Slave Hunter Group

"It's a knight! Run!"

Another week passed amid the desperate cries of thugs, and Medivh entered his fifth month as a Pioneer.

Audrey rode back to the camp through the Northwest Corner Gate.

Over the past half month, the camp had undergone tremendous changes again.

The Armory Camp in the fourth horizontal, fifth vertical sector had been completed, while the one in the sixth horizontal, fourth vertical sector had reached eighty meters in length.

A Sky Corridor crossed the street between the Armory Camps in the fifth horizontal, fourth vertical sector and the sixth horizontal, fourth vertical sector. Beneath it was the North Middle Gate.

The camp had grown livelier. Over the past half month, twelve White Bone Skeletons and fourteen Green Bone Skeletons had been added.

Most of the new Skeletons were still farmers. The several ruins Medivh had excavated were not battlefields, but village remains.

Over four months, Medivh had resurrected twenty-seven White Bone Skeletons and fifty-five Green Bone Skeletons, giving him a solid foundation.

The camp's core fighting force consisted of three low-tier first-rank Green Bone Spirit Warriors, twelve Green Bone Warriors, and Audrey, a low-tier first-rank knight.

Medivh generally did not participate in battle. Other than eating and resting, he spent all his time meditating and resurrecting Skeletons.

"The camp needs more labor."

Looking at the Armory Camps, which were not even halfway complete, Medivh decided to resurrect some Grey Bone Skeletons.

The camp now possessed a certain level of combat strength, so it was time to accelerate its infrastructure construction.

Bones that were five to fifty years old consumed very little mana for him to refine.

Over five days, he refined all such bones stored in the warehouse into Grey Bone Components and assembled thirty-six Grey Bone Skeletons.

These bones had been produced after Odyssey descended into chaos, so Skeleton Farmers were comparatively rare.

They consisted of twenty-four Grey Bone Warriors, eight Grey Bone Hunters, and four Grey Bone Farmers.

Grey Bone Skeletons lacked enough accumulation through time, so their strength was mediocre.

Even the strongest Grey Bone Warrior among them was only comparable to a well-trained militiaman.

Medivh had not expected them to fight. They were all laborers for building the camp.

During the days he spent resurrecting Grey Bone Skeletons, the camp's construction made further progress.

The Armory Camp in the sixth horizontal, fourth vertical sector was completed. A twenty-meter horizontal Armory Camp had been built in the seventh horizontal, fourth vertical sector, while a thirty-meter vertical Armory Camp had been built in the seventh horizontal, fifth vertical sector.

The three sections of Armory Camp were connected by Sky Corridors. The Northeast Corner Gate and Northeast Corner Gate sealed off the camp's northeastern corner.

At this point, the north side of the camp was sealed. It could only be entered through the camp gate or gaps on the other sides.

A twenty-meter vertical Armory Camp had been built in the fourth horizontal, sixth vertical sector, and the West Middle Gate had been constructed.

The Armory Camps along the western and eastern lines were currently being built southward together. Every morning brought noticeable progress.

"Uncle Venice, aren't we going through Winter Fortress?"

While Medivh quietly built up his strength, a sizable Slave Hunter Group arrived outside Winter Canyon.

Rather than heading south into the canyon, the Slave Hunter Group followed the edge of the Winter Mountains eastward.

Going through Winter Canyon would have taken only a few days to return to the Gewalt Federation, yet the Slave Hunter Group's leader chose a detour that would take at least one or two additional months.

Sherlock, who was hunting slaves in the Odyssey Region for the first time, could not understand it.

"My dear nephew, you're too young. Don't you know what those Federation nobles are like?"

"We risked so much to capture these slaves. If we pass through Winter Fortress, how many do you think we'll have left?"

Venice sarcastically enlightened his nephew. Given their current circumstances, if they went through Winter Fortress, they would likely be left with no profit at all.

Winter Fortress was responsible for maintaining border security and did not permit Slave Hunter Groups to enter the Odyssey Region privately to hunt slaves.

Given the Federation nobles' greed, merely confiscating all the slaves they had captured would be getting off lightly. They would likely be saddled with a massive fine as well.

Even without all that, Venice would not have passed through Winter Fortress.

Merchants pursued profit. He had no desire to pay a hefty entry tax and commercial tax.

If he secretly transported this batch of slaves back to the slave trading house, the profits would be enough for him to squander for years.

"Uncle Venice is still the clever one!"

Sherlock suddenly understood. Sure enough, the old hands were the sharpest.

By the time the Slave Hunter Group passed the entrance to Winter Canyon, it was already late. The convoy traveled onward for a while before the hunters pitched their tents before nightfall.

"Uncle Venice!"

Under the dim yellow sunlight, Sherlock stared at the tent holding the slaves, rubbing his hands eagerly.

While transporting the slaves earlier, he had accidentally glimpsed the female slaves inside the black-cloth cages, and his desire had been stirred beyond restraint.

"Look at you, so pathetic. This batch is off-limits."

Venice tapped Sherlock with his cane, telling him not to get any ideas about the slaves in the tents.

He had gotten lucky capturing this batch. Once transported back to the slave trading house, they could fetch high prices at auction.

He could not let Sherlock fool around and lower the value of the merchandise.

"But..."

Sherlock looked frantic, barely able to contain himself.

"What's so interesting about unripe girls? Once we're back at the slave trading house, drinks are on me. The women on Red Street are all experienced; you'll have plenty to choose from!"

Venice gave his subordinate a look. The burly man understood and dragged Sherlock away.

Along the way, the burly man kept telling dirty jokes and describing the many delights of Red Street's women, distracting Sherlock.

"Captain Venice, we found a Necromancer Camp."

The following afternoon, the Slave Hunter Group discovered an Armory Camp not far from the Winter Mountains along their route.

"How well defended is that camp?"

The Slave Hunter Group had come to the Odyssey Region to make a fortune. If circumstances allowed, they did not mind playing the role of raiders.

"That camp has roughly a hundred Skeletons. We only saw one mounted guard. More than half of the camp is enclosed by walls; only the southern wall remains unfinished."

The scout cavalry gave a detailed report of what he had observed, describing the scene they had seen.

"A Necromancer? That's rare. I wonder if any clients want that kind of merchandise?"

Venice rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

Whether there were customers for a Necromancer slave or not, they were definitely going to raid the camp today.

Necromancers required pure corpses for their spells. Those had to be smuggled from Planes not blessed by the God of Light, while avoiding the Church of Light's watchful eyes.

Venice had earned his first pot of gold by smuggling pure corpses, so he knew their price well.

For this Necromancer to create nearly a hundred Skeletons, the pure corpses he had consumed could only have been more numerous.

This was a massive fat sheep. How could they possibly let it go?

If it had been any other mage, Venice would have feared he was not running fast enough and would never have dared appear within the other party's sight.

Necromancers were the exception. Knights of the same rank could bully them at will, and even low-rank knights had a chance to defeat one above their rank.

Necromancers had long become synonymous with trash.

"Nobody steals this one from me!"

The scout cavalry had discovered Medivh's camp, and Medivh had discovered them as well.

By the time the Slave Hunter Group arrived, the Skeletons had already formed up defensively at the southern gap.

When Sherlock saw Audrey riding behind the Skeletons, the lust he had suppressed flared up again.

He shouted and charged toward Audrey, intending to capture her.