Urban Sims

After spring begins in March.

Glenland, Rose Town.

In a pub called "Wife Louise".

A group of men and women with foreign accents, weapons and fierce-looking strangers sat around a table, drinking ale and talking about something.

"Cousin Jero, you really don't want to be a free and easy thief, but some kind of mercenary in this small place?"

The man dressed in a thief's outfit, with yellow hair and brown eyes, and a muscular build, asked incomprehensibly after taking a sip of ale.

"Yes, my cousin Biro, I plan to wash my hands of myself and work in some legitimate industry instead of hiding in the forest all my life."

After taking a sip of the slightly bitter cheap ale, the thief Jero said in a low voice.

Originally, he was well-known in the world of thieves. With a small and capable team and a high success rate in committing crimes, he was not particularly bad at it. He himself felt that he could live in this industry for the rest of his life and wait until he got older. Now that I have saved a lot of money, I will go to some big cities in the south to retire. It would be better to find a wife and have a few sons or something. That would be more perfect...

But I don’t know why, since last year, many kingdoms have established some business alliance organizations, and the life of thieves has become particularly difficult. In order to protect the smooth flow of business routes, the lords of various business alliances have Joined forces and adopted the tactics of joint encirclement and suppression, and destroyed many stubborn dens of thieves. The big thief Jero himself caused a big fight in a territory of the Iron Castle Kingdom, and most of his brothers were killed and injured. Now he is still following Among his men, only the four most clever ones remained.

After escaping, the great thief Jero felt that he had no future as a thief. From rumors in the green forest, he learned that Glenland had founded a mercenary union and formed a "Free Merchant Alliance Mercenary Group" and was recruiting mercenaries on a large scale. After serving in the army, he heard that the salary was pretty good, and the thief Jero felt that the industry of thieves was becoming more and more risky, and he suddenly had the idea of ​​changing his career.

In addition, for Edward, the eldest son of the lord of Glenland, the thief Jero had a relationship with him, or had a "fight" experience. That year, seeing the economically developed and prosperous Glenland, For example, if a robber sees a fat cow or sheep, how could Jero, the big thief who was originally a thief, miss this opportunity and take a bite of this "fat sheep"?

But the thief Jero's dream of getting rich was quickly shattered. Before he could grab the treasure, his team, which had always been the best at digging traps, saw through all the traps they dug. Instead, they themselves, the thieves, fell into some incredible traps. In the trap, including himself, they were all captured by the shameless young lord's eldest son.

The thief Jero was very surprised that the eldest son of the lord did not kill him, but let them all go. He also gave him some extra money and told him: If you don't want to be a thief in the future, you can come to Geluo. Lan Ling came to him, he could arrange a way out for them and lead a more down-to-earth life.

At that time, the thief Jero did not take these words to heart, but recently when he was in a difficult, embarrassing, frustrated and confused situation, he heard the news that Glenland was going to establish a mercenary union, which seemed to ignite a fire in his heart. Gero returned to the land that once brought him deep powerlessness and extreme fear.

I brought my four companions with me, and I brought the glimmer of hope in my heart.

"Mr. Biro, why didn't you continue to be your thief, but showed your face and came to Grandland?"

The snake girl sitting on the side asked a little strangely. The boss's cousin has been asking why the boss doesn't continue to be a thief. But as a thief, Mr. Biro, who should hide his head and tail, how can he show up openly and openly? In this pub?

You know, this Mr. Biro is a famous "devil thief" in the world of thieves. He is the ultimate thief who is as terrifying as the devil. He has committed the heinous crime of slaughtering three villages. The bounty on the head on his neck is , I don’t know how many times it is the Thief Jero.

"Ahem~"

The Demon Thief Biro coughed twice and explained awkwardly: "I just came here to avoid the limelight. How could I, the Demon Thief Biro, do anything other than being a thief? Only a thief can give me what I want." Everything!" Speaking of the agitated Mahiro Biro behind him, the open collar of his clothes accidentally revealed a metallic luster.

"Mercenary Medal?"

Sharp-eyed Johnson saw clearly what was inside the collar of the demon thief Biro's clothes. He quickly pressed his neck with one hand and asked the one-eyed man Leonardo to grab his two hands and the other one. His hand groped from his chest inside the collar, and after a while, he took out a golden round cake-shaped badge with teeth on the edge.

"Gold badge?"

Everyone was shocked, and the dwarf Dom even shouted: "Gold-level mercenaries! These are gold-level mercenaries on top of bronze, black iron, and silver. We have been in Glenland for a few days, and this is the first time. If you saw a mercenary wearing a gold medal, Demon Bandit Biro, tell me, how did you pass the gold mercenary examination and get this badge?"

The assessment of the mercenary union is multi-faceted. The personal force assessment is only one part. There must also be an assessment of outdoor survival ability, an assessment of knowledge of cultural customs of various countries, an assessment of various crisis response capabilities, etc. Only by getting excellent in these comprehensive assessments can a member be qualified. Obtain the gold-level mercenary medal.

"This is difficult..."

After being exposed, the demon thief Biro stopped hiding and said with a proud face: "The assessment of the gold-level mercenaries not only tests martial arts and customs and cultures of various countries, but also tests on wilderness survival, herbal medicine, and... Dealing with some special situations, such as falling off a cliff, biting a poisonous snake, lack of water in the desert, passing through swamps, etc., these are not difficult for me..."

Listening to this thief cousin, who was talking incessantly, the thief Jero, whose face was as black as coal, clenched his fists and said to this cousin: "My dear cousin, didn't you just say that except for thieves? You can’t do anything about it?”

"Hey, did I say that? It seems like I didn't?"

"You bastard, go to hell!"

After the fight was over, the thief Jero and others, who were still hesitant at first, did not hesitate for a moment. That afternoon, they went to the registration window of the Rose Town Mercenary Union, registered and took the mercenary level exam.

…

on the other hand.

As more and more people from all walks of life come to the mercenary union to sign up, after passing the mercenary assessment and certification, they become official mercenaries at levels such as trainee, bronze, black iron, silver, gold, and platinum (not available for platinum and above). More and more people came, and the first mercenary organization established, the "Free Merchant Alliance Mercenary Group", was also absorbing people like a sponge, accepting all comers. The number of recruits soon exceeded 1,000, 2,000, 3,000... and reached 5,000. When the quota was reached, recruitment was stopped.

…

May and early summer.

The snow-capped mountains in the east melted.

It is located at the foot of the Ural Snow Mountain, about 100 kilometers east of the Yukonland, on the Ural Plateau with an average altitude of nearly 6,000 meters.

Under the rolling snow-capped mountains that are inaccessible, devoid of vegetation, and inaccessible to flying birds, a group of humans who endure the high cold and hypoxic environment appeared in this quiet land.

Most of these humans are tall savages with long hair and brown eyes. Under the strict supervision of hundreds of whip-wielding overseers, these savages worked hard to excavate rocks, carry iron pine logs one by one, and lay paving roads with all their might. Wooden Rails - Many savages with weak physiques only persisted for three or five days before falling to the ground forever. Even savages with strong physiques, the burden on their heart and lungs caused by the hypoxic environment increased, leading to death from cardiopulmonary failure every day. There were dozens of cases.

Zhou Ming, who was solely responsible for the design, construction, and operation of this "plateau track", was not used to the fact that the oxygen content here was only half that of the plains. Although he also expressed his apologies to the hundreds of savages who died every day... But these sacrifices are necessary. He must open up the about 100-kilometer upward track from Yucanling to the Ula Plateau within three months.

As long as this track is laid, the goods produced by the Free Trade Alliance can pass through the folded passage between two large mountain ranges on the Ula Plateau, which runs from north to south, is about 1,500 kilometers long, and is about 100 kilometers wide. Arrive at a new country located in the south of the Iron Castle Kingdom, which is richer than the Iron Castle Kingdom-Copper Mountain Kingdom (a kingdom famous for its rich copper mines).

Through the [World Map] in his mind, Zhou Ming noticed that the folded passage in the middle of the Wula Plateau was not only difficult to climb over a mountain with an average altitude of more than six thousand meters, but as long as you climbed over this mountain and entered the folded area, , the rest of the road is as flat as a slightly undulating vast grassland.

Not only that, this north-south fold zone is high in the north and low in the south. It is shaped like a slide that children in kindergarten love to play. Walking from north to south is like a stream in a river, going down along the terrain, saving time and effort. Very fast.

But if you go from south to north, it is difficult to climb a mountain, and you will only get more and more tired.

What is even more coincidental is that at the southern end of this folded zone, in the eastern mountain range of the Copper Mountain Kingdom, there happens to be a wide natural gap, which facilitates the entry and exit of personnel and materials without the need to climb the mountain again and build another track.

"Isn't this the 'Plateau Corridor' that God prepared for me? As long as the most difficult 100 kilometers are cleared, the next 1,500 kilometers will be the 'Golden Road' where no one can stop the Free Trade Union from making money? "

"However, even with the adoption of the step-by-step construction method that speeds up the progress, the dozens of tons of explosives accumulated in the past few years are almost blown up, and the track-laying speed of tens of thousands of workers is still less than two kilometers a day. The road section is less than one-third, so Earl William and the others need to catch more savages, otherwise, if the road is not repaired before August, when the snow season approaches, it will be a big deal this year Nothing can be done..."

The current Free Trade Union is being squeezed out and resisted by various forces. If a new business route is not opened to break the deadlock and obtain new breakthrough points of interests, otherwise, under the blockade of various forces, the Free Trade Union will either fall apart. Or turn to increase military investment and take the road of overturning tables and killing people...