Chapter 173: Chapter 154: This Is My Territory

"He... He, how dare he!"

Cui Ze’s face was ashen. This shipment was the most important one in recent months! Because... it was for the Crown Prince!

Small-scale skirmishes often broke out along the border between Fez and Mendira. This was actually quite normal for any two countries that shared a border. If there were no conflicts at all, as if they were one country, now *that* would be unbelievable.

It was better in previous years. After each skirmish, most prisoners of war would be ransomed back. But as the conflicts intensified, the tension between the two nations grew thicker. Prisoners of war were no longer allowed to be ransomed; instead, they were sold to slave traders!

As one of the most powerful empires on the Western Continent, the Lanyue Empire had an insatiable demand for slaves. This was especially true for those captured on the battlefield, who were almost all able-bodied young men, full of energy and in excellent physical condition. Whether for mining or any other form of manual labor, they were far superior to hired workers!

Moreover... with these slaves, one only had to watch them to prevent their escape and feed them just enough to be half-full! Where in the world could you find a cheaper deal? Consequently, such slaves were always in high demand. On the slave market, a slave with a certain level of strength could even sell for over a hundred Gold Coins, with the average price being several dozen Gold Coins!

This time, however, the slave trade had been forced to a halt for several months because the recent Beast Race attack on Cameron Town had affected business at Penzes Port. It was only recently that the two sides had reconnected and arranged for a large ship to transport over a thousand prisoners of war! This was a huge deal worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins!

The most crucial part was that this time, the client was the Crown Prince!

For years, the Crown Prince had been ordering his subordinates to purchase able-bodied male slaves or beautiful young female slaves through Cui Ze’s group from time to time. Occasionally, if an elf or two appeared, it went without saying that they were also to be sent to the Crown Prince!

This had always been done in extreme secrecy. Even though the Southern King had controlled Penzes City for many years, this business had continued unimpeded!

This was because the Southern King also had similar demands. All the four great noble families had to do was sell to anyone who dared to buy!

Although the Empire’s laws explicitly prohibiting the slave trade were on the books, in reality, almost everyone treated them as empty words.

"What do we do, what do we do?" Cui Ze stood up, pacing back and forth with an ugly expression, muttering, "No, I have to go to the port! If that damn bastard really isn’t afraid to die, I’ll tell him... this shipment is for the Crown Prince! Let’s see how much nerve he has to keep holding it then!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"No!"

Li Nan grabbed Cui Ze’s wrist and said in a low voice, "Brother Cui, sit down first. If you go now, it won’t do any good!"

"Nonsense! I refuse to believe he’d dare to disrespect even the Crown Prince!" Cui Ze said angrily.

Huang Qiang added in a booming voice, "That’s right. His father is just a Third-grade Duke. So what if he’s a General? The Empire has more than one general! He himself is just a Hereditary Viscount. Compared to Brother Cui, his fief is just a bit bigger! What right does he have to look down on everyone? Martial skills? Hmph, what’s the use of being strong? Is he going to kill us?"

"You two..." Li Nan sighed with a look of resignation. "How can you be so sure that the Lord is the one behind this?"

"If not him... then who..." Cui Ze’s words trailed off, the rest catching in his throat. He stared at Li Nan, dumbfounded. "Are you saying... it was him?"

Li Nan sneered, "The Lord only arrived in Penzes City a few days ago. How could he possibly know our most sensitive secrets? Even if he replaced the port garrison with his own men, you know that our people aren’t just in the garrison! Besides Mo Qing, who else could know all these details? I just didn’t expect him to be so ruthless. He, Mo Qing, has a stake in this too! It looks like he’s decided to follow this new Lord all the way to the bitter end!"

"That bastard! How dare he?" Cui Ze’s vision went dark. He swayed twice before collapsing into his chair, saying weakly, "What now... What should we do? We can’t withstand the Crown Prince’s wrath, especially since they’re in a huge rush for this shipment! That damn Mo Qing, I really want to kill him!"

Li Nan, however, didn’t look overly anxious. Instead, he said softly, "In a way, this is actually a good thing!"

"Oh, my heavens, Brother Li, has the anger muddled your brain too?" Cui Ze forced his eyes open and sighed. "How can you say something like that at a time like this?"

"This shipment... was intercepted by the new Lord City Lord. And this new Lord City Lord was appointed by the Lord. How could *we* dare to go against the Lord?" Li Nan said with a sarcastic expression.

A flush of color suddenly returned to Cui Ze’s ashen face. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Yes! Yes! Why didn’t I think of that? Haha, let’s see how they die this time!"

Huang Qiang’s face also lit up with excitement. "Exactly! They’ve offended the Crown Prince, let’s see how they get out of this one! Hmph, that Mo Qing thought he’d latched onto a powerful backer, but he’s only been the City Lord for a few days and he’s already about to be kicked out! HAHAHA." His expression then turned gloomy as he added, "When that happens, it’ll be absolutely impossible for him to gain a foothold in Penzes City ever again!"

But Li Nan sighed again, looking at the other two with a wry smile. "This Lord was never on the same side as the Crown Prince to begin with, so what’s there to ’offend’? Otherwise, would he have been targeted for assassination? You two... you’re underestimating this Lord! If you’d listen to me, you’d lower your heads for now, give up some of your business, and lie low for a while. Who knows, we might have a chance to make a comeback in the future. As long as the Crown Prince ascends the throne, it’s not impossible for our... respective noble titles to be promoted a rank. Ai, I’ve said all I can. As for whether you two will listen..." Li Nan shook his head slightly. "I’ll take my leave first!"

The remaining two, Huang Qiang and Cui Ze, looked at each other, and in each other’s eyes, they saw deep-seated hatred and... defiance!

...

Ling Xiao stood quietly on the docks of Penzes Port. Ye Wen Ni snuggled against him, standing by his side and whispering, "What do you plan to do with this ship full of slaves? Judging by how brazen those people are, these slaves are probably for some major figure!"

Ling Xiao smiled nonchalantly. "I don’t care who they belonged to. They’re ours now!" With that, he strode toward the more than one thousand slaves who had already disembarked.

They wore shackles on their hands and feet and were stripped to the waist, wearing only a pair of shorts. Nearly all of them had skin covered in a crisscrossing network of whip marks, some so severe they were still dripping with blood. Some of the men stood there blankly, others had collapsed to the ground with dazed expressions, while a few wore looks of untamed defiance. Those were the ones who usually bore the most scars, yet their eyes showed not a hint of submission! They looked at others like ravenous wolves choosing their next prey.

Ling Wu watched the thousand-plus men with a solemn expression, a sense of sorrow in his heart. ’Though these men have no connection to me, the same hot blood flows through their veins!’

’These men... they were all once soldiers! To think they’ve fallen so low as to be sold as slaves!’

He sighed to himself, then said to the personal guard beside him, "If those people on the ship start running their mouths again, just..." He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

Mo Qing, standing before Ling Wu, was startled by the killing intent radiating from him. ’This man’s strength seems to be below mine, but his aura... it’s something I could never hope to match!’ Mo Qing thought to himself. ’Should I hand over that group of young disciples from my family to Ling Wu for training? It would surely make them more mature!’

Just as he was thinking this, Ling Xiao and Ye Wen Ni walked over. Looking at the large crowd of slaves below, Ling Wu and Mo Qing bowed to Ling Xiao in greeting.

Mo Qing asked, "Young Master... now that you know their destination, how do you plan to handle these slaves?"

Ling Xiao glanced at Ling Wu. "If... I were to put these men in your hands, are you... confident you could lead them well?"

Ling Wu was taken aback. He then recalled that the Young Master’s quota for private soldiers was three thousand. Adding these thousand-plus men would fit perfectly. ’But... these are all soldiers from another country! Will they submit so easily?’ To be honest, Ling Wu felt he lacked confidence.

Ling Xiao, however, just smiled. He then stepped forward and called out to the thousand-plus men below, "Do you want your freedom?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached every single person’s ears clearly. Some of the men remained dazed, while others looked up at the lavishly dressed young man. ’He must be a noble!’

"Freedom?" Sarcastic smiles appeared on the lips of many men below. ’Freedom? After falling into the hands of you nobles? To hell with that... you must think we’re idiots!’

"Ling Wu... have someone unlock their shackles!" Ling Xiao said calmly.

"Young Master, this..." Ling Wu hesitated. He hadn’t brought many men today, only about two hundred in total. Even though the slaves looked weak and listless now, if they were really unshackled, these soldiers in peak physical condition might start a riot and cause massive trouble!

Mo Qing also tried to persuade him, "Yes, Young Master, why don’t we... lock these men up first and then decide on a long-term plan?"

"It’s fine. This is my territory!" Ling Xiao stood up straight, his gaze deep as he looked at the men below, and spoke with calm assurance.

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With a kid at home, my schedule is still a bit chaotic. I’m adjusting my update schedule again, as fixed times are proving difficult. The little one is getting bigger by the day and less and less willing to be quiet. From now on, between 8:00 PM and 11:30 PM every night, Xiaodao will definitely release the day’s 10,000-word update. I will post another notice if anything changes.

Thank you all for your understanding. Xiaodao bows to you in apology! (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com. There are more Chapters, and you can support the author and official publication!)