After using cheats, I became the strongest Beast Tamer

"Just don't lead them into a trap later."

Though these thoughts bubbled beneath the surface, none of them voiced such concerns openly.

These people weren't fools.

Even if young, any person appointed to lead them must possess substantial connections; at worst, they could simply opt not to join the mercenary corps; there was no need to offend someone without cause, especially since the young man cared about face. Contradicting him might result in offense; all the worse if he turned out to be petty.

Gu Yuzhi spoke to the group of Beast Tamers, "Wait a moment, please. The agreed time is two o'clock in the afternoon; there's still some time left. Have you all had lunch?"

A Beast Tamer from the back row asked loudly, "City Lord, do you provide meals here?"

Gu Yuzhi smiled slightly. "We do!"

"I haven't eaten yet; I've never had a meal at the City Lord's Mansion before."

"I have eaten, but I'd like to try a meal from the City Lord's household too."

Compared to their attitude towards Chen Xing, this group of retired Beast Tamers was much more cordial and relaxed around Gu Yuzhi, creating a sense of camaraderie.

Gu Yuzhi was well-prepared and called for food to be brought over.

He too held a lunchbox and sat down under a nearby tree, surrounded by a group of Beast Tamers.

"Look at Gu... the City Lord," Zhao Guangming whispered.

"What, jealous? It's only natural for the soldiers to adore someone who takes them in," Chen Xing chuckled, seemingly unconcerned with these minor dynamics.

"I've been reading those military training books, and a lot of them say to 'love your soldiers like your children, eating and living with them.' Should we do the same thing when the time comes?"

Chen Xing said slowly, "I think what's most important is to display our own strength."

Zhao Guangming raised his eyebrow, "You're planning to suppress them with sheer power? Just make sure it doesn't backfire."

Chen Xing shook his head. "Definitely not now."

A suitable opportunity needed to be found to showcase strength.

Only after you've demonstrated your power can you afford to be more approachable and thereby earn respect. The approachability of a billionaire and that of a beggar aren't perceived the same way.

No matter how grand and morally upright one talks, their subconscious emotional response can't lie.

Appearing too approachable from the start would only diminish authority.

At two o'clock, Gu Yuzhi clapped her hands, "It's already two, and those who haven't arrived likely won't be coming. I'll keep it brief; these two are the investors of the mercenary corps."

All the Beast Tamers present turned to look at Chen Xing and Zhao Guangming.

"They will now discuss the compensation terms," Gu Yuzhi gestured towards Chen Xing and Zhao Guangming, her eyes querying who would speak.

Chen Xing stepped forward proactively, "I'll just give a brief overview. The main compensation is based on the strength of the primary tamed beasts. For the highest-level beast, every five energy levels per month can earn you 3 Spirit Gold, with less than five energy levels rounded up to five for calculation.

Beast Tamers who kill enemies on the battlefield may keep half the value of the loot; rest assured, we have multiple cameras recording, and you will also carry personal portable recorders, so nothing will be missed."

Advanced Beast Tamers' compensation is calculated separately; we'll discuss that individually later."

Upon hearing Chen Xing's offered rates, the eyes of many Beast Tamers lit up, though some found the price too low.

Gu Yuzhi was somewhat surprised; she thought the price was fairly good, certainly not low.

Listening to the rates Chen Xing announced, a variety of expressions crossed the faces of the Beast Tamers below.

Many Beast Tamers began discussing among themselves, "What do you think of these rates?"

"Quite good, higher than what I expected."

"But it's also more dangerous, fighting against those Beast Tamers from Jiu Chi City."

"Oh come on, you've heard the latest battle reports, haven't you? Those Beast Tamers from Jiu Chi City... heh."

"If you've made up your mind, you can join right away. If you think the price isn't right, then just leave," Gu Yuzhi spoke up.

The several hundred Beast Tamers present exchanged glances, and in the end, only three opted out.

The rest of the Beast Tamers stayed behind.

As these three Beast Tamers left the City Lord's Mansion, they hadn't even exited the premises when several figures suddenly surrounded them.

One of them paled, "Just because we refused to join, you resort to coercion? You are really—"

His words were cut off as he was engulfed in blue flames.

The tyrannical flames left several large pits in their wake.

Su Lai emerged from behind the crowd, his face expressionless as he looked at the large pits left on the ground. "Clean up the scene."

"Yes."

Earth Element Beast Tamers began to fill in the pits as Su Lai watched the holes in the ground, his expression unchanged.

He had investigated before coming, some of these Beast Tamers had joined Jiu Chi City, while others had defected to Fentian Giant City.

These people were all well-known, although he did not know the purpose of their visit.

But as long as they did not leave alive, the real purpose did not matter.

Elsewhere.

After confirming that these staying Beast Tamers had agreed to join the Mercenary Corps, Zhao Guangming and Gu Yuzhi signed a geological survey employment contract with the City Lord's Mansion on their side.

The City Lord's Mansion then signed a mercenary employment contract with the retired soldiers.

With the City Lord's Mansion acting as a guarantor, when the time came, Chen Xing and his group would make a direct payment to the City Lord's Mansion, which would then transfer the wages to these retired Beast Tamers.

Trusting the City Lord's Mansion, they didn't have to worry about the issue of Chen Xing and his group reneging on the deal.

For Chen Xing, this meant he could ensure that even if the news leaked, the trail could at most lead back only to Gu Yuzhi.

This was a conflict between Stone City and Jiu Chi City.

It would not implicate Great Xia.

Although it was obvious to any discerning person that there was support from Great Xia, knowing was one thing, leaving evidence was another.

Even if Fentian Giant City condemned Great Xia, Great Xia would not admit these people had any connection to Great Xia.

What does Stone City's good deeds have to do with Great Xia?

Stone City requested Great Xia's geological experts to survey the mineral veins, and Chen Xing and his group were all geological experts who had come a long way from Great Xia.

It was quite normal for geological experts to travel everywhere for the purpose of surveying mineral veins, right?

It was also normal for geological experts to hire some mercenaries from Stone City to ensure their own safety, right?

If these mercenaries did something else while on protection duty, it had nothing to do with the geological experts. They are just a group of mercenaries, not bound by a life contract; these innocent geologists from Great Xia couldn't stop them from whatever they did.

However, moonlighting during the employment period was definitely not encouraged; experts Chen and Zhao expressed strong criticism and said it should not happen again.

After signing the agreement, Chen Xing and Zhao Guangming looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.

"In addition to five hundred and forty-seven High Rank Beast Tamers, there are also six Super Rank Beast Tamers." Gu Yuzhi summoned the six Super Rank Beast Tamers.

Chen Xing looked towards these six people.

A Super Rank Beast Tamer was certainly considered an expert even in a place like Stone City.

Beast Tamers of this level had many ways to make money, such as serving as honored guests for certain families, where they could receive a significant amount of money every month.

So their presence was definitely at the command of the City Lord's Mansion.

Gu Yuzhi said to Chen Xing, "These six used to be experts, and they possess tactical Beast Tamer Skills."

Tactical Beast Tamer Skills!

Chen Xing thought of the content he had heard in Wei Meng's class before.
Enjoy new adventures from empire

Compared to ordinary Beast Tamer Skills, these tactical Beast Tamer Skills could play a much bigger role on the battlefield.

Even Super Rank Beast Tamers were limited in the number of Beast Tamer Skills they could master.

Depending on the Transcendence Ceremony, a Super Rank Beast Tamer could at most master five Beast Tamer Skills, with some only mastering three.

Along with the essential life-saving Beast Tamer Skills, there were not many slots left for Beast Tamers to master other Beast Tamer Skills.

And to reserve one of these slots for team-effect tactical Beast Tamer Skills was incredibly rare; usually, only military Beast Tamers would do so.

"These are Gu Wu, Gong Yinhong, Du Yu, Shi Chen, Shi Yao, Shi Luoshan."

Three with the surname Shi, huh.

Chen Xing looked toward the three at the back who were standing close together, obviously close to each other; according to the information before coming, the Shi surname was a prominent local surname in Stone City.