Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

"It was the same this morning. Everyone said they had found it, but after all that effort to break open the wooden stake, it turned out to be just a rat's nest! All that effort was for nothing."

"Why did those damned cowards leave so many tree stumps here? They've made us feed on those long-legged mosquitoes for days in this mountain hollow..."

"Is that even a question? They obviously don't want us to find it."

…………

Faced with the crowd's doubts, the man holding the axe was clearly somewhat insecure. In his excitement, he had shouted it out, but if he actually opened it, it might just be a pile of rotten wood, and he couldn't possibly see through the wood to the inside.

In his eagerness to verify, he and his partner, each wielding an axe, increased their strength and quickly enlarged and extended the hole they had created until it was large enough to fit half a body inside.

He reached out and took a torch from the side, then prepared to peek inside, but was stopped in time:

"Throw a couple of stones first to scout ahead. Aren't you afraid the badgers inside will bite your nose off?"

"How could there be badgers in a hole like this..."

Despite saying that, he still picked up two stones from the ground and threw them in. After hearing them clanging and clattering inside without any unusual noises, he felt relieved and, with a torch in hand, leaned inside.

…………

"We're rich! We're rich! We're really rich this time!"

Kochkin paced back and forth excitedly, not staying still for a moment. In his excitement, he refused to stop and ran around wildly until Colin kicked him down, which finally calmed him down.

"You'd better be a little more normal! Go and bring the carriage over here."

Colin was clearly not very calm, as her face was flushed and she was breathing rapidly, but she was still able to make decisions and urge the stunned crowd to take action.

They had already cleared a path through the dense bushes nearby, and soon three carriages were driven in. The people guarding and driving the carriages were their fellow villagers, who were called over to help because they knew each other well.

The clearing in the jungle was piled with boxes of all sizes. These boxes were of very poor quality, consisting of only a thin wooden board, eight wooden strips glued together, and a few nails. They would fall apart if dropped on the ground. Because the contents inside were extremely heavy, they had to be handled with extra care.

The mountain people deftly loaded the boxes one by one onto the horse-drawn carts, filling all three carts to the brim. A layer of boxes piled high on top, and the wheels were pressed into the mud by the immense weight. In the end, the horses couldn't even pull them anymore, so they had to unload some boxes and transport them a second time.

Everyone's face was filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest—after working so hard for so long, with the long-legged mosquitoes sucking away several kilograms of blood from their bodies and their legs covered in leeches and ants, it was all worth the trip.

Although it hasn't been inventoried yet, a quick glance is enough to tell you how enormous this fortune is. If someone were to set their sights on it, they could easily raise a well-equipped army with it... Of course, it would only be well-equipped; well-trained soldiers wouldn't be easy to recruit.

They were all beaming as they gathered their tents and sleeping bags from the nearby bushes, packed their backpacks and slung them over their shoulders, and after organizing everything they needed, they lined up and left, leaving behind those damned long-legged mosquitoes and blood-sucking leeches.

………………

They moved swiftly, traversing mountains and valleys, and soon emerged from the deep, dense forest. Because of their well-organized formation, they moved even faster than elite mountain hunters… and thus witnessed this scene before them—

The boxes had already been placed on the ground, and a group of men who had come with them to help had opened the bags and were picking through the gold, gems, silver, and copper coins inside, laughing and stuffing them into their pockets, like bandits returning from a robbery and dividing up their spoils.

The mountain archers stared in disbelief, then a chilling sensation spread down their spines... In their excitement, they hadn't even considered this, forgetting just how much of a scoundrel their lawless fellow countrymen were!

Without their leader needing to say anything, everyone immediately scattered and rushed into the midst of the still-moving creatures, grabbing their sword sheaths without mercy and striking them on the head. Countless curses poured from their mouths like raindrops as they kicked and punched them away from the valuables.

Having spent so much time in the military, they quickly picked up all sorts of swear words, and now, under their barrage, the jovial mountain people were completely bewildered. They were about to run away with their heads in their hands, but one by one, they were grabbed by their clothes and arrested.

Arresting them wasn't enough; they showed no mercy whatsoever, beating their fellow villagers mercilessly until they were crying out for their parents and writhing in agony.

The one who fought the fiercest was a short girl. Colin was so angry that his hair was practically on fire. He grabbed his sword sheath and started hitting people indiscriminately. Several of his own men were even accidentally injured by her and hurriedly ran away.

Only after all these people had been knocked to the ground, their groans of half-dead agony filling the air, did Colin, finally managing to catch his breath, speak out angrily:

"You bunch of idiots! Are your heads empty? You sons of bitches! None of you are as smart as the pigs in your own mud sty! Who told you to rummage through these spoils! If you want to die, just tell me, and I'll give you a quick and painless kill! If you want to die a little slower, I'll slowly skin you alive!"

As Colin's insults grew increasingly vulgar, some of the unruly mountain people, despite having just been beaten, still shouted defiantly:

"There's so much stuff, and we put in the effort too, what's wrong with sharing a little? We're all from the same village, how can you be so heartless?!"

"Yes, yes, we also contributed! We're all from the same village. As long as you don't tell anyone, who will know? Wouldn't the whole village benefit too? How come you look down on people just because you joined the army!"

"Yes, yes, it's deep in the mountains, who knows how much we've found? Just turn a blind eye, and everyone'll be better off, won't they?"

"Everyone who sees it gets a share! Everyone who sees it gets a share!"

"I'm your uncle!"

…………

Once one person spoke, the others followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, they exuded a menacing aura. Each of them relied on the fact that they were from the same village and related by blood, displaying a rather arrogant and fearless attitude.

The mountain girl, whose anger had subsided somewhat, suddenly felt a surge of heat spreading from the back of her head, making her dizzy and lightheaded. Even her breathing became difficult, and she gripped the scabbard in her hand so tightly that it creaked and groaned.

Kochkin and his men were equally furious. Looking at their stupid and muddle-headed fellow countrymen, they felt like they were looking at a bunch of squealing idiots, and for a moment they were speechless.

After regaining his composure, Walliff could no longer contain himself. This hot-tempered man stepped forward and began to hurl insults at the crowd:

"You're only allowed to vent your anger now because you're from the same hometown! Otherwise, you'd all be beheaded for what you just did! You fools, don't you know you're no longer the hunters you used to hunt in the mountains?!"

"Your names have already been registered in the military records; you've long been enlisted! If this is discovered, not only will you lose your lives, but your families will also be implicated. Do you even understand this?!"

"If we hadn't arrived in time, and you had really hidden the things from us and put them in your own pockets, our entire tribe would have been implicated when the truth came out. We wouldn't be living such a good life then! Your brains are as stupid as if they've been crawled on by insects!"

"Of course we get a share of what we found, but we have to hand it all over before it's distributed to us. How can we be at a disadvantage? The laws of the army are so strict! You're all acting like idiots, trying to pull the tiger's whiskers!"

………………

At first, the mountain people didn't take it seriously, but as the insults became more and more vicious, they all turned pale and realized what the consequences would be. Some even started to tremble with fear.

The other archers joined in, criticizing their fellow countrymen with a barrage of words, each one more exasperated than the last. They couldn't believe these people, with whom they had once been on good terms, could be so ignorant… This wasn't the era of remote, isolated cities; under the control of a large army, how dare they do such a thing? This went beyond mere suicide…

"I know some of you are carrying something. Take it out now! If I find anything else later, I won't let you off the hook. Hurry up!"

Colin, barely containing his anger, shouted loudly, his eyes even revealing a murderous intent that sent chills down the spines of the listless mountain people. After looking left and right, they hesitantly took out the valuables they had just packed in their arms.

Before long, those precious treasures such as gold and jewels were piled up... I don't know how they hid them in their clothes.

Kochkin and his men swarmed forward again and began to thoroughly search everyone—unsurprisingly, several guys who were hoping to get away with it had hidden some items.

Colin showed no mercy to these people, immediately ordering them to be stripped of their clothes, hung from trees, and severely beaten with leather whips until their skin was torn and bleeding.

Kochkin hesitated, unsure whether he should treat them this way, but the girl remained resolute:

"It's better to get a beating now than to lose your head later, otherwise they'll dare to do it again..."

Chapter 188 The Hunt (1)

A golden light illuminated the entire tent, making Tersolius's eyes glaze over. He had to squint and rub his eyes, which may have been partly due to his two nights of working through the night, making his eyes a little too sensitive.

It has to be said that Colin really gave him a big surprise... The wealth piled up in front of him, filling the tents, was most likely the wealth accumulated by bandits in the mountains, and now it had fallen into his hands.

The guys in front of me were all covered in dirt and dust, as if they had crawled out of the deep mountains and forests. Even experienced hunters would be covered in mud and fallen leaves, not to mention that they had been in there for a whole week in search of this treasure. They must have fed the mosquitoes their fill these past two days.

"Well done, you deserve credit."

Tersolius waved his hand slightly, and immediately a military clerk went to handle it. The mountain people cheered, feeling that their hard work over the past few days had not been in vain. In particular, some of the unlucky ones had been bitten by mosquitoes particularly badly, and their bodies were covered with large and small bumps that had not yet disappeared. They had scratched themselves until they were bloody, and they would probably suffer for several more days.

"Since you found these things, you're entitled to a share. Go and collect them yourselves after the inventory is complete."

…………

The matter was resolved quickly, and news of the mountain people finding the treasure spread like wildfire. Especially after they received their share of the spoils, they instantly became the wealthiest group in the army, even richer than the well-paid officers. Buying houses and land in the city was no longer a difficult task.

This legendary event caused a huge uproar in the army. Many people who had previously participated in the bandit suppression were kicking themselves in regret, wondering why such good fortune hadn't befallen them, when they had also traversed mountains and valleys with the local people...

For a time, the mountain people attracted envious and jealous glances wherever they went. They truly stole the show, just as Kochkin had predicted. For a while, no one remembered the jokes they had made before. They were now completely associated with the concept of making a fortune, and anyone who mentioned them would immediately think of them.

In particular, besides sharing the spoils of war, everyone also had their merits recorded. It should be noted that in this country with a large and elite army, earning military merits is never an easy task. One after another, capable and strong soldiers fight bloody battles here, and the difficulty of standing out from among them, gaining merits, and rising through the ranks is unimaginable.

The massive victory that had previously decimated the Kurist forces had brought the entire legion a fortune. Besides the spoils of war, everyone had been promoted, many breaking through the bottlenecks that had bound them for years, rising to the rank of centurion or chiliarch. The Myris legion, which had joined forces with them, also reaped considerable rewards, but such opportunities for merit were extremely rare…

An elite legion soldier can be allocated a piece of land after retirement and live a life where he doesn't have to worry about food and clothing. However, if he has a military rank, his treatment will be very different. A squad leader can usually get a position like a village protector after retirement, and his treatment is incomparable to that of an ordinary soldier.

As for the centurion, it goes without saying that reaching this position already allows them to accumulate considerable wealth. Unless they are fools, it is easy for them to become rich and powerful after leaving the army.

It is precisely because the differences are so vast and the treatment so disparate that no one wants to be left behind, and it is even more difficult to gain enough merit... In fact, many people envy the honors they receive more than the wealth they acquire, and their eyes are red with jealousy.

Suddenly, the mountain people were all beaming with pride. They felt triumphant, as if their previous misfortunes had been blown away by the wind to the Palias Mountains, leaving no trace. Now, they even walked with their noses in the air, risking being sacked.

Of course, they toned it down a bit later. After all, they weren't really fools. Although they were straightforward, they realized that it was easy to offend people...

Tomorrow is the day of departure. The mountain people in the village who have joined the army have also arrived at the military camp for training. However, for some reason, many of them have bruises on their faces and marks from being whipped, but they all avoid talking about it and look guilty, as if they are afraid that others will find out something.

If pressed too hard, they would just make up some excuses to brush it off. Although some people were still curious, they were just a group of new recruits after all, and soon no one was interested in it anymore. After all, they were leaving tomorrow, and supplies were already fully stocked. Everyone had packed their luggage and were all eager to go home, so they couldn't be bothered with unimportant things.

The thousands of new recruits recruited earlier have already received some training; at least they know basic drills and marching. This time, they will return with the legion and be stationed near the capital. They will not be able to go home until they receive permission and leave.

Everyone is waiting for tomorrow's sunrise to begin their journey home... but some are waiting for something else...

………………

The soldiers guarding the cells wore short-sleeved chainmail, with a short sword at their waist and a simple helmet on their heads. They were using white waxwood sticks to knock on the cell doors, creating a series of crisp, clanging sounds that silenced the still noisy rooms.

This white waxwood stick is tough and sturdy. It's perfect for beating people. As long as you're careful, it's not easy to break. It's also very cheap, and if it breaks, you can easily replace it with another one. But the suffering of the prisoners is real. Some prisoners have been locked up for a long time and have been beaten a lot. Now, when they see this stick, they shrink back in fear.

The empire's prisons also have a strict management system. The daily schedule for prisoners is clearly defined, and any violation will result in severe punishment.

Every now and then, some clueless fool would be tied to the bloodstained pillar in the courtyard, the sound of whips splattering blood and screams clearly audible to every cell nearby.

Time passed slowly, and as night deepened, apart from the footsteps of the guards walking in the corridor, there were no other noises; a chilling silence accompanied everyone.

The quiet atmosphere seemed destined to continue until the moon was high in the sky, when a muffled thunderclap startled the entire prison, as if lightning had struck the courtyard, causing everyone, whether asleep or awake, to gather in panic at the door and windows.

A thick cloud of smoke billowed from a prison window under the moonlight. The air was so thick that it was impossible to see what was happening. A brass whistle blew, and the guards quickly assembled, grabbed their weapons, and prepared to suppress any potential escapees…

Then they discovered that there was only one missing prisoner—an important, well-hidden cell surrounded by all the other cells, which was now empty. A huge crater had appeared in the ground, with jagged gaps formed by broken bricks around it, and the bed that had once been there had fallen into it.

Without waiting for the dust to clear, the panicked captain of the guard rushed in with his men. The escape of this important prisoner terrified him, and he broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that he would be held responsible.

They huddled around the cave entrance, exchanging glances and discussing for a moment. Soon, someone threw in a torch, igniting the rough bed directly below. In the firelight, a tunnel just wide enough for two people to pass through appeared before them; only darkness remained in the distance, and the fresh earth around them exuded a damp scent.

…………

Before long, the entire prison was bustling with activity. Only a few guards remained, while the rest split into two groups: one went into the tunnel, and the other followed the tunnel's direction from above. At the same time, messengers were sent out to spread the word, preparing to immediately search the city for this audacious criminal.

The other prisoners were also gathered at the door, each with a strange expression. However, they were blocked by the sturdy cells, and no matter how much they wanted to do something, they could only watch helplessly, but they were also constantly looking for a possible opportunity.

But they are destined to be disappointed, because the real goal is no longer here.

…………

I have indeed become the target!

Alec limped forward, blood still dripping from the sharp dagger in his hand.

Only now did he realize how ridiculous he had been. He thought he knew a lot about his organization, but he had never seen such methods before...

In his original plan, even if the organization wanted to kill him, they would definitely have to send someone in to infiltrate the cell so that they could cut his throat and pierce his heart... The black-clad men of the Empire had also made the necessary preparations, and even a mosquito trying to get into the cell would be crushed by them.

But who could have imagined that they had somehow managed to dig a tunnel leading to his cell without him even noticing? He slept in bed every day without even hearing any noise from under the floorboards, as if the tunnel had always been there, even before the prison was built.