Chapter 319: A Bold Deal
Noticing the glint in Matthew's eyes, 343 couldn't help but feel a bit incredulous.
"Do you have something in mind?"
Matthew pointed at the orc vanguard without directly answering and asked instead, "How's the troop assembly in Blood Moon City? Are those folks still cooperating?"
Seeing 343 shake her head helplessly, a familiar smile appeared on Matthew's face as he asked without hesitation:
"Might I trouble you to ask if Knight Harley is interested in making a deal with me?"
"I'll hold off the 70,000 orc vanguard, but I need all the refugees and farmers, plus I want the other nobles to sell me 100,000 tons of food at a fair price."
343 instantly understood Matthew's intent, her eyes showing a hint of astonishment as she relayed Matthew's deal proposal to Knight Harley.
About five minutes later, 343 received a response:
"Lord Harley has agreed. He's already instructed the nobles to begin transporting the food, and it should arrive in Bay Territory within three days."
"Additionally, if you can handle the orc vanguard on your own, Knight Harley is willing to grant you first honors."
First honors?
For others, this might be enticing,
But for Matthew, it served only to increase his rank and acquire more mithril allowances.
"No problem. I agree."
Observing Matthew's confident expression, 343 couldn't resist asking,
"Are you really that sure about this?"
Matthew shook his head, then nodded, pointing at the busy crowd and replying confidently:
"It's only 70,000 orcs. Just set the bounty at 10 gold coins for each orc killed."
"With over 20,000 adventurers in the territory, they'll gladly risk their lives for that price."
"That's only a 700,000 gold investment, and I've already spent 500,000 gold building this fortress, with another million to go."
343 understood Matthew's point.
Even if it's just throwing money at the problem, they could financially bury these orcs!
This was truly a novel idea.
She then asked,
"That makes sense, but those defeated nobles, who are each worth hundreds of thousands of gold, couldn't bring themselves to spend 700,000. Why is that?"
Matthew shrugged, turning back to inspect the walls and replied decisively:
"The answer is simple. It's the nobles' own money; they'll never willingly give it away, especially not to non-nobles."
"Even if it means their death?"
"Even if it means death."
Half an hour later.
In the Misty Fortress meeting room, everyone summoned had arrived on time.
All eyes were fixed on Matthew with admiration and respect, which grew by the day.
Over the past week, they had encountered nobles and lords of all sorts.
There were cowardly types who feared for their lives.
Some fled with their families, abandoning their land and people to the orcs.
There were also arrogant fools.
They charged recklessly into the vast orc army with a handful of troops, only to be crushed like bugs.
Then there were greedy and stubborn incompetents.
They clung desperately to their lands and castles, only to be overrun, torn apart by the orcs, or still resisting futilely.
As for their subjects, they didn't care much about them.
Only a rare few were brave and wise,
evacuating their people in advance and either scouting the orc positions or preparing for battle or retreat.
But even these most outstanding lords paled in comparison to their own lord.
He had foreseen the danger early on, making preparations in advance and using the crisis to continuously strengthen himself.
It was far beyond their expectations.
Matthew, unconcerned with their thoughts, continued methodically:
"We have two tasks ahead."
"First, to safely transport the approximately 150,000 refugees and farmers approaching us back to our territory."
"Second, to eliminate the first wave of 70,000 orc vanguard troops!"
Exactly.
Matthew had only one goal—to eliminate the enemy.
Without enemies, there's no danger.
He had no intention of merely holding off the orc vanguard.
With the crises and chaos looming, he intended to harvest these orc lives to gain fate energy.
Whether for bloodline analysis, life infusion, or strengthening his abilities, he required a massive amount of fate energy.
While others saw these orcs as a destructive, savage force,
To Matthew, they were simply a trove of fate energy.
"Let's start planning. Both the refugee evacuation plan and the orc combat plan need to be organized simultaneously…"
This time, Matthew left the strategizing to everyone, silently observing as they discussed ideas.
Through "debate," they arrived at a plan that everyone endorsed.
Step by step, they refined the plan until they had a result they were all satisfied with.
When the discussion was over and all eyes turned to him, Matthew, well-rested, spread his hands:
"I have no further input. Let's proceed with the plan."
This time, Matthew chose to trust them.
On the Carl Plains.
A dense horde of orcs was assembling.
They were launching their final assault on a battered castle.
These hulking orcs, standing nearly two meters tall with powerful, muscular bodies, exuded an intimidating presence.
"Green-faced tusks" couldn't describe them better.
On the bloodstained and corpse-strewn castle, a thousand blood-soaked soldiers fought desperately.
While they had the defensive advantage, their numbers were too few, and the orcs seemed endless.
Relentless skirmishes were wearing the soldiers down, and the castle defenders were on the verge of collapse.
Just then, the sound of galloping hooves echoed from afar.
Moments later, four or five fireballs whizzed into the center of the orc horde.
A burst of scorching flames devoured nearby orcs who couldn't dodge in time.
The orcs, lacking formation, immediately descended into chaos.
Watching a hundred orcs perish, the enraged orc warchief pointed at the taunting cavalry and roared:
"Kill these humans! For each kill, a slave as reward!"
Elated by such generous rewards, the orcs cheered and abandoned their comrades on the walls, charging toward the horsemen.
Seeing this, Matthew pointed at the approaching orcs and shouted:
"These are mindless fools, nothing to worry about."
"Shoot while retreating!"
Following orders, the dozens of cavalry turned their horses to face the orcs in pursuit.
Without hesitation, they drew crossbows from their belts and fired at the orcs.
A rain of arrows fell continuously!