It's been a week since Avery returned to Oroz.

The mercenaries of Oroz were all hired out during this time.

Locke personally told those forces that hired mercenaries. Oroz's mercenaries can never take the initiative to attack, they can only help you defend the enemy. If your faction makes the mercenaries take the initiative to attack, then don't blame Oroz for being ruthless afterwards.

The leaders of these forces obviously knew Locke. He is also very clear about his temper. Just what Locke said. It will definitely come true.

So they all commit. Hiring these mercenaries will never let them take the initiative to attack. Just defensive.

This made Locke a little more important in the hearts of these mercenaries.

It turns out that the Lord of the City cares so much about them? Tens of thousands of mercenaries were all hired.

This proves that the surrounding war is about to begin.

Locke guessed right.

These forces have enemies secretly destroying their defenses, and some forces are trying to invade them. They are underpowered. Can only be hired from the outside world, just right. Oroz also has mercenaries to hire.

Locke also specially sent a scout team to investigate who the secret enemy was. To Locke's surprise, this secret black hand was actually someone he was familiar with.

He is the Orc Empire.

Think about it too. The Orc Empire was originally a winter. Especially the orcs on the border, some tribes always like to **** food from the villages and territories of the human country, and this year is no exception.

But who would have thought. The sudden outbreak of war this year? This made food scarce on their orc side. Even the ever-rich human nations have little or no food. The civilians at the bottom do not farm. The food in those lords' territories has long been collected by the nobles. They can only think of some conspiracy, so that they can **** enough food for the winter, otherwise, in the winter without food, these orcs who do not like to work do not know how much they will starve to death. People starve to death every year, not to mention this special period this year.

Locke guessed that this could not be the attention of the Orc Empire. Probably the tribes on the border. Otherwise, according to the strength of the orc empire. It's also unlikely to do so. And there is. The Orc Empire also sent people to compete for that kind of thing. It's just that no one knows about it except Locke. They don't have the energy to manage what food is and what isn't. Their main problem now is how to get that thing.

The countries around Oroz are now shrouded in war. Except for the Wegrit Wilderness where Oroz was located, it was still in a normal state, and basically fell into the fog of war.

The closer you get to the two empires. The more intense the war is.

Now both the Ciri Empire and the Celit Empire have fought three medium-sized wars, all of which ended in a draw. As long as one side is a little impatient. Large-scale war can break out at any time.

That's when it's the last moment to fight for this thing.

Locke guesses. The Orc Empire may be waiting for this time now. Except for Caesar's Empire. Now the three major empires are waging war around this thing that can mass-produce the ultimate knight.

Sometimes Locke thinks. Why didn't the Caesar Empire think about fighting for this thing in the past?

Until the arrival of Caesar Jones.

Only let Locke know. There may be a large number of extreme knights in the Caesar Empire. Caesar Jones, the second-order knight, has appeared. There is no guarantee that there are still third-order knights. Or a lot of extreme knights. It's just that they are all closed in one place.

Locke has gained a lot of faith during this time. All are obtained by helping or establishing academies.

Even if you can exchange two third-order knights now. But Locke didn't.

strong. There is a line. If all are exchanged. What an emergency. There is no belief value in the system. That's when I really wanted to cry.

half a month later.

The hired mercenaries also gradually suffered casualties. They were all attacked during the defense, or died defending the city.

No way, this is a mercenary, while enjoying high treatment. There is also a fairly high risk that one inattention could end life.

Locke also established quotas for those families who died, or who had no income in the future. As long as it was the mercenaries who were killed or injured in this incident, his family could receive a certain amount of gold coins every month in the City Lord's Mansion. Or for families with children, their children can receive a certain amount of cultivation resources.

And can train a good soldier. This is not how kind Locke is, this is the best chance to brush up the Faith value. It is also so that there will not be a shortage of these grassroots warrior groups in Oroz in the future.

As the number of mercenaries killed increases. Locke couldn't sit still.

If these mercenaries die. Doesn't this affect future caravans?

Locke came to Zhang Zhao's office.

Zhang Zhao said: "Sir, why are you free to come here today? Orz is very calm now. He hasn't been affected at all by the war outside."

Locke said: "Of course, our Oroz has not been affected, but our mercenaries have suffered a lot. Now there are thousands of mercenaries. It is basically impossible for us to continue to work in the future. This is not good for our caravan. The impact is still relatively large. So, I decided. Send pawns to clear these dark hands. Let the surrounding area be quieter."

Zhang Zhao frowned and said, "My lord~lightnovelpub.net~ It seems that we don't care about our business, right? As long as we don't attack our city, why should we send soldiers to help them?"

Locke said: "This can be related to our future business. These forces are in danger now, and they have no extra troops. Even hiring our mercenaries is a drop in the bucket. Just look at the casualties of the mercenaries. The black hand in the dark is very cruel."

Zhang Zhao said: "Sir, do we just help them for no reason? This is not in Oroz's interests."

Locke smiled and said: "Of course you can't help for free. Just accept the forces we help. We will reduce the general taxation of our caravan within three years. Do you think they will agree?"

Only then did Zhang Zhao know Locke's purpose. It turned out to be a tax issue. Right. With the increase of Oroz cargo. Taxes on these things are also getting heavier. In some places, the caravans even earned a gold coin. At least one-fifth of the tax should be posted. Pay attention to this level of taxation. Don't say you've seen it. Just never heard of it before.

Now these forces are in difficulty, and they want to get Oroz's help. Let's start with taxes. There are benefits for both sides. Oroz got gold coins. Those forces were secured. Best of both worlds.