Chapter 10: Departure

Money was always tight when needed. Su Lun had stayed in Caren City for ten years and earned over five thousand gold coins through various methods. He spent a lot on buying a Noble status. Then he armed those Barbarians and prepared all kinds of supplies. After all calculations, the over five thousand Gold Nar was still not enough.

Five thousand Gold Nar equaled a town’s tax revenue for one year. But to maintain a regular army, it could only support one hundred soldiers.

Those Barbarians had nothing but tattered clothes. Su Lun had to get them new outfits. He led these rough men to the west market of Karlt City, the largest market in the city.

Honestly, walking around with more than thirty two-meter-tall strong men felt like having free rein. Most of these Barbarians were bare-chested. Each had scars, bulging muscles, and tattoos. With their expressionless faces, their presence was truly domineering.

Walking on the street, a three-meter isolation zone formed around them. Su Lun seemed like a rich young master leading a group of bullies. Unfortunately, he didn’t run into any hot-blooded youths wanting to uphold justice. Su Lun had planned to teach them a lesson and let them experience society’s harsh beating.

Arriving at the west market, Su Lun took the Barbarians directly to the shop where he had pre-ordered items. As Gold Nar flowed out like water, cart after cart of supplies were obtained. Even the Barbarians changed into new clothes.

Those rough men wore brand new Leather Armor and held sharp axes. Their large hands gently rubbed the axes. Their expressions were like caressing a lover’s skin. No, Su Lun bet even their wives never received such treatment.

The weapon Su Lun chose for the Barbarians was the Two-Handed Axe. Of course, these axes were made for the size of the people from Florence Kingdom. But for the Barbarians, they could lift them with one hand. One could imagine a group of Barbarians wielding these giant axes, entering Berserk mode, charging into enemy ranks, and swinging the axes like ‘windmills’.

Blood and flesh would fly everywhere, corpses would cover the ground…

Especially against undisciplined, lightly-armored monsters in the Wilderness, they were practically human meat grinders. Their killing speed was much faster than that of regular armies.

Of course, they had weaknesses too. Barbarians in Berserk state had minimal rationality. They could only tell friend from foe. Though powerful, they had no discipline. After the Berserk state ended, they entered a weak period.

During this weak period, Barbarians’ stats dropped by fifty percent, and their stamina fell to thirty percent. At this point, they were basically lambs to the slaughter. Often, many Barbarian Berserkers died because these hot-headed guys charged too far, got surrounded, and were easily killed after Berserk ended.

Many had tried to solve this problem. Whether it was the Florence Kingdom, Glent Kingdom, or the southern Allen Federation, they all researched this issue. After all, the combat power of Barbarians after going Berserk was very strong.

But they soon found this problem unsolvable. If the Barbarians kept enough rationality, they couldn’t maintain the Berserk state. To stay Berserk, they had to lower their rationality.

The experiments fell into a dead loop. Eventually, all countries gave up these thankless experiments.

After a day, Su Lun finally transported all the supplies back. As for whether he got cheated, there was no need to worry. Su Lun specifically brought over thirty strong Barbarians to intimidate those crafty merchants. If the prices were unfair or the supplies had issues, he wouldn’t mind letting those merchants experience being surrounded by big men.

After preparing all the provisions, Su Lun left two months’ worth of food for the remaining Barbarian women and children in the camp. Then he led the caravan out of Karlt City.

Using an old saying, the wheel of history began to roll.

Exiting Karlt City, Su Lun and his group headed northeast. North of Karlt City were over a dozen cities of various sizes. Around Karlt City were many human settlements, all within the actual control area of Karlt City.

Su Lun had to go farther to Pioneering Territory, leaving Karlt City’s control range. The road became rough again. The north was different from the south. Between cities were vast stretches of Wilderness. The Wilderness housed many bandits, Goblins, Kobolds, Gnolls, and even humans.

Garrisons from nearby cities periodically ‘cleaned’ the Wilderness around their cities to reduce these threats. But completely clearing them was unrealistic. Goblins and Kobolds were like weeds in the Wilderness, and their reproduction was too fast, with each birth being a whole litter. Even without food, they could survive by eating grass roots or even mud.

Su Lun’s group was very large. Just the fully loaded carts numbered thirty. To transport these supplies, Su Lun specially hired a group of Mercenaries. The entire group totaled over a hundred people. Such a large Caravan made small tribes in the Wilderness too scared and incapable to attack.

This also dashed Su Lun’s hope to use the chance to fight monsters.

After five days in the Wilderness, Su Lun’s group finally reached the northernmost city of the Florence Kingdom, Blackstone City. It was a small border town with only five thousand permanent residents. But it had one thousand Soldiers. The city wasn’t large either. Outside the city, Su Lun saw no human settlements. Clearly, this was a fortress-type city.

The caravan didn’t enter the city. They bypassed it and officially entered the Wasteland. From here on, Su Lun wouldn’t encounter any human cities.

The real challenge was just beginning.

Past Blackstone City, the number of monsters in the Wasteland clearly increased. Su Lun noticed many watching eyes around the caravan. But these hidden monsters didn’t attack directly. As the caravan went deeper into the Wasteland, the number of followers around increased.

By the fourth day in the Wasteland, the tailing group around the caravan had grown to over a hundred. This was enough for a clean-up.

He planned to let these Barbarians try their axes and see their combat power.

Actually, after he officially left the city with these Barbarians, his System gave a notification. Su Lun now had an army of thirty-five people.

On the System Panel, this army’s stats were displayed:

Northern Lands Barbarian Guard; Number: 35.

Type: Barbarian; Morale: 85.

After joining Su Lun’s army, these Barbarians directly skipped Barbarian Militia and became level two Barbarian Warriors. Their leader Johnson was a Barbarian Champion and also a Hero unit.