Chapter 001: An Interesting Slave

A moment later, Du Fan, led by Old Mark, managed to squeeze to a raised platform on the west side of the square. The area was crowded—obviously, the arrival of new goods had excited the buyers greatly. Du Fan and the others could barely make it to the edge of the platform.
However, since everyone at such events were ordinary people, Old Mark used a little force to clear a path, allowing them to enter one after another. Laku also followed quickly, holding Jian close.
Clearly, Old Mark was very familiar with this slave market. He quickly secured a great spot and led Du Fan there.
All the eyes in the crowd were fixed on the platform. Du Fan looked up and saw several burly men with bare shoulders walking back and forth on the platform, wielding whips in their hands. With each step they took, the whips swished slightly, producing a “swish” sound—clearly, these men were skilled.
After a while, a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion slowly emerged from the back of the platform. Though his complexion was poor, he was dressed in extremely luxurious attire that shone in the sunlight. He wore a tall hat and held an object resembling a cane. After walking slowly to the center of the platform, he removed his hat and bowed slightly—a common courtesy among merchants in the Roland Continent. After that, he put his hat back on, glanced around, and declared loudly, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming here. Thank you for your presence… Enough talk. Let me now present to you the best goods of the day!”
With that, he tapped his cane lightly on the ground, producing a series of “thud” sounds.
Soon, a young man dressed in a white robe was brought out. He wasn’t even handcuffed or shackled; only a white cloth was tied symbolically around his wrists to indicate his status. The young man was very handsome, with a half-smile on his face. He seemed completely unbothered by being in such a setting—whether it was because he was carefree or calm was hard to tell.

Seeing the man walk out, the merchant at the beginning smiled and said softly to the crowd, “Who this man is, I doubt anyone here knows. But allow me to introduce him… This is a famous bard from our capital. The stories he sings must be incredibly beautiful… Yet now, this down-and-out poet is forced to sell himself into slavery due to gambling debts! So, those who are interested, please bid!”
With that, the merchant stepped back and tapped his walking stick.
A slight stir arose among the crowd, and soon someone called out,
“Ten silver coins!”
“Twenty! Twenty silver coins!”
“Twenty-five silver coins!”
“…”
Calls kept coming one after another, and soon the bid rose to ten gold coins.
Although Du Fan wasn’t seeing this kind of scene for the first time, he still smiled and said lightly, “These people are really interesting. They can even buy a bard?”
Old Mark whispered, “Young master, you don’t know… That bard up there is quite famous among the nobility. Some people buy him to have him sing at banquets—it’s quite entertaining… And I’ve heard that some nobles with a penchant for men are also interested in him. I suppose a few of those bidding have such intentions as well.”
Du Fan glanced carefully at the bard on stage before shaking his head slightly after a moment.
When it came to peerless beauties, Saint Nicholas was still far superior!
Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if Nicholas ever fell on hard times and was auctioned here.
Soon, the bid for the bard reached thirty gold coins—a sum that could sustain an ordinary family for years. In other words, the price was quite high.
The merchant on stage seemed satisfied with this price. He raised his walking stick and shouted, “Thirty gold coins! Thirty gold coins! Is there a higher bid? Anyone? If not, then he belongs to this gentleman…”
With that, the merchant banged his stick forcefully on the platform, sealing the deal.
Soon, someone stepped forward to take a tag before going behind the platform to pay and take the man away. The bard was quickly led away as well.

After the first slave was sold, the crowd’s enthusiasm remained high. The merchant on stage was clearly good at stirring up the emotions of the buyers below, and soon all kinds of slaves were sold off. There were blacksmiths claimed to be weapons makers, beautiful maids, and groups of craftsmen… These slaves were sold off in batches like commodities, with the prices rising the more they appeared later, as if the later ones were of better quality. But Du Fan clearly had no interest in these various slaves. He had come here to see how Feray recruited people, but since Feray was nowhere to be found and he couldn’t find anything interesting at this slave auction, he was extremely frustrated. Just then, the merchant who had been quiet suddenly started tapping his cane loudly. After capturing everyone’s attention, he swallowed hard and declared, “Gentlemen, gentlemen, what’s about to come on stage is truly top-quality merchandise. Remember, once you pass this village, you won’t find such a place again… So please watch closely!” With that, he raised his hand sharply. This time, unlike any previous occasion, a huge iron cage was pushed out from the shadows deep within the platform. Inside the cage were densely packed people—at least a hundred at a glance. Apart from being locked in the cage, each of these nearly a hundred slaves was also tied with iron chains as thick as thumbs, clearly to prevent them from escaping. Seeing this, Du Fan’s eyes lit up. After waiting so long, it seemed only this batch of slaves could pique his interest! Below the platform, many people also gasped in shock, clearly impressed by this batch of slaves. The merchant looked quite proud. He pointed at the cage with his cane and said loudly, “Gentlemen, you probably don’t know what these are yet. Let me introduce them to you… These are soldiers from the Lanii Empire captured in the war between our empire and the southern part of the Lanii Empire. As everyone here knows, the people of the Lanii Empire are brave, consume little, but work hard… These well-trained soldiers, once brought back and slightly trained, can become the most loyal guards… Even for those who already have enough guards, buying these soldiers as laborers makes them the best workforce! So, gentlemen, please bid!” Soldiers from the Lanii Empire?

Du Fan raised his eyebrows. Though he didn’t know how these soldiers had been captured in such a one-sided war… a hundred well-trained soldiers did seem like a valuable asset! Thinking this, Du Fan glanced at Old Mark and said, “Has Ferre been buying these things at the slave market these days?”
“Of course not,” Old Mark shook his head slightly. “As far as I know, the most he’s bought are groups of about ten soldiers together, or some slaves who still seem strong. He probably hasn’t encountered such a large batch before.”
Du Fan nodded, then casually pointed at those on the platform and said, “Then let’s take them!”
Old Mark gave Du Fan a puzzled look but said nothing more, only calling out the price.
“Ten gold coins!”
Many in the crowd were still hesitating, but at Old Mark’s announcement, they were all shocked.
After all, although these well-trained soldiers were valuable, ordinary families could definitely not afford them. Moreover, training over a hundred soldiers properly would likely not be an easy task either.
But in Du Fan’s eyes, these difficult tasks were easy to solve—just requiring a bit more effort and using a few more Soul Commands. Though it wasn’t technically difficult… it was convenient!
Upon hearing someone bid, the slave merchant immediately shouted, “Ten gold coins! This esteemed gentleman is offering ten gold coins! Gentlemen, this is a very low price! Is there anyone willing to bid higher?”
“Fifteen gold coins!”
As soon as the slave merchant finished speaking, a strange accent rang out, a voice so peculiar that it made people feel uneasy.
Hearing someone raise the bid, Du Fan couldn’t help but smile slightly and said, “It seems there are people who know what’s good… Let’s continue.”
Old Mark smiled slightly before raising his voice again, “Twenty gold coins!”
“Twenty-five gold coins!” The strange accent came again from the crowd, quickly raising the price.