CHAPTER 837:Wanna Work For Me?

The old woman was all skin and bones. Her skin color seemed to be a mix of zinc and iron rust. The wrinkles on her face were as deep as ravines. When she laughs, the wrinkles were squeezed together, making a tremendous visual impact on anyone who sees it.

<i >So ugly! Anyone who saw her will automatically think so as goosebumps flood their skin.

A very distinct aura of death could be sensed from the old woman who was gently flying toward Han Shuo and his party. She was in Mid-stage Highgod realm. It was rare for one to possess such strength in the Omphalos. She had seven escorts following behind her. Three of them possessed Early-stage Highgod strength. They all had sinister and ugly appearances.

Most people will definitely not openly speak what they thought of her looks because of her formidable strength. No one would risk enraging such a powerful entity.

However, as with most things in the universe, there would always be a few exceptions. Before that old woman arrived, Han Huo shouted as though he was horrified, "Holy fuck! What a monster!"

"Yuck, I've never seen anything so horrible! I need to wash my eyes!" cried Han Mu as he made a disgusted face and held up both hands to shield himself from the sight of the ugly old woman.

The two of them were not complete idiots. They had been taunting her because they sensed hostility from this old and ugly woman.

"Bertha! It's you!" Rose's face jerked as a murderous light shone from her eyes.

The extremely ugly old woman laughed in a strange way. When she arrived in front of the party, she greeted Rose with a sinister smile before immediately turning to Han Huo and Han Mu and saying, "You two young people aren't afraid of death, are you? You may be safe here, but you better not take a single step outside the Omphalos, or I will see to it that you die!"

"Ugly witch, it's not our fault that you were born ugly. But I must say that I admire your courage and self-confidence - I've never seen anyone as ugly as you go out in public without a mask, or even step outside!" replied Han Huo, who was not intimidated by Bertha's threatening words. He then pretended to smell something and remarked, "Yuck, what's that disgusting, stinking smell? Oh! It's from your rotting face!"

Han Huo then pretended to throw up.

Bertha knew she was ugly, but no one would tell her that directly. This was the first time anyone had deliberately made fun of her to her face. Bertha was furious and stared at Han Huo like a viper. It was as if she was ready to kill.

"Bertha, don't start a fight here!" a warning suddenly sounded from a distance. A group of Omphalos guards looked at Han Shuo and Bertha's group with cold eyes.

Bertha suppressed the rage in her heart with all her willpower. She looked at Rose coldly and threatened, "I've been looking for you for a long time. I thought you would hide from me until you died. I did not expect you to have the courage to return to this land. Hehe, good, very good. The moment you and your people step outside the Omphalos, you will all die!

Then, with a twitching, malicious grin, Bertha looked at Han Huo and Han Mu and said, "And you two, when that time comes, I will make you both suffer for a lifetime for this moment of pleasure.

Bertha then gestured to her companions and instructed, "Move! Before they left, they gazed intently at Han Shuo and his party for a moment, as if to remember their faces.

"Who is she? What's up with you two?" Han Shuo asked Rose after Bertha had left.

Rose kept looking at Bertha as she walked away. Only when her figure had completely disappeared did she explain, "When I lived in the Fringe, we were on good terms. But one day her son tried to drug me and I killed him after discovering his plan. Since then, Bertha has been trying to kill me, and she never stopped causing me trouble until I left the Fringe.

"What? With her looks, how is it possible that any man could do her?" said Han Mu as if he was very surprised.

"She only looked like that because of a serious injury. Before Bertha was disfigured, she was actually quite attractive looking," Rose replied after taking a look at Han Mu.

"There is no need to worry about her. If we meet her outside the city, it will be she who is dead!" Han Shuo did not consider Bertha a threat at all. A mere Mid-stage Highgod expert was far from enough to cause them any harm.

"We can fight off Bertha, but it won't be so easy to fight off her man - Buzz," Rose sighed softly and explained, "Buzz possesses Late-stage Highgod strength. He cultivates in the energy of destruction. He is famous in the Fringe for his ferocity. He commands a large group of deadly and powerful experts. Bertha, knowing our numbers, will surely inform Buzz. It won't be long before Buzz reaches the Omphalos. Buzz has quite a reputation in the Fringe. Most people in the Fringe would not want to make enemies with him. Once we leave the Omphalos, we will be followed and hunted by Buzz and Bertha.

Rose seemed dejected. She looked at Han Shuo and said, "I am so sorry. I caused you a lot of trouble."

Han Shuo shook his head with a smile and replied, "Although the Fringe is filled with countless fierce and powerful experts, I'm not afraid of any of them. The only experts who can threaten me are the Five Sovereigns! No matter how powerful Buzz is, he is only a Highgod. So don't worry. If they show up, I will show them the consequences of messing with us!"

"Yeah! They are just bitches who have spoiled their son. We're not afraid of them!" Han Huo comforted her.

Ever since the incident at Ethereal City, in Celestial Pearl , where Rose held back a group of raiders to allow him and Han Tu to escape, Han Huo's opinion of Rose had improved dramatically. Besides, to Han Huo, Han Shuo was the most powerful man in the world. He had blind faith in Han Shuo and did not believe that anyone could defeat Han Shuo.

This blind faith came from his past experiences. He had never seen Han Shuo defeated in the many years that he had been with him, so he would only grow more and more confident in Han Shuo's power.

"Father, as long as you can handle this Buzz, we will not lose!" Little Skeleton was not as irrational as Han Huo. As his strength and intelligence increased, he learned to dissect a problem with clear and sound reasoning.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Han Shuo put on a confident smile and said, "Come, let's keep strolling around and see if we can get some information about Kage."

There were people in the Omphalos who specialised in selling information. They were called 'stringers'. If someone in the Fringe wanted to raid or attack one of the merchant caravans travelling through the Fringe, they could get all the detailed information and plans from the stringers.

The stringers began by selling information on this aspect. Over time, however, they expanded the information they sold. With enough Black Crystal Coins, you could learn almost anything from the stringers.

After spending a thousand Black Crystal Coins, Han Shuo learned Kage's whereabouts from a stringer. He was told that Kage was here in the Omphalos five days ago before he went to Salas to pay his tribute. Currently, Kage should be on Empyrean Peak.

Although the Omphalos was jointly administered by Tyre, Rogers, Ossora, Salas and Wasir, they wouldn't normally be in the city. The Fringe's vast territory contained countless mountain ranges, rivers, oceans and valleys. The Five Sovereigns lived in the most mysterious and treacherous regions of the Fringe.

Salas lived on the Empyrean Peak, which was a hundred thousand metres high at its highest point. It was like a broadsword piercing the blue dome of the sky. The Empyrean Peak represented Salas' sublimity. His tributaries would travel to the Empyrean Peak every year to pay formal tribute. Under normal circumstances, Salas would not leave the Empyrean Peak. He would only leave his mountain when there were situations that none of his subordinates could resolve.

When Han Shuo learned that Kage was at Empyrean Peak, he knew that it was highly unlikely that he would be able to kill Kage anytime soon. Not only was Salas on Empyrean Peak, but his core and strongest members were always stationed on the mountain. On top of that, the mountain was covered with a dense array of defensive boundaries. Han Shuo knew that it would be irrational to attack Empyrean Peak with just Little Skeleton, Rose, and the Five Elite Zombies.

Han Shuo had no plans to destroy the Empyrean Peak and fight Salas for the time being. He decided to wait for Kage to leave the Empyrean Peak before doing anything to him.

Han Shuo and his group continued to roam around the Omphalos.

Soon after, a gang crossed their path. Their leader had a cold and arrogant face. He was a Late-stage Highgod of Darkness.

"Lady, gentlemen, I heard that you insulted Bertha and Buzz?" the gang leader asked with his head held high after arriving in front of Han Shuo and his party.

"None of your business!" Han Huo found his snobbish look annoying and replied dismissively.

"Fool, don't you know you're on the eve of death?"

The man groaned coldly and scanned each of Han Shuo's party with his eyes. Perhaps thinking that Rose was the strongest among them, he looked at Rose and said, "Let me remind you - there are few in the Fringe who would dare insult Buzz and Bertha. The duo are now waiting just outside the Omphalos. As soon as you leave the town, the duo will track you down and kill you. So if you want to live, pay me one million Black Crystal coins. I and my men will protect you and your party as you leave the Omphalos. How about that?"

Rose did not answer but turned to look at Han Shuo.

The mercenary guard was stunned. Being good at reading body language, he realised immediately that he had misidentified the party leader. He took a moment to observe Han Shuo carefully but could not detect any significant energy fluctuation on Han Shuo. He found the situation rather odd and confusing.

"No," Han Shuo rejected the suggestion succinctly.

This guy did not continue to try to sell his service. He nodded with a cold grin and turned on his heels with his gang. He thought that Han Shuo and his gang would undoubtedly be dead.

"Wait!" Han Shuo said suddenly. When the person turned around in confusion, Han Shuo asked smilingly, "May I ask what your name is?"

"Haruli is my name. Then how? Have you changed your mind?" Haruli said arrogantly, "The price is now 1.5 million black crystal coins. No bargaining!"

Han Shuo shook his head with a smile and replied, "You don't seem to serve any of the Five Sovereigns. Ay, you and your followers have decent powers. How about working for me?"

Haruli was stunned and stared at Han Shuo like a fool. After coming to his senses, he laughed condescendingly and said, "Go ask around the fringe. All the Five Sovereigns have tried to recruit me, but I have turned them all down. What makes you think I would work for a nobody like you?" Haruli then gestured to his gang and said, "Let's go. This guy must be crazy!"