Chapter 10 - Hope
Zhao Hai only calmed down when the sun had completely left the horizon. Yes, this was the first sunrise he saw in the other world. That magnificent scenery made him carefree and relaxed, giving him a grand heroic feeling, and so he couldn’t help saying that.
When Zhao Hai turned around, he discovered Green and the others standing below the wall, and behind them were also those one hundred slaves. It seemed that these slaves had all passed careful selection, half men and half women, and all very robust, without illnesses. They had now also made themselves presentable, their clothes very neat. Only the men showed the brand on their foreheads, a wild dragon baring its claws and fangs, the crest of the Buda clan, inspired by the battle qi handed down in their family.
Green saw Zhao Hai looking at them, and he immediately bowed, calling out: “Young master, the Buda clan’s glory will definitely illuminate all the land, young master please command us.” When he finished, the slaves behind him all knelt as one, tapping their foreheads on the ground, not one daring to look up at Zhao Hai.
In his old world, Zhao Hai was a common nerd. Seeing a scene like this, he stood there dumbfounded, bewildered, really not knowing what to say.
Slowly calming down after long while, he looked at Green and the others still bowing, and promptly said: “Grandpa Green, all of you stand up, and the others as well. We’ve come to a place like this, a place without anything, no soil to till, no ore in the mountains, all we have is this abandoned castle for shelter, and all of you. At the same time we have a common name, Buda, whether you are willing or not, you all have the brand of the Buda clan, you are already the Buda clan’s people. The Buda clan is necessary for your existence, if the clan disappears, you disappear, this is an inalienable fact. Yes, right now we have nothing but our two hands. Everything in this world has been created by human hands, and with our hands, we will not starve, we will make our lives better. The majority among you are slaves, you will believe that living better or not isn’t related to you, because no matter how good life is, you are still slaves. But I will tell you today, that as long as you work hard, your children will not be slaves. There will perhaps be a day when they can enter the Buda clan’s troops, becoming glorious warriors. If they do well, they might become knights, nobles. I will ask you to do your best, and I will also give you the best. As long as you work hard, I, Adam Buda, swear by the honor of my clan, that I will definitely fulfill my promise today!”
A slight disturbance rose from among those slaves. In fact, before those slaves were bought, they had all received special training. When the master gave commands, they were not allowed to move, even if the master was just farting they still had to endure, a disturbance like this shouldn’t appear.
But Zhao Hai’s words really were too shocking, there had never before been a noble on the continent that would turn slaves into ordinary people. If you were made a slave, then you would be slaves for generations, your descendants would all be slaves, this never changed.
If Zhao Hai only spoke emptily, these slaves wouldn’t believe it, but Zhao Hai swore on the honor of the Buda clan. In fact, nobles on the Ark continent didn’t easily make vows, and even if they did they wouldn’t swear on the honor of their clan, that was what nobles valued the most. As long as they swore on the honor of their clan, they would definitely accomplish it. In other words, what Zhao Hai said, was all true!
What did slaves wish for the most? That was to one day become ordinary people, to be able to regain their freedom, to let their posterity not have to suffer the hardships of slavery. For this reason a lot of slaves resisted, they rebelled, revolted, but were very soon suppressed by those nobles, because they were only slaves, they had no weapons, they had no armor, they knew no battle qi. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for them to beat those armed to the teeth noble troops.
But now Zhao Hai was telling them, you don’t need to resist, as long as you work hard, as long as you contribute to the Buda clan, you can all be normal people. To these slaves, this was really like a dream.
It was necessary for slaved to work hard, because if they didn’t and were discovered, they would be put to death. Even if they weren’t, the would at least suffer the harshest penalties. Therefore they didn’t dare slack off. But now someone was telling them, as long as you work hard, I can give you what you want the most, this was too great a shock to them.
Green and the others stared blankly. They hadn’t thought that Zhao Hai would say something like this. Frankly, Green didn’t quite agree with what Zhao Hai said, because those slaves working hard was compulsory. Moreover, there was no noble on the continent that would free slaves, there were too many things involved.
But now Zhao Hai had already said it, and he had no way to object, he could only wait until they had returned to the inner keep to properly talk it over.
Looking over the people below, Zhao Hai also knew that they would react like this. From Adam’s memories he learned about the position of these slaves. It was just because he knew this bit that he used what they wanted to most to coerce them.
Human ingenuity was boundless, as long as they wished it, it would be difficult to imagine the energy they could display. And right now was when Zhao Hai needed just such an energy from them, that’s why he did what he did.
Zhao Hai was quite satisfied with their reaction, and continued: “You can think of all kinds of ways. As long as it benefits the Buda clan, or is something that can improve our lives, something useful, you can take it to manager Green. As long as I recognize that what you have is useful, is good, I will record your contribution. As long as your contribution reaches a certain level, you can become commoners. Even if you don’t, as long as you strive for it, as long as you make a good showing, you can gain some contribution, and as long as this contribution accumulates to a certain level, you can become commoners, become children of our Buda clan, of this Black Waste.”
Those slaves became even more excited. They now viewed Zhao Hai simply like a god, because only a god would be so benevolent. All the slaves unexpectedly erupted with an air of grandeur, an air that made even eighth level warrior Green standing in front feel somewhat fearful.
Green turned to look at those slaves. He discovered that they all seemed to have gained something. When he had looked at these slaves before, he had always thought that they seemed lifeless, like rocks, but now they were like people, with a vigor, an energy.
Green’s heart shook. He suddenly understood Zhao Hai’s manner of handling things. If the Buda clan was to develop, relying on a hundred dead slaves was impossible. But if it was a hundred people brimming with enthusiasm, then that was something completely different. Green didn’t know what a hundred people with such enthusiasm could bring about, but he was very clear about what one hundred slaves could do. Green heaved a long sigh, his face revealing a true smile. At the same time he also gained a trace of determination, he believed the Buda clan would have a chance to rise again.
Zhao Hai also sensed the change in the slaves. He smiled slightly, aware that his words were useful. Therefore he at once said: “Good, you go take care of your work. First sort out these supplies, tomorrow there will be new tasks for you.” Those slaves answered, and walked towards those supplies with quick steps. Their steps seemed a lot more energetic than before, brimming with enthusiasm.
Zhao Hai nodded with satisfaction, coming down off the wall he slowly walked over to Green, saying: “Grandpa Green, let’s return. I have something to ask you.”
Green responded, leading Meirin and the others after Zhao Hai back to the inner keep. Looking at Zhao Hai’s back, Green knew that Zhao Hai truly had changed, he wasn’t that young master Adam from before who only knew how to make trouble, he was now the head of the Buda clan, a true head.
The group very soon arrived at the dining room in the keep. After sitting down, Zhao Hai turned his hand, the half eaten radish from before appearing. He placed the radish on the table, turning to Green: “Grandpa Green, do you know what this is?”
Green didn’t speak. Zhao Hai looked strangely at Green, discovering the old man was distractedly staring at his hand. He also knew why Green would make such an expression, because of his motion for taking out the radish just now.
This world had spatial magic, only spatial magic was extremely difficult to learn. Moreover, the requirements were extremely pitiless, and so few people went to learn it. Even though there were some spatial tools that could be used for storage, using them required energy, whether magic or battle qi, as long as you had energy you could open them. But a person that had drunk the Water of Nothingness couldn’t open a spatial tool even if he had one, let alone when he didn’t.
Zhao Hai smiled faintly: “Grandpa Green, do you see what this is?”
Green returned to his senses, excitedly standing up: “Young master, just now you? Just now you……”
Zhao Hai waved his hand: “It’s nothing, I just accidentally obtained some ability. It’s fine if you know, but don’t spread it around. Do you know this thing?”