CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: DEPARTURE_1

"If it weren’t for those damn invaders using nets, they would never have been able to catch me!"

The Barbarian Woman began to feel a sense of arrogance growing within her as she realized Lance was not as skilled in close combat.

Having undergone harsh training from a young age, and having killed five men before being captured by a team of Slave Catchers on the edge of the Mountains, she indeed had the confidence to say so.

Her moves were vicious, all aimed at his vital points. Lance felt lucky that she had discarded her weapon, or he sensed he would be in real trouble.

Continuing to fight this way, not only would he fail to overpower the Barbarian Woman, but if the battle dragged on too long, even if he defeated her in the end, it would defeat the purpose of deterring her.

However, the experiences he had accumulated along his journey were not something she could shake.

Bless, Strengthen me!

The full-on Strengthening swiftly converted his experience points into power. That tumultuous strength surged within him, seeking release. Lance clenched his fist and threw a punch devoid of any flair.

A simple but overwhelmingly powerful fist hurtled straight towards her.

The Barbarian Woman did not understand how that body could possess such formidable strength, but she knew she absolutely could not afford to get hit—that was a fear of death itself.

The strength of the beasts of the forest often far exceeds that of humans, so avoiding their sharp edge is key.

Driven by her combat instincts, the Barbarian Woman tried to create distance and dodge, but Lance was no mindless beast from the wilderness. His step forward was like a tiger leaping across a ravine, closing the gap in an instant.

His swift movements once again sent her into despair. He was a...

Before she could react, his fist had already slammed into her body.

With just one punch, she felt the bones in her arms wailing as if they were about to break the next second.

And before she could recover from the excruciating pain, more fists flew out. Unable to block with her arms, her defense exposed flaws, allowing the punches to reach her body.

Her organs convulsed as if they were being ripped out, stirred, and then stuffed back in. A heavy blow to her heart and lungs made it difficult to breathe, causing her to cough up blood continuously. Finally, a punch landed on her jaw, sending an unstoppable force straight to her forehead.

Dizzy, staggering, on the verge of collapse...

Under such a severe beating, her confidence was completely shattered.

She lost control of her body and fell rigidly to the ground, eyes wide open, her chest rising and falling erratically, blood foam uncontrollably oozing from her mouth and nose.

It was as if she could hear the call of the desolate wilderness; visions of mountains, rivers, and vegetation appeared before her, but they were all moving further away.

The Ancestral Spirit had departed, abandoning my soul...

The agitation gradually subsided, and Lance stopped his assault to look at the Barbarian Woman on the ground. He crouched down, took her face in his hand, and turned it towards him.

"You lost~"

The Barbarian Woman did not respond, or rather, her consciousness was still wandering; her eyes seemed to lose their luster and turned dull.

Shit, I might have hit too hard. Hope I didn’t knock her senseless~

Realizing that she was not in the right state, Lance immediately used Flesh Reconstruction to heal her internal ruptures, severe bleeding, and concussion.

This stimulation caused the Barbarian Woman to convulse as if coming back to life, but it was more like suffocation, her face turning red and purple with the strain.

Seeing this, Lance helped her up and slapped her back, causing her to spurt out a large amount of fresh blood mixed with filth, vomiting out everything she had eaten that night.

The cough that followed cleared the rest, freeing her blocked airways. Then, she instinctively took deep breaths of fresh air, and after a while, her complexion began to improve slightly.

Her injuries would have been fatal with ordinary medical treatment in this era, but for Lance, it was just a matter of expending a bit of experience points.

Indeed, Supernatural Power is truly miraculous.

"What’s your name?"

"Boudica," the Barbarian Woman replied, turning her head toward Lance. She uttered the name in her tribal language, her eyes holding an indescribable meaning.

"What does it mean?"

After a moment of hesitation, the Barbarian Woman still explained,

"Born of Mother."

Uh... Lance fell silent for a moment. He had thought these Barbarian Tribes favored fierce names, yet this was so innocent.

He really couldn’t bring himself to call her that; he decided to just transliterate it instead.

"I’ll just call you Boudica."

「......」

The encampment outside the city broke up and formed into a long convoy, consisting mostly of refugees in tattered clothes, along with a portion of Slaves and a string of bound traitors among them.

Although there were weird Supernatural Powers at this time, such powers were unlikely to affect ordinary Slaves.

But they wouldn’t run away, because without the protection of the main force, few could survive in the wilderness.

Moreover, the convoy provided food and drink, and their destination involved nothing more than working the fields as Serfs. In this era, being alive was considered lucky enough.

Lance watched this thousand-strong caravan. This was the very reason he had insisted on clearing out bandits and robbers along the way. Otherwise, his soldiers wouldn’t have been able to protect so many people.

"Go back and tell Walter to take over the channels of the farms around Ovando as much as possible after Gene’s demise. You and Balistan make good use of that batch of armaments, select and train more soldiers, form a Cavalry Squad, a musket squad..."

Lance instructed, trying to resolve as many issues as he could before he departed.

To be honest, he really didn’t trust anyone else with his territory. He, too, wanted to stay, deal with matters, seek development, and then march toward the old estate.

But unfortunately, there was no one available. Had he allowed Walter to return earlier, the old man would surely have run off. Without a source of income, development would be out of the question, and his profligate ways wouldn’t have lasted long before everything collapsed.

Not to mention the even more important matter of the population~

There was no time to waste; there were still many people in his territory anxiously awaiting help.

Reynard and William followed the troops back, while Dismas and Boudica remained by his side.

Ever since she had been soundly beaten by him last night, the Barbarian Woman had become much more subdued. Indeed, these folks only understood the language of fists.

Tiffany looked worriedly at the departing carriage. She too wished to go along, but there were overdue goods at Totnes that required someone to manage the handover.

"Let’s go, the ship is about to set sail."

Lance called a few people to return with him, boarding the cargo ship at the harbor.

Two large three-masted sailing ships, relying on sail power and the flow of the current, could reach Totnes in just two or three days, even with a full cargo hold.

Boudica boarded the ship and soon became dizzy, unable to stand steadily.

She chanted in a strange tribal language, as if cursing or perhaps beseeching the blessing of an Ancestral Spirit.

But it seemed the Ancestral Spirit couldn’t protect her. She soon couldn’t hold on and leaned over the edge to vomit.

This reaction, however, amused Lance, as he hadn’t expected that the wild warrior, so fearless on land, would succumb to seasickness.

"This is the ledger; this trip is mainly to deal with the remaining sum."

Lance received the ledger from Tiffany and looked through it. He had to admit that although she lacked a strong hand and wasn’t astute in power struggles, her bookkeeping was a pleasure to behold.