Chapter 49

The rise and fall of the Fulu family is a minor matter, but Luo Zhengdao's stepfather was still very concerned about his son's safety. Even when death was imminent, he couldn't abandon his noble demeanor to flee, but he couldn't help but consider a way out for his descendants. Truly, the love of parents for their children is boundless!

Under the relentless military might of the Gnome Second Empire, escaping as quickly as possible was undoubtedly the top priority. But what should be done after completing this task? Clearly, no parent with a heart would let their child wander the streets begging. The exhausted Fulu Earl, at a time when the Light Kingdom was on the verge of collapse, sent his only son, Will Needham, to the overseas colony of Tahuna Island by sea to seek refuge, while also selecting trusted confidants to establish a camp deep in the mountains of Qiongzhou. At the same time, he mobilized several hundred absolutely reliable people to stockpile strategic supplies in the tropical rainforest, which the gnomes found difficult to control, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.

These people, squatting in the tropical rainforest, spent their days training and plotting how to counterattack and eliminate the gnome garrison to reclaim the entire Qiongzhou Island. Although the supplies were relatively abundant, the long wait without hope inevitably led to frustration.

It now seemed that the Gnome Empire wouldn't collapse anytime soon. They could wait in this wild forest for the right moment to counterattack, but their loved ones were suffering outside! For this reason, as soon as Luo Zhengdao met them, a young, straightforward man raised a rather sharp question, saying:

"Lord Earl, you're here to lead us against the green skins, right? Our homes have been ravaged by these scoundrels, even the hens that lay eggs have been taken away."

Luo Zhengdao scanned the simple and honest faces, seeing the natural anger in their expressions. What could he say? Seeing this, Luo Zhengdao could only sigh, borrowing the great leader's demeanor of deliberation, and said:

"We must continue to endure. Everyone knows the military strength of the gnomes. If we act now, we can only harass them; it's impossible to defeat them completely. So we must build up our strength and wait for the right moment, without easily exposing our capabilities."

This was a reasonable point, and everyone understood it. However, hearing these words of comfort from Luo Zhengdao, the nominal supreme ruler of Qiongzhou, made the human resistance feel a bit better. After all, watching the gnomes run rampant on their homeland, feeling powerless to do anything about it, was a frustration that these straightforward soldiers couldn't accept calmly.

Taking advantage of the heightened emotions, Luo Zhengdao sobered up and said:

"To be honest, I am preparing to expand the fleet and urgently need a large number of reliable people, and I thought of you."

The Qiongzhou resistance was invigorated. The revival of the Fulu family meant that their days of humiliation were not far off.

Humans can endure great suffering, but you can't let them see no hope. In the old world, lotteries were vividly called "the painkillers of the poor" and "spiritual morphine" by economists. In short, no matter how miserable your life is, as long as you spend a little money to buy a lottery ticket, theoretically, you have a chance to turn your life around and become a millionaire overnight. Although the possibility of this hope being realized is extremely slim, and the corruption in the lottery industry is no less than in other industries, this false hope is better than having no hope at all. At least it can numb the feelings of social failures, allowing them to continue struggling in the pain of the real world.

The elderly leader smiled and said to Luo Zhengdao:

"Lord Earl, please rest assured. The people here are the most loyal and reliable warriors of the family. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for Lord Earl and the family at any time."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao was taken aback. As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "time traveler" or "穿越者" in this context), it was hard for him to understand this sentiment. Suppressing his emotional fluctuations, he smiled, nodded, and looked at the young faces, pale from long-term hiding in the dense forest, and said solemnly:

"Everyone, listen carefully. I need people who understand navigation and artillery, preferably those who can independently command a warship. The requirements for ordinary sailors are not high; anyone who has worked on a ship for a few days or has been a fisherman will do."

On a ship, ordinary sailors are like general workers in a factory, while the quartermaster, gunner, and ship's doctor are considered technical workers. The first mate, second mate, third mate, and boatswain are like workshop supervisors responsible for personnel management and maintaining order. An excellent captain is even qualified to speak directly with a monarch, and their actual status is equivalent to a chief engineer in a factory. The technical content of these roles is vastly different.

The scene was silent for a long time before the elderly man trembled and said:

"Lord Earl, according to your requirements, Captain Bran Do Fiamme on the island is the only one who can meet them."

Suddenly hearing this unfamiliar name, Luo Zhengdao, who had no memory of his predecessor, was not overly concerned. He nodded and said:

"Where is this Captain Fiamme?"

Before the elderly man could answer, the red-haired young man who had asked the question earlier, looking eager, interrupted and said:

"Lord, he is in prison and is said to be executed by the green skins in a few days."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao felt a moment of despair. He was completely speechless about his mission. It was like a real-life 007 adventure, sneaking into the heart of the enemy to carry out a secret mission. After finally finding a useful talent, he was told that he had to stage a prison break to recruit him. This was too damn frustrating!

Faced with this difficult problem, Luo Zhengdao had to make a simple choice: was Captain Bran Do Fiamme worth the risk?

To help make his decision, Luo Zhengdao asked the people present about Captain Fiamme's background. After listening carefully to his past, Luo Zhengdao, who had been at sea for a long time and had a discerning eye, thought that this man had good navigational skills. However, he hesitated. Giving up this talent was easy, but finding another one might take a long time. After much deliberation, Luo Zhengdao finally made up his mind. The risk was high, but in this era, success without risk was impossible. This seemed like a deal worth taking.

.................................................................................................

"Crack! Crack!"

The burning campfire crackled in the cave. Finding a dry cave in the humid and hot rainforest was not easy, especially since Qiongzhou Island was not a limestone area, and the resistance had spent a lot of effort digging this hiding place. Under the flickering firelight, Luo Zhengdao and the Qiongzhou resistance planned the prison break that night. Time was of the essence; if someone's head was cut off by the gnomes, it wouldn't grow back. Luo Zhengdao didn't think he could timely invite high-ranking priests or even a pope to perform a resurrection ritual for Bran Do Fiamme, although bringing the dead back to life in the new world was not impossible, but the cost was much higher than most people imagined.

"How many gnome troops are on the island?"

Hearing Luo Zhengdao's question, the resistance in Qiongzhou, who had been dealing with the gnomes for years, did not hesitate. If they couldn't answer such a simple question, they might as well hang themselves.

"The entire island has only one Redstone Brigade of gnome troops. Additionally, the green skins recruited a batch of puppet troops in Cape City, but those guys are useless. They are good at bullying civilians, but on the battlefield, ten of them are not as useful as one."

The Gnome Second Empire's regular army naming convention was very ethnic, always using the commander's name plus the unit level, whether it was a general army, army, division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company, or platoon. Only special units like the Gnome Pursuit Fleet, which were temporarily organized, did not strictly follow this rule.

A regular gnome brigade had about ten thousand troops. For controlling a large island like Qiongzhou, which was over 100,000 square kilometers, this number of troops was like sprinkling pepper in a pot of soup—just for flavor.

Of course, it was easy to imagine that with the total number of troops being insufficient, the gnomes hoping that the scattered troops across the island could effectively suppress local unrest was a pipe dream.

Knowing the total number of gnome troops, Luo Zhengdao calculated their mobilization capabilities and felt reassured. Although the number of developed ports on Qiongzhou Island was not many, there were about a dozen in total, and the number of natural harbors along the long coastline was even greater. Considering that Cape City was the second-largest city on Qiongzhou Island and strategically important, the gnome garrison there was no more than a thousand. Compared to the combat forces Luo Zhengdao could mobilize, these gnome troops had no significant advantage.

Striking first is the difference between offense and defense at the strategic level. Even with overall strength being insufficient, the attacking side can always find a weak point to exploit.

Stroking his chin, Luo Zhengdao began to think deeply. After a while, he asked:

"What is the situation at the prison?"

The local human resistance, whose combat capabilities were unknown, had put a lot of effort into gathering information about the gnome garrison. Someone immediately unfolded a simple map and explained to Luo Zhengdao:

"Lord Earl, please look. On the left is a very secluded street, on the right is the prison wall, and next to it is the execution ground."

After hearing the introduction of the prison, Luo Zhengdao stared at the map, furrowed his brows, and asked:

"Do the gnomes not publicly execute prisoners?"

"Yes, Lord Earl. Those green skins don't care about laws. No matter what humans do, their punishment is always the same: death!"