“You?” The mercenary warrior looked Henry Clark up and down, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Hire us? Do you even have money?”

“When I reach my territory, I’ll pay double.” Henry Clark negotiated with the mercenary in all seriousness.

“What? Pay when we get to your territory? And double?” The mercenary stared at Henry Clark as if he’d never seen him before, stunned for a moment, then suddenly started laughing wildly. “Hahahaha! Brothers, this guy says he wants to hire us and will pay double once we reach his territory!”

Boom—the mercenary’s words were like a burning torch dropped into a barrel of gasoline, instantly setting off a roar of laughter. At this point, no one seemed to care about disturbing the count anymore; the urge to laugh from the bottom of their hearts was simply unstoppable.

“If you can scrounge up a single silver coin in your territory, I’ll sell myself to you, hahahaha!” Amid the laughter, the mercenary pointed at Henry Clark, mercilessly mocking him.

Up to now, Henry Clark still hadn’t figured out why these people thought this way. After all, he was the lord of a town—even if he didn’t plan to squeeze the people dry, at least he could guarantee a decent life, right? In the original Anthony’s memories, there wasn’t even the slightest concept of this new territory.

“Don’t worry, on your way there, not a single blind bandit will bother you—I guarantee it, not one.” After laughing enough, the mercenary tossed this line at Henry Clark, then, along with the other mercenaries, completely ignored him by the roadside and hurried to catch up with the group ahead. Only when they were far away did he shout back, “Wish you a fortune soon, honorable Baron!”

Watching those people swagger off into the distance, Henry Clark was left with no options. For a moment, Henry Clark suddenly felt a surge of uncontrollable anger and shouted at the departing crowd, “Damn it, what’s so great about you! May lightning strike you down!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sudden clap of thunder crashed from the clear sky—crack!—and the distant group seemed to scatter in chaos. Henry Clark was startled, quickly ducked down, and desperately prayed that those guys hadn’t heard what he’d just shouted.

In what seemed like an instant, the vast, empty land was left with only Henry Clark. Suddenly going from a crowd to being alone, something he’d never experienced before, Henry Clark immediately panicked. Whether in his previous life or in this world, Henry Clark had never been alone in the wilderness. Looking at the emptiness all around, waves of fear washed over him.

This damned place didn’t even have a proper road. Just a moment ago, he’d been walking on what looked like a country road, but now, in this direction, there wasn’t even a path. Or, to be precise, there were traces of people having passed by, but it could hardly be called a road.

The sun in the sky was blazing hot. Thankfully, there was only one sun—otherwise, Henry Clark wouldn’t be able to play Hou Yi. A cloud drifted across the sky, but it never floated over Henry Clark’s head; he couldn’t even find a patch of shade.

“If only that cloud could block some sunlight,” Henry Clark thought to himself. Then, after straightening his clothes, he headed toward his territory.

Without the two hundred gold coins, Henry Clark really felt much lighter. Both physically and mentally, he was completely relaxed. First, the heavy burden was gone, and without the fear of being robbed, his steps were much lighter.

When Henry Clark truly made up his mind to walk to his own territory, that cloud seemed to obediently stop right above his head. In the shade, Henry Clark walked unhurriedly, as if his current predicament didn’t bother him at all.

“What’s this, really?” Henry Clark thought as he walked. “Is it harder than job hunting? It’s just walking—once I reach my territory, everything will be fine.”

It wasn’t that Henry Clark was daydreaming. Over this month-long journey, Henry Clark had learned a lot. This world was far behind the one he came from. Aside from an unusually developed magic and battle aura system, the technology was a complete mess. He figured that just tossing out a few ideas could earn him a pile of gold coins.

That was why Henry Clark had dared to risk being hanged to ask the count for a tax certificate, and why he could now walk so resolutely toward his unknown territory.

It was strange—there wasn’t a single concept of this newly acquired territory in the original Anthony’s mind, but judging by the mercenaries and the count’s attitudes, it probably wasn’t a good place. Henry Clark was mentally prepared for that.

He still had some rations left, so Henry Clark wouldn’t starve on the road. But being alone for such a long stretch was something he’d never experienced. Especially at night, Henry Clark wished he could curl up and burrow into the empty ground. Unfortunately, the earth was too hard—there was no way to dig in.

The only thing Henry Clark was grateful for was that there was hardly anyone along the way. Not even a small animal could be seen. This so-called road was eerily desolate—he couldn’t imagine how barren that territory would be.