The letter on the stone table still carried the residual warmth from the pigeon's wings. Kurzadh's finger traced the words, his gaze lingering on another piece of intelligence Antonio had written—this news about Forest of Gloom interested him more than the changing of the Imperial throne.
"Deep within Forest of Gloom, another force has taken root—the Defias Brotherhood, a large Bandits' guild roaming the region, has infiltrated through the northern gate, bypassing Katushir's triple outposts and search parties, and is now hidden on the western side of the forest."
Kurzadh's brow furrowed, his fingertip pausing on the words "Defias Brotherhood."
He had been in Forest of Gloom for so long, yet he hadn't noticed such a group infiltrating. It seemed these bandits indeed possessed some skill in concealment.
Antonio wrote in detail in the letter: The Defias Brotherhood numbered nearly a thousand, mostly deserters, vagrants, and bankrupt merchants. Their equipment was pitifully crude—some wore tattered burlap, others didn't even have proper weapons, only sharpened wooden sticks and rusty daggers. Yet, it was this very group that had thrown the trade routes of Forest of Gloom into chaos.
The Khyprian Road was the only route from Katushir Hold to Prince Patton's Fiefdom. In previous years, merchant caravans were endless, with carts laden with silk, spices, and ironware forming long queues.
But ever since the Defias Brotherhood arrived, caravans were repeatedly attacked. Last month, three merchant caravans full of wine were robbed, their guards all slaughtered, their bodies left by the roadside for wild beasts. Last week, an iron ore caravan departing from Katushir vanished in the forest, leaving only a few bloodstains and broken horse reins.
"Seven or eight out of ten caravans are attacked; the Khyprian road is now rarely traveled." Kurzadh read the words in the letter, pondering to himself—fewer caravans meant fewer opportunities to ambush human caravans in the future, which was not a good thing.
What troubled the Lord of Katushir even more was that they had sent troops to encircle and suppress them three times.
The first time, two hundred militiamen were sent. They were led into a swamp as soon as they entered the forest, stepping on traps set by the bandits, suffering more than half casualties.
The second time, Knights led the team, but they were ambushed in the dense forest by the Bandits with rolling stones and poisoned arrows. The Knights' mounts were shot down, forcing a hasty retreat.
The third time, they simply deployed five hundred men, encircling the western side of the forest, but the Defias Brotherhood, like groundhogs, burrowed into pre-dug tunnels and vanished without a trace—they knew the forest too well, even where the springs were and where the shortcuts lay, making it impossible for Katushir's army to catch them in the woods.
"The Lord of Katushir is in a bind, with no solution," Antonio wrote in the letter, a hint of opportunistic excitement in his words.
"Your subordinate has requested permission from the Lord to lead troops to eliminate the Defias Brotherhood, on the condition that after the matter is concluded, the Lord must recommend your subordinate to the Katushir Council as 'Trade Inspector,' to oversee the Khyprian road trade route."
Kurzadh's eyes lit up—Trade Inspector, it didn't sound like a high-ranking official, but it would give him control over the discourse of the Khyprian road trade route.
If Antonio became this official, then in the future, iron ore and dried mushrooms from Blackrock Province could be transported into Katushir without layers of exploitation.
He could even use the pretext of "protecting caravans" to allow the greenskins to operate openly on the trade route, no longer needing to covertly ambush.
More importantly, Antonio explicitly stated in the letter: "If I can get the position, your subordinate can use the convenience of the trade route to transport iron ingots, forging tools, and even human blacksmiths to Blackrock Province—only if the boss sends troops to help eliminate the Defias Brotherhood."
Kurzadh leaned back in the beast-skin chair, his fingers gently tapping the table, rapidly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
Pros: First, helping Antonio get promoted would allow him to embed an "insider" in Katushir, making it easier to acquire human resources and intelligence in the future. Second, eliminating the Defias Brotherhood would open up the Khyprian road trade route, which could both resume the "Business" of ambushing caravans and allow for open trade under Antonio's name.
Third, although the Defias Brotherhood numbered a thousand, they were a disorganized rabble, poorly equipped and undisciplined. With the current strength of Blackrock Clan, taking them down would be more than enough.
Cons: The only drawback was that deploying troops might result in casualties, but greenskins naturally grew stronger through fighting, so a few casualties were nothing. Moreover, after eliminating the Bandits, they could confiscate the looted wealth to supplement tribal resources.
"The benefits outweigh the drawbacks; we can definitely do it!" Kurzadh slammed his hand on the stone table, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
He feared fighting the least, especially when it was under the guise of "Helping an ally get promoted" and "Clearing trade routes," a win-win situation.
He stood up and walked to the corner of the wall, where a charcoal drawing of the tribe's population hung—he had asked a hobgoblin scout to draw it, and although it was crooked, the approximate numbers were clear.
But now, he was more accustomed to looking at the system panel. With a thought, a light blue curtain appeared before his eyes:
[Blackrock Province Population Statistics]
- Orc Boyz: 242 (including 150 melee orcs, 92 axe throwers/archers)
- Night hobgoblins: 371 (including 210 Death Crawler riders, 161 poison archers)
- Hobgoblins: 986 (including 110 archers, 123 spearmen, 753 laborers/artisans, including 32 Tinkers in the team led by Dragu)
- Goblin: 2843 (can serve as logistics, transport, some can operate goblin pump pump carts)
- Total: 4442
Looking at these numbers, Kurzadh's lips curved into a smile.
A greenskin Army of nearly four thousand five hundred people against a thousand-strong band of Bandits was simply overkill.
The Orc Boyz could engage head-on, the night hobgoblins were adept at forest ambushes (they knew how to hide in the woods better than the Defias Brotherhood), the hobgoblin archers could provide ranged suppression, and the goblins could even push pump pump carts to transport supplies and erect simple fortifications—this setup was no different from fighting a group of goblins when it came to battling the Defias Brotherhood.
Not to mention, they also had secret weapons: Skarsnik's cultivated poisonous mushroom powder, sprinkled on arrowheads, could paralyze those hit; the newly forged iron axes and iron spears from Stonewatch, though crude, were heavy enough to split a thief's wooden stick in half with one blow; and there were fifty goblin pump pump carts, capable of transporting troops and charging as chariots in open terrain.
"This Defias Brotherhood has run straight into a trap," Kurzadh closed the system panel and walked to the window, gazing in the direction of Forest of Gloom.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. No one would have guessed that this seemingly peaceful forest was about to witness a brutal battle between greenskins and Bandits.
He turned back to the stone table, picked up a charcoal pencil, and wrote a reply on the back of Antonio's letter.
"Agree to send troops. Within three days, I will send Bone Tree with 100 orcs and 200 night hobgoblin poison archers, led by Keziaz with Death Crawlers to guide the way, to infiltrate the western side of the forest and rendezvous with you.
The specific plan for the encirclement and suppression will be discussed when we meet. Also, you need to draw a map of the Defias Brotherhood's activity area in advance, marking their camps and tunnel locations."
After writing, he folded the letter and blew his whistle again.
The grey pigeon on the roof fluttered down. Kurzadh tied the letter to its leg ring and gently tossed it. The grey pigeon flew towards Katushir, its wings cutting through the morning mist, quickly disappearing into the sky.
Kurzadh walked to the doorway, taking a deep breath—besides the fresh scent of mushrooms, the air seemed to carry a hint of gunpowder.
He knew a new battle was about to begin, and the victory of this battle would not only allow Antonio to establish himself in Katushir but also allow Blackrock Province's influence to quietly infiltrate the human trade network.
In the distance, the Orc Boyz were fighting in the Fighting Pit, their roars deafening. Skarsnik was squatting by the mushroom field, holding a purple poisonous mushroom, pondering some new use for it. From the direction of Stonewatch came the clang of hammering, as a new batch of iron axes was about to be forged.
The gears of Blackrock Clan were rapidly turning with the changing tides of the outside world.
And eliminating the Defias Brotherhood was just one step in Kurzadh's grand plan—he wanted not only control of Forest of Gloom but also to use Antonio as a conduit to gradually extend Blackrock Province's reach into the wider human world.