Fire Fox Commerce Association

Walking down the street, Su Nan was surprised to find that the city was noticeably more crowded, bustling much more than before.

Many of those present were wearing leather armor and carried weapons, looking very capable.

Noticing Su Nan’s gaze, Brother Ke Yi smiled and explained: “After the reopening of the Blackstone Mine, many merchant caravans rushed over upon hearing the news. Many of these people are members of those caravans and their accompanying mercenaries.”

Su Nan suddenly understood.

The prosperity of a city often starts with flourishing commerce.

As long as the development of the Blackstone Mine continues, in a few years, Blackstone City will become a major city at the forefront in the Jinyan Province.

As they walked, Su Nan saw a simple tent area built with wooden sheds.

Inside, more than a dozen people were busy, some cooking porridge, others distributing it.

A group of ragged, emaciated people queued in a long line in front of the shed, their eyes fixed on the porridge stall, throats continuously swallowing, faces eager and anxious.

Under the implicit warning glances of the surrounding soldiers, they could only obediently queue and wait.

“Who are those people?” Su Nan asked Brother Ke Yi.

“They are refugees from the Duchy of Brambleflower to the west. There’s a war going on there, displacing many civilians. I sent people to pick them up, planning to absorb these people into the city.”

Hearing this, Su Nan pondered thoughtfully.

The bedrock of a city’s prosperity, besides revenue, is also dependent on its population.

Blackstone City is located on the border, with a population already not large, and even the army consists of only a little over five hundred men.

This is an innate deficiency.

Without solving this problem, Blackstone City will never be able to grow, and a cavalry regiment cannot be formed.

Absorbing refugees is undoubtedly an excellent measure to address this issue.

Especially those refugees who survived the long journey; most are young men and women with better physiques.

Once they join the territory and rest for a few days, they can immediately become labor force.

Young adults can directly join the army to strengthen Blackstone City’s military power.

“Before this winter arrives, I plan to take the initiative and attack the Black-scaled Lizardmen tribe in the Red Horn Wilderness.”

Brother Ke Yi’s eyes sparkled as he continued speaking.

“Moving the battlefield to the Red Horn Wilderness will also spare Blackstone City from some warfare.”

Su Nan nodded in understanding.

Although Brother Ke Yi did not explicitly state it, both of them knew the more important reason.

By acquiring more Black-scaled Lizardmen’s blood, Blackstone City can cultivate more knights.

The two then talked about recent events in the Jinyan Province.

Hearing that the Storm Count was attacked and severely injured, Su Nan couldn’t help but be surprised.

The Storm Count himself is a grand knight and a lord with real power; his guards are surely very tight.

In such circumstances, an assassin still managed to seriously injure the Storm Count.

What is the origin of this Starfire Cult?

Seeing Su Nan’s bewilderment, Brother Ke Yi explained: “The Starfire Cult is a mysterious sect that emerged more than ten years ago, growing extremely fast. In just three or four years, they became a sect with influence spanning the entire Duchy. They operate very secretively, with unclear doctrines, and are rumored to have collusions with many nobles privately. Yet, they haven’t stopped assassinating nobles, which is very bizarre.”

The more Su Nan listened, the more he felt something was off.

Could the Starfire Cult’s development trajectory be backed by sorcerers (apprentices)?

Su Nan recalled, but he didn’t have much impression of the Starfire Cult.

After all, when he came into contact with the game in his previous life, it was already in version 2.0.

He had little understanding of version 1.0 unless it was related to extremely important sorcerer affairs.

While pondering, a commotion suddenly came from ahead.

The two turned the street corner and arrived near a tavern.

The tavern’s door was wide open, with a clamorous noise emanating from inside, as if many people were shouting loudly.

Upon entering, they discovered it was caused by people competing in drinking.

Two burly men sat on opposite sides of a round table, desperately pouring alcohol into their mouths.

While drinking, they cast provocative glances at each other.

Around them were ten or more big, tall men, cheering enthusiastically and occasionally erupting in loud applause.

Su Nan’s gaze scanned the crowd and landed on one of the drinking men.

The man appeared about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a rough appearance, abundantly hairy, with his arms, exposed chest, and most of his face covered in hair. His eyes were amber-colored, resembling the eyes of a beast more than a human.

“Beastman.”

Su Nan’s expression changed, and he blurted out.

Beastmen were originally products of sorcerer experiments.

They are mostly bloodthirsty and aggressive.

Once stimulated, they easily lose control of their bloodthirsty instinct, transforming into a beast and attacking everything living they see in a frenzy.

In ancient times, the first beastmen caused the 【Beastman Disaster】, resulting in massive casualties, until sorcerers suppressed them later.

However, after many years of reproduction and weakened bloodline, later beastmen have improved significantly, and most can control their beastly abilities.

Beastmen cannot cultivate breathing techniques, but their physique far surpasses that of ordinary people.

Adult beastmen have the strength equivalent to that of apprentice knights.

Some beastmen with fierce beast bloodlines can, after arduous training, achieve power comparable to that of knights.

However, despite their powerful physique, beastmen’s longevity and reproductive capabilities are much poorer than normal humans.

To this day, it’s rare to see beastmen on the continent.

Even if they exist, most live within the Azure Gold Empire.

Su Nan didn’t expect to encounter a descendant of a beastman here.

“Few can recognize Ota’s origins at a glance, you truly are knowledgeable.”

A voice suddenly came from the side.

Su Nan turned his head and saw a tall man, roughly in his forties, approaching with a smile.

He wore an expensive-looking red fox fur coat.

“Lord Ke Yi, long time no see.”

The man first saluted Brother Ke Yi upon getting closer, then turned to Su Nan.

“How should I address you?”

“Su Nan.”

Su Nan nodded slightly to the man, already guessing his identity.

“This is my brother,” Brother Ke Yi introduced, then introduced the man’s identity to Su Nan, “This is Mu Zhuo Ismail, the owner of the Fire Fox Commerce Association.”

“Su Nan, pleased to meet you.”

Mu Zhuo Ismail smiled broadly while shaking hands with Su Nan, yet inwardly felt puzzled.

According to the information gathered, this second young master of the Shining family was reclusive, with a preference for tinkering with strange things in his room and rarely going out. Such a person shouldn’t have broad experience, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to recognize Ota’s beastman identity at a glance.

Moreover, the reports also stated that Su Nan had no knight aptitude, hadn’t even started on breathing techniques, and was weaker than ordinary people in physique.

But looking at Su Nan now, standing tall, eyes bright, full of spirit, he didn’t seem the slightest bit frail.

What were those responsible for intelligence gathering doing?

They can’t even handle such a small matter!

Mu Zhuo Ismail frowned slightly, deciding he’d have to severely reprimand those people later for their incompetence.