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Liu Zhenhan stood at the bank’s toll booth, squinting at the other side. The river breeze was strong, blowing against his bare chest, his golden hair and chest hair dancing together. Guoguo perched on his shoulder, chewing on some snacks nonchalantly.
The toll booth, in essence, was just a thatched hut. Ning Yu and Avril sat inside, a night pearl resting in front of them, anchoring a pile of parchment and a goose quill pen on the wooden table.
The Night Pearl emitted a gentle warmth, soothing and comfortable, much like the warmth of Richard’s chest.
The two beauties relished this rare warmth in winter, while skillfully crafting vine armors with small knives and wild grape vines, exchanging thoughts on patterns from time to time.
Not far away, a group of female ogre slaves were digging a moat around the city frantically. Bear goblins were carrying colorful pebbles in their baskets, and humming rhymes as they worked. The pebbles were meant to guide the water to flood the bamboo forest. The overlord said he liked "a riverside wine party, with beauties bathing in the river".
The soil layer was hard, and their progress was slow. Without any iron tools, they had no choice but to use wooden shovels made from tree trunks.
Five vine boats sailed over nonstop from the north bank of Sanggan River.
It seemed they have refused to use the water-repelling beads to cross the river, Liu Zhenhan mused.
The abandoned military station on the north bank of the Sanggan River has been deserted since it sent the residents of Fei Lengcui away. Due to the war on the northwest front and the desert people, the northeast legion sent two elite units to the front. The only military station within 200 li north of the Sanggan River is now Fei Lengcui. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel⚑fire.net
Ever since human traders returned home to join in the "Yostley festival", Liu Zhenhan had arranged for a dozen hedgehogs of the Sea Ditch Rainbow Tribe to watch the place, specifically for the reception of these traders, and to help them cross the river with the water-repelling beads.
If they choose to use the vine boats at the pier instead of water-repelling beads to cross the river, that would mean that the hedgehogs stationed at the north bank military station failed to negotiate with them, indicating these traders do not want to pay the river-crossing fee.
However, the more this happens, the more ruthless Liu Zhenhan’s extortion at the south bank would be.
This large caravan certainly had a reason to be proud. Five vine boats kept shuttling back and forth, working hard for half a day before finally ferrying over 300 people to the mudflats on the south bank.
The number of passengers almost exceeded the sum of all human traders who crossed the river in recent days, and then doubled.
The mudflats along the Fei Lengcui coast suddenly became boisterous, filled with a cacophony of human voices.
This caravan had brought five horse carriages, stacked with numerous Beamon specialties. Moreover, around a hundred Beamon slaves had their wrists bound together and were tied to the back of the horse carriages. The slaves appeared disheveled, their clothes in tatters, their whip-marked skin exposed to the cold north wind, barefooted they waded through the shallow water onto the bank. A few of the elderly slaves with white hair collapsed in the water. The mercenaries instantly snapped whips against their skin, making a crisp sound.
There were quite a few human mercenaries serving as guards for this caravan. Liu Zhenhan silently counted them from the riverbank. There were about 200 mercenaries, 50 of them rangers riding horses. They all were well-equipped.
Robust mercenaries and fat human traders stood together, very noticeable. The mercenaries bore obvious traces of the rugged life of jianghu, with many of them having scars on their face. They unbuttoned their shirts, intentionally showing off muscles in the cold wind that were no less robust than Beamon’s. At first glance, one could tell they were well-trained veterans.
Several sultry human women with brown hair and well-endowed silhouettes moved among the mercenaries, whispering sweet nothings to them.
These blue-eyed women, with their brown hair, were known as the wandering Bepsy people. The Bepsy are the only race among humans who have no country, no religious beliefs. They can sell anything for money: their men are thieves and robbers, their women are prostitutes.
Only money-loving Bepsy women would be willing to follow this mercenary group to the desolate and dangerous Donau Wasteland.
The Bepsy prostitutes were particularly apt at livening up the atmosphere, with the Beamon slaves also becoming their tools for teasing mercenaries.
A horn sounded with a "beep", and all the mercenaries immediately ceased their banter. They lined up in two neat queues on either side of the carriages. A knight led the group, wielding a vibrant flag that fluttered against the wind, marching from the mudflat onto the riverbank.
The flag was made of red velvet, with a seductive mermaid outlined with gold threads. The mermaid’s two hands each held a weight and a balance.
"Dragon Knights roam beneath the dawn, over the expansive Donau grassland, the formidable army of the mercenary state of Dorott, all nations prosper in peace, laden with glory, oh Dorott!" Countless strong voices of mercenaries converged upon the "Song of Dorott".
"The Song of Dorott" was composed by a bard at the request of Dorott’s mercenaries to commend their bravery during the war against Beamon. Although this caravan seemed to have not noticed the overlord not far from the riverbank, the implications of this song were still very clear.
"Take a look! It’s an old acquaintance! It turns out to be a caravan from Earl Totti Charbar of Dorott, I recognize their family crest!" Liu Zhenhan laughed heartily, calling out to Avril and Ning Yu, who were weaving the vine armor.
Liu Zhenhan was not so forgetful as to have forgotten what happened at the temple gate that day. The boastful claims of the portly human trader with a wart on his face, who offered 5 million gold coins for the mermaid, were still fresh in his memory.