Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

The secrets surrounding the City Lord's wife – the alluring mature woman, the yet-to-be-explored milf, the beautiful Bei – were still too distant for Su Li. After indulging in some imaginative thoughts, he redirected his attention to other matters.

Having acquired his own territory, [Black Forest Foothills], for the first time, the density of intelligence information he received today was astonishing. A single day's worth of updates provided him with a wealth of information about the Black Forest Foothills region.

Both the Blackwater River and the Brienne River flowed down from the Gray Mountains, converging in the heart of the territory's plains. Near this confluence resided three river trolls. Killing them would yield two Water Element Hearts, valuable resources for awakening soldiers' bloodlines. Implanting these hearts into soldiers, even those without prior bloodline abilities, would directly promote them to Apprentice Knights and enable them to practice Knight Breathing Techniques. Furthermore, if a soldier was already a Water-type bloodline knight, using the Water Element Heart would make their training even more effective.

Additionally, within a mountain in the Gray Mountains north of the territory, there was a giant iron mine secretly occupied by a kobold tribe. Kobolds were not particularly strong, and Su Li could easily seize the mine with his power. Giant iron mines could produce Vibranium, and the territory happened to have a dwarven forging master, Barros Dragonhammer. This meant that the territory could produce several sets of rune-inscribed Vibranium armor each year.

All of this was enticing Su Li to venture into this fertile foothill region!

Therefore, Su Li decided to head straight to this territory after buying slaves from the Dark Night Slave Hunter Group. He needed to see it for himself, and if there were insurmountable dangers, he could rely on the Daily Information System's warnings to escape in advance. A month-long adaptation period would be enough for him to gather local intelligence.

For safety's sake, Su Li also inquired about the local situation from Barros Dragonhammer after getting up, but the eccentric dwarf still harbored great prejudice against humans and completely ignored Su Li's inquiries.

Unable to extract any valuable information, Su Li left him temporarily in the camp and led over sixty soldiers to the address Oliver had left him on the note.

This location was in a valley in the southeast of the city, requiring passage through a dense forest. Su Li woke up relatively late, and it was noon when he led his troops to the entrance of the Dark Night Slave Hunter Group's camp.

Oliver had been anxiously pacing at the camp entrance for over three hours. He regretted his caution yesterday, as losing such a high-quality customer would cause him months of remorse.

Seeing Su Li arrive with a large contingent of troops, the gloom on his face finally dissipated. He enthusiastically stepped forward to greet Su Li, his face beaming with smiles: "Welcome, esteemed Knight Su Li. You wouldn't believe it, but several stewards wanted to take away the slaves today to showcase them to other clients. I had to use all my persuasive skills to assure the merchant association's board of directors to keep these precious goods here."

Su Li raised an eyebrow and jumped off his horned horse. It seemed the merchant association's investigation had been quite effective, even uncovering his name.

However, Su Li didn't believe a word of what he said. Trusting a merchant's words would leave him penniless.

He replied bluntly: "Then let's take a look at the quality of your goods. If I'm satisfied, my pioneering territory will continue to cooperate with you for future slave purchases."

"No problem, no problem. It's our honor." Oliver smiled brightly and immediately bowed to invite Su Li inside: "Please, follow me."

The Dark Night Slave Hunter Group was indeed quite powerful, and their slave hunters immediately presented Su Li with three Elite Knights of the elite level.

"What do you think, Lord Su Li?" Oliver asked, raising his chin proudly: "Three Elite Knights can significantly enhance your territory's strength. Each one is only 300 gold coins."

300 gold coins was roughly the equivalent of an Elite Knight's salary for five years.

The value of slaves in this world could mostly be calculated, generally being 40 to 60 months of the profession's income.

For example, an armed servant earned 20 silver coins per month, with a total annual income of 3 gold coins including allowances and benefits. The price of buying an armed servant slave would be 8 to 12 gold coins, fluctuating based on regional demand, market conditions, and security.

Based on this, a farmer's average income was about 8 to 10 silver coins per month, so the cost of buying a serf would be 3 to 6 gold coins.

These two professions typically toiled hard for a year, and after deducting household expenses, they couldn't save even 20 silver coins. To buy a slave, they would have to live frugally and work hard for a dozen or two years. Any natural disasters, accidents, illnesses, or deaths would directly lead to bankruptcy. Forget about buying slaves, they would become slaves themselves.

Moving up the ladder, Apprentice Knights were significantly wealthier, earning 50 silver coins per month, roughly equivalent to a monthly salary of 5,000. If they owned land, buying a serf to cultivate it for them was relatively easy. If they were doing well and encountered a generous and warlike lord, they could even make a small fortune and equip themselves with one or two knight attendants to help them cut grass, feed horses, sharpen weapons, and maintain equipment.

Upon becoming a Formal Knight, they truly entered the privileged class, becoming part of the Empire's inner circle. Their monthly salary was one gold coin! A full 10,000 copper coins, a true monthly salary of over ten thousand, was a dream that every commoner in the Empire aspired to from childhood. Every Formal Knight certainly had their own attendants, farms, and serfs. Apart from lacking the privileges and honors of nobles, they could be considered smaller-scale kingdom knights in many ways.

Therefore, the Empire's citizens desperately competed from birth, dreaming of becoming knights from a young age. Besides greater strength, more importantly, they also gained more wealth, benefits, and opportunities.

Even more powerful Elite Knights earned as much as 5 gold coins per month, which was beyond the aspirations of the common class. Their monthly income was enough for an ordinary family to cover a year's worth of taxes and expenses, with a large surplus.

Of course, this also meant that buying an Elite Knight slave was indeed expensive, conservatively costing 200 gold coins.

Oliver selling him one for 300 gold coins wasn't cheap, but it wasn't ripping him off either; it was within the normal price fluctuation range. No one offered the lowest price right away in a transaction; haggling was always necessary.

But Su Li wasn't very interested in this deal. He already had many Elite Knights under his command, and paying their salaries was a challenge. Moreover, he had even more Formal Knights, with plenty of opportunities for promotion.

He could afford these Elite Knights, but if he spent money buying Elite Knights, he wouldn't have money to buy slaves to cultivate the land for him. Knights in this world didn't cultivate the land; they only did one thing every day: hone their skills in warfare. Their only responsibilities were killing and preparing to kill.

Since they didn't engage in production, Su Li had to save some money to buy serfs who would engage in production.