Chapter 126: Twin Sisters

After streamlining the logistical support across his territory, clarifying the future training objectives for the two monster legions, and instructing Ouyezi to prioritize the production of essential weaponry, Du Long finally departed the Monster Forest. He made a brief stop at the Fengli Prefecture capital.

Once inside the City Lord’s mansion, he dismissed all irrelevant personnel and held a private meeting with the two most core members of the prefecture: Uncle Fu and Sun Lin.

Du Long first provided a rough overview of the crisis facing the empire. Then, to the utter astonishment of his two core aides, he revealed the secret of the two monster legions he had established—a revelation that truly shocked them to their core. This was the highest military secret of Fengli Prefecture; naturally, the fewer people who knew, the less risk there was of exposure. He chose to inform Uncle Fu and Sun Lin primarily so they would understand the urgency of the current situation and provide full support in areas like security and logistics, ensuring the secret weapons factory and the two monster legions could operate without distraction.

Subsequently, Du Long listened to Uncle Fu’s report on the extraction status of the three gold mines and the recovery of various tax revenues. Following this, Sun Lin presented the progress of the new recruit enlistment and the deployment of secret agents across the nine towns and thirty-seven villages of the territory to monitor suspicious activities by outsiders.

Overall, the extraction rate of the three gold mines was highly encouraging; the territory’s income relied entirely on them. Sun Lin had personally overseen the recruitment, successfully enlisting over a thousand vetted new soldiers in recent days. According to Du Long’s instructions, every thousand recruits were to be sent immediately to the Black Profound Iron Mountain base. The three secret bases still had significant manpower gaps. Although the elite cavalry legion had a quota of ten thousand, Du Long intended to set no upper limit for now, accepting even an excess of one or two thousand if necessary. While the empire would not provide rations for troops exceeding the authorized quota, Du Long, as the Lord, had the means to cover the shortfall—after all, he had three gold mines at his disposal.

Furthermore, beyond the wealth generated by the gold mines, Du Long had begun diversifying into various trades related to the Monster Forest. For instance, he would purchase local specialties from adventure squads at lower prices and sell them at higher prices in the capital. In short, this commercial revenue was growing exponentially, becoming the territory’s second most important source of income.

The only regret was that while Fengli Prefecture was steadily developing, the industrial, agricultural, and commercial environments—damaged by corrupt officials over countless years—could not be restored overnight. Nevertheless, these sectors were no longer operating at a loss, and their income could at least cover the territory’s basic public expenditures.

After staying in the Fengli capital for another day to finalize all arrangements, Du Long departed with his two beautiful companions, riding the great lion, Xiao Lie, at full speed toward the imperial capital.

The journey was uneventful, and they finally arrived back in the capital, dust-covered and weary. As they rode toward the Du estate, they were drawn to a commotion in a crowded area. Driven by curiosity, they decided to investigate what had gathered such a large crowd of city residents.

In the center of the throng, two identical, beautiful young girls were arguing with a group of young men. At a glance, Du Long recognized some familiar faces among the group.

It was Fan Wei, Li Xiaojun, and their usual circle of hangers-on. With just one look, Du Long knew exactly what was happening: these scoundrels were bullying innocent maidens again. As he looked at the identical beauties, a sudden sense of familiarity washed over him. Memories from before his rebirth surfaced—images of him playing with a pair of twin sisters.

It was when he was five, during a visit to his mother Zhou Ruoxue’s maiden home. Two adorable twin girls had been there, and having hit it off instantly, they had played together for most of the day. He had never seen them again after that. When he asked his mother about them, she explained they were the twin daughters of the Second-Rank General Luo Hao. Their mother had died in childbirth. Since the late Madame Luo was a cousin of Zhou Ruoxue, the twins were, in fact, Du Long’s young cousins.

"Haha! You sisters cursed your own mother to death; you are nothing but twin stars of misfortune! For Brother Fan to want you to join him for a drink is an honor, yet you dare to refuse?!" A shrill laugh rang out from the group of men. A man who looked rather human in appearance pointed at the twins and sneered with disdain.

"Luo Bu! We are both of the Luo clan, yet you side with outsiders to bully us! Do you have no shame?!" one of the twins pointed angrily at the man and cursed.

"It is precisely because we are of the Luo clan that we are being so polite; otherwise, we would have used force long ago!" the man named Luo Bu replied dismissively.

"Xiao Fen, Xiao Fang! My cousin has taken a liking to you, so stop pretending to be virtuous! Come on, let’s go upstairs!" Fan Wei leered at the young twins.

"Luo Bu, Fan Wei! Do not go too far! My father is a high-ranking second-rank official of the current court. Even if he is away at Yulin Pass guarding the border, you cannot bully us in broad daylight!" one of the sisters shouted, her face flushed red with indignation.

"Hahaha! We are so scared! A second-rank official! Too bad he is thousands of miles away and cannot return to stand up for you! Just submit to us! It’s only a few drinks; you won’t lose a piece of flesh! Come on..." Fan Wei clearly did not take their words to heart and signaled his lackeys to move in.

The young men immediately surrounded them, reaching out to grab the sisters. The Luo twins, however, refused to yield and immediately struck a defensive stance. To everyone's surprise, both sisters had reached the eighth stage of Qi Cultivation. As they fought back, two of the men were caught off guard and knocked to the ground.

"Damn it! Since you refuse a toast, you shall drink the forfeit! Don't hold back!" Fan Wei waved his hand, and the men pounced like wolves.

In broad daylight, attempting to abduct women—and with so many men involved—the onlookers knew exactly who these people were and, though furious, dared not speak out.

Nearby, the fiery-tempered Princess Huo Feng could no longer restrain herself and was about to intervene when Du Long held her back.

"Hahaha! Fan Wei, Li Xiaojun! Do you even call yourselves men?! Bullying two frail girls in the street—you are really bringing honor to the Fan and Li families! Even I, the former good-for-nothing wastrel of the capital, have to concede defeat to you!" Du Long’s booming laughter erupted from the crowd.

"Du Long?!" Fan Wei and his group were startled and stopped their assault, looking toward Du Long and his companions, who were perched atop the giant lion. Ever since Du Long had earned the reputation of the "Iron-Blooded Lord" and become the Imperial Son-in-law, these young men had harbored a genuine fear of him.

"Du Long! These two girls were chosen by my cousin! You had best stay out of this, or you will regret it!" Fan Wei shouted, his bravado masking his anxiety.

"Your cousin?! Which one?! There is so much trash in the Fan clan that I truly cannot tell which one you mean!" Du Long feigned ignorance, mocking them loudly.

"Du Long! You are courting death!" Just then, a window on the second floor was flung open, revealing a frost-faced Fan Tong, who was clearly incensed by Du Long’s words.

"Oh! So it was that piece of Fan-clan trash who dared to abduct the daughter of a high-ranking official in broad daylight—it turns out to be the direct grandson of the Fan family, Fan Tong! No wonder you have such nerve. My apologies, truly my apologies!" Riding his lion, Du Long remained completely unfazed by Fan Tong’s appearance and continued his biting sarcasm.

This Fan fellow always had his lackeys do his dirty work while he hid in the background, all while maintaining a facade of refinement. Today, Du Long was determined to tear off that hypocritical mask in front of the entire capital. He had deliberately provoked him, and Fan Tong, a top-tier scion of the capital who had never suffered such humiliation, was goaded into showing himself.

"Du Long! I, Fan Tong, did not provoke you today, yet you repeatedly humiliate me! You are challenging the dignity of the Fan family. Do you intend for the Du family to declare war on the Fan clan?!" Jumping directly from the second-floor window, Fan Tong pointed at Du Long, his voice trembling with rage.

"Oh, oh, oh! Such a heavy accusation!" Du Long replied with disdain. "Xiao Fen and Xiao Fang are my cousins. You scumbags dared to humiliate them in broad daylight, and you claim you didn't provoke me?!"

In the crowd, the twin sisters gazed at the handsome figure on the giant lion with tear-filled eyes. Clearly moved by Du Long’s declaration of them as his cousins, they quickly recognized the sunny boy from a decade ago.

"Scumbag?!" Fan Tong, having been insulted repeatedly by Du Long, could no longer restrain his fury, especially with Princess Huo Feng watching. His face twisted as he roared, "Du Long! You have insulted me time and again! I challenge you to a duel! Do you dare accept?!"

"A duel?!" The corners of Du Long’s mouth curled into a playful smile. "It isn't as if we haven't dueled before. As a former loser, do you still wish to humiliate yourself in public?"

Stung by being reminded of his past defeat, a livid Fan Tong shouted, "You took advantage of me after I had just fought Yang Yunfeng and my energy was depleted! Don't act so smug! I am challenging you now—if you are a man, accept the challenge!"

"Since you are determined to make a spectacle of yourself, I, Du Long, shall grant your wish. I accept!" Du Long replied with a smile. In truth, the spirit-guide beauty had already informed him that this brat had broken through to the seventh stage of the Qi Cyclone. No wonder he was so eager to challenge him; he was likely looking to avenge his past disgrace.