CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35: ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCE

"Shahim Clan?"

"How many clan members do you have? Have you also established a territory in the Swamp?"

The Barbarian leader was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Lear to ask this question. He hesitated for a moment, and then spoke slowly.

"Humans, we have already established a territory with thousands of Barbarians... It’s just three or four days journey from the Swamp."

He then threatened further.

"If you kill my clan members, the Shahim Clan will certainly retaliate against you!"

Lear showed no interest in his threats; instead, the mention of their territory made him thoughtful.

A Barbarian territory with thousands?

For a colossal city like Lorand City, it’s nothing noteworthy, but for the usually scattered Barbarians, this scale is quite significant.

More importantly, this is the Wilderness, far away from human civilization.

At this moment, the Intelligence System suddenly displayed a new piece of information.

[The first wilderness tribe—the Shahim Clan has come to visit and seeks to open trading relations, additionally triggering intelligence—a Chieftain of the Shahim Clan has gained Extraordinary Wisdom, aiming to unite the Barbarians and construct their Barbarian main city in the Wilderness, thus seeking to trade externally. They have seized a unique mining area, abundant in gold and various rare ores, trading with them will not only earn the friendship of the Barbarians but also access to a large quantity of rare ores.]

Seeing the intelligence while in thought, Lear’s eyes lit up.

These Barbarians, they are serious!

The thoughts in his mind immediately began to change.

As he remained silent, the Barbarians suddenly realized that the Wetland Lizard-men gathered around them.

They were completely surrounded.

Hundreds of fully armed warriors stared at them coldly, and the pressure was overwhelming.

The Barbarian leader gritted his teeth.

"Humans! What do you want?!"

Seeing the situation, today would not end peacefully.

Lear withdrew his thoughts, staring directly at the other party, he said slowly.

"I am very interested in your Shahim Clan. My territory is newly established, and might possibly establish a trade relationship with you."

Maintaining distant alliances and gaining local advantage.

Trade is always the best way to prosper a territory.

Even without the Intelligence System’s prompt, Weilu City would inevitably have to trade with the outside world.

The Barbarian leader was evidently bewildered, establishing trade?

With some hesitation and caution.

"Humans, are you truly willing to open trade with us?"

The current situation... really doesn’t seem like the state for discussing such matters.

Lear nodded.

"Right now, your lives are in my hands, what benefit do I have in deceiving you?"

This...

The Barbarian leader was left speechless.

Lear didn’t wait for him to speak and continued.

"The precondition for opening trade is... to meet each other’s needs, my Swamp is rich in resources, lacking nothing. I need to know what you can offer and what you need."

Although the intelligence had provided a prompt, the necessary questions couldn’t be skipped.

This made the Barbarian leader take things more seriously.

"We need a large amount of food, salt... which we can exchange for gold, ores, or slaves."

He then added another sentence.

"If you can provide weapons, armor, and iron tools as well..."

These supplies are basically the essentials that are scarce in the Wilderness.

In this jungle where the law of the jungle prevails, the human lifestyle is too extravagant for life in the Wilderness.

An environment stable enough to provide such a lifestyle is the rarest here.

For example, food, hunting and gathering are the most common means of acquisition, with hunting taking the lead... but hunting is unstable and carries a high risk of fatalities.

To maintain a large force, relying solely on hunting is very difficult.

For a Barbarian territory like this, the daily food requirement for thousands is an enormous burden.

Most races in the Wilderness cannot establish territories to develop city-states due to very practical reasons.

Lear’s gaze slightly shifted.

Gold? Slaves? Ores... He thought of Earth’s Age of Exploration trade in the Middle Ages.

Exchanging glass beads for gemstones, that was real profiteering.

If this Barbarian territory has this potential... it would be a huge benefit for Weilu City.

He slowly nodded.

"Whether what you say is true or false still needs verification... Please follow me to the territory for a stay of two months."

"Once I’m done with current matters, I will visit the Shahim Clan to discuss opening trade."

The other barbarians were somewhat agitated, their eyes burning with anger.

But the leading barbarian waved his hand to calm the crowd.

"Master... I promise you."

"But if your will changes, I plead with you to let my companions leave."

We’re the fish on the chopping block; resisting with all our might would only be sending ourselves to death.

Judging by the other’s attitude, he seems genuinely interested in opening trade routes, even if there’s only a ten percent chance, he’s willing to take the gamble!

The chieftain’s will must be fulfilled.

That is the light of the barbarians!

The gaze became resolute.

He turned to glance at his companions behind him and shouted a few words in the barbarian tongue.

Soon the commotion subsided.

Lear nodded slowly upon seeing this.

"As long as you don’t do anything against me, my promise will undoubtedly be fulfilled."

Though his words were plain, all the barbarians could sense the undeniable firmness.

The leading barbarian let out a quiet sigh of relief, clutched his chest, bowed his head, and saluted with respect.

"Master, Akenza, greets you."

Lear nodded slightly.

"Lear, greets you."

Sensing that the few had completely lost their hostility and threat, he signaled to the Wetland Lizardman Warriors behind him.

"Akenza, we still need to go out hunting, clean up the dangers surrounding the territory, and can’t return to the territory for now."

"So please temporarily join my army’s ranks, obey our unified command and dispatch."

Huh? Is this human lord really that trusting of them?

The barbarian commander was a bit taken aback.

With a mix of complex emotions, he nodded.

In the danger-filled wilderness, without unified command, encountering enemies is definitely a disaster.

Lear, who possesses the divine format, is far beyond what they can imagine; as long as there is the slightest hint of hostility, he can immediately respond.

Seemingly lenient, but everyone is under his control.

The barbarians were unaware of this, simply believing Lear to be trustworthy, gaining some respect for him in their hearts.

Lear was straightforward, assigning the barbarians their own squad.

He also used a Touch of the Wetlands to restore the two captured Lizardman Warriors and the barbarian.

This made the barbarians’ eyes change again.

In battle, having a mage who knows healing techniques would significantly increase survival chances.

Unfortunately, mages are scarce; in their clan of thousands of barbarians, there are only two mages... and neither knows healing techniques.

Lear even inquired about the identity of the unconscious barbarian...

It was somewhat misunderstood; the other was Akenza’s brother, bitten by a venomous snake earlier, remaining in a coma even after the toxin was cleared.

Now, good news, he’s awakened directly... which made the barbarians’ attitude towards Lear improve noticeably.

The army continued forward, three Wetland Lizardman squads paired up, beginning a broader exploration.

After two days of fighting, the upgrade progress for the Wetland Lizardmen had already reached 95%.

They only needed one more battle to meet the upgrading requirements.

But today, the anticipated battle hadn’t occurred; they marched for two hours straight without encountering any swamp monsters.

Though there were plenty of animals along the way, sensing the approaching large troop, they fled from afar.

Relying on the Wetland Lizardman’s hunting instincts, they only managed to hunt a few swamp wild boars to add to dinner but barely quenched their thirst.

Lear was quite resigned, having no choice but to expand the search range.

After marching for another half an hour, the lizardmen ahead relayed the information — they found the destination!

When Lear reached the front, he saw a small hill standing tall in the swamp, spanning hundreds of meters, and over 30 meters high.

Dense vines grew over the hill.

These vines are common plants in the swamp, appearing lush and full of vitality.

What was surprising was that, at the foothill where the vines rooted, the typically murky muddy water was crystal clear.

Many dark green fish swam in the water.

Even more than a dozen large fish, over two meters long.

As the people approached, the large fish wagged their tails, weaving into the naturally formed hiding spots within the vine roots.

A hundred meters away from the hill, the slowly flowing muddy water remained as stinky and unpleasant as before.

The stark contrast between the two was evident.

Lear was pleased to see this scene.