144: Daniel appeared

Night fell, and the cold wind howled.

Under the clear, silver-blue moonlight, Lister, Red, and the other knights lay in ambush ahead of time near the border of the Black Bear Territory and the Hengduan Mountains.

This was the first time Lister had assembled so many knights; first, because he didn't have that many before, and second, because this matter was no small thing and allowed for not a single oversight.

Currently, among the territories surrounding the Ironthorn Territory, besides Daniel, only the Emerald Territory might have a slight conflict with him.

However, looking at the movements of the Emerald Territory during this period, Viscount Humphrey had no intention of holding him accountable for the incident where the patrol members were beaten.

So, in the end, the greatest threat to the Ironthorn Territory was still Daniel.

In fact, regarding Daniel, the Baron of the Black Bear Territory, Lister had always thought he just had a bad character and liked to stir up trouble.

But he really hadn't expected that Daniel would actually dare to collude directly with the Orc Race. One must know that among the foreign races surrounding the Pedan Kingdom, the Orc Race were almost the ones with the worst relations.

Colluding with the greatest enemy of one's own country—this was no longer just a bad character, but a complete lack of any character at all.

Although Lister didn't know what kind of deal Daniel had made with the Orc Race, he imagined the benefits gained must be quite large.

Moreover, according to his intuition—though it was a bit disparaging to Daniel—Daniel probably wasn't the biggest fish; there were definitely others behind him.

However, it was all just his speculation in the end; what if Daniel's courage really was just that great?

Accompanied by the "whooshing" sound of the wind, Lister, Red, and the other knights lay quietly in ambush in the darkness, waiting for the prey to appear.

Clop, clop, clop...

As the rapid and powerful sound of horse hooves grew from far to near, from faint to loud, the spirits of Lister and the others instantly tensed, and their gazes were drawn over in unison.

Although human vision is greatly affected in the darkness and cannot see that clearly, as transcendent knights, they could still maintain a very good field of vision.

The position where Lister and the others were lying in ambush was a small high slope at the junction of the Black Bear Territory, near the outskirts, where there was a small grove of trees.

In the middle of the small grove was a flat main road leading to the Hengduan Mountains; it was almost impossible for anyone to come here at night.

As the sound of horse hooves drew closer, the sudden and successive sounds of horses being reined in, "Whoa," rang out. Daniel and five knights clad in full plate armor stopped on the outer side of the main road near the small grove.

Two hundred meters away, on the small high slope, Lister and the others kept their eyes fixed on the movements of Daniel and his group.

On horseback, the pot-bellied Daniel scanned the surrounding environment with eyes like a hungry wolf, finally settling on the small groves on both sides not far away.

Under the gaze of Lister and the others, he waved his hand, and two knights in the group rode their horses toward the small groves on either side.

Seeing this scene, the corners of Lister's and Red's mouths couldn't help but curl into a smile, while the surrounding knights also felt admiration for the foresight of the two.

Originally, lying in ambush in the small grove would have allowed for a faster attack, but after observation, Lister and Red found that being too close made it easy to be discovered, which was why they chose the current high slope.

Soon, the two scouting knights returned to Daniel's side. Although Lister and the others couldn't hear what they were saying, they could guess their words.

After the two knights finished their report, Daniel and the others on horseback all dismounted, found a few stones to sit on, and began to wait.

"Lord Daniel, the Wild Dog Orcs from the Beast Tribe's Black Dog Clan who sneaked in this time are much more well-behaved than before. It seems they've learned their lesson from last time."

Daniel's Knight Captain, Godwin, took out a bottle of fruit wine and said as he handed it to Daniel.

"Humph!"

Daniel took the fruit wine and snorted coldly, "It's good that Doyle Borg isn't stupid beyond redemption. If he had sternly warned those idiotic clansmen last time, there wouldn't be all this trouble now."

"Lord Daniel is right. Compared to us humans, those Orc Race are indeed prone to being foolish."

Godwin nodded in agreement. The failure of the last mission had resulted in them not only having no gains but also paying quite a bit in atonement fees.

If not for those fees, not just Daniel, but even they—the knights in the same boat—would have faced even greater punishment.

Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, looked at Daniel, and suggested, "Lord Daniel, the failure of the last mission was, in the final analysis, caused by the Lord of Ironthorn Territory, Lister Howard."

"Since there is a low-rank Orc sub-commander among the Orc Race sent by the Black Dog Clan this time, I suggest we can offer some benefits and have them help us teach Lister Howard a lesson. What do you think?"

"Lister Howard!" Hearing this name, Daniel immediately ground his teeth. He had always wanted to skin and eat this guy who had ruined his plans alive.

"Godwin, your suggestion is very good, but will they agree?" Daniel hesitated.

"I believe it's feasible."

Godwin said with a look of certainty, "As far as I know, the Black Dog Clan has always been in a weak position within the Beast Tribe and lacks various living resources."

"With winter fast approaching, many Orc Race die every year during the cold winter because of the lack of living resources."

"If we can promise to give them some living resources on top of the original monetary benefits, they will surely be willing to help us teach the Lord of Ironthorn Territory a lesson."

"And we're not asking them to fight to the death, just to harass him a bit before they leave. As long as they aren't stupid, they will definitely accept something that requires a little effort without any loss and even brings benefits."

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it could work, and the anger in his heart caused by Lister suddenly dissipated quite a bit.

He then looked at Godwin and said, "Alright, do as you said."

As his voice fell, heavy and powerful footsteps came from the other side of the road. Daniel and his group immediately stood up, looking toward the direction of the sound, while their hands naturally rested on their sword hilts.

Lister and the others on the high slope not far away also heard this series of heavy and powerful footsteps, and their gazes followed suit.

Soon, five huge, blurry black shadows stepped quickly out of the darkness, appearing under the illumination of the silver-blue moonlight.

Black Dog Orcs!

Seeing the familiar figures, Lister and the others' eyes sharpened. Their palms gripped their sword hilts, their bodies tensed, and they moved stealthily toward Daniel and the Orc Race, like beasts hunting prey in the shadows.

"You're a bit slow." Daniel's tone carried a hint of reproach.

The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader, the largest and most robust one in the lead, surprisingly didn't offer any rebuttal. He said in a muffled voice, "To avoid other territories and prevent anyone from discovering us, we specifically took a long detour. Please forgive us for being late, Your Excellency Daniel."

Daniel's expression in the darkness was slightly surprised. He had thought the Orc in front of him would talk back a few words, but he hadn't expected him to be so "reasonable."

For a moment, the unpleasant feeling in his heart from waiting in the cold wind could only be suppressed.

Then, he took out two beast-skin scrolls from his storage ring and said, "Inside these two scrolls are some recent military movements of the Northern and Western Frontiers; they should be of great help to you.

"

"Even military intelligence from the Western Frontier?"

The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader was surprised, then showed a look of joy, impatient to take the two scrolls.

But Daniel withdrew his hand and said, "What about the things we need?"

"Oh, sorry, my oversight," the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader apologized.

Then he pulled out a storage ring he carried with him from a small pouch on his chest.

This storage ring was a trophy the Black Dog Clan had seized from humans. Because their size was too large, they couldn't wear it on their fingers and could only carry it in a pouch.

The magic mark on the storage ring had already been erased and replaced with the Spiritual Power mark of the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader.

Under the activation of his Spiritual Power, more than thirty large crates instantly appeared out of thin air on the surrounding ground.

The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader looked at Daniel and said, "What's in these crates is the Cold Iron and Vibration Iron you need, as well as the agreed-upon three thousand gold coins."

As his voice fell, Daniel waved his hand, and the two knights beside him quickly opened all the crates.

Under the illumination of the silver-blue moonlight, blue, silver, and golden light flickered in the crates, dazzling the eyes.

Daniel's gaze swept over them. Although his face remained calm, the look of wild joy in his eyes was fully revealed.

"Lord Daniel, there's no problem with the quantity."

After checking, the two knights came to Daniel's side and said respectfully.

Nodding, Daniel handed the scrolls in his hand to the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader in front of him and said, "Payment on delivery."

Taking the scrolls, the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader showed an excited expression. It hadn't been in vain for him to travel so far over mountains and rivers; wasn't it all for these two thin scrolls?

At this time, Daniel spoke up, "I have another deal here. I wonder if the Sub-leader is willing to listen?"

"A deal?"

The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader was stunned for a moment, then thought for a bit and said, "Please speak, Your Excellency Daniel."

Daniel nodded and said, "You should already know the reason for the failure of the last mission."

"So I hope that before you leave, you can attack the Ironthorn Territory. It's both to avenge the Orc Race of your clan and to help me weaken the power of the Ironthorn Territory."

"This way, it will be easier for me to target the Ironthorn Territory later. Of course, I won't let you act for nothing."

"Winter is near. I can provide five hundred sets of winter supplies for your Black Dog Clan. What does the Sub-leader think?"

"Winter supplies!" The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader's expression, which had just calmed down, became excited again.

For the Orc Race, because they possessed vast lands, resources such as crystal, copper, and gold mines were plentiful.

But compared to these resources, because they almost all lived in the extremely cold north, they needed warming materials even more.

And resources in this area were very scarce in the northern lands. In addition, the human kingdoms did not trade with them, so they had to obtain them through looting.

The five hundred sets of winter supplies Daniel mentioned would definitely help their Black Dog Clan have a very good winter.

However, despite his excitement, he still feigned a difficult expression and said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency Daniel, although we also want to help our clansmen get revenge, we have repeated instructions from the Clan Leader before we set out."

"If we rashly launch an attack inside the Pedan Kingdom, we will definitely be punished when we return."

"Besides, this place is far from the Western Frontier border—"

Daniel interrupted him directly and said, "Just say it, how many sets do you need?"

"Eight hundred sets, paid upfront," the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader responded.

"Deal," Daniel nodded and agreed.

"Your Excellency Daniel's generosity earns my heartfelt admiration!" The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader looked pleased and praised.

Seeing this, Daniel smiled contemptuously in his heart. He had originally prepared an upper limit of a thousand sets, but who would have thought that this Black Dog Orc Sub-leader would agree to just eight hundred sets.

Truly a brainless race!

"But now I don't have that many materials with me. You'll need to wait for a while. I'll have Godwin go and transport them over. It can be done before dawn."

Hearing Daniel's words, the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader nodded. Eight hundred sets of winter supplies was indeed a lot, and it was generally impossible to carry them on one's person.

He was able to carry so many resources this time because the Tribe Leader had lent him this high-grade storage ring before he left.

And such high-grade storage rings were few and far between; it could be said to be more important than his life.

Just as Godwin was about to ride away, a glowing energy slash suddenly shot toward him.

"Not good, an ambush!" The Black Dog Orc Sub-leader was the first to react and shouted a warning.

Letting one person go would have reduced their combat pressure, but after thinking about it, Lister felt that this opportunity could not be missed.

Since they were all accomplices involved, there was naturally no reason to let them go, and letting Godwin go back might lead to other complications.

The moment the energy slash attacked, Godwin, as a first-rank Silver Knight, felt a strong killing intent and reacted immediately.

But this was a strike swung by Red; it was not something an ordinary first-rank Silver Knight could easily block, especially when being ambushed.

With a "squelch," Godwin's entire right arm was directly cut off by the energy slash.

It was so fast that even the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader beside him didn't have time to help block it.

"Ah—"

A painful wail instantly echoed through the night. Daniel and the others, having reacted, quickly drew their longswords and looked toward the darkness around them with solemn expressions.

"They're here!"

Suddenly, the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader gave a low shout.

Swish!

A cold light flashed, and Red descended from the sky out of the darkness, lunging fiercely toward the Black Dog Orc Sub-leader.

Immediately after, the figures of Lister and the others emerged from all directions, charging toward Daniel and his group.

At the same time, Lister's voice, like the judgment of a lord of hell, rang out in the night: "Daniel, you are colluding with the Orc Race to trade intelligence. According to the laws of the kingdom, any lord who discovers this on the spot has the right to arrest and try you."

"It's you, Lister Howard!"