Chapter 24 The Duchy of Tsepelsch
When the sweltering heat, mixed with the rusty smell of the sea breeze, hit their faces, the entire port came alive, and every sailor gripped a chain in their hand.
Thousands of sailboats were densely packed in the harbor. The moment all the hatches were opened, the stench of blood quickly filled the entire harbor.
"Weigh anchor!" At the hoarse command, the sailors quickly threw out ropes one after another to hook onto the edge of the deck.
The first ship of slaves was dumped out of the hold like sardines, then roughly driven off the ship amidst whips and urging.
"Smack—!"
"Get out of here—!"
The sound of whips cracking echoed everywhere, and the entire port quickly filled with a large number of orc slaves, who walked in rows toward the screening platform in front.
Seated on countless screening tables were elegant and noble nobles, all holding rusty iron tools, roughly inspecting one slave after another.
The slave owner, dressed in a long robe embroidered with gold thread, used a scimitar to lift the female slave's chin and roughly pressed his thumb into her eye socket: "Persian blue, 5 gold coins! Next!"
The merchant wearing an eagle feather hat next to him pried open the mouth of a tiger clansman, glanced at him casually a few times, and then his gaze fell on the wound on the tiger clansman's heel.
Those were scars resembling those left by rodent bites, which left the tiger tribe members in a very depressed state of mind.
"Inferior goods, take them to the Anti-Magic Highlands to mine!"
Countless carriages creaked and swayed under the scorching sun. When a strong man from the Elephant tribe tried to ram open the cage door with his head, he was immediately whipped hundreds of times with a barbed iron whip.
The port official, unfazed, crossed out one place from the total with a quill pen and then waved for the next batch to approach.
"Damn... this is really the first time I've ever chosen an orc."
Xu Daming was quickly pushed forward under the whip of the one-eyed captain, baring his teeth and looking at the port officer with disdain.
"Is this batch all for the high-class slaves of the Principality of Zepelsch?" The port officer looked up at the burly Xu Daming, made a simple registration, and then turned to the one-eyed captain.
He nodded slightly and replied to the port officer with a somewhat dejected expression: "Yes, we encountered pirates on the way, and six mermaids died."
"Alright, if the remaining quantity is correct, please sign here to confirm." The port officer casually handed over a yellowed piece of paper and pointed to the bottom of the paper.
"That elephant-man is in good shape. It would be a waste to kill him. How about selling him to me?" After signing his name, the one-eyed captain glanced at the elephant-man in the cage.
Following his gaze, the port officer quickly shook his head, a resolute look immediately appearing on his face: "No, that beast speaks a strange language. We had someone translate it, and it doesn't seem to be animal language."
"This doesn't seem to be an isolated case, does it? Is it necessary to be so worried?" Upon hearing this, the one-eyed captain bit his lip in surprise and immediately asked in return.
His gaze suddenly turned cold, and he glanced at the elephant tribesman out of the corner of his eye: "Anyone who can speak that language is rebellious! Moreover, they are fearless of pain, cunning, and treacherous; their behavior is simply incomprehensible!"
"And he loves to say things like 'Wocao code' with a lot of bravado, but I don't know what it means."
"oh..."
During their casual conversation, Xu Daming went through a lot of trials and tribulations on the examination table, being pinched and examined by rusty tweezers.
"vomit..."
Even though I turned off pain synchronization, I still felt a strange sense of nausea at the thought of rusty metal sliding across my wound.
After the tedious procedures were completed, at the urging of the one-eyed captain, Xu Daming's group was herded into a caravan of horse-drawn carriages.
Once all the slaves in this batch were loaded onto the carts, the caravan began its journey along the designated route.
After an unknown amount of time being jostled in the carriages, the caravan arrived at the end of their journey—the Duchy of Tsepelsh.
The Duchy of Tepesh is a small country located in the south under the Caesar Empire, ruled by the human nobleman [Vlad Tepesh] as Grand Duke.
The principalities are subordinate to the empire, possessing independent laws and armies, and are required to pay annual tribute to the empire while maintaining autonomy.
Over the years, under the coronation of Jacqueline, there have been a total of 24 duchies of varying sizes that were subordinate to the Caesar Empire.
After entering the principality, the convoy quickly separated and continued on its way. Countless days and nights passed, until the sun gradually rose from the horizon, and Xu Daming was finally delivered to the foot of a mountain…
...
"I can't wait to see the streamer plant cotton! Are you ready to work hard under the scorching sun!?"
"100 free draws at the start! Not enough?! Here's another 100!"
"Everyone in the manor is talented. They may not speak kindly, but they wield their whips with attitude and force!"
"Our Brother Xu is a cat! He can use his cuteness to seduce the young lady of the manor and then successfully take her place!"
...
Before even entering the manor, the viewers in the live stream couldn't contain their excitement and started joking about Xu Daming's future life.
"bump..."
Xu Daming was kicked off the carriage by the driver, and only then did he see the whole picture of the manor.
"Holy crap..."
"Holy crap! Do all human nobles eat this well?!" Smacking his lips, Xu Daming's eyes gleamed as he looked around incredulously.
Looking out, the dark green moat encircles the territory stretching towards the horizon, with endless wheat fields, scattered windmills, and countless orcs working in the fields.
The castle, built against the mountainside, is even more extravagant. It is enveloped by a cascading waterfall, and its silvery-white main color is incredibly magnificent at the moment the sun rises…
As the dawn broke through the cascading waterfall, the enormous castle was enveloped in a rainbow of light. Upon seeing this, Xu Daming could only exclaim, "Holy crap, it's the Magic Fairy Castle!"
When he came to his senses, he found that all the orcs who had accompanied him were gone, and only two soldiers wearing black vests and holding leather whips were behind him.
"Damn! Another 200 pulls!"
Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. He swallowed hard and instinctively took a step back, bracing himself for a beating.
"..."
The expected lash of the whip did not come. The two soldiers glanced at him impatiently, then stepped forward and dragged Xu Daming up.
"Over here! Are you a little slow on the uptake?"
"Hurry up! Don't keep His Highness the Duke waiting!"
Pushed by two soldiers, Xu Daming quickly caught up with his companions ahead. They were now walking in an orderly fashion toward a small town.
"Don't panic too much. This is the South. As long as you work hard, we won't punish you."
Seemingly noticing Xu Daming's nervousness, the soldier stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
He skillfully unleashed healing magic, and after the wound had healed somewhat, he applied a large amount of herbs to it: "You're the biggest one here. I hope you don't end up being 2.4 meters tall and 1.9 meters tall with a rebellious streak."
"Uh..." Xu Daming was stunned by the two people's actions and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Oh, right! There's one more important thing!" The soldier's tone suddenly rose, and he pointed to the central gate ahead: "If you find any of your companions speaking that strange language, feel free to report them."
"As long as you find one, you won't have to do heavy work anymore! You can be the foreman!" He solemnly extended his index finger, squinting and smiling gently.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Xu Daming scratched his head, his eyes darting around, and asked timidly, "Um... what does 'strange language' mean?"
"Wo Cao password! Lao Zi Kuo Si Wa Jia! Ni Meng En Pi Xi Za Me Gan Zhe Me Dui Wo!" Another soldier quickly closed his eyes and pondered, uttering a strangely off-key sentence.
After speaking, he stroked his chin, pondered deeply, and then looked intently at Xu Daming: "It's similar to what I just said. Although I don't understand what it means, I've heard the Earl say that it's not a good word."
"Ah... Ah... I understand!"
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Xu Daming immediately nodded and patted his chest to assure him.
...
"Hahahaha! This is hilarious! Why do all the players like to call me a player?! The natives all know that now!"
"He's really good at it! Could his count be a gamer?!"
"Impossible! There are only three human players right now. Besides the three generals, are there any others?"
"It's been over 30 years! You guys know what kind of bastards the players have done!"
...
Seeing the soldier speaking broken Chinese, the viewers in the live stream couldn't help but burst into laughter and started making fun of him.
They also warned Xu Daming not to use foul language, lest his companions report him.