This unknown young man doesn''t even look as if he has any cultivation. If he confronts the Sand Scorpion Syndicate members, then he will surely… die.''


    Both father and son, as well as the other ten or so tied-upmoners, watched the confrontation with bated breath.


    They were aware that the neer likely stood little to no chance against the Sand Scorpion Syndicate thieves, but that didn''t stop hope from bubbling up within them. The way they saw it, if they were going to die either way, then they might as well die with the tiniest smidgen of hope within their hearts.


    Then, like an explosive bullet, a fast-moving object shed past their faces and crashed into the side of a caravan wagon, knocking it over and spilling out all its goods!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The merchant, his stupid son, and themoners all swiveled their heads behind them. Completely out of their wildest dreams, they saw the thief captain knocked unconscious while nted into the shattered wagon!


    "How can that be possible!?" The merchant yelled with absolute horror etched across his face. "The Thief Captain is a Grade 9 Immortal Venerable! He''s considered extremely powerful in the outer empires! Even Kings don''t dare to mess with him!"


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Shooting right past his astonished expression were the other Sand Scorpion Thieves, all of whom were frothing from their mouths and fading into the afterlife.


    "I don''t know about being a King," Azmodeus said while slowly walking past the kneeling merchant. "But I am, however, a businessman. And I am looking to conduct business right now."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    His nonchnt words took everyone out of their stupors as they shot their eyes to the back of the tall ck-robed man. They watched as his hair ethereally fluttered in the wind, and they also watched as he… shamelessly looted the thief corpses.


    Even for him, they had some nice goodies. He was not yet stupid enough to pass up on free loot.


    After finishing up the looting process, Azmodeus was going to devour their corpses and take their existences for himself, but before he could do that, a hand suddenlynded on his shoulder.


    "???"


    "I don''t mean to touch you so rudely, good sir," the merchant said frantically. "But if you do anything to their bodies, you won''t be able to im the bounties on their heads."


    "Bounties?" Azmodeus repeated with intrigue.


    The Merchant''s eyes brightened. "Yes, sir! The bounties on the heads of these thieves will go for far more than their worldly possessions will fetch you," he said as he beckoned his son.


    Silence.


    The Merchant slowly turned his head toward his son. "...You bumbling buffoon!" He screamed while staring at his son struggling to escape simple binding ropes. "Have you learned nothing from what I have taught you thus far!? Stop fooling around and get up here right this instant! Don''t interfere with the dealings of your father!"


    "I''m sorry, father! But I can''t get out of these troublesome things!" The merchant''s son screamed as he rolled around on the hard ground in aedic way.


    The Merchant profusely sweated from all pores. "I sincerely apologize for this huge embarrassment, dear sir! That son of mine is an idiot! To bepletely candid with you, I don''t even believe he is mine!"


    Azmodeus watched the merchant and son pair with an amused look in his eyes. "It''s understandable," he said as he retracted his hand and spared the corpses of the thieves, just as the merchant suggested. "Anyway, can you tell me where I should go if I wish to take these corpses in for the reward money?"


    "Y-Yes sir! If that idiot son of mine could do anything right, then he would''ve handed you a mobile map tracker to our store association. But since he cannot even do that, I will take it from him for you," the Merchant said as he used his Immortal power to pull a storage ring off his son''s index finger.


    "W-Wait, father, what about me!?" The merchant''s son shouted. "Are you not going to untie me!?"


    The Merchant''s brows furrowed in fury. "No, you bumbling idiot! Do something useful and untie yourself!" He shouted back in response to his son''s miserable wails.


    After slicking back his ck hair and regaining his sophisticated demeanor, the Merchant turned toward the one who saved them. "Ignore him, good sir, and let us get back to what we were talking about," he said as he rubbed his hands with a kiss-ass disposition.


    "Oh?" Azmodeus raised one of his brows in interest. "And remind me, what exactly were we talking about?" He asked.


    BING!


    The merchant''s storage ring shed as a small metallic object shot out of it andnded in his hands. "This here, good sir, is a map tracker," he announced with a hint of pride. "It is something that our business association helped found and patent, and it is also what will allow you to find our stores to sell the goods obtained by those vile Sand Scorpions."


    Azmodeus krinkled his forehead in slight annoyance. "What exactly does this have to do with iming the bounties on their heads?" He asked.


    The Merchant started to sweat even more than before as he took out a handkerchief and wiped off the perspiration forming on his forehead. "Don''t get me wrong, good sir!" He said out of desperation. "Right beside one of my store association buildings is a Bounty Hunter Office. As the saying goes: ''Two birds with one stone''.


    You can sell all your obtained goods to me, and then you can move over to the Bounty Hunter Office to im the rewards for the bounties you killed!"


    Azmodeus rxed his expression at this exnation as he understood the gist of what the wizened merchant was getting at.


    After a moment of thought, he focused his piercing gaze on the nervous merchant. "Where is your Business Association located?" He asked.


    "The Azuresk Empire, good sir!"


    Azmodeus''s eyes softened. "You, merchant, have earned yourself a loyal patron," he said as he patted him on the shoulders with a toothy grin. "I will do you the honor of escorting you back to your Business Association. While doing so, I will also actively flush out the rest of these Sand Scorpion Thieves and obtain some more goods."


    "!?"


    ....