Rainwater slides down the gaps in the splintered wood.
It hits Lin Yuan on the tip of his nose.
He forces his eyelids open.
His vision fills with thick, churning mud.
The ground beneath him is soft from the soaking.
Cold moisture creeps up his spine and bites into his skin.
A dull ache throbs in his forehead.
It is the mark left by the impact against the carriage frame.
Lin Yuan pushes his upper body up.
His palms sink into the sludge.
Fragments of memory explode in his mind.
The Lin family of the Imperial Capital.
The fourth young master known as the "Imperial Trash."
Because he could not awaken Battle Aura, the family stripped him of his inheritance rights.
They exiled him to the Frozen Wastelands of the North.
Nearby, a carriage wheel still spins in the air.
It makes a grating friction noise.
"Young Master! Run!"
The roar of Old Butler Karl pierces the curtain of rain.
Lin Yuan turns his head.
He sees three guards in battered leather armor surrounding the carriage wreck.
Their opponents are five men in tight black clothing.
Those black-clad men move with high speed.
The longswords in their hands flash with a metallic chill in the rainy night.
Karl stands in front.
His right hand grips a notched longsword.
One black-clad man takes a step forward.
The blade carries a lethal arc.
Karl tries to parry.
The opponent possesses more power.
The longsword cuts through Karl's defense.
It slashes diagonally down his shoulder.
Fabric tears.
Karl's left arm flies into the air.
It lands in the muddy water.
Blood gushes from the stump.
The dense rain washes it away.
It forms pale red ripples on the ground.
Karl groans.
His body sways.
He falls to his knees in the mud.
White bone shows at the break.
The muscle twitches under the cold water.
Lin Yuan watches this.
His fingers dig deep into the stones on the ground.
A tall man in black walks forward.
He pulls off his mask.
It is the assassin leader, Vance.
Vance steps on Karl's severed arm.
His focus stays on Lin Yuan.
"Fourth Young Master, do not blame us. Blame your father."
Vance crouches down.
He uses the tip of his sword to tilt Lin Yuan's chin up.
"Lord Lin Zhentian said the Lin family does not need a useless waste. Your existence brings shame to the family. Only if you die in this 'accident' will the family's name remain clean."
Lin Yuan says nothing.
He feels the killing intent from Vance.
Vance stands up.
He raises the longsword.
The edge of the sword has a layer of dark green liquid.
It gives off a stench in the rain.
[Ding! Detection: Host's life is under threat. Invincible Soldier System activated!]
A light blue screen spreads across Lin Yuan's retina.
[Host: Lin Yuan]
[Territory: None]
[Energy Points: 0]
[Currently Available Units: Heavy Berserker (10 Energy/Unit), Steel Crossbowman (20 Energy/Unit)]
Lin Yuan stares at the screen.
His heart beats hard in his chest.
He reaches for his waist.
A heavy coin pouch hangs there.
It is the last bit of wealth the original owner took from the capital.
He opens the pouch.
Only ten silver coins remain inside.
This is his last bit of pocket money.
"System, recharge!"
Lin Yuan gives the command in his mind.
[Recharge successful! Obtained Energy Points: 1000.]
[Detection: Host is in the novice period. First-time recharge gift unlocked: Summoning cost reduced by half.]
"Summon all Heavy Berserkers!"
Lin Yuan shouts in his thoughts.
[Instruction confirmed. Consumed 1000 Energy Points. Summoning 100 Heavy Berserker units.]
Vance's longsword starts its descent.
The tip of the blade is three centimeters from Lin Yuan's forehead.
Karl closes his eyes in despair.
A weak moan escapes his lips.
At this exact moment, the space behind Lin Yuan twists violently.
The dense rain gets pushed aside by an invisible hand.
One hundred large shadows appear out of thin air on the muddy road.
Every figure stands over two meters tall.
They wear thick black plate armor.
The surface of the armor is covered in dark red lines.
The helmets only reveal a pair of red horizontal lines.
Every Berserker grips a massive double-edged axe.
The width of the blade exceeds a man's chest.
The heavy metal weight stops the flow of mud on the ground.
"What is this?"
Vance's sword stops mid-air.
He looks at these sudden iron giants.
His body moves back by instinct.
One Heavy Berserker takes a step.
The heavy iron boot hits the mud.
It creates a muffled thud.
The Berserker says nothing.
He raises the giant axe with one hand.
He swings it down at Vance's head.
Vance lets out a yell.
He triggers his Silver-tier Battle Aura.
A pale white light covers his longsword.
The giant axe hits the longsword.
Vance's aura shatters on contact.
The longsword breaks into several pieces.
The metal shards fly into the mud.
The giant axe does not stop.
It cuts down through the top of Vance's head.
Vance's body splits down the middle.
There is no scream.
Organs and broken bones mix with blood.
The force of the axe drives them deep into the soil.
The remaining four assassins stand still.
They try to turn and run.
The hundred Berserkers have already formed a circle.
Their movements are perfectly synced.
They drag their axes.
The blades cut deep grooves into the mud.
One assassin screams.
He charges toward a gap in the circle.
Two giant axes sweep across at the same time.
The assassin's lower body stays in place.
His upper half hits a tree trunk several meters away.
Blood splashes onto the black armor of the Berserkers.
It flows down the gaps in the metal plates.
In less than a minute, the arrogant assassins become piles of meat on the ground.
Lin Yuan stands up.
He brushes the mud off his hands.
He walks over to Karl.
He looks at the severed arm.
Karl stares at the Berserkers.
His lips tremble.
He cannot say a single word.
Lin Yuan turns his head.
He looks at the iron death-knights standing in the rain.
These soldiers have no breath.
They feel no pain.
They only have absolute loyalty to him.
Lin Yuan steps on the remains of Vance.
Vance's head is flat.
One eye stays embedded in the mud.
Lin Yuan looks down at the bloody battlefield.
"Lin Zhentian, since you think I am a waste, I will kill my way back with these 'wastes'."
He reaches out.
His finger brushes the cold armor of a Berserker.
"In this place, truth only resides on the edge of my axe."
Lin Yuan's voice is clear in the storm.
The last two assassins realize the situation is dire.
They pull a purple scroll from their clothes.
It is an expensive Teleportation Scroll.
They crush the scroll.
Space begins to ripple.
Lin Yuan sneers.
The system interface on his retina changes again.
[Detection: Large amount of recyclable resources found. Open Resource Recycling Station?]
He clicks the red icon.
"These corpses, I want them all."
Lin Yuan gives a new order.
The Berserkers raise their axes again.
The ripples from the teleportation scroll begin to break apart under the pressure.
The two assassins are frozen in mid-air.
Extreme terror shows on their faces.
Lin Yuan watches the energy numbers on the system screen.
His first bit of real wealth is about to arrive.