Cthulhu Gonfalon

The origin of Baron Dahl’s wealth had always been a great mystery. The neighboring lords had been investigating this matter all along, but they had never been able to find any reliable clues.

Of course, there were still some traces found, and all these leads pointed to smuggling. But “smuggling” was never just lip service. It required trade caravans and a clear channel for the smooth circulation of goods between both sides. Among the lords located around Dahl Hill, there were some who also had social connections in bigger cities, such as the capital city, where they could pull ties and get to know more people. But ultimately, they were never able to find any evidence on how generations of barons from the Dahl family had imported and exported goods.

It was not that Baron Dahl did not do business, but rather, the business that he engaged in was all very normal. No one could find any problems at all.

But this was nothing difficult for Sui Xiong. The mortals could not find any clues, but that did not mean that he, Brother Xiong, would not be able to find any either.

With just a little bit of Divine Power, he looked into the mind of Baron Dahl…

Then, he felt a little embarrassed.

He was not able to read his mind.

Baron Dahl was not powerful, but he always carried an extremely advanced protective tool with him wherever he went. Any mental attacks below the legendary level would not work on him at all. Even if the power was increased to the legendary level, though it might be able to break through the protection provided by that tool, the attacker wouldn’t necessarily be able to read the baron’s mind well.

Of course, Sui Xiong could still continue to increase the power. So long as he decided to get really serious, even those magical objects specially used for mental protection might not necessarily be able to block out his power, let alone the mental protective tools at a mere mortal level. But if he were to do so, it would be hard not to leave a trace, which was not in line with his intention.

Leaving a trace was not a big deal, but leaving a trace would also mean he would easily be discovered. If the other gods found out and mentioned it sometime later, he would be stultifying himself!

The gods were almost immortals. Unless they lost in a war of gods, then even if the people’s belief in them faded to a withering end, they could always resolve this problem by creating new races or opening up a new world. In most cases, the fights between gods were, in fact, just a matter of honor.

Sui Xiong certainly was unwilling to risk losing face over such a small matter, but this was only a small problem. How could it possibly subdue His Majesty, the great Void Mask? Within the blink of an eye, he came up with an idea.

Recall Time!

No matter what Baron Dahl did, so long as Sui Xiong made him the target when recalling time, then sooner or later, he would be able to trace down some clues. He would also investigate bit by bit from the present to the past.

In the face of such a magical power that could almost be termed shameless, any concealing means would be rendered meaningless.

In fact, there was no such thing as “sooner or later.” It had only been about 12 days into the investigation, and Sui Xiong had already found clues.

“Haha! This fellow is truly… creative!”

After he had gained a clear understanding, Sui Xiong could not help laughing. It turned out that Baron Dahl had actually dug a very long tunnel under his castle that led all the way to the suburbs. His smuggling business was carried out through this tunnel, and he had been working with two large-scale organizations, one of which was from the Commonwealth of Gold Coins and the other from the Great Marsh.

As a matter of fact, Baron Dahl’s role in the smuggling industry was almost the same as that of a middleman. Any goods that needed to be sold by both parties of a deal, or if there was something that either party wanted to purchase, they would go to him and leave a deposit or the goods to be sold. Then he would complete the deal, be it to purchase or to sell, by contacting the other party

At first glance, this might seem a little strange. It was as though he was just a redundant figure who could be tossed aside by both sides where they could trade on their own. Even Sui Xiong was somehow puzzled over it, so he continued to investigate. This time, he invested in much more time and power than before. After almost 50 years of looking into the matter, Sui Xiong finally made sense out of the chain of circumstances and sorted everything out neatly. He could finally gain a full understanding of what was going on.

This was a long story to tell.

The Dahl family had been running a smuggling business since the first generation of Baron Dahl. They did business with the tribes in Great Marsh, where they would purchase rare resources and at the same time, sell those important, war-ready materials.

Without a doubt, such business dealings were illegal, especially when they had to do with the selling of things like heavy military ammunition. The moment they were discovered, it would usually end up with a calamity of family extermination.

However, just as the saying went, greater risks reaped greater rewards. Just by relying on exchanges that were like dealing with the tips of blades pointing at them, the Dahl family accumulated a great fortune very quickly.

About 30 years ago, the grandfather of the present-day Baron Dahl, who was already an aged baron, chanced upon a treasure. This treasure could neither be used to attack, nor could it be used for defense. Its greatest use was that it could pose a hindrance to the prophecy spell.

By right, such a treasure should not belong to a mere baron who was also involved in a smuggling business. The most appropriate thing to do with it was to present it to the big shots at Royal Town. But after thinking for a long time, the elderly baron eventually decided that he would hold on to this treasure because it should not be kept in his hands. He specifically set up an underground chamber just for it.

It took almost a decade to complete working on the chamber, and since then, the Dahl family had expanded their sphere of business. Not only did they get themselves involved in smuggling, but they also helped out other smugglers by providing them with a place to trade. So long as the trading transactions were carried out within that chamber, they could all effectively avoid the prophecy spell.

A prophecy spell was something that these smugglers were most afraid of. No matter how well prepared they were, how thorough and careful they were, they would not be able to hide from the investigative nature of a prophecy spell directly cast upon them. Because of this reason, treasures that could be used to resist the prophecy spell were invaluable, and they all had a price but no market. Not only did the merchants engaged in the smuggling business need them, but those big shots needed them even more!

This chamber of the Dahl family had a strange origin. But its background history did not matter much. Its importance came from the fact that it was effective.

A few years later, the Dahl family underwent a transition period where they began to gradually transform from smugglers to brokers in the smuggling business. This form of dealing was not only profitable, but they were also completely uninvolved in any import or export of goods, so they were quite well obscured. So even if the lords in the surrounding areas were keeping watch over the Dahl family, ultimately, they would not be able to find any trace of clues.

Just like that, more than a decade had passed. The Dahl family’s wealth accumulated, and their lives became more and more luxurious with the passing of time.

From Baron Dahl’s perspective, this naturally was the result of his family’s wisdom and luck, which could be enjoyed for a long time. But from how Sui Xiong saw it, this family property handed down from the preceding Baron Dahl, that had been accumulated over a long time, was not only a great benefit, it was also a great crisis.

He was never deeply accomplished in areas like “fate,” but just by looking at that black, evil aura rising from Baron Dahl’s castle, he knew that this family’s prospects would most likely not be as glorious as before. Although the saying, “What goes around comes around,” was more like a beautiful form of hope, the more one walked about at night, there would still come a day where he would ultimately run into a ghost.

Even if no predictive means were used, Sui Xiong also dared to place his bets. Now, there were definitely big shots who had power and direct access to the highest authorities eyeing the Dahl family. The reason why they had not acted was most probably because they were waiting for a surefire chance, or perhaps they were still discussing the issue of splitting the loot.

But no matter what, if the Dahl family did not act quickly to find a way to dispose of that treasure that could bring them wealth but also crisis, then what awaited them would not be a pleasant end.

Although these theories had nothing to do with Sui Xiong, he could not help but be aroused by his curiosity. Thus, he decided to stay for the time being to see exactly when the Dahl family would be struck by bad luck.

Of course, he could also help his clergymen at the same time, lest they were to suffer a loss because of him being in an unfamiliar place with limited power.