Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 130 The Sun Returns, the Vast Sea Boils Over
These few months in the year 1427 were the most peaceful and secure months Bronzebeard had ever experienced.

Copperbeard was the name of a slave. At the end of last year, he huddled in a cave in the slave camp of the Northern Barbarian Tribe. Outside, snow was falling heavily, and inside the cave, it was freezing cold.

He thought he was definitely going to die.

A third of those slaves eventually died, but Bronzebeard survived.

What good is surviving anyway? It's just a matter of dying sooner or later.

As you can tell from his name, Bronzebeard's father was a dwarf.

But Bronzebeard was not a dwarf; he didn't even know what race he belonged to.

Copperbeard's mother was also a slave, sold from one slave camp to another, wandering from one slave camp to another. Later, she fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death. The slave camp foreman took her to the gate, tied her chest with a rope, and hung her on a pole next to the gate.

This is considered a bargain sale; you can take it away for just a few dozen copper coins.

If nothing unexpected happens, Bronzebeard's mother will likely end up as a pile of minced meat on a butcher's block, concluding her short and desperate life.

Then, Copperbeard's father passed by, took out his money to buy the poor woman, and even treated her illness.

Later, the father held Xiao Tongxu more than once and murmured to himself, "Back then, when I saw your mother hanging there, completely still, I thought she was dead."

"As I got closer, I saw her eyes. They were staring straight ahead into the distance, and her pupils were a deep, clear blue, like two sapphires. They were so beautiful!"

"Yes, it's so beautiful!"

Bronzebeard's father was a craftsman in the camp who helped the orcs repair ironware such as pots and shovels, saddled dire wolves, and shoeed horses.

Sometimes they would also polish gemstones and make jewelry for the great nobles of the beastmen. He liked sapphires, which probably came from here.

Dwarves do have a talent for crafts, which is why Bronzebeard's father was able to accumulate some wealth, speak a few words with the stewards in the orc tribes, and find healers.

Copperbeard's mother survived, and five months later, she gave birth to Copperbeard.

His dwarf father wasn't angry at all; instead, he happily raised Bronzebeard like his own son, taking him along to mine, ore processing, blacksmithing, and repairs...

Later, Copperbeard had a younger brother, and the family of four lived happily together.

Later, the Barbarian Fang tribe attacked.

The orc tribes not only attack humans and plunder goblins, but also frequently engage in bloody battles between different tribes.

If a defeated tribe has no other relatives to ransom them, they either become corpses or slaves.

The Bronzebeard family thus became slaves.

Soon, the family members were either dead or scattered, leaving only Bronzebeard struggling in the slave camp, enduring year after year.

Across the vast northern plains, countless people of lowly status, including humans, dwarves, elves, and of course, orcish paupers, still wander the lands.

They struggled to survive under the rule of various orc tribes, praying that this year's orc chieftains would be kinder, the leaders would be more lenient, and the weather would be favorable, so that they could live a little longer.

Bronzebeard, who had survived by sheer luck, had been resold several times until this time, when he was sold to the Vast Ocean Territory.

On his first day in the vast ocean, Copperbeard received a large bowl of rice, a few pickled vegetables, and a small piece of hard jerky.

He couldn't remember how many years it had been since he had eaten such a meal. Bronzebeard felt that this was his last meal before he was executed. After eating, he would gather some strength and be driven to the battlefield to be used as cannon fodder for the orc tribe, to be exchanged for the enemy's spears.

We need to eat our fill first.

Then he heard the shout:

"Listen to the lord's orders properly, don't slack off, work hard, and the Vast Ocean Territory will guarantee you food, clothing, shelter, and medical care!"

Bronzebeard didn't believe it at all; not even a fool would believe it!

But it didn't matter; whether the slaves believed or not, they still had to work.

And so, the days went by.

The great lord of the vast sea has fulfilled all his promises.

Although the food consisted of only brown rice mixed with some hard flatbread, it was enough to fill one's stomach; the clothing was made of rough fabric, but it was sufficient to keep warm.

The dugout sheltered him from the wind and sand, and Tongxu kept his little nest spotless. As for medical treatment, the old man at the clinic, who carried a thick "Barefoot Doctor's Manual," could be described as rough in his treatment methods, but he was actually quite capable of curing minor ailments!

Although Copperbeard still doesn't know why the old man, who wears boots every day, calls himself a barefoot doctor, it doesn't matter at all.

It's wonderful to be alive, and to know that I'll probably be alive tomorrow too!
Copperbeard began working hard to accumulate work points, waiting for the day he would become a quasi-citizen.

Then, among the newly arrived batch of slaves, Bronzebeard saw his younger brother.

My younger brother has dwarf blood, so he looks small. When he arrived, he was only in his teens, and he wasn't even as tall as the bench in the cafeteria. He was so thin that he was just skin and bones.

When Bronzebeard hugged him, the terrified look in his brother's eyes, desperately trying to avoid him, made Bronzebeard burst into tears.

Without hesitation, Copperbeard used the work points he had accumulated over many days to treat his younger brother to a sumptuous dinner in the canteen.

Then, because a person who has been starving for a long time cannot eat oily food, the younger brother vomited and had diarrhea. If the lord had not sent a professional healer, the younger brother would have almost died from a single meal after enduring all this hardship on the way...

"The vast sea is our home, and the lord is our heaven!"

The younger brother was young, and according to the territory's arrangement, he could go to school for free without having to work. The first thing he said when he came back from school brought tears to Copperbeard's eyes again.

After hesitating for a long time, Copperbeard nodded heavily.

"right!!!"

The vast territory was changing day by day. Farmland in the desert was growing crops, and the people were cheering for their great lord.

The supply of fresh water has doubled, and now people can wash themselves with water every day. The people rejoice at their benevolent lord.

The lights shone on the doorsteps of every household, bringing light to the long night, and the people cheered for their lord of light.

As for Bronzebeard, the little skill he had learned from his dwarf father led to his exceptional promotion to become the territory's craftsman, responsible for repairing tools and sharpening weapons.

The income from work points has doubled.

My younger brother has also joined the Han Hai Torch Youth Group and has learned a lot of new knowledge that I didn't know before. Every night, he will also drag me to learn a script called Xiawen, which is said to be from ancient gods.

Recently, the head of the dugout in charge of area 14 even came over specifically to say he wanted to introduce a wife to him.

Bronzebeard secretly took a look and found her to be a nice girl. Although she had a baby with her, what did it matter? Wasn't he raised by his dwarf father in the same way?

Once the child grows up a little, he becomes a good laborer. In Hanhai, where more effort earns more work points, having more family members means more gains.

He has already begun to look forward to a wonderful future.

Just as Bronzebeard emerged from the workshop in his territory once again, waiting for his younger brother to be dismissed from school at the school gate, a cheer suddenly came from afar.

The sound grew closer and louder, like a surging tsunami, its waves rising higher and higher, engulfing everyone in the entire Han Hai Territory, young and old.

"What... happened to them?"

The younger brother, who had grown up to his waist, stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance, where he saw the signal flags raised by the boy band members.

"It's the lord! The lord is back!"

Yes, the lord has been gone for more than half a month, and the people of the Vast Sea have been eagerly awaiting the return of the radiant sun of the Vast Sea.

The cheers were deafening, echoing throughout every corner of the territory. When the red flag of the lord's procession appeared at the entrance, Bronzebeard, who had been pushing his way forward, knelt down heavily, only to be pulled back by his younger brother.

"Brother, the lord forbids us to kneel!"

"Yes, yes, we're not allowed to kneel, we should bow, we should bow!"

Faced with the almost fanatical welcome from the people, Chen Mo felt slightly embarrassed.

To be honest, what he did wasn't anything special; at most, he just treated his people as human beings.

That's just how the world is.

People tend to treat the rich, powerful, well-connected, and influential as human beings, rather than those struggling at the bottom of society.

Even in modern society on Earth, this is no exception. They are paid the least, do the most work, endure the harshest scolding, and are even owed the longest wages.

Compared to his peers, Lord Chen Mo truly stands out as a chosen one.

This scene was quite shocking for the members of the Nightblade mercenary group who had just made up their minds to follow their lord.

The mercenaries looked at each other.

Even though they were all highly skilled martial artists who usually looked down on ordinary people, they couldn't help but tremble when faced with such a thunderous and unified cheer.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Surrounded by the crowd, Lord Chen Mo returned to the lord's manor and immediately had to throw himself back into the complicated work of managing the territory.

As the leader of a newly established territory, Chen Mo will inevitably have endless work to do if he wants to.

During this time away, a huge number of problems have piled up at the council.

When Chen Mo is around, if there are minor disagreements, they are reported to the lord, and the matter is resolved after the lord speaks.

However, when the lord is away, some small disagreements can easily escalate into major ones.

Behind every councilor's seemingly noble reasons for wanting to expand their territory, there are, to varying degrees, some considerations of self-interest.

As the saying goes, "No party outside the party, imperial ideology; no factions within the party, all sorts of strange things."

The newly established Han Hai Ling is no exception.

In the Han Hai Territory, which has only been established for a few months, three distinct forces have already emerged under the great lord Chen Mo.

First, there are the armed groups that are currently at the height of their power.

Although the armed forces in Hanhai are not numerous, they have a large structure and have made strict divisions of responsibilities from the beginning.

Currently, there are three main forces: the Imperial Guard, the Field Army, and the City Defense Army.

The Royal Guard is centered around the lord's summoned skeletons, equipped with lightly armed firearms, plus a large meat shield. Liu Zaiyue is the territory's number one fighter. In terms of skirmishes alone, this force can sweep across the entire battlefield.

The field army consisted of centaur battalions plus scout squads composed of some sand people.

This force is equipped with the vast majority of heavy firearms, supplemented by a portion of cold weapons, making it the largest military group in the territory in terms of both numbers and combat power.

More noteworthy is that since the main force of the centaur race is almost entirely composed of minors, those selected for the field army are basically members of the Torch Youth Corps. As a result, the other minor human members of the Torch Youth Corps naturally become supporters of the field army.

Currently, with the support of the field army, the Torch Youth Corps has formed its own armed guard force, also known as the Loyal Guard, which is already well-trained.

Judging by their formations and combat manuals alone, they are in no way inferior to the regular army of the territory.

The last force was the city defense army, which was upgraded from the former patrol team and was led by the old mercenary Lynn.

The patrol teams used to be called the regular human army of the territory, but in reality, they were completely neglected and unloved. There was even a saying in the territory: "Patrol, patrol, just patrolling, not guarding! Guarding the gate by day, watching the bed by night!"

When did he upgrade? It was after Lynn returned from the Royal Central Psionic Academy in the capital of the Qiyue Dynasty.

Indeed, through this official business trip, Lynn did his best to bring Lord Chen Mo's warmth to the then somewhat miserable young princess, thus establishing a relationship with Princess Liushuang.

Although it was somewhat by chance, Lynn seized the opportunity and did a great job; that's what it means to seize an opportunity when it comes.

From then on, Lynn entered the lord's list of trusted men and received high praise from the lord. His men were transformed from a patrol team into the city's defense force.

In addition to patrolling the city's perimeter and guarding industrial and agricultural areas, the city's defense forces also took on the original responsibilities of managing urban security and the task of training slaves and civilians as militia.

The Han Hai Territory currently has more than 3,000 adult slaves, which is equivalent to more than 3,000 militiamen. Before they are assigned to other troops, they are all under the jurisdiction of the city defense army.

On the surface, it may not appear as imposing as a field army, but in terms of actual power, it is completely different from what it used to be, a radical transformation.

The second force in the Han Hai can be called the traditionalists.

Including Chief Administrator Helan, the old chieftains of the Sand People and various leaders, and, incidentally, the old mage Downs as backup.

The characteristic of this group is that they are managers themselves. From the moment the Han Hai Territory was established, they have been superior people. Among the human captives and later slaves, Helan was undoubtedly a high-ranking figure, while the chieftains and leaders of the Sand People were already used to giving orders and making their subordinates obey.

The influence of the feudal system extended not only between the state and its territories, but also extensively between lords and their powerful tribes.

The simplest manifestation of this is that everyone has become accustomed to the fact that lords need to go through intermediaries like the Sandman chieftain to mobilize Sandman scouts.

However, as the lord's troops achieved major military victories and created great miracles in the field of people's livelihood, these old traditions crumbled in an instant.

A third force has emerged.

They were the young and strong among the sand people, the best among the captives, and the smartest among the slaves. They fanatically worshipped their lord and sought every opportunity to serve him, even at the cost of bypassing the original fixed political class.

In this process, they used a significantly more proactive attitude and stronger execution capabilities than those old guys, and under the banner of "serving the lord," they completed the control of power in certain areas.

They are a typical emerging interest group. Although everyone is gaining benefits with the rapid development of the Han Hai Territory, these guys are gaining more.

After all, they originally had nothing.

Therefore, these guys worship Chen Mo even more than other forces, to the point that the old bureaucrats in the territory privately call this faction the "Loyal Faction"!
These guys are among the most intelligent of the human race, and they've received education based entirely on the Eastern Xia model. Some of the more advanced ones are already able to read most of the Eastern Xia books.

In their words, the military forces are left-leaning and radical, the traditional forces are right-leaning and conservative, and only we loyalists are the lord's most reliable allies!
While Chen Mo was away, the three factions worked together, but in private they were also constantly vying for power.

For example, with the completion of the main work plan for this stage, what will be HanHai's next key development direction: south, east, or north?

Should we continue large-scale agricultural development, reclaiming and cultivating wasteland? Or should we prioritize infrastructure construction, such as roads and houses? Should we continue with the current system of part-time labor and military mobilization? Or should we increase investment in industrial workforce to strive for self-sufficiency in some products as soon as possible?

Every route, to varying degrees, has some vested interests at play, leading to a stalemate between them.

Everything is up to the lord to decide.

Of course, this situation, to some extent, is also a pitfall left by the management structure that Dongxia designed for Chen Mo.

It could even be a pit left intentionally.

Apart from lords, no single person or group of forces can integrate or assimilate other forces.

Chief Administrator Helan, the second most powerful man in the entire territory, cannot even mobilize a patrol squad without the lord's authorization.

The formidable centaur field army, without the lord's order, couldn't even take away a single penny of supplies.

During the lord's absence, everyone could only follow the tasks left behind by the lord and proceed step by step.

Therefore, not only the people eagerly awaited his return, but all the leaders and magistrates of the territory also longed for his return at all times.

(End of this chapter)