Chapter 17: Beacon Smoke

Even though Su Lun had lived in this world for over ten years, he still was not used to the city environment here. Except for the Noble District and the areas where merchants lived, the sanitation conditions in other places were really bad.

Now that he was pioneering his own territory, Su Lun naturally would not let his city become like that.

“Boss, look, beacon smoke signal!” Just as Su Lun was checking the progress of the territory’s construction, a Barbarian Champion pointed to the northeast and shouted. Su Lun looked up and saw a column of black smoke rising on the distant horizon.

A glint flashed in Su Lun’s eyes. He leaped onto the city wall in two or three steps. After establishing the camp, Su Lun had already built several Beacon Towers around the territory. These Beacon Towers were simple in structure – raised platforms built with packed earth, then transformed into stone using Turn Mud to Stone. Inside, they stored some flammable materials.

He also assigned guards to stand watch on them. If enemy invasion was spotted, they would light the beacon fires at once to warn the territory and send the signal.

One column of beacon smoke meant the enemy had about one hundred people. Two columns meant the enemy had over five hundred people. If there were three columns of beacon smoke, it meant the enemy numbers exceeded one thousand. Standing on the camp’s wall, Su Lun saw two columns of beacon smoke clearly visible on the distant horizon. Clearly, this enemy force had at least five hundred or more.

Seeing this situation, Su Lun did not delay. He immediately ordered all the Kobolds and Goblins to be locked in the camp’s enclosure. He did not trust these slaves at all. What if the Goblins and Kobolds rebelled while he was leading his men to fight the enemy?

As for killing them, how would the territory’s construction proceed then? So, for now, they could only be locked up temporarily.

“Notify everyone to return to their posts at once, and go inform those Mercenaries to help with the defense!” Su Lun ordered directly.

“Yes, boss!” The Barbarian Warrior beside him immediately ran off to relay the orders.

After the orders were given, the camp quickly became busy. Kobolds and Goblins were herded into the enclosure. Thirty-five Barbarian Warriors, armored and armed, quickly assembled. After the recent battles, half of these Barbarian Warriors had already become Barbarian Champions. Their leader, Johnson, had even advanced to become a Berserk who wielded a giant axe.

This group of Barbarian soldiers was now much stronger than when they first entered the Wasteland. Just after the Barbarians assembled, those Mercenaries also rushed over.

“Lord Su Lun, I think we should abandon this place and leave quickly,” Ji En, the leader of the Mercenaries, said urgently as soon as he approached. “Right now, those Gnolls, Goblins, and Kobolds are still far away. If we leave now, we have a good chance to escape.”

Su Lun stared coldly at Ji En until his voice grew quieter and finally stopped.

“Finished speaking?” Su Lun said coldly, looking at the somewhat embarrassed Ji En. “If you’re done, then listen to me.”

“The invading enemy this time numbers no less than five hundred, but at most not over a thousand. This is a crisis, but also an opportunity. As long as we can defeat this enemy force, we will have a relatively long period of development afterwards.”

“Likewise, if you perform well in this battle, I will assign twenty acres of farmland to you after the territory’s construction is complete. If you achieve great enough merit, I can grant you the title of Knight.” To deal with this crisis, Su Lun offered substantial benefits. Becoming a Noble was not easy, and now a shortcut was placed before them.

Hearing Su Lun’s promise, the Mercenaries, who moments ago had low morale, instantly became high-spirited. They rubbed their hands eagerly, their eyes showing excitement. Su Lun was quite satisfied with this reaction.

Honestly, Su Lun was not incapable of dealing with five or six hundred Gnolls. The main problem was the camp’s area was simply too large. Such a large camp, defended by only their thirty-six people, couldn’t even man one wall fully. The Gnolls could easily bypass these walls and directly damage the camp.

In that case, even if he killed all those Gnolls, it wouldn’t help matters.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop!” Just as Su Lun was mobilizing the Mercenaries, a bay horse came galloping towards the camp. The rider shouted as he rode: “Urgent military news!”

People nearby scrambled out of the way to let him pass.

“Lord Su Lun!… It’s bad… The invading enemy this time numbers se… seven hundred! Besides Gnolls, Goblins, and Kobolds… there are also over a dozen Trolls among them!” The Mercenary Knight reined in before Su Lun and dismounted very agilely.

“You’ve worked hard. Go rest now,” Su Lun said to him with a smile.

…

“Take out the white bread and the smoked meat. I remember there’s still some Ale in the warehouse; bring that out this time too,” Su Lun said to the Barbarian Warrior behind him.

At a time like this, to boost morale, Su Lun prepared a generous meal.

“Okay, boss, I’ll take some men to fetch the things right away,” the Barbarian Warrior behind him replied respectfully.

“Also, bring out the smoked meat and sausages. For the fish today, make sure everyone gets their fill!” Su Lun commanded directly. In this world, except for those Nobles and big merchants, most people only ate two meals a day. Because of the impending battle, an extra lunch was specially added.

“I need to see every Warrior and Mercenary eating meat at lunch today!”

“Yes, my Lord, I’ll prepare it immediately!” The cook, sweating and looking nervous, replied.

Fish were gutted one by one. In the open space in the middle of the camp, over a dozen large pots were boiling with hot water. The cleaned fish were cut into pieces and put directly into the pots to cook. Pieces of smoked meat and sausages, after being sliced, were also thrown in. Although the cook’s skills weren’t great, the tempting aroma still made people swallow their saliva.

They didn’t have to wait too long before the food was finally ready.

Su Lun was the first to pick up a bowl and serve himself a portion of the richly fragrant and delicious meat stew. Then he took a piece of white bread and took a bite. Seeing Su Lun eat first, the Mercenaries and Barbarians then rushed forward to get their share.

The meat stew tasted very good. It had mushrooms, smoked meat, and ham added to it. Su Lun found a rock, squatted on it, and happily drank some soup. The Barbarian Warriors were also quiet, each holding a bowl of meat stew sitting on the ground, taking big bites of white bread with one hand.

According to the earlier intelligence, the enemy this time numbered over seven hundred. Goblins and Kobolds made up about half, roughly three to four hundred. The rest were Gnolls, plus over a dozen Trolls.

Trolls were powerful creatures. Their strength far surpassed that of Gnolls. They were quite strong and liked to use Spiked Clubs. But their most fearsome trait was their terrifying Regeneration ability. Severed arms or legs could fully grow back. Only magic, fire, or strong acid could truly kill them.