The Conspiracy of the Elites - Chapter 458: pirate queen cobra

With a smile on his face, Clark wiped the blood away from his sword before going to meet his old friend. He bumped Arthur on the shoulder, unfortunately, Arthur simply replied him with a poker look on his face.

Clark laughed awkwardly at that while secretly cursing under his breath. “You’re still so stiff…, umm, you still use a spear as your main weapon?”

“Yes”. Arthur answered simply.

“You are now a 3rd rank high-grade soldier?” He asked in return.

“Yes, it’s obvious”. Clark replied back with a smile.

“When?”

“What?”

“When did you break through to the 3rd rank?”

“I’m not sure again, but I think a few months ago”.

Arthur took a deep breath like he secretly heaved a sigh of relief, then his face became poker again. “I broke through before you”.

“…”

Now, Clark was speechless, feeling a strong urge to facepalm. “Really bro? After so many years, you’re still so obsessed with who is the stronger between the both of us?”

He said this in his mind though, but outwardly, he could only laugh awkwardly. After this, they kept an even more awkward silence for a few seconds before Clark broke the silence again.

“Umm, what are you doing here in the Sahara?”

“Stolen Pistol”.

“Oh, I’m here for that too”.

Seeing that their conversation was not going anywhere fruitful just like the old days, Clark coughed before turning back to face their victims.

All the regular pirates were dead already, only the pirate leader, the petite lady, lady treasure, and the tourists were left alive though they were all beaten to the point of complete exhaustion.

Just like Clark, Arthur was a prodigy who already proved his competence back in the gladiator tournament in the outer headquarters of the seafarers alliance.

The both of them allying together to battle others was already a cheat, the opponents lost even before the battle started.

Wiping the smile off his face, Clark faced them with a stern look on his face. For the pirate leader, he didn’t have any use for him. After getting the information that he wanted from him, he decisively killed him.

Compared to a few years ago, he was no longer that naïve Clark. Now, he knew when to kill to prevent repercussions from spilling over in the future.

And furthermore, the pirate leader was not in any way righteous. Pirates were one of the most vicious groups in human society, just a little below terrorist groups in countries.

If it was before, he would have opted to give lady treasure the choice of recruiting her into his mercenary group but his current situation was complicated, he couldn’t afford leaving things to luck especially when it involved such a strong mercenary.

In the end, after brainstorming for a few minutes with Arthur, they decided to beat the lady more to the point of fainting. After she fainted, they tied her up and then used a special device to restrain her.

The condition to make the device open was after they completed their mission. Till then, lady treasure would be held under the sand.

All she needed to do was to pray against any exobeast finding her during that period and she would be safe, or else, becoming food would be her only fate.

Clark felt a little guilty after doing it, but he knew that this was necessary to ensure that his mission to get his girlfriend was successful. Of course, he and Arthur took all the treasures of their victims.

For the petite lady pirate, Clark did the same to her but he also recruited her. If she was willing, after finishing his mission, he could take her back to become a mercenary of the Pendragon group.

For the other tourists, after these encounters, they already developed a trauma against the desert. Though some of them still felt an urge to seek suicide thrills, Clark ruthlessly cut their madness down.

After threatening them, he took everything belonging to them and only left them with the necessities which could enable them to return safely.

The only group of people which he didn’t loot from was Mr. Sandstorm and his fellow locals. Though he was now a little ruthless, Clark still had principles.

After doing all these, as the tourists started returning, Clark turned and also left with his old friend deeper inside the Badlands of the Dry Snake territory.

Compared to Clark, Arthur was already in the Sahara for longer and knew more about the region. With his help, they were able to move faster, navigating through the sand-filled territory of the world of gold.

Before night came, they encountered a sight that left Clark awed, they saw the legendary tip of supremacy that has been there since the great battle of supremacy.

The 2 war pyramids seemed like war fortresses from a fantasy world. Like the rumors said, both of them already fused and it was hard to find traces of the fact that it was actually 2 pyramids.

Despite his less enthusiastic personality, Arthur still revealed emotions on seeing the enormous structure despite this being his second time seeing it.

They didn’t explore the structure though as they already did their research before coming. As attractive as the structure was, so also was it dangerous, not just in terms of exobeasts residing in it but other dangers.

Knowing their priority, Clark and Arthur observed from afar for a few more minutes before continuing their journey.

They continued their journey, and when they were close to the nearest pirate city in the Badlands of the Dry Snake, night fell.

Reluctant to move in the night, they both tacitly agreed to rest to replenish their energy. After finding the perfect spot, Clark finally erected his mechanical tent after having to endure the ways of the expedition team for over a month.

During the day as they traveled, Clark already thought into it and in the end, he decided that it was better for him to reveal his real purpose of coming to the desert to Arthur.

Though Arthur was a lot of things and almost never acknowledged him as a friend, Clark knew that he was someone that could be relied on.

After listening to his lengthy explanation, Arthur gave him a deep scrutinizing look like his understanding of this old friend just experienced a huge change.

He continued this awkwardly for about a minute before taking a deep breath.

“I think I have a guess about who your target is. If she is as cautious and talented as you say, then she may be the Pirate Queen Cobra”.

“…”