Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1513: Sovereign Economics

Rommath was confident. With the human kingdoms relocated and their assets seized or scattered, aside from the founding elders of the Stoneheart Horde, no single clansman possessed wealth that could rival his.

The resources at his fingertips represented the accumulation of the Blood Elf Race over millennia. It was a treasury of unimaginable scale—old money that made the new wealth of the Horde look like copper pennies.

Stoneheart City.

The streets were alive with the roar of the populace and the savory smoke of cooking fires.

Three giants—Redfang, Cedric, and Bastien—along with the gnoll, Ludo, walked down the main thoroughfare. They were silent, their expressions a collective mask of shock and numbness.

"Cedric, hit me."

Redfang suddenly stopped and turned to his friend, making the unreasonable demand.

Acting on reflex, Cedric threw a heavy punch, connecting squarely with Redfang’s jaw.

CRACK.

Redfang’s jaw dislocated instantly.

"Hss... That hurts like hell!"

Redfang cupped his face, grimacing as he forced the bone back into the socket with a sickening pop.

"It’s real!"

The moment his jaw was set, Redfang didn’t complain about the injury. He just blurted out the confirmation.

"It... it seems it is real," Cedric replied, his voice trembling with uncertainty.

"It has to be real," Bastien added, nodding emphatically from Cedric’s side.

"It’s definitely real! We’re rich!" Ludo the Gnoll was practically vibrating. "Ludo has financial freedom! Ludo has so many Merit Points! I’m going to the exchange. I want a Transformative Weapon! A big stick! A stick to beat dogs with!"

Ludo’s manic muttering finally broke the spell for the others. Redfang, Cedric, and Bastien realized they hadn’t been dreaming. They had truly struck gold.

The egg they had scavenged really contained a Broodmother.

"Cedric, what do you say we go back to Northguard?" Redfang asked, his eyes gleaming. "We could search that cave outside the city again. Maybe we missed one. Maybe there’s another Broodmother egg just sitting there."

Cedric rolled his eyes. Redfang was displaying the classic symptom of a man whose eyes were bigger than his stomach. Besides, Ludo had a nose that could track a ghost through a sulfur storm; if the Gnoll had scoured that cave, there was nothing left to find.

"Heh... just saying, just saying," Redfang chuckled, realizing he sounded neurotic. Even if there were another egg, the teleportation fees back and forth would bankrupt them before they even received their reward for the first one.

"Regardless, we need to celebrate," Redfang declared, sweeping his massive arm forward. "To the Silent Goblet! I’m ordering the most expensive bottle on the second floor, and I’m hiring a Succubus to pour it for me!"

He took the lead, marching toward the tavern with the swagger of a king.

Meanwhile, the news of the Seeker Auction House listing a Broodmother egg spread like a wildfire through the various families and clans of the Stoneheart Horde.

A strategic resource of that magnitude was enough to rouse every sleeping dragon and power-hungry noble in the city.

Inner City, The Colosseum.

In a VIP luxury suite overlooking the arena, the "Human Triad" of the Stoneheart Horde—Nico, Kadir, and Tristan—lounged on a plush leather sofa. Below them, a giant-blooded gladiator was locked in mortal combat with a Helix Drake.

"Tristan, you are truly something else," Nico, the rotund master of coin, laughed delightedly. "To think you actually bought a monster straight out of the storybooks."

Nico was in high spirits. The dungeon beneath the Colosseum was now stocked with several such otherworldly beasts. These creatures were the ultimate draw for the crowds, a guaranteed way to print money. And it was all thanks to Tristan, the cross-realm merchant.

Tristan had brought back a trove of bizarre and exotic items from other worlds, significantly deepening the Colosseum’s roster. To show his appreciation, Nico had invited his old friend Kadir and Tristan for drinks and a front-row seat to the slaughter.

"Nico, let’s be clear," Tristan said, swirling his drink. "Two of those Helix Drakes are strictly for storage. Do not get them killed. The Eldest Princess explicitly requested them as mounts. If anything happens to them, I could run until my legs snap and I still wouldn’t be able to replace them for Her Highness."

The "Eldest Princess" was, of course, Elara.

Tristan assumed that as a young girl, Elara was simply fascinated by the gentle, snail-like dragons. He didn’t realize that her interest lay not in the creature itself, but in the world it hailed from.

"Relax, I know the stakes," Nico said, patting Tristan on the shoulder. He pointed two chubby fingers at his own eyes. "See these? Clear and bright. I haven’t gone blind from greed."

Tristan nodded. He was getting used to Nico’s shameless self-promotion.

"It’s a pity, though," Tristan mused, looking down at the sand. "If I could have taken that insect egg and sold it across the planar boundaries... I could have gotten a price a thousand, maybe ten thousand times higher. War-torn planes pay a premium for instant armies."

As a merchant, Tristan had a predator’s eye for profit.

"Tristan, you’re overthinking it," Nico said, shaking his head with a knowing grin. "That kind of asset is strictly ’Not For Sale’ to outsiders. It’s a strategic resource. The Horde would never let it bleed out."

"If it’s not for outsiders, why put it in the auction house?" Tristan asked, confused.

Nico handed Tristan a fresh glass of wine and passed one to Kadir as well.

"Little brother, you’ve been away too long. You don’t see the game being played." Nico leaned back, assuming the air of a wise sage. "Let your big brother educate you."

Tristan, knowing Nico’s ego, played along and raised his glass in a respectful toast.

After downing the wine, Nico couldn’t hold back his lecture any longer.

"First, this is an internal auction. ’Non-kin need not apply.’ If you aren’t Stoneheart, you don’t get through the door."

"Second, it’s not that the Horde can’t afford to raise a newborn Broodmother. It’s that we don’t need to."

"And here is the key," Nico leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "The exalted Lady Lilith... she is using this egg to dredge up the stagnant resources hoarding up in the clans."

"Stagnant resources. You follow?"

Tristan nodded slowly. The term made sense.

"We run around every day, clowning for the crowd, hustling for every copper," Nico gestured at the arena below. "And what we make is just pocket change compared to the old blood."

"Lady Lilith is a genius. She throws out a single egg, and suddenly, she pries open the vaults of those ancient families who have been sitting on mountains of gold for centuries."

"I wonder which lucky bastard is going to win it," Nico sighed, a hint of jealousy souring his tone.

Nico was interested in the egg, of course. To the average citizen, he was filthy rich. But compared to the true titans of the Horde—specifically the races that had surrendered intact, keeping their treasuries safe from pillaging—he was a pauper.

Those were the resources Lilith was targeting. She was draining the swamp of old wealth to fuel the Horde’s future.