Chapter 95: Iron Bar Town

Quickly leaving the mansion, he felt suffocated. After taking a few deep breaths, he felt a little better. Looking up at the dark city, he sighed—it was time to leave.
Turning around, he headed toward the Flower Fragrance Building. He soon returned to this bustling place, but everything was different this time. The window of the room where Niels was imprisoned was wide open, surrounded by a crowd. Laughter and chatter could be heard. Listening closely, he realized Niels had been rescued—no surprise there. His remarkable performance had caught everyone’s attention, creating a scene that would surely spread throughout the streets soon.
Just as he arrived, heavy footsteps sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw a group of soldiers rushing toward him. Seeing this, the tightly packed doors of the Flower Fragrance Building quickly cleared to allow them in.
“What a pity!” Rod muttered to himself with a meaningful wry smile. He hadn’t been able to witness the splendid scene he had orchestrated. But it didn’t matter. He quickly turned and headed toward the city gates. If he delayed any longer, things would get troublesome. Once Niels’ family power stepped in and sent troops to hunt him, it would be hard to escape.
“Naytrod, you brat! I never expected it to be you! Hmph, just leaving after causing trouble? Leaving me to clean up the mess?” Standing on the building, watching Niels furious, she suppressed her laughter as she observed the soldiers flooding in. The woman inside the Flower Fragrance Building smiled bitterly.
“Still, it’s not entirely a loss. Hehe, after much effort, I found you effortlessly, Naytrod! Finally, I’ve got you!” Hearing Niels roaring below, determined to chop Naytrod to pieces, the woman’s eyes lit up. She spoke to herself before turning to the woman in the room behind her. “Alright, Darcy. Niels will definitely seek revenge on you. It’s no longer safe for you to stay here. Go first to the headquarters and report this to the higher-ups. I’m sure our master will be excited to hear this, right?”
“Yes!” Hearing her boss’s words, the woman nodded without hesitation. Wasn’t this the same woman who had been forced by Rod to deal with Niels before?
Under the night sky, two figures rushed in opposite directions, heading outside the city.
……

Upon reaching the city gates, fortunately, Nils’ forces were not yet overwhelming, and their speed wasn’t that fast—at least not here. Without encountering any obstacles, he managed to exit the city gates, letting out a sigh of relief as his mood improved significantly.

Looking back at the towering city walls, he smiled slightly. This trip to the capital had been worthwhile, especially tonight—his mood was better than ever!

“I’ll be back!” Somehow, Lucia’s face appeared in his mind. With a faint bitter smile, he thought, “Damn it, what’s wrong with me? I’m not even in my puberty yet—do I have to like every woman I see?”

After muttering to himself, he turned and walked away, soon disappearing into the darkness of the night.

Rod naturally had no idea that just less than ten minutes after he left, a small group of over a dozen people rushed to the city gates and issued a warrant for his arrest. Who else could be the target of this warrant except Rod and Darcy? Perhaps if it had been a little later, Rod wouldn’t have been so lucky as to get out of there.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he ran at full speed, channeling his combat energy to its extreme, allowing it to circulate rapidly within his body along specific pathways. With the help of this energy, Rod moved as if propelled by wind, reaching terrifying speeds.

“At this speed, I could win all the running events on Earth and set unbreakable records!” he thought with a bitter smile. The scenery around him rushed past like a gust of wind, and the howling wind filled him with a sense of triumph. He couldn’t help but let out a long shout, accelerating even further, moving forward like an arrow leaving the bow.

At such speeds, his combat energy was consumed at an astonishing rate. In less than an hour, he had used up all his energy—without even accounting for the energy that could be restored. Rod’s recovery ability was far stronger than most people’s. Under such conditions, the amount of energy he could accumulate in an hour would likely be more than one-fifth of his total energy.

Even with such intense exertion, the rapid consumption showed just how enormous and terrifying this drain really was.

He stopped in his tracks, gasping for breath. Behind him, everything was pitch black—the shadow of the capital had long disappeared, and there was no sign of anyone. He was now in the wilderness.

The surroundings were desolate, devoid of life, with cold winds howling, sending chills through his body.

After searching for a week, he found no suitable place for hiding. With a sigh, he chose a large tree on a hillside by the road, used the Dark Dragon Chisel to carve out a hole about half a person’s height, and hid himself inside. Sitting cross-legged there, he took a deep breath and began his new training, absorbing the fire elements around him into his body. With his combat energy completely depleted, he absorbed them like a sponge, finding it extremely easy and effortless. As the energy coalesced into combat energy, a slight warmth emerged wherever it passed, dispelling the chill. He didn’t know how long he had trained, but he felt his combat energy had returned to full capacity. The warm sensation was so comfortable that he couldn’t help but groan. A faint smile appeared on his lips—after this training, he could clearly sense his combat energy had grown slightly, strengthened, and condensed a bit. He could almost touch that bottleneck; it felt as though just a little more strength would allow him to break through this barrier and quickly join the ranks of Silver Warriors. Feeling this, he was undoubtedly overjoyed at the thought of soon joining them and becoming even stronger—how could he not be excited? Opening his eyes, he was struck by the bright sunlight and squinted. Before he knew it, it was already noon. The sun was high in the sky. He stepped out of the tree hole, stretched, and felt energized from the night’s training. Exhaling a puff of air, he moved his limbs and looked down the road, where he saw a caravan heading toward the capital. It was getting late, so he took out some dried food from his bag, ate a few bites quickly, and set off. Time was of the essence—reaching Collins Forest as soon as possible was crucial. Based on his speed from the previous day and the time needed for rest, he estimated it would take about five days to reach Collins Forest. After accounting for the time needed to return and complete the mission, he would have roughly five days left for the mission itself. Deciding to push his combat energy to its peak, he rushed through the woods along the road. He moved like a gust of wind, too fast for anyone to see his figure clearly. Along the way, he encountered several groups of merchants. After all, this was still a main road, especially one leading to the capital, so there were naturally many people, including some skilled individuals. Rod, who was running fast, was naturally noticed by those passing by.

Those with slightly weaker abilities watched the figure passing by them with envy and confusion. As for those stronger, upon seeing the person suddenly rushing forward, their eyes showed not only confusion but also a hint of disbelief, which soon turned into disdain! At least in their eyes, Rod’s behavior was nothing short of foolish. As a warrior, especially a mercenary, one is constantly in danger, so it’s essential to always maintain the ability to fight back—such capability can save one’s life at critical moments. This is the simplest principle of warfare. To recklessly unleash one’s combat energy like this fool undoubtedly amounted to idiotic behavior.

After running for just over an hour, his internal energy was exhausted once again. Having decided to continue in this manner, Rod quickly found a place to rest and train. This was also part of his training plan; he hoped that through repeated such exercises and extreme trials, he could break through his limitations and enter the ranks of Silver Warriors. This would also give him a better chance of survival in the Collins Forest.

…

Days turned into nights, and nights into days. Most of the four days were spent training, with only a small amount of time spent running. Even so, Rod followed his plan and eventually reached a place not far outside the Collins Forest. It was the fifth day. As dawn broke, Rod opened his eyes after finishing his training and exhaled. Although the days of training hadn’t allowed him to break through, it had made his combat energy much purer.

Getting up, he calculated the distance and the information he had gathered along the way. He wasn’t far from the Collins Forest. Instead of continuing to run, he decided to walk at a normal pace toward it. From that moment on, he entered a state of combat readiness, sparing not a single bit of his combat energy unless necessary.

After continuing on this way, he finally arrived at the small town on the outskirts of the Collins Forest in the early afternoon. The town was called Moonlight Iron Bar Town, named after its function and nature. Though it was just a small town, it was by no means to be underestimated. Everyone in the empire knew well its importance and status within the empire.