Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Su Cheng held his knife and patrolled around the camp with the remaining guards of the caravan.

After a wave of purges, many of their hired warriors were killed, but after the depression lagoon, Shi Cha spent a lot of money to hire many good men from the drifters - not all drifters were so eager to go to Shan, this group was a complex existence with a mixture of good and bad people, and could not be generalized.

In addition, they even hired two teams of technology hunters, which was a bit difficult to prepare. At first, when the hunters from Lake Town heard that the destination was Aikuang Town, they either refused or asked for a very high price that even Shi Cha could not accept.

It was not until someone who knew the situation came forward to inquire whether their companion was the white-haired young man who had been appearing beside the prosecutor recently that more and more people began to volunteer.

The price is not affordable.

At one point, Su Cheng even suspected that this was some kind of black-on-black trap.

Finally, he selected two teams of hunters with the most experience in traveling to the Lake Town Mine and had them join the team.

Generally speaking, they are indeed the most reputable mercenaries and bounty hunters. Even if there is something that can make the tech hunters break their contracts, it must be a huge benefit or because of some extraordinary person. Ordinary people don't need to consider this tiny possibility, just like there is no need to worry about the giant moon in the sky suddenly falling out of thin air.

Now, arriving at Ai Mine Town, Shi Cha's confidence, which had been rekindled with great difficulty, was extinguished again: considering the rumors about Ai Mine Town, the team leader specially bought a few more reserve food for pack animals at the depression lagoon, thinking that if he encountered hungry people and bandits, he could give them some alms and buy peace.

Unexpectedly, once the hole was opened, the people who came were not the ones who had stopped the convoy - a black mass of hungry savages emerged from the ruins from nowhere, their number was at least several times more than theirs. They were able to cut down the upper layer, but what they got was probably that their goods had already been looted.

Fortunately, they were exposed early, and the group had not yet left the range of the city wall, and the approaching crowd was repelled by the shield guards - if they had gone deeper, they would definitely not have cared.

In comparison, Mr. Lu's leadership is much more stable.

After entering Ai Mine Town, the other party did not deliberately ask them to act in unison.

It seems that the purpose has been achieved.

Mr. Lu...

Unlike the masters like Shi Cha who are involved in the business circle, sometimes, warriors like Su Cheng who come from the lower class are able to hear more rumors in the market.

Now, the progress of the two teams has been pulled apart. It can be said that Shi Cha's caravan is almost walking close to the city wall. Because of the shield guard's living circle and the closest contact with the outside world, they can even see many "old acquaintances" from the United City.

Shi Cha thrived like a fish in water.

——Compared to being in the ruins.

Occasionally, I would meet old acquaintances from Kaiton City. It was an unexpected feeling to see that the head of this impoverished noble family, who had not been seen for many years, had returned with a caravan in a completely different appearance.

It’s a pity that what Shi Cha really wanted, or rather what he wanted to do - to get close to and please General Tian Xin Li Zheng, has not yet made any progress.

On the one hand, the direction where Kaidun City’s regular army was stationed and Tianxin’s camp was located was just diagonally opposite to where they entered the city.

The farthest distance.

Haven't had time to arrive yet.

On the other hand, Shi Cha has no connections after all.

Just as Su Cheng was thinking this, there was a sudden commotion and the sound of an order coming from the distant city wall. However, it was not the local shield guards who took action. They just dispersed hurriedly and lined up to salute.

Then, a blue and white eagle flag was unfurled.

Waving in the wind under the night sky.

That was a flag that Su Cheng was very familiar with.

The flag of the United Cities.

The one coming was undoubtedly Kaiton City.

However, what surprised Su Cheng a little was that even in the Northern United City, only the military of their central faction of the empire was keen on flying the eagle flag that symbolized the union. Some slightly powerful local lords were actually not very happy about it, but were forced to do so due to the power of the president.

Now, onto South Union City.

As the conflict intensified, their separatist tendencies became obvious, and they probably wanted to replace it with the family crest of their own clan or the flag of the city-state - were the people under Tian Xin Li Zheng of Kaidun City still insisting on flying the blue and white eagle flag?
Eagle flags gradually filled the entire city wall, and heavily armored warriors walked from the other end of the long wall. In order to facilitate mobility, the defense system of the entire Aikuang Town was originally connected, but there were checkpoints at key locations to prevent a garrison from rebelling and instantly controlling the entire city defense.

But with the fall of the Imperial Capital, these ingenious designs had long since become useless, and all fell into the hands of an organization called High Wall Shield.

There are no checks or balances.

However, the shield guards were now pushed aside, clinging tightly to the sides, as if they would fall off if there were no battlements.

Compared with the warriors from Kaiton City who came before, these people looked like homeless people on the street, both in terms of attire and spirit, and were no different from the wild people they were guarding against.

Although the Shield Guards were created by the United Cities, there is no explicit agreement that they must obey their orders. At most, they are given more preferences and privileges.

Not exactly a puppet.

Now retreat like this.

It's really rare.

As a former warrior of the United Cities, Su Cheng was impressed by the military appearance, armaments and military power of the Kaiton City warriors, all of which were better than the Iron Valley Legion he served in. From the small to the big, the military and financial strength of this forging city, the elite soldiers and the commander's military management style are indeed not to be underestimated.

"Whoever controls Scrap Master owns Kaidun City. In the past, Kaidun City also had a lord, but everyone knows that the Scrap Master Group is the real controller of this city-state, so our major families have tried their best to insert their own endorsements to increase their influence." Infected by this movement, Shi Cha got out of the tent. As a Kaidun City resident, he was not as surprised as Su Cheng when he saw this scene, but it reminded him of some memories: "The Tianxin family did not have an advantage in it, and sometimes even fell into nominal lords, until... Tianxin Lizheng appeared."

When he was becoming a martial artist, he started with forging, and he himself was the best master of scraps. This may have contributed to Tian Xinli's steady style of tempering. As a branch of the nobility, he had the opportunity to be trained to become a hooded guard. He was trained in the army since childhood, had rich command experience, and achieved legion level in one fell swoop.

Afterwards, as the coalition forces suppressed the Bloody Rebellion, Yu made great contributions in saving the lord in the chaos and was adopted as an adopted son, thus formally establishing his position in the Tianxin family.

After reaching the war level, the nature of the human body began to change. Even an octogenarian could potentially burst out with abundant strength, and his natural lifespan would be far beyond that of ordinary people. Strictly speaking, the current Tian Xin Li Zheng was not young at all, but Shi Cha even suspected that he could take away himself and several more generations of the Tian Xin family head.

This is the prime of life.

It can be predicted that for a long time in the future, the Scrap Master and the entire Kaidun City will be firmly controlled by the Tianxin family, and they can be regarded as truly being the great lords.

The other major families, at most, are just dreaming of competing for the second position.

And this is all because Heaven’s will is beneficial and righteous.

Because of this, if you can get a promise from the other party - let alone favor or respect, even if the general pays a little more attention to you, you will forget it after a while, and Kaiton City and even the entire South United City will still recognize your extraordinaryness. The benefits that extend out are endless.

This is also one of the main reasons why Shi Cha was willing to come to Ai Mine Town, because he felt that there might be some opportunity, but to be honest, he did not have the confidence.

“Come to think of it, has the power of Kaiton City reached here so quickly? This doesn’t quite fit with General Tianxin’s style.” The young noble stroked his chin with interest, as if he was watching a show.

The other party should proceed step by step.

This is the corner of Ai Mine Town farthest from Kaiton City. If even the Shield Guard organization here is taken over by Kaiton City, given Tian Xin Lizheng's character, it basically means that the entire Ai Mine Town is completely under his control.

After listening to the introduction of the master, Su Cheng felt a little confused, but he looked at the team of warriors from Kaidun City from a distance and frowned: "No... these are not garrisons."

They had no baggage with them.

The reception will be handled by the shield guards, as we don't plan to stay for a long time.

Of course, it's not for fighting.

"That is..." Su Cheng raised his eyebrows and thought of a possibility.

Shi Cha was surprised to see that the shield guards opened the downward passage of the city gate, and the heavily armored warriors did not stay on the city wall, but came down the city in neat attire - he suddenly realized that even elite soldiers with strong physique would not wear such thick armor when marching, but if they were going into battle to kill the enemy, they would not be so particular about demeanor and majesty.

When they got closer, the young noble recognized that it was not some other group but the royal guards of Kaiton City.

...come closer?
The heavily armored warriors are coming towards them!

In an instant, all the eyes of the shield guards on the city walls and other travellers who were taking a rest at the foot of the wall converged on him.

With the same shock in Shi Cha's eyes.

Su Cheng stood in front, but the warriors of Kaiton City were neither humble nor arrogant. The leading ceremonial leader stepped forward, and after a set of solemn and detailed etiquette, he took out a letter from the sandalwood box and handed it over.

"Please check this, Mr. Lu. The general said he has heard of your name for a long time..." The director's tone was flat, and his voice was so low that only the two people in front of him could hear it.

On the letter was the wax seal of the Tianxin family.

……

……

Izumi moved her body and reconnected the broken bones according to the medical knowledge she had memorized - she didn't know many words, many of which she had cheated from the slave owners of the Hunter Gang. Fortunately, most of these surgical books had pictures.

Compare your own body's reactions, and you will learn it after practicing it once or twice.

Izumi already knew how to hug her body in the most suitable posture to protect herself, so even if the man punched and kicked her to vent his anger, her injuries were not serious, and at least she could still move.

The only pity is that the girl never found the pain-relieving potions recorded in the ruins - they would probably be very popular in the outside world and could be used to exchange for a lot of things.

In the end, the man walked away cursing, leaving Izumi in the storage room. Perhaps it was because his body was actually extremely weak and he didn't have the energy to beat or scold him anymore.

Izumi doesn't blame his father.

As the man said, blood hunting is indeed not an easy job. It is dangerous, mentally stressful, and thankless... but it is very intimidating.

Precisely because her father was a blood hunter who needed to go deep into the urban area of ​​Ai Mine Town, other sensible wild folk would not make things difficult for Izumi most of the time.

In other words, can't afford to offend.

But "safety" is safety, and the work of blood hunting cannot bring them much extra rewards, so Izumi needs to work twice as hard to earn the daily rations he needs.

The only thing she cared about and regretted was that she didn't have time to remind her father before he left: there was still a lot of bran and oats pulled from the pack animal's trough last time left at home, which could be mixed with dry breadcrumbs to last time... As a result, she watched the man disappear in her hazy vision while chewing a bread stick.

He also forgot to leave any food for her.

Izumi bandaged the wound and fixed the severed limb with a clamp. Finally, he exhausted his last bit of strength and fainted on the ground.

An unknown amount of time had passed before the girl felt something cool at the corner of her mouth, like dew drops condensed on iron. She subconsciously took a few sips in haste.

Open your eyes again.

It was still pitch black all around.

It wasn't dark, but there was no light at all, and she was still trapped in the storeroom.

Izumi regained consciousness instantly, and for the first time she felt an incomparable fear: Could it be that her father really didn't want her this time?

The girl dragged her limp limbs towards the door, all sorts of wild thoughts running through her mind.

One push.

The door is locked.

Izumi fell to the ground helplessly.

But at this moment, the rusty iron door slowly opened with an unpleasant grinding sound, and light shone in. The girl's pupils shrank, but she could still see the outline blocked by the light. There was no way she could make a mistake.

"Dad..." Izumi's voice trembled a little, and her eyes were a little wet, not only because of the stimulation of the light but also because something else wanted to emerge, but she still chose to apologize first: "I'm sorry..."

Then, the whole person was lifted up.

Izumi was stunned.

"Well, now you realize your mistake, it's too late!" For the first time, the man's voice was out of control, which even surprised her. It was anger and fear. "You bastard... You dared to steal the army's food, you killed me!"

Because of anger, the man unconsciously wanted to roar, but because of fear, he had to suppress his voice: "Now they have come to my door. If you still recognize me as your father, you should find a way to solve it yourself and don't involve others!"

Izumi, who had just woken up, was like a little chick. The man dug him out of the ruins and dragged him out of the house. In Izumi's eyes, which saw the light of day again, the figure of a white-haired samurai was reflected.

(End of this chapter)