The sky was gloomy, and dark clouds shrouded the earth as if the edge could not be seen.
The fighting in Ice Rock City has stopped, but the people's hearts are still heavy.
Especially the slaves who surrendered, they were shackled again, squatting at the foot of the city wall shivering, and their hearts were full of despair.
"Hey, lame, do you think Lord Lord is going to starve us to death?"
The lame slave touched his head and muttered, "How would I know."
"Is it worth thinking about?" Another slave said feebly, slumping on the ground, "Now the city is already short of food, how can Lord Lord waste food on us?"
"Then... shall we just wait for death like this?"
"Otherwise? Do you still want to kill it?"
Questioning the slave's body trembled uncontrollably, as if recalling the terrible sight of the black cavalry charge, he suddenly shut up and said nothing.
The breath of despair grew stronger.
The lifelessness of the slaves has even attracted a few vultures hovering in mid-air.
They are quietly waiting for the upcoming feast.
He was lame but was a little unwilling. He was still young and didn't want to die. Looking at the soldiers patrolling around, he hesitated for a while, and seemed to have finally plucked up his courage.
But just as he struggled to stand up and was about to walk towards the soldiers, he suddenly saw the city gate not far away open.
Amidst the clattering of horseshoes, a large-scale caravan slowly drove into Ice Rock City.
Lame doesn't care about caravans, he only cares about food.
"My lord, my lord..."
"Are you calling me?" The soldier looked at the lame leg that was approaching, holding the handle of the knife with his right hand, and said vigilantly, "Stand on the spot, don't get closer!"
"Yes Yes."
"What's your business?"
"My lord, I'm so hungry, can you give me something to eat..." The lame hunched his waist and pleaded, "I have a lot of strength. I can help you with your work, whatever you want!"
"Don't worry, you will be arranged to work soon."
"Then...is there anything to eat?"
"Yes, as long as you are willing to work!"
"Really?" Lame still couldn't believe that such a good thing would actually happen.
"What did I lie to you." The soldier waved his hand impatiently. "Go back and be honest."
The crippled leg did not go back, but nervously asked: "My lord, my lord, isn't there a shortage of food in the city now? How can we still give us food?"
The soldier pointed to the caravan entering the city: "Do you know what those vehicles are carrying?"
The lame shook his head foolishly.
"It's food!" The soldier said proudly, "Lord Lord brought back a large amount of food from the half-elf kingdom, enough for you to eat!"
"Really...really?" His lame eyes shone, and his whole body trembled with excitement.
The soldier didn't want to take care of the annoying slave anymore, and waved his hand to let him go back quickly.
The lame leg weakened, and he immediately knelt on the ground, and kept kowtow in the direction of the Red Fort, muttering something in his mouth:
"Thank you Lord Lord, praise Lord Lord!"
His weird behavior also aroused the curiosity of other slaves, and they gathered around to inquire.
Then, Lame told the other slaves the good news he had just received.
Soon, the news spread quickly like a plague, and more and more slaves began to learn to be lame, knelt on the ground and kept kowtow, praising the benevolent lord.
In an instant, the entire Ice Rock City seemed to come alive, and the death enveloping the city's head gradually dissipated, and the frightened vultures fluttered their wings and dispersed.
Before long, the soldiers began to divide the slaves into groups of about ten people. Each group was led by a soldier and assigned to different tasks, such as repairing city walls, cleaning streets, building refugee camps...
Lame was assigned to a task of repairing houses in the city. When he followed the leading soldier to the collapsed house, he was suddenly a little embarrassed——
Because he remembered that he had rushed into this house during the chaos and snatched some things...
With a trace of shame, the crippled leg immediately stepped forward and began to work.
A slave next to him asked the leading soldier with some uncertainty: "My lord, when do we have something to eat?"
"It's there at noon, hurry up and get to work!"
"well!"
As soon as the slaves heard that there was food, regardless of hunger and fatigue, they immediately got busy.
...
Finally it was noon, and the lame, already exhausted, squeezed into the long queue of slaves, and walked to the place to receive food.
I don't know how long he walked, he finally smelled a faint smell of meat.
Gurgling.
For a time, the sound of drooling came and went one after another.
The lame stretched his neck and looked forward, but he could only vaguely see a high platform and a huge iron pot on it.
After a long wait, the lame leg finally came to the high platform.
The soldier handed him three slices of black bread and a bowl of steaming broth.
It is said to be broth, but in fact, there is no shadow of meat at all, only a layer of fat floating on it and a light smell of meat, which proves that it is indeed not water, but broth.
Faced with such food, the lame leg even cried directly.
It's not that the food is too bad, but too good.
As a slave, he had never eaten meat in his entire life.
Now that I can have broth to drink, the lame feels that he is worth it in his entire life!
Dip it in the broth, stuffed the brown bread into the stomach with a few bites of the lame leg, and then it was not too hot, and directly poured the broth in the bowl into the stomach in one breath.
Feeling the warmth radiating from the abdomen to the whole body, my lame leg suddenly felt full of energy.
"My lord, after finishing work this afternoon, do you have anything to eat?"
"Of course there is."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow too."
"What about the day after tomorrow?"
"You're endless!" The soldier was angry and glared at his lame. "As long as you work for the lord, you will naturally have food."
Lame had no idea what to say at this moment, Lord Lord in his heart, as if he was already at the same height as the Lord of Radiance.
"It's not just food." The soldiers gathered their own group of slaves and explained, "There are points."
"Points?" The slaves looked at each other, completely unaware of what this meant.
"Can the points... be eaten?" Lame asked tremblingly.
The soldier sneered, shook his head and said, "You can't eat points. But it's very useful."
Before the slaves could continue to ask questions, the soldiers declared: "The most serious work this morning is the lame. Everyone has no opinion?"
The slaves shook their heads. The lameness was indeed the one who did the most work today. Everyone saw it.
"Okay, I'll be lame for one point this morning." The soldier immediately took out a roll of parchment and began to record.
The lame leg was still at a loss: "My lord, points...what's the point?"
"Points can help you get rid of slavery and become free people!"
"Free people?"
At this time, the rest of the slaves couldn't sit still They gathered around the soldiers and asked: "My lord, how many points do you need to become a free citizen?"
"I don't know." The soldiers spread their hands. "Lord Lord said that there will be a competition every month. The ten slaves in the city with the most points can become free people!"
Wow--
The slaves screamed excitedly.
They don't know how many slaves there are in the city, and how rare it is to have a monthly quota of ten.
However, they have already seen hope-the hope of a class transition!
This kind of hope makes their mental outlook look completely new, as if they have completely become another person.
When the work of the afternoon started again, all the slaves were mad and rushed to work, for fear of being beaten by their companions.
A fanatical mood gradually enveloped Bingyan City.