Chapter 165: Crossing the Black Mist Mountains!

Rocco rode his horse, walking alone at the very front of the team; the Storm Knights followed silently, their hoofbeats uniform.

The scene in the Lord's Mansion study just now was still replaying in his mind.

Those nobles were truly stupid.

They thought they had grasped his lifeline and could jump out to show off their power and take back everything they had lost.

It was simply wishful thinking.

However, this couldn't be blamed on them.

The trade blockade move was indeed vicious.

If it weren't for Martina's foresight, if it weren't for Red Leaf Forest, this unexpected ally, he would probably be overwhelmed right now.

Martina—

Thinking of the woman who could always bring him surprises, a warm current surged in Rocco's heart.

She was always so calm, so wise, as if even if the sky fell, she could find a way to hold it up.

With her, he felt like he had the most solid backing.

"Master!"

The voice of scout captain Bake came from ahead, interrupting Rocco's thoughts.

Rocco raised his head and squinted into the distance.

Only to see a team of people approaching quickly from the horizon.

The two people at the front were Bake and a tall man exuding a wild aura.

It was the leader of the Red Leaf Forest Tribe, Zewen Brick!

Rocco urged his warhorse to meet them.

"Master Rocco!"

Zewen dismounted from afar, a hearty smile on his face, and walked over with big strides.

"Long time no see! You've become stronger again!"

He punched Rocco's breastplate without ceremony.

"You're not bad either."

Rocco smiled and punched him back.

"Captain Bake, you've worked hard."

He turned to Bake and nodded.

"Serving the Master is my honor!"

Bake said excitedly.

His mission this time not only successfully completed the task but also brought back the tribe's most sincere friendship.

"Master Rocco, I received the letter."

Zewen's expression became serious.

"I've also heard about the tricks those old foxes in the west are playing."

"They want to trap us all to death!"

"Correct."

Rocco nodded.

"So I need your help, Zewen."

"Hahaha! We are allies, aren't we?"

Zewen laughed loudly.

"Helping you is helping ourselves!"

"That ghost place, the Black Mist Mountains, although dangerous, our Red Leaf Forest people have been walking through it for hundreds of years."

"There is indeed a secret path that only we know, which can bypass all checkpoints and lead directly to the plain on the other side of the mountains!"

"Great!"

A giant stone in Rocco's heart finally landed.

"However, having a path isn't enough."

Zewen changed the subject.

"I came this time not just to bring you a positive answer."

He smiled mysteriously and waved his hand behind him.

The dozens of Red Leaf Forest hunters behind him immediately cleared a path.

Revealing the dozen or so sleds fully loaded behind them.

"This is—"

Rocco was somewhat surprised.

"Knowing you are blockaded, you must be short of everything."

Zewen patted one of the packages wrapped tightly in oilcloth on one of the sleds.

"This is the game our tribe hunted during this time, dried meat, and some herbs unique to the mountains."

"There isn't much, take it to handle the emergency first."

Rocco looked at the cartloads of supplies, a hard-to-describe emotion surging in his heart.

This was no longer just a simple ally.

This was truly sending charcoal in the snow!

"Zewen, I'll remember this favor."

Rocco said solemnly.

"Don't say these polite words."

Zewen waved his hand.

"Our tribe also needs your strong liquor to get through the winter."

"Those greedy nobles control all the trade routes, and our days aren't easy either."

"Cooperating with you is the only way we can all survive."

Rocco understood.

Zewen wasn't just out of friendship, but out of the foresight of a tribal leader.

He saw very clearly that in this chaotic world, holding tight to his big tree was the wisest choice.

Such an ally was the most reliable.

"Good! Let's discuss how to proceed next."

Rocco was in a great mood.

"We plan to organize a merchant caravan, escorted by my knights and your hunters, to traverse the Black Mist Mountains."

"We will use strong liquor and weapons to exchange for the salt and cloth we urgently need."

"No problem!"

Zewen agreed immediately.

"My people are familiar with the road. Your people are responsible for safety. A match made in heaven!"

The two smiled at each other, everything understood without words.

This fatal blockade carefully planned by the three western provinces was thus torn open by them in a way no one expected.

"Go! Return to the city!"

Rocco waved his hand.

"I have prepared the best strong liquor for you, tonight we won't stop until we're drunk!"

"Good!"

Zewen's eyes lit up instantly.

The group marched toward Vanguard Valley.

However, they hadn't walked far.

A knight responsible for vigilance suddenly rushed over from the direction of the city wall, fast as a whip.

The knight's face was full of anxiety.

"Master! Not good!"

He rushed to Rocco and shouted, panting.

"Something happened in the city!"

"Something happened?"

Rocco's eyebrows instantly furrowed.

"What's going on? Tell me slowly."

The knight caught his breath and reported urgently.

"It's those nobles!"

"After you and Master Martina drove them out of the Lord's Mansion, they didn't disperse."

"They—they are spreading rumors everywhere in the city!"

"Saying that the west is blockaded, we will soon have no salt to eat, and the grain won't last long!"

"Now the city is in panic, and many people have been incited by them, gathering in the central square, clamoring for an explanation!"

Rocco's face instantly turned cold.

Alright.

Truly a bunch of idiots who don't see the coffin and don't shed tears.

Didn't dare to challenge me to my face, so you went behind my back to incite the ignorant masses?

Do you really think I don't dare to touch you?

"Rocco, what's wrong?"

Zewen, who was on the side, saw that something was wrong.

"Nothing, a small internal trouble."

The corner of Rocco's mouth hooked into a cold arc.

"Just in time, let you see how I deal with these disobedient guys."

He turned his head and ordered Hart behind him.

"Hart!"

"Here!"

"You take fifty knights and come into the city with me."

"Others, escort the supplies brought by Chief Zewen to the military camp outside the city."

"Yes, Master!"

Hart took the order, bloodthirsty light flashing in his eyes.

He knew the Master truly had the heart to kill this time.

Soon, Rocco returned to Vanguard Valley

As soon as they entered the city, they felt an unusually tense atmosphere.

On the streets, there were groups of two or three people gathered everywhere, discussing things heatedly.

Their faces were filled with worry and panic.

Seeing Roko and his party, especially Zewen and his wild-looking hunters, they subconsciously retreated to the side of the road, their eyes filled with awe and curiosity.

The closer they got to the central plaza, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

The noisy clamor could be heard from far away.

"Hand over the salt! We want to live!"

"The Lord cannot disregard our lives just for his own sake!"

"Right! Apologize to the Western nobles! We don't want to starve to death!"

All kinds of voices were mixed together, harsh and chaotic.

Roko and his party pushed through the crowd and reached the edge of the plaza.

They saw that in the center of the plaza, thousands of people were gathered in a dense mass.

They were emotionally agitated, surrounding the temporary supply distribution point so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Dozens of guards, holding spears, were struggling to maintain order, but it was clear they were about to lose control of the situation.

And at the very front of the crowd.

Those dozen or so nobles who had just been driven out of the Lord's mansion by Roko were standing on a makeshift high platform.

They were all filled with righteous indignation, pretending to be pleading for the people, and were loudly inciting the crowd below.

"Fellow villagers! It's not that we aren't trying to find a way for everyone!"

The leading noble was the very one who had been clamoring the loudest before.

"It is the Lord who is acting arbitrarily! For the sake of his own ridiculous dignity, he would rather let us all starve to death along with him!"

"He has great strength, so he can afford not to care! But what about us? What are we ordinary people supposed to do?"

"Our only way to survive is to force him! Force him to bow his head to the Western nobles! Hand over those technologies that don't belong to him!"

"Only then will the blockade be lifted! Only then can we survive!"

His words were extremely inflammatory.

The crowd, unaware of the truth, became even more agitated, and some even began trying to charge the guards' defensive line.

"What a good show, truly."

Roko sneered, looking at the clown on the platform.

He did not come forward immediately.

Instead, he turned his head and whispered a few words to Hart beside him.

Hart nodded and silently disappeared into the crowd with a few knights.

"Roko, aren't you going to stop them?"

Zewen asked with a frown.

"If you let them keep talking, your territory is going to fall into chaos."

"No rush."

Roko shook his head, his eyes terrifyingly calm.

"Let them jump; the higher they jump, the harder they will fall."

"I want everyone to see clearly the true faces of these people."

"And I want everyone to know what the consequences are for playing tricks here."

The nobles on the platform were still performing, spittle flying.

They did not notice at all that danger had already quietly arrived.

Just as the leading noble was shouting at his most vigorous.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several sharp arrows suddenly shot out from the crowd!

They nailed precisely into the wooden board at his feet!

The fletching of the arrows was still vibrating!

The noble screamed in terror, sat down hard on the ground, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant.

The entire plaza also fell silent instantly because of this sudden scene.

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward the direction from which the arrows had come.

They saw Roko leading the Storm Knights and the Red Leaf Forest hunters as they slowly walked out from the crowd.

Every step felt like it was treading on everyone's heart.

That cold and powerful aura made the temperature of the entire plaza seem to drop by several degrees.

"L—Lord!"

Someone in the crowd exclaimed.

The people subconsciously retreated to both sides, clearing a path for Roko.

Their faces were filled with awe and fear.

The nobles on the platform were even more terrified, their legs weak, unable to even stand steadily.

"J—just now, what I heard you saying was quite lively."

【Empty line】

Roko walked to the bottom of the high platform, looked up at the pale-faced nobles, and said slowly.

"Why, not saying anything now?"

"Ro—Roko, Master, we—we were also thinking of the people in the territory!"

The leading noble struggled to stand up, his voice trembling as he defended himself.

"Yes! The will of the people cannot be defied, Master!"

"Right! We are following the will of the people!"

The other nobles also chimed in, talking all at once.

"The will of the people?"

Roko laughed.

"Are you even worthy of representing the will of the people?"

As soon as his voice fell.

Hart brought the knights and dragged out several guys who had been beaten black and blue from the crowd, throwing them under the high platform.

"Master, we caught them."

Hart reported.

"These guys were the ones inciting the crowd the most just now."

"We found this on them."

Saying this, Hart pulled a small bag of gold coins and a black token engraved with a scorpion pattern from the arms of one of them!

Scorpion Society!

Seeing that token, everyone's expression changed!

"Now, do you have anything else to say?"

Roko's gaze shot toward the nobles on the platform like a sharp sword.

"Inciting the people, colluding with the Scorpion Society, intending to overthrow my territory."

"Tell me, what is the punishment for this?"

"No! It wasn't us! We don't know them!"

The noble was scared out of his wits and shook his head desperately.

"This was all their doing! It has nothing to do with us!"

"Nothing to do with you?"

Roko sneered.

He couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on these idiots.

He didn't answer, but announced loudly to the people below the platform.

"Everyone, listen clearly!"

"These people are spies from the Scorpion Society! They mixed into the crowd and spread rumors, all for the purpose of creating chaos and making us fight among ourselves!"

"And these 'noble masters' on the platform are their accomplices!"

"They are the real culprits who wanted us all to starve to death!"

Then, Roko waved his hand.

"Hart! Execute these spies on the spot!"

"Yes, Master!"

The blade fell as the command was given.

Several heads flew into the air.

Fresh blood splattered onto the faces of the nobles on the platform.

They all let out terrified screams, collapsed to the ground, and lost control of their bowels.

"As for them—"

Roko pointed at the nobles on the platform.

"Death is too easy for them."

"Strip them of all noble titles and property! Sentence them to hard labor, to dig in the mines for the rest of their lives!"

"Whoever dares to plead for them will be punished the same way!"

After dealing with these traitors, Roko turned around to face the people who were still in shock and fear.

His expression softened slightly.

"I know everyone is worried about the salt and food situation."

"I assure you, I have already solved these problems!"

"Starting tomorrow, supplies will resume!"

"Now, everyone go home! Whoever dares to gather and cause trouble in the plaza again will be treated as an accomplice of the spies!"