Chapter 1

Wasteland

Ashen Soil Territory

In the center of the square

A crude, heavy, gray iron gallows stood tall

Thirteen thin hemp ropes hung down like icicles

At the end of the ropes, thirteen heads of varying sizes dangled

Two dark green eyeballs bulged out, tongues protruded from their throats, and their legs were stretched taut

As the seasonal winds carried by the elemental tides blew, these newly deceased bodies swayed gently, as if trying to absorb a bit of beneficial elements to transform into undead and resist this unjust world

But... they eventually stopped

The sunlight slanted, casting thirteen long shadows

Within the shadows, a young man in his early twenties was busy laying a canvas under the bodies

His name was Li Ziran, an organ witch doctor, and he was currently purchasing a batch of corpses

He held a magic wand in one hand and dipped his thumb into a bottle of murky liquid, writing tadpole-like symbols on the canvas. As the tadpole symbols continued to be written, beads of sweat gradually appeared on Li Ziran's forehead

He shook his sore arm from the prolonged effort and resumed writing the tadpole symbols

This was his daily task. As a witch doctor apprentice, he had to rely on the power of the magic array to carry these corpses

With the final tadpole symbol in place, the entire array finally emitted a faint emerald glow

The glow was faint and wavered like winter wax, ready to extinguish at any moment

But this faint glow was enough for Li Ziran. After ensuring the glow was stable, he immediately called out to a one-eyed Wolfman (wolf-headed man) standing to the side

"Mr. Barbaro, let them down!"

As his voice fell, the pulleys on the gallows creaked, and the bodies gradually descended from mid-air

Li Ziran's dark eyes fixed on the bodies. The moment the bodies touched the green light, he quickly pulled out his wand and tapped the body of the Pigman (pig-headed man) at the front

Puff!

Bubbles instantly formed on the canvas, enveloping the bodies like tadpole eggs

The mucus continued to wriggle, and after about half an hour, the half-meter-tall Pigman had transformed into a palm-sized emerald frog

[Transformation Spell: Frog]

Li Ziran's unique and proud witchcraft. Watching the transformation spell take shape, a smile finally appeared on his sweat-covered face

"Good luck today!"

Compared to usual, today was particularly smooth

He lifted the successfully transformed bodies, took out red strings, tied them to the frogs' hind legs, made a knot, and hung them on his belt

Li Ziran's movements were very熟练, in the blink of an eye, his waist was adorned with thirteen frogs hanging head down

With the thirteen bodies collected, the Wolfman who had been waiting impatiently for a long time urged him:

"Thirteen bodies, two silver coins!" His enormous hand was extended in front of Li Ziran

"Understood!"

Li Ziran unbuttoned his shirt and took out seven silver coins and several dozen copper coins from an inner pocket, picked up two, hesitated briefly, and then added another one, making it three silver coins in the Wolfman's large palm

"Oh, one more?" Barbaro smiled strangely, blew on the silver coins, and they clinked

One silver coin was not insignificant. On the Red Earth Continent, where copper coins were the basic currency, one silver coin was enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a month

Especially in the harsh Wasteland, the value of a silver coin would be infinitely magnified

"Mr. Barbaro, you've been with me for two hours. This is your well-deserved reward!"

Of course, Li Ziran wasn't that kind-hearted. It was much harder for him to earn a silver coin, but he knew when to invest

Although Barbaro was just an ordinary Wolfman bandit in the Ashen Wolf Territory, his status was unique

He followed One-Eyed Bart, the most brutal lord in the northeast corner of the Onyx Wasteland

The Ashen Wolf Territory, as a transit point in the northwest of the Wasteland, saw countless slave caravans passing through every day

One-Eyed Bart imposed the death penalty for any crime in any territory, and there was a hanging every three days. If lucky, there could be over a hundred lives lost in a single day

According to Li Ziran's understanding, over a thousand people died in the Ashen Wolf Territory each year

This was terrifying, but it was precisely One-Eyed Bart's methods that created a unique survival environment in the Ashen Wolf Territory

Safety!

This was the factor slave traders liked the most. There would be no reduction in killings, and more and more caravans would stay here

Li Ziran liked Bart, not for his brutality, but for the bodies

He was an organ witch doctor and a businessman

Collecting bodies from Wasteland forces, extracting valuable organs, and then selling them to necromancers who never had enough bodies

One body could earn him twelve copper coins. At a 100:1 copper-to-silver exchange rate, the thirteen bodies could earn him 1.5 silver coins after organ extraction

This was the income excluding the organs

With the Frog Transformation Spell, Li Ziran didn't need to hire caravans. He could carry 126 frogs at a time on his waist

A trip to the necromancers' territory could earn him a steady 15 silver coins, and he could complete a business deal within three days

To put it bluntly, this was one of the more profitable industries in the Wasteland. With this ability, he could live comfortably in the Wasteland and even have spare money to improve his witch doctor skills

The only drawback was that he didn't have a steady supply of bodies

The reason he gave most of his income to Barbaro was because of his status in the Ashen Wolf Territory

Executioner

He had absolute authority over the bodies in the Ashen Wolf Tribe

"Kid, you're quite sensible, aren't you?" Barbaro's face was stern, and a faint red aura emerged from his body, creating a formidable pressure

Battle Aura!

A unique ability of the Beastmen, they could capture special energy from the elemental tides using their bloodline and then refine and enhance it through the collision of different elements within the tides

Beastmen Battle Aura was a special ability that could rival magic

However, according to Li Ziran's understanding, this was the lowest-level Battle Aura of the Beastmen

He had captured some fire elements but couldn't use the elemental tides for refinement, making it superficial

But Li Ziran still took a step back, feigning a pale face

This pretense was necessary

No matter how insignificant a person was, they always felt inexplicably happy when respected

Happiness often served as a lubricant for the next business deal

"Sir, you... I..." Li Ziran's voice trembled, perfectly feigning, "I have no ulterior motives, I just want to buy more bodies from you."

"Hehe, I knew what you were thinking!" Barbaro was very satisfied, his hand in his pocket unconsciously touching the silver coin, "This silver coin..." He hesitated and then smiled sinisterly, "can't buy all the bodies I have, Li Ziran, you need to offer something better!"

Li Ziran couldn't misunderstand his meaning and nodded quickly: "Of course, every month!"

"I'm not talking about silver coins!" Barbaro laughed, his long, evil eyes sizing up Li Ziran as if trying to see through his organs. His vertical eyebrow furrowed like a large 'mountain' character. Just as Li Ziran was unsure of his intentions, Barbaro leaned close to his ear and asked, "Do you buy slaves?"

Slaves?

Li Ziran's heart skipped a beat. He did, but he couldn't admit it

The slave trade was taboo in the Wasteland. Involving in such business could cost him his head

It wasn't that the slave trade wasn't profitable; on the contrary, it was a top-tier smuggling business that rivaled arms dealing

The reason it was taboo was because of the money, and a lot of it

This money could only be earned by the major lords. For small traders like them, even a little involvement could result in them becoming slaves themselves

The major merchant guilds in the Wasteland had formed an alliance, and anyone who reported slave traders could receive a gold coin reward from any territory

One gold coin was equivalent to 100 silver coins, or 600 Pigman bodies

"No, I only do legitimate business." Li Ziran answered firmly and quickly, not hesitating on this matter

Barbaro seemed to have expected Li Ziran's response and smiled lightly, "Don't be afraid, I won't report you. On the contrary, I'll protect you. To be honest, I found a woman, and she's very valuable, but I can't sell her openly. Li Ziran, if you can help me with this, all the bodies in the Ashen Wolf Territory will be yours for the next two years."

Feeling that this wasn't enough to persuade him, he added, "The Ashen Wolf Territory is about to go to war with the Thorn Gang of Pigmen. That tribe has at least 500 Pigmen. If they all become bodies, you don't need me to tell you how much you can earn!"

Five hundred bodies, 6,000 copper coins

This was equivalent to half a month's income, and the money could help his transformation spell advance a bit further

Moreover, helping Barbaro would mean securing the Ashen Wolf Territory as a steady source of bodies, ensuring a continuous supply in the future

This was far more valuable than a few copper coins

But in the end, he still felt that involving in the slave trade was too risky and refused, "Mr. Barbaro, I really only do legitimate business!"

"Oh, really?" Barbaro's smile froze, "Mr. Li Ziran, last month the Gray Bear Chief just got a human female slave, the month before that the Thorn Gang received a batch of reflective armor, three months ago I heard someone secretly smuggled a mermaid out of the Wasteland, and four months ago..."

He spoke slowly, but Li Ziran felt increasingly uneasy

These were all his secret deals, and any one of them could get him in deep trouble in the Wasteland

The fact that this Wolfman knew such details meant he was far from ordinary

Looking at the Wolfman, who was a head taller than him, he asked in a low voice, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Don't be afraid!" Barbaro's hand spread out, his fingers slightly curved like a blooming lotus, his thumb and index finger tapping to form a special signal

This irregular tapping was the Morse code known only to Li Ziran

It meant: [High-Grade Slave Broker]

This gesture clearly told Li Ziran that the person could be trusted, and he had a high-quality cargo

"Mr. Barbaro, what kind of business do you want to do?" Li Ziran instantly dropped his righteous demeanor, adding a hint of cunning, and asked tentatively

He knew very well how much profit a high-quality deal could bring

Barbaro's stern face broke into a sinister smile, cautiously looked around, and then bent down to pry open the wooden board under the gallows, revealing a large underground chamber

The chamber was lined with thick, matted grass, and in a corner, a girl in a sheepskin skirt was curled up, her slender, smooth legs exposed among the sparse grass

But what caught Li Ziran's attention was not her beautiful legs, but her head

What should have been golden hair was now a deep green, and at the ends, it resembled spring flower buds about to bloom. But a closer look revealed that they were not flowers, but the triangular heads of snakes

"Medusa?"

This was clearly a young Medusa girl

The moment Li Ziran said it, Barbaro smiled and nodded, "Yes, a 13-year-old Medusa girl. I want her eyes, which can completely petrify anything, and then sell her!"