Chapter 209: Coercion and Inducement

The slaves had exhausted almost all their strength for this chance to participate in the official competition, because they were people without any specialized skills, and other than their bodies, they had nothing else to offer; furthermore, having heard that they only needed to win in these contests and become one of the top three to gain their freedom, they naturally erupted with astonishing potential.

Those about to go to the grounds to participate in the official competition were incredibly nervous; after all, the dawn of freedom was right before their eyes, and if they missed it this time, they might never have hope again in this lifetime.

There were still many clansmen who came to watch this time; originally, the clansmen thought that slaves should not be allowed to watch, but after Baifeng considered the pros and cons, he felt it would be better to let them see, as there was no important work to be done right now anyway.

As for other matters, it did not matter if they were delayed for two days; the most important thing was to let them see it with their own eyes, as only then could it stir up the desire to strive within their hearts—only through effort could one gain a harvest in the Baifeng Tribe. At the same time, it was to let the slaves know that their Baifeng Tribe would not engage in that kind of deception; the competition was fair, and the rewards were real; otherwise, some slaves might not easily believe it in their hearts.

After recuperating for a whole Winter, the slaves had no problems with their bodies, though they were still relatively thin and weak; it was heard that many people were injured during the competition because, in order to seize the opportunity, they were playing for their lives.

Baifeng sent these slaves to the physician to be looked at, because he had also been training the physician for a long time, and now he lacked some actual patients for him to treat without any scruples; the slaves were just right for him to practice on. Mainly, those injured slaves could be cured at a very small cost; if left unattended, it would lead to them becoming useless people, which would be a loss and a disadvantage for the Baifeng Tribe.

At the same time, Soldiers reported to Baifeng that in several Nuliqu, in order to seize the opportunity, some people had secretly attacked their own kind at night; the methods included but were not limited to using stones to scratch opponents, smothering competitive opponents, and so on; most importantly, it was not just one person.

By the time the Soldiers discovered it, the tragedy had already been wrought. Not to mention the severity of such an incident, it mainly caused a loss to the Baifeng Tribe's property. Baifeng was very angry after hearing this, but not shocked; humans are inherently barbaric, and for the sake of their own interests, there is nothing they will not do.

Consequently, Baifeng stated that this matter must be handled strictly, but after catching the culprits, do not kill them yet; wait until the day of the competition for him to execute them. After all, such a large competition for their tribe could be considered a celebration, and it was normal to need a sacrifice.

Although their tribe had never been particular about blood sacrifices or human sacrifices, and Baifeng even tried his best to avoid them, in this situation, it was perfectly acceptable. It would just happen to deter this kind of Wind Evil; the original intention of sports events was peace. Did one not see that Baifeng had given Free Persons and clansmen the same equal opportunity, and had also given slaves the chance to compete? The purity of this event could not be destroyed.

But the problem was that one had to catch those people first, yet because it was something done sneakily at night, there was no way to identify the culprits; this was a rather difficult matter.

However, Baifeng taught those Soldiers that interrogation does not need to be gentle, and when facing slaves, there is no need to talk about reason; the most important concept is to use coercion and inducement.

After hearing Baifeng's private instruction, those Soldiers all expressed that they had learned something, because these matters fell within their scope of responsibility; having such vicious incidents occur within the group of slaves they managed was not good for their own future.

After all, the Baifeng Tribe's Work Point System could not only add points but also deduct them. If you were ordinary for a year and had no performance, your work points would be zero; those who contributed would have points added, and those who made mistakes would have them deducted. As long as points were deducted, punishment was mandatory, and they dared not hide such matters, nor could they.

After learning the methods, those Soldiers where the incidents occurred returned to their jurisdictions, gathered all the slaves, and held leather whips in their hands. After dipping them in water and cracking them in the air with a loud bang, it made the slaves' buttocks tighten in fear.

They had basically all been whipped by these when they first arrived. Do not look at the Baifeng Tribe's good treatment, where one could eat well and sleep well; when working, you had to put in twenty percent of your spirit. If you slacked off or were lax, that whip would show no mercy.

However, this situation improved after everyone got used to the Baifeng Tribe's circumstances; they even slowly discovered that the Soldiers managing them were easy to talk to. As long as you did not slack off at work, and said you needed to go to the toilet or drink some water in the middle, they would not stop you. As time went by, some of them forgot the rough side of the Soldiers, and thus this incident occurred.

First was coercion: the hundreds of slaves were called out one by one and asked if they knew who had done this bad deed. If you came up with a name and had evidence, good, you could go back. The next one came up; if the first thing they said was that they knew nothing, they were whipped twice first. They slept together at night; it was unbelievable that they had not noticed such a big commotion of hurting and killing people.

After one round, several suspects were pulled out, beaten first, and then told to prove their innocence. If one had already been clearly pointed out, they were not even beaten; without a word, they were taken away, leaving the bewildered slaves behind.

Three incidents occurred in different housing areas, and four people were caught. They all accepted their fate; there were no scenes of kneeling and crying out for injustice like in television dramas. They were all already scared into quails. Baifeng was too lazy to ask further; he believed his Soldiers could handle this little matter. Finally, hearing that they had succeeded using only coercion without inducement, Baifeng was very satisfied with this.

As for those four, they were tied together and thrown outside, with the night watchmen keeping an eye on them, to be executed when the slaves' competition started tomorrow.

The Baifeng Tribe's Heaven and Earth Stone had already been moved to the grounds during the competition. This was also to tell the clansmen that the spirits were watching, to make them strive in the competition, and at the same time, to make everyone afraid to play dirty during the competition.

The next day, the slaves' competition began. Those slaves who had successfully been selected entered the venue first, with the remaining slaves watching from behind. Because there were too many slaves, they used a diversion method: two days, four stages, with a batch of people coming in each stage, taking turns, so it would not be crowded. The Baifeng Tribe's clansmen who wanted to watch were on the city wall, and the slaves were below.

The slaves were also led by their own managing Soldiers. If there were fewer people when they returned at the end, it would be the responsibility of the Soldiers in charge, so those Soldiers were all acting very strictly at this moment.

First, Baifeng entered the venue. He did not say a word, just lit the bonfire in front of the Heaven and Earth Stone and burned pine and cypress branches. Then those four slaves were brought up; after a night outside, they were already frozen to the point of barely looking human.