352: Chapter 352 Heavenly Palace Troops

Song Jiang and Tie Niu both took out a waist token from their waists.

The Water Bandits guarding the gate couldn't help but fix their eyes on the waist tokens the two had produced.

"Here."

Song Jiang and Tie Niu handed over their respective waist tokens.

The Water Bandits guarding the gate took the waist tokens and inspected them.

Sheng Tao was also looking at the waist tokens Song Jiang and Tie Niu had taken out.

He saw that the tokens were based in ebony, with edges inlaid with two-finger-wide bronze cloud patterns; one look was enough to tell that ordinary people had no way of forging them.

In the center of the waist token was a ferocious tiger head relief, revealing terrifying fangs.

Turning the token over, the back was densely packed with honeycomb-like indentations. It seemed chaotic, but it actually hid a secret mechanism. A few of the slightly larger depressions, when connected, formed the Big Dipper.

On the inner side of the waist token, ancient lesser seal script characters were engraved: Centurion Song Jiang. This waist token represented the wearer's identity and status.

Although Song Jiang was a Centurion, there were dozens of Centurions in Yunmeng Marsh. The Water Bandits guarding the gate didn't recognize them all, let alone the other Water Bandits.

For the security of the water fortress, Zhang Liang had designed these waist tokens.

To enter the water fortress, one had to present a waist token.

After confirming the waist tokens were not fake, the Water Bandits guarding the gate returned them to Song Jiang and Tie Niu and no longer blocked their entry into the fortress.

However, their gazes fell upon Sheng Tao, their faces full of vigilance.

This person hadn't produced a waist token; it was highly likely he wasn't one of their Yunmeng Marsh people.

Song Jiang also spoke up: "This brother is called Tao Sheng. I brought him here, and he plans to join our water fortress."

"Oh."

The Water Bandit guarding the gate said: "Then please register."

As they spoke, they took out a register book.

The time was recorded on it, and the person who brought Tao Sheng into the water fortress was Song Jiang.

"Alright, you may enter."

After completing the registration, the Water Bandits guarding the gate began to let them through.

This registration was equivalent to a record that Tao Sheng was brought into the water fortress by Song Jiang.

It meant Song Jiang was Tao Sheng's guarantor.

In the future, if this person, Tao Sheng, had any problems, Song Jiang would be held responsible.

Song Jiang had seen Sheng Tao kill four government officials with his own eyes, so he didn't suspect Sheng Tao of being a spy sent by the government.

After entering the water fortress, Sheng Tao saw rows of neat barracks built within to provide living and resting quarters for the Water Bandits.

The barracks were constructed using wood, reed stalks, and mud.

Wood was first used for the load-bearing structure, reed stalks were inserted into the walls, and then clay made through traditional methods was applied. The roofs were covered with thatch.

Sheng Tao also saw a large number of warehouses used to store grain, weapons, and other supplies, providing security for the water fortress's long-term defense.

"Brother Tao Sheng."

Song Jiang said to Sheng Tao: "I'll take you to the Registration Office to register."

The Registration Office was for recording names and ancestral homes. Only after the waist token representing Sheng Tao was made and issued would Sheng Tao be able to move in and out of the water fortress.

"Without rules, there is no order."

Song Jiang explained the rules of their water fortress to Sheng Tao.

"Without an application, one cannot leave the water fortress at will."

Sheng Tao nodded slightly, expressing his understanding.

These Water Bandits of Yunmeng Marsh were also afraid that government people might actually infiltrate them and report their situation to the authorities after figuring it out.

By restricting their movement, they could greatly reduce these risks.

Therefore, he had to gain the trust of the high-level Yunmeng Marsh Water Bandits.

Only then could he leave Yunmeng Marsh to report intelligence to the Shadow Guards of the Black Ice Platform.

...

Besides arranging for people to infiltrate Yunmeng Marsh, Zhao Fusu also arranged for the Heavenly Palace Force to come to Nan Commandery.

This Heavenly Palace Force was the air force of Great Qin.

They would use Hot Air Balloons to conduct high-altitude reconnaissance of Yunmeng Marsh.

Soldiers proficient in cartography would create detailed maps of Yunmeng Marsh from high in the sky.

Currently, they only had maps of the outer areas of Yunmeng Marsh. To trap the Water Bandits of Yunmeng Marsh, they needed to master a detailed map of the area.

When the Commandery Commandant of Nan Commandery, Wei Ping, heard that the Heavenly Palace Force had arrived in Nan Commandery, he curiously went to see their work.

The Governor of Nan Commandery, Wang Jin, also went to join the excitement.

They had seen the Heavenly Palace Force in the newspapers; it was said that these people could use the Heavenly Palaces to fly into the sky.

This made them very curious about what these Heavenly Palaces actually looked like and how they carried people into the high sky.