Start with a red name

However, the fact that these laborers suffered such a tragic fate does not mean that they were all good people.

At this moment, even from a distance, Geng Xuan could see many laborers with prominent red names mixed in with the crowd.

Leaving the familiar land that nurtured them, they were forcibly conscripted here, and they don't know if they can return alive.

This was certainly a disaster for these laborers.

But this dramatic change also violently broke the cage of the heart.

In this environment, the wild beasts hidden within everyone's heart are more likely to be unleashed.

Their blank, terrified, and helpless expressions were, in most cases, a true reflection of their inner emotions.

However, some of them are putting on an act; their inner emotions are far more active than their outwardly dull appearance suggests.

Geng Xuan believed that simply letting these laborers go and allowing them to continue their original jobs was not a good approach.

As Geng Xuan pondered this in his mind, he listened to Xiang Jinxiu explain more about these laborers.

Geng Xuan is most concerned about two aspects.

With this workload, each person needs to work for about seven to eight hours a day.

"Are there so many things for them to do on this island?" Geng Xuan was surprised.

Working fifteen or sixteen hours a day is a bit too strenuous.

The key point is that there are five thousand adult men on this island, and Geng Xuan really doesn't think there are that many things for them to do.

Xiang Jinxiu's answer left Geng Xuan completely astonished.

If it's just about doing what needs to be done, then five or six hours a day is enough for each laborer.

However, if the standard is not "to finish" but "to do well", then there is no limit to the time required.

For example, when cleaning the venue, you can sweep it once and then sweep it twice, and then sweep it four times.

If you want to, you can always find something to do.

Those laborers who were in charge of managing the other laborers would rack their brains every day to perform their best in order to prove their worth and maintain their superior status.

"..." After hearing Xiang Jinxiu's explanation, Geng Xuan was speechless.

In addition, another thing that Geng Xuan focused on understanding was the food standard for the laborers.

According to the expenditure standards of the logistics warehouse, the daily food allowance for each laborer is one pound of coarse grains, three ounces of fine grains, and half an ounce of meat—mostly offal and scraps.

Honestly, this standard is actually acceptable.

Every day, the management of the laborers would send away all five thousand of them.

Because there is a distinction between physically demanding and less physically demanding menial tasks, the management is allowed to adjust the number of men assigned to each task according to actual needs.

Unfortunately, these managers are utterly incompetent.

The best grains and meats were all intercepted when they reached them, and never actually reached the lower-level laborers.

After gaining a basic understanding of the current situation of these laborers, Geng Xuan's thoughts gradually became clear.

"Make some adjustments to the situation regarding the laborers; please take note."

Xiang Jinxiu immediately adopted an attentive listening attitude.

Xiang Jinxiu has a rugged appearance and excellent talent in cultivation. However, she is also very meticulous and capable in doing things.

His rugged appearance could easily mislead people.

"Once you've finished what you're asked to do, get some rest and don't get into any fancy stuff."

If they really can't stay idle, we can make some basic body-tempering techniques available to them, and give them two training grounds so they can experiment on their own.

Hearing this, Xiang Jinxiu looked astonished.

He hurriedly asked, "You mean, we should proactively teach them the methods of body tempering?"

Geng Xuan nodded.

"Isn't it a bit too good to them?"
Moreover, I worry that once this door is opened, they will focus too much on this and won't even be able to do their own jobs properly.

“...Then set a threshold. This opportunity will not be open to all laborers indiscriminately. Only those who perform well will be given this chance.”

As he spoke, Geng Xuan looked at Xiang Jinxiu and specifically instructed her:

"You can think carefully about how to set this threshold, what constitutes 'good performance' and what constitutes 'poor performance'."

The performance of those former labor service leaders was definitely not good.

Xiang Jinxiu nodded, a thoughtful look in his eyes, as he began to ponder how to complete the test question.

Now, everyone knows that the most important thing to quickly rise in the Black Wind Army is to gain the favor of the army leader.

An individual's talent and aptitude, and even their current strength or weakness, can be disregarded.

As the Black Wind Army rapidly grew, the army leader's vision was gradually filled with the figures of the "pioneers".

His gaze was finding it increasingly rare to pierce through those figures and specifically land on others.

Every such opportunity is invaluable to an individual and must be seized firmly.

Those who followed Geng Xuan for a longer time knew that, at this time, pointing out problems was better than simply agreeing with them.

Xiang Jinxiu quickly said:

"This will increase consumption significantly, especially meat. Even if the rations allocated to the laborers are distributed in full, they will not be enough to meet their needs."

Geng Xuan nodded, but asked:
"We should have a good reserve of horse meat by now, right?"

Xiang Jinxiu quickly replied, "Very many."

As he spoke, he went on to explain the relevant details in detail.

Up to the moment he traveled south by car and boat and parted ways with Song Mingzhu and the others.

More than 62,000 bandits from the two states of Xuanyou had all passed through the hands of the Black Wind Gang.

Half of them died, and the rest all became members of the "Black Wind Army".

However, more than 75,000 Azure Horses fell into the hands of the Black Wind Army in several separate instances.

For various reasons, nearly 17,000 horses died.

On average, each Canglan horse yields about 600 jin of clean meat, which translates to a reserve of over ten million jin of horse meat.

Each Xuanyou horse could yield more than 3,500 catties of pure meat. In total, 1,800 Xuanyou horses were converted into horse meat reserves, which yielded more than 6 million catties of horse meat.

—Because Dong Guan possessed the "Han Hai Salt Lake," coarse salt was very cheap and readily available in the Xuan You and Er Zhou states. Coupled with the dry and cold climate, meat could be preserved for a long time if processed promptly.

Even when the "Black Wind Army" ate freely, the average person consumed only about four or five jin of meat, with a total daily consumption of more than 200,000 jin.

If the size of the "Black Wind Army" does not increase or decrease significantly, the existing horse meat reserves are enough for the "Black Wind Army" to consume for two to three months.

No significant increase or decrease?
That is impossible.

According to Geng Xuan's estimate, these seemingly astonishing horse meat reserves could at most satisfy the "Black Wind Army's" meat needs for one to two months.

However, this is enough.

Even if the problem of a stable supply of grain and fodder is not solved during this period, there are still nearly 60,000 Azure Horses waiting there.

Thinking this to himself, Geng Xuan said to Xiang Jinxiu:
"In that case, keep the coarse and fine grains the same, but give these laborers an extra half a pound of horse meat every day." "Yes, I'll arrange it right away," Xiang Jinxiu replied.

"My arrangements aren't finished yet, please wait a little longer," Geng Xuan said.

Xiang Jinxiu stood to the side, waiting for his next instructions.

Geng Xuan looked at the laborers in the distance, but did not speak immediately.

Given the current state of these laborers, simply showering them with favors will not yield good results.

Besides, there were some of them whom he really didn't want to bestow "favors" upon.

Give both grace and power.

Kindness has already been given much, and so should power.

He said to Xiang Jinxiu, "Bring out all those leaders."

In his view, these nominal "laborers" were utterly corrupt.

There is no need for them to stay.

With these thoughts in mind, Xiang Jinxiu led his men like tigers among sheep, charging into the nearly five thousand laborers.

Soon, one by one, figures appeared, some panicked and terrified, others fawning and ingratiating, and still others pleading and begging for mercy.

When Xiang Jinxiu carried the last person out of the crowd, the number of people pulled out of the crowd had reached more than two hundred, nearly three hundred.

This sudden change terrified both the laborers who were dragged out and those who remained motionless in place.

Geng Xuan's gaze swept over the nearly three hundred figures one by one.

He then singled out another group of people from the nearly three hundred.

When Xiang Jinxiu and her men dragged the twenty-eight people out separately, they were so terrified that they were unrecognizable. Some of them even wet themselves, leaving a trail of urine.

Those laborers who were lucky enough not to become one of the twenty-eight unlucky ones had their tense and anxious faces gradually relax, and some even started to smile.

The next moment, everything froze.

"Kill all the others except these twenty-eight," Geng Xuan said to Xiang Jinxiu.

The smiles that were gradually spreading on their faces froze instantly, and then some people began to kneel down on the ground.

Some people opened their mouths as if to shout "I'm innocent!" or other pleading phrases.

However, even their seemingly timely reaction was too slow in the face of the elite "Black Wind Army".

Before they could kneel and throw a tantrum, or even before he could beg for mercy, a series of soft, invisible forces entered their brains without any hindrance.

More than two hundred lives were lost at that moment.

One by one, vibrant bodies turned into warm corpses and fell to the ground.

The other laborers, some bold and direct, others timid and secretive, were all paying close attention to the changes happening here.

The sudden discovery of more than two hundred corpses caused a stir among the crowd.

However, unlike those prisoners who surrendered.

These laborers merely stirred and huddled together more tightly, but made no other move.

Some people even became more docile and humble, fearing that they might attract his attention or be misunderstood.

Geng Xuan also discovered that after seeing the foremen of the laborers die so easily, the other laborers were certainly afraid and terrified, but few felt sorry for their fellow laborers; instead, many were gloating.

In fact, many people felt their pent-up emotions were suddenly relieved and made much clearer.

Even after removing the "rotten hearts" from the conscripted laborers, Geng Xuan did not stop.

Under his orders, Xiang Jinxiu led more than two hundred men out and killed them.

They are all sorted out from top to bottom based on the concentration of red names.

Among these people, even the one with the lightest red name will have a luck score of no less than 20.

After a brief investigation, it was determined that these people were either accomplices of the laborers' leaders or powerful figures "out of power".

Not one of them was a good bird.

Geng Xuan only stopped when only 4,500 of the 5,000 laborers remained.

After completing the "one out of ten" task, Geng Xuan handed over the follow-up matters to Xiang Jinxiu.

Before leaving, Geng Xuan had a sudden thought and instructed Xiang Jinxiu, "Have them all officially join the 'Black Wind Army'."

"Yes."

Perhaps these laborers had no sense of allegiance; they would follow whoever won.

Or perhaps, the reputation of Geng Xuan's cruelty is too deeply ingrained in people's minds.

The final result was that all 4,500 laborers successfully became members of the "Black Wind Army".

These 4,500 laborers, who had no cultivation, brought Geng Xuan a total of 50 points of luck.

The previous recruitment event, which converted more than 7,600 prisoners into "one of their own," only gave him a total of 100 points of luck.

On average, the number of White Luck Points provided by ordinary laborers and cultivators who are many times stronger than them is not much different.

This confirms a long-held suspicion that Geng Xuan had about Bai Yun.

However, at this moment, Geng Xuan did not dwell on these matters.

Instead, I couldn't help but wonder where the corresponding tribulations caused by the additional 150 points of white luck would manifest.

In what form will it erupt?
That's actually quite hard to guess.

Because Geng Xuan was certain that even without these 150 points of bad luck, given the current situation, Dong Guan would definitely launch a full-scale attack against him, his enemy.

Whether or not these 150 points of bad luck and misfortune exist, the situation will remain the same.

Finally, several guesses arose in Geng Xuan's mind.

"Either the objective reality of the calamity will cover up the corresponding bad luck and misfortune."

"Or, the dark fortune manifests itself in accelerating existing calamities, making them take shape more quickly."

"Or perhaps it will exacerbate existing calamities, or even trigger new 'calamities'?"

This is just like the plan he made against the Wu family of Anleji back then.

As the calamities of darkness repeatedly exceeded the limit that the Wu family could unleash on their own, new "calamities" began to emerge one after another, constantly strengthening the "enemy."

The third conjecture is the most likely, but it's also the one Geng Xuan least wants to see.

He only wanted a "quiet" game with Dong Guan and did not want any additional forces to intervene.

However, Geng Xuan couldn't help but think that this idea was just wishful thinking.

The world is not a single-player game that serves only him, but an integrated and interconnected whole.

Geng Xuan had a premonition that if they passively waited for Dong Guan's iron fist, then Xuan Qinghai, which was gradually taking the shape of the "Black Wind Army," would become a larger version of the "Qingyuan Group."

As the "Black Wind Army" continues to grow and expand, it will gradually attract new "calamities".

However, if he were to adopt a strategy similar to swallowing up bandit strongholds one by one, and launch a preemptive strike before the calamity fully materializes, he could gain a greater advantage. (End of Chapter)