The captive slaves all stared at John in a stupor.
"Did I stutter? Follow me. Now!" John commanded once again.
The captives all snapped out of their stunned stupors, as faces of slight panic and fear appeared instead. They had just seen the brutality of John's methods, and could only assume the worst for their future. However, they were powerless to stop it, and so they could only do as he commanded.
Hanze walked through the crowd, which quickly parted for him, as John and the captive slaves followed closely behind. The crowd closely inspected John as he walked by, as from today onwards, he was their new leader.
After pushing their way through the crowd, Hanze walked down the most grand and populous road of the city. The road sloped slightly upward, leading to an elevated plot of land in the very center of the large city. At the top of the plot of land, a large, expansive estate sprawled for hundreds of yards in each direction.
The estate was lined with tall walls, and several guards were posted outside its entrance. They were both in the Middle Core Formation Realm.
"Halt," the guards instructed as they saw Hanze and those following behind approach the estate.
"Who goes there?" the one guard asked.
A wry smile appeared on Hanze's face, as he had no idea how to explain the situation. John strode past Hanze and walked towards the entrance without missing a stride. The two guards frowned, and moved to stop John, but immediately stopped.
They stared at John, whose cold eyes were staring back at them like a predator. They could tell that if they moved to stop him, he would kill them on the spot.
"From now on, this estate belongs to me. You'll continue your guard duties as normal," John instructed as he walked by the guards and into the estate.
The guards still had stunned looks on their faces as they turned to face each other. They had no idea what had happened, but could tell something had changed. John's power was far beyond their own, and so they could do nothing about it.
They both looked towards Hanze, who they recognized, as if asking for an explanation.
Hanze shrugged his shoulders as he replied. "He just killed the old city leader."
Surprise appeared on the guards faces as Hanze and the captive slaves strode by them and into the estate.
Upon entering the estate, nearly a dozen buildings came into view. The main mansion, sitting in the very center of the plot, rose above all the other buildings. There were ten other smaller buildings located at various parts of the land, clearly for servant lodging and other purposes.
Dozens of servants were seen going about their business, trimming bushes, cleaning laundry, and doing other tasks. They all looked towards the newcomers curiously.
"Hanze," John called out. "These captives are now my servants. Introduce them to the already established servants of this estate, and get them up to speed on things. When you are done, meet me in the main building," John instructed.
Hanze nodded his head, and immediately set out about his tasks. The captives followed closely behind him, not sure whether to believe their ears or not. The fate of captives usually were extremely brutal, and resulted in mutilation or death. However, John had promised to make them servants, which was a fate much better than they could ever have hoped for.
While this was talking place, John strode into the main mansion of the estate. He entered the mansion, and a luxurious abode came into view. Many of the furniture and furnishings were gold lined, revealing the gaudy greed for wealth the previous leader had.
There were servants going about their business inside the building as well, but John ignored them as he explored the mansion for a while.
'Not bad. This place is actually on par with my estate in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and its larger too.'
However, other than its size and gaudy display of wealth, there really wasn't anything else of note within the mansion. After exploring it for anything valuable, John found a chair to sit on and waited for Hanze.
Hanze appeared fifteen minutes later.
"I have done as you have instructed," Hanze said to John.
"Good," John nodded his head. "Hanze, tell me about this city," John instructed. He wanted to know more about the city he had just assumed leadership of.
"You want to know about this city? What exactly would you like to know?" Hanze asked.
"Tell me everything you know, from the cities strength, its status in these lands, how it makes money. I want to know it all," John elaborated.
Hanze paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before he began to explain. John sat there and listened closely.
According to Hanze, the city was quite average in the grand scale of things. Its strength and economic power were average, and most of its money was made by the slave trade. Being a city closely located to the borderlands, it was one of the first cities to receive slaves for trade.
John frowned as he heard this. The slaves were from his side of the border, which were innocent people going about their lives. He wanted to stop this outright, but knew he was powerless to do so. If he stopped the slave trade in the city, two issues would arise.
The first is that the slaves would just be sold to other cities, not stop it outright. The second, was that cutting off the cities economic lifeline would surely cause riots, and his newly assumed leadership would crumble once he left for the Bloodfiend Sect.
John brooded over this issue in silence, as Hanze stood there patiently. Although he didn't know John, he didn't really care. His status was now elevated to new heights, and he would follow every command of Johns to ensure he kept this new status.
"You said the second biggest economic boon for this city is mining, correct? What ores are being mined, and where?" John asked as he came up with an idea.
"That is correct," Hanze confirmed. "There are Aderite Ore mines located a dozen miles from our city, in the Harel Mountain Range that borders this city to the north. However…" Hanze paused for a moment.
"However, what?" John asked.
"However, the mines are currently under siege...so to say."
"Under siege? How? And by who?" John asked for clarification.
Hanze paused for a moment, thinking of where best to start, before explaining the situation to John.
"The Aderite Ore mines were previously fully occupied by this city. In fact, the name of the city, Aderite City, was named so because of the mines. However, when the previous city leader took over several decades ago, he switched the cities focus from mining, to the slave trade. As such, the mines have been encroached on by other nearby cities and powers, and are now mostly out of our control," Hanze explained.
John remained silent as he heard this. The mines would be a fantastic solution to his problems, but he needed them to be trouble free. Aderite Ore was used for crafting weapons, and could be used to craft weapons up to the Heaven Tribulation Grade. This valuable ore would normally be exported to strong sects such as the Bloodfiend Sect and the First Grade sects just below it. As such, it was quite valuable.
"Which powers have taken over them?" John asked.
"There are two powers," Hanze replied. "The nearby city, Whitecrest City, and a nearby clan, the Ashcort Clan."
"Ashcort?" John replied. "Isn't that the name of one of the previous city leaders' subordinates? One of the men I killed?" John asked
"That is correct. He was the second son to the patriarch of the Ashcort Clan. I'm sure they'll be looking for some...vengeance," Hanze confirmed.
"What is the cultivation of the Ashcort Patriarch?" John asked Hanze.
"Its been a while since he's appeared in public, but his last cultivation a decade ago was at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm," Hanze replied.
A small smile appeared on John's face as he heard this. If they could take back the mines, then the solutions to his slave problem would be solved.
"Well Hanze, it appears that we need to make a quick trip to the Aderite Mines, as well as the Ashcort Clan."