Duke of Herrington

Chapter 92 The Importance of Order!
After days of unremitting efforts, Bruce finally arrived at a small village outside Blackwater City.

From a distance, this village is completely different from the cannibal villages I have encountered before!
Just judging from the density of cooking smoke and the calls of animals, we know that this village is not short of food and is living quite well.

"They don't lack food, so they won't eat me! Then I can go in and have a look this time!"

Bruce was beaming after exploring the map 'taken from the dead'!

Because this village is the territory of the Tomato Baron, there are tomato fields everywhere, as well as peppers and cabbages!Since there is plenty of light around here and there is never a shortage of water, there is no shortage of food here!

Moreover, this territory is in the safe rear area, where wars and diseases rarely affect it, and it is one of the granaries of the empire.

In peacetime, the empire has 9 granaries, 6 are in the south, bordering the [Hack Empire], and the remaining three are in the imperial city in the middle of the western plain, and the tomato fields in the northeast.

In terms of wheat production, it is indeed not as good as in the south, but the production of cabbage, tomatoes, and other vegetables far exceeds that of other places.

As the lord of this place, generations of Tomato Baron have a good habit, that is to stockpile food, a lot of food!
No one knows exactly how many, but the witty citizens have already researched a method, that is to observe the freshness of wheat flour!

For example, if you buy very cheap old flour, there is a high probability that it is grain hoarded three years ago. If the price is cheap and the quality is average, it must have been hoarded within two years.

Only when you encounter fresh wheat that is slightly more expensive can it be produced this year.

At first, the citizens in Baron Tomato's territory would complain endlessly about this policy, but after several disasters, they gradually understood Baron Tomato's approach.

This can be regarded as a signal. If everyone buys old flour, it means that the food reserves are sufficient, and there is no need to worry about not having enough food!Don't worry about famine!

But now. Everyone has just eaten flour of average quality, and the mood of the masses is quite stable!After all, if there is no fresh food, it means that there is still a lot of food in stock!
In addition, the citizens of Heishui City and the surrounding villagers all have a good habit!They make a paste of excess tomato, mix it with peppers and cucumbers, and store it in the cellar.

Not only can you eat it yourself, but you can also sell it!So the people here are doing pretty well, at least not looking sallow and emaciated.

"It seems that Baron Tomato must be a good lord who is compassionate to the people, and the people can only eat enough under his rule!"

Along the main road, at the intersection, Bruce walked on the small road leading to the village according to the road signs, and even hummed a little song!
It all went well.

But when Bruce came near the village, he found that something was wrong.
According to common sense, the guards of the village cannot be heavy armored guards, but only the militiamen of the village. So what does this arrangement mean?
Thinking of this, he quietly backed away, hiding behind a tree when no one saw him clearly.
At the same time, several refugees who had the same thoughts as themselves came to the entrance of the village with the help of crutches from behind.

"The smell of meat in front! Look, there are bacon and vegetables hanging there! The grain shelf is full of food! We are saved!"

The refugees cheered and dropped the crutches in their hands, walked past the guards step by step, and came to the food storage shelf not far away to get food.

"The Tomato Baron is so good? Free food? The guards don't care?" Bruce slapped himself hard, regretting why he hid here?
If he had just walked out, he would probably be able to eat bacon by now!

At this distance, Bruce's eyes were dazzled by the smell of meat, and his stomach growled with hunger!
"Hey, I'm really thinking too much! The heavy armored guards should prevent wild beasts from invading! After all, wild beasts often come and go here~"

However, just as Bruce was dragging his backpack and was about to stand up, the heavily armored guards guarding the entrance of the village suddenly made a move!

They glanced at each other, and after confirming their eyes, they pulled out the weapons on their waists!

"This"

There was a terrifying sound of sharp knives being unsheathed, and the soldiers strode towards the refugees who were twisting cans!

"Puff!" With the sound of the long sword piercing the skin, before the refugees could react, the flash of the sword ended their lives
They were killed before they even opened the jars and smelled the food.

"Why? Why kill unarmed refugees?"

Bruce was so frightened by this inexplicable action that he sat on the ground. He staggered and hid behind the big tree, sticking out half his head and waiting for what happened next.

After the heavy armored guards made sure that the refugees were completely cool, they let the militiamen lurking aside search for the dead bodies.
"Sir, there's nothing here!"

"Neither here!"

"Sir, I have a money bag here, about 30 silver coins"

Hearing the money, the guards on guard gave their thumbs up in relief, waved their hands, and shouted: "It's all yours! Take it as today's reward, quickly carry these corpses down and burn them! Then clean up the mess." DOWN! Don't forget to put the food back in again and screw the lid on! Don't let those untouchables open it!"

"No problem, sir!"

At this time, another smell of meat wafted over, and Bruce finally understood what the looming smell of meat was!
Those are the bodies of the disaster victims in the south!The smell after being roasted!
"Ugh" Thinking of this, Bruce couldn't help vomiting, even though his stomach was already empty.
"Why is this? Why do you want to do something to the refugees? Why!? They are just hungry and want to be fed!" Bruce didn't dare to shout out, he could only convey his dissatisfaction to God in his heart, and kept cursing these words A soldier who disregards human life.

"God will punish you! Sure!"

Since the guards will kill the refugees, then going to the village must be courting death!

There will be no chance to go in quietly at night, because these soldiers in heavy armor are the best of the best, and it is impossible for a hungry refugee to escape the eyes and ears of these elites. possible!

Bruce didn't dare to take risks, and he thought he didn't have that ability, and he wouldn't succeed!
"Not here, where else can I go?" Bruce slumped on the ground, looking at the only piece of bark and a few nuts left in his backpack, lost in confusion.

I thought that coming here with perseverance would find food, and I could live with the hope of my family
"But why did Baron Tomato kill the refugees? Why!?"

Even though the hope was extinguished again, Bruce still did not give up the hope of living. He opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath of cold air to calm himself down!
"Go to the west and have a look"

Just when Bruce was about to leave, another group of heavily armed soldiers passed by, and Bruce had to quickly run to hide behind a big tree
"Hey, I haven't seen many refugees these days, it's not as good as it was a while ago!"

"That's not possible. Look at the recent weather. It's so good, even the sun is shining brightly! I estimate that there will be a large number of refugees arriving in a few days!"

"Yeah, what the captain said makes sense, we have to be ready at any time to complete the task!"

"The lord told us not to allow unqualified refugees to come here, we just need to follow the instructions"

Speaking of this, a group of people disbanded on the spot with a tacit understanding.

Most of the soldiers chose to stay where they were and rest, while two of them came to the side of the big tree and opened the gate to release the flood.

The tree is close to Bruce, so they can hear their conversation clearly.

"Hey, do you know how many qualified refugees have entered Heishui City?"

"Qualified refugees? I remember that there were only more than 20 in the last count, but less than 30 anyway!"

"So few? I remember the test was very simple, but why didn't anyone pass it? At least 20 refugees came, and in the end... most of them were pulled out and burned."

"Hey~ This test is very simple for us! But for refugees, it is not necessarily so, because they are out of order, and they want to eat things when they see them, regardless of whether they have owners or not? If such a group of unscrupulous people are allowed to enter City, I don’t know how many troubles will be caused! The crime rate will soar, and even break the historical record!”

"You are right. After all, our lord does not want to accept some unruly refugees to break the order of the city. Only those who still have a semblance of reason in times of crisis can be qualified to survive!"

"Yeah, irrational people are just a group of walking dead. They will only be a burden to us if they are alive. Why not send them to God as soon as possible!"

"You are right! Now I really admire our lord more and more! Sieve gold from the dung heap, and then let the gold enrich our city! This move is really high!"

"Gao is Gao Ke, it's hard for us soldiers. Both my arms are numb, and I don't know how many weapons have been changed. Recently, I have been numb from cutting people."

"But you've gained a lot, right? I've searched for more than 20 gold coins, and I guess you'll get more!"

"Hey hey, that's true, there are good and bad, you can't generalize"

This conversation rekindled Bruce's hope of living again. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and quietly left along the path.
Although Baron Tomato's actions are a bit cruel, his behavior is not unreasonable. If he accepts refugees without screening, the result of Heishui City will be the same as [Munibai], and finally become a purgatory on earth!
From the point of view of Baron Tomato: Benwest Lou Te Dock, only those excellent refugees who abide by order, obey orders, and obey arrangements are eligible to survive.

Those lunatics who smashed, smashed and looted when they came up, and lost their humanity, will die as soon as they die, and they are not worth mentioning.
But the problem is that there are still sane people, the number is too rare, and most people are disorderly, they are the main body of the empire.
After the two soldiers finished releasing the water and rejoined the team, the patrol team set off again!
Bruce breathed a sigh of relief when the patrol was completely gone.

He opened the backpack, took out a bag from the interlayer, and counted 10 silver coins from it.
Of course, the money was not his own, but was scavenged from the fallen refugees, and the amount was quite a lot!
With the forest as cover, Bruce returned to the fork in the road, and after making sure that no one found him, he walked down the path to the village again.

On the outskirts of the village, a soldier blew his whistle once to draw the attention of the people around him: "Hey! There is another refugee! Get ready to draw your sword, probably the last one today!"

"Hey, my hands are sore!"

This time, Bruce was prepared and knew the routine of the Baron Tomato. He was not too nervous, but just followed the steps and played the role of an ordinary refugee. With ease.

When he came in front of the guards, Bruce stopped in his tracks. Before speaking, he bowed deeply to the soldiers, and then respectfully asked, as if he had seen a priest: "Hi, I'm from the south. Refugees, the supply here is exhausted, is there any supply for sale in the village? I have ten silver coins here, can you sell me some?"

"Puff." The soldier in front was amused. He let go of the handle of the weapon, took out a small book from his satchel and asked, "What's your name?"

With a grateful heart, Bruce looked at the soldier affectionately, and responded: "If you go back to the army, my name is Bruce."

"Okay~ Bruce, may I ask why you want to spend money on supplies? What is it? Let you maintain this polite appearance?"

On the road just now, Bruce racked his brains, exhausted his life's vocabulary and skills, and made up a set of rhetoric!
"My lord, my dead family members told me that no matter when and where, no matter what you suffer, you must abide by the constitution and teachings of the empire, and you must not do illegal things because of your own selfish desires!"

Hearing this answer, the soldier who was taking notes was very satisfied, and he wrote 'observe order' behind Bruce's name with a pen.

In fact, if he hadn't just happened to see the refugees being killed and heard the soldiers' conversations, Bruce would have been dead by now. He wasn't a law-abiding person, but he was lucky.

"Yes, it seems that you are usually a person who abides by the rules. To tell you the truth, if you ran straight to the grain shelf in the back, you would be a dead person now."

In order not to reveal himself, Bruce frowned, and asked with a little doubt: "Dead? Why is this? Master?"

"Because only those who abide by order can survive! According to the usual criminal law, troublemakers should be arrested and thrown into prison, but now is a special period, and there are not so many places in the prison, so we will follow the easy way. gone."

"That's it, I understand, Mr. Jun!"

"Congratulations, you are qualified to survive!" The soldier took the coin from Bruce and put it in his pocket.

"Master, can I take what's on the shelf?"

The soldier smiled, and took out a supply bag from the box beside him: "Those are poisonous, you can only eat this!"

"Thank you, Master Jun, for your advice!"

As soon as the words fell, another group of refugees discovered this border village and ran here like crazy!

The soldier let out a long sigh, put his hand on the handle of the weapon, and reminded in a low voice: "Bruce, step aside, if you want to live, shut your mouth!"

"Yes! Lord Jun!"

(End of this chapter)