The influx of war refugees has made this port city, which has no rule of law, even more chaotic, with fights and gang fights becoming commonplace.

The fleet of the Cormier Kingdom, which came with a large amount of food, instantly set fire to this small city of only 10,000 people, and all of them rushed to tell each other.

"The grain fleet is here, from the grain ships on the other side of the Falling Star Sea, they have dozens of merchant warships, they can't see the end at a glance, the draft is very deep, and it is said that they are all loaded with grain."

"What's the use of bringing in more food? Those black-hearted merchants will not give us a grain of grain for nothing, either to do coolies for them, or to buy them with real money, a kilogram of grain they actually opened up to the sky-high price of two gold coins, why don't they rob it? ”

"They were robbing, but they were just hanging on our necks, not swords, but our shriveled stomachs."

"It's different, it's different, this time it's not the silver crows of Sambia floating on those warships, it's the purple dragon of the Cormier Kingdom, the legendary knight kingdom, it's their king who sent a king's speech to all of Ferron, and gathered a coalition army of Feron, ready to support us and resist the invasion of the Tucans."

"Hey, it's all the same, you just wait and see, they're all a bunch of greedy people, and they will definitely sell the grain shipped for sky-high prices......"

"The recruitment notice has been posted, and a large number of stevedores will be recruited to assist in loading and unloading goods, unloading one ton, and paying one kilogram of grain."

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and sign up, if you go late, there will be no part for us. ”

"I'm going now, I'm afraid it's too late, and the loading and unloading work is already controlled by those gangs."

"How do you know if you don't give it a try? With these ten kilograms and eight kilograms of grain, coupled with some wild vegetables and game, our family of five will not have to go hungry for ten days and eight days. ”

Countless Usmailians swarmed in the direction of the docks.

Like all port cities, Usmail has two core industries, one for offshore trade and fishing, and the other for the loading and unloading of goods for the merchants who pass through the area.

The former is an industry that only Usmail natives who have tools can do, and the requirements are very high.

The latter is the favorite of those who are refugees from the war, because it has only one entry requirement, that is, to have the strength of the handle.

It does sound good, as if all the young and strong people can do it all.

But the reality is far from so rosy.

Wherever there is a crowd, there must be domination.

When the overtly ruling class does not act, it is when various gangs and unions prevail, as was the case in the city of Usmail.

Industries large and small are controlled by these gangs and unions, and loading and unloading work as a sweet spot is no exception.

The stevedores who had heard the news had no chance to approach the dock before they were stopped by a large number of armed thugs, who dared not speak out in the face of the swords, they were members of the Brotherhood of Swordsmanship.

The largest gang in Usmael City, they not only have a firm grip on all the loading and unloading work in the city (all stevedores need to pay one-third of their labor remuneration to this gang), but also control all trade with the Inbutu Kingdom, plus their core members are all Inbutu people, so it is natural to speculate that they are supported by the elites of the Inbutu Kingdom.

When this happens, it means that the Brotherhood of Swords is using this as a bargaining chip, negotiating with the other party, trying to squeeze more benefits out of the other party, and these interests have nothing to do with them as stevedores.

"None of them came to apply for loading and unloading?" Gavin frowned, "This is for us!" ”

"This kind of work is usually controlled by the local gangs, and their interests have been touched by our direct bid to recruit stevedores, and they will certainly not sit idly by, and in this way they are swearing their sovereignty and waiting for us to come to the door." ”

Like a steel can, the goblin giant standing behind Gavin grinned toothily and said in a sullen voice, "Lord Lord, give me a team and half a day, I promise to let the gangs in this city, no matter what we want, they will cry and rush to send it." ”

The other party did not confide a bloody word, but the smell of blood on his face was about to drown Bede's whole person, and he couldn't help but move his steps, farther away from the killing god, and at the same time admonished: "Don't misunderstand, General Thomas, I don't question the strength of the general, but these local snakes are often intertwined with the surrounding forces, even if we forcibly subdue them by force, the consequences are endless."

Maybe one day the warehouse we rented will catch fire, and our personnel will be assassinated.

The Brotherhood of Swordsmans, in particular, is clearly inextricably linked to the kingdom of Inbutu, which is a potential ally of ours, and it would not be wise to offend them now.

It's up to me to come forward and negotiate with them and see what they want. ”

Thomas sneered: "That's why they deserve to be killed, we are here to save them, and they don't actively cooperate, and they secretly make us stumbling."

They dare to stop the stevedores from coming to apply now, and they will dare to sell our information to the Tucanians in the future.

From the very beginning, we should take the toughest attitude, and those who dare to obstruct us will be punished for the crime of collaborating with the enemy.

If they dare to set fire to it and assassinate them, they will all be killed, and they will be sent to the ghost factory to step on the sewing machine, as long as they are afraid to kill, they will naturally not dare to act rashly.

Only with a stable rear can the fighters in front of us fight bravely to kill the enemy. ”

In the eyes of the goblins, there is no problem that killing cannot solve.

If it is not solved, it means that there are not enough people killed, and as long as you kill a few more, even the most violent enemy will become as docile as a sheep.

"This is a human village, not a monster tribe in the wilderness, and killing is always the last option." Gavin laughed and dismissed the Bloodoath Warlord's butcher's suggestion, "But we can't just let them lead the way, we have to find a way to break this stalemate." ”

"Actually, the lord doesn't need to hire stevedores from the local area at all, he only needs to send a hundred goblin giants or crimson marauders over, and our loading and unloading speed will be faster than that of thousands of humans." Thomas gives another suggestion.

"The general didn't understand the lord's deep meaning." Bader laughed and explained, "Your Excellency, this is a cash-for-work way to connect with the locals, especially the Lysserman War refugees, who are the ones who are most in need of food. ”

"That's right." Gavin nodded and acknowledged Bed's explanation, "If we don't have this intention, we don't need to settle with food at all, after all, food is the real hard currency here, you reminded me, I think I've found a breaking point, go, follow me to a place." ”

Gavin leaves the docks with Bader and Thomas and heads straight to the outskirts of Usmael City.

Along the way, I saw many armed men wearing sword badges, patrolling back and forth in the streets, stopping the dock workers who saw the job advertisements and tried to apply at the docks.

Seeing the unfamiliar faces of Gavin and his party, they did not try to step forward to stop them, but took the initiative to get out of the way and watched them leave with awe.

The heavily armed goblin giants are too intimidating for these market gang members, and this kind of steel tank is not something that their weapons can break through.

Seeing that they were quite knowledgeable, Gavin did not take the initiative to provoke them, and soon crossed the entire city of Usmail.

The town had a low earthen wall, the height of the goblin giant Thomas's outstretched hand.

Outside the earthen walls there was a makeshift camp, consisting of a series of low animal skin tents, and the people who lived here were generally about half a head lower than the people of Usmail, but they did not give the impression of emaciation, on the contrary, they were very strong, somewhat similar to the stout and stout of the dwarves, but not to the point of exaggeration.

Their clothes are simple and thin, even in the early winter of Jugu, the cold wind is already extremely cold, most of them are just a beast skin coat that cannot completely wrap the body, and there are many men who are young and strong, directly naked upper body, revealing a body of tendon flesh that flashes plateau red, and most of the women wear scarves or masks.

They are the Lessermans, known for their abundance of witches and berserkers.

The entire Lethman's makeshift camp was enclosed in a circle of fur tents, surrounded by thousands of animals, mostly goats, sheep, and lothmons, and a small number of ponies.

Seeing Gavin and his party, those Lethman youths immediately put down their work and surrounded them, looking at them with a wary face.

"You're waiting here." Gavin ordered Thomas and Bed, and then raised his hands and gestured, "We have come with friendship, and we have a business to discuss with your leader." ”

"I am the fanged Patrium of this tribe." A sturdy middle-aged man walked briskly towards Gavin, dressed like those young men, except for a vivid tiger tattoo on his chest and back, exuding subtle magical fluctuations.

This tattoo gives Gavin a feeling similar to the totem tattoo on the green elf in the Forest of Silminster, not as simple as a simple tattoo, but with a unique magical effect.

The other party's general language is unusually tongue-twisting, with a thick guttural sound, giving people the feeling of a deep roar of a beast.

Gavin's gaze couldn't help but fall behind the middle-aged man, a petite woman who also wore a faceless mask with brightly colored bird feathers stuck in it, and a long blue dress with countless pockets looming inside, bulging and filled with various items.

This is not so much a long skirt as a special mage robe, those pockets are stuffed with various spellcasting materials, and those spellcaster's robes, most of which have similar effects.

This is a Lythman witch, the true leader of the camp, who habitually hides behind these male leaders, like ghosts, following the fanged leader.

Since the other party did not take the initiative to reveal his identity, Gavin also pretended not to know the details of the Lysserman Kingdom, and bowed to the fanged leader and said: "Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Gavin Notte, the commander of the northern route of the advance army of the Feron Alliance, and we are invited by the Sesk Kingdom to help resist the invasion of the nomads.

As a sign of our sincerity, I have brought a large amount of military supplies to the front line to aid your kingdom of Lytherman, including 5,000 tons of grain alone.

But we are now in a little trouble, and the local forces here are unwilling to cooperate with this, so that our food is now unloaded on the ship, let alone transported to the front. ”

Gavin's explanation is concise and to the point, highlighting his identity and the biggest purpose of his trip.

After listening to his own intentions, the vigilance on the faces of all the Lyssermen who could understand the lingua franca dissipated for the most part, and in their place was the joy that could not be concealed, and some even shared this information in Lysserman with those who did not know the lingua franca.

"The Feron Alliance? There is indeed this news that is being formed on the other side of the ocean, but I didn't expect the rumors to be true. ”

"This Tucan invasion is bigger than any before, once they break through the defense line of Lake Asen and advance eastward in an all-round way, I am afraid that even if they fall into the sea of stars, there will be no way to stop them, they will carry a killing whirlwind from the nomadic land, sweeping the entire continent, they are not so much helping us, but helping themselves."

"Don't think too much of these outsiders, they are full of predatory nature in their bones, and resisting the invasion of the Tucans together is just an opportunity for them to get their hands on our country, if we rely too much on them, they will not only erode our territory, but also our lives, and if you want to be independent, you must be strong enough."

"Don't say it's the Tucans, even those evil red-robed mages, our proud Lysermans don't have the slightest fear, cold and hunger can't completely defeat us, but we can endure hunger, but those dreadnoughts who are fighting bravely on the front line, if there is no sufficient food supply, they will not be able to raise the swords and guns in their hands, if the other party really carries such a large amount of food, it can indeed effectively alleviate our food crisis and boost the morale of the struggle."

"Is it mercenary? It's better to really help, just see what he wants to do next. ”

Although the other party used a tongue-twisting Lythmannian language and deliberately lowered his voice, the insight gem Gavin wore on his body had the special ability to understand the language, even the secret words of those thieves and gangsters, and the secret language of the druids, he had a chance to crack it on the spot, not to mention this relatively popular language, and the extraordinary perception ability, even if it was dozens of meters away, he could easily detect it.

Many of these Lessermans, who look like primitive people in their dress, are not low in knowledge, especially those women, who have a strong sense of the overall situation, and are obviously not those village women who can't read a single word, but have received a certain systematic education.

It seems that the rumors about the high popularity of education among the Lyssermen are true.

Legend has it that all Lessermans, especially women, are trained professionally from an early age, and those who have a talent for magic will be taken away at the age of ten for more specialized training to become the Lesselman Witches, one of the core pillars of the Lesserman Kingdom.

Those who lack the talent for magic will continue to be trained in professional general knowledge, such as herb cultivation and alchemy, basic alchemy, and basic medical skills, but the most important duty is to be a qualified mother, secretly guardian of the tribe, and raise more Lythermans.

The status of the Lythman women is very high, not only the Lesserman witches who are the rulers behind the scenes, but also the ordinary women of the tribe, many Lythermans who have achieved great things, whether they are berserkers or Lythman witches, they all attribute the greatest credit to him or her mother.

Come to think of it, if it is a group of primitive tribesmen, how can they fight against the red-robed mages of Serre for hundreds of years, and how can they resist the monstrous flames of hundreds of thousands of Tucan troops?

They maintain a relatively primitive way of life, it is their way of life, not everything is in a primitive state, just like those wild elves, many things are even ahead of their time, such as the attainment of wild magic.

These Lysersmans, while not extremely xenophobic, are very wary of outsiders.

The fanged leader named Patlem looked like it was made of iron, without the slightest change, and said coldly: "What do you mean, Lord Commander, you want us to help unload the goods and transport the grain to the front line?" ”

"Yes." Gavin generously admitted, "We are new to the situation, and we are not particularly familiar with the situation here, and if we rush into conflict with the local forces, it will not be conducive to us uniting all our forces against the Tukans in the future."

If you come forward, I believe that you can avoid a lot of trouble, after all, even if they are greedy, they dare not move the grain sent to the front, I will not let the leader help you in vain, I am willing to give ten tons of grain as a reward. ”

Deliver grain to the front line and sell it for a high price difference.

That's just the most ordinary way to make money, and only those businessmen who don't have a relationship and don't have other channels will do it.

Really shrewd businessmen usually don't do this, such as those merchants in Sambia, who use a series of military supplies such as food and equipment as bargaining chips to frantically enclose land on the Sesk side, or exchange them for precious goods that are usually difficult to buy even with money, and selling them at a high price is the last option.

After all, there is always an end to the war, and if you just sell high-priced grain, when the war ends, the deal will end.

However, if they gain a firm foothold here, it is equivalent to having an enclave overseas, and they can step into the golden road to the Xianglong Empire, open up a new financial path for themselves, and continuously obtain more wealth.

This is a typical robbery that will soon make itself notorious, and even Gavin, who is also from the west coast of the Fallen Star Sea, has been implicated, and is not welcomed by the locals of the desperate Eastern Regions.

Gavin wasn't necessarily more savvy than the Sambian merchants, but he had advantages that the Sambian merchants didn't have—such as the divine power of the road.

Therefore, the route he wants to take will be very different from ordinary people, and seek benefits from angles that ordinary people can't imagine, and establishing friendly relations with the Lesserman Kingdom will be the first step.

And food is the biggest bargaining chip in his hands.

(End of chapter)