Chapter 020: It’s Time

Du Fan suddenly became interested. He examined these people carefully before saying, “What if I recruit all of them into my private army?”
Old Mark shook his head and said, “Young master, I advise you to give up this idea… You must understand that these are only first- or second-grade warriors. Even a second-grade warrior is of no use on the battlefield—far inferior to a well-trained soldier… Moreover, even if you recruit them, they won’t be grateful to you; they’ll just take it for granted. That’s the arrogance of warriors… They won’t accept any systematic military training, as most low-grade warriors who would agree to such training have already found their way into the army… The saying ‘ambitions as high as the sky, fate as thin as paper’ applies to people like them… Every year, countless such people starve to death in the capital, and many end up becoming bandits… But such people never have a good ending.”
Du Fan frowned. He knew Old Mark would never lie to him about such trivial matters, so what he said was likely the truth…
Thinking about bringing back a group of first- or second-grade warriors, only for them to act arrogantly, and since they weren’t slaves he couldn’t just beat or scold at will… Du Fan voluntarily gave up on his earlier idea.
Perhaps sensing Du Fan’s frustration, Old Mark still smiled and said, “Of course, among these people, there might be a few with real skills who are worth recruiting… But such people are extremely rare. I think once that kid Fei Lei has had his fill at the slave market, he’ll probably come here too. If you’re really interested, follow him and take a look then.”
Du Fan thought it made sense. Given his status, recruiting a few warriors might not be a big deal, but it wouldn’t look good if others found out… After all, most nobles rarely go to the slave market themselves; they usually send their subordinates to handle such matters.
After considering this, Du Fan had no choice but to give up. He waved his hand and continued walking deeper into the street.
The people standing on both sides of the street, who had initially shown indifference upon seeing someone stop, now showed signs of eagerness—after all, even becoming slaves was better than starving here…

But after standing for just a moment, Du Fan lost interest in the place. The people around him immediately showed disappointment, though they had experienced such things many times before and quickly regained their usual expressions. Du Fan was about to leave when suddenly his expression changed slightly. He saw the little girl, about five or six years old, who he had seen earlier, suddenly rush out from the crowd and come to his side. She just stared at him with wide eyes, saying nothing. Her dirty hands grabbed Du Fan’s pants and wouldn’t let go. Old Mark beside him immediately changed his expression and shouted, “How dare you!” But Du Fan simply shook his head slightly, sighed, then knelt down to touch the girl’s head and asked, “Where are your parents?” The girl shook her head slightly but still remained silent. “Where are your family members?” She continued to shake her head. Seeing this, Du Fan sighed softly, stood up, and said with a bitter smile, “Grandpa Mark, it’s not a big deal to have one more person at home, right?” Old Mark’s expression changed slightly, but in the end he also sighed and said, “If the young master wants to buy her as a slave, then remove the white cloth from her arm… though…” Du Fan nodded, casually removed the white cloth from the girl’s arm, and asked softly, “What’s your name?” The girl still shook her head. Du Fan sighed again and couldn’t help but say, “So she’s mute.” Then he took out a few copper coins from his sleeve and said calmly to the crowd, “Whoever tells me this little girl’s name will get these coins.” There was slight stir among the crowd. After a moment, someone stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Du Fan, and said, “Young master, this little girl’s name is Jian…” “Jian?” Du Fan sighed slightly. “Then where are her parents?” The man shook his head slightly, showing a rare expression of concern, and then said softly, “Her parents died of starvation a few days ago… If she isn’t bought now, I’m afraid…” Du Fan nodded, casually threw the copper coins away, and said calmly, “That’s enough. This is what you deserve…” After that, Du Fan didn’t look at him again but patted the girl’s head. Old Mark beside him suddenly blinked slightly when he saw the man swiftly catch the coins Du Fan had thrown, then casually asked, “Are you a warrior?”

“Yes, my lord.” The man clearly recognized that both Du Fan and Old Mark were of noble status. He quickly bowed and said, “I am a second-class warrior…”
“And where’s your sword?”
“My sword?” The man showed a strange expression. He glanced at Jian and said, “I pawned it a few days ago to buy a mat for her parents…”
“A mat?” Du Fan couldn’t help but look at Old Mark.
Old Mark’s expression shifted slightly before he said in a low voice, “A mat after her parents died… Anyway, come with us. From now on, it’s your responsibility to take care of this little girl!”
The man’s face lit up with joy as he hurriedly said, “Thank you, young master! Thank you, my lord…”
Without waiting for Du Fan or Old Mark to respond, he quickly removed the black cloth from his arm.
Seeing Old Mark acting on his own, Du Fan wasn’t angry. He simply asked, “What’s your name?”
The man bowed and said, “My name is Laku.”
“Good, Laku.” Du Fan smiled slightly. “Then from now on, it’s your responsibility to take care of Jian… Do you understand what I mean?”
Laku nodded eagerly. “I understand! I understand!”
Then he ran over to Du Fan, gently tugged at Jian’s clothes, and soon the little girl let go of Du Fan’s pants and was taken into Laku’s arms.
The crowd on the street showed complex expressions of envy and jealousy. But they also understood that those who could afford slaves were usually of high status; otherwise, they would have rushed in to steal the money.
Seeing this, Du Fan’s eyes flashed slightly, but he said nothing more and turned to walk deeper into the street.
Old Mark and Laku, who was holding Jian, quickly followed.
Du Fan shook his head slightly, but inwardly he sneered. Hmph, coming to the slave market just to encounter a little girl who clung to his legs? Her parents happened to die? And someone knew her? And that person happened to bury her parents? It seems there are indeed many coincidences in this world…
It seems I’ve encountered something interesting again…
Thinking this, Du Fan couldn’t help but sneer. There were many things he hadn’t feared before. Now that his strength had reached the peak of level nine, how could he still be afraid?
“Young master, look!”
As Du Fan pretended to be elegant, he saw Old Mark rushing over and pointing ahead.

Du Fan glanced in the direction the man was pointing. He saw a bustling crowd ahead, with heads packed tightly everywhere. Most of these people were dressed in gorgeous clothes, moving through the crowd as various shouts could be heard.
This was the true heart of the slave market in the imperial capital…
It was said that this place used to be a historic square with statues and fountains, but now those had been removed, replaced by various platforms standing everywhere.
These platforms were nothing like those on the streets outside. They were half a person’s height and extremely spacious, clearly designed for slave auctions. This place was also the most popular, as it was the only place in the entire imperial capital that had prisoners of war, official slaves, and all kinds of exotic slaves…
Du Fan became interested. With so many people around, it would be quite difficult to find Fei Lei first, but he could take a look first… There was nothing he couldn’t handle…
“Let’s go take a look…” Du Fan nodded casually, then turned to look at Laku and Jian with a slight smile. “Stay close to each other. If you get separated, don’t blame me!”
Laku quickly bowed.
Du Fan naturally knew that, whatever their motives, they would definitely not get separated from him. He had just said that on a whim.
“Alright, Grandpa Mark. So where should we go now?”
Old Mark smiled slightly and said, “That depends on you, young master. But looking at the crowd now, I guess we don’t know which owner has brought in a new batch of slaves… I think we’d better go check there.”
Du Fan smiled and simply said, “It seems I really came at just the right time today…”
Book 26: Divine Power Like a Prison