Chapter 123: Releasing the City Defense Forces
"Garcia Green, come out."
Guard Pansy stood in the corridor and shouted through the unlocked wooden door.
Green did not dare to delay. He grabbed the shackles that locked his feet and staggered out of the cell.
There were twenty-six people like Green who were called to the corridor. With the help of the dim oil lamps on the wall, Green could see the images of these people... All of them had shaved heads and beards, wore uniform round territorial cloth tops and the same color shorts, had swollen cheeks, pale faces, and slightly long iron chains on their ankles.
Green knew that he was the same as them.
Pansy counted the heads and made sure the number was correct, then gave them wooden barrels and large pieces of rags and waved her hand.
Twenty-seven people, including Garcia Green, immediately carried buckets and rags and ran to the only place at the end of the corridor where they could get water.
The militia was equipped with a pump, and the groundwater drawn from the well was led to each floor through faucets, making it convenient for the prisoners to get water nearby.
After queuing up to get water from the faucet in the washroom, the prisoners in the basement actively cleaned all areas including corridors, toilets, empty or occupied cells, etc.
All the people imprisoned on this floor had lived a life of luxury like Green and had never done such rough work. However, people have strong adaptability, and after doing the same thing over and over again for a long time, anyone will inevitably become proficient in it.
Amid the clanking of iron chains, the twenty-seven prisoners took only half an hour to clean the entire basement, including the walls and floors, until they were spotless.
Pansy, who was standing at the end of the corridor, came over with her hands behind her back, randomly checked a few cells, took out her pocket watch to check the time, nodded, and said coldly: "Complete the task twenty minutes ahead of schedule, and you can have an extra meal today."
Green, who was standing obediently against the wall like everyone else, swallowed his saliva involuntarily when he heard the word "snack".
When Pansy brought down the two barrels of food, none of the prisoners made a fuss or fought for them. They all took their own portions one by one, sat cross-legged in two rows in the corner, and ate the food with relish. They even remembered to clean the barrels and tableware, and wipe the barrel handles dry before returning them to Pansy...
Pansy was in no mood to praise the prisoners for their understanding and docility. She just picked up the bucket and left.
The twenty-seven people imprisoned here were all deemed to have committed “extremely heinous crimes”.
They could not go out and breathe the free air outside when they received their meals like other prisoners, nor did they have the right to exchange their labor for better treatment... From the day they were thrown in, these twenty-seven people had never seen the color of the sky again.
There were very few people in charge of guarding them, and they had neither the patience nor the energy to manage them meticulously. They were too lazy to even lock the wooden doors of the cells, and simply closed the only way to the ground - they were like forgotten rats, thrown underground in this place that was originally built as a temporary prison to fend for themselves.
This kind of treatment is actually very scary.
During the first two days, they would fight vigorously, and some of them would have the strength to force others to bow down.
On the third day, guard Pansy came down carrying salted potatoes. He took one look at the messy corridor and the cells covered with blood, vomit and excrement, then took the salted potatoes back and told them that if even the most basic sanitary environment could not be maintained, then everyone would starve.
Under the pressure of hunger, some people cursed and cleaned their assigned cells, thinking they could get food. However, they were told that maintaining the living area environment was everyone's responsibility, and if any cell or any public area was not cleaned, no one would get food.
Cursing and fighting could not solve the problem of hunger. Only the water from the tap was freely available. The prisoners, who could not even catch a mouse, had to lower their rebellious heads in the end...
The guard Pansy was very cold to them. He was too lazy to say a harsh word or even give them an extra glance.
No one imprisoned on this level is a fool. Everyone can see that Pansy really doesn't care about their lives... Even if they all kill each other, Pansy will probably think that it saves him a lot of trouble.
Such a cold attitude eliminated everyone's bargaining power with Pansy... and they really had no bargaining power at all.
One day, Pansy told them in a perfunctory manner that if they could clean up faster and don't keep him waiting too long, he could give them a little extra food - in addition to two meals of salted potatoes that day, they could also get leftover food from the public kitchen, such as some meat-filled noodles (frozen dumplings) and a flavorful thick soup (instant noodle soup) with vegetable leaves.
The prisoners, including Green, burst into unprecedented enthusiasm...
This method of training the prisoners to be docile and obedient without wasting energy on beating or scolding... is actually a form of cold violence.
Directly applying pressure damage to the mental level is less labor-intensive and troublesome than Hari's kind of hot violence with fists and feet.
The reason for such a subtle training result was not because Pansy was a master of mental PUA, but because he really could not take care of the people in the basement - there were more than a thousand prisoners in the entire militia, and he was so annoyed that he wanted to beat people up just by counting heads and remembering names every day. How could he have the energy to care about what any individual was thinking!
When they returned to the ground and returned the bucket and utensils to Mia, who was in charge of the public kitchen, Pansy complained, "I told you there's no need to feed these bastards such good food. Those guys underground who deserve to be hanged have gotten fatter."
Mia knew that the Pansy brothers were under a lot of pressure, so she smiled and said, "I heard from Mr. Rex that some of the people sent to the prison yesterday will work for Mr. Lord like us in the future. Then everyone can relax a little."
"It's too early to wait. Who knows when those Sokri people will be useful!" Pansy scratched her hair irritably. "When they asked us to come and see the prisoner, they only said 'just watch him for a few days'. But now, more than 20 days have passed in the blink of an eye, and Yang seems to have forgotten about it and never said another word!"
Mia suddenly exclaimed "Ah" and pointed behind Pansy: "The Lord is here!"
Pansy turned back in shock...
Yang really came.
Not only did he come, he also stood at the gate, looking at him with that creepy calm look.
Pansy: “…”
He's not that unlucky - he was just complaining casually!
Yang Qiu raised his hand and hooked his finger at Pansy.
Pansy... Pansy walked over obediently with a blush on her face.
"How did the Sokri people who came yesterday perform?" Yang Qiu asked.
Pansy secretly thanked her luck and said quickly, "There was a group of guys who were particularly noisy, and Hal planted them in the field."
This so-called planting in the ground was a form of punishment invented by Hal. For those troublemakers who could not be tamed by rough beatings and scolding, they would be dragged to the backyard, buried in a hole dug there, with only their heads sticking out. Generally speaking... even the most unruly guys would have to bow their heads and submit after being planted for half a day, and some with particularly stubborn bones would not last more than twelve hours.
Yang Qiu walked around the militia building and came to the backyard, where he saw two rows of white-haired heads with dark green complexions and half-dead faces.
Yang Qiu calmly stood in front of the "human field" planted by the Sokre people and raised his voice slightly: "Who is Ken, the leader of the 'Sea Lion'?"
A white-haired head with a bruised face and nose barely raised its neck and looked at Yang Qiu.
Yang Qiu nodded slightly as a greeting to the unfortunate fellow whose chin was almost buried in the dirt: "Nice to meet you, Captain Ken. I am the black magician Yang."
When Captain Ken heard Yang Qiu claiming to be a black magician, he seemed to shudder and tried to open his bloodshot eyes wide...
The middle-aged man with slicked-back, shoulder-length black hair and a cane in his hand was wearing a brown suit, a striped shirt with a bow tie on the collar, and a white silk scarf in the chest pocket of his dark red vest. He didn't look like a black magician, but more like a gentleman with a respectable job.
It’s just… this seemingly respectable and elegant gentleman is completely different in the eyes of Captain Ken.
After staring at Yang Qiu for just two seconds, Captain Ken, who was originally in a dishevel but still emotionally stable, began to sweat on his forehead, the blood color on his lips quickly faded, and even his facial muscles began to tremble uncontrollably as if he had seen some extremely terrifying monster.
Yang Qiu smiled slightly.
This Sokri man is of some value.
"Welcome to Westram." Yang Qiu said with a smile, "I hope you will like this vibrant land."
Ken looked at Yang Qiu in fear, not daring to look away at all.
It was like... he was afraid that in the blink of an eye, he would be swallowed by the monster in human skin in front of him.
When Yang Qiuxiao accepted the tool man, in the militia building, Wagner, who was borrowing the auditorium on the first floor, had gathered all the soldiers and was calling them out of the formation one by one.
The undead captured all the members of the "Sea Lion" mercenary group. Although Wagner was just a runner-up, Yang also fulfilled his promise - 43 of his soldiers would be freed.
Wagner pointed out six corporals and asked them to stand behind him. He then said to the remaining 43 soldiers in a serious tone, "You have been working for Westram for almost half a month. According to Westram's regulations, you can take away the accumulated remuneration during your work when you leave. You will come with me to settle the remuneration later, and you can also bring something back for your family when you return."
The soldiers knew about the deal between Wagner and Yang, and those who were chosen to be released were quite excited... They were all local people of Innadri, and after being lost for so long, these young people were very worried about the situation at home.
The young men were just enjoying themselves when a discordant voice suddenly rang out: "Wait a minute! What about me?!"
The one who shouted was James Horne, one of Wagner's two attendants.
This distant relative of Captain Horn of the city defense army was ostensibly Wagner's knight squire, but in fact everyone knew that he was stuffed in to gain seniority, waiting to take over Wagner's knightly title and position - he himself liked to use this identity to threaten and hint at ordinary soldiers to do private work for him.
James, who was proud of his status, had never been very respectful to Wagner, and he would not deal with ordinary soldiers of low status. The soldiers privately gave him the nickname "White Eyes"... to mock him for never looking people in the eye.
Wagner looked at James calmly and said, "You are my servant. I can't leave, and you certainly can't leave either."
"Didn't you give the opportunity to these soldiers?" James was anxious and raised his voice regardless.
During the days when he was held here as a prisoner, others were willing to do hard labor in order to improve their treatment, but James was definitely unwilling to do so. He always couldn't help but have conflicts with ordinary prisoners in the same cell, and he almost vomited from eating salted potatoes!
Wagner looked at him deeply and shook his head. "I really hope that Captain Horn will value you as much as he shows. In this way , I won't have to listen to your stupid words at this time."
James' face suddenly changed and he wanted to continue to argue, but Wagner was too impatient to talk to him anymore and directly asked several corporals who stayed behind like him to drag this guy out.
Looking at the ordinary soldiers who were excited to go home and see their families, Wagner sighed slightly.
If possible, he didn't want to spoil the fun of these guys at this happy moment...
"Everyone, please listen to me." Wagner said with difficulty, "Mr. Gould, the butler of Adela III, left Westham early this morning. During the few days he stayed in Westham, Mr. Gould never summoned me... I can only regretfully tell you that people like us may have been abandoned."
The young soldiers, who had just been excited, suddenly became quiet.
Some of these good-looking local boys from Innadeli were born into urban families, while others were born in surrounding towns and villages. The oldest was no older than 30 years old, and the youngest was in his early twenties.
The city defense force is a relatively pure military unit. The atmosphere within the soldiers is not as intriguing as that in other official departments, but it is impossible to say that everyone is so pure that they do not understand internal struggles.
It's okay for non-commissioned officers like Wagner. No matter how disliked they are by their superiors, at least they can work until retirement and receive a large pension to enjoy their old age.
Ordinary soldiers do not have such good treatment... During the demobilization season every three years, there are always some unlucky ones who are squeezed out by new recruits, losing the regular army's annual income that is close to the middle class, and leaving in disgrace with the last severance pay.
Once forced to retire, a non-commissioned officer like Wagner who once had a certain social status could go to a small town and seek a position as a sheriff if he knew how to curry favor with others. However, ordinary soldiers had very few choices...either become mercenaries with a precarious future, or blend in with the crowd and pick up the same way their ancestors did to make a living.
The soldiers obviously could not accept such tragic consequences. Some were confused and panicked, while others lowered their heads in pain.
Wagner sighed again.
However, the feud between him and Captain Horn had not yet led to the disbanding of the entire team...
But the fact that their entire team was trapped in Westham did indeed anger Adela III - he was too lazy to even ask Butler Gould to appease them, which shows how angry Adela III was about this humiliating incident.
The city defense army has twenty-four cavalry units. Captain Horn, who already has a grudge against him, would never challenge the temper of the Third King in order to save his unit.
"After we go back... go to the headquarters and report to them. Let's see what they say." Wagner said calmly, "If the headquarters holds you accountable, remember to describe the situation that day truthfully. The responsibility for this loss is mine. It was my poor command that led to such a disastrous result. Don't speak for me, otherwise, you will be considered my accomplices, and the Military Law Department will probably withhold your severance pay."
"Lieutenant Pete--" a soldier wanted to speak excitedly.
Wagner raised his hand to stop the soldier and said, "If you give the Military Judge Advocate an excuse, they won't just deduct the severance pay of one or two of you. Everyone will suffer. Think more about others and don't just seek your own pleasure."
The soldier who wanted to say something fell silent...
"If..." Wagner sighed again, "If you really have nowhere to go... after you get the severance pay and settle your family, you can come back to me."
The soldiers who had been keeping their heads down and keeping silent all looked up in surprise.
Wagner gave an ugly bitter smile: "Although I don't really want to say this... but it is true that Westram will have many new positions that are more suitable for young people like you than Innadri."
Westram was short of people, and the clerks in the town hall were all rescued prostitutes and male prostitutes, and no operators had been officially hired so far. The former brothel thug Ban, who looked the most like an operator, was only helping Miss Mia.
According to Wagner's observation, Yang's support for Rex to be the local territory was not a whim... No matter how complicated his inner feelings were, he had to admit that if these young men whom he knew well could develop in Westham, their future would be better than if they were dismissed and found their own way of life.
After all, even though he was a prisoner, he had to admit that both Lord Rex and the undead mayor, who he could not tell the difference between them and ordinary undead, did a very good job.
After explaining the situation, Wagner led the 43 soldiers to collect the labor income during their "sentence"...
Seeing Hal in the General Affairs Office (formerly the militia captain's office), Wagner was stunned for a moment and blurted out, "Isn't Miss Mia in charge of distributing money?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Are you going to get paid?" Hal was as irritable as ever.
Wagner held out his hand expressionlessly.
Hal, with veins all over his forehead, picked up a pen and paper and spent a long time calculating the wages of the 43 people who were "released early". He took the key from his waist and opened the large safe behind his desk...
Wagner's mouth opened wide when he saw the safe filled with copper and silver coins.
"Don't be delusional. The person who wants to steal the money from Uncle Hal hasn't been born yet!" Hal shouted rudely, grabbed the silver and copper coins from the safe, counted the money skillfully, and packed them in a small purse...
"43 people worked for 14 days, 30 copper coins per day, 420 copper coins per person for 14 days, 4 silver coins plus 20 copper coins per person." Hal skillfully packed the money into a palm-sized purse and pushed the packed purse to the front of the table. "Take it and count it yourself. I won't claim any extra or less money after you leave this door!"
Wagner knew this guy's temper, and quietly called the soldiers waiting in the corridor to come in one by one to get the money.
After handing out the money, Hal was even more anxious than the person who received it, and he shouted at the person to leave: "Take it and get out of here! Don't stay here! We are very busy, don't meddle in other people's business!"
Wagner was about to thank them politely, but seeing this, he was too lazy to say anything and led the soldiers away with an expressionless face.
Six corporals, two attendants and himself still had to continue "serving their sentences", but the 43 soldiers who had regained their freedom could move freely. Wagner saw that it was still early to go back and prepare dinner, so he led these soldiers who had not been on the street during their "sentence" to buy "local specialties"...
The department store on the main avenue in the town is still under renovation and renovation, so currently the only places where you can buy things are the Undead Deli and the Orc Bean Products Store which are open for business.
The soldiers ate a lot of standard working meals prepared by the canteen branch of the Undead Chamber of Commerce. It was their first time to visit a store.
The salary and allowance of the city defense soldiers totaled about twenty silver coins a month. The soldiers did not think much of the four silver coins and twenty copper coins they had just received. After quickly browsing the labels of the goods on the shelves of the delicatessen, the soldiers realized how much purchasing power these four silver coins in their hands had.
Nearly a pound of refined salt for only eight copper coins!
A bottle of oily, bright red chili sauce (Lao Gan Ma) with a variety of spices added to it costs only fifteen copper coins!
A box of this spice blend (the Thirteen Spice) that's enough to cook up several rich, hearty soups for only ten copper coins!
There are also Sichuan peppercorns, pepper powder, chili powder... packed in transparent thin plastic. The price of each product is only one-third to one-fifth of that of Inadeli!
The soldiers who had planned to take only the cloth back could not control themselves at all. After lying on the counter and drooling for a long time, each of them bought more than ten bags of salt and more than five boxes of thirteen spices - considering durability, saving a box of thirteen spices that can be used for more than half a month is a win-win in this plane.
The diligent boy Brooke smiled and packed the goods for the soldiers with oil paper. When he heard that the soldiers were going to take local specialties back home, he enthusiastically recommended the bean product store next door to them.
The bean product store has two adjacent storefronts. The storefront on the left is an oil press that squeezes soybean oil for free for locals, while the storefront on the right sells various types of tofu made from the soybean dregs after oil pressing.
The soldiers saved up their remaining coins and came over. They saw a very long line in front of the door on the right. The human aunt and the adult orcs behind the counter were so long that their arms were dancing, but the long line did not shorten...
"There are too many people here. Let's go to the town hall to buy some cloth first." Wagner said, "Leave a few copper coins and come back to buy some soy products. The things here are very cheap."
After word of the "Dead Man's Cloth" spread, and several young men in the town were bold enough to do business by selling cloth on credit, Rex simply stopped Hal and the others from setting up stalls. He directly cleared out a room in the town hall as a window for selling cloth. The townspeople or villagers in the surrounding areas, whether they needed the cloth for their own use or wanted to make money by doing small business, could come and buy the cloth at any time.
Wagner led the soldiers to the door, and the clerk in charge of the fabric window even brought out a "product catalog" made of scraps of cloth for them to choose from - this idea was thought up by the quick-witted Ms. Shirley, and it was less troublesome than asking the guests to slowly flip through the rolls of cloth.
"It's still very hot now. If you want to make summer clothes, pages one and two are very suitable. These eight kinds of fabrics are very soft and breathable." The clerk in charge of fabric wholesale and retail is a young man with outstanding facial features, soft voice and charming temperament. Even his serious smile makes the soldiers blush. "If you want to make coats or long skirts for autumn and winter, I suggest you choose from pages three and four. Add a layer of cotton lining and the clothes you make will be very warm."
The soldiers discussed for a while while looking at the product catalog with physical samples for selection, and unanimously chose thicker fabrics with more gorgeous patterns... In their opinion, such fabrics are more cost-effective.
After happily buying the cloth and returning to the bean product store that was doing very good business, the soldiers began to regret that they had bought too much cloth. They should have bought one or two meters less and saved a few more copper coins to buy the things here.
The tofu they had eaten in their standard work meals was so cheap!
A big bag of those fried tofu cakes only costs two copper coins!
Dried tofu tastes great no matter what you cook it with. It tastes even better when fried with any vegetables like the undead chef does. A heavy piece of it only costs two copper coins!
There are also those snacks that they like very much, "spicy strips" made with chili peppers and spices that can be eaten directly, a big bag of which only costs one copper coin!
These young soldiers, who only had a dozen or so copper coins in their hands, were standing in front of the tofu counter, feeling worried...
Wagner couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Don't dilly-dally, hurry up and buy what you want. Others still need to do business!"
In the end, these guys chose what they thought was "cost-effective", reluctantly discarded the dried tofu and spicy strips, and bought fried tofu fruit that can be stored for a long time and can be eaten by their families for a while...
After completing the purchase, it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. Wagner hurriedly led the soldiers carrying large and small bags to the rental car shop to rent a carriage...
Fortunately, the town hall contracted the car rental fee to send these soldiers back to Innadelli, otherwise Wagner would have had a headache - these guys spent all the money they had just received, without a single penny left!
When the four carriages drove out of Westham Town, the soldiers sitting in the carriages waved vigorously to Wagner who saw them off: "Lieutenant, we will be back!"
"Don't say anything good about Westram outside before you get the severance pay!" Wagner was so anxious that he jumped up and down.
