Chapter 20: The Golden Tuna of the Red Mangroves!

“Kodo, what should we do? We can’t just run away—we have so much farmland and orchards here!”

“Run away? Why run away? We just need to kill that guy!”

“K-Kill him?” The wealthy landowners were stunned.

Kodo sneered at them. “What, are you scared? If you’re scared, then just wait to die! That lord has already decided to kill you—he won’t let you live!”

“But Kodo, killing a noble means your whole family gets hanged! And he’s hiding in his castle with dozens of guards—we can’t possibly kill him!”

“No, haven’t you heard? His knight captain is heading to Iron Wolf City to buy grain—that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Besides, how many lords have died in Stormhold? By then, no one will suspect us!”

As he spoke, Kodo himself grew excited, convinced this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“Each of you, hand me five gold coins now. I’ll handle this myself—I’ll hire someone to take care of that lord!”

“Five gold coins?” The wealthy landowners hesitated.

“You’re unwilling to part with gold when your lives are on the line?”

Hearing this, the wealthy landowners reluctantly handed over their gold coins.

“Good. Now go back. Remember—if you don’t want to die, don’t tell a soul about this conversation—not even your wives or sons!”

Once the wealthy landowners left with heavy faces, Kodo turned to his trusted subordinate who had reported to him. “Go at once to the Chaos Wasteland. Take this iron token to Kunto, leader of the Scorpion Bandits. Tell him I have a big job for him.”

“Remember—hurry. The best time to strike is tomorrow!”

“Yes, Master Kodo!”

…

“My lord, the three hundred recruits are ready!”

“Good. Then let’s go!”

Gervas waved his hand and led the three hundred newly recruited men and women toward the eastern coast.

This year’s locust plague has indeed damaged harvests everywhere.

Even if Gervas eliminates a few wealthy landowners, Stormhold’s output will barely sustain bare subsistence.

Thus, the tuna in the intelligence system has become one vital route to increasing food supplies.

“My lord, ahead lies the coast. I’ve heard that in recent days, the shore hasn’t been safe—slaves far up on the cliffs have seen sea monsters appearing on the beach!”

Thomas had already guessed Gervas might be leading them to the coast.

But Gervas merely nodded at his warning and urged his unicorn forward.

This left Thomas both worried and helpless.

Unconsciously, they walked another twenty minutes through woods and narrow paths. Though they hadn’t headed straight for the sea, they were surely close.

“Here we are! Everyone, grab your tools from the wagons and follow me!”

Gervas gave the order, and all three hundred slaves seized their wooden spears and baskets.

After confirming everyone was ready, Gervas led them through the dense red mangrove forest ahead.

As they passed through the mangroves, the view suddenly opened up—and a sight left everyone speechless.

Ahead lay the mouth of a river.

Thomas suddenly remembered: this must be the mouth of the Duonao River.

With the tide receding, vast stretches of mudflat were exposed.

Between these exposed mudflats and the mangroves, pools of water of varying sizes had formed.

Inside those pools, silver-bellied, deep-blue-backed fish were leaping about.

Their sizes varied—some as long as a man, others as long as an arm.

More importantly, the forest was thick, and as far as the eye could see, they were everywhere.

“This… am I seeing things?” Thomas muttered, rubbing his eyes uncertainly.

“You’re not imagining it, Thomas. But if you don’t hurry, the tide will rise again. Every minute wasted means hundreds of pounds of food lost!”

Thomas snapped to attention. “My lord, I’ll order everyone to start catching fish at once!”

He immediately bellowed, “You lot, what are you standing around for? Go catch those fish!”

“Whoever wastes another minute, I’ll beat them senseless later!”

“Whoa, fishing!”

Instantly, the awakened slaves—old and young alike—rushed toward the mudflats.

Even Mi Gen and the other knight retainers couldn’t resist. “My lord, may we go catch fish too?”

“Go ahead!”

Thus, hundreds of people fished on the mangrove mudflats for over two hours.

Had the tide not begun rising, they would never have wanted to leave.

So many fish remained uncaught.

“Damn it! Why didn’t we get to fish longer? Just half an hour more, and we’d have gained ten thousand pounds!”

“Come on, Thomas. Don’t be greedy. The fish we caught today—if distributed—will feed the whole town for two months!” Gervas was remarkably calm.

With the intelligence system in place, such opportunities would surely come again.

Then, everyone returned loaded down. One wagon wasn’t enough—they had to make all the slaves carry the catch.

Even carrying over a hundred pounds each, they felt no fatigue.

When the group returned to the village, it was already dark. The townsfolk had no idea what Allen had done with the three hundred men or how much fish they’d caught.

That was perfect. Allen ordered everyone straight to the castle and began processing the fish through the night.

So many fish could only be preserved by pickling.

Fortunately, being by the sea, salt was plentiful. In one night, twenty to thirty thousand pounds of fish were cleaned.

At dawn, as the slaves prepared for work, Allen issued a gag order and rewarded each person with five kilograms of fish meat.

Overjoyed by the reward, the slaves eagerly swore to keep the secret.

…

“These slaves are so easily satisfied!”

Watching the slaves, exhausted from a full day and night, yet overjoyed at receiving barely a fraction of their due reward,

Gervas thought: if he couldn’t thrive with such slaves, he truly deserved to be called a failed transmigrator.

The darkest hour had passed; dawn was near. A streak of crimson light bloomed across the distant horizon, heralding a new day.

【Ding! Daily intelligence has refreshed…】

【Intelligence One: Your plan to eliminate the wealthy landowners has reached Kodo and others. He has spent twenty gold coins to hire members of the Scorpion Bandits.】

【The Scorpion Bandits will arrive in Stormhold at dawn—six men total: two Grand Knights and four full Knights.】

【They will join Kodo in seeking an opportunity to assassinate you, the new lord!】