I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 113 ends abruptly

Chapter 113 ends abruptly
……

……

Several people with technical skills were assigned to each gather teams to build heated kang beds.

Rhodes then summoned Raine and arranged the hunting team's work.

Rhodes instructed Lawrence to cooperate with Ryan, gather all the hunters, and expand the hunting party.

Rhodes needs to accumulate more meat and simultaneously increase the progress of [Hunting Lords]!

He wants to fulfill all the other conditions of the hunting lord before next summer!

If he has enough power by then, Rhode will start hunting monsters and directly unlock the Hunting Lord attribute!

Another objective is to unlock the "Breeding Lord" entry as soon as possible.

Rod has figured it out: he can't afford to buy cattle, horses, or sheep, but he can afford to raise rabbits!

He arranged for Ryan to lead hunters to set traps around the mountains and fields to catch the rabbits that bred in the summer and grew up in the fall.

Rabbits are highly prolific, with a litter size of up to ten offspring per litter. Even with a high mortality rate, at least three or four offspring will survive.

This exponential growth means that once Rhodes has two hundred rabbits, the "Breeding Lord" trait will be unlocked very quickly.

Catching two hundred live rabbits in the wilderness is not particularly difficult.

After arranging all these things, Rhodes returned to his blacksmith shop and continued to forge weapons.

This is the task that most needs his personal attention right now, and it can significantly improve combat effectiveness.

During his fight with Chris, he deeply realized how much his weapon could help him.

It's like a game-changer, so he needs to focus more on forging.

……

Ding, ding, ding——

"Your Excellency, the patrol has reported that an army has crossed White Rock Canyon."

Rhodes was bare-chested, sharpening his longsword, when a guard suddenly ran in to report.

Rhodes handed the nearly finished longsword to Hamor, who took it and carefully stored it away.

Everyone in the blacksmith's shop knows that they cannot touch the weapons forged by the lord.

Rhodes wiped the sweat off his body, put on his clothes, and returned to the manor hall.

Inside the manor, Durant, Gunner, Ryan, and others had been waiting for a long time.

Everyone bowed in greeting, and Rhodes nodded slightly in response.

After he sat down, Durant took the initiative to report:
"The troop strength is similar to what Earl Falcon described in his letter; there are at least forty men in armor, plus various militia recruits, bringing the total to nearly two hundred."

He paused for a moment, then frowned and added, "However, they do not appear to be attacking. Their marching speed is extremely slow; after crossing the White Rock Canyon, they only covered ten kilometers in a whole day."

"Ten kilometers?"

Rhodes frowned slightly. What was Baron Harlan doing?
A normal person can walk four or five kilometers in an hour, and even the slowest marching speed cannot cover only ten kilometers a day.

"Is that guy visiting my territory?"

"According to the patrol's report, they do seem to be here for tourism..."

Durant hesitated for a moment before replying, "They're moving forward without any sense of urgency."

"What's even stranger is that he suddenly ordered the troops to stop advancing, at which point our scouts thought they had been discovered."

It turned out that the baron had simply gone hunting in the nearby woods, and afterwards he made a fire and cooked a meal... just like a nobleman on an outing.

"Is this guy trying to mislead us?"

Rhodes fell into deep thought and couldn't help but wonder, "Is this guy using a feint to his advantage while secretly plotting something else?"
Does Earl Falcon have other plans?
He looked up at Durant with a firm gaze and said, "No matter what, we can't let our guard down."

Closely monitor his every move and order the patrols to expand their coverage area to see if any other troops are lurking nearby.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Durant agreed with Rhodes's point of view, and others also felt something was amiss.

Therefore, Durant specifically dispatched an extra patrol team to monitor the movements in the border town area.

However, it turned out that Rhodes' judgment was wrong.

After careful reconnaissance, Rhodes confirmed that there were no other enemy troops lying in ambush nearby—Baron Harlan was indeed just leisurely strolling around.

What was supposed to be a three-day trip took Baron Harlan a full week to complete.

Rhodes's ambush troops were practically growing mold in the woods, yet Harlan still hadn't arrived at the agreed-upon location.

Fortunately, Rhodes had enough patience, otherwise he might have already ordered a surprise attack.

Baron Harlan's party didn't arrive until the morning of the eighth day, appearing near the agreed location.

“Your Excellency, Baron,” the messenger leading the way reported respectfully.

"The camp of Lord Chris is located in the ravine ahead."

Baron Harlan nodded casually and ordered, "Go and inform Chris to make the necessary arrangements so he can personally come out to greet me."

The messenger paused for a moment, then realized what was happening.

"The team may be camped deep in the mountains, so you may have to wait a while."

"It's alright, you go ahead. I'll just brew another pot of tea."

As he spoke, Baron Harlan yawned and then instructed a maid to light a fire and brew tea.

Seeing this, the attendant dared not say anything more, nodded in response, and spurred his horse toward the mountain valley.

This so-called attendant was naturally Rhodes's bodyguard.

He went into the ravine and relayed the message to Rod.

Rhodes frowned slightly after hearing this.

"It seems that Baron Harlan is more vigilant than I thought."

Baron Harlan didn't recognize Chris's entourage, but he did recognize Chris himself. If Chris actually came out to greet them, everything would be exposed.

Durant's expression tightened, and he lowered his head to think of a solution.

Gunther looked at Rod and asked, "Sir, what do we do next?"

Rhodes thought for a moment and said, "He likes to put on airs and doesn't want to come in? Then send someone to make them come in."

Durant seemed hesitant. "You mean?"

"Have the cavalry on the outskirts pretend to be a patrol from the wasteland and make some noise for me, then Harun will be willing to come in."

Rhodes believed that Baron Harlan, who was preparing to ambush his granary, would not want to alert his troops rashly.

Durant's eyes lit up at the words, "No problem, my lord!"

Following Rod's instructions, Durant quickly relayed the order.

By setting up an ambush, Rhodes naturally wanted to leave everyone behind, so he left a detachment of soldiers in the rear.

The message was relayed from the flank, and a cavalry squad appeared shortly afterward.

Baron Harlan's scouts, who were left behind, quickly spotted the cavalry squad pretending to be passing by and promptly reported it.

Just as Rhodes had predicted, Harlan did not rashly attack the highly mobile cavalry squad.

In order to avoid being discovered by the enemy, he immediately ordered his servants to destroy any traces and ordered his troops to hide in the mountain valley.

Nevertheless, he remained highly vigilant and sent scouts up the hillside to scout the surrounding area.

Once the scouts stood on the hillside and waved to Baron Harlan, indicating that there was nothing unusual around, Baron Harlan led his team deeper into the area.

However, he did not know that a Rhodes guard was lying beneath the scout.

A sharp dagger was pressed against the scout's groin, forcing him to make a safe gesture.

Meanwhile, Rhodes was standing on the mountaintop, observing everything.

"Wait, wait until all their tails are inside before you tie the opening up."

Rhodes watched as Harlan's group quickly entered the ravine, only to notice a sudden disturbance at the rear of the group.

Harun was more perceptive than expected; sensing something was wrong, he immediately ordered the team to change direction.

"Do it!"

Rhodes knew that the guy had noticed the ambush, so he immediately gave the order!

Suddenly, the horn sounded, and the savages lying in ambush on both sides leaped up from the bushes.

Spears rained down like hail, densely covering the space at the top of the entire valley.

The shield formation was rendered useless by the dense barrage of spears, and was easily pierced by the sharp spear tips!

The spear, propelled downwards with tremendous force, shattered the blocking shield into pieces instantly!

These savages' power has been enhanced by Rhodes' Commander's Edge!
The soldiers screamed in agony, and the orderly ranks were instantly torn apart!

Both sides of the mountain were ambushed, leaving the soldiers with no way to escape!

The new recruits panicked, some standing frozen in place, becoming easy targets.

Blood splattered in the ravine, instantly staining the soil and rocks red.

After the rain of four spears, less than half of the people were able to stand!
The new recruits and militiamen in the ranks had mostly fallen, groaning in pain.

The soldiers at the back of the column tried to escape, but were intercepted by Rhodes soldiers who arrived from behind.

woo-

As the bugle call sounded, Gunle and Durant each led a squad of soldiers down the hillsides on either side, surging directly toward Baron Harlan!
"stop fighting!"

However, before the soldiers on both sides could even exchange fire, Baron Harlan suddenly threw down his weapon and shouted...

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"Baron Rhodes! I have something to say! I have something to say!"

……

Rhodes was initially very confident about the ambush.

He understood it would be an easy battle, but he didn't expect it to be so easy that it would end so soon after it began.

Rhodes frowned as he looked at Baron Harlen, who was bound in front of him.

"Chris said that your strength is close to that of a high-level knight."

You had a chance to escape, why did you surrender?

Baron Harlan looked around and asked in a low voice, "May I speak with you alone?"

Rhodes hesitated for a moment, then waved for the other guards to leave, leaving only Durant behind.

"The remaining person is my most trusted subordinate."