Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 154 The First Wedge in the North: New Slave Route

The successful arrival of the Qiming at Hailuokou in the eastern part of Bailu Plain can be described as a leap forward for the entire Han Hai Territory.

After the fall of the White Deer Kingdom, the entire area north of Qishan became the world of the orcs. In recent years, only the orcs have been constantly moving south, and the human nations have not only failed to launch a northern expedition, but even "looking north" has become a luxury.

But who can blame it?
The monster race doesn't try hard? No, they've already tried very hard!
Over the years, the human race has gone further and further down the path of internal strife, to the point that both the Qiyue Dynasty and the Wuyue Divine Court have been desperately spreading the saying that only by integrating the human race's own forces can they accomplish the great task of fighting against the beast race.

Well, that means the human race needs to decide a winner first, otherwise, what if I try my best to fight the orcs and you stab me in the back?
The saying goes that while the orc tribes are a minor threat, the real danger lies with the enemy nations of the human race. That's roughly the idea!
However, the orcs clearly do not understand what "continental balance" means, and continue to cause all sorts of trouble, attacking whoever is weak, which always makes the wise people among the human race who are of one mind with the orcs feel heartbroken and cry out loudly.

After the orcs capture the white deer, descend through the thorns, and break through the eastern pass, they have three routes to choose from.

The first option is to traverse the vast desert, head south, cross endless yellow sand, and directly attack the Xiyue Federation at the southern end.

Although orcs aren't very quick-witted, they wouldn't normally make that choice.

The second option is to go upstream along the Illusion Flame River and attack the Mist Moon Divine Court.

But this presents a major problem. The headquarters of the Misty Moon Divine Court is not as weak as the White Deer Kingdom. Moreover, after the White Deer Plains were abandoned, the Divine Court has essentially given up all the low-lying areas it could to the orcs. The current contact line is either high ground or mountainous terrain, and the orcs will suffer enormous costs if they launch an attack.

The orcs obviously couldn't choose this option either.

The third route is to go west along the Razor Corridor into the East Gate and then continue west to attack the Emerald Duchy.

In comparison, the Emerald Duchy is relatively easier to defeat and weaker.

Being situated in such a strategic location, a crossroads between north and south, it's normal for us to be attacked.

The Jade Kingdom was once renowned throughout the world for its fierceness.

However, unlike Razorfen Downs where the human supply lines were too long and the orcs could arrive in a day, attacking Emerald City meant that the orcs' supply lines were stretched infinitely, putting them under immense logistical pressure.

The year after capturing Razorfen Downs, the orcs launched an expedition.

A massive cavalry force, covering the orc infantry formations, and dragging along creaking siege catapults, trekked along the Razor Corridor.

Then, unsurprisingly, they were ambushed by the human race.

The fireballs shone brightly in the night sky, arrows rained down, human cavalry frantically roamed the perimeter, while heavy infantry held their ground firmly in front of the ranged units.

After daybreak, the orcs took stock of their losses. Although their troop losses were roughly equal to those of the enemy, the enemy had almost completely destroyed most of their catapults, provisions, and supplies.

Although the orc army retreated in disarray thanks to the cover provided by the fierce wolf riders, that battle led to the disgraceful departure of the orc chieftain, and to this day, the Ironfur tribe has not been able to regain its former position of dominating the orcs.

From then on, the orcs resolutely reverted to their old tradition of rapid cavalry raids, avoiding fortified cities and mountainous terrain. They would plunder the vicinity of Dongguan before turning back.

But in any case, the initiative in the war always remained in the hands of the orcs.

Now, Liu Zaiyue, under the banner of the beast tribe, has established a human stronghold on the White Deer Plain. It may seem insignificant now, but in time, it will surely become a significant part of the legendary story.

For Han Hai Ling, this is a crucial step in breaking free from the constraints of dwarf-like businesses and opening up its own trade routes.

Prior to this, Han Hai's resources, manpower, special materials, and various equipment almost entirely relied on the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild for transportation from the north.

For no other reason than that the Dwarf Merchant Guild and the Orcs had a very harmonious relationship.

From the orcs' perspective, gnomes can not only bring them various scarce resources, such as fine armor and healing herbs, but also sell the special products of the orcish wasteland, bringing a continuous stream of wealth to the orc chieftains and shamans.

These guys are a little greedy, but so what? Aren't humans even more greedy?

Humans were allies with elves, fought alongside orcs, were close friends with dwarves, and fought side-by-side with half-orcs...

Many, many years ago, centaurs rode humans on their backs as they charged into battle.

The results of it?
Of course, there is supposedly another, less important factor: on the surface, dwarfs are so weak and inconspicuous.

Well, for a powerful orc tribe, they're as easy as crushing someone with one hand.

In short, different civilizations will have different narratives. The orcs accepted the reality that gnomes ran a trading company in the orc heartland, and the gnomes naturally squeezed out other commercial forces and became the dominant force.

If any other faction dares to trade with the orcs, the gnomes will label them as aiding the enemy, and in addition to condemnation, they will sometimes impose blockades and sanctions.

The transactions between the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild and the Vast Ocean Territory are the envy of many, and the recent shift to restricting supply to the Vast Ocean Territory has created a huge market gap.

Once the sea transport route is opened, the Vast Ocean Territory can use it to find another way to bypass the orcs' blockade and control, purchase slaves, transport supplies, and completely break free from the dwarves' grip on its neck.

Now that Lao Niu has received his first batch of food supplies, he has not hesitated to begin buying slaves in the north.

First, clear out the inventory of the familiar Thunder Bluff tribe.

【Blade of the Vast Ocean】 is a typical orc team on the surface. Although the team also has some human advisors, when communicating and negotiating with others, the orcs must be the main body.

As it turns out, "Lord's arrangement was brilliant, wise, and absolutely correct!"

Such words, which clearly sound like flattery, certainly couldn't have come from Old Cow; they came from Shortclaw, a canine orc.

Yes, you really don't know how dark-skinned dwarfs are until you come to the North.

Therefore, when the dog-orc Shortclaw, representing Old Tauren, proposed to purchase a batch of slaves, Cocorea Heavyhoof, the head of Thunder Bluff, initially paid no attention to it.

"You can choose as many people as you want. What kind of relationship do I have with MooMooLulu!"

Shortclaws smiled obsequiously. The canines were known for their good relationships with the orc tribes, which was partly due to their amiable nature: "We still need to pay. We want to build a larger camp and need more manpower."

"No need!"

Cocorea waved her hand magnanimously: "Take as many as you want. If any other tribes fight with me in the future, just tell MooMoo to remember to support me!"

One side insisted on giving, while the other resolutely refused to accept. In the harmonious atmosphere of back and forth, Short Claw quietly extracted the market information.

The orcs' slaves were all prisoners of war captured during various wars. Some were taken from humans, some from orcish bandits, and of course, some from other orcish tribes. Historically, the main purpose of orcish tribes keeping slaves was to use large numbers of slaves as cannon fodder during sieges.

For example, in the final battle of the siege of Razorfen Downs, the orcs brought 200,000 slaves and 400 catapults, and attacked for nine months. When the city finally fell, less than one-tenth of the slaves remained.

However, the orcs now look around and realize they no longer have a need to attack cities.

So whether or not to keep slaves is actually irrelevant. Just leave these humans outside, and once they grow their own food, just knock on the iron plates on their armor, and these weaklings will automatically hand over their food. It seems to save you the trouble of managing them.

The reason why slaves were still kept was mainly because of the small-scale wars between them. They couldn't just release these prisoners of war, so they had to keep them locked up for the time being.

The gnome merchants would occasionally come to buy some, and the orc chieftain would also regularly request each tribe to offer some tribute.

As for the price...

The dwarfs who bought slaves from the orcs, who were healthy, had all their limbs intact, and could speak clearly, were only worth a mere "Chinese currency".

The Orcs do not recognize human currency; they have their own "token system" based on physical commodities.

The standard size of mature livestock was used as "large currency," the standard quality of well-processed furs was used as "medium currency," and small portions of grain or cloth were used as "small currency."

“Those dwarfs are very picky. They want us to send the slaves to Qishan Pass for them to choose from. They only take a few hundred people each time. If we bring the slaves back, it will consume a lot of food. So we can only sell them to them at a cheaper price.”

At this point, Cocorea was clearly indignant: "We went twice, and we had to send people to escort us on the way there and back to guard against those bandits. The expenses were huge. When we came back and did the math, I realized that I had deployed so many soldiers, and we lost money!"

"We lost money every time we went, so we just stopped going!"

Shortclaw quickly did the math.

Although orcs generally lack mathematical skills, Shortclaws brought along a human recorder from the territory, who also had a miniature calculator.

After some calculations, the human recorder concluded that although prices varied from region to region and simple comparisons might be inaccurate, one thing was certain: preliminary estimates showed that dwarves, in the slave trade alone, sold their slaves to the Vast Ocean Territory for sixty to eighty times the purchase price plus transportation and "feeding fees."

If you include the orcs' decision to sell off their slaves at low prices because they were too lazy to bring the animals back, the profit would be over a hundred times the initial investment.

The key point is that even with such high profits, the dwarfs still won't sell.

Even if the short-clawed creatures' intelligence was only mediocre, they would never believe that the dwarves were saving their lord money.

All I can say is that the dwarves must want to get more from the lord.

Next came the process of selecting slaves.

At this point, even the short-clawed ones had to step aside, and the Han Hai Territory Council arranged for two experienced old jailers to stand aside.

That's right, he was an old prison guard found from the grassroots civil service system in Yunwu Territory.

As for which profession is best at judging people, opinions will vary. There's the doorman who works year-round at the town hall, the ruthless human trafficker who travels all over the country, the professionally trained butler who studies hard, and the cunning businessman who welcomes and sees off people and curries favor with the powerful...

But in any case, the old jailer must be counted, and given equal talent, the jailer is definitely the most dedicated and meticulous one.

If a peddler or merchant makes a mistake, he or she might earn less money; if a doorman or steward makes a mistake, he or she might lose his or her job; but if a jailer makes a mistake, he or she might lose his or her life.

Upon entering the orc slave camp, everyone frowned and covered their mouths and noses.

The canine orc Shortclaw, whose sense of smell was already far superior to that of ordinary people, was almost knocked unconscious by the stench.

The entire slave camp was like a large livestock shed, a crude wooden shed that let in light on sunny days and let in water on rainy days. Inside, there were a few simple fences that divided the slaves into several sections.

The damp, rotten wood and moldy hay emitted a pungent, sour stench, mixed with the acrid smell of sweat, excrement, and something rotting, condensing into a nearly visible, murky haze that weighed heavily on the ceiling of the slave quarters.

A few stingy rays of light pierced through the holes, illuminating the dust and flies swirling in the air. The muddy gullies on the ground, formed by long-term rain erosion, had dried and hardened, displaying a murky, varying shades of brownish-black color, mixed with fresh and old filth, creating an unpleasantly sticky feeling when stepped on.

The fence was made of roughly felled, untreated tree trunks bound together, with gaps large enough to fit an arm through, and covered with suspicious blackish-purple stains and scratch marks.

Most of the human slaves huddled in corners or lay directly on the cold, muddy ground, while the orcish area was slightly more restless. These hybrid creatures were physically stronger, but as a result, they endured more severe beatings; many orcs bore scars and had bloodstains on their fur.

Orc slaves were isolated in the deepest part of the prison, where their conditions were even worse.

These were prisoners of war who had survived brutal battles. Most of them were covered in wounds, some of which looked horrific. They had only been haphazardly smeared with grass ash, yet they were still oozing liquids of various colors.

A suffocating despair permeated the camp. The tauren warrior sent by Cocorea stuffed two damp cloths into his nose and pointed to the field: "This side is for humans, the middle side is for orcs, and the back side is for orcs. Pick whoever you like. Once you pick someone, ring this bell and bring them out."

After saying that, he walked out without looking back.

The two old jailers exchanged a glance, and one of them said to Short Claw, “Boss, the environment here is too bad. Why don’t you go outside for some fresh air? We’ll pick one out here first, and then you can take a look.”

Short-clawed creature nodded repeatedly and ran off as if fleeing.

The old jailer began selecting people methodically.

Orcs judge the value of slaves primarily by their physical strength, but the criteria in the Han Hai are slightly different. Skilled individuals are the first choice, followed by those who can read, and only then are physical strength considered.

After sorting through all the slaves, Shortclaw took away more than 400 slaves in three days. Except for a few half-beasts that looked unruly and some humans who had already lost their minds, he had almost emptied the entire camp of available slaves.

They also left behind some special gifts.

Not long after Shortclaw left, after experiencing the effects of Liu Zaiyue's gift, Cocorea Heavyhoof immediately issued a summons.

"Everyone get ready, we need to get back at those guys we lost last time and teach them a lesson."

"And while you're at it, rob some more slaves."

"My brother Moo Moo Lu Lu said he'll take any slave he can get!"

(End of this chapter)