[{"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-180":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},2338643,4572,"Chapter 180: Great Nobles Do the Strangest Things!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-180",180,"\u003Cp>Such an excuse, Gervas could never believe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Cooper, are you certain?” Gervas then gave him a look as if granting one final chance to reconsider.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh… Baron Gervas, this is still the Baron Kain’s territory!” Cooper, though slightly uneasy, did not yield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a noble’s true authority only holds sway within his own lands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond his territory, if Gervas dared lay a hand on him, it would be no different from banditry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pfft!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Gervas could speak, Migen and the others burst out laughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, Cooper and his men had no idea that Baron Kain’s territory had changed hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They simply couldn’t hold it in!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s so funny? Isn’t this still Baron Kain’s territory?!” Cooper frowned, feeling that both Gervas’s party and Baron Kain’s domain were filled with strangeness today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Cooper, how long have you been traveling deep into the Chaos Wastes?” Gervas asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron Gervas, we set out roughly two months ago—what’s the issue?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Cooper, that’s why it’s no surprise. Baron Kain now belongs to me, Gervas—he’s become part of Stormhold!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooper froze. “How is that possible? How could Kain have given up his territory…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Gervas’s serious expression, Cooper opened his mouth to question—then stopped mid-sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooper suddenly remembered the dismantling of Baron Kain’s castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any noble with half a brain would never tear down his own castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what if a baron had two castles?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How is that possible? Where is Baron Kain now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Cooper connected the dots, his heart sank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could Baron Kain have been quietly eliminated by this noble scion from a great family?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just to seize this territory…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And such things had happened before in the kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooper instantly broke into a cold sweat and instinctively stepped back several paces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas didn’t know what Cooper was thinking, but from his expression and posture, he guessed it was something terrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not wanting to stir up trouble, he immediately explained: “Manager Cooper, don’t jump to conclusions. Baron Kain died heroically in this year’s kingdom campaign.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must know about the recent barbarian tribe invasion—every noble along our southern border participated!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron Kain fell in battle, and I was luckier—I earned some merit. So, Baron Kain’s territory was granted to me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This news should be known throughout the kingdom by now, yet you’ve been deep in the Chaos Wastes for two months and didn’t hear it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This… is it… really true?” Cooper was skeptical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course it’s true! Would I lie about territory?!” Gervas snapped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So, Manager Cooper, can you now sell these barbarians to me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Y-yes… I suppose so?!” Cooper’s smile looked worse than crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He never imagined that even after detouring, he still couldn’t escape Gervas’s “claws.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Gervas bought the fifty barbarians at two gold coins each.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Cooper himself, the price wasn’t high—even just a baseline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because barbarians’ strong physiques were highly sought after in major cities within the kingdom’s heartland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially in cities with arenas, the price could rise further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Gervas buying them all at once counted as wholesale, saving them other costs, so selling to him wasn’t a loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron Gervas, I’m selling you these barbarians, but I need to take back these common slaves…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas now had no shortage of people—or rather, no shortage of common serfs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, aside from the barbarians, he didn’t force the purchase of any other slaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Cooper, will you pay for these with luminescent pearls or gold coins?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron Gervas, are luminescent pearls still one gold coin per pearl?” Cooper asked cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then luminescent pearls it is!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last time, if he hadn’t used luminescent pearls to pay, he would’ve been punished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, a twenty percent tax—if he brought back luminescent pearls, he could avoid it entirely, so the shortfall fell on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas didn’t waste time—he began counting the luminescent pearls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Cooper, based on last time’s experience, Stormhold now collects taxes—you understand that, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooper’s face dropped instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could he not? The twenty gold coins last time had hurt him deeply!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here, ninety luminescent pearls. Since this is our second transaction, I, Gervas, recognize your slave caravan—future trade taxes will be one in ten!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And for all transactions between you and me, I’ll pay in luminescent pearls.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, Gervas handed over ninety luminescent pearls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he traded with the fish-people, luminescent pearls were no rarity to Gervas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So paying with them was still a profit for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once nobles later discovered luminescent pearls had flooded the market, gold coins would become more valuable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, one in ten was for long-term consideration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The quality of slaves Cooper brought was excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas hoped for lasting cooperation—after all, he couldn’t rely on daily intelligence to buy slaves forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooper was stunned and delighted. “T-thank you, Baron Gervas! Baron Gervas, how generous!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d been exempted from ten gold coins in tax—and still paid in luminescent pearls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d effectively gained ten gold coins extra.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d surely be praised upon returning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you find better slaves in the future, come to me. If I like them, I’ll negotiate the price.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, don’t call me Baron Gervas anymore—I’m now a viscount!” Gervas clapped Cooper on the shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“V-viscount?!” Cooper’s mouth gaped wide enough to swallow an egg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boss Cooper, didn’t Gervas the baron… I mean, viscount… get promoted too fast? Only half a year, and he’s not only gained a new territory but also risen to viscount!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Isn’t that the truth! But those from great noble families have foundations we can’t imagine!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Indeed, it’s unimaginable. Boss Cooper, which great family do you think Gervas Viscount comes from? Why would someone from such a family risk the frontier—especially Stormhold?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What kind of family? At least a marquis! Only marquises or dukes have the guts to rise from Stormhold, this land of death!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, I heard some great families like to send their scions into hardship for training—called trials. If they succeed, they return to the family and get promoted!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Trials? There are really such things? Great nobles do the strangest things! But Boss Cooper, our kingdom doesn’t have any marquis or duke families named Gervas, does it?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1025,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","366ed7a669c748a756a86f340bbe7b6a59d6c141555176e04e356779f818d82e","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-181","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-179",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]