Chapter 232 - 144: Attacking the Ranked Lords
After that farce, the four Xiong Family brothers continued onward with their Cavalry.
"Boss, what’s our next move? Do we wait for our turn?"
"The hell we’re waiting for! There are over two hundred lords in line. How many lords can we possibly encounter on this northern route? If we just wait in line, we’re going to lose out big time on this one."
"So what do we do?"
"Beats me!"
Xiong Da didn’t have a solution either. Bored, he and his brothers rode back and forth along the column.
Since the legion was mostly infantry, their overall speed couldn’t match the Cavalry’s, even if they were all Extraordinary soldiers. They didn’t dare charge ahead alone and could only loiter near the main army.
As Xiong Da led his Cavalry from the rear of the legion to the front yet again, they passed a lake. There, on the opposite shore, he spotted a city.
"Boss, look! There’s a lord’s city over there. Let’s go collect a protection fee from them!"
"We have to wait in line!!"
"Boss, didn’t they say the line for protection fees is only for lords on the legion’s direct line of march? That territory is so far away, it definitely doesn’t count!"
"Hey, Xiong San, you’re not half bad. You’re actually starting to use your brain!" Xiong Da laughed, patting Xiong San on the head.
"Come on, let’s go try our luck with that city."
"Let’s roll!"
The Xiong Family’s large Cavalry detachment rode along the lake, kicking up a trail of dust as they headed toward the city on the opposite shore.
"Hey, is the lord here?"
"Any lord around?"
"If there’s no lord, we’re bringing our men to attack!"
Xiong Er started shouting at the top of his lungs from below the city walls.
After a few minutes, a faint female voice came from the top of the city wall.
"Are you from the Northern Expedition Legion?"
"Heh! That’s right. Don’t be afraid, we’re good guys, we..."
"Are you here to collect a protection fee? I don’t need any protection here!!!"
"Miss, don’t be so quick to refuse! Think about it. Even though the main army is over there, there’s no guarantee some soldiers won’t run over to your territory and wreak havoc on your farms, mines, and whatnot..."
"No~~ I don’t have a hundred thousand points! Don’t come any closer, or I’ll forfeit the competition!!"
The female lord shrieked without letting Xiong Er finish.
"Whoa, we’re not that cruel. That hundred-thousand-point thing, that was some moron’s idea."
"We brothers, the four of us, just need ten thousand..." Xiong Da kept signaling Xiong San, who immediately caught on. "One thousand points will do. We’ll guarantee you won’t be harassed by anyone else."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Just one thousand?"
"Just one thousand!"
"You guys are so nice~"
"Hahaha, the four of us brothers are known as honest folk back in our village."
...
After receiving the 1,000 points transferred from the female lord, the four Xiong Family brothers did indeed stand guard outside her city.
From the other side of the lake, others in the Northern Expedition Legion watched the four Xiong Family brothers with curiosity, wondering why they had gone so far off the line of march.
This curiosity only lasted for a moment. A lord who knew the Xiong Family brothers secretly sent them a private message and learned the reason for their actions.
When they learned that the brothers had managed to collect a protection fee from so far away—and that the lord had even given it willingly—it gave them an idea, even though the amount was small.
It was a case of every little bit helps. After all, they all knew the fine line they had to walk when collecting protection fees: ask for too little and it wasn’t worth the effort, but ask for too much and the other lord might just quit the competition out of spite, leaving them with nothing.
Along the way, not all lords were situated directly on the legion’s path of advance; more were located on either side of the route.
Collecting protection fees from them might yield smaller amounts, but the sheer quantity would add up. This line of thinking was a breakthrough.
The eyes of the lords who got this news lit up. They immediately and secretly led their own troops forward in a different direction.
Diagonally ahead lay another territory. Although it was even farther than the one by the lake, it was worth the trip for the sake of points.
As this information spread, the peripheral lords all learned the news. They swarmed toward the territories on both sides of the line of march, scrambling to collect protection fees over an ever-widening area.
This time, the number of potential targets for protection fees increased significantly. Everyone basically followed the principle of first-come, first-served, and lords who had already paid were not targeted again.
The points held by the peripheral lords began to rise, but the advance of the main army slowed down.
However, Mei Yuan didn’t notice this. Every time he encountered a territory on the line of march, he would find a way to bring its lord under his control. Because Neng Hua had previously almost exposed his identity on the world channel, his actions afterward were extremely cautious and took up much more time.
Once he controlled these lords, Mei Yuan also had to wait for them to assemble their armies and prepare logistics, finally having these new forces follow behind the main legion.
These armies, belonging to different lords, were unfamiliar with each other. Marching together, they slowed down the entire legion’s advance.
Thus, due to these various factors, the entire Northern Expedition Legion’s speed of advance became slower and slower.
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The Northern Expedition Legion’s practice of collecting protection fees while also making lords on their path join them slowly spread from the world channel throughout the entire continent.
The ordinary lords along the way were relieved. A mere thousand points was something they had. Paying a thousand points to ensure their safety was acceptable.
But the lords directly in the path of the advance grew strangely nervous. They didn’t know if Mei Yuan was casting some sort of Magic or if he truly possessed some extraordinary ability, but every lord he encountered seemed to join the Northern Expedition Legion.