be made based on the difficulty and completion of the mission during settlement.
As long as it wasn’t detrimental to him, it was fine. Hehe, a two-star mercenary? He had finally made some progress and escaped his difficult situation! A smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

Through his time as a mercenary and the lessons from people like Aida and Bit, Rod gained a deeper understanding of the mercenary world. Mercenaries are divided into seven ranks, from one-star to seven-star. Mercenary teams are classified into five ranks, from one-star to five-star. Tasks, on the other hand, are divided into ten levels: the seven ordinary levels of A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, along with three special levels above them—S, SS, and SSS. Some people vividly compare these ten levels to the seven ranks from one-star to seven-star, with the three special levels being referred to as the “three death tasks!”

The contribution points for mercenary teams are also divided into ten levels: SSS level corresponds to 40,000–60,000 contribution points, SS level to 18,000–25,000, S level to 8,000–10,000, A level to 1,000–1,500, B level to 500–800, C level to 200–300, D level to 80–150, E level to 40–70, F level to 15–30, and G level to 5–10.

The contribution points obtainable from tasks at each level aren’t fixed, but the contribution points earned by teams for each level are as follows. These points determine the rank that a mercenary team can achieve. One-star teams have no requirements; two-star teams need over 10,000 contribution points, three-star teams need over 100,000, and so on—four-star teams need over 500,000, while five-star teams require an astonishing amount of over 300,000!

Similarly, the honor points for mercenaries are also divided into ten levels: SSS level corresponds to 15,000–20,000 honor points, SS level to 8,000–15,000, S level to 5,000–7,000, A level to 200–300, B level to 100–150, C level to 80–100, D level to 50–60, E level to 30–40, F level to 15–30, and G level to 5–10.

The honor points required for mercenaries at each rank are as follows: one-star mercenaries have no requirements; two-star mercenaries need over 200 honor points, three-star mercenaries need over 2,000, four-star mercenaries need over 20,000, five-star mercenaries need over 80,000, six-star mercenaries need over 300,000, and seven-star mercenaries need over 600,000!

One must know how many members a mercenary group has. They take missions together, and each mission awards points to the group, allowing them to level up more quickly. It can be seen that it’s even harder for a single mercenary to level up compared to a group. This is why, although five-star mercenary groups are rare on this continent, they do exist, while seven-star mercenaries have only appeared twice in history, with none appearing in nearly a thousand years.

“Hey, kid, are you still standing there? If you’re done, move aside quickly!” A loud shout came from behind. Turning around in haste, he saw a burly man standing behind him, glaring at him impatiently.

Only then did he realize he had been occupying that spot for too long, lost in thought. Feeling guilty, he smiled awkwardly and quickly stepped aside.

Leaving the mission assignment area, he followed the young lady’s advice and went to the mercenary registration desk. It was much less crowded here—no throngs of people, no hustle and bustle. He easily approached the counter, handed over his mercenary card and badge, and explained his requirements. He happily received a badge for a two-star mercenary, but it cost Rod five gold coins.

Muttering that it was a rip-off, he avoided the clerk’s charming smile and hurried away. That smile always gave Rod a bad feeling—something sinister. He certainly didn’t want his already meager pockets to get any smaller.

Seeing the crowded mission assignment area, he went there out of curiosity. It took all his strength to squeeze in. The countless missions listed on the magic crystal board were dazzling.

After searching around, he found several suitable missions that seemed good in every way. But since he didn’t plan to leave the capital for now, he just glanced at them briefly.

“Hm? Why are there so few people over there?” Wondering, Rod looked at the small crowd gathered around another black board and asked the person next to him, “Brother, is that where missions are assigned? Why are there so few people?”

“Hehe, kid, you’re new here, right? Or is this your first time in the capital?”

Hearing Rod’s question, a burly man next to him smirked and said.

“Yeah, what’s the matter? Can you tell me?” Rod looked at the man’s expression, then at the pitifully small crowd over there, growing even more puzzled.

“There are only five mercenary associations in the empire that have such lists, all of them large-scale associations—like the Imperial Mercenary Association headquarters, the Eastern Mercenary Association headquarters, the Western Mercenary Association headquarters, and those in the South and North. That list is called the Black List. Hehe, the tasks on it are generally not popular among others; most of the people there are dark mercenaries!” The burly man spoke in a low voice, clearly trying not to be heard by those over there.

“The Black List? Dark mercenaries?” Although Rod didn’t know what the Black List was, the term “dark mercenaries” gave him a general idea. Dark mercenaries were a despised group of fighters who not only took legitimate mercenary jobs but also engaged in assassinations, robberies, and similar activities. Almost all assassins were members of dark mercenaries, who formed a small faction within the mercenary associations. Yet this small faction possessed terrifying power. They operated in every corner of the continent. Though recognized by the mercenary associations, they were despised by other mercenaries—two groups that hated each other deeply upon meeting.

In short, while mercenaries took protection missions, those dark mercenaries took missions aimed at disrupting such protections. For example, the assassins who tried to kill Lucia during Rod’s Swift Wind Mercenary Team’s protection mission were likely dark mercenaries assigned tasks from the Black List.

After nodding slightly in thanks, Rod slowly approached that area. He glanced at the five or six people in front of the Black List and stepped back a bit to look at the list itself. As expected, the tasks listed there were killings, murders, robberies, kidnappings, and the like! Seeing this, Rod frowned. How could the mercenary associations accept and post such tasks? Did the empire not exert any control?

With a sigh, he realized that the mercenary associations were incredibly powerful and maintained a separate relationship from the empire, so they wouldn’t accept imperial control. The empire was probably helpless too—after all, if they really clashed, the empire might not stand a chance, given how terrifyingly powerful the mercenary associations were.

Upon closer inspection, the task commissions listed there were outrageously high, but the tasks themselves were relatively difficult. Many S-grade tasks originated here, with almost all being above A-grade; no tasks below A-grade could be seen, and there were even two SS-grade tasks. There were also tasks like assassinating a duke or prince of a certain country, which were classified as special tasks ranging from A-grade to S-grade! A task worth 1,500 Dark Points?! The country name wasn’t specified; only those who accepted the task could see it.
Dark Points were the leveling points for those dark mercenaries, similar to a mercenary’s honor points and contribution points for their mercenary group.
“Indeed bold—quite insane!” Rod sighed inwardly as he looked at the tasks. The Mercenary Association was really bold to take on such tasks; surely the empire must be quite troubled by this.
No wonder the mercenary hall was always crowded. Now Rod finally understood—most of the people there weren’t mercenaries but guards from wealthy families or spies for certain factions, gathering information from the blacklist to prepare thoroughly. For example, those dukes and princes listed there—although their names weren’t revealed to avoid trouble for the mercenary hall—would surely be living in constant fear.
“Hm?” Suddenly, Rod’s eyes lit up in surprise at a task displayed at the bottom. It was the only B-grade task: assassinate a person. The required level was B-grade, and the target was Knightrod…
Seeing this, Rod froze in place. How did he end up on the blacklist?