[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-18":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"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},2338481,4572,"Chapter 18","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-18",18,"\u003Cp>After placing the two iron-scaled lizards in the stable beside the castle and instructing Migen and several knight attendants to care for them, Captain Laurent hurried over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, just now, two travelers matching your description entered the town—they’re the exact age of a father and son, and their clothes are tattered, clearly from a long journey!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really? Where are they now?” Gervas perked up, forgetting his lunch entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, those two are currently at the town square; they just bought a black loaf from a shop. I’ve already had the guards keep watch on them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go see them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the wheatfield town square, Luca Hammer was eating a black loaf with his son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two sat on stone benches by the square’s edge, drawing little attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this border noble’s territory, tattered travelers were common; people simply assumed they were from other villages or domains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This gave Luca slight relief—he’d been on the run for over a month, and once a bull-like man, he’d grown thin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for his son, he doubted he could have held on this long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now that he’d reached the border, where could he go next?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Further south lay the dangerous Death Mountains and the lawless Sunset Wastelands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he truly destined to enter the Sunset Wastelands and join bandits, savages, and alien tribes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Luca suddenly sensed someone watching him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up immediately—and there, around the corner of the alley opposite, someone was peering at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their attire: though the leather armor was old and wouldn’t withstand two solid slashes, it still marked them as a guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment their eyes met, the guard instantly looked away, his expression flustered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca’s heart dropped—he sensed trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When did a guard ever fear a peasant slave?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sain, let’s go!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Father, but I haven’t finished eating!” Sain hadn’t reacted yet; moments later, he realized something, his face turning pale, “Father…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shh, don’t speak!” Luca’s face was grim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he spoken than over a dozen guards burst from the alleys on either side of the town’s main road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Guard officers, we’re just ordinary travelers—we’ve committed no crime. What do you want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Travelers, Captain Laurent says the lord wishes to see you. Wait here!” Due to Laurent’s orders, the guards dared not act rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to Luca, it was clear—his identity was exposed; they’d already notified the lord to arrest him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sain, run first!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca shoved his son aside, then raised the thick wooden staff he’d used as a cane and charged at the guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him try to flee, the guards rushed forward, “Stop them! Don’t let them escape!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, the two sides clashed on the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca, no doubt a master smith, possessed strength rivaling a knight’s; for a time, the guards couldn’t get close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clip-clop! Clip-clop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, at that moment, the sound of hooves arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the dirt road from the castle, two fine horses and a carriage were racing toward them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca’s heart turned cold. “Sain, run! Don’t mind me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sain couldn’t abandon his father—he’d refused to flee earlier, and now he was locked in combat with two guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas took in the scene and muttered, “Well now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afraid of harming the smith, he immediately shouted to halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, they were just trying to escape!” The fight froze instantly; the guards stepped back, one stepping forward to report to Gervas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca stared at Gervas, wary and desperate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, Gervas gave no order to arrest him. “I understand. Dismissed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord!” Laurent immediately led the guards away, leaving Luca and his son bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re Luca Hammer, correct?” Only when the guards were far gone, leaving only Lei Meng and the knight attendants, did Gervas speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nobleman, you do know me! So I’m truly doomed. But I have one request—can you spare my son?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Quicke the Count is after me—not my son!” Luca’s eyes pleaded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, Luca Hammer, I’ve seen the bounty notice—but I’m not here to capture you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve seen the bounty notice… and you’re not capturing us?” Luca was confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come with me to the castle first. This place is too crowded.” Gervas offered no further explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Luca grew wary again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m a high knight. My knight captain is a bronze knight. Do you think I’d go through such trouble to trick you into capture?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca’s face burned with shame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed—if Gervas truly meant to arrest him, he didn’t need to lure him to the castle to do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sit!” Gervas directly led Luca into the parlor and invited him to sit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But both father and son dared not sit; Gervas didn’t insist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Luca Hammer, I’m Gervas Gale, Lord of Stormhold. I know you’re wanted, but I don’t know why. Tell me your story.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief hesitation, Luca recounted the beginning of his flight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once been one of Count Quicke’s chief smiths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several months ago, at a market, he’d accidentally acquired a dwarf forging manual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d initially thought it just an ordinary book, but later discovered the dwarf forging techniques were real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He told one of his closest friends—a fellow smith under Count Quicke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That smith, coveting the techniques, framed Luca for stealing silverite from the count’s treasury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca had planned to explain to the count, but the smith had conspired with the count’s younger brother to kill him preemptively, calling it “resistance during arrest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Luca was well-liked and received word in time; he fled with his son that very night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two days later, the count’s bounty notice was issued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca dared not delay further—he and his son fled south, hiding for months, until finally reaching the remote Stormhold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finished, Luca looked at Gervas nervously. “Lord Gervas, you said you won’t arrest us—was that true?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course it’s true. I’ve never broken my word. Luca Hammer, since you have nowhere else to go, stay in Stormhold and serve me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My castle needs a master smith.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chief smith—especially one who mastered dwarf techniques—was top-tier talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This… Lord Gervas, but I’m still wanted by Count Quicke. If you shelter me…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s Count Quicke’s bounty—not the kingdom’s. What’s it to me?” Gervas shrugged indifferently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luca stared, stunned. That was a count!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d never met a minor noble who treated a count so casually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So? Stay in Stormhold. I’ll protect your safety, grant you freedom, and pay you a salary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, your son is fourteen, yes? Do you plan for him to inherit your smithing craft—or shall I have my knight captain recruit him as a knight attendant?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1094,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","29c1e75bbb04fe0eaeb402e3741da0062b541d1facfeb8a586c4cb3a5bd70013","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-19","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-17",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]