"What is this?" Cecilia asked with some curiosity.

"This is the communication code of our slave catchers." Andrei opened his mouth to explain, "In the wilderness, there are many slave catchers, and there are also many emergencies. However, because there are scouts to find their way and patrol, the communication is certainly not very timely and convenient, so almost every slave hunting team has a different code. These codes are as important to us as if they were military secrets, and it would be a very bad thing if a slave catcher's code was cracked. ”

"And what does this code mean?" Sean asked.

André pointed to the larger circle and said, "This circle has a cross mark, which represents us. ”

After that, he pointed to another smaller circle and said, "This circle is relatively small, which means that there is a smaller team in front of us. …… However, there is no logo on it, so it is not yet possible to determine what kind of team the opposing team is. ”

Sean knew that in the wilderness, there are actually not only slave hunters, and there are usually some caravans that maintain some kind of friendly relations with the tribes in the wilderness, but this kind of caravans are usually turned a blind eye everywhere and rarely interfere, after all, for all countries, the wilderness is equivalent to a captive land for the production of slaves, of course, it is okay to do some ordinary trade, but it is strictly forbidden to circulate and sell any weapons.

In addition to slave catchers and caravans, there are occasionally teams that need to take advantage of the geographical particularity of the wild land to secretly cross the border; There will even be teams similar to Spring Hunt and Autumn Hunt, but this kind of behavior is usually only played by the children of those big nobles, and they are often guarded by extremely strong masters, after all, the Wild Land is not a safe place.

Andre raised his head and looked at Sean, although he couldn't see the change in Sean's expression at the moment, he knew very well that Sean was the commander of the entire team. Now that he and his slave hunters are free from slavery, they are also given another identity - Sean's soldiers, so they must follow the lord's final decisions and opinions no matter what.

"You haven't found any troops of unknown origin in the territory recently, have you?" Sean looked at Cecilia and asked.

"As far as I know, no." Cecilia opened her mouth and replied, "Because the new troops have been deployed to Panda Town for reconstruction and repair, our intelligence field basically covers the entire territory, and William also began to arrange for the militia to patrol and monitor the entire territory in batches, and indeed did not find any suspicious traces." ”

"Then it looks like this force must have entered from Kiraf." Hearing Cecilia say this, Sean immediately understood, "Judging from the itinerary. The other party was probably only about half a day faster than us, otherwise it would not have been possible for them to catch up so quickly. After thinking for a moment, Sean turned his head to look at Andre, and then asked, "You said that the scale is smaller than ours, how small is it?" ”

"It's hard to judge." Andrei shook his head. "There may be only fifty, or there may be seventy or eighty. The only thing that's for sure, though. It is that the number of the other party will not be less than fifty. Otherwise, the circle will not be drawn, but a different symbol will be used instead. ”

Sean nodded, in understanding.

If the number of people is only fifty, then it can basically be ruled out that it is the children of the great nobles who come to hunt. Then there are only three possibilities left, a small caravan, a slave catcher, or someone with a secret mission.

"Keep going, and wait for specific information to come."

Thereupon. The team was soon moving forward again.

After a few hours or so, the wind in the valley suddenly became stronger, and there was a faint whining sound similar to a cry.

At this time, the mountain wind is really like a sharp blade.

Sean, Cecilia, and the sword-wielding priestess Tini no longer dared to expose their skin to such a violent wind; Even the bear people. You also have to tighten your muscles and fur to ensure that you don't get hurt because of it. On the contrary, the gray elves surprised Sean a little, because they could walk in such a strong wind unharmed, as if these blade-like howling winds were not lethal at all.

"Lord Lord, the Grey Elves are different from ordinary elves, their racial innate ability is Stone Skin." As if seeing Sean's doubts, Andre spoke, "Maybe it's because of living in a wild place for a long time, and only in this way can these more fragile creatures survive in such an environment." ”

"I see." Sean somewhat understood.

As for the elven race, although he knew that this group had now been divided into two branches, underground and aboveground, there were actually three factions. For example, the dark elves and blood elves in the underground are considered a faction, while the forest elves on the ground are considered a faction, and the gray elves are a faction in their own right. As for the situation of the highland elves, the situation is more special, because according to the different living environments, this branch can be divided into steppe elves and plateau elves in detail, the former is closer to the forest elves, and the latter is closer to the gray elves.

And what Sean knows is the three branches of the dark elves, blood elves and forest elves, and he is not very clear about the other branches. Although the elves have a lot in common with each other, it is just that after so many years of changes and changes in their living habits, they have long been different from each other.

The gray elves were born with stone skin, which Sean really didn't know, but he believed that even those scholars on the forum probably didn't know about it.

Just then, one of the gray elves made a gesture.

"My lord, there's something new." When Andre saw this gesture, he immediately turned his head to report to Sean, perhaps sensing Sean's doubts, Andre explained, "In addition to the code, the slave catcher team will have a set of simple gesture communication methods, after all, it is not possible to speak loudly in many cases." And in the dark environment, no one can have an advantage over the gray elves and dwarves. ”

Sean agrees with this.

Led by Andre, Sean and a few others came to the place where the gray elf was gesticulating.

In a leeward place, there was still a strange set of symbols carved on the ground, but this time there were significantly more symbols than before.

There are still two circles on the ground, the big one is still painted with a pair of crosses, and Sean already knows that this means that there are more people on his side than on the other side. This time, however, the smaller circle had an acute angle drawn on it, and next to the small circle was a set of numbers like [73].

"This acute angle represents the peers, that is, the identity of the other party is also a slave hunting team." Andre opened his mouth to explain, "As for this seventy-three, it means that the number of the other party has been figured out, and there are seventy-three people. …… Lord Lord, this slave catching team should also be a relatively experienced slave catching team, with at least two to three years of experience. ”

"Oh?" Sean was really curious at this moment, "How did you judge it?" ”

"The situation in the Wild Land is more complicated, and now there are basically no small tribes in the periphery, and if you want to hunt slaves, you can only go more than thousands of miles. However, most of the tribes encountered here are medium-sized tribes, and their strength is usually relatively strong, if it is a large-scale troop entry, it will definitely attract the attention of the other party, and if it is a warlike tribe, then it will definitely be a big battle. Andre opened his mouth and said, his voice was full of a sigh and emotion, "Only those experienced old people will lead a small army of less than 100 people to enter, because the current slave capture targets are relatively clear, and they are basically more valuable people, so as long as they capture a dozen, this trip will not be a loss, and if the number is small, it is more convenient to fight sports warfare, and they are not afraid of the enemy's pursuit." ”

After thinking about it, Andre still added: "Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages, and on the whole, the benefits are still relatively large, otherwise there would be no such an unwritten rule." …… However, if you can really dare to lead a team of less than 100 people into the Wild Land, you must have a deeper and clear understanding of the route of the Wild Land, so I said that the other party is also an experienced veteran. ”

"If it's not a coincidence, it's very well-informed." Sean smiled, "But no matter what it is, this slave catching team must be the slave catching team of a nobleman in the Dabiang Kingdom, otherwise it will definitely not choose to pass through the Kiraf Territory." ”

"My lord, what do you ......mean?"

"Interception." Sean said without thinking, "It's common for a slave hunter to be wiped out in a wild place, right?" ”

"It's very common, but ......," Andrei's voice could be heard with some hesitation.

"If you have anything to say, you might as well say it directly."

"Here in the Gorge Rift, it's actually very unsuitable for interception." Andrei said, "The sword wind here is relatively strong, especially in the middle of the valley, it will be more violent, and it is not suitable for fighting. After leaving this mountain road, there is the ancient ruins area, where the environment is also more complicated, but the biggest problem is that the field of vision is relatively wide, so if there is any movement, it will be discovered by the other party in advance. Even the scouts we sent out couldn't get too close at this time, and they could only wait for the other party to enter the area before they could use the obstacles to cleverly follow up. ”

"Isn't there a leeward spot in the territory of this Sword Wind Valley?" Sean opened his mouth and asked, "If not, then isn't this journey going to be completed in one go, and you can't rest and eat halfway?" ”

"Hmm...... There is one such place, but it is not a leeward place. ”

"What's that?" (To be continued.) )

PS:! It's two o'clock!! But at least one chapter came out! No, I'm so tired that I can't hold it anymore. There's another chapter, I'll take the time to get out in the evening. And then...... Ask for a commuter pass!