Chapter 184: Returning to the Territory

After the trade routes were reopened, the territory became visibly more prosperous. A large number of caravans arrived, bringing plentiful supplies to Zhenbei City.

The arrival of many mercenaries also made the city’s market lively. The only one who wasn’t happy was probably Harrison. As the Constable of Zhenbei City, his workload suddenly multiplied several times. Those who had visited Zhenbei City before were fine, as they knew the rules were strict. However, many newcomers ignored the city’s warnings, so Harrison had to lead his team to deal with them.

On the streets of Zhenbei City, there were a few unlucky individuals in shackles and prison uniforms sweeping the streets and cleaning public toilets every day. Two militia members watched over them. If they didn’t clean properly, they had to do it again.

Of course, some tried to resist, but after seeing the heavily armored barbarians with giant axes and the half-elf archers, they all obediently accepted their punishment.

The tavern business was the most booming, packed to the brim every day. The intelligence agency that Su Lun had previously established began collecting various pieces of information. However, his intelligence system had been set up for too short a time, so it only had a handful of members.

Using the tavern did yield a lot of information, but over ninety percent of it was either repetitive, useless, or exaggerated and false. Truly useful information was scarce and had to be sorted out from thousands of random pieces.

To create an ‘intelligence network’ covering the Northern Provinces, it was estimated that at least over a hundred thousand Gold Nar would be needed per year. Besides money, the most important factor was having personnel skilled in gathering and hiding intelligence, which still needed to be gradually trained.

Rum was not very popular in the taverns. Northerners preferred strong liquor. Su Lun also brewed strong liquor in Zhenbei City, using potatoes as the raw material. Ever since Su Lun demanded the use of potatoes for brewing, the distillery began experimenting with this method.

After some effort, they successfully developed a method for brewing alcohol from potatoes, producing a liquor similar to the white spirits from his previous life. Of course, the alcohol content was much lower, only about twenty percent. To achieve a higher alcohol content, a distiller was needed for distillation.

Even so, this twenty-percent liquor was something those people had never tried before. As soon as it appeared, the barbarians took a liking to it. Living in the cold climate of the Northern Wasteland, drinking this strong liquor made them feel warm all over and gave them a boost of energy.

According to them, the previous drinks were bland and tasteless, but this one had a real kick. Then, they all got drunk. Su Lun immediately ordered that all barbarian soldiers were forbidden from drinking alcohol, only allowed to drink during their time off.

Similarly, this liquor caused a sensation when it entered the taverns. The mercenaries and caravan guards also enjoyed this strong drink. However, it was not popular among the nobles, who preferred wine and high-quality rum.

Low-end rum was completely discontinued and replaced with this liquor, while high-end rum remained available.

In the taverns, mercenaries and caravan guards from various places drank and boasted. Although these individuals were low-level adventurers, they brought a lot of information.

For example, last winter, the King of Lorensa Kingdom suddenly fell ill and passed away without having time to appoint an heir. Now, the four princes eligible for the throne in Lorensa Kingdom each declared their right to succession, claiming to be the King of Lorensa, which directly led to a major war.

As the strongest kingdom in the surrounding area, Lorensa Kingdom was three times the size of Florence Kingdom. After falling into chaos, the neighboring countries began to stir.

Besides that, there were some strange rumors, such as an entire village disappearing overnight. The local lord of the nearby city sent people to investigate but received no news. Some said they were killed by a cult, while others claimed it was the work of an evil creature that had emerged nearby.

No one knew when it started, but evil creatures began to appear around the world. These creatures were completely different from ordinary magical beasts and monsters. They had no reason, and their bodies were surrounded by a corrupting energy that constantly eroded the environment and could even cause people and animals to degenerate, turning into twisted and ugly aberrations.

Some research suggested that these evil creatures were the result of a failed experiment by the ancient Arcanum Empire. Of course, some refuted this, claiming that these creatures were remnants of the Primordial Hatred.

Primordial Hatred was one of the most dangerous monsters in the multiverse. Even true gods faced the risk of falling when confronting them.

Among the most famous monsters that survived from the primordial era were the Hatred Dragons, such as Plutonium Dragon, Blue Diamond Dragon, Stardust Dragon, Spirit Dragon, Prismatic Dragon, Thirty-Eight-Winged Dragon, Time Dragon, and others. These Hatred Dragons were exceptionally powerful even among the Primordial Hatred. Besides them, there were also Hundred-Armed Giants, Hundred-Eyed Giants, Hydra, Divine Abominations, and more.

Hatred Dragons were extremely rare in the multiverse, and hardly any mortal or god would dare to provoke them. It was said that the last one who did so was the powerful Evil God of Souls, Mokamei, from the Scorching Hell, who was single-handedly defeated by a Plutonium Dragon.

Divine Abominations were more numerous in the multiverse than Hatred Dragons. Legends said that these Divine Abominations were gods who died before they were even born, so they held an innate hatred for living beings. Each Divine Abomination had a mad desire to destroy the world, and every time one appeared, it caused a great disaster.

Divine Abominations could also be born in other ways, such as from the corpses of dead gods, which also had the chance to give rise to these powerful monsters. There were many types of Divine Abominations, all unimaginably terrifying to mortals. Most of them had been sealed away, but as time passed, some Divine Abominations were accidentally released or broke free from their prisons on their own.

The appearance of a single Divine Abomination could cause panic in a country, a world, or even an entire plane. Monks were respected not only for their strength but also because many legendary monks guarded monasteries that suppressed Ancient Abominations.

Evil creatures were roughly divided into three levels: common evil creatures, lord-level evil creatures, and Ancient Abominations. More powerful evil creatures were rare, as most had been sealed away or killed. The Pantheon of Gods had paid a heavy price to eliminate them back then.

If any evil creature was left unchecked and allowed to kill freely, it could quickly advance to a lord-level evil creature. With a bit of luck, it might even become an Ancient Abomination.

Therefore, whenever traces of an evil creature were found, the local lord would immediately send people to deal with it. If he didn’t, he would surely be the one to suffer.

Su Lun flipped through the information collected in the tavern, sorted it into categories, made annotations, and then put the useless or repetitive information into a bag before burning it.

There wasn’t much information in the tavern, so Su Lun quickly finished processing it. Among the little that was noteworthy were the civil war in Lorensa Kingdom and the suspected evil creature.

The civil war in Lorensa Kingdom had little to do with him, as his location was thousands of kilometers away from Lorensa Kingdom. However, the prices of supplies like grain, weapons, armor, bows and arrows, and horses were sure to rise. If His Majesty the King of Florence Kingdom had other plans, the prices of these supplies would rise even faster.

Su Lun could stockpile a batch first and sell it later to make a profit. As for the information about the evil creature, Su Lun only paid casual attention to it.

After organizing the information, Su Lun rang the bell next to the table. Soon, two half-elf maids brought in the prepared food.

Angela and Annie had become very interested in cooking lately. Besides training, they spent their time learning culinary skills from the Halfling Frodo. Frodo was quite good to these two half-elf girls, teaching them all his cooking skills. Now, some of the food in the Lord’s Castle was prepared by them.

The two arranged the food and then came to Su Lun’s side to serve him. One was responsible for feeding him, while the other cut the food into pieces. During the meal, he only needed to open his mouth. They were practically training Su Lun to become incapable of taking care of himself.

After a hearty lunch, Su Lun checked Angela and Annie’s physical condition before taking them to the Training Ground for practice.

He had already mastered the talent of dodging rolls and was now training other dodge-related skills. On the Training Ground, Su Lun effortlessly avoided attacks from three crossbow bolts. After warming up, the difficulty level increased.

The number of crossbow bolts attacking him changed from three to five at a time. Each time, the bolts came from different directions, continuously and relentlessly. In addition to the bolts, two large horizontal blades joined the attacks. The blade attacks were unpredictable, not occurring in every round but appearing randomly for sudden assaults.

This level of training was quite dangerous. Although the blades were not sharpened, being hit by them could still cause injury.

This level of attack put some pressure on Su Lun, but after many practices, he quickly adapted again. After dodging for a few minutes, the Training Ground’s difficulty increased once more. This time, the number of crossbow bolts attacking him rose to nine.

Under the effect of the Slow Spell, Su Lun continued his dodge training. However, his movements became much more awkward, often requiring rolls to avoid the attacks. Still, this kind of training was very effective.