Chapter 44: A Show of Strength

Before leaving, Master Rubio made a request to Su Mo:

Take away his brass collar as collateral to prevent him from escaping halfway.

This request sounds overbearing at first, but it makes sense if you think about it carefully.

Su Mo couldn't bear to part with his mother's relics, so he asked Master Rubio if he could use the "Sword Belt" as collateral instead.

Both the "Sword Belt" and the brass collar are "excellent" level magic devices. The former is more valuable and can improve Su Mo's strength more. If he didn't care about his mother's relics, he would not be willing to use it as collateral.

However, unexpectedly, Master Rubio rejected Su Mo's proposal and insisted on keeping the brass collar.

"The belt is indeed more valuable than the collar, but since you would rather use the belt as collateral, it means that the collar is more valuable in your heart. If you leave it with me, you have to come back, isn't that right?"

Master Rubio asked back with a smile.

Su Mo had no choice but to follow his request and take off the collar as collateral.

Master Rubio took the brass collar from him and looked at it intently, his face changing and his eyes becoming very strange.

After a long time, he came back to his senses, put the brass collar into the storage bag, and said to Su Mo: "Don't worry, I will return the collar to you when you return from service."

With a slight smile, the noble young master continued: "If you perform well in the barracks and win a medal for me, then I will not only give you a generous reward, but also cancel your contract of sale and give you the status of a free man."

The word "free man" made the young monk's heart beat, and he was full of expectations for the upcoming military career.

The next morning, Su Mo put on the gorgeous attire of the baron, led 100 family private soldiers in the name of Rubio Lopez, and the foreign aid Basaka, and rode a camel to the border fortress "Iron Fist Castle" in Sevilla to report.

…

Jiang Feng spent a star disk energy to quickly skip the two-week journey, and the story stage switched directly to the gate of Iron Fist Castle?

This magnificent fortress is located in the Gobi Desert in the south of Sevnia, backed by an oasis for grazing livestock. The Sunset River, which originates from the northern mountains, flows southward around the fortress wall, providing a natural moat.

Jiang Feng relied on Su Mo and called for the city gate to be opened in the name of Baron Lopez. After verifying his identity with the guards, he led the troops across the suspension bridge across the river and entered the castle.

General Alfonso Rodriguez, the garrison commander of the fortress, is a high-level "Sandworm Knight" - a sub-profession (paradigm) of the Ranger, and is also the brother of Count Diego Rodriguez, the current lord of Sevnia.

The fortress is home to lords of all sizes from all over Sevnia, including a lot of knight barons.

Like Baron Lopez, these military nobles more or less brought some private soldiers and gathered under General Rodriguez to fulfill their vassal obligations.

When Gao Fei and Jiang Feng came to report, General Rodriguez was reviewing the troops in the fortress square.

Out of curiosity, Gao Fei looked at this famous general in Sevilla through Basaka's eyes.

General Rodriguez looked to be in his early thirties, wearing silver chain mail, tall and thin, slightly bald, with a shaved chin, a tuft of carefully trimmed mustache on his upper lip, and sharp eyes, giving people a shrewd and strong impression.

The more Gao Fei looked at this general, the more familiar he felt. His appearance and temperament were very similar to Lee Van Cleef, who played the colonel in the old movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", but he was younger.

Su Mo walked up with Basaka, who claimed to be his adjutant, and bowed to the general.

General Rodriguez nodded in return and exchanged a few words. Judging from his polite and cold attitude, he seemed to look down on this young master who had just joined the army and was young and inexperienced.

In addition to the troops and mercenaries recruited from the nobles, the wealthy city-state of Sevinia also raised two standing troops as the trump card armed forces of the border guards, namely the "Lancery Regiment" and the "Whirlwind Knights". The two regiments together have about a thousand people, all of whom are elites trained by General Rodriguez himself.

The Lancers on the square are equipped with lances and new magic crystal rifles. They ride on domesticated sandworms, which are versatile in close combat and long-range shooting. When necessary, they can sneak in the sand and raid the enemy.

The "Whirlwind Knights" are even more powerful. Their mounts are actually real whirlwinds. The knights stand firmly on the top of the whistling and swirling wind column, holding sabers and carrying magic crystal rifles behind them. They are considered a special air combat unit.

The mount of the Whirlwind Knight is called "Sand Roll Dust", a medium-sized air elemental creature that lives in the desert and has a relatively mild temperament. It looks like a whirlwind made of sand and dust. As long as you give it a hyacinth gem that they like, you can sign a long-term contract with it and tame it into a loyal mount.

Compared with the regular army riding sandworms and sand rolls, the Lopez family guards who came to report on camels looked like a group of old-fashioned people. Gao Fei and Jiang Feng both felt embarrassed.

General Rodriguez gathered the troops, walked to the nobles with his hands behind his back, and a sarcastic smile hung on the corners of his lips.

"My noble and brave friends, who wants to ride the sand roll dust for a ride?"

The nobles changed their faces when they heard this, and bowed their heads. Except for Su Mo and Basaka, no one dared to look directly at the general.

General Rodriguez immediately noticed the two outliers in the crowd, and asked with a smile: "Brother Rubio, do you and your adjutant want to try it?"

Gao Fei could tell that the general was going to give the unruly nobles a warning. He and Jiang Feng were the two chickens to be killed for the monkeys!

If they refused the general's invitation, they had to pass a DC25 persuasion check, otherwise they would be laughed at by all the officers and soldiers present, and their face would be lost. It would be difficult for them to survive in the barracks in the future.

The difficulty of the persuasion check was ridiculously high. Unless they were lucky enough to roll a 20-point big success, it was impossible to pass it.

It can be seen that the game designer hoped that the players would accept the challenge issued by General Rodriguez.

Gao Fei and Jiang Feng used the star disk to chat privately. After discussing, they decided to accept the challenge, switch to the first-person perspective, ride the sand roll dust in person, and experience the feeling of flying in the wind.

Of course, if they messed up, they would fall from mid-air, get bruised and swollen on the spot, and become a laughing stock.

The general appreciated the courage of the two men and raised his hand to order the guards to send two sand roll dust for them to ride.

Gao Fei and Jiang Feng walked to the whistling whirlwind with gritted teeth. The clever Sha Juanchen took the initiative to shrink his body and lowered it to the same height as their heads, so that the passengers could climb on him more easily.

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The third update is finished, please collect and recommend!