Chapter 59

At the manor, Tang En pushed open the bedroom door and hurried to the study. Uncle Dep, the soldier, and Fiona were all there at the moment.

"Lord!"

Uncle Dep said with a look of shame, "The letter has been delivered, but I failed to accomplish the task. Du Wei wanted to kill us, so we had to use the teleportation scroll. Please punish me, my lord!"

"It's fine as long as you're safe."

Tang En patted Uncle Dep's shoulder, "I just didn't expect Du Wei to actually dare to kill a messenger."

Fiona said, "Not killing messengers is just an unwritten rule. Since Du Wei dared to reach out here, he's obviously not someone who follows the rules."

"However, my lord, I have brought back an important piece of news!"

Seeing that Tang En wasn't angry, Uncle Dep was greatly relieved and said with renewed spirit, "Baron Du Wei plans to launch an attack on Ellington!"

"Oh?"

Tang En raised an eyebrow, "I was planning to go and settle accounts with him, but he's coming to me instead?"

"My lord!"

Fiona was anxious, "Ellington has just started to recover. It can't withstand a war! Unless—"

Fiona wanted to say unless Tang En took action, but she held back, remembering his warning.

"I know."

Tang En waved his hand and looked at the soldier, "What about this guy?"

This guy had been sitting on the ground in a daze since he arrived, muttering things like "abandoned" and "the lord is so heartless."

Uncle Dep smiled bitterly, "Du Wei was furious after reading your letter and wanted to kill him too. I just brought him back along with me."

"I see..."

Tang En pondered for a moment and said to the soldier, "If you don't want to die, answer my questions."

The soldier jumped, "No! Don't kill me!"

"Good. How many combat-ready soldiers does Baron Du Wei have? Listen carefully, I'm asking about combat-ready soldiers, not you useless ones."

The soldier was devastated. They were already elite, right? But being called useless by Tang En, he couldn't argue back.

After all, 150 elite soldiers were defeated by 50 militiamen, and 100 more were captured. How could they claim to be elite in front of the Ellington militiamen?

"We are already one of the best groups of soldiers under Baron Du Wei. Besides the 150 brothers at the mine, there are 500 elite soldiers stationed at Caspami Castle. They are responsible for guarding the baron, and their equipment is a bit better than ours, but not much..."

"Not much better? So, Baron Du Wei doesn't have a unit of Enlightened Ones?"

"How could he!"

Before the soldier could speak, Fiona shouted, "Every Enlightened One has pride. How could they willingly be a baron's ordinary soldier? Even viscounts and counts find it hard to gather a unit of Enlightened Ones. How could Baron Du Wei, who is just a baron, afford the expenses of Enlightened Ones?"

"I see."

Tang En was relieved, "Don't worry. If they are this useless, no matter how many come, they won't be a match. Not to mention, only 500 of them."

"My lord, for a baron to have 500 soldiers is already astonishing..."

The soldier weakly added, "The empire only allows barons to have 500 private soldiers. The baron's actual private army is already at full capacity, which is a lot... And he has a few powerful Enlightened Ones protecting him in secret..."

"Even if there are more useless soldiers, they are still useless."

Tang En shook his head, "Don't worry, they won't even be able to get through the gates of Ellington."

The soldier opened his mouth but could only lower his head in despair. He knew why the lord was so confident.

Fiona frowned, "But if Du Wei abandoned these soldiers, does that mean we have to support them for free?"

"Of course not... I think they will be very willing to fight for their lives."

Tang En smiled, "Let's go to the dungeon."

Tang En led the soldier back to the dungeon. The prisoners were still noisy, playing cards and chatting, not acting like prisoners at all.

Seeing Tang En return with their comrade, the soldiers immediately started shouting.

"You're back! What did the lord say? Are you here to take us back?"

"Is the lord very angry?"

The soldier opened his mouth and then said dejectedly, "Brothers, we've been abandoned by the lord..."

"What!? How is that possible!"

"Bang!" A hot-tempered soldier grabbed the bars of the cell and roared, "We guarded the mine for him, which brought him hundreds of thousands of gold coins in profit each year, and now he's abandoning us!?"

"You're lying to us, right? You're lying, aren't you!?"

"I'm not lying to you!"

The soldier shouted, "If it weren't for the messenger from Ellington, I would have been beheaded by the baron! The lord is very angry! Very angry! He decided to flatten Ellington!"

Hearing this, the soldiers' faces turned pale. If Baron Du Wei's soldiers really flattened Ellington, they would likely be executed as well!

Tang En smiled and stepped forward, saying calmly, "I think you all know what will happen to you if Ellington is breached."

The dungeon fell silent.

"During these few days in Ellington, you should have understood what kind of person I am... Ellington doesn't support useless people. If you want to live, offer me your loyalty."

Tang En continued, "If you do, I will release you and let you fight for Ellington, and for your own lives."

"Why should we believe you!?"

"That's right! You are also a noble! Baron Du Wei abandoned us, and you will too!"

"Perhaps you are right," Tang En waved his hand casually, "But do you have a choice now?"

Silence fell again, just as Tang En said, they had no choice.

Either wait to die or fight for a chance to live in Ellington.

"If you perform satisfactorily in this battle, I can give you citizenship in Ellington and allow you to live here."

Pausing, Tang En continued, "If you choose to remain silent, after I repel Baron Du Wei, you will all become my slaves, branded and sent to the mines to work for life, or to do hard labor in Ellington. Now, your fate is in your own hands. Make your decision."

Rapid breathing and heartbeats echoed in the dungeon. Faced with this difficult choice, they were all hesitant.

"But... we have families in Caspami Castle... If we lose..."

That was their biggest concern. If Tang En couldn't completely defeat Baron Du Wei, their families would face disaster.

"Then don't lose."

Tang En's answer was simple, "If you're worried about Ellington falling to Du Wei's attack, fight with all your might to win. Don't forget, you've already died once. Every day you live now is a gift from me."

"I, I, I... I accept the terms!"

The soldier beside Tang En suddenly shouted, "I'm an orphan, and I joined the army just to earn a living. It doesn't matter who I serve—Lord Tang En, no, you will be my lord from now on! I offer you my loyalty!"

"Very good, you are the first. What's your name?"

"Automan, my lord."

"Ha! What's your name!?"

Tang En was taken aback, thinking he had heard wrong.

Automan paused, "My name is Automan, my lord."

Tang En waved his hand, "Alright, just for your name, you will be the captain of this unit!"

He had to promote him for that name. Having a cosmic hero as his subordinate was quite impressive.

"Thank you, my lord, for the promotion!"

Automan was delighted, though he didn't understand why his name mattered, he knew that being the first to pledge loyalty had its benefits.

Seeing Automan become the captain, the other soldiers panicked.

"I also offer you my loyalty! My lord!"

"Me too!"

"Me as well!"

The soldiers in the dungeon all knelt down. Since Du Wei had abandoned them, and another noble was willing to accept them, and they could avoid becoming slaves, they naturally chose this path.

"Very good."

Tang En nodded in satisfaction. All 100 soldiers in the dungeon chose to pledge loyalty. "In that case, open the cell door."

"My lord!"

The dungeon guard was shocked, "What if they attack you?"

"Open the door."

Tang En waved his hand, "They don't have that kind of ability."

The soldiers in the dungeon laughed nervously. They had seen Tang En kill Eddie with one punch. Even the powerful Eddie was no match for the lord, and they didn't think they had a chance to escape.

"From today on, you are the second guard unit of Ellington. Captain Automan, besides me, you will also be under the command of the first guard unit captain, Elsa. Understand?"

"My lord, who is Elsa?"

"The girl who destroyed the mine building with one punch."

"Uh, I understand!"

Automan broke out in a cold sweat. Elsa's punch had left a deep impression on them.

If Tang En's strength was just the tip of the iceberg, then Elsa was undoubtedly a human dragon standing before them. The pressure alone made them hesitant to act rashly.

Who could withstand such a terrifying punch?

If Elsa could follow orders, how powerful must Lord Tang En be?

"Remove their shackles, retrieve your armor, and then report to Elsa with Uncle Dep. Immediately join the guard unit training."

Tang En gave the orders decisively. He wasn't afraid that these soldiers would escape.

After settling the soldiers, Tang En returned to the manor.