Volume 1 Chapter 30.4: Half Dog
- Half Dog
However, Su was also a bit curious. Everything in the Black Dragonriders was known to be expensive. This amount of medical expenses definitely wouldn't be some small digit, and ordinary small companies couldn't even guarantee that they could immediately pay it. How could Kane promise this amount so quickly and have so much confidence in paying this amount of money? You have to understand that the Black Dragonriders' technology was who knew how many years more advanced than the primitive wilderness'. Apart from mineral resources and other native materials as well as a rare energy replenishment, they didn't have any other needs from the wilderness. Of course, there were always people who would buy beautiful women, but the problem was that if it was based on the olden era's standard, not only were the women in the wilderness ugly, their bodies that possessed all types of mutations could only be described by the word 'grotesque'.
Su asked about this question.
"It's slavery." Kane's reply gave Su another shock. "These years, our greatest business is to find roaming mobs. After killing those that dared rebel, we sell the strong men and women to those companies to do hard labor. As for children, those with less mutated tissue, I will bring back, and the ones that have more, I let nature run its course. You have to understand that an inhabited area doesn't need people, but companies do. There are quite a few strong men among the mobs, and they eat meat, any kind of meat, so they are quite strong. Those companies all welcome my goods. Of course, in this region, I am the only one with the ability to catch mobs and make them into slaves. Right now, I have a hundred or so people under me that could easily wipe out a mob tribe!"
Kane narrated these things in an ordinary and calm manner, as if without any emotion.
Su was left speechless. This was the reality of this world, as well as the reality he saw every moment before he entered the Black Dragonriders. He had never treated refugees and mobs as people, and this was the same as what the inhabited region's refugees believed.
The Black Dragonriders themselves didn't use slaves, and all of the personnel were pure-blooded humans. However, the companies surrounding this colossus of an organization all seemed to use them. These slaves could at least understand their masters' words and weren't picky towards food, so companies quite welcomed them.
They drank all the way until daybreak, and only then did Su drag the completely drunk Kane back home. The quiet Penny still hadn't slept. She prepared some hot water and carefully wiped down Kane's body. Then, with Su's help, she placed him onto his bed and placed the covers over him. Penny also placed a wild flower by the top of his bed.
"Penny." Just as Penny was preparing the couch on the first floor for Su to sleep on, Su called out to her. His green eye was fixated on her ankle. Below her dress, the small part of her leg that was exposed was flowing with streaks of blood. Those pink mutated tissues were extremely tender and fragile. Penny had worked so busily for so long, so there were definitely injuries in quite a few places. Mutated tissues were much more sensitive than regular skin and flesh, and they would bring about much more pain. However, this woman continued to quietly smile, as if she didn't feel any pain.
Su opened the palm sized medical kit, bringing out the wound spray as well as a pain stopping syringe. He placed them into her hands and told her about their uses. The spray had staunching, wound closing, pain numbing, disinfectant properties, and mutation suppressing uses. It could be used to effectively alleviate Penny's suffering.
Penny bowed deeply towards Su, and only then did she accept the spray and syringe before heading upstairs. However, Su suspected that she wouldn't use these things that were clearly more advanced than what they had in the wilderness on herself and would instead save these two items for Kane to use. As for herself, she would continue to silently endure the suffering.
Su's smile was a bit pained, but there wasn't anything else he could do.
Early the next morning, when Su left Saratoga, his first subordinate was still hungover and asleep. When Su made his way through the grasslands this time, Su's mood simply couldn't be compared to the last time he fled through this place. At the end of the grasslands and inside the mountains was where Base N958 slept, as well as the first place he and Persephone encountered each other. Not long after, N958 would become his center of operations and his resupply point. Su would rely on this place to search and explore greater unknown regions.
Su didn't plan on gathering too many subordinates or troops. Before he received new resources, it was impossible for N958 to provide for over 100 people. In addition, due to the base being situated in an unknown region, dragonriders that harbored ill intent could follow his traces at any time, just like how the captain from one of William family's branch families did. In fights between dragonriders, ordinary subordinates didn't provide much use, especially in unknown regions without any resources. Meanwhile, Su was completely different. Acting alone, he had the greatest flexibility, and with his familiarity with the wilderness, he could display his greatest strength.
His travel through the grassland this time went extremely smoothly. Su's round trip only took four days, and Kane was still busily gathering slaves from all areas. These slaves that were classified as grade A strong men numbered up to a hundred. As for the remaining, they were mostly B grade, and there were eleven or so female slaves labeled as F grade. The total amount added up to close to a thousand.
Su knew that all of these slaves belonged to the mobs known as 'hyenas of the wilderness', and he also understood why Kane treated mobs with such ferocity. However, after knowing the number of slaves and seeing the hundred or so slaves that were moved to Saratoga in advance, it became hard to keep his smile natural.
The ones that were moved in advance were all A grade slaves. The so-called A grade referred to mature robust men without any defects in intellect. These A grade slaves were all strong, and their muscles that were clearly more developed separated them from the normal residents of the inhabited area. The faces of these individuals carried sinister-looking expressions, and large chunks of interweaving flesh could be seen on their bare bodies. Their bodies were riddled with scars, and their hair was messy and solid like metal wires. Many of their faces had terrifying gashes running through them, and their bloodshot eyes stared hatefully at Su. When they saw Kane, they couldn't help but reveal fear. Perhaps due to roaming through the wilderness in this era, those that belonged to the mobs were quicker to adapt to their surroundings than those of inhabited areas. They could eat any type of meat, and they could drink grade one water. This made it so that they could survive in practically anywhere, and the cost of feeding them was low.
All of the slaves separately stood in ten large wooden cages, and they were all tied down with fetters. The fetters and handcuffs were clearly heavy, and the insides of the rings had sharp spikes, making it so that the slaves couldn't move about with strength that was too great, and were as a result incapable of rebelling.
Kane noticed Su's change of expression. He hatefully spat at the slaves and said, "You don't need to pity them. These are all absolute scum! Even the rotting wolves of the wilderness wouldn't harm healthy ones of their race, yet they will! In addition, they will treat them as food!"
Su sighed inwardly. He knew that what Kane said was the truth. Mobs frequently called themselves the kings of the wilderness, roaming around and preying on other refugees and inhabited areas for survival. Most of the mobs believed that the weak were prey for the strong, and that weaker people should become their food and sources of amusement. However, when he carefully thought about it, how were the Black Dragonriders any different?
Su handed Kane two maps. The first was a terrain map of the grasslands along with a safe path of travel, and the second was a sketch that lead to Dragon City. Su left Kane with a letter of proof that confirmed him as one of Su's subordinates, and he also used his dragonrider badge to leave its imprint.
After completing the main matters, Su hurried off to Dragon City on his own. This time, his harvest in the grasslands wasn't bad. He found two grade one mutated creature specimens and eleven grade two mutated species specimens. However, Su only had portable specimen cases, so he could only preserve them for seven days, and so he had to hurry back to Dragon City in under seven days. Only by preparing enough active specimen could he sell them for a good price.
After obtaining some startup funds, Su's next step was to pay Roxland's Pendulum City a visit. The size of Roxland and its power wasn't that large, but Li and Li Gaolei were extremely promising characters. Through Sally, Su also found out that Li Gaolei had an unknown side to him that made Su's opinion of him increase by quite a bit.
Their two sides had quite a bit of unpleasant history between them, but that was all in the past. Right now, Su was a member of the Black Dragonriders, becoming one of the great figures that Fazir spoke of. Perhaps he might be able to tempt them, or even force them to become his own subordinates. In addition, Roxland should have other promising individuals. After successfully selling the creature specimens, Su reckoned that he should be able to gather enough registration fee for two subordinates. As for other benefits, he could only say he would owe it for now.
Su felt that his own way of thinking was rather shameless, unknown as to whether it was due to his recent association with Persephone. Only now did he suddenly think of the modified pistol that he blasted apart himself, and his mood suddenly became somewhat gloomy.