Douluo: The Adventures of King Skin

"The first thing you say every day when you wake up is to cheer yourself up"

——"Calories"

Euboea's topography resembles an inverted triangular coat hanger.The center of the land is covered with mountains and hills, which lacks agricultural value; it is surrounded by too flat coastlines, and ships cannot find a good harbor to take shelter from the wind.Euboea was trapped in such a harsh natural environment. Not only was its economy and culture extremely backward, but its population was never able to flourish. Therefore, the Euboeans did not form a decent alliance like other regions in history, even among mercenaries and pirates. It is also difficult to occupy a place in the market.

If there is one good place on this island, it is undoubtedly Chalkis, located at the 'Hook'.There are rare large plains here and a natural harbor facing the inland sea.

The city-state is currently under the control of the Boeotian League, but this will soon change.

Because the city of Aulis, across the sea from Chalkis, is now stationed with tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of warships from King Demetrius.

The Boeotian League had been under the Macedonian king's banner ever since Polyperchon was driven as far as the Peloponnese by Cassander.Although he had satisfied the new master's numerous demands in these years, including money and food, due to time constraints, Cassander had not yet fully penetrated into each city-state.

The Boeotians should be most grateful for this, because it allows them to freely choose to turn a blind eye to Demetrius' military strength at this moment, without having to become cannon fodder when the Diadochi fight.

Soon, a fast boat carried the envoy ashore.

The messenger walked to the bottom of the city holding the royal flag and read Demetrius' order to the Boeotian garrison on the city.

Without a single arrow, the Euboean city was free.

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At this time, Pyrrhus, accompanied by his friends, was reviewing the three thousand troops he hired in an open space outside Athens.

In fact, it was far less than 400, probably only more than [-]; but the number of people in front of him was much more than [-].

There are Greeks, Macedonians, and black and white people who don’t know where;

There were cavalry and infantry, as well as those riding donkeys and camels;

There were some wearing full heavy infantry equipment, some wearing tattered leather armor, linen armor, and some slave soldiers who were so naked that they didn't even have a fig leaf;

Some are strong, some are thin, some are wrapped in wounds, and some are missing arms and legs;

There were young and old, women and children.

The noise, the braying of donkeys, and the cries of children all turned into a mess, just like a village fair!

More than 20 stinking team leaders stood under Pyrrhus with flattering expressions on their faces.

"**!" Pyrrhus couldn't help but cursed in a low voice.

Is this my army? !

But there was nothing we could do.All the mercenaries that can be found in Attica and some surrounding areas are already here.Considering the tight time limit, we couldn't go further to find it.

If he looked like someone, he would have followed Dmitri long ago.

Pyrrhus first picked out a group with relatively decent equipment. As a result, he looked around and found that some of them had beards that were really white and dazzling.

This old soldier is too authentic.

He walked up to a veteran who looked like the leader and asked:

"Old man, will you live a long life this year?"

The veteran took off his helmet, his sparse white hair trembling slightly in the wind, and the iron-blooded expression on his old face looked very similar:

"Fifty."

"Only fifty?" Pyrrhus was shocked, fifty makes him look like this!

Are you doing front-end or compilation?

"I have been in the army for 50 years." The old man lifted up the linen skirt on the shield, revealing the shining silver Macedonian sun below: "I went to the battlefield with King Philip when I was 15 years old."

Pyrrhus was in awe, was this the legendary Silver Shield Soldier?

Wait, does that mean you are already 65?

"Your Majesty," the veteran seemed to know what Pyrrhus was thinking. He pondered for a while and then said:

"It is indeed difficult for me to use this shield now, but my sword is very fast and my spear throwing is accurate. I can also ride a horse and fight immediately. I can also read..."

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the chaotic crowd behind him, and then said:

"And... and my comrades and I have many years of military experience and can help you manage this army. We know what the soldiers are thinking and have ways to make them obey orders on the battlefield. We..."

Seeing Pyrrhus's unmoved expression, the veteran had no choice but to lower his voice and continue:

"Your Majesty, we are different from them. We will never betray you. We all have children." He pointed to the women and children behind him, "Those are my wife and daughter."

Pyrrhus looked over. It was a Persian woman with green eyes, wearing a headscarf, holding a dry little girl.

To be honest, he felt a little soft-hearted for a moment, but fighting and giving alms are completely unrelated things.

What's more, he can't even be sure of his own life or death now, so how can he have enough time to pity others?

Seeing that Pyrrhus did not seem to be shaken, he swallowed hard, and finally a pleading look appeared on his face:

"Your Majesty, it doesn't matter if we don't want military pay. We just want a piece of... a small piece of land to live and settle down. As long as you win, this is a very small thing for you..."

Pyrrhus felt that he could no longer listen and asked:

"What's your name?"

"Oandros, my lord."

"Oandros, how did you end up in this situation? I mean, you followed Alexander in the Eastern Expedition, and you should have made a lot of money in the East."

"This……"

Another veteran next to him rushed to take over the words:

"Your Majesty, the old one-eye who stole my sister-in-law didn't like us, so he took us to Parthia to fight with those grassland people! We are old and don't want to fight, and he doesn't allow us to come back... We After all the money was spent, the officer let us go... Wuwuwu, I gave up my life in exchange for the silver, not even a single Obo was left. We have more than a dozen brothers who went on the road and only a few came back. My son He didn’t come back either, leaving only a little grandson whining..."

As the veteran talked, he began to cry loudly, causing the women and children behind to also cry.

Pyrrhus took a deep breath and asked him:

"Veteran, what's your name?"

"Go back to your Majesty, my name is Philonides..." The veteran said and couldn't help but cry. The comrade next to him scolded him loudly with tears in his eyes, and he couldn't hold back his tears.

"Okay, Oandros and Philonides. We have agreed. There will be no military pay. When the matter is completed, we will give you land. Even if you die, it will count."

"Okay, okay..." Not sure if this was a surprise, Philonides hurriedly agreed, while Oandros's trembling beard was speechless and just nodded.

Pyrrhus looked at it, stood on a big rock nearby, and clapped his hands twice.The companions and the team leader loudly ordered the crowd to quiet down.

Looking around at this chaotic team, Pyrrhus shouted loudly:

"My friends!

"Please look at each other and see what you have become?

"You are in such a state of desolation that you are just like beggars! You can no longer be called human beings!"

Hearing such excessive comments, some people lowered their heads in shame, some just looked on numbly, but most of them lost their temper.

——I have become a desperado, is it necessary for me to humiliate you in such a lowly manner?

Then the crowd started to make a noise and cursed loudly.

"Quiet! Listen to me!"

The friends drew their swords, galloped around the crowd on horseback, and shouted loudly.The team leaders also hurriedly waved their hands to greet their subordinates, exhorting and scolding them.Finally they were quiet again.

Pyrrhus then continued:

"If you weren't so desperate, why would you come here again? Follow me on this desperate adventure?

"If you weren't in such a desperate situation, why didn't you follow Dmitry? Would he want you? Even if you don't want military pay, would he want you? Will he allow you to follow behind like wild dogs and pick up some scraps?"

The same harsh words, but this time there was no objection.

"We come from all over the world, but due to the weird fate, we have fallen to where we are now.

“The gods have completely abandoned us, so stop praying in vain!

“If we sincerely want to escape this fate, then we have to do it ourselves!

"By our swords! By our hands! By our flesh and blood!"

The team below let out a shout of approval.

Pyrrhus paused:

"I know you've heard rumors lately about how I got a lot of money in one day.

"That's right, I have hundreds of talents in my hand now!

"But I will use all this money to prepare military supplies. I don't plan to pay a cent of your military salary!"

The team below began to commotion again after a brief moment of astonishment, but Pyrrhus continued before they could start arguing:

"Because these dozen drachmas can't save you!

"A dozen drachmas can't change your destiny at all!

"I tell you now what I am going to do - I am going to Thessaly to seize a rare opportunity to defeat Cassander!

“It’s really hard, but I’m confident I can do it.

“This is indeed a near-death adventure, but only in this way can we get what we want!

"I tell you what we should ask for. The only loot we should ask for is

"——A land that truly belongs to us! A city-state that truly belongs to us! A country that truly belongs to us!

"In a new country, as a citizen and as a master, stand in the sunshine again!"

The crowd finally began to cheer, and something like hope really seemed to appear on their faces.

They share my ideals.Pyrrhus thought, licking his dry lips, and finally said:

"Again:

“No military pay!

"Those who cannot fight should not come with you. I can arrange a temporary job for you in Athens.

"Those who are unwilling to accept it should leave now. I don't want the deposit; those who are willing to accept it will board the ship tomorrow. I have prepared food and drinks for you. You can say goodbye to your relatives and friends tonight.

"That's all I have to say."

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Meanwhile, Zinas arrived in Larissa in the dark, carrying three ships with a total of 20 newspapers.

In the largest black letters on the front page it read:

"A Letter to the People of Sesali"