"Stop."
When the caravan arrived at the checkpoint, a soldier lazily walked out of the corridor of the wooden house with a fire/gun on his shoulder. He scratched his messy head and tapped Allen's harness with the butt of his gun. "Where are you going?"
Allen was still riding on his horse. He patted the saber sheath hanging beside him and said, "Through the Wind Erosion Rift Valley, of course we have to go to Purple Roland Harbor. Otherwise, where else can we go?"
The soldier narrowed his eyes and his gaze fell on the Knight badge on Allen's chest. "Oh, so it's a Knight," he said. "You look very strange. You're not from Storm City, are you?"
"Yes, I'm from Sur City."
"That's right. It's fine if you want it. Pay the tax. One silver coin each. "The soldier said casually and dug his ears with his fingernails.
A silver coin was not cheap. In Sur City, this amount of money was enough for an adult to live for a week. The Wind Erosion Rift Valley was barely within Storm City's territory, but it was already a very marginal area. It could be said that through the rift valley, there was no need to pass through Storm City's territory at all. Such a high tax could be said to be an extremely excessive thing.
Allen shook his head, unwilling to clash with Storm City here. He said to Wilick, "Pay the tax."
"Wait, call everyone out. I have to count them clearly." Said the soldier.
Allen took a purse from William and threw it to him. "There's no need to count. There's a hundred silver coins here. Even the horses are enough. We're in a hurry. Please remove the barricade. "
The soldier glared at him, weighed the purse, snorted, and went to remove the barricade.
He thought that everything would be fine, but when the caravan passed by, the soldier suddenly shouted for a stop. Allen asked impatiently, "What's wrong now?"
"What are these?" The soldier knocked on the goods on a carriage.
"That's the cloth we're shipping to Purple Roland Harbor."
"Goods?" The soldier snorted, "When did Sur City do business at Purple Roland Harbor? Since it's a commodity, we still have to levy a commercial tax! "
Welik clenched his fists so hard that they creaked. He was obviously extremely angry. Just as he was about to do it, he was stopped by Allen. The latter didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed and asked, "How do we collect this business tax?"
"Ten percent, no! Thirty percent, that's right, we want to collect thirty percent of the value of the goods as a business tax. Unload your goods now, we need to assess and collect the tax before we can pass, "the soldier said loudly.
He looked at the dozen or so carriages. According to the normal market price, there were at least ten thousand gold coins in them. If it was 30%, he would get 3,000 gold coins. Apart from handing over a portion of it to Storm City, he and the others could each get at least a hundred gold coins. That was a windfall!
"Thirty percent. What a big appetite," Allen said lightly.
"That is … What did you say?" The soldier shouted, "Cut the crap. Get your men to unload the goods. Don't waste my time."
Allen coldly said: "Even if we ship this batch of cloth to Purple Roland Port, the profit we get will not be as high as your taxes. Don't you think you're going a little overboard? "
"Too much?" The soldier laughed and walked over to point his gun at Allen. "Don't think that just because you're wearing a Knight badge, you really think you're a noble lord. It's just a Knight from the countryside. What does it have to do with me if you can earn money or not? Cut the crap and get to work … "
Before the soldier could finish speaking, he suddenly saw the barrel of the gun fall into Allen's hand. Then, the straight barrel was twisted by him, and his expression immediately changed. Allen clapped his hands and said, "Don't point your gun at me. It will make me misunderstand. I won't pay this so-called business tax. Now I only give you two choices. One is to open the checkpoint, and the other is to let me flatten this place. Apart from that, there is no third possibility. "
"Alright, this is rebellion!" The soldier shouted, "Brothers, quickly copy your weapons. The poor ghosts of Sur City are rebelling."
Soldiers ran out of the wooden house one after another. Allen looked at all of this coldly and winked at William. Just as the two sides were about to make a move, someone suddenly shouted, "Stop!"
A middle-aged officer walked out of the house with a murderous aura. He glared at Allen and said, "Let them go."
Allen looked at him in surprise. The officer snorted and said, "Why aren't you leaving? Do you need me to send you off? "
"That won't be necessary." Allen smiled and gestured. The caravan passed through the checkpoint and disappeared into the shadows of the rift valley.
After they left, the soldier who made things difficult for the caravan handed the money bag to the officer and said, "Boss, let them go just like that?"
"Then what do you want? Damn it, can you grow a brain? There are so many of them. Moreover, none of the guards said a word. Obviously, they were all ruthless characters. Which side do you think will be at a disadvantage if we fight? " The officer slapped him on the back of the head and said, "There are only ten of us. The other side has three or four times more people than us. If we really fight, we can only wait for someone to collect our corpses. "
The soldier rubbed his head and answered yes. The officer laughed sinisterly and said, "Of course, we can't let them off so easily. The poor ghosts of Sur City are actually going to trade with Zi Roland Port. I don't think Lord Maud will be happy to hear this news. You, go tell Dick, good old man, that he has prey to take care of him. Of course, the final harvest will have to be according to the old rules. "
"I'll do it right away." The soldier said with a smile.
The officer called for two more people and pointed into the depths of the rift valley. The two soldiers understood and left.
The rift valley was very quiet. Most of the sunlight was blocked by the rocks on both sides, making the temperature in the valley seem cool. Allen and Regis walked side by side. Along the way, Regis turned around from time to time. The youth said curiously, "Looks like they're pretty smart. They didn't do anything unnecessary."
"They almost did it. That officer saved their lives." Allen frowned. "I know Sur City has always been weak, but I didn't expect Storm City to be so arrogant. A mere border checkpoint soldier dares to be so presumptuous. Looks like Sur City has been squeezed by Sir Maud for a long time. "
"But it's not York or Ethan who's in charge of Sur City right now." Regis said.
Allen shook his head and smiled, "For someone like Mo De, he doesn't believe that Sur City can rise at all. But soon, he will know that the city is different. When we get back, we have to think about how to deal with our relationship with this neighbor. "
"There's no need to be so troublesome. Just hit him directly." Regis patted the sheath of the Iron Slash Sword.
"That's sooner or later." Allen said.
It was already evening when the caravan walked out of the rift valley. After the caravan entered the wilderness, a figure appeared from the shadows at the exit of the rift valley. It was a soldier of Storm City. He used some rubble to form an arrow pattern on the ground. The arrow pointed in the direction of the caravan's departure. After doing all this, he crouched down and continued to follow the caravan, following behind it.
Origin Energy flowed through his blood vessels.
Every time they passed through the heart, a portion of them would be absorbed by the Evil Eye. After evolution, Ali Feido was still absorbing Allen's Origin Energy. Compared to when he was on Earth, the veins on Ali Feido's body were much clearer. Allen moved his attention away from it and thought of the second barrier. He tried to separate out Origin Energy and infiltrate it into his heart to strengthen the organ.
Even though he didn't know how useful it would be when he broke through the barrier. But now, this was the only stupid method he could think of for the time being. As a result, most of the Origin Energy he had tempered tonight was used on Ali Feido and strengthening his heart. The increase in Origin Energy was not even one percent. This tiny gain made Allen sigh softly. He opened his eyes and ended his Origin Energy training.
It was already midnight, and the caravan had set up camp in a suitable place. Behind the camp was a hill, barely a barrier. At the very least, if there were dangerous species roaming around at night, the caravan would avoid the danger of being attacked from all sides.
Allen opened the tent and walked out. Outside the tent, the soldiers of the King Of Mountains were on duty. Two faint campfires illuminated a corner of the camp, outlining the blurry outline of the camp. Allen's heart skipped a beat and he turned to look at the hill behind him. On the hillside, Adele had her back to the camp with her gun in her arms. The girl was looking up at the sky, as if she had fallen asleep.
"Can't sleep?"
A moment later, Allen climbed up the hill and sat beside Adele. The night breeze brought the fragrance of the girl into Allen's nose, intoxicating him. Allen draped a coat over Adele to keep her from catching cold. Even though he knew that Adele's physique was not prone to illness.
Adele gathered her clothes and said, still looking at the night sky, "I wonder if one of the stars above is our Earth."
The sky was filled with stars.
There were no clouds tonight. This unknown planet also had its own moon and sun, so naturally, there was no lack of flickering starlight. Countless stars converged into a Milky Way, stretching across the indigo night sky. It was magnificent and beautiful. Allen said softly, "If it weren't for me, you might still be on Earth."
"Why do you say that?"
"I can't get away from this situation where I've lost contact with Earth and am lost in an unknown star domain. Adele, actually … "
Adele suddenly reached out and pressed her hand lightly on Allen's mouth. The girl shook her head and said, "This is the path I chose. You don't have to blame yourself for it. Similarly, I believe that the people who came with you also have their own reasons for doing so. We, who came together because of our own choices, should have shared everything with you. Otherwise, why should we be your companions? "
"So, Allen, what you have to do is lead us down. No matter what the end is, we are happy to follow. That's all. "
Allen smiled and raised his head. "Thank you."
Only then did Adele retract her hand, but she let out a "eh" sound.
"What's wrong?" Allen looked at her.
The girl pointed at the wilderness under the night sky. "Is that a fire?"
Allen looked in the direction of her finger. In the distant wilderness, an orange light was very conspicuous. A moment later, another point appeared. Then, specks of fire appeared, forming a continuous expanse. There were roughly a hundred of them.
"Here comes our trouble." Allen jumped up and said.
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