The settlements of the displaced people are not very far from the Baishui River – after crossing the wasteland on the north bank of the Baishui River, they enter the wooded areas, where they hide and depend on the scarce food produced in the mountains and forests to survive.

The undulating hills of Tanzania slow down the force of the wind, giving the seeds that ride the wind a chance to take root and sprout, creating a staccato and less dense woodland along the low slopes that had owners long ago.

A short-lived "Karg" family briefly became lord of the woodland and the wastelands on the north bank of the White Water River, but a plague ended the family's rule, and that was hundreds of years ago, and now that nature has completely smoothed out the evidence of the existence of human civilization, the collapsed castle of the Karg family sleeps quietly behind the slopes of unknown hills, and these mountains and wilderness are too close to the dark mountains to be ignored.

As soon as any of the families along the Dark Mountains perished, everyone agreed that it was the result of curses and chaos from the Gondor wasteland, so such borderlands were everywhere in the Far South, and although it was only separated from Viscount Andrew Leslie's territory by a Tanzanite mine, the Viscount apparently had no intention of sending his own men over the huge Tanzania to exploit the lands across the mountain.

Dressed in lightweight enchanted armor that is easy to move and equipped with new thermal ray guns and magical combat backpacks, Cecil combatants have carefully and quickly navigated the mountains and forests according to their previous combat training, they have been away from the territory for a day and a night, they have just rested and eaten not long ago, and they are now in a very good state of mind and body, and the place where the outcasts are hiding is not far away.

Once in the forest, it was difficult for the horse to be used, so Gawain left the car and led the horse with Philip Knight, while Amber hung on the broad back of his "Krieg Horse", staggering and napping.

- The reason why she used "hanging" was because this half-elf lady was really not good at riding, and in order to prevent falling off her horse, she used several straps and buckles to fasten herself to the saddle, anyway, in case of emergency, she could roll into the shadows at any time, and she was not afraid of being tied and sturdy.

A guy with elf blood can't even communicate with a horse, which is really a shame for elves.

"We're almost there," said Knight Philip, looking ahead, "in fact there are many outcasts in this area, but they are all hidden in extremely difficult places to find, but if we can find one, it will be easy to contact the others. ”

Gao Wen nodded slightly, but his brows furrowed slightly: "Actually, I always feel that this situation is a little weird. ”

"Weird?" Philip Knight didn't understand, "What's weird?" ”

"Very few people will hunt slaves on a large scale after the frost moon, because after the frost moon the temperature drops, farming stops, and there is not much labor, but most people will enter a state of consuming food - in this case, capturing slaves will not only not let them work, but will need to take out food for free to feed them," Gawain shook his head, "unless it is a mine that is not affected by the season, where slave labor is needed all year round, but the largest mine in this area is the Tanzanian mine, and the Viscount Andrew has no intention of increasing slave labor recently." …… And he seems to disdain this kind of behavior of capturing displaced people as slaves. ”

"God knows whose money those mercenaries charge," said Knight Philip, "perhaps to the Central, where there are so many mines and merchants, and where slaves are so expensive that many will take the risk of buying 'slaves'. ”

Gawain was noncommittal, and soon, a thin smell of blood wafted into his nostrils.

"Stop!" He immediately waved his hand, and the captains of the various squads stopped their ranks in a low voice, and everyone was on guard.

Even Amber, who was trapped on horseback to death, instantly felt the change in atmosphere (this alertness is worthy of her bloodline, although no matter how you look at it, it seems to be cowardly), she opened her eyes suddenly, and then the whole person turned into a shadow and rushed to Gao Wen's side: "There is a smell of blood ahead!" ”

"The Light is above!" Reverend Wright immediately drew a sacred mark on his chest, "Someone is bleeding to death." ”

The soldiers, led by Gawain, quickly crossed the trees and bushes, and the situation of the displaced settlement was presented to them.

The mercenaries have already done it.

The settlement was surrounded by a ring of broken wooden fences and thorns, but apparently it could not withstand the beasts with swords, and between the few dilapidated tents was a large open space, where eighty or ninety ragged and withered outcasts were driven together in the clearing, while more than twenty heavily armed mercenaries were divided into two groups, half guarding the perimeter of the camp, the other half facing the gathered outcasts with their swords unsheathed, and a man in black half-body armor walked up and down in front of these poor men who were about to become slaves, Constantly shouting and swearing.

In the clearing around them, seven or eight corpses could be seen lying on the ground, all of them hacked to death with knives - apparently, there was a brief resistance at the beginning of the mercenary attack on the camp, but this resistance was destroyed by thunder, and the corpses that were chopped to pieces on the spot effectively prevented the revolt from escalating and the situation from spiraling out of control.

"It's really well equipped," Gawain analyzed, as he watched, "and half of them were mixed with civilians, and once the battle began, they would most likely take those civilians hostage......"

"Hostages? You're thinking too much, aren't you? Amber glanced at Gawain, "Those are the outcasts who are treated like cattle by the nobles and mercenaries, and the nobles and nobles' armies never care about their lives - those mercenaries must think the same way about us, so they won't use those people as hostages." But it is possible to use it as a shield at a critical moment...... But as long as we can find a way to make a big move and catch them off guard, the outcasts will immediately flee, and the situation will be out of the control of those mercenaries. While the hands and feet of those homeless people are still tied, now is a good time. ”

Looking at the half-elf lady who was the head of the analysis, Gao Wen couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then realized that he was really still affected by the experience of the earth.

Hostage...... That's only useful when people are seen as human beings, but here, there is never a thug who puts a knife on the neck of a "pariah" and threatens a nobleman and yells "If you come again, I'll kill him".

Because the "normal" aristocracy would not hesitate to kill the "untouchables" along with the robbers.

Thinking of this, Gao Wen sighed, and then took out two crystalline grenades casually: "Then let's make some big moves." ”

……

Mercenaries of unknown origin attacked the camp, and the few people who subconsciously chose to resist were dismembered almost instantly.

The cries and screams swept through the settlement in an instant, and in a very short time they subsided, and the people were driven out of their tents and haystacks like driven cattle by swords-wielding robbers and bandits, and gathered in the open space in the center of the camp.

As a homeless person, even the last bundle of straw in his arms will be snatched, so the people in the camp are no strangers to robbers, but when they see the dress and momentum of these people, those who have a little insight realize that these are even more terrible guys than robbers: they are mercenaries, mercenaries who have received money.

The black-haired, black-eyed girl "Joan", the sister of Tom the Red Nose, cowered in the crowd, carefully looking away to avoid eye contact with the most vicious men, holding her injured right arm with her left hand while enduring the pain of the dirt seeping into the wound on her face - at the first moment the thugs broke into the camp, she painted her face with charcoal mixed with mud, and this appearance was soon seen by one of the leaders of the group of mercenaries, who laughed and praised her for being a girl with brains, Then he whipped almost half of her face.

He laughed as he pumped it, so that her "makeup" could be permanently fixed on his face.

Blood was dripping with mud on the ground, but there was a hint of joy in Joan's heart, for the mercenary leader was cursing angrily:

"You untouchables! Cheap mud! and mongrels who only deserve to sleep in the stinking gutter! Where's that cripple?! I know you ran a man, I know you ran a man! Damn it...... You've already died eight of you, do you know how much money I've lost?! Where the hell is that cripple hiding by you!! ”

Tom had long since left, going in a new direction to look for mushrooms and edible moss, just to bypass the sight of these mercenaries, and when he returned, he would definitely notice the anomaly in the camp, and he would run.

Thinking of this, Joan secretly raised her eyelids and glanced at the leader of the mercenaries wearing armor and carrying a silver-white sword at his waist, she knew that there would soon be someone around her who would not be able to stand the pressure, and said that she was Tom's sister, and she had already prepared for it - it was a big deal to die, so that these long-legged beasts would suffer greater losses, and she could see that this group of outcasts, including herself, could bring a lot of money to these mercenaries, and every time they died, they would be more angry.

In many cases, this is the greatest revolt that the "untouchables" can make in the face of the aristocracy and their minions.

But just as these thoughts popped into Joan's mind, a strange movement suddenly came from not far away, and fell into her ears, which had been trained by years of hunting.

It seems that two stones have fallen dozens of meters away, one after the other.

Before she could figure out what the "stone" was, she heard two loud noises like thunder coming from behind the mercenaries!

This thunderous roar was unfamiliar to everyone, even when they were pointed at by their swords, the displaced people who were driven to the open field jumped up in horror and ran desperately towards the inside of the camp - that is, away from the direction of the explosion, while the mercenaries who had experienced the blood of the sword were calmer, although they were also shocked, but the first reaction that came to their minds was - enemy attack! Meet the enemy!

It was the right response, both for them and for Gawain. 8)