On the second morning after the Battle of Gugu City ended, the fleet in the harbor raised its anchors and hoisted its sails, and one ship after another sailed out of the harbor, slowly heading south.
Before they arrived, the combined fleet of Muxi and Froststone consisted of 42 ships, including 7 three-masted Scharnhorsts, 17 two-masted Krafts, and 18 other types of ships.
When they left, the fleet had expanded to 70 ships, all of which were various vessels captured in the port of Gugu City.
In the Battle of Gugu City, the Froststone Allied Forces, with losses not exceeding one hundred men, liberated approximately seven thousand slaves from the city, eliminated three hundred and fifty enemy soldiers, captured approximately two thousand two hundred thousand Ulster surrendered soldiers and civilians, and seized various valuables worth two million eight hundred thousand gold coins.
In addition, the allied forces brought back some extremely unusual spoils of war—war beasts. These included forty giant wolves, six two-headed birds, and two giant crocodiles emitting poison gas.
As thick smoke billowed and the burning ancient city of Gudu receded further and further from everyone's sight, the freed slaves and barbarian tribesmen stood at the bow of the ship, shouting and yelling at this most famous slave trading city in the North, venting their long-standing grievances and the joy of victory.
Todd stood on the ship's railing, watching everything silently, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
When he turned around, the smiling face of Jerry, the vice-commander of the North Island Knights, appeared before him.
Everything was just like the scene at the San Sidlow Monastery several years ago, with that tall, thin, honest boy following closely behind him.
Todd looked at that familiar, harmless face, and a smile finally appeared on his face: "Let's go."
The faint cheers could still be heard. Todd continued walking into the cabin on the lower level and saw Evie standing by the cabin door.
The Valkyrie quietly wiped her weapon and said to Todd, "The person has been brought."
Todd tossed a "Wait here" to Jerry behind him, then pushed open the door, revealing a face that had been beaten beyond recognition.
A dying plainsman was tied to a wooden frame and subjected to torture by two barbarian interrogators.
The torturer first poured a ladle of seawater into the victim's mouth, then punched him hard in the stomach. Pale yellow water mixed with pale pink blood gushed out of the victim's mouth.
"Please...stop..."
Ignoring these people, Todd found a chair, sat down at the table, and began to look through the ledgers and notes that the tribe had seized.
On May 7th, 891 people were loaded onto the ship, including 230 adult men, 337 women, and a number of elderly people and children.
'72 people fell ill during the voyage (all treated); 24 people suffered normal losses (including 16 women, 5 men, and 3 children); gifts were given to 37 people (list in appendix)'
Market revenue: 735 people, equivalent to gold coins.
Note: Some goods were sold off at low prices due to quality issues and are not included in this calculation.
Todd slowly closed the ledger, exhaled a heavy breath, and his hands trembled slightly due to the emotional turmoil.
At that moment, the interrogator grabbed the other person by the hair and shouted, "Tell us! Who you are!"
The tortured man opened his swollen eyes, glanced at them, and said softly, "A fur merchant from the Duchy of Fenton."
A heavy punch landed directly on the opponent's chin.
Seeing several blood-stained teeth rolling at his feet, Todd reached out and paused the interrogation.
He walked up to the victim, first examining the victim's palms, then looking down at the knees and feet.
"A fur merchant?" Todd pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the prisoner. "Think it over carefully before choosing a fake identity."
"The crevices of your fingernails are covered with marks left from years of ink use. I ask you, why would someone who is illiterate and only deals with furs and money have such long-term contact with ink and pens?"
Todd's question made the "fur merchant" lower his head.
“You have thick calluses on your knees, but interestingly, there aren’t many on the soles of your feet. In other words, you often kneel, but you don’t walk much.” Todd smiled at the other man and said, “Tell me, is there any fur merchant in the world who always kneels to do business and doesn’t have to travel around?”
The fur merchant's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Todd reached out and slowly stroked the silver cross on the other person's chest: "Christian... I have a hundred ways to get you to tell the truth."
Drawing a square shape with his hand, Todd spoke to the person in front of him in a very gentle tone: "There is a very simple and common method. We will build a fully enclosed stone house that is 70 centimeters square and 130 centimeters high using stone and cement. We will open an opening in the top of the stone house, throw you in, and then seal the opening."
"In that airtight, completely dark room, you can't lie down to sleep, nor can you stand up and move around. There, you will lose your sense of time and control over your vision. Your hearing and senses will become incredibly sensitive; even the sound of dust falling can draw out uncontrollable fears and nightmares from the depths of your heart, slowly eroding your soul..."
Todd's words were like a rusty saw, slowly cutting into the nerves of everyone present. Even the barbarian torturers, who were used to bloodshed, couldn't help but shiver.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com