Falling asleep with the sound of waves is a wonderful thing, but waking up in the same place is very unpleasant. Everything is sticky, cold water vapor is applied to your face, and the cold and hard ground feels like a piece of ice when you sleep at night.
There was something on the ground and a fire in front of me, but there was no ball for it. It was half hot and half cold, so I spent the whole night half asleep and half awake.
So when it was just dawn, everyone was already eager to set off. At least the heat of the waste steam heated the cabin through the iron sheet of the chimney, which could bring a touch of warmth in this cold world.
The two boats continued to go upstream, passing two more villages that might have suffered the same thing. Now there were only ruins left, which made everyone look ugly. This not only meant an unknown and hostile fighting force
It is raging in the heart of the kingdom, and it has also declared the bankruptcy of the naturally formed mineral transportation structures along the waterways.
Finally, the mining dock appeared in sight. Even without anyone to guide the way, Polu was confident that he would not admit his mistake. Between a U-shaped loop of the river, there was a small plain, surrounded by tall mountains. There were piles of piles on the small plain.
Along with the pile of ore, sandwiched by two tracks, it extends towards the valley. The messy ore reflects a dazzling luster in the thin light of the morning.
There were several chimneys standing by the river. They looked like some kind of primitive furnaces in size. They seemed to have fallen asleep and did not emit black smoke. Next to them was a tall waterwheel, which was slowly turning under the impact of the water flow.
Judging from the chimney next to it, this is either a hydraulic pulverizer or a hydraulic blower.
"It doesn't look very primitive. There are still hydraulic machinery, so it should be a track. I said they were a little indifferent when they saw my track. So there was something similar here?"
Polu thought as he maneuvered the tugboat closer to the dock. There was a sound of armor being put on behind him, which made him feel very relieved.
"Follow me and prepare to search!"
Leonardo's instructions came from the deck.
Polu was startled: "Aren't you afraid of an ambush? I'm still hesitating whether to go ashore. Can't you be so reckless?"
Just as he finished thinking about it, he saw Leonardo, who was not wearing armor, taking a little run on the deck and jumping onto the pier from a distance of about 10 meters. His armor was broken last time, and Polu promised to make him a new set of armor.
, but we haven’t even finished the drawings yet.
"...Okay, you are indeed not afraid."
There was no one on the long pier. With the help of a group of tough men, Polu stopped the boat, turned off the power, and left the console.
He couldn't restrain his inner curiosity: "I'll go down to the pier and have a look." After saying that, he walked downstairs.
The men of the reconnaissance team walked forward with shotguns in hand. Suddenly a figure appeared from the wall: "This way, this way!"
"You're here! We've tied up everyone and transported them away quickly!"
As an old reconnaissance team member, Tezier reacted in a flash: "Do you think we are other people?"
He waved his hand behind him to indicate that he would handle it himself: "There is something delayed on the road. Take us to load the ship quickly."
"Come in quickly." The man jumped off the wall.
He turned back and whispered to a team member: "You go back and report to the team leader, and I will deal with it next. Don't talk, you should understand the situation first."
The team member nodded, turned around, and walked slowly towards the dock. He made a downward gesture and blinked desperately as he walked.
Leonardo understood, and he controlled the attendants who had just landed: "Don't be nervous, pretend to see the goods, if you can't act, just go back to the boat and squat!"
Tezier led the others around the wall to find the entrance to the yard. He looked at the gate that was now on the ground, looked at the soldiers on both sides, signaled with his eyes, turned around and stepped in.
As soon as he entered the door, he was shocked and took a breath of cold air: the small courtyard was full of people. They were dressed in craftsmen's clothes, burying their heads between their knees, and looking at the people standing around them with worried eyes.
several people.
Those people wore tattered leather armor and held familiar short knives in their hands: produced by Hongshan.
A man who was obviously burlier than the others came over and said, "Brother, you have been delayed for a long time. We have been waiting for several days."
"There's something going on on our boat." Tezier said carelessly.
"Can something happen to such a high-end ship? Okay, anyway, all the crystal craftsmen here are here. None of them have escaped, are not hungry, and are not freezing. Transport them all away quickly. There are so many people who need to eat and drink.
It's quite troublesome. We agreed to pay 10 gold coins per person, and there are more than 100 people here. Please pay the bill quickly." The man gestured nonchalantly.
"What's going on in the villages along the road?"
"I don't know what's going on with the one you burned. We always only seek money and don't hurt others." The man seemed troubled for a moment.
"Are you so particular?" Tezier laughed angrily.
"For fellow villagers, why bother? What we pay is the boat tolls. If we kill people and smuggle goods every day, no one will dare to use this waterway. How can we do this business?"
"Then you still accept this order?"
"It's not like we're taking their lives and sending them to work elsewhere. If the offer is so high and we can still be accommodated, what reason do we have to refuse?"
"That's very good, I can't refuse. Do it! Catch them alive!"
Tezier smiled slightly, and when he said the word "action", his pitch suddenly increased. In the man's horrified expression, all the strength in his body swelled up, and he put his hand on his shoulder and pressed the boss down with all his strength.
on the ground.
The other knights jumped over the wall with the brilliance of fighting spirit. The knights who were fighting with all their strength looked at these people in a daze. It was not like the reaction of a combat professional at all. They only had time to move away their weapons to launch a fatal blow, but
The remaining power of the gun butt and knife handle still knocked several other people unconscious to the ground. Before the people in the courtyard could react, they were already pinned face down to the ground.
"..."
Tezier looked at the few people who were being held down and didn't know what to say: "You only have so much ability, and you still come out to be bandits? Why haven't the shipping company hired mercenaries to kill you?"
"You, what are you?" The badge on Tezier's chest was already close to his face, and he was suddenly stunned: "It's broken! I made a mistake! This one is different from the one shown to me in that painting!"
"I, we are not bandits!" The boss raised his head and looked at the brilliance of fighting spirit in this room, and suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: "Spare our lives, spare our lives! We are actually just miners! They want to take away all the craftsmen.
We miners can no longer survive, there is really no other way! We have to find a way to follow along. The money collected is to prepare a home for everyone!"
"Third Master, Third Master! Please help us say something!" he shouted to the crowd.
"Sir Knight, what he said is true!" An older craftsman stood up and sighed.
"What's going on in that village?"
"The village was full of boat people, and they had guards there, so they were killed by those people. These are our local miners, and they really didn't participate in anything outside. As you can see, with their abilities,
It’s simply impossible.”
Tezier looked down and felt that what the old craftsman said made sense, but it reminded him of something again.
"You said you admitted your mistake, but who did you admit your mistake to?"
"Those people said that those who came would come with a boat without trackers, and they would have a round badge on their chest with something drawn on it. I can't read it!"
"Where have all those people gone? How many people are there?"
"About 10 of them came, all wearing black clothes and hats, and now they are going to the crystal mine."
"Where is the mine?"
"Follow the track on the road and you'll find the crystal mine. It takes about half a day to walk."
"Where are the other miners?"
"Most of them are here. Everyone knows how to cut crystals anyway. The remaining few are still in the mine!"
"Just a few people? They all know you and you tie them all up?"
"No, no, they're all tied up quite loosely, Sixth Brother! Bordeaux! Stand up quickly! Stop acting! I really didn't do anything to them!" He was so frightened that tears and snot came out, and his face was covered with mud.
.
This unfolding made Tezier dumbfounded: "You guys are serious. If I hadn't planned to capture them alive, you would have been out of breath right now. What a bad idea."
He nodded to the two knights beside him: "Come on, take these people and follow me back. The others will watch them and don't let them run away. If they don't obey, they will be shot to death."
After some threats, he took the bandit leader who had lost his mind and the man he called Lao Sanye, grabbed two other people, took them with him, and walked towards the dock.