Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 191 The Human Spy of Xuanshui City Seizes Every Opportunity

White Deer Plain, Xuanshui City.

This brand-new sign is the new name Chen Mo gave to the "Rotten Swamp" tribe's stronghold.

In the Eastern Xia script, "玄" means black, and "玄水" naturally refers to the black liquid deep in the swamp.

After the reconnaissance team confirmed that the cat-like orcs had begun their mass migration, Chen Mo breathed a long sigh of relief.

The "Shadow Claw" tribe is an important shield and firewall for Chen Mo's occupation of Xuan Shui City. With this reason of "revenge against a blood feud" as a cover, Han Hai Territory only needs to focus its vigilance on the "Black Mouth" tribe and the "Long Teeth" tribe in the north.

Given the marching conditions by the swamp, any weapons would be enough to completely block off the main transportation routes.

However, without "Shadow Claw," they might face the hostility of the entire orcish community.

Now, although cats are generally not very intelligent, their amazing sense of danger always allows them to make choices that benefit themselves.

This pioneering campaign has come to an end, but for Chen Mo, the myriad tasks are just beginning.

The number of humans in Xuanshui City is quite large, but their situation is extremely bad.

The Xuan Shui City before us is less a city and more a huge and tragic slave hunting ground.

The initial population count was shocking: nearly 8,000 human slaves, more than 1,600 orc slaves, plus more than 3,000 poor people who were called "long-term laborers" and "hard laborers" but whose status was only slightly better than that of slaves.

There are more than 13,000 mouths waiting to be fed.

This was after the Otter-Boar Orcs forcibly conscripted young men to the mining area twice, demonstrating that the Otter-Boar Orcs' raiding capabilities were indeed unparalleled in this region.

The executive in charge of internal affairs gave a report with a grave expression.

“The physical condition of slaves and commoners in the territory was generally very poor. Random sampling results showed that more than 90% of them were malnourished and had obvious symptoms of various diseases.”

"More importantly... the assessment results of the mental state of these slaves are not optimistic. They generally suffer from low cognition, weak will, and lack of trust."

"Food is almost gone; the otter-boar beastmen's warehouses only have some moldy roots and low-quality chaff. However, with our support, starvation should be avoided."

"But what we lack most right now is not food, but doctors and medicine! The military medical team has issued a warning that the sanitary conditions of the Otter-Boar Orcs are generally poor, and if the corpses of a large number of soldiers and orc laborers are not handled properly, there is a possibility that various infectious diseases or even plagues may spread!"

"We need to organize manpower as soon as possible, we need a large amount of disinfection supplies, and we need all kinds of medicines..."

While Hanhai Ling can address these hardware deficiencies through various mobilization and emergency transport efforts, the transformation at the "software" level is definitely not something that can be achieved in a short period of time.
Long-term enslavement and oppression have completely numbed the spirit of these slaves.

As generations of humans eked out a living under the whips and stern rebukes of the orcs, enslaved, driven, and traded like livestock, any sense of resistance or national identity had long been extinguished.

The contributions of those "those who never returned" are indispensable to this.

In order to maintain the orcs' rule, and perhaps to prevent the humans from regaining power and purging these "traitors" one day, they implemented a comprehensive policy of keeping the people ignorant.

The humans in this territory are almost entirely illiterate. Not to mention writing, most of them have even lost their human language and can only communicate using a "slave language" that mixes orc slang and simple vocabulary.

Sometimes, gestures are needed to express oneself fully.

When orcs communicate with humans, whips are often a more effective tool.

What Chen Mo found even more unbearable was the deep-seated numbness and indifference, which was particularly evident in the slave communities controlled by the otter-boar beastmen.

They had become accustomed to being submissive and obeying the orcs' orders, even regarding the orcs as "natural" and "rightful" commanders in a certain sense.

However, they showed great distrust, vigilance, and even... hostility towards the administrators who were also human.

Amu, the former camp farmhand and now the Sea Sea Advisor, hunched over as he explained to Lord Chen Mo, who was on patrol.

"My lord, please don't blame them... It's just that those human managers in the past would do anything to please the orc lord. They would cut back on food, increase the workload, distort orders, and even deliberately sow discord among the slaves, making them fight each other... They knew better than the orcs how to bully their own people."

"On the contrary, orcs, because they are more straightforward—they fight when they fight, and they curse when they curse—are more 'decisive,' so..."

This long-standing habit manifested in Chen Mo's eyes as such that even when the well-dressed Amu shouted himself hoarse, the human slaves remained motionless, as if they were moving in slow motion.

If an orc soldier were to issue an order, even the seemingly weakest ratmen would scramble to obey.

Even the orc slaves performed much better than these humans. At least the orcs only admired the strong and would listen to whoever was stronger. The orcs were more proactive in carrying out the orders that Amu shouted.

The mentality of human slaves has been severely distorted, forming a twisted philosophy of survival born from extreme despair and long-term oppression.

"Furthermore, everyone vents their resentment on their own people. They dare not hate the orc lords who truly oppress them, but they dare to turn their knives and spit on their equally pitiful companions." Amu said this with a hint of sadness on his face: "Everyone thinks that as long as they can please the orcs, they can become managers and whip others a few more times."

"Their greatest pleasure is ruining their own people!"

Chen Mo flipped through the thick, chilling report, lamenting its misfortune and angering at its lack of resistance.

The current situation is even more complex than facing a powerful orc tribe. Force can destroy a fortress, but it is difficult to quickly change people's hearts.

Simply distributing food and arranging labor can only solve the immediate needs and cannot fundamentally change the fate of this land and its people.

Chen Mo pondered for a long time, realizing that everything he had done in the Vast Ocean, even if transferred here, might not have much effect.

His thoughts drifted back to Earth, back to the past history of his hometown. In those years of constant warfare, the people of that land also faced similar predicaments—ignorance, poverty, oppression, and lack of organization.

What will change all this requires a profound and thorough revolution, a great revolution that starts with the most basic literacy education and reshapes thinking.

Could this even be accomplished on the White Deer Plain of the Starry Continent today?

Hard!

The humans on the White Deer Plain, suppressed by the orcs, have lost their national identity and even their racial identity.

Chen Mo also lacked a group of brilliant partners around him, and even he himself was just a half-baked talent.

Forget it, let's leave this overly complicated topic to our comrades back home. I'll get back to my own work first.

Let's get into oil! Let's get into oil! ————

While Lord Chen was focused on building Xuan Shui City in the north, some people had already set their sights on his Han Hai Territory in the southern desert.

A weathered middle-aged swordsman, having obtained his mercenary credentials from the Emerald Duchy, completed the upgrade certification at the Mercenary Guild in the Vast Ocean Territory. From now on, Eri, as a Level 3 Silver Armor Mercenary registered in the Vast Ocean Territory, is qualified to accept higher-value missions due to the further increase in his points.

The silver armor was just a disguise. In fact, Eri's true level was already at the fifth rank, and he could cross the threshold of the sixth rank at any time.

He is the second-in-command knight from Zircon Territory, the captain of the Dark Guard, and a standard high-ranking professional.

Generally, each country has its own set of default rules of conduct. For example, for first, second, and third tiers, as long as a professional who has not yet completed their first job change has registered with the mercenary guild, the country generally does not care which side they serve or who they work for.

As for the first-tier professionals in the fourth, fifth, and sixth ranks, they need to be registered with the local government. Generally, fourth-tier professionals can serve at the city lord level, fifth-tier professionals mainly serve at the lord level, and sixth-tier professionals are usually registered under the duchy or small kingdom.

As for the second job advancement above level seven, that's quite free; you can go wherever you want.

To put it in the context of Earth, it's like ordinary teachers going to regular schools, experts with expertise going to universities, and top professors needing to be recruited by prestigious universities like 985 and 211. As for masters at the forefront of human academic research, they can go wherever they want.

The reason Eri condescended to come to this tiny place was naturally on the orders of the Marquis of the Green Pine Kingdom, the Lord of Zircon Territory, the Honorary Insight Priest of the Seven-Eyed Cult, Lord Zircon Monroe.

The current situation in the Vast Ocean Territory is actually quite strange.

Logically, after a year of development, the Vast Ocean Territory should undergo a comprehensive review by its former superior territory, Cloud Mist Territory, and the Emerald Kingdom will also send people to supervise the process.

If the development of the Vast Ocean Territory does not meet the standards, the lord's position may be stripped, or the lord may be punished and given another chance, or the lord may be transferred to another region to develop the territory again.
If all the indicators are met, it will generally be converted into a formal territory, the kingdom will formally establish a hierarchical relationship with the territory, grant the corresponding title, determine the tribute quota, and sign a tax-farming contract...

The problem is that before the year was up, the superior territory of the Vast Ocean Territory, the Cloud Mist Territory, was destroyed in the war.

The Jade Kingdom also cowered behind its defensive lines, taking the beating. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for anyone to care about the review and assessment of the Vast Ocean Territory.

So, the Vast Ocean Territory was inexplicably left aside. Whether it was qualified or not, and who should be in charge, were all unsolved mysteries. Until the war between Green Pine and Emerald was completely decided, it was estimated that the Emerald Duchy would not have the mind to care about this broken land.

But just because Jade doesn't care doesn't mean others don't. The Marquis of Monroe of Zircon Territory and his first heir, Hysen, are thinking about it day and night.

Don't forget, the one-year protection period for expanding territory in the Vast Ocean Territory has long since expired.

The two sides had a feud since the little golden retriever in Black Crow Castle. The repeated attempts to kill him only deepened the animosity. Then came the escape across the territory, in which Chen Mo and Liu Shuang lost a group of good teachers and friends, while Zircon Territory was humiliated.

When the Vast Ocean Territory was first established, Zircon even assigned a bandit gang to it.

Then, Zircon Territory seized Liushuang's home. With Chen Mo's support, Liushuang fought her way in and out of the enemy's ranks seven times, and finally escaped unscathed thanks to the mediation of Rainbow City of the Misty Moon Divine Court.

Both sides felt they had suffered a huge loss.

In this situation, Monroe and his son Heisenberg would always find themselves looking eastward in the middle of the night, as if a thorn was stuck in their flesh, not fatal, but something they couldn't help but want to pull out at any moment.

Several waves of spies were arranged, including bribery, but none of them achieved good results. The Marquis gritted his teeth and sent out his trusted and beloved general, the steady, meticulous, and exceptionally skilled Second Grand Knight, Eli.

His task was to gather military intelligence on the Han Hai Territory, observe its weaknesses, and, once Zircon Territory mobilized its troops, seize the opportunity to destroy the enemy's key facilities, coordinating from within and without to take it down in one fell swoop.

As a result, when Eri, who was new to the area, saw the long list of unlimited, super simple, and richly rewarding missions in the Vast Ocean Mercenary Guild, he couldn't resist and plunged into them, diligently completing the missions.

It's like if you earn hundreds of thousands a year, but there are small red envelopes in the group that you can easily receive every day, you can't help but click on them.

Furthermore, completing missions allows you to conceal your identity, increase the other party's trust, understand their needs, and simultaneously receive rewards that can cripple their economy—it's practically the perfect mission for a spy.

Eri even had a feeling that many of these mercenaries who were constantly on the move were actually spies from various countries.

After several months of back and forth, Eri had raised his mercenary credit score to a very high level and gathered most of the intelligence.

He even used his skills to sneak into several military restricted areas marked "No Entry" to collect intelligence that he couldn't understand at all.

However, there were a few places he couldn't get into. Besides the shipyard by the sea and the lord's mansion in the city, the places that interested him the most but were also the core factories inside the industrial zone were the most inaccessible.

Twenty-four-hour patrols, a dense array of detection devices, various magical alarm arrays, and mechanical alarm devices completely sealed off the factory area. Spies from all directions, including those from Zircon Territory, had tried to probe the area many times, but without exception, they were either dragged away or killed and dragged away.

A seasoned veteran like Eri certainly wouldn't make such a mistake, so he continued to lie low and carry out missions while patiently looking for an opportunity.

Then, the opportunity really came.

First, the young lord disappeared without a trace, taking a large number of elite troops with him. The defense level of the territory dropped sharply, allowing Eri to obtain a lot of intelligence that he had not been able to access before.

Although I still don't understand it, it doesn't matter, I can just leave it to the Marquis.

Then, not long ago, the Han Hai Territory suddenly began to frantically withdraw its troops. The two major military camps, the field army and the city defense army, were almost emptied out, and the territory's vigilance and defense were almost entirely handed over to the militia and mercenaries to temporarily fill in.

This was a golden opportunity for Eri!

He carefully calculated and, leveraging his high credit rating, proactively accepted a nighttime patrol assignment on the outskirts of an industrial area. This gave him cover for legally staying and observing the target area for an extended period.

After a few days and some more time, relying on his professional insight, Eri basically figured out the patrol team's handover time, the blind spots of the surveillance cameras, and the trigger range of those magical traps.

Eri began his operation.

He frequently chose to visit several small and medium-sized factories late at night, using his knightly skills to secretly explore them. He saw a lot of secret information that he couldn't understand, but which seemed to be very high-end.

Tonight, he set his sights on one of the most heavily guarded areas.

The reduction workshop of Hanhai No.1 Steel Plant.

Because of Chen Mo's teleportation warehouse, the defense here was so good that even a mosquito couldn't get through. Now, with all the experienced veterans transferred away, only a few militiamen who couldn't even hold a spear properly are left.

How could this possibly stop Grand Knight Eri's reconnaissance?

A smile crept onto Eri's lips. He took a deep breath, and his internal fighting spirit slowly circulated, merging into the night at an incredible speed as he stealthily made his way into the massive factory!

(End of this chapter)