The refugee settlement is not very far from the Baishui River - after crossing the wasteland on the north bank of the Baishui River, you will enter the mountain forest area. The refugees hide in the mountain forest and survive by relying on the scarce food production in the mountain forest.
Mountain forests are the product of the fusion of Tanzania’s mines and the eastern hilly areas. The undulating mountains slow down the force of the wind, giving the seeds that ride on the wind a chance to take root and sprout here, forming a landscape along the The low hillsides are interspersed with less dense woodland, and this woodland still had owners long ago.
A short-lived "Carg" family briefly became the lords of this woodland and the moorland north of the Whitewater River, but a plague ended the family's rule hundreds of years ago. Things, now nature has completely smoothed away the evidence of the existence of human civilization. The collapsed castle of the Karg family sleeps quietly behind an unknown hillside, and these mountains and wilderness are too close to the dark mountains and have become uninhabited. A place you would like to inquire about.
As long as a family along the Dark Mountains is destroyed, everyone will unanimously believe that it is caused by the curse and chaotic magic from the Gondor Wasteland. Therefore, such borderless lands are everywhere in the extreme south. , although this place is only separated from the territory of Viscount Andrew Leslie by a Tanzanian mine, the Viscount obviously did not think of sending his people across the huge Tanzanite Mountain to develop the land on the other side of the mountain.
The Cecil combat soldiers wore lightweight enchanted armor that was easy to move, and were equipped with new thermal energy ray guns and magic energy combat backpacks. They walked cautiously and quickly through the mountains and forests according to previous combat training. It had been a day and a night since I left the territory. I had just rested and eaten not long ago. I was now in excellent mental and physical condition, and the place where the refugees were hiding was not far away.
After entering the mountain forest, it was difficult to use the war horse, so Gawain left the car at this moment, leading the horse and walking with the knight Philip, with Amber hanging on his "Krieg High Breed War Horse". On the back of the horse, he staggered and dozed.
——The reason why "hang" is used is because this half-elf lady is really not good at riding. In order to prevent herself from falling off the horse, she used several belts and buckles to fix herself on the horse. On the saddle, she can roll into the shadows at any time in an emergency anyway, and she is not afraid of being tied tightly and affecting her ability to run.
A guy with elf blood can't even communicate with a horse. It's really a shame for the elf.
“We are almost there,” Knight Philip said looking ahead. “In fact, there are many refugee settlements in this area, but they are all hidden in places that are extremely difficult to find, but as long as we can find one , it’s easy to contact the others.”
Gao Wen nodded slightly, but frowned slightly: “In fact, I always feel that this situation is a bit strange.”
"Weird?" Knight Philip didn't understand. "What's weird?"
"Few people would hunt slaves on a large scale after the Frost Moon, because the temperature drops after the Frost Moon.Low, when farming stops, it doesn't require much labor. Instead, most people will enter a state of consuming food. In this case, capturing slaves will not only prevent them from working, but will also require food to feed them." Gawain shook his head. Head, "Unless it is a mine that is not affected by seasons, slave labor is needed all year round, but the largest mine in this area is the Tanzanite mine. Viscount Andrew has no intention of increasing slave labor recently... and he seems to have no intention of increasing the number of slave labor." Disdainful of the business of capturing refugees as slaves. "
"God knows who paid those mercenaries," Knight Philip said. "Maybe they are sold to the central region, where there are many mines and merchants, and the price of slaves in the central region is high. , many people will take risks to buy 'private slaves'. "
Gawain was noncommittal, and soon, a thin smell of blood floated into his nostrils.
"Stop! "He immediately waved his hand, and the soldier captains of each team whispered to stop their teams, and everyone was on guard.
Even Amber, who was desperately trapped on the horse, instantly Feeling the change in the atmosphere (this alertness was worthy of her bloodline, although it looked like a coward), Shua suddenly opened her eyes, and then her whole body turned into a shadow and rushed to Gawain's side: " There's a smell of blood ahead! ”
“Holy light is above! "Military chaplain Wright immediately drew a sacred mark on his chest, "Someone is bleeding to death. ”
The soldiers quickly crossed the trees and bushes under the leadership of Gawain, and the situation of the refugee settlement appeared in front of them.
The mercenaries had already taken action.< /p>
The settlement was surrounded by a circle of tattered wooden fences and thorns, but it obviously failed to resist the beasts with swords. There were large open spaces between a few sparse and dilapidated tents, **10 A ragged and haggard refugee was driven to gather in the open space, while more than twenty fully armed mercenaries were divided into two groups. Half of them were guarding the outside of the camp, and the other half were facing those with their swords drawn. Among the gathered refugees, there was a man wearing black half-armor walking around in front of these poor people who were about to become slaves, constantly shouting and cursing something in the open space around them. , you can see seven or eight corpses lying on the ground, all hacked to death with random knives - obviously, at the first moment when the mercenaries attacked the camp, someone made a brief resistance, but this resistance was destroyed like thunder. The corpses chopped into pieces on the spot effectively prevented the resistance from escalating and the situation getting out of control.
“The equipment is indeed well-equipped,” Gawain analyzed as he watched, “and half of them were civilians. Mixed together, once the fighting starts, they will probably use those civilians as hostages..."
"Hostages? Are you overthinking it? Amber glanced at Gawain, "Those are the refugees who are treated like animals by the nobles and mercenaries. The nobles and their troops never care about their life or death - those mercenaries must also think about us the same way, so they don't meetingUse those people as hostages. But it is possible to use it as a shield at critical moments... But as long as we can find a way to make a big noise and catch them off guard, the refugees will immediately flee, so the situation will be out of the control of the mercenaries. Now is a good time before the hands and feet of the refugees are tied. ”
Looking at the eloquent analysis of the half-elf lady, Gawain couldn’t help but be stunned, and then realized that he was indeed affected by the earth’s experience.
The hostages... ...That only works if you treat people as human beings, but here, there will never be a villain who puts a knife on the neck of an "untouchable" and threatens a noble and yells, "I'll kill you if you come here again." "He killed".
Because "normal" nobles would not hesitate to kill "untouchables" and robbers together.
Thinking of this, Gawain sighed, and then He casually took out two crystal grenades and said, "Then let's make some big noise. "
......
Mercenaries of unknown origin attacked the camp, and the few people who subconsciously chose to resist were cut into pieces with random knives almost instantly.
Crying The shouts and screams swept through the entire settlement in an instant, and subsided again in a short period of time. The people were driven out of their tents and haystacks like driven animals by the bandits and bandits with swords in their hands. Gathering in the open space in the center of the camp
As refugees, even the last bundle of straw in your arms will be snatched by someone, so the people in the camp are no strangers to bandits, but when they see how these people are dressed. After gaining momentum, people with a little knowledge will realize that these are more terrifying guys than bandits: they are mercenaries, paid mercenaries.
Red-nosed Tom's sister - black hair. The dark-eyed girl "Qiong" huddled in the crowd, carefully averting her gaze to avoid eye contact with those vicious people. She supported her injured right arm with her left hand, while enduring the dirt coming from her face and seeping into the wound. The pain - the first time those villains broke into the camp, she smeared her face with charcoal mixed with mud, and this appearance was soon seen by one of the leaders of the group of mercenaries, who laughed loudly He laughed and praised her as a smart girl, and then whipped almost half of her face to bits.
He laughed while whipping her so that her "makeup" could be permanently fixed on her face.
Blood and mud were dripping on the ground, but there was a hint of joy in Joan's heart, because the mercenary leader was cursing angrily:
"You guys. Untouchable! Dirty mud! Only bitches and bastards worthy of sleeping in stinking ditches! Where did the cripple go? ! I know you ran away with someone, I know you ran away with someone! Damn... Eight of you have died just now. Do you know how much money I have lost? ! Where did you hide that lame man? ! ”
Tom left long ago and went in a new direction to look for mushrooms and edible moss, which just avoided the sight of these mercenaries. When he comes back, he will definitely notice something unusual in the camp. heWill run.
Thinking of this, Qiong secretly raised her eyelids and glanced at the mercenary leader who was wearing armor and carrying a silver-white sword on his waist. She knew that there would soon be people around her who couldn't stand the pressure. , telling her that she was Tom's sister, and she had already been prepared - at worst, she would die and let these long-legged beasts suffer greater losses. She could see that this group of refugees, including herself, could give These mercenaries bring in a lot of money, and every time one of them dies, they become angrier.
In many cases, this is the greatest resistance that the "untouchables" can make when facing the nobles and their minions.
But just when these thoughts emerged in Qiong's mind, a strange sound suddenly came from not far away, falling on her extraordinarily sensitive ears trained by years of hunting.
It seemed like two rocks fell dozens of meters away, one after the other.
Before she could figure out what those "stones" were, she heard two thunderous noises coming from behind the mercenaries!
This thunderous noise was unfamiliar to everyone. Even when they were pointed at by swords, the refugees who were driven to the open space jumped up in fear. They ran desperately towards the inside of the camp - that is, away from the explosion. However, those mercenaries who had experienced the bloody light of swords were calmer. Although they were also frightened, the first reaction that came to their minds was - Enemy attack! Meet the enemy!
This reaction is correct, both for them and for Gawain.