Chapter 7: The Slave Market

Seeing Su Lun’s clothing, the surrounding slave traders all came forward to introduce their slaves, but Su Lun had no interest in these lowest-level slaves at all. If he used these people as territory guards, he estimated that a group of Goblins and Kobolds could defeat them.

After sending these slave traders away, Su Lun walked further inside the slave market. Naturally, the slave market did not only have slaves of this kind. When he reached the inner part of the market, the environment was much better—at least there were no sewage-like excrement flowing all over the road.

The slaves here looked relatively clean, and the slave traders were not as enthusiastic as the previous ones, only answering when approached. These slaves were basically already trained and could be bought to work, priced at around three Gold Nar each.

If Su Lun wanted to buy slaves for farming, these were the best choice.

Besides these slaves, there were also some who were skilled in a particular craft. These artisan slaves were more expensive, ranging from five Gold Nar to fifty Gold Nar. Behind those slave traders, inside the tents, were the most popular female slaves in the slave market. Su Lun went in to take a look.

The scene inside gave him a feeling of those small films from his previous life on the island country—a sea of pale skin, with only the vital parts covered. Prices ranged from a minimum of five Gold Nar to two hundred Gold Nar. As for something like an Elves female slave, it was basically nonexistent. Since the closure of the Jade Forest, no Elves had appeared on the continent for a long time.

Su Lun used his strong willpower to make himself leave the tent. He was truly afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would not be able to resist buying a few of those high-quality female slaves costing two hundred Gold Nar. Forcing himself not to look back, Su Lun went to the special slaves section nearby. The slaves here were mostly Beastfolk races.

For example, there were Northern Barbarians, Centaurs, Orcs, and so on. Su Lun’s target was the Northern Barbarians. The Northern Barbarians were not a single race but a general term for the barbarian tribes of the north. Many tribes lived in the northern Wilderness, and these tribes were backward in civilization and savage.

Among the Northern Barbarians, there were dozens of types, such as Mountain Barbarians, Barbarians, and Tundra Barbarians. These Barbarians looked similar to humans, were tall, generally over 1.8 meters, with some exceeding two meters.

Some Barbarians, after systematic training, could become elite Warriors. The Nobles of the Northern Provinces all had some Barbarian Soldiers to varying degrees. One should not think these Soldiers were unreliable; in fact, their loyalty was quite good. Because the Barbarians were distributed across tribes, in the eyes of these Barbarians, aside from their own tribe, all other tribes were enemies.

They would not hesitate at all when killing people from other tribes.

The minimum price for a trained Barbarian Soldier was thirty-five Gold Nar. The harsh natural environment had given these people strong physiques. If not counting weapons, equipment, and numbers, ordinary people were completely no match for these Barbarians.

“A minimum of thirty-five Gold Nar for one Barbarian Soldier. With weapons and equipment, a qualified Barbarian Soldier would cost about one hundred and fifty Gold Nar for a full set. Even if I spent all I have, I could probably only equip thirty elites,” Su Lun said with a frown. He now had only a little over five thousand Gold Nar left. After setting aside some for buying other things, the rest was intended for purchasing slaves.

With thirty elite Soldiers, trying to open up new Territory was like a daydream. Unless these elite Soldiers were all at Knight-tier strength. But if they were Knight-tier, they could just pledge allegiance to a great Noble to obtain a manor and Noble status. Only someone with nothing better to do would go with you to open up new Territory.

The remaining Gold Nar, Su Lun planned to use for buying food and tools for land reclamation. Besides these Barbarians, the slave market also had Beastfolk, among which the most popular were the cat and fox tribes. It was worth noting that the females of these two races were very beautiful. And those furry ears and tails were even more attractive to some people.

Su Lun had once wished to buy a cat-eared maid and a fox-tailed maid, but after considering the needs of his Territory, he had to reluctantly give up the idea.

Just as Su Lun was considering which type of slave to buy, he suddenly noticed a group of peculiar slaves by the roadside. Other slaves were either physically strong or had a special skill, but these slaves before him were interesting—they consisted of both old and young, clearly a group of families together.

Generally, slaves with families were not common because such slaves were hard to sell. Many people bought slaves because they were cheap and could make money for them, but slaves with families were not cost-effective. If there were laborers among them, it might be acceptable, but if there were no laborers, in the eyes of slave buyers, they were simply burdens, even a loss-making deal.

Of course, it was not that slaves with families were completely unpopular. For example, for artisans with special skills, to make them work hard, buyers would purchase the slaves along with their families.

However, this group of slaves before him were not artisans but a group of Barbarians. Barbarians were also a type of Barbarian Tribe. Most of them were around two meters tall, with great strength, making them excellent Warriors. Moreover, this Barbarian Tribe had a special class—the Berserker.

Berserkers had the Berserk ability. After entering Berserk mode, they were sheer killing machines on the battlefield. But Berserkers had a well-known flaw—after going Berserk, they completely lost discipline, leaving only one thought—to Charge recklessly.

For human armies that emphasized discipline, this was a complete disaster. There were once people who coveted the combat power of Berserkers and included them in their troops for battle. But on the battlefield, once these guys went Berserk, they completely ignored formation and just kept Charging. Their own army’s formation was disrupted by them.

As a result, the enemy commander seized the opportunity, sent cavalry around them, and struck directly at the heart. By the time their own marshal was captured, those hot-headed Berserkers were still Charging recklessly.

So after that, Berserkers were rejected from joining the army. Even if they were included, it was only in cannon fodder battalions or suicide squads—units used for frontal assaults or rear-guard actions, basically given orders with no expectation of survival, requiring no other tactics—just Charge recklessly.

Because of this, Berserkers, these powerful Barbarian Tribe slaves, became somewhat awkward. As disposable consumables, their price was too high.

This group of Barbarians before him was even more so. Besides Warriors, they also had a larger number of elderly and children, making this group of Barbarians unattractive to buyers.

Although these Berserkers were not suitable for large-scale army battles, they were quite suitable for small-scale combat. Su Lun’s Territory pioneering was just right for them. After all, the Wilderness tribes also lacked discipline; both sides were on the same level, neither better than the other. At that point, it came down to individual combat power.

In wild, chaotic battles, these Barbarian Berserkers feared no one.

There was an even more important reason—the price of this group of Berserkers was very low. That was the main reason.