Chapter 308: "Orcs Marching to Their Death"
Northern Karl Plains.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The dense sound of arrows slicing through the air echoed across the wilderness.
Thousands of arrows rained down like a storm.
Knocking down the staggering figures one by one.
Upon closer inspection, they were orcs.
However, their fur was dry and yellow, their bodies thin and weak, with many of their teeth yellowed and fallen out—clearly, they were old orcs who wouldn't survive much longer.
In droves, they charged forward, only to be covered by another rain of arrows, falling in great numbers.
Only a few seasoned, older orcs, through some strength and luck, managed to reach the base of the walls.
Then, large stones rained down from above.
The old orcs, eyes clouded with rage and frustration, glared upward.
Thud!
Crack!
Soon, they were all dead.
Strangely enough, despite the thousands of fallen orcs, more and more elderly orcs emerged from the sparse woods.
They were lining up to die!
Such a bizarre scene was difficult for outsiders to accept.
But to the soldiers of the Bloodfortress, it all seemed perfectly normal.
"The orcs are coming to die again. Save your arrows, make sure you aim carefully before shooting."
"This year's orc numbers seem lower. By this time last year, at least ten thousand had died."
"Don't draw the bows too hard; just enough penetration will do."
"Don't have too much fun, we'll have to go down and clean up soon."
"But something's strange this year—why aren't the younger orcs coming along?"
"Who knows? Maybe too many of them died in infighting."
"Haha, with how fast orcs breed, they could still bring tens of thousands, no matter how many die."
"Keep the sentries alert, don't let the orcs sneak up on us..."
"..."
The numerous defense soldiers, relying on the nearly 20-meter-high Bloodfortress, easily held off the orcs charging to their deaths.
They also knew that as the weather cooled, the annual orc assault was imminent.
Far off on a distant hill, Grigg coldly watched the blood-red fortress, his rage building steadily.
"One day, I'll tear this place down!"
Despite this thought, Grigg turned and walked away.
Behind him, a large group of strong orcs, equally filled with fury, followed him.
They were heading towards the Dark Forest.
...
Upon receiving the news, 343 pondered briefly before issuing a warning.
The sudden appearance of barbarian wanderers had stirred up quite a bit of trouble in the Eastern Province.
Though they had been eradicated, there was always the chance that some stray wanderers might infiltrate.
Many territories began training soldiers, reorganizing their military forces.
Interestingly enough,
The recently famous Thorn Merchant Guild also started selling various weapons and equipment.
Rumors began circulating near Bloodmoon City.
Some said that Bay Territory had discovered an iron mine.
Others said that Bay Territory and the lord had deepened their cooperation, developing the East Coast iron mines together.
Still, others believed it was the lord's way of transitioning, using the Thorn Merchant Guild as a front.
Regardless, the nobles around Bloodmoon City didn't seem too concerned about Thorn's weapon sales.
Other nobles who sold weapons themselves compared their goods to Thorn's and immediately recognized the quality difference.
In the past, facing such encroachment by Thorn, they might have retaliated behind the scenes.
But knowing that Thorn was backed by Bay Territory, most nobles chose to back down.
The glorious military achievements of Bay Territory soldiers were enough to quell any rebellious thoughts.
What intrigued them most was that the weapons sold by Thorn bore distinct forging marks from an elemental furnace!
That alone was enough to discourage them from challenging Thorn.
Moreover, with Thorn selling dozens to hundreds of weapons, most nobles didn't pay it much attention.
If they couldn't sell locally, they could always ship to other regions, using their centuries-old trading networks. At worst, it would just add shipping costs.
Naturally, adding these extra costs annoyed the noble families.
Moreover, they were growing increasingly wary of the rapidly developing Thorn Merchant Guild and Bay Territory.
"We need to limit their growth—don't let them get too arrogant!"
Upon this suggestion, the nobles around Bloodmoon City silently agreed.
They stopped selling any supplies to Bay Territory and refused to buy any of its products.
And then... nothing happened.
They quickly realized that Bay Territory only needed two things.
Raw materials for production, and a steady influx of refugees and population.
The former was constantly supplied by Thorn from external sources.
Even if they wanted to interfere, they couldn't.
Unless they resorted to dirty tricks, but no one dared to do that now.
As for the latter, no one would dare disrupt that.
Every noble's land needed talent—people who could bring them more profit.
No one wanted to deal with refugees, who required great effort and resources to manage.
The key issue was that refugees brought all sorts of problems.
The most dangerous of which was security.
Many lords had fallen to assassins hidden among the refugees.
Over time, most nobles came to an understanding.
If they needed talent, they'd train their own. The skills might not be as strong, but at least they would be loyal and safe.
Since they couldn't interfere with Bay Territory's needs, their influence was minimal.
In the past, when Thorn Merchant Guild wasn't as developed,
Cutting off their sales of Vitality Potions would have greatly crippled Bay Territory's economy.
But as they learned more about Bay Territory, most nobles felt a deep sense of resignation.
Bay Territory's revenue streams had diversified.
Not only did they have their own channels, but they seemed to have joined forces with the lord.
Especially in recent times, Bay Territory had started acquiring supplies from the lord.
The nobles felt both envious and helpless.
While trying to maintain a low profile, they couldn't help but hatch other plans.
If they couldn't defeat Bay Territory, why not join them?
If Bay Territory could profit with the lord, maybe they could too?
As some nobles began considering this, the restrictive alliance they had formed quickly collapsed.
Then, these noble representatives discovered something of great interest at the bustling swamp ruins camp.
Bay Territory had decided to increase its efforts to further develop the swamp ruins!
Additionally, they posted a highly lucrative mission.
"Mission Objective: Hunt Sky-Splitting Lizards."
"Mission Quota: 10,000 adventurers."
"Mission Reward: 10 gold coins for each Sky-Splitting Lizard killed!"
"Mission Duration: 1 day!"