Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 293 Imperial Engineering Master Artillery School and Legendary Missions
How could President Roger refuse Su Li's request? He took the initiative to mention the fifth underground floor just to invite Su Li to take a look.

So after Su Li finished speaking, he immediately stood up, laughed and said, "The fifth underground floor is usually not open to outsiders. Even the head of the Chamber of Commerce is not qualified to enter. But Brother Su Li is not an outsider to our Chamber of Commerce, so of course you can go in and browse. If there is a slave you like, you can ask directly. I will make the decision and sell it to you at the best price."

Although he knew that he was talking nonsense and that it was good enough that he didn't kill his acquaintances, Su Li still smiled and said, "Thank you, President Roger."

The fifth underground floor is where the Gray Market Company's truly high-value slaves are imprisoned. He cannot miss this opportunity when he comes to Marley Castle this time.

President Roger took out the key and said to Su Li, "Please follow me, both of you."

Even Roger, the president of the gray market company, had to go through strict inspections when passing through the underground corridors, and several doors had to be opened by him personally with keys and gems.

Seeing this, Su Li began to believe what President Roger had just said. Ordinary chamber of commerce leaders were probably not qualified to enter.

Especially when passing through the fifth-level gate, this gate is made of the dwarves' iconic refined brass, about 10 meters high and 8 meters wide. Each door weighs thousands of pounds and requires a complex mechanical transmission device to open.

The mechanism that unlocked it was the rune lock on the gate, which meant that a key inscribed with the same power source could be used to activate it. Dwarven runes were crafted with the power of their bloodline, a system of runes that formed its own. Even if someone else crafted the same key and rune pattern, if their bloodline was different, they wouldn't be able to activate the mechanism on this gate.

As the door rumbled open, the appearance of the fifth underground floor suddenly appeared in front of Su Li. In the middle of the hall was a statue of Redma holding a war hammer. It was made of black iron, nearly 10 meters tall, and engraved with the church's holy words like liquid gold.

Hundreds of chains then extended from the bottom of his hammer, burying themselves in the surrounding circular prison like a spider web. Under the suppression of the holy image, all demons and monsters were unable to stir up any waves.

The small cell where Boros Dragonhammer was previously imprisoned was completely dwarfed by this place. Each cell here was made of black steel, and there were two knights wearing fine steel plate armor guarding the cell door.

There were more than a hundred cells, which was not a lot. It would take less than an hour to finish looking at them all. He looked at them one by one and was shocked at the very beginning.

In the first cell was imprisoned a vampire noblewoman. As a vampire, her skin was abnormally pale, whiter than snow, but she was extremely powerful and possessed champion-level combat power.

The vampires in this world were originally rebels from the knights of the human empire, so they are not those sickly people with Eastern European accents hiding in the dark world. On the contrary, they are powerful warriors who can wear heavy armor, hold big swords, and go to the battlefield to chop people.

Seeing Su Li and Hirud standing in front of the cell, Roger was very interested in the female vampire inside. He smiled and said, "This is a vampire noble captured by the Empire on the southwest battlefield last year. She is only 230 years old this year, very young, but she is already a powerful Blood Knight. She also masters two death magics, which can perform Life Siphoning and Hell Vitality."

"[Hellish Vitality]?" Su Li asked curiously, "What power does this magic have?"

He had seen Life Siphon before and was deeply impressed by it, as it could directly use the purple wind of death to absorb the life force of others. However, this was the first time he had heard of Hell Vitality.

President Roger was in a good mood and jokingly said, "This is somewhat similar to the sacred power of your Blazing Sun Church. Vampires can use this power to inject primal malice into large numbers of undead creatures, forcing them to act swiftly. In addition, they will become more proficient in using weapons."

Hmm? Isn't this the same divine spell as Hildurde's [Master of Combat]? She can also teach Violet's martial arts to her allies.

This means that this female vampire is also a strategic talent.

Before Su Li could ask further, President Roger took the initiative to say, "You know, some powerful Bloodline Knights with the Fire of Resoluteness burning in their bodies like to conquer this kind of vampire. Rumor has it that our great God-Emperor Redmar once slept with a vampire noblewoman. Therefore, many knights are willing to challenge this taboo. Many lords of the border princely territories of the Empire are very interested in her. The current auction price has reached 11500 gold crowns. In less than three days, the auction will end. If you, the Bauhinia Knight, are also interested, you must act quickly."

11500 gold crowns?

Are these people crazy?

帝国奴隶的价格一向是有明确区间的，也就是一个职业40～60个月的工资。比如一名精英骑士每月工资是5枚金王冠，那奴隶的价格就在200～300之间。同样的，一名冠军骑士每个月工资在25枚金王冠，那一名奴隶的合理价格就在1000～1500枚金王冠之间。

Of course, due to the scarcity of Champion Knights, their attributes are somewhat similar to luxury goods, so high-level slaves have a significant premium, but generally only 2-3 times the price.

Normally, selling for 3000 to 4500 gold crowns is a reasonable price. This price is enough to ensure that even a kingdom's knights wouldn't be able to afford a champion knight even if they saved up forever. And even if a barony's tax revenue is higher, after deducting the massive military expenses and territory maintenance costs, it would take several years, or even decades, to use the fiscal surplus to buy a champion knight.

Champion knights were relatively common only in earl and duke territories, while champion knights could only be seen in electoral territories. Su Li had a rough idea of ​​this when he first set out from Bauhinia Castle. At the time, he was very proud that the combat effectiveness of the army he had built was comparable to that of the electoral territories, but the size was only equivalent to a small squad in the electoral territories.

But Su Li really didn't expect that such a female vampire could be sold for 11500 gold crowns? There are so many rich people in this world.

Su Li decisively waved his hand and said, "I just sold so many witchcraft props to President Roger, and I only earned 9000 gold crowns. Even if I return them all to you, President Roger, I still can't buy such a vase."

President Roger laughed heartily. "That's because the Bauhinia Knights haven't experienced the joy of conquering vampires yet. They devour human vitality and essence, and their suction power is far beyond that of humans or elves. Furthermore, they only suck blood, not grains, and don't need to defecate, so their anus is clean. They are simply the perfect toys."

Tsk, you guys are really playing tricks. Su Li felt that compared to them, he was simply too pure. Looking at it this way, Su Li felt that he didn't have to worry about being corrupted by sexual abuse. After all, there were so many more sexually abused guys in front of him. His behavior was not worthy of the Prince of Pleasure's attention.

Then Su Li breathed a sigh of relief, left the cage door, and walked inside. The next person imprisoned was actually a powerful minotaur!
Su Li's eyes widened as he asked, "Why do you still have such horrible slaves? Shouldn't they be executed directly?"

Guildmaster Roger smiled and said, "Direct execution would be a waste. In fact, many nobles and knightly orders purchase these terrifying monsters as training beasts. This is a powerful Doomsday Bull. I'm sure you've heard similar stories from travelers. These creatures worship suddenly appearing rock idols or piles of stones, sometimes "feeding" the corpses of their enemies to these rock totems (herd stones). Brave heroes who enter the sacred places guarded by the minotaurs, which are filled with dark forces, end up being eaten by them."

This was Su Li's first time to have such close and safe contact with the Minotaur, a species so famous in all adventure stories. He looked at it carefully out of curiosity and asked, "What is the relationship between this Minotaur and the Beastmen?"

"Minotaur is a misnomer given to them by many people. In fact, their true name is bullhorn. Current academic opinion believes that bullhorns are close relatives of giant horns, and before experiencing some unknown corruption, they may have once looked more like humans. However, all this cannot be verified, as no humans have had long-term communication with these towering bull-like monsters. Bullhorns are strong and have an almost insane thirst for blood and flesh. They are the elite troops of the beastmen, but although they are dissatisfied with the term beastmen, which refers to their rough nature, they can still accept it reluctantly. Although the average minotaur has a certain degree of strategic thinking and the concept of forming alliances for profit, their existence is purely to eat the enemy or trample them into pulp."

"The Bullhorn Tribe, composed of bullhorns, is a typical war beast herd. Although these creatures have close ties with those areas brimming with primitive instincts and unclean magic, they have spread widely across the Mortal Realms, influenced by their own bloodlust and wreaking havoc. Members of a war beast herd are usually connected by blood, but their savagery leads to frequent cases of killing each other within the herd. Such fights require the herd's Doomsday Bulls and stronger blood relatives to stop. The relationship between the bullhorns and the taller minotaurs (four-armed minotaurs) and cyclops bulls is still unclear, but judging by their appearance alone, there must be a certain relationship between the two. The bullhorns and cyclops bulls may be the result of minotaurs wandering in the wild for a long time or eating too much meat at one time and then mutating."

"You should know that these Doomsday Bulls and Four-Armed Minotaur can unleash the power of their bloodline, trampling the earth to create shockwaves that can delay the charge of more than a dozen knights. The strongest Four-Armed Minotaur and Cyclops Bull can incapacitate an entire elite knight chapter with a single attack, stunning them and imprisoning them in place, interrupting their charge. Therefore, it is very necessary to buy one and train the knights to deal with this tactic."

Su Li nodded and reminded him, "Then don't sell it easily. The target of the Imperial Expedition is likely to be Mount Oka in the Border Prince's territory. Many knights will be interested in fighting with the powerful Doomsday Bull."

"Oh?" President Roger looked at Su Li with interest and asked, "Does the Bauhinia Knight actually have inside information about the highest levels of the empire?"

As a businessman, he was quite good at judging people. Ever since entering Maleburg, the Bauhinia Knight had clearly shown a very cautious and conservative streak; he was definitely not the type to spout big words or make irrelevant remarks.

Since the other party had revealed this information, he believed that the Bauhinia Knight must have some basis for his confidence. Of course, Su Li couldn't explain it to him, so he looked forward. The quality of the slaves on the fifth underground floor truly demonstrated the strength of the Gray Market Trading Company.

In addition to vampires and minotaurs, Su Li later also saw lizardmen from the Lustrian rainforest, tigermen from the starting point of the Spice Road, and of course the indispensable elf beauties and dark elf beauties.

However, since Roger said these elf beauties were not virgins, Su Li didn't pay much attention to them. If they were not virgins, given the decadent lives they led, there would be countless people like them, and Su Li would not be able to buy them.

After passing through dozens of prison cells, a middle-aged imperial man finally caught Su Li's attention.

Hildre saw the badge on his chest and whispered in Su Li's ear, "This is the senior engineering master of the Imperial Engineering Academy!"

Su Li looked at Roger in surprise and asked, "You even buy and sell people from the Imperial Engineering College?"

Roger laughed wildly and wantonly, "What's so surprising about that? In the Border Princes' Territory, everyone can be treated as merchandise. That includes the noble children of certain Elector Counties! After they're defeated in battle and captured by other pioneering lords, they'll be sold to our slave trading company. We'll then negotiate with the Elector Counties' people and force their families to pay a ransom worthy of their noble status."

To be honest, Su Li would be more accepting of the nobles paying the ransom after being defeated. After all, the border prince's territory was full of imperial knights who came to open up the territory. The loser paying the ransom was just bringing the internal traditions of the empire to the border prince's territory.

Even Su Li himself had mentally prepared for this possibility. If he were defeated, his captors would likely not simply chop him down, but instead tie him up and demand a ransom from the Bauhinia Family. If his cheap father, Count Suna, was willing to pay around 2000 gold crowns, the victor would surely release him and expel him from the territory. A more compassionate one might even send him to Bauhinia Castle. But if his father refused to pay the ransom, Su Li would be forced to become a slave, working for others.

However, Su Li was a little surprised by this senior engineering master from the Engineering College. He was a very high-end talent in the entire company.

"He was also captured after the defeat of a certain Elector Count's son?"

"Indeed, his captors sold him to our Chamber of Commerce. He's a formidable master engineer, having graduated from the Imperial Engineering Academy. It's said he's already qualified to teach, but he chose not to remain at the academy and was instead hired to come to the Border Princes. He's far superior to the apprentices at the Imperial Engineering Academy. As you know, the Imperials have always had a pioneering spirit, and his improvements to gunpowder and artillery shells are truly remarkable."

Su Li raised his eyebrows, turned to look at Roger, and asked solemnly: "Improve gunpowder and artillery shells? You must be kidding. Gunpowder is an ability that only dwarves have. How can a human like him improve it?"

Their conversation caught the attention of the master engineer inside. He was unshaven, but his spirits were strong. Upon hearing Su Li's doubts about his abilities, he suddenly grabbed the bars of the cell with both hands, staring intently at Su Li and saying, "You stubborn human, your brain is comparable to that of a stubborn dwarf! Who said that improving artillery shells requires changing the gunpowder itself? Engineering, engineering technology, do you understand? Through reasonable engineering structure, the gunpowder can be stored in different sealed chambers of the artillery shell, so that a giant shell can be fired, dispersed in the sky, and several beams of flames will fall from the sky, enveloping an entire phalanx and completely destroying it. This is a technology that those rigid dwarves would never imagine. Even if you give them ten thousand years, they will still be stuck in the same old techniques as their ancestors."

Roger immediately added fuel to the fire and asked, "How about it, Bauhinia Knight, are you interested? This is equivalent to the power of Akshay magic."

Akshay is the god of fire, and he controls the flaming wind.

Hildreth clearly knew more about this aspect and whispered in Su Li's ear, "This ability is indeed similar to the [Ujur Holy Fire] in pyrotechnics. The wizard launches a massive magical fireball, which explodes in mid-air, generating dozens of flame beams that sweep towards an area of ​​enemy troops. Upon impact, the flame beams explode into flames, capable of damaging multiple enemies. This spell is an advanced version of Ujur Fire and can only be used by a fourth-ringed mage, at least the equivalent of a champion knight."

Isn’t this just a magic version of a rocket launcher?

Su Li suddenly became more interested in this engineering master from the Imperial Engineering College. If he made improvements, the territory's mortar could fire a huge shell, which would then explode in the air, generating more than a dozen shells trailing flaming beams that would smash towards the enemy position.

Isn't this an anti-infantry weapon? He now has four mortars, which is equivalent to having four fire mages.

Of course, this weapon would inflict far less damage on elite cavalry. Knights in heavy plate armor simply couldn't be harmed by this kind of fragmented flame beam. After all, two Earth fighters dropping eight 8-pound bombs in a carpet bombing raid only injured a dozen or so people. And a close-range hit on a farm vehicle only severely injured two. The scattered shells certainly wouldn't inflict significant damage on the more resilient knights in heavy armor.

But the mortar itself is not aimed at high-level knights, but at slower-moving infantry. At least if four mortars are used to concentrate fire for one round, two or three teams of beastmen, inferior beasts, goblins, and goblins will collapse and flee.

However, from the perspective of transaction negotiation, no matter how interested Su Li was, he couldn't show it directly. So he frowned and asked jokingly, "With such strong abilities, how come his territory was destroyed and still hasn't been sold? President Roger, do you think there's really nothing strange about this?"

Roger laughed heartily. "I won't hide it from you, Brother Su Li. His ability is indeed very strong, but the conditions are very demanding. First, you need an artillery factory and let him participate in the initial production of artillery shells. This is not an easy task. The knights of the Empire trust their horses and lances more than anything else. Who would spend a lot of money to build an artillery factory? And even if they are willing to invest, where can they find the means to build an artillery factory?"

Indeed, artillery factories can't be built simply by having dwarves. The Empire has countless territories with dwarven expatriates, many even housing communities of hundreds. However, artillery factories are rare; even many large cities lack them. Even powerful earls and dukes can only purchase them one by one from the dwarves.

The fact that Bauhinia Territory was able to have an artillery factory was entirely due to Oliver's investment at all costs, which cleared out all the dwarf pledge money that Su Li had seized from the Dragon's Nest in one go. The Foreign Minister took these dwarf pledge money and bought 0.5% of the shares of the Gray Mountain Dwarf Artillery Guild in an irresistible manner.

Faced with the dwarf oath money, the proud dwarves had to bow their heads and keep the promise of their ancestors. Only after giving Su Li 0.5% of the shares did Lord Heisen qualify to build a [Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry]. It was built with the support of the Gray Mountain Dwarf Artillery Guild.

Since the end of the war, Su Li has only produced four mortars. He originally thought it would take years to recoup his investment. If the dwarven pledge money had been used to buy artillery instead of shares, he would have more than 4 higher-end artillery pieces by now. If he were to produce on his own, he didn't know when he would reach that scale.

But Su Li hadn't expected the investment to pay off so quickly. Without the [Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry], the Imperial Engineering Master wouldn't have been able to improve the types of artillery shells.

This person could be said to be a perfect match for the Hesse Territory. Furthermore, if he could be captured, Su Li felt that he would be able to officially build the military academy that Dean Oliver had built.

This imperial engineering master can serve as the dean and build the Hessian Artillery Academy.

While Su Li was thinking, President Rosen took the initiative to say, "I see that Brother Su Li is quite interested in this engineering master, Francesca von Friedrich. How about 1000 gold crowns? This price is very favorable! There is no premium at all."

"If you buy this Imperial Engineer, I can also recommend a powerful dwarven slave, Torek Ironbrow. He's a rune master from the dwarven Ironforge, and carries a legendary quest for Karak Ironspire. If you can help him fulfill his destiny, you'll not only gain the friendship of Karak Ironspire, but also a quarter of their clan's wealth."

"And such a powerful high-level champion dwarf only costs 5500 gold crowns! So, I'll round it up for you. How about 6000 gold crowns for two slaves?"

Francesca only has 1000 gold crowns? Su Li clenched his fists excitedly. This time he really found a treasure!
I'm afraid that when he made the offer, Roger would never have imagined that Su Li, a small border development territory, would really build an artillery factory at all costs! Otherwise, he would never sell such a talent to Su Li for a mere 1000 gold crowns.

This talent is worth more than 10000 gold crowns to the Hesse Lords!
You have to know that other nobles who own artillery factories are either earls, dukes, or even electors, and can directly recruit engineering masters from the Imperial Engineering College. If Su Li missed this talent, there would be no other way.

So Su Li took a deep breath and said, "I'll leave 1000 gold crowns as a deposit. You send them both to the territory. My guards and I are both air cavalry, so it's not convenient to take them with us on the journey."

Su Li was quite interested in Torek Ironbrow's legendary quest and a quarter of a dwarven clan's wealth, considering him a bonus to Francesca. 1 gold crowns were a good deal, even for a rune master.

"No problem, just wait in the territory for me to deliver them safely!" Roger agreed to this request decisively and generously. Anyway, they were also sending a caravan to the Hessen Territory to transport the "Star Armor", so this was just a matter of convenience.

(End of this chapter)