Reincarnation Paradise: The Void Debt Collector

He knew very well that maintaining a good relationship with Holy Dragon Academy was of vital importance to him.

So even though his shortcomings were exposed by the other party, he could only swallow his anger and try his best to make amends and restore the relationship.

"Master Bohai, please rest assured that I will find your junior brother within three days. If anything goes wrong with him, I am willing to take all responsibility. I have indeed been a little negligent in recent years, and I am deeply sorry for that." Marquis Mark apologized sincerely and comforted the gloomy Master Bohai.

Master Bohai had not expected that the corruption among the imperial officials had become so serious that in order to complete the conscription task, they even dared to knock people out in the street with clubs and force them into the military camp. This was simply a violation of the imperial laws.

He was furious, but at the moment he was more concerned about the safety of his junior fellow apprentice.

"Okay, I'll wait for your news here. I hope you will keep your word and don't let me down." Master Bohai said coldly.

After Marquis Mark settled Master Bohai, he quickly called the captain of the recruiting team to his side.

"Uncle, what do you want me for?" The captain of the recruiting team was none other than Marquis Mark's third nephew.

At this moment, he was only wearing an inner lining, without any armor on his body. His shirt and pants were crooked, and he exuded a faint smell of perfume. It was obvious that he had just crawled out of bed.

"You prodigal son!" Marquis Mark roared, and slapped his nephew again. "I told you to be careful when you go out to arrest people, why do you dare to arrest anyone?"

The eldest nephew covered his face and looked at Marquis Mark in confusion, completely unable to understand what was going on.

Marquis Mark loved him the most in the past, so what happened today? He was so angry about arresting someone.

"Uncle, what happened? Is there something wrong with the guy I caught?" the eldest nephew asked cautiously.

"One of the people you arrested is the junior brother of the dean of Holy Dragon College. Now his senior brother has come to our house. If anything happens to him, both you and I will be held responsible!" Marquis Mark explained angrily.

When the eldest nephew heard this, he turned pale with fright.

He was of course aware of the status of the Holy Dragon Academy in the Longteng Empire. It was a place that even the emperor had to give some face to.

He actually captured the disciple of the dean of Holy Dragon Academy. This was simply stirring up a hornet's nest!

"Third uncle, I...what should I do now?" the eldest nephew asked in panic.

"Go and find that person for me right now and make sure he is safe and sound. If you can't find him or something happens to him, you'll have to bear the wrath of the Holy Dragon Academy!" Marquis Mark said with a gloomy face.

The eldest nephew crawled out of the room and immediately organized people to look for the person who was mistakenly arrested.

Obviously, he was well aware of the powerful influence of Holy Dragon Academy.

In the Longteng Empire, the Holy Dragon Academy is known as a country within a country. Its sphere of influence is far-reaching and it has inextricable ties with many officials in the court.

The potions made by alchemists are extremely popular in the market, which also makes the students and teachers of Holy Dragon Academy have a very high status in the empire.

Therefore, he was fully aware of the serious consequences that this mistaken arrest might bring.

The huge problem facing him now was that he had no idea which team Lin Yi was assigned to.

At that time, the conscription team did not keep detailed records during the arrest process, but simply knocked people unconscious and threw them into the legion at random.

Now, finding Lin Yi among an army of 300,000 is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, he did not dare to tell the truth and only told Marquis Mark that he would go and find him right away.

Chapter 394 Black Earth Fortress (Subscription Request, Monthly Ticket Request)

Lin Yi had no idea how big a sensation his disappearance had caused. Now he and Su Xiao were following the main force and were about to head to the front line.

Lin Yi and Su Xiao followed the silent army and felt the heavy atmosphere brought by the war.

The soldiers around, whether they were volunteers or conscripts, became numb in this brutal cold weapon war.

There was no fear on their faces, only indifference towards life and death, as if they had seen through the impermanence of life.

Becoming an imperial soldier, there is a saying among the people that soldiers are noble masters, tigers, beasts, and dogs.

After receiving the military pay, the noble lords drank and prostituted themselves, living a carefree life, just like noble lords.

Tiger beast is the name given to tigers by civilians. Civilians are afraid of soldiers, just like they are afraid of tigers, so they describe soldiers as tiger beasts.

As for dogs, when war broke out, a soldier's life was worth less than a dog's.

As the army marched, a spectacular scene gradually appeared before Lin Yi's eyes.

In the distance, a winding black "mountain range" stretched across the plains, separating the territories of the empire and the tribe.

This is the destination of their trip and also the upcoming battlefield - Black Earth Fortress.

Seen from a distance, the Black Earth Fortress looks like a giant dragon, winding and entwined on the earth.

It is 176 kilometers long and is made of hard obsidian. It is black in color and exudes a calm and mysterious atmosphere.

The fortress is blessed with as many as 6782 magic marks, which flicker with faint light, as if telling of the fortress's solidity and immortality.

The average height of the Black Earth Fortress is 40 meters, and the highest point is 60 meters high.

Standing below the fortress and looking up, it looks like a wall reaching straight into the sky, which is daunting.

The fortress has stood for 3600 years and has undergone no less than 30 renovations, with large-scale repairs and reinforcements required on average every hundred years.

After seeing the target this time, Lin Yi and Su Xiao started cursing in the war channel at the same time.

How did the empire lose this thing? You know, this thing can be said to be a defensive weapon in war.

As long as he puts 10,000 soldiers in the city, Lin Yi is confident that he can defend the city even if the enemy sends an army of 100,000 to attack the city.

So, to what extent was the Empire's army so corrupt that it could even lose a war fortress like this?

"Can this thing...really be attacked?"

A contractor who was closer to Su Xiao looked up at the Black Earth Fortress, with thousands of alpacas leaping through his heart.

At the rear of the army, Marquis Mark looked up at the towering Black Earth Fortress, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

He had not set foot on this battlefield for nearly twenty years. Now, facing this once familiar fortress again, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions.

"My Lord Marquis," the deputy commander of the Iron Blood Legion knelt on one knee in front of Marquis Mark's horse and handed over a report, "This is a report on the statistics of the number of soldiers and the storage of military rations, weapons, etc. The weapons promised by the Moon Elves have not been delivered yet, and now many soldiers' weapons are seriously worn out. In addition, our food reserves are running low, and there are also some problems with water sources..."

Marquis Mark frowned and interrupted the deputy commander's report: "Got it."

There was a hint of impatience in his voice.

Although these problems are thorny, in his opinion, what is more important now is how to recapture the Black Earth Fortress and restore the glory of the empire.

Marquis Mark was in a bad mood at the moment. On the one hand, it was because Lin Yi's disappearance had caused a series of problems. On the other hand, it was because his immediate superior, a duke, had sent him an order.

The emperor assigned the task to the Duke, but the Duke was unwilling to use his carefully trained troops to complete this war which he considered "useless".

Therefore, the Duke assigned this task to his subordinates. Among them, Marquis Mark was assigned the largest number of soldiers this time because he had not completed the Duke's task before.

Marquis Mark rode on his horse, gazing into the distance with deep eyes, weighing in his mind how to deploy the army.

He knew that this mission might be "useless" to the Duke, but for him as a Marquis, it was an important opportunity to show his abilities.

The burly figure of the deputy legion commander Carlos standing next to him looked even more majestic against the backdrop of his blood-red armor.

The bloody smell on his body showed his past military achievements and contributions.

"Carlos, you just need to tell me if we can recapture the Black Earth Fortress before sunset." Marquis Mark was riding on his horse, his eyes fixed on Carlos with complicated expressions.

Even though he didn't like this person, he urgently needed Carlos's strength now.

"W...what?" Carlos asked in astonishment, he suspected that he had heard it wrong.

The Black Earth Fortress was famous for its solidity and difficulty to defend, and retaking it before sunset seemed like an impossible task.

"Your Excellency the Marquis is asking you whether it is possible for us to recapture the Black Earth Fortress before dark," the imperial official next to Marquis Mark explained with a disdainful look.

Although his official position was lower than Carlos, he was full of disdain for this deputy legion commander who was the son of a noble and a prostitute.

"My Lord Marquis, this seems... unlikely." Carlos lowered his head and said this with difficulty.

His heart was filled with helplessness and anger. He really had little respect for this waste who inherited the title of Marquis through the hereditary system.

He now really wanted to pull down the fat man riding on the horse three meters away, step hard on his face, and let him take a close look at the level of the war fortifications of the Black Earth Fortress.

The strength of the Black Earth Fortress is well known.

Since its establishment, no one had ever considered that it would be captured, let alone made a plan for a counterattack.

In everyone's opinion, this fortress was indestructible and it was impossible for the primitive people in the tribe to capture it.

Who would have thought that Marquis Mark would dare to directly embezzle the construction costs of the Black Earth Fortress, and the amount of embezzlement was not small.

It is reported that he took 70% of the construction costs, of which 50% was handed over to the Duke, which can be seen as a sign of his surrender to the Duke.

If it weren't for the Duke's protection, Marquis Mark would have been executed by the Emperor for such behavior.

Due to the severe shortage of construction funds, the Black Earth Fortress had loopholes in its defense in some key locations.

After decades of careful calculations, the goblins in the tribe finally discovered these loopholes and assembled a large army to launch a fierce attack on the weak links of the fortress.

At that time, Marquis Mark was overconfident and believed that the tribe would never dare to attack the Black Earth Fortress, so he only deployed less than 20,000 soldiers in the fortress.

In order to capture the fortress, the tribe paid the price of more than 100,000 lives and finally succeeded in occupying the Black Earth Fortress.

It can be said that if it were not for the flaws in the Black Earth Fortress's defensive tactics, the 20,000 soldiers could have continued to deal with the tribe, or at least could have held out until the arrival of reinforcements, without any major problems.

"If the war goes very smoothly, we can retake the Black Earth Fortress in about ten days." Although Carlos answered this way, he knew in his heart that this was actually an optimistic estimate.

In fact, even if everything goes well, it would be great if we could recapture the fortress within half a month.

And this is based on the premise that the Empire will continue to send additional troops to the Black Earth Plains and adopt the same tactic of piling up corpses to retake the fortress.

However, Marquis Mark was obviously dissatisfied with Carlos' answer: "Ten days is too long." His voice revealed an unquestionable determination.

Marquis Mark stared at Carlos and continued, "I'll give you one week. If you fail to retake the Black Earth Fortress, you will come to me with your head. Now I have become the laughing stock of Holy Dragon City. If you can't do it, I will find someone who can replace you."

Faced with such a severe order, Carlos could only bite the bullet and answer: "Yes, sir."

Chapter 395: Two consecutive titles (please subscribe, please vote)

Under Carlos's short hair, his steel teeth made a clicking sound, showing his inner determination.

He knew very well that he must not be replaced. This was not only related to his status and personal desires, but also to the safety of the Black Earth Fortress.

Over the past twenty years, he has grown from a small team leader to the deputy commander of the Iron Blood Corps, dedicating his entire life to this land.

His knowledge of the Black Earth Fortress is unmatched, and his military exploits are so great that he is known as the "Blood Lion of the Frontier".

"My Lord Marquis, I have a request."

After Carlos said this, he took a deep breath. This deputy legion commander, who had killed countless enemies, was actually a little hesitant.

"Speak." Marquis Mark responded concisely. He had already guessed what Carlos was going to ask for, perhaps something related to promotion.

However, Carlos' answer was beyond his expectations: "The war in the Black Soil Plain requires more troops."

Marquis Mark stroked his beard, feeling a little surprised: "Oh? How much do you need?"

"At least two hundred thousand." Carlos clenched his fists and spoke firmly.

He was ready to retake the fortress at all costs, even at the cost of lives.

In his eyes, this is his duty and his commitment to this land.

"Impossible. The Empire's other defense lines also need troops, at most 50,000."

It's not that Marquis Mark didn't want to send troops, but that he couldn't. Among his 300,000 troops, 200,000 had already gone to support Hill Grand Canyon, which was the sphere of influence of Duke Edward Hewlett.

According to common sense, Marquis Mark should not send soldiers to Hill Grand Canyon. The Black Soil Plain is almost broken through, so how can he still have the leisure to support others?

Marquis Mark was also forced to do so.

The Duke and the Marquis were not on the same level in status, and he dared not disobey the Duke's orders.

Moreover, many interests and his leverage were involved, so he had to compromise.

Therefore, Marquis Mark only had about 100,000 troops available.

They wanted to retake the Black Earth Fortress with only about 50,000 troops. Not to mention Carlos, even the officials of Marquis Mark around him felt it was outrageous.

The Black Earth Fortress itself is a huge meat grinder. If it is filled with human lives, it will be impossible to attack it without hundreds of thousands of lives.

Giving them only 50,000 troops now is tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

Although Marquis Mark understood that what Carlos said was true, he also had to consider his own political needs and positions.

If he agreed to Carlos' request, the Duke's mission might not be completed, which might bring him serious political consequences.