[{"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-50":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},2338513,4572,"Chapter 50: They Must Be Brought to Justice!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-50",50,"\u003Cp>“Don’t… don’t hit me anymore, noble sir, I’m wrong, I truly know I’m wrong!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carlo, beaten until stars danced before his eyes, begged and pleaded for mercy from Gervas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas finally stopped, “Where’s the electrum? And tell me how many men your Scorpion Bandits have altogether!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll tell… I’ll tell, noble sir, the electrum is buried under the stone on the left side of the cave. Our Scorpion Bandits total…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Carlo only wished for death, for living was too much torment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Gervas found the electrum exactly as Carlo had described.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition, Carlo had also revealed details about the Scorpion Bandits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The core group numbered over two hundred, but during major raids, they could summon another two or three hundred ordinary fugitive bandits as auxiliaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So their total strength reached five hundred men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a minor lord, where even dozens or hundreds of men could be called a battle, this was a formidable force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, beyond Carlo, the Scorpion Bandits had a second-in-command and a top leader, both stronger than him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Kuntuo, who had been deliberately assassinated, he ranked fourth—effectively the fourth-in-command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is somewhat unexpected—a bandit gang with such strength!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the electrum matter likely wouldn’t be exposed, Kuntuo’s death would certainly be investigated by the Scorpion Brotherhood—perhaps even already known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, this utterly wicked bandit gang might still have a chance to retaliate against Stormhold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, as much as he spoke, Gervas wasn’t overly concerned; given enough time, he wouldn’t fear the Scorpion Bandits much longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, there’s also a letter here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a knight reached into the corpse of the now-dead Carlo and pulled out a letter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas opened it immediately and found it was written by someone from the Quake Earl’s family to a leader named Blood Wolf Settlement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The letter stated that if this electrum transaction succeeded, he would find ways to smuggle more electrum from his family for future trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smuggling electrum from the family?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it not the Quake Earl himself?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas suddenly remembered the earl’s younger brother who had conspired to falsely accuse Lukas the blacksmith.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This electrum must be the very one that went missing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Gervas held it with greater peace of mind—it was stolen goods!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After cleaning up the surrounding traces, Gervas led Lei Meng and the others away directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the forest still held the Quake caravan’s lost ordinary goods, they were too conspicuous and worth little, so Gervas had no need to covet them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, Da Wen is the Quake Earl’s younger brother—he conspired with that blacksmith to falsely accuse me!” Back at the castle, Gervas showed Lukas the name on the letter; Lukas the Hammer was overcome with emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was proof of his innocence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lukas, I, Gervas, swear by the God of Radiance: I will deliver this evidence to the Quake Earl within three years at the latest, and clear your name!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Th-this, my lord… you need not do this!” The rough Lukas, chief blacksmith, stared at Gervas in disbelief, eyes brimming with gratitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This involved five hundred gold coins—he had never dared hope Gervas would help clear his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now, Gervas had sworn before the God of Radiance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five hundred gold coins—even six years would not let him earn that much for the man!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lukas, I feel the pain you suffered from false accusation, so I must do this. Had I not needed this electrum so desperately, I wouldn’t have made you wait three years!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Gervas, I will wait! Lukas thanks your mercy!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lukas fell to his knees in tears, and Gervas immediately stepped forward with humble courtesy to help him rise, performing a scene of deep lord-servant bond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Lukas likely didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the power of the intelligence network, Gervas might not need three years—he could soon rival the Quake Earl’s family in resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, five hundred gold coins would be nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And by then, would Lukas even want to leave Gervas’s golden nest of Stormhold?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, I’ll start immediately—begin forging longswords!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem. Are these materials enough for ten longswords?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, they’re more than enough. I may even save some material to forge a shield!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good, Lukas, I leave it to you!” Gervas nodded and left the forge with peace of mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he stepped into the front courtyard, he met Migen, drenched in sweat, with another knight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How did it go, Migen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, you were right—they really entered our Stormhold!” Migen was excited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas understood. “Come, to the meeting hall. Summon Lei Meng and the others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas then gathered the other knights into the meeting hall, and Migen began recounting the afternoon’s events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to Kain Town, they waited just over an hour before the Tulip Caravan sent a group toward the southern wilderness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the prearranged group of hunters appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They numbered over twenty, all carrying longbows; their builds were sturdy, clearly well-fed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a smooth transaction, they exchanged their goods for wheat, cloth, thread, and farming tools, then headed east.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following Gervas’s orders, Migen and his men kept their distance, but the hunters’ trail was too obvious—they were followed all the way into Stormhold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, Migen’s group lost the hunters’ trail over ten miles farther east than where they’d captured the Ironhide Fire Lizard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the area had become dense forest, with mountains ahead, Migen’s men turned back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, these hunters are clearly thieves hiding on your land, avoiding taxes!” Lei Meng immediately labeled them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lei Meng, Captain, you’re right, my lord. From afar, we observed at least two to three hundred pelts they sold—clearly they’ve poached far too many animals!” Migen immediately agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, this must be stopped—those thieves stealing your wealth must be brought to justice!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Gervas’s subordinates, defending his interests was the knights’ duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, whether Lei Meng or Migen and his men, all were outraged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, in daily life, they also hoped their lord treated serfs kindly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that kindness rested on serfs fulfilling their tax and labor obligations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rest assured, now that we’ve pinpointed their location, I will not tolerate tax evasion within my lands!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lei Meng, Captain, notify Captain Laurence to assemble fifty guards. Migen, prepare your gear—we depart in half an hour!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1047,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","41502f4b9d0eaa16d4bf549b4d8483f78b423910f96f84ad75ee57be944f7fb2","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-51","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-49",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]