Chapter 269 - 5 Billion Bounty
"So young?"
Many people could not make sense of it.
Sixteen years had passed, yet Caelum’s face was exactly the same as the one on the wanted poster. Not the slightest change.
"It is him."
The middle aged man was certain.
"The blade at his waist is the legendary Cloudrend. That is Owl’s blade. He is absolutely Owl himself."
"Wait."
A young bounty hunter asked, "You keep saying he was that powerful, so how high was Owl’s bounty back then?"
"5 million."
The middle aged man answered at once.
He remembered that amount too clearly.
Not just back then. Even now, that shocking bounty had yet to be surpassed.
"5 million?"
The others paused.
"That low?"
"Hmph."
The middle aged man’s voice turned cold.
"Idiots. Ten or twenty years ago, the currency in circulation was not Sobi. Bounties were measured in gold coins."
"Gold coins..."
Everyone thought through the conversion.
Then their faces changed.
"5 million gold coins. Does that not mean 5 billion Sobi?"
"Is that real?"
"5 billion?"
"That is ridiculously high!"
Such a terrifying bounty shocked those hearing it for the first time.
It was difficult to believe someone could carry a bounty that exaggerated.
Caelum was different from these so called experts of the new generation.
The first time he entered the Empire’s upper ranks’ field of vision, he had already displayed overwhelming strength.
With one move, he defeated Theron, the previous First Legion Commander, and revealed extremely high level skill in all three forms of Haki.
His starting point had never been on the same level as the new generation.
There was no comparison.
As someone who had personally witnessed Caelum’s rise, Hardaway knew exactly how powerful Caelum was.
The atmosphere grew unusually heavy.
Caelum, however, seemed relaxed.
He said to Hardaway, "This action was not ordered by the Empire, was it? If the Empire truly wanted to act against me, sending only you would not be enough."
Not enough was putting it lightly.
It would be nothing more than delivering food.
If the Empire truly intended to move against Caelum, even gathering all five Legion Commanders and both Grand Marshals might still not be enough.
If the Executioner Unit had been rebuilt, they would have to be dragged over as well.
But that was already sixteen years ago.
Now, numbers were useless.
Caelum’s strength had already surpassed them by more than one level.
There was no comparison at all.
"Back then in Blackwood City, I fell beneath your Haki. That has been my greatest regret to this day. No matter what, I have to settle that unwillingness."
"You think the current you has that strength?"
"How would I know without trying?"
Hardaway’s gaze stayed firm as he faced Caelum directly.
Faint Armament Haki wrapped around his body, yet he still did not move.
At last, he understood the situation Theron had faced when standing before Caelum all those years ago.
Observation Haki was completely useless.
He could not predict Caelum’s next move at all.
In that case, he had to strike first.
Observation Haki was suppressed by Observation Killing. That had already cost Hardaway his advantage.
If he lost the initiative as well, he would be forced into utter passivity.
Hardaway was just about to move when Caelum’s gaze sharpened.
Conqueror Haki, nearly two hundred times in intensity, burst outward.
The invisible Haki swept across the area with terrifying impact.
In an instant, the ground split inch by inch, cracks spreading like a spiderweb.
The moment the wild wind roared through, Hardaway took the brunt of it.
There was no room to struggle.
He lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
Just like he had back then in Blackwood City.
The spectators had not even had time to understand what was happening before the unreasonable force of Conqueror Haki swept over them.
One after another, they fell unconscious.
In the blink of an eye, all of Gemstone Town sank into absolute silence.
At that moment, a streak of light appeared at the edge of the sky.
Carrying violent force, it shot straight toward Caelum, tearing through the air with a huge roar.
A sharp boom exploded.
In that flash, Caelum reached out and caught the streak of light with perfect precision.
The light scattered, revealing an exquisitely made white feathered arrow.
"An Imperial Relic that can lock onto a target?"
Under Caelum’s Observation Haki, the attacker had nowhere to hide.
He drew Cloudrend and swung.
A huge slash crossed several kilometers in an instant.
"Two kilometers away. One person."
Everything along the path was destroyed by the slash’s violent force.
A distance of only two kilometers passed in barely a moment.
The earth shook.
The attacker had never imagined that what he drew back would be such a terrifying strike.
The sight nearly tore the courage out of him.
He turned and ran without hesitation, his soul almost flying out of his body. His face was pale as he desperately tried to avoid the slash.
"No one told me this would happen!"
In truth, even he had not known the white feathered arrow would hit Caelum.
It was an Imperial Relic that could strike a target from long range as long as the target met certain conditions.
Hitting Caelum had been pure chance.
Ever since accepting a certain mysterious mission, the attacker had been repeating this kind of attack in Gemstone Town.
He did not care who he killed.
His job was only to shoot arrows.
Some of the players who had rushed to Gemstone Town from across the Empire had died in confusion at his hands.
Even if the feathered arrow failed to kill the target, it could still confirm that person’s identity as a player.
After that, other people would handle the stronger players.
Without question, the only person capable of making such an arrangement was Javier, the hostile faction player opposed to the game system’s players.
As a member of the royal family, there was no need for him to personally deal with such minor matters.
Pushing out disposable pieces to test the identities and strength of hostile players was clearly the most reasonable arrangement.
And this attacker was one of those disposable pieces.
He had taken only a few steps before the violent slash arrived and tore him completely to pieces.
When the slash faded, several kilometers of ground had been split in two by a single stroke, leaving a canyon like chasm across the earth.
In the distance, hidden in the shadows, a watcher disguised as a traveler was just about to report the matter to Javier.
The moment he turned, he came face to face with Caelum.
Their eyes met.
The watcher immediately used Shave to escape.
Caelum kicked him away, sending him rolling across the ground.
Then he walked over and asked, "Who sent you?"
"Do not kill me. I will talk."
The watcher acted as though he had surrendered.
The next instant, he burst up again.
Since he could not escape, he could only fight with everything he had.
He had no intention of revealing any intelligence.
Wind howled.
Caelum tilted his head and avoided the watcher’s punch.
Invisible Armament Haki erupted, blasting the man into a cloud of blood mist from a distance.
There was no need for him to speak.
His thoughts had already given Caelum the answer.
"Royal family?"