In the early morning of the next day after the Battle of Gugu City, the fleet in the port raised their anchors and sails. One after another, they sailed out of the harbor and slowly headed south.
Before arriving, the combined fleet of Muxi and Froststone had 42 ships, including 7 three-masted Shane cargo ships, 17 two-masted Kraft ships, and 18 other small ships.
When they left, the size of the fleet had expanded to 70 ships, and the extra ships were all ships of various colors captured in the ancient Gucheng port.
In the battle of Gucheng, the Froststone Alliance liberated about 7,000 slaves in the city, wiped out 350 enemy troops, and captured about 2,200 Ulster surrender soldiers and civilians on the premise that their own losses did not exceed 100 people.
, various properties were seized, equivalent to 2.8 million gold coins.
In addition, the coalition forces also brought back some extremely special trophies - war beasts. These included forty giant wolves, six two-headed strange birds and two poisonous gas giant crocodiles.
With the thick smoke billowing, the burning ancient city of Gu was getting further and further away from everyone's sight. The freed slaves and the barbarian tribesmen stood on the bow of the ship and roared and shouted at this northern border.
The most famous slave trading capital, it vents years of grudges and joy after victory.
Todd stood on the side of the ship and watched all this quietly, without any emotion in his eyes.
When he turned back, the silly face of Jerry Jr., the deputy leader of the North Island Knights, appeared in front of him.
Everything was just like it was at the San Sidro Monastery a few years ago, with the tall, thin and honest young man walking behind him step by step, following his footsteps silently.
Todd looked at the familiar, harmless face, smiled and said, "Let's go."
Faint cheers could still be heard in his ears. Without stopping, Todd stepped into the cabin on the bottom floor and saw Evie standing next to the cabin door.
Valkyrie quietly wiped her weapon and said to Todd: "The man has been brought."
Todd said "Wait here" to Jerry behind him, and then opened the door directly, and a face that was beaten beyond recognition appeared in front of him.
A dying plainsman was tied to a wooden frame and subjected to the torture of two barbarian torturers.
The torturer first poured a ladle of seawater into the victim's mouth, and then punched the victim's lower abdomen hard. Light yellow water and light pink blood spurted out from the latter's mouth.
"Please...stop..."
Ignoring these people, Todd found a chair, sat in front of the table, and looked through the account books and notes captured by the tribe.
"On May 7, 891 white goods were loaded onto the ship, including 230 adult men, 337 women, and several elderly people and children."
"72 people got sick during the voyage; 24 people suffered from normal losses; 37 people were given gifts"
"Market income: 735 people, equivalent to 23,761 gold coins."
"Note: Some goods are concentrated at low prices due to quality issues and are not included in the calculation."
Todd slowly closed the ledger and exhaled heavily, his hands trembling slightly due to his emotional fluctuations.
At this time, the torturer grabbed the other party's hair and shouted: "Tell us! Your identity!"
The victim opened his swollen eyes, glanced at them, and said softly: "Fur traders from the Principality of Fenton."
A heavy punch hit the opponent's chin directly.
Seeing several teeth falling at his feet, stained with blood, Todd stretched out his hand to pause the torture.
He walked up to the victim, first looked at his palms, and then looked down at his knees and feet.
"Fur trader?" Todd found a chair and sat in front of the victim: "Before choosing a false identity, think carefully."
"The gaps between your nails are full of marks left by years of using ink. Let me ask you, why would a person who doesn't know how to read and only deals with furs and coins come into contact with pen and ink for a long time?"
Todd's question made the "fur trader" lower his head.
"You have thick calluses on your knees, but what's interesting is that there are no calluses on the soles of your feet. In other words, you often kneel but don't walk often." Todd smiled at the other person and said:
"Tell me, is there any fur trader in the world who usually kneels down to discuss business with others and doesn't have to travel around?"
The body of the "fur trader" began to tremble uncontrollably.
Todd stretched out his hand and slowly touched the silver cross on the other person's chest: "Are you a Christian... For you people, I have a hundred ways to make you tell the truth."
Drawing a square shape with his hand, Todd said to the person in front of him in a very gentle tone: "There is a simplest and most commonly used method. We will use stone and cement to build a 70-centimeter square, 130-centimeter square
A fully enclosed stone house with a high ceiling. Make an opening at the top of the stone house, throw you in, and then seal the opening."
"In that airtight, dark cabin, you can't lie down to sleep, and you can't stand up and move. There, you will lose control of time and lose control of your vision. Your hearing and senses
, you will become extremely sensitive, even the sound of falling dust can draw out those uncontrollable fears and nightmares from the depths of your heart, eroding your soul bit by bit..."
Todd's words were like a rusty saw, slowly cutting into the nerves of everyone present. Even the barbarian torturers who were accustomed to seeing blood shuddered unconsciously.
"Do you think this is the end? No, this is just the beginning. On the third day in the stone house, we will send you two things." Todd flicked the cross on the other person's chest: "
A dagger and a basin of human blood."
"There will be two roads before you. One, commit suicide with a dagger, and according to the doctrine, you will fall into hell forever; two, drink human blood and linger, becoming an unclean person that is despised by the Holy Spirit."
"Heavenly Father! I say! I am willing to tell everything!" The "fur trader" whose psychological defense completely collapsed, raised his bloody head, cried and said: "I am Fairchild, and I am the Holy See.
The deacon of the center!”
"Center of the Holy See?" Todd asked: "Which church department do you belong to?"
"No, no! We do not belong to a single administrative department of the church, we take orders directly from Pope Alexander!"
"The Pope? So this fleet transporting slaves also belongs to the Pope?"
"It is nominally a charity organization voluntarily organized by the Knights of the Holy See, specifically used to rescue believers from religious persecution or refugees who apply for asylum."
"Charity meeting?!" Todd snorted several times: "What about the wealth from the slave trade?"
"This money will be transferred to the treasury of the Holy See in the form of donations or indulgences."
Todd said in a contemptuous tone: "Rather than saying it is the Holy See's treasury, it is better to say it is entering some people's pockets."
After a pause, he asked Fairchild again: "How long has the church been operating the slave trading business?"
The latter swallowed: "I didn't know before, but it has been more than a year since I took over this matter. I heard that the fleet's original destination was the Southern Empire, but later because of the Abbasid Empire and Ayu
The war between the Bu Empire and the Bu Empire forced us to change the place where slaves were sold to Gugu City."
When Todd heard this, he suddenly remembered something: "Let me ask you, where do these slaves you transport come from?"
"There are wars between parish kingdoms. When the victors are dealing with prisoners, the Holy See will first rescue these prisoners, then send them to cargo ships in the form of charity assistance, and finally sell these people to the Southern Empire or the Northern Kingdoms.
Within the country.”
Todd had some uncertain worries in his heart, which were appearing and disappearing. He continued to ask: "Where did the latest batch of slaves you sold come from?"
Fairchild hesitated for a while, and finally whispered: "Holy Acropolis..."
The angry Todd gritted his teeth, grabbed the opponent's collar, and lifted him into the air: "Let me guess, there are currently three forces in the Holy Guard City. One is the royalists who protect the king, and the other is the liberals who strive for independence.
, and the other one is the Church sect who is willing to be a lackey. So, you colluded with those bastards from the Church sect and sold the people of Holy Acropolis like livestock?!"
Freechild was hanging in the air, flapping his hands and feet, shouting I don't know, but there was a trace of doubtful panic in his eyes.
Todd looked at the expression on the other person's face, frowned, let go of his hands, and let Fairchild fall to the ground.
"It seems that you won't tell the truth about some things..." Todd's right hand evolved into the tyrant form, and the sharp iron claws turned into sharp long needles, and stabbed Fairchild's forehead: "Very good
, I have lost my patience anyway, instead of waiting for you to tell me one by one, why not let me open your mind and find out for myself what you know!"
The horrific and cruel scene in front of them caused the barbarian torturers to kneel down one after another. They looked in horror as Fairchild's eyes turned white, his whole body twitched, and his mouth drooled as he had a sharp needle pierced into his head.
A few seconds later, he unconsciously said: "The person behind the slave trade with the church is the leader of the liberal faction of the Holy Acropolis and the eldest son of the King of the Holy Acropolis—His Royal Highness Sinclair."