Early the next morning, Richard left the forward base with his team, which would be a long strategic shift, and no one could predict the return date.

Thanks to Reilly's summoning of dozens of Kodomon, Richard was able to bring all the supplies with him. These large herbivores are natural means of transport and can walk at a satisfactory pace. Had it not been for them, Richard's gains in the Barony of Forsa would have shrunk by at least a third. Therefore, robbery is a technical job, and it is one thing whether you can rob it or not, and it is another thing whether you can take it away or not.

Ten days later, a desolate land unfolded before Reilly's eyes.

In this bloodstained land of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, not a single river flows all year round. When the rainy season comes, rivers of all sizes will spring up on the land, and then dry up with the arrival of the dry season. The few oases dotted the land like pearls, and became the object of desperate competition among various forces.

Yesterday, the team was still fighting against the dark and damp atmosphere in the forest, and today it has to fight against the two suns in the sky. After only half an hour of walking, the sweaty people had to rest in the shadow of a stone peak.

"We've only walked less than five kilometers and the temperature has risen by a full twenty degrees! " Reilly said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"What do I do? This question should be asked to the gods of the Faro. Richard rolled his eyes.

"Richard, the advance team has been attacked!" Reilly said suddenly, standing up suddenly.

"What's going on?" Richard's expression became solemn. The horses stolen from the Barony of Fossa had been handed over to the advance party, and they had already successfully crossed the borders of the Redwood Kingdom and reached the Bloodstained Lands. Reilly sent two dragonflies to follow the advance team, so he could see the movements of those people at any time.

"The other party took a fancy to the war horses they carried, so they started fighting. ”

"How's it going?" asked Richard nervously. War horses and surrendered troops are nothing, and if the infantry knight who led the team is killed, he will lose a lot.

"The knights have successfully broken through, and those who died are all surrendered. Reilly said lightly.

"That's good. Richard breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's wait for them to come back and ask about the situation, but let's look at the future first. Reilly suggested.

Richard nodded, took out a map and studied it. It is an inferior hand-drawn map, not even the outline of the Bloodstained Lands, but only the general location of a few famous oases and camps. Other than that, most of the area is blank on the map.

"It's just a map, or a trophy from the temple. Richard sighed and said.

"Something is better than nothing. In an unfamiliar plane, every map is priceless. Reilly shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've already sent dragonflies to scout the terrain, and there will be better maps available in a few days, so bear with me." ”

Richard nodded, pointed to a camp on the map, and said, "We can try our luck at Bloodstone Camp first, and see if we can hire a few guides who are familiar with the area, and find some 'work' by the way." ”

"You arrange this kind of thing, I'm going to work. Reilly pulled a table out of the storage space and began to draw the build.

"Do you still have a table? I'm going to draw the structure too. ”

"Give. With that, Reilly pulled out a ...... Stool.

"Why am I treated a notch lower than you?"

Reilly looked at Erin, who was standing next to Richard, and said, "Because you have a female assistant." ”

Richard rolled his eyes: "Where is this truth?"

Reilly said seriously, "It's called jealousy. ”

"Don't be so arrogant!"

Richard's roar drew laughter from the girls once again.

At nightfall, a huge moon rises in the sky. In the bright moonlight, Richard once again set out with the team, and successfully rendezvoused with the advance party in the early hours of the morning.

What they saw was a remnant of soldiers, who had not only lost all their horses, but also wounded all of them. While Quicksand and Essien were busy treating the wounded, Richard walked around them, looked at everyone's injuries, and then said to the knight in charge, "Who did that?"

"It is said that the Red Cossacks, who took a fancy to our horses, wanted to buy them for one gold coin each, which was only one percent of the market price, so I refused. There were more than two hundred of them, including a dozen knights, and the overall strength was much stronger than ours, so in the end only these people escaped. The knight said.

The man had a huge wound on his back that was deep enough to see the bones, and pus was constantly flowing outward. In addition, there are more than a dozen large and small wounds on his body, which shows the tragedy of the battle.

"Red Cossack ......" Richard repeated the name several times, and his face became more and more gloomy: "Those people who attacked you, will you still recognize them when you see them later?"

"I'm sure I can recognize it!" The leader of the other party is a knight of at least thirteenth level, he is wearing a red heavy armor and uses a saw-edged two-handed sword, which is very conspicuous!" said the infantry knight.

Richard paced back and forth, and waited until everyone's injuries had been taken care of before he patted the knight on the shoulder and said, "Good job this time, because you all came back alive." If you lose your horse, you can get it back, and if you die in battle, where can I find someone I can trust?"

After arriving on the Farrow plane, Richard increasingly discovered that the infantry knights that Gordon had given him were invaluable.

The man looked grateful, struggled to make a meticulous military salute, and said, "Serving Lord Gordon and Akmund is the purpose of our existence!"

The Foot Knights did not play for Richard, but for Gordon and Akmund.

Richard noticed the problem, but didn't say anything, but Reilly mentally lowered the credibility of all the foot knights by a notch. Although he didn't know the exact reason, he could always feel Richard's dislike for Gordon. If these two people meet on the plane battlefield, there is a good chance that a fight will start. What choices will these knights make when the time comes, and if Richard breaks away from the Akmund family, there is a good chance that these people will part ways with Richard.

The Foot Knights were mostly die-hard members of the Akmund family for generations, who provided them with education, training, wealth, social status, and a path to higher ranks, and the Foot Knights also protected the family with their own lives. The two sides are like holly ivy and fir trees, entwined with each other and supporting each other. This is the most common way of survival for aristocratic families.

The Foot Knight's allegiance is to House Akmund, not to a specific person. If one day, Richard ceased to be a member of the Akmund family, and these people would leave him.

Taking advantage of the slightly cooler weather in the early morning, Richard and his team continued their march towards Bloodstone Camp.

When the first sun rises in the sky, the weather starts to get hot again. After walking for half an hour in the hot sun, the team came to a small path.

"Well, it doesn't seem to be a smooth road. Looking at the barricades in front of him, Reilly stroked his chin playfully.

This is a roadblock set between two pinnacles, and if you want to walk a few extra steps, you can go around the pinnacles and continue your journey. But since the other party dares to close the road in such a grand manner, the consequences of the detour will obviously not be as simple as taking a few more steps.

Seeing Richard's procession, a man behind the barricade blew the whistle vigorously. In the next moment, more than a dozen ferocious men gathered with weapons in hand, and several cavalry rushed out from behind the stone peak on the left.

A strong man walked up to the barricade in a big way, waved the axe in his hand vigorously, and shouted: "Everyone over there come to me! This is Boss Mark's territory, and since you are here, you have to pay taxes!"

Reilly stepped forward and said, "Isn't the boss of the Bloodstone Camp a thunderhammer?

"This ...... It's because ......" The strong man slurred for a long time, unable to utter even a complete sentence.

At this time, a big man who was half a head taller than the others walked out, slapped the man on the head, and scolded angrily: "Waste!" After speaking, he pointed at Reilly and roared: "Of course Thunderhammer is the boss, but Boss Mark is also a good talker! Hurry up and pay the taxes!"

Furious, he stomped his foot with a roar, and immediately made the ground tremble.

Seeing the huge ogre wielding power, the big man's face changed, he held the battle axe tightly, and shouted, "What do you want to do?" The others behind the barricade also grabbed their weapons and prepared for battle.

At this time, Reilly had already seen through the strength of these roadblocks through his divine vision. The leader of the Great Han is a tenth-level warrior, and the others are between five and eighth.

Reilly waved his hand and said, "How much is the toll tax?"

The big man spat on the ground and said viciously, "One silver coin per person! The big man has to pay two! After paying the tax, I will give you a sign." When you get to Camp Bloodstone, no one will dare to bully you. ”

Reilly took out a gold coin and threw it to the big man: "One gold coin should be enough, right?"

In the Faro plane, a gold coin can usually be exchanged for one hundred and twenty silver coins, and Richard's team only has a total of about thirty people, even if you add Kodomon and Wind Fang, the toll tax will not cost a single gold coin.

The strong man caught the gold coin, looked at it carefully, and then exclaimed, "It's the temple gold coin!"

Most of the popular gold coins in the Faro plane are the same in composition, but they can also be divided into three types: temple gold coins, national gold coins, and aristocratic gold coins according to the issuing entity. Among them, the gold coins minted by the major temples have higher value due to the advantages of exquisite craftsmanship and difficult imitation. Normally, one Temple Gold coin can be exchanged for one hundred and fifty Silver Coins. The gold coins thrown by Reilly came from the temple that Essien presided over, and had the insignia of the god of courage on it.

Staring at this gold coin, the strong man's eyes were a little red, and the men behind him couldn't take their eyes off it.

Reilly coughed and said, "The tax has been paid, can Mark Boss's nameplate be given to us?"

The strong man put the gold coin in his pocket, his face was full of undisguised greed, and he said loudly: "One gold coin is not enough, two are needed...... No, ten gold coins will take you over!"

"Isn't the poll tax a silver coin? how can it not be enough?" said Reilly, playfully.

"It's a gold coin now!" roared the strong man.

"Well...... Reilly thought for a moment and said, "I think the price can be negotiated again." ”

Before he could finish speaking, a huge fireball flew out of his hand, blasting a large crater out of the land dozens of meters away.

"Magician!" the strong man swallowed and said, "I seem to have misremembered just now, the toll tax should be a silver coin!"

"You see, this is the art of counter-offering, have you learned it?" said Reilly, turning his head and smiling.

"Learned. Quicksand nodded vigorously, like a student listening attentively.

"Don't learn this!" Richard was not calm again.