"Aha! Heilige Scheiße, holy shit! Who wants to go to the sea, to give their life to the sea, to find some bullshit India Cipangu? Our Mercenary Group is heading to Northern Italy! There’s where the City-State is dripping with wealth, gold and silver are everywhere, milk and honey are everywhere, with our great sword to take it!"

"Diamine! Reinhardt, what are you saying?! Northern Italy’s Genoa, that’s my hometown! When did the French army capture Northern Italy? So many City-States, such powerful Lombardy, Florence, and Pisa, have they all surrendered? And what are the strongest Venetians doing?!..."

"Haha! Italian City States are just weaklings! They are soaking in art, in drama, only knowing how to indulge themselves, even their knees are soaked soft! As soon as the French Cavalry arrived, raising their lances, the Northern Italy City States along the way all surrendered, not even one resisted to the end, not one with a tough bone! This bunch of weaklings from the City States! When our Mercenary Group arrives in Italy, we’ll show them what it means to be daring Germanic tough men!"

Mercenary Captain Reinhardt laughed heartily, raising the French King’s employment document as if holding the "Ring of Wealth of Andvari" from Germanic mythology. He exhaled deeply, looked at Columbus who was suppressed by his aura, and smiled fiercely.

"Mein Schwert ist nicht das Einzige, was scharf ist! Our great sword isn’t the only sharp thing! When we get to Northern Italy, we’ll show these limp City-State people what it means to be savage in burning and looting, what it means to be ruthless in fighting and beheading, what it means to be coarse and tough Shenluo Mercenaries! Not burning Northern Italy to the ground, not igniting those money-lending merchants into torches, wouldn’t it waste such a rich place so ripe for plundering?"

Speaking of Italy’s wealth, emotions flicker across Mercenary Captain Reinhardt’s face, there’s endless greed for wealth, and deep-seated hatred for these City-State people!

Five years ago in 1490, the Holy Roman Empire experienced the most severe drought in thirty years, severely reducing the grain yield of Northern Germany. Farmers starved to death everywhere. Three years ago in 1492, extreme cold hit Southern Germany and Alsace during winter and spring. Frost in spring caused wheat to fail, and entire regions suffered total crop failures. Last year in 1494, the Rhine River flooded again, ruining the farmland of Bavaria and Rhenish, salting it so much there was no yield!

In the vast Holy Roman Empire, across dozens or hundreds of States, severe natural disasters have erupted for five consecutive years, and there’s simply not enough grain to eat! And in such natural disasters, what is the Vatican in Italy doing? The Vatican continues to indulge excessively, to exploit Shenluo States to their death!

The Lord’s Vatican offers no disaster relief, instead, during the great famine, they sell the Absolution Coupon like crazy! Ordinary Shenluo commoners are so poor their stomachs rumble with hunger, even nobles like Reinhardt, a bastard, must carry his ancestral great sword away from home, to earn a living as a mercenary on the Iberian Peninsula.

And when the Deutsch people are destitute to the point of selling sons and daughters, what are the wealthy Italians doing? Italians are reviving literature and art, enjoying a prosperous life. Goods are abundant and food is cheap in Italian City States. The nobility study humanities, art, sculpture, and painting. Merchants run around, lending for the Church to various countries. Even commoners can hear dramas and discuss newly published literature!

This extreme contrast in wealth, this extreme social injustice has long made Shenluo Mercenaries who traverse north to south increasingly resentful as they gradually see things clearly! As a knowledgeable Mercenary Captain, Reinhardt has already regarded the bloodsucking leech Vatican and the greedy large rats Italian merchants as the reasons for Shenluo Countries’ poverty and hunger! The wealth of Shenluo Countries has been absorbed by Italians, under the name of the Almighty or under loan contracts, absorbed cleanly!

"Schweinehund! Those damned Italian merchants! We ought to chop off their heads sooner or later, hanging them on the Cross!"

Of course, regarding the Vatican shrouded in the Lord’s halo, even if Reinhardt and the mercenaries have shallow faith, they still dare not easily offend. But toward other Italian City States, toward those lending merchants, their great sword has long been eager and restless.

And now, alongside the French King heading south, tens of thousands of French army, Swiss mercenaries, Shenluo mercenaries are ravaging, wilfully burning and killing on the Italian Peninsula! Burning this birthplace of the "Renaissance" into a "blazing torch", thoroughly burning away the wealth and future of Italy’s City States!

"Ahaha! Our German Mercenary Group is going to wealthy Italy to find fortune with City-State people!"

"Cazzo! Damn! Damn Frenchmen, damn French army! Reinhardt, how dare you join the French side to ravage Northern Italy? I...I swear I’ll kill you!"

Columbus roared in anger, drawing his Noble Sword. And Reinhardt raised the corner of his mouth, planting the Knight’s Great Sword before him, with an aura of killing intent, he sneered.

"Oh? Columbus, do you want to duel with me?!"

"I! I... duel..."

Columbus, in anger, got angrier again, but couldn’t spit out the word of challenge. After a moment, he gritted his teeth fiercely and played the "trump card", revealing the final card... "Call for backup"! He directly turned around and shouted at the armored waiting Castilian Cavalry Captain.

"In the name of the Queen, respected Knight Alvaro! This Shenluo Mercenary Group does not comply with the Queen’s recruitment orders!"

"..."

"Dada dada."

Knight Alvaro drew his spear, grabbed the reins with one hand, and slowly walked out of the cavalry column. He squinted his eyes, looked at Reinhardt, and the spear vaguely pointed toward him. Reinhardt’s face froze, his expression grew tense once again. After a few moments of confrontation, he took two heavy steps forward, bowed his head in salute, and raised the French mercenary document in his hand.

"Witnessed by the Lord! Esteemed Castilian Knight... Our German Mercenary Group has already been hired by the Kingdom of France. We truly apologize that we can no longer serve the Castilian Royal Family! This is our document..."

"Dada dada!"

"Squeak!"

Alvaro suddenly accelerated his horse forward, swiftly thrusting his spear to directly lift the unfolded parchment from the retreating Reinhardt’s hand! And if that spear had descended half an arm’s length, it would have skewered Reinhardt’s head!

Subsequently, Alvaro stared coldly at Reinhardt, looking at the mercenary captain whose expression was extraordinarily unsightly, and threatened in a deep voice.

"The great Queen Isabella sent us to recruit your German Mercenary Group! I don’t care about any hiring by the Duke of Orleans, Louis, I only pledge allegiance to the Queen!"

"Pocas palabras, pero muchas lanzas! Castilian knights don’t waste words, they decide with spears! Either follow me, adhere to the Queen’s summons, or go against the Queen’s command, become bandits within the Kingdom, and face our conquest!..."

Alvaro mercilessly issued the harsh words, showing no tolerance towards these Shenluo mercenaries who believe in money and force. Behind him, two hundred royal cavalrymen also swiftly drew out their cavalry spears. In this flat terrain, in this environment devoid of fortifications, facing the dual pronged spear charge of two royal cavalry teams? The result, undoubtedly, is total annihilation! Even the battle-hardened Shenluo mercenaries, at the moment, each one of them turned pale, with cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.

"Witnessed by the Lord! You mercenaries, do you see that flock of sheep? If you comply with the recruitment, those sheep are your dinner, each can have a hearty meal of mutton, eat to your fill! But if you do not comply with the recruitment, we will kill you first, then cut off your lower parts and feed them to the sheep! Let your souls blend together with the sheep as well!..."

"Furthermore, let me inform you! The Aragon Defending Army in the Pyrenees Mountains has already sealed off the road, forbidding anyone from heading north to France. The port of Barcelona has also suspended shipping, the City Defense Army is searching for spies, especially those with French backgrounds... Your Shenluo Mercenary Group that has defected to the French cannot leave Aragon at all. Once you stand against us, there is only the dead-end road leading into the Hell of Fire!"

"!!..."

Upon hearing such terrifying threats, the Shenluo mercenaries all trembled visibly, showing fear. They do not doubt the threats from the Castilians, because in the Moorish battlefield, the Holy War Army treated the Moors in this way. And whether it is to live or die now, the decision lies on the captain’s one-word response...

"Commander Hade! What should we do?"

"Boss! We can’t beat them!..."

"Almighty Lord! Is the Kingdom of Aragon going to declare war with the Kingdom of France?"

"..."

Mercenary Captain Reinhardt tightened his grip on his great sword, looked at the uneasy and fearful Shenluo mercenaries behind him, and then looked at the Castilian cavalry in front with a charging posture. After a long moment, he finally sighed heavily, dropped the great sword in his hand, and knelt in front of Columbus and Alvaro’s horses, bowing his head in defeat.

"Merciful Lord! Reinhard von Ritter, willing to lead the German Mercenary Group of two hundred veterans, to serve the holy Queen Isabella, join the Cipangu Indian expeditionary army, and accept the summons of the Castilian Royal Family!..."