Chapter 1884

Especially in fierce confrontations, they rarely fight with everything they have.

It really does feel a bit like goblins — only fight actively when they have the advantage, and become very unreliable when at a disadvantage.

But it doesn't matter, having them is better than not having them.

Even goblins become quite strong when there are enough of them.

Not to mention these are all human and beastfolk slaves.

Slave soldiers are still soldiers.

Feed them well at every meal, equip them properly, don't abuse them casually in normal times, and their combat power is still on point — completely usable.

Zhao Chi now has roughly 24,000 new captives.

About 6,000 humans, about 18,000 elves.

Once this batch is broken in, Su Qin can absorb over 10,000 of the female elves into her territory as official residents — same race is no problem.

The remaining humans and male elves can just become slave craftsmen or slave soldiers.

The word "slave" doesn't sound very nice.

"Temporary worker" is more appropriate.

The treatment of slaves varies wildly between different lords' territories.

Those female slaves previously kept tied up, or used as food for berserker undead, or made into bombs by goblin lords — those are all slaves.

By comparison, the treatment of slaves on Zhao Chi and Su Qin's side is already extremely high.

Unless they lead trouble or participate in rebellion, no punishment will be imposed on them.

They can even eat their fill, and they're safe.

Better living conditions than the citizens of quite a few lords.

The number of captives this time is too large, breaking them in will require several ups and downs before stabilizing.

Sending them to Su Qin's side, the earliest will be next month.

Li Ruanyu did a patrol of the area.

Then asked, 【Zhao Chi, those outside are all captives, right? They're reclaiming farmland?】

Zhao Chi 【Mm, yes】

Li Ruanyu 【Using ratmen is indeed fast, but your captives were only just subjugated recently, right? They don't seem very motivated, and they're mostly female elves with very little strength. Let me send some people over to help you reclaim the land? The speed will definitely be much faster than now】

Zhao Chi 【Huh? Wouldn't that affect you?】

Li Ruanyu 【What effect would it have? Working over there or working here, it's all work. And working here the returns are higher — your seeds are that amazing, the more we plant the better】

Zhao Chi 【Really? You know my seeds are amazing?】

Li Ruanyu 【Of course… you little rascal, starting up again. I used to think you were quite proper, how come now I feel you're a wolf too】

Zhao Chi 【Huh? You understood instantly, sis?】

Li Ruanyu 【You think I can't hear your inner thoughts? The two of us being together still has its benefits — I can hear more of your inner thoughts】

Zhao Chi 【I can hear yours too】

Li Ruanyu 【I'm not afraid of you hearing】

Zhao Chi 【……Alright then】

Li Ruanyu 【But seriously, a few days ago, did you…? I was a bit flustered at the time and didn't notice anything. What if I got pregnant…】

Zhao Chi 【Don't worry… you won't get pregnant】

Li Ruanyu 【Oh… that's good. If I really did have your little baby, I really wouldn't know what to do about it right now】

Zhao Chi 【If you want one, tell me】

Li Ruanyu 【I really want one, at least two — a boy and a girl. But the timing really isn't right now, I think we should wait a year】

Zhao Chi 【Mm, alright】

Li Ruanyu 【And… you can let Gu Qing get pregnant first. I can tell, she cares about you very, very much, she's willing to suffer grievances for you, but… I don't want it like that. I don't care about these things, and I don't want to fight with her. Let her get pregnant first, then me afterwards】

Zhao Chi 【It's still too early to talk about this, we'll discuss it later】

Li Ruanyu 【Hehe, yes… let's get back to business then. I'll send some people over to help you reclaim the farmland, but you need to tell your people first, so as not to cause a misunderstanding and have them think it's an invasion】

Zhao Chi 【Alright, I'll notify Gu Qing】

Li Ruanyu 【She's not asleep?】

Zhao Chi 【She… her stats are pretty high too, she's not asleep】

Li Ruanyu 【Mm, that's good】

Zhao Chi contacted Gu Qing and explained the situation.

Gu Qing replied instantly.

She really wasn't asleep either.

Gu Qing 【Received, I'll head to Chaoge Town right away, you can send people over in 20 minutes】

Li Ruanyu immediately brought Zhao Chi back to her territory.

Along the way, she also took Zhao Chi to look around several territories.

Zhao Chi rode a griffin again, but this time inside Li Ruanyu's body.

Truly worthy of a county-level territory.

Each county has over a hundred thousand people, almost all are sizable cities.

Large population, orderly and methodical.

If it weren't for the war outside, retiring in Li Ruanyu's territory wouldn't be bad.

The two county-level territories also each have tens of thousands of people, everywhere is prosperous, fully qualified county towns.

Riverside Town has been quite busy all along.

Zhao Chi: "Sister, why do all your other territories have 'Yu' in the name, but this Riverside Town doesn't?"

Li Ruanyu: "Hehe, this is a window to the outside, so the name was chosen to be more generic."

Zhao Chi: "I see that Riverside Town always has merchant ships — where do they all come from? Can they cross through the fog to get here?"

Li Ruanyu: "They're all ship fleets from other lords around the world. Generally speaking… they're a bit like merchant caravans. You've gone to Dark Night City once with Tieshan and Mo Ming's caravan, right?"

Zhao Chi: "Mm, yes."

Li Ruanyu: "These ship fleets are very similar to merchant caravans, but not exactly the same. Once a fleet enters the fog, as long as it follows the river and no one gets off the ship, it can reach the next dock, and as long as it turns back, it can return."

Zhao Chi: "They can cross through the fog and come back?"

Li Ruanyu: "They have to follow the river. But even so, it's still very dangerous — they might run into other bandit fleets, or aquatic magical beast tribes, and even magical beast tribes on the shore will attack."

Zhao Chi: "That dangerous?"

Li Ruanyu: "It is indeed dangerous. But just like with caravans, there are also a large number of lords traveling with the fleet. When they meet bandits, they have the strength to resist, and can even swallow up the bandits' fleet. And in the vast majority of cases, they won't run into overly powerful magical beasts — after all, the stronger a magical beast is, the smaller its proportion."

Zhao Chi: "I roughly get it. The extremely powerful magical beasts are equivalent to, on our side, County-level lords, Prefecture-level lords, Kingdom-level lords, right?"

Li Ruanyu: "Right, so the number of powerful magical beasts actually isn't that many."

Zhao Chi: "Understood… but what if you do run into one? Then you can only wait to die?"

Li Ruanyu: "Of course not. Whenever we go out, we carry formation energy with us. If we run into an extremely powerful magical beast, we just use the formation's power to bind it, then slip away — that's all."

Zhao Chi: "I remember this kind of energy is limited and can only be used a few times, right?"

Li Ruanyu: "Not a few times — once. If you really run into a magical beast that even the fleet can't resist, it must be extremely powerful, and you'd need to use all the formation's energy to be safe. Basically, everyone just uses it all up at once, then immediately turns back."

Zhao Chi: "What if you run into another one on the way back?"

Li Ruanyu: "Then you can only fight for your life… that's where the risk lies. But the odds of running into two batches of such powerful magical beasts in a row actually aren't that high."

Zhao Chi: "Understood. But if it's so dangerous, why still trade? Are the profits that high?"

Li Ruanyu: "It might be extortionate profits."

Zhao Chi: "Extortionate profits? That exaggerated?"

Li Ruanyu: "Yes. After all, we're traveling through the fog, and the distance is already uncertain. It's possible that in just one day, we could appear at a lord's dock thousands of kilometers away, and it's also possible that it takes a month to reach a neighboring city."

Zhao Chi: "Does the return trip get affected?"

Li Ruanyu: "The return trip isn't affected — that's the one merciful thing. If the fleet traveled for three days, then three days after turning back, it'll basically return. If it traveled for a month, then a month after turning back, it'll also return."

Zhao Chi: "Understood… Can the destination be reached repeatedly? For example, if we went to a place this time, can we come to the same place next time?"

Li Ruanyu: "No. Within the fog, it's completely random. Even reaching the same location is a matter of luck and probability."

Zhao Chi: "I roughly get it…"

Li Ruanyu: "With such a powerful seed, you basically don't need to voyage far. Just selling experience fruits and wheat will make you financially free — no need to take risks."

Zhao Chi: "I still want to advance Cloud Dream Village to County level this month. That's fine, right? After the territory expands, will a caravan or bandits suddenly show up?"

Li Ruanyu: "They will, and quite a few of them. But you can set it up — just set the relevant territory permissions to closed."