The Second Ore Scramble, Part 2

Brian stared intently ahead, unleashing his strength as a Silver Intermediate Knight, concentrating visible Battle Qi flames on his Knight Longsword.

"Form ranks."

The Knights and Knight Squires behind him heard their lord's command and began adjusting their charge formation, creating a wedge formation within the short distance of three hundred meters.

With Brian, a Silver Intermediate Knight, at the vanguard, they intended to break through the enemy's human wall in one go.

Seeing this, Barry hoisted his greatshield and moved to the front of the formation, channeling all his Battle Qi, ready to meet the first wave of impact.

"Roar—"

His muscles bulged, veins popped, and by channeling all his Battle Qi and using his family's secret art, Barry successfully transformed into a 2.3-meter giant.

Observing the opponent's actions, Brian adjusted his direction, bypassing Barry and charging in from the flank.

"Ah—"

"Squelch"

"Shatter—"

"Crack"

The flank human wall was torn apart, and over a dozen soldiers, along with their Iron Armor and shields, turned into fragments, drifting in the air and raining down crimson droplets.

Witnessing this, Barry bared his teeth, let out a roar, and lunged at Brian.

With just one move, this High-Bronze Tier warrior, a giant who was only a sliver away from becoming a Silver Warrior, was sent flying and smashed hard onto the ground.

Seeing this, several Mid-Bronze Tier warriors charged forward like lunatics, only to have their heads taken by a few Knights.

The battle continued, with warriors being cut down by the Knights incessantly.

The arrival of six hundred elite warriors led by the Magic Knight Adrian brought the battle to a close.

Cesley, having recovered a bit of strength, channeled his newly regained magic and used the amplification spell, forcing himself to announce, "Lay down your weapons, we surrender."

The surrounding soldiers heard the command, stopped their actions, and laid down their weapons.

Seeing this, Brian had Adrian accept the prisoners while he led the remaining Knights to support Velin.

At this moment, Violet also noticed the situation behind them. Upon seeing the command post being captured by the enemy, she gritted her teeth and said, "Scoundrels, only know how to play dirty tricks."

"Heh heh."

Velin merely responded with a smile, mocking this muscular Knight who had brains but not much else.

"Ah—you bastard, I'm going to kill you."

He had always been the one to mock others; never had anyone dared to mock him.

Looking at Velin's contemptuous smile, Violet became furious. Disregarding the losing situation, she launched another attack towards Velin.

Velin retracted his smile, gripped his Knight Longsword, and continued to face the enemy.

A few minutes later, Brian arrived on the battlefield and easily ended the battle.

Seeing the enemy he had struggled to deal with easily subdued by his cousin with one hand, coupled with the aura he displayed, Velin was somewhat dumbfounded.

"Cousin, you're actually a Silver Intermediate."

"What? Didn't I tell you?" Brian rubbed his head and gave an honest smile.

"Sigh—"

Velin didn't know what to say for a moment. If he had known this, he should have just listened to his cousin and charged head-on, without needing any schemes.

"Never mind, cousin, it's just that my intelligence work wasn't thorough enough."

"Oh, I see."

"Despicable scoundrels, you two..."

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

"Noisy."

Brian struck the muscular Knight with the flat of his sword, causing him to spectacularly faint.

Ten minutes later, the battle finally ended.

Counting the prisoners, they discovered that Brandon was missing.

"That old fellow is quite clever, actually keeping a backup plan."

After learning the full story, Velin smiled helplessly, estimating that the experience from the last battle would become a lifelong psychological shadow for Brandon.

"Sir, what do we do next?" Belder, covered in blood, approached and reported to Velin.

"According to the old rules, select one soldier from their trio to be released. We will negotiate the ransom in three days."

"Yes, sir."

Afterward, the camp became lively again.

Except for Violet, whose hands and feet were bound and whose mouth was gagged with a cloth, Cesley and Barry enjoyed noble treatment.

"Violet, this time we'll be treated the same as Brandon, relying on a woman to negotiate our ransom."

"Moo, moo moo moo, moo..."

Violet was furious, but her mouth was gagged.

"Tell me, did Brandon anticipate the ambush and slip away in advance?" Barry asked Cesley, looking at his bandaged arm.

"Actually, the other side already told us about the ambush, we just didn't pay attention," Cesley replied with a wry smile, recalling the signal flares from before.

"Sigh, that's true. You need to use your brain in a war, otherwise, you end up in this situation. We clearly had the advantage, and now we've been reduced to prisoners." Barry was also very dejected. His troops had suffered more than half their losses this time, and he didn't know how long it would take to recover.

"Moo moo moo, moo moo"

"Sigh—"

"Moo moo"

Three days later, the two sides held preliminary negotiations to discuss ransom terms.

Six days later, the two sides completed the transaction. Velin released the three lords, all the knights, knight squires, and warriors, and the other side delivered the exchanged goods.

As for the serfs captured by the warring parties, no one cared.

The ransom Velin received was so abundant that it gave him the feeling of becoming rich overnight.

Fifteen hundred male serfs, five hundred female serfs, twenty thousand gold coins, four hundred thousand catties of grain, three thousand catties of fine wine, two hundred draft cattle, sixty warhorses, five hundred bolts of cloth, thirty bolts of silk, three hundred sets of leather armor, and five hundred spears, with a total value of two hundred thousand gold coins. This was equivalent to emptying one-tenth of the assets of three noble families.

According to the distribution principle, Velin obtained forty percent of the items, which included one thousand male serfs, five hundred female serfs, four hundred thousand catties of grain, one hundred draft cattle, twenty warhorses, three hundred bolts of cloth, and two hundred sets of leather armor. The rest belonged to Brian.

Regarding the spoils of war, Velin only took six hundred serfs, eighty sets of iron armor, two hundred sets of leather armor, fifty knight longswords, one hundred and twenty horses, and three hundred spears. The rest belonged to his cousin.

On the afternoon of July 31st, a grand banquet was held on the grass of the Lake of Star Prayer to celebrate the victory.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Brian led his army and the spoils of war away from the Lake of Star Prayer and returned to Ridge Territory.

At the same time, the excavation of the Mithril Ore began.

On the way back, Adrian came to Brian's side and asked in confusion, "My Lord, Lord Velin's territory clearly has Mithril. Why didn't you let your subordinates investigate and gather more information?"

"Adrian, I can tolerate you doing other things, but regarding some matters concerning Velin, if he doesn't want to tell me, why should I bother to find out so much?" Brian said nonchalantly.

"But, my lord..."

Seeing that Adrian still wanted to continue, Brian held up his hand to interrupt him and asked, "Alright, don't dwell on this anymore. Let's go back and have a good drink together. It's been a long time since I've had such a satisfying battle."

"Alright, my Lord."

Seeing this, Adrian had no choice but to give up and stop prying into the matter.