Navigator: I have a double six-story house

Chapter 102 The Old General's Entrustment

After the old general finished speaking, Su Qing did not respond, but stared at his cloudy eyes.

Behind those eyes lay something heavy, a despair born from enduring twenty-three years of hardship, a death wish.

Su Qing suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.

Could the actual situation of this Hell dungeon be more complicated than I guessed?

Will the difficulty be dynamically adjusted based on the number of participants?

But the old general's words alone are not enough to overturn one's own judgment.

Su Qing decided to wait and see.

On the surface, he remained calm and responded to the old general in a flat tone.

"General, you're in the prime of your life, don't worry about so much."

The old general remained silent and scrutinized Su Qing from head to toe.

This young man is a bit too optimistic.

When he first saw this young man, his decades of experience in judging people told him that among this group of people, only this young man could be entrusted with important responsibilities.

But young people are, after all, young people.

When he sees the situation in the military camp with his own eyes, it's uncertain whether he will still be able to maintain this optimism.

As long as he isn't scared away, he's already considered excellent, and I can confidently entrust this outpost to him.

"Come with me."

The heavy wooden door slowly closed behind them, and the one-eyed old man stopped Agu and his group of strong young men.

"Young men, come with me to the city wall and help with the patrol."

Agu didn't move, nor did the soldiers behind him; their eyes were all fixed on Su Qing.

The one-eyed veteran was stunned and turned to look at the old general.

The old general frowned slightly, then relaxed.

Although the group of strong soldiers did not obey his deputy's orders, it was a good thing for him.

This military camp should have been handed over to them in the first place.

All these veterans needed to do was familiarize them with the military camp and then die. However, this obedience made him think more highly of the young man.

Su Qing turned her head and said a few words briefly in the indigenous language.

Agu patted his chest and, without waiting for the one-eyed veteran's orders, voluntarily walked towards the city wall to begin guard duty.

Wang Yao moved closer to Su Qing and muttered something in a low voice.

"Hehe, Su, you're really smug now. When are you going to let me have my turn?"

Su Qing glared at him, annoyed.

"Shut up, don't talk nonsense in the dungeon."

He paused for a moment, then added, "It's not impossible to perform well."

Wang Yao's eyes lit up, and he patted his chest like Agu, making the plate armor thud loudly.

"good!"

The old general led Su Qing and her entourage across the open space in the center of the military camp.

Su Qing observed as she walked.

The military camp is not large; the interior space is roughly the size of a football field.

There are walkways on the wall, and simple defensive fortifications can be seen at intervals, but they are all poorly maintained, and it is hard to say whether they are effective.

Those veterans who had just been there were now resting weakly in twos and threes against the wall.

Su Qing counted them; there were only about forty veterans in total.

Selena walked beside Su Qing and spoke in a low voice.

"Captain, these people are in very poor condition; they must not have eaten for several days."

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Su Qing nodded but did not respond.

The old general stopped in front of a wooden house.

"This is the equipment storage area."

The old general spoke succinctly, then pushed open the door.

Su Qing looked inside and a satisfied expression appeared on her face.

The warehouse was quite large and filled with weapons.

Spears, hand axes, longswords, and short knives—various cold weapons were stacked on the shelves. Su Qing roughly calculated that they could arm over a hundred people.

The old general sighed, his face looking rather grim.

"We've used up all our armor; all we have left are weapons."

Seeing the expression on the old general's face, Su Qing felt that the old general was too pessimistic.

These weapons are far superior to the wooden spears and stone axes that Agu and his men have. The weapons here are more than enough to arm twenty-odd people.

As for protective gear, it's fine if they have it, but it's not a big deal if they don't; they didn't have any to begin with.

Su Qing was thinking more about how great it would be if she could take these weapons out with her.

After all, there are still more than twenty people outside, using primitive weapons.

"General, could my men be equipped with these weapons?"

The old general was clearly taken aback.

"Of course, these weapons are prepared for you."

Su Qing nodded and told Agu and the others to equip themselves first. Even if they couldn't take the equipment out, it would be good to improve their combat power in the dungeon.

He turned and glanced at Brother Niu, who understood immediately and left the warehouse area to find Agu.

The old general watched as Su Qing made arrangements, his expression remaining unchanged.

He nodded; he truly was the successor he had chosen.

but..

Hopefully, this young man can maintain this composure in the upcoming warehouse.

The old general turned and walked toward the next warehouse.

"The second one."

His words were still concise, but this time he didn't push the door open directly; instead, he stopped with both hands on the door.

"Be mentally prepared."

Su Qing glanced at him, said nothing, and silently prepared herself.

Could there be some great horror hidden here?

He was fearless, no matter what it was.

Su Qing gave Wang Yao a look, and Wang Yao unfolded his shield and stood in front of Su Qing.

The old general pushed open the wooden door, behind which was a space about the size of an armory.

However, the strange and terrifying scene that Su Qing had imagined did not appear.

Because the warehouse was completely empty, spotless, and had nothing inside.

Su Qing slowly turned her head to look at the old general, her eyes conveying the message, "That's it?"

The old general shook his head when he saw the look in Su Qing's eyes.

"This is a food warehouse."

Su Qing understood.

This explains why the watchtower was unguarded despite its presence, and why these veterans were all extremely weak. "How long has it been empty?"

The old general opened his already cracked lips.

"Three days."

"The last meal three days ago was for the warhorse."

"We no longer have any cavalry."

Su Qing was stunned.

These elderly people in their seventies and eighties actually went hungry for three whole days?!

When these veterans opened the gate to welcome us, they had clearly been starving for three days, yet they still managed to stand in line.

Su Qing felt somewhat uncomfortable.

In his mind, the elderly and children should not go hungry.

The old general sighed when he saw Su Qing's reaction.

They're still young, but it's good that they didn't run away.

He reached out from behind and patted Su Qing's shoulder with his withered hand.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you."

Su Qing didn't understand what the old general meant. They even killed and ate warhorses. If there was a solution, they would have solved it long ago. Why are they saying they have a solution now?

"What do you mean?"

The old general did not answer directly. He turned and walked out of the warehouse, standing in the last rays of sunlight, his back to Su Qing in the shadows.

"You are the future leader of this outpost."

You need to understand one thing.

He paused for a moment.

"Behind this military camp lies Songhe Valley, and beyond Songhe Valley are the kingdom's three cities, with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants."

"Those strange beasts launch an attack every few days, and each attack is larger than the last."

"We old folks have been guarding this place for twenty-three years, stopping all the strange beasts."

He turned around, his gaunt face devoid of any expression.

"But we are getting old after all."

"You've come, and your people have come too. You're young and strong; you can handle it."

"Once you are familiar with the terrain and fortifications of this military camp..."

"It's time for us old folks to get on the road..."