[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela":3,"chapter-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-41":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Exiled from the Start and Dominating the Wasteland with an Intelligence System",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1688641,2155,"Chapter 41 : Chapter 41","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-41",41,"\u003Cp>Chapter 41. Lucerne Changes Hands\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a night of rest and a lavish “victory banquet,” the Black Territory army had become even sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bloody battle on Windrest Plain had not only been a victory. It had also been a brutal baptism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had transformed this force of farmers, slaves, exiles, and Wolf-kin into a true army, one with a will forged of iron and blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After two days of forced marching along the same route the Grumm rebels had taken on their way here, Eli quietly led his army to the outskirts of Lucerne City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the outline of that war-scarred Western Frontier town, built from gray-brown stone, appeared on the horizon, the column came to a halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli reined in his horse, his deep blue eyes coolly surveying the target before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucerne City was not grand, but its walls were sturdy, built against the slope of a low hill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its only gate was shut tight, and vague silhouettes of patrolling soldiers could be seen atop the gate tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Storm the city by force?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli dismissed the idea at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers of the Black Territory had only just come through a bloody battle. Their exhaustion had not yet fully faded, and now they faced an enemy defending from behind city walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the enemy’s forces were depleted, a direct assault would still demand a terrible price. It was the worst possible choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The key lay in the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bold plan quickly took shape in Eli’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his gaze to Buck, who stood beside him as steady as bedrock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Captain Buck, I need you to put on a little show.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>......\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Half an hour later, a tiny merchant caravan appeared before Lucerne City’s tightly sealed gates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At its head was Buck, having changed out of his black light armor into a worn merchant’s leather coat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him followed ten Black Crow Knights dressed in coarse cloth, pushing three flatbed carts covered with thick oilcloth, each one looking heavily laden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wheels left deep ruts in the packed dirt road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sirs on the wall! Have mercy!” Buck shouted at the top of his lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re merchants from the east! The roads haven’t been safe!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’ll be dark soon, and spending the night out in this wilderness is terrifying!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please, show us some kindness and let us into the city to rest for the night!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We’ll pay the entry tax! Double! No, triple if we must!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he shouted, he pulled out a small purse from his robe and deliberately shook it, letting the coins inside ring together in a crisp, tempting jingle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guards on the wall were alarmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several heads poked out from behind the battlements and warily looked down at the small group below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get lost!” a young soldier shouted impatiently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The gates are closed! No one gets in! Get the hell out of here! Keep yelling and I’ll put an arrow through you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, sir, please calm down! Calm down!” Buck’s face filled with panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re just humble merchants. It really hasn’t been easy for us! Look, if you would just—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could finish, an officer in a squad captain’s leather armor slapped the young soldier hard across the back of the head and cursed under his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Idiot! Shut your mouth!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were fixed on the purse swaying in Buck’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his gaze swept across the three carts that clearly carried no small weight, and naked greed flashed in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No merchants have come here in ages. Are you really going to turn down business that’s fallen straight from the heavens?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’re just a dozen unarmed merchants. What are you scared of?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let them in. We’ll split the tax money among ourselves, and as for the goods on those carts... heh...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officer licked his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once they’re inside the city, won’t they be ours to squeeze however we like?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young soldier clutched the back of his head and did not dare make another sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officer cleared his throat, then shouted down below, “Listen up, down there!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since trade is hard enough as it is, and since you’re willing to pay the tax, this captain will make an exception and show you mercy just this once!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But let me make one thing clear first. Once you enter the city, you obey the rules! Have the tax money ready!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! We know the rules! We’ll obey them for sure!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relief and joy flooded Buck’s face as he lifted the coin purse high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creak—creak—.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heavy ironwood gates slowly opened inward under the turning of the winch, leaving only a gap wide enough for a single cart to pass through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind the gate stood seven or eight soldiers with spears in hand, led by that rat-mustached officer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The servile smile vanished from Buck’s face in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He barked in a low voice, “Move!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ten Black Crow Knights disguised as caravan hands tore the oilcloth from the carts, revealing their fine weapons and armor beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What...?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The greed on the rat-mustached officer’s face turned to sheer horror in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buck’s sword flicked like a striking viper, cutting cleanly across the officer’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood sprayed out like a fountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officer clutched at his neck, making a wet gurgling sound as he stared at Buck in utter disbelief, then his body collapsed limply to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At almost the same moment, the ten Black Crow Knights pounced like tigers into a flock of sheep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These ordinary gate guards were like lambs awaiting slaughter before the Silver Tier backbone of the Black Crow Knights. They could not even form a proper resistance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within only a few breaths, all seven or eight soldiers in the gate passage had fallen into pools of blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take the winch. Open the gates.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buck kicked aside the rat-mustached officer’s corpse, his voice as cold as iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two Black Crow Knights immediately rushed to the massive winch and heaved at it with all their strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creak—creak—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a grating shriek of metal and wood, the heavy gates were thrown fully open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The signal!” Buck roared toward the wall above.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A signal arrow wrapped with an oil-soaked strip of cloth shot into the sky with a shrill whistle and a glaring red flare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kill—!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli, who had been lying in wait all along, suddenly drew the knight’s sword at his waist and pointed it straight at the wide-open gates of Lucerne City!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Charge! Take Lucerne City!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For the Black Territory! Kill!” Bol roared, swinging his heavy warhammer as he surged to the front.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More than a hundred Black Territory infantrymen followed behind the knights like a breached flood, roaring as they charged toward the open gates!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sudden upheaval left the guards atop the wall completely stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A signal arrow? The gates... how had they opened?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!” The shrill alarm bell and the soldiers’ screams finally rang out, but it was already too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Territory’s main force poured in like a flood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bol is here! Anyone who stands in my way dies!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bol was like a human battering ram.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His warhammer carried a dull, crushing howl through the air as it smashed two spearmen who were trying to form ranks and sent them flying!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Form up! Spears forward!” Aika shouted sharply as he directed the infantry rushing in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They quickly formed a crude spear wall on the open ground inside the gate, blocking the defenders surging in from the streets on both sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A brutal close-quarters fight exploded across the streets near the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the height of the melee, Bol suddenly tore a round object wrapped in oilcloth from his waist and hooked it viciously onto the head of his blood-smeared warhammer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drew a deep breath, and then a thunderous roar rolled across the chaotic battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grumm is dead!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised the warhammer high with all his strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The oilcloth fell away, revealing a severed head, its expression frozen forever in shock and unwilling fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Grumm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Baron Grumm!! And all his men! We slaughtered every last one of them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look carefully! This is your lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Drop your weapons! Surrender and you will be spared!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grumm was dead?! Their six hundred main troops had been wiped out?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That news struck like a bolt from a clear sky and became the final straw that broke them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their morale had already begun to crumble when the gate fell and the enemy burst into the city. Now, in an instant, it collapsed completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A spear fell from one soldier’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another threw away his shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I... I surrender! Don’t kill me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We surrender! We surrender!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a plague spreading, despair and fear swiftly replaced the will to resist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Less than a quarter of an hour after Grumm’s head was displayed to the defenders, the fighting near the city gate was over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large numbers of defenders dropped to their knees in surrender, like wheat laid low after harvest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aika!” Eli’s voice rang out through the smoke and chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take a squad at once and seize the granary and the armory!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Move fast! Don’t let anyone get desperate enough to set fires or destroy anything! Kill anyone who resists!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord!” Aika acknowledged the order and immediately gathered twenty elite soldiers before charging toward the city’s granaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Eli, flanked by Bol and several guards, strode toward the lord’s manor in the center of the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The manor gates stood wide open, and the inside was in utter disarray. Clearly, the remaining defenders had either fled or surrendered long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he stepped into the front hall, Bol emerged from an inner room, dragging a woman along with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked to be barely in her early twenties, and she truly was beautiful, but at the moment her face was drained of color and streaked with tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord! My lord, spare me!” The moment she saw Eli, surrounded by the others,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>she dropped to her knees with a thud, as though she had seized the last straw that could save her life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m Grumm’s daughter! My name is Lina! I know many things!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can help you! Help you take control of Lucerne City!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I know where the warehouses are, the treasury, and even the names of the lesser nobles in the city who still secretly remained loyal to my father!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please! Don’t kill me! I can do anything for you...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She lifted her tearful face and forced out a pitiful, delicate smile, trying to reach for the hem of Eli’s robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding soldiers, Bol included, froze for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli lowered his head and looked at the woman kneeling at his feet, the one claiming to be Grumm’s daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were deep and cold as a winter pool, without the slightest ripple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, he crouched down, his voice calm in a way that made it all the more frightening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Help me? But I... only just cut off your father’s head with my own hands.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lina’s body stiffened, and a flash of naked fear and venom passed through her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No! My lord! You did well! You did well to kill him!” she shrieked, her voice twisting with agitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I hated him! I had long hated him to the core! By killing him, you avenged me! My lord! You are my benefactor! I am willing to serve you for the rest of my life...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her words cut off abruptly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Eli had already risen to his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowly drew the knight’s sword at his waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pleading smile on Lina’s face froze at once and turned into boundless terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“N-no... please... my lord... You said those who surrendered would be spared... I can help you... I...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uproot the weeds.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the words fell, the blade flashed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A soft, sickening sound rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The terror and disbelief in Lina’s eyes froze there forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front hall fell utterly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every soldier present, including Bol, who was long used to life and death, drew in a sharp breath in shock and did not dare utter a single word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s face remained expressionless, as though he had merely done something utterly trivial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flicked the blood from the blade, then smoothly slid the knight’s sword back into its sheath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Clean this up,” he said flatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, without another glance at the corpse on the floor, he walked alone into the shadowed depths of the lord’s manor.\u003C\u002Fp>",2092,"2026-06-06T13:50:45.567Z",1,"novelbin.me","7b397bd689d6fafc2a6ec58a5bfd34d8bf0b0d7aecbece0ef35655c3ea28b319","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-42","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-40",112,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fexiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-cover.jpg"]