Chapter 567: Piluo's Sermon, Yeluba's Counterattack

At this moment, seeing someone who looked like Jier waving at him from the firelight inside the Jiedian through his telescope, Xueya Site was confused at first, but soon recognized the young man in the ordinary-looking enemy Jiedian by his height and build—it was actually Jier, who had been missing for an entire afternoon!

"I don't know how you managed to get in there, you guy? For this whole afternoon, the gates of the enemy Jiedian haven't opened or closed for a single Human to enter or leave, have they?" He couldn't figure it out, but guessed that perhaps Jier had taken advantage of the darkness, just like at Changmai Village, to jump directly over the several-meter-high wall and leap inside.

As long as one calculated the line of sight of the patrolling enemy Soldiers, one could jump into the enemy Jiedian silently. Jier had this outrageous jumping power; Xueya Site knew Jier's jumping ability was enough to clear a four- or five-meter-high wooden wall.

But he actually guessed wrong; it was impossible for Jier to wait until dark to sneak into the enemy Jiedian. In the afternoon, by defeating and bribing the alien Beast, he had hidden inside the belly of a Forest Deer, pretending to be prey brought back by Mao Mao, and snuck into the Jiedian right under the noses of the enemy Soldiers. Xueya Site could never have imagined that Jier would be so bold and careful as to use such a method to sneak in.

"I hope you find something useful on this trip." Wishing his companion well in a low voice, Xueya Site continued to fiddle with the telescope, watching the various areas where firelight emerged within the Jiedian.

Soon, he made a discovery.

Some Defeated Soldiers were gathered around a campfire, and a person dressed differently from the other Soldiers was speaking loudly about something, while some Soldiers nearby were listening intently to the other's words.

"What are they doing?" Xueya Site couldn't understand, because just as he looked over, another group of Defeated Soldiers arrived, seemingly stepping forward to disperse these people.

Pushing and shoving soon broke out between the two sides; they had the same equipment and similar numbers, and no one really dared to actually start a fight, so they just shoved a few times and at most waved their fists.

In the end, the Soldier who had been speaking and was dressed differently took a step back and took the initiative to dismiss the Soldiers who were listening to him, and this conflict temporarily dissipated.

"Seriously, where is your ferocity? How come you can't be fierce when facing your own people? Fight! Have a fierce internal struggle! It would be best if you couldn't help but draw swords and see blood. Sigh, what useless things, how could you just shrink back?"

Xueya Site looked disappointed, as if he felt they were failing to live up to expectations.

"What a bunch of trash that only dares to bully the Villagers."

"This afternoon, everyone knows, right to the south of the Jiedian, that terrible tremor and the huge explosion—don't tell me you were asleep and didn't know! That was a terrifying vibration that could wake the dead in the ground!"

Adjutant Piluo stood by a campfire and said loudly to the dozen or so Soldiers sitting around it.

"Is it safe here? In the past, everyone might have looked at the several-meter-high wooden walls they built with their own hands and felt they were incredibly safe! The wild beasts and Monsters in the Forest simply couldn't climb over such tall wooden walls and could only be blocked outside."

"And now? Every Soldier who followed the Scout to the past was shocked by the level of destruction there. As long as you go and take a look, everyone can understand how easy it is for the other side to wipe out this Jiedian of ours! This place is not as safe as everyone imagines."

Piluo spat disdainfully: "Think about the terrible things we encountered when we crossed the Southern Mountains before? Are there few similar things that could destroy everyone? If you ask me, everyone shouldn't stay here, dreaming the beautiful dream of getting rich, thinking that for every extra Metal Ingot obtained, there will be a portion of money to be shared."

Some Soldiers looked at each other, touching their own not-so-wealthy purses, and didn't feel that the money exchanged for those Metal Ingots would really be distributed to them. It was just that everyone had said so before, as if such a thing would really happen. And they themselves took it for granted and deceived themselves, as if by listening to the orders of Captain Yeluba, that money would really fall into their pockets.

But what choice did they have at the time? There was no choice; everyone, either actively or tacitly, let Yeluba 'exile' the Soldiers who were close to Knight Hartna. Those who stayed in the Jiedian were either Soldiers who wanted to get rich, followed the crowd, or had a grudge against Knight Hartna.

They had no other room for choice.

And this guy Piluo, this Adjutant to the Knight, what was he planning to say at this time? What could he say? Could he give them a new choice? A choice that wasn't so bad?

Seeing that everyone was silent and just watching him quietly, Piluo took a deep breath and continued.

"I won't talk about whether Yeluba himself will eventually distribute the money to everyone. Everyone actually understands his reputation and character. You are just gambling, gambling that his combat strength is different from Knight Hartna's, and that you have the strength to make him pay the price for betrayal. After all, he is not a Knight; if you take action yourselves, it is possible to kill him. Am I right?"

A Soldier laughed softly; clearly, Adjutant Piluo's words hit on the thoughts of some people.

Many Soldiers were willing to believe Yeluba's words, not because they really believed in Yeluba, but because if Yeluba betrayed everyone and did not give everyone the wealth from selling the Metal Ingots, they had the ability to demand it from him by force.

And if the target were changed to Knight Hartna, then even if they were beaten to death, they would not dare to raise weapons against an intact Knight Hartna.

Who is strong and who is weak, everyone can still tell.

Piluo continued: "I will just talk about a major problem exposed by what happened this afternoon: everyone has worked so hard, almost died in this damned mountain forest, and tried every means to cross the Southern Mountains, so why should everyone take such huge risks to stay here?"

Some Soldiers passing by heard Piluo's words and were unconsciously attracted, standing around with their arms crossed to listen. Some Soldiers curled their lips as they passed by and walked away quickly, and some Soldiers heard Piluo's words and immediately stared at Piluo with resentment, walking quickly toward the house where the Captain was.

"At the beginning, why did we cross the Southern Mountains? Can anyone answer that?"

Piluo pointed to a Soldier by the campfire and asked him to answer.

In fact, this Soldier was one of the Soldiers who followed him south in the afternoon. He had been persuaded by Piluo at that time, and now he was acting as a shill to help Piluo set the atmosphere.

"I know, Adjutant. We crossed the Southern Mountains initially to avoid the enemy army, escape from the enemy's occupied area, and return to the areas controlled by the lords of our Southern Province."

Another shill also stood up and replied: "As long as we cross the Southern Mountains and reach the other side of the mountains, it will be a safe place."

Adjutant Piluo immediately asked loudly: "Then have we crossed the mountains and reached a safe place?"

A Soldier acting as a shill shrugged: "I thought it was safer here, but who knew it wasn't safe here either!"

"That's right!" Piluo said loudly: "Everyone here thinks it's safe, but in fact, this is still on the foothills of the Southern Mountains, surrounded by uninhabited forests, a large number of wild beasts, Monsters, and terrible things that can easily destroy the Jiedian!"

"It's not safe here! We thought we had walked out of the nightmare-like Southern Mountains, but as a result, a stupid guy actually used a scam to keep everyone here. Does he have a brain, does he have any conspiracy, and has he ever put everyone's life and death in his heart?"

A Soldier who didn't know what was going on scrambled to answer: "He has nothing! That lecherous and greedy bastard doesn't care about everyone's life or death at all. Anyway, even if he encounters a terrible Monster, he will only command from behind the crowd. Unless everyone is dead, no one can hurt a hair on his head."

This person was not a pre-arranged shill. Piluo was secretly delighted and immediately took the conversation: "That's right! That's right! Knight Hartna fights in front of everyone every time; everyone actually knows this. Although even so, when crossing the Southern Mountains, there were more or less casualties in the team, but no one could blame the fact that Knight Hartna was always at the forefront of fighting the Monsters!"

"If you ask me, everyone shouldn't stay here now. After all, what's the use of us having so many Metal Ingots? Is the money in your pocket really more important than everyone's life? I once heard a joke about a Merchant who, before the disaster came, couldn't care about fleeing with the crowd, but bent down to pick up various valuables dropped by the crowd when they were fleeing. Finally, the ridiculous story of that Merchant being swallowed by the disaster."

Piluo looked heartbroken: "Everyone must not be the ridiculous Merchant who only cares about bending down to pick up valuables when the disaster comes! Losing your life for this is the biggest loss! If your life is gone, no amount of money can be kept or taken away! I have never heard from the Priest of the Church of the God of the Dead that anyone can take a large sum of money with them after death."

"Hahahaha..." The many Soldiers watching burst into laughter, but as they laughed, they looked at each other and couldn't laugh anymore.

They realized that they, the Soldiers who stayed in the mountain forest and built a Jiedian next to an abandoned Mine, were really like the Merchant in the story, sad and ridiculous characters who worked hard to drive the captured Villagers to mine and smelt Metal Ingots in the face of a disaster that could swallow their lives at any time.

Some people's faces were ugly, and they turned their heads and spat.

Others scratched their hair irritably, looking at Adjutant Piluo, who was standing straight, with pleading eyes.

Others were angry, crossing their arms and anxiously crushing the Suishi on the ground with their toes, feeling extremely angry that they had unknowingly become a laughingstock.

Piluo saw everyone's expressions in his eyes and felt that what happened south of the Jiedian today was really great. If it weren't for this kind of thing, he wouldn't have any reason to persuade these Soldiers in the Jiedian.

Now Knight Hartna's condition was very bad, and he urgently needed to take the 【Lizardman Transformation Potion】 as soon as possible to heal the various injuries on his body, but the agreed trading partner did not come—no, perhaps they came, but had not shown up. Perhaps there was a change, or perhaps it was because of the changes on their side that the trading partner was considering cautiously.

After all, the other party only wanted the large amount of Metal Ingots that had been mined and smelted. It made little difference whether they traded with Knight Hartna or with the Soldier Captain Yeluba.

But the trading partner had changed, and perhaps the other party was also re-evaluating Yeluba's reliability as a trading partner, or perhaps the other party knew Yeluba's needs, but they really only brought the 【Lizardman Transformation Potion】 originally intended for the trade and not the large amount of wealth that Yeluba needed and promised to the Soldiers?

Piluo couldn't help but think a lot. Just as he was about to open his mouth to continue inciting the Soldiers to get more Soldiers on his side, twenty Soldiers walked over with a clatter.

Surrounded by these Soldiers was none other than the Soldier Captain—Yeluba!

"I was wondering who was inciting the Soldiers! Isn't this our brave and wise Knight Adjutant! As a loyal dog of Knight Hartna, are you defending the mistakes your master made again? Can you tell me too? I think that as the Captain of the team, I also have a little power to listen to your words, right?"

Yeluba was surrounded by Soldiers who took orders from him, and the two Soldiers who had a grudge against Knight Hartna stood firmly on his left and right, glaring at Piluo.

At noon, both sides could barely maintain respect and politeness, but after what happened south of the Jiedian in the afternoon, Yeluba was already uneasy.

"Can anyone tell me what our good Adjutant just said?" Yeluba asked the surrounding Soldiers loudly.

Naturally, among the Soldiers gathered around, those who were inclined toward him immediately reported, roughly repeating Adjutant Piluo's words.

"Good, really good. I hadn't noticed before that our good Adjutant was so good at lying and so good at inciting Soldiers!"

Speaking of inciting the soldiers, Captain Yeluba shouted viciously.

"Everyone, do not be deceived by this guy! Our good Adjutant says I am greedy and will not share the wealth we eventually obtain with you. He is using things that haven't happened yet to slander me! To say nothing else, the fact that you still have some money in your pockets and some valuable items in your luggage right now—isn't that because I led you to plunder them from that whatever-it-is Cunzi?"

Captain Yeluba looked around, and many soldiers, upon hearing his words, nodded subconsciously.

"Have I stopped you from getting rich? Have I snatched away the valuable goods you obtained through 'labor'? Who has been obstructing everyone from getting rich? Who?"

Immediately, a Soldier standing behind Yeluba shouted: "I know! It is this Adjutant Piluo! He is the one obstructing everything! He is the one obstructing everyone from getting rich!"

The expressions of the many soldiers present changed, and they touched their own money bags, falling into deep thought.

"That's right! I led everyone to get rich, and I also resolved an important matter that would have troubled everyone. I didn't say it before because I still remembered Knight Hartna's fighting along the way, and remembered a bit of the Knight's good, but I am no fool who will not strike back when slandered. I have decided to reveal the situation I had previously kept for everyone, so that everyone can judge it properly!"

Captain Yeluba wore a ferocious grin on his face as he revealed a piece of news: "Do you know why I insisted on attacking that whatever-it-is Cunzi to the north? And why I went to the trouble of bringing those Villagers here and driving them to mine?"

The soldiers were confused; wasn't it to make a fortune and use those female Villagers to relieve everyone's stress?

But Adjutant Piluo had already guessed what the other party wanted to say; he pursed his lips, feeling that he would have to spend quite a lot of breath explaining and refuting this matter to everyone later.

"Because, our good Knight, our good Adjutant, when they first came to discuss it with me, they intended for all of us to replace—no! Initially, they intended for everyone to go into that Mine, dig for Mineral Ore, smelt Metal Ingots, and use the Metal Ingots to exchange for a single Potion capable of healing the Knight!"

The crowd was somewhat bewildered, and Captain Yeluba laughed as he explained: "Do you understand now? They wanted you to go down into the Mine, to bleed, to sweat, to risk your lives, to brave the sweltering heat, to dig for ore with all your might, to pull the bellows with all your might, to smelt metal with all your might. And then what? Use the fruits of everyone's painstaking labor to exchange for a tiny, single bottle of healing Potion needed by Knight Hartna alone!"

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