Chapter 279: Transaction, Greed, and Arrival at the Holy Kingdom
"Starting today, come here every three days to drink one of the red potions."
"Also, raise your arm," Tang Zheng said, his expression turning serious.
Lizardman Kuru Xue hurriedly raised her arm.
*Shing!*
A dagger appeared in Tang Zheng's hand. With a flick of his wrist, a cold glint flashed through the air, and a cut immediately appeared on the arm of Lizardman Kuru Xue.
Blood flowed from the wound.
Tang Zheng picked up a nearby empty potion bottle and collected the blood. He didn't stop until all the bottles that had previously contained the dragon blood she drank were completely full.
"You've worked hard. Go and rest now," Tang Zheng said, his voice becoming much gentler.
Due to the significant blood loss, the body of Lizardman Kuru Xue felt limp, and a look of weakness filled her eyes. Yet, her mind, on the contrary, grew clearer and more invigorated.
"Lord, if you need it, I can provide you with blood at any time." Lizardman Kuru Xue wasn't afraid; instead, she let out a sigh of relief.
She was still useful!
As long as she was alive, she could ensure the safety of the Lizardman Race.
Watching Lizardman Kuru Xue depart, Tang Zheng's gaze fell upon the potion bottles filled with blood. "Whether it's because of her class or her bloodline, the effect of the 'Dragon Blood' is clearly much better on Kuru Xue."
"I've always used a single type of blood for my research. I'd never really considered using a mixture of different blood types."
The first day of the second month.
A medium-sized sea vessel was anchored in the sea southeast of the Holy Kingdom. The sky was overcast and gray, with a light rain falling.
The sea breeze was not strong.
After all, it was a sea region close to the mainland, but the ocean surface still rolled with waves, causing the entire vessel to rock and sway.
A middle-aged man with ordinary clothes, wrinkles spreading from the corners of his eyes, and golden hair stood on the deck. His hands gripped the ship's railing tightly as he gazed toward the blurry shoreline.
Even though his clothes were soaked through by the rain, the golden-haired man showed no intention of returning to the cabin to take shelter, his face instead filled with worry and nervousness.
The Holy Kingdom is a peninsular country surrounded by the sea on three sides.
A body of water, approximately forty kilometers wide and two hundred kilometers long, runs through its center. The entire country can be understood as having a concave shape, and it is precisely the existence of this sea that divides the nation into the Southern and Northern Holy Kingdom.
The Fortress Wall was built on the right side of this concave shape, completely separating the Holy Kingdom from the Abelion Hills.
To enter the hills from within the Holy Kingdom, there was only one official route: through the Fortress Wall. The only other path was to travel by sea along the border.
Entering the second month, most of the country would experience frequent rain. Being a peninsular nation surrounded by the sea on three sides, its rainfall was relatively abundant.
This was not a suitable time to set sail.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
The golden-haired middle-aged man's palms, gripping the ship's railing, tightened once more. "Lord Baron... *Sigh*, I hope this wasn't the wrong decision."
About half a month ago, news emerged that ogres from the hills had gone to the fortress to trade with humans.
This was as unbelievable as the detestable demi-humans from the hills suddenly surrendering to them.
The higher-ups at the Fortress Wall had suppressed the matter, but it still leaked out. The Lord Baron had heard this rumor at a banquet, which was what gave him the idea.
"May the Four Great Gods protect us. I hope everything goes smoothly."
"This matter absolutely must not be known by the other high-ranking nobles, or even Her Highness the Holy Princess," the golden-haired man prayed inwardly, his face twisted in a grimace.
If word of this got out, their Lord Baron would surely be sent to the gallows.
At this moment, on the distant shore, several humans dressed as commoners were staring in terror, trembling, at the twenty massive, powerful ogres that had appeared before them.
"Demi-humans! They're demi-human ogres!" one of the commoners stammered, his legs shaking. A stench of urine wafted from his lower body as he spoke.
"Shut up!" The man who looked to be the leader, relatively strong, shot him a fierce glare, terrified of accidentally provoking the group of ogres. His sudden outburst had made the other commoners flinch.
Against these ogres, let alone escape, there were so few of them they probably wouldn't even be enough to get stuck in their teeth.
"Food. The food we want," an ogre growled impatiently, glaring with crimson eyes at the empty-handed humans before it.
The other ogres turned to look, one by one. Some licked their lips, while others even started to drool.
Faced with all these cannibalistic gazes, the human commoners' legs had gone soft. Some wanted to run but found their bodies were too paralyzed by fear to take a single step.
"Weak humans."
"So hungry. I want to eat meat."
"…"
Seeing this group of pale-faced humans, several ogres burst into taunting, mocking laughter.
"The goods are on the boat!"
Hearing the mockery, the leading commoner suddenly felt a surge of courage. His voice trembled involuntarily, but he still shouted loudly, "We need to deliver our items to the ship first before we can give you the food."
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
The ogres, their scalps covered in fleshy warts, turned their heads to look at each other, unable to decide for a moment.
"Give them the stuff." The lead ogre waved a thick arm that nearly touched the ground.
Large chunks of gold ore were carried over by ogres from the back and thrown down in front of the humans.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Each piece of gold ore made a huge sound as it hit the ground, shaking not only the earth but also the hearts of all the commoners.
"Gold?"
"Is this gold?"
The group, who had just been terrified, now found their breathing growing ragged as they stared at the gold ore before them, which still reflected a golden glint even in the gloomy weather.
These humans obviously didn't know what was being traded.
Soon, having calmed down, the group painstakingly carried the gold ore to the boats on the shore. Piloting the small boats, they quickly left the coast and disappeared into the rainy mist.
Only the group of ogres was left standing on the shore, waiting.
"They left."
"Will they come back?"
"Don't know."
"So hungry, want to eat meat."
"…"
A chattering discussion arose. Although the ogres' intelligence was low, that didn't mean they were stupid.
Time passed, bit by bit.
Soon, the humans who had left before returned, piloting even more small boats. Their holds were piled high with all sorts of grain and meat.
It took dozens of trips back and forth before all the food was thrown onto the shore. One of the humans yelled, "The trade is complete!" at the group of ogres, then piloted the last fishing boat away as if fleeing for his life.
"Take the food," the lead ogre said in a droning voice.
Meanwhile, all the humans who had returned to the large sea vessel finally breathed a sigh of relief. Being in such close contact with the man-eating ogres had left everyone terrified, afraid they would be eaten.
"Ba'ergau, come here."
The golden-haired man looked at the commoners collapsed on the deck. The worried expression he wore not long ago had vanished, replaced by his usual haughty demeanor.
"Lord." The commoner who had mustered the courage to speak with the ogres scrambled up from the ground.
This was an important person—the butler to the Lord Baron of their territory.
"Tell me about the entire transaction process," the golden-haired butler said lightly.
The commoner recounted the entire process without reservation, making sure to mention his own brave performance, his eyes full of expectation.
He hadn't expected a noble lord to actually dare trade with demi-humans. He thought of that brilliant gold ore.
The commoner subconsciously swallowed.
The value of that gold ore far exceeded the value of the wheat, other crops, and meat given to that group of ogres.
The Holy Kingdom has abundant rainfall and flat terrain. All kinds of crops and grain are plentiful. Otherwise, it wouldn't have implemented a universal conscription system, completely different from the Empire and the Kingdom, nor would it have gone to the trouble of building the Fortress Wall.
In terms of national strength alone, the Holy Kingdom was far more powerful than the Re-Estize Kingdom.
"A bunch of ogres actually followed the rules."
"They didn't even check?"
After listening, the golden-haired butler's eyes glinted with regret and greed. "This time, we prepared fresh grain and meat."
"If I had known, I would have mixed in old grain and carrion. The ogres wouldn't have checked anyway. For these demi-humans that eat anything, eating something rotten shouldn't be a problem."
The golden-haired butler muttered to himself while raising his arm and giving a wave.
Before the commoners on the deck could react, dozens of soldiers armed with weapons surged out from the rear cabin.
"Kill them all. Throw them into the sea to feed the fish," the golden-haired butler said, waving his hand in disgust.
In an instant, screams and the *splash, splash* of bodies hitting the water echoed across the sea vessel's deck.
…
*Creek, creak...*
An Evil Spirit Hound pulled a carriage along the muddy road. The wheels rolled over the rain-soaked ground, and with their rapid rotation, muddy water splattered into a dense shower of black droplets, flinging onto the low shrubs on both sides of the road and the path behind them.
Inside the carriage, Enri pulled aside the cloth curtain and looked at the majestic Fortress Wall that was gradually coming into view in the distance—soaring and stretching beyond sight.
"Is this the Holy Kingdom? It's amazing," Enri gasped, covering her mouth.
In Enri's mind, the city of E-Rantel was already magnificent enough, but it was nothing compared to the Fortress Wall before her, which stretched as far as the eye could see.
"Oh, have we arrived?" a gentle voice sounded from behind. Tang Zheng pulled aside the rear partition and entered the front compartment of the carriage.
"Lord."
"Lord."
Enri's delighted voice and the Green Leaf Witch's respectful voice sounded out.
Tang Zheng looked through the curtain Enri had opened, his gaze also falling on the Fortress Wall gradually emerging from the rainy mist. "A bastion, is it? It's nothing special."
He shook his head.
"A fortress isn't truly secure if its walls also serve as the border," Tang Zheng retracted his gaze and spoke lightly.
"Lord, are you finished with your alchemy research?" Enri was overjoyed to see Tang Zheng, who was usually absorbed in his research and rarely appeared.
"Alchemy research is never-ending."
Tang Zheng smiled and reached out to ruffle Enri's chestnut-gold hair. "Some things are truly endless, but I can take a break for now."
"That's wonderful."
Enri felt the warmth of his hand, a contented smile spreading across her face. "Lord, you always work so hard. It must be very tiring."
"Working a little harder now is better than suffering later."
Tang Zheng extended his index finger and gently tapped Enri's forehead, then turned to the Green Leaf Witch beside them. "Have you adapted?"
"I have mastered it completely, Lord."
The Green Leaf Witch immediately replied respectfully. She understood that Tang Zheng was asking about the immense power she wielded when transformed into the Forest Sage King.
Her aura had indeed stabilized a great deal.
Tang Zheng glanced at the Green Leaf Witch and gave an imperceptible nod.
*Awooo!*
Outside the carriage, the Evil Spirit Hound let out a low growl. Its voice was both affectionate and a warning, and the carriage began to gradually slow down.
"We've finally arrived... the Holy Kingdom," Tang Zheng thought to himself, gazing at the now-clear city wall outside the carriage.
(end of chapter)