Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

Violette and Aupin had already discussed gathering more subordinates.

So from the beginning, Violette urged Aupin to save Yellowteres.

However, Yellowteres concealed the existence of a Silver-rank magical beast, and at the same time fled the scene. He made two horrible decisions.

But now it seemed that the result was satisfactory.

Yellowteres and Blueteres became slaves to Aupin.

The plan was to just recruit them, so they would have still had their freedom. But now that they became slaves, they had lost their freedom.

The brothers were Bronze rank and the value of slaves with this kind of strength was quite high.

Of course, there were no reliable means to restrain them, such as a slave contract or something.

But in the current environment, Aupin couldn’t ask for much else.

Yellowteres and Blueteres had taken refuge in Aupin as his slaves, and due to their own influence, other people chose to rely on Aupin as well.

Thus, Aupin successfully obtained absolute control over the exploration team.

The brothers Yellowteres and Blueteres were both Bronze-rank elites. Yellowteres was good at using halberds, while Blueteres was good at using a scimitar. These two were the strongest out of the bunch.

As for the rest, there were two archers and one arbalist, as well as 13 swordsmen, gunmen, and shieldmen.

Including the unarmed old scholar Palebeard, there were a total of 19 people (not including Aupin and Violette).

According to Palebeard, when they first set off, the exploration team had nearly forty people.

But now, the number of members were reduced by half.

Possibly because these people had poor armor.

The brothers Yellowteres and Blueteres wore leather armor, while the others wore linen.

Their survival resources, however, were plentiful as the team carried plenty of food and fresh water.

Aupin learned all of this information from Palebeard.

Aupin gave out his first order, “Since this mountain spring is drinkable, could you appoint some people to collect more fresh water for us. We can discard half of our crude oil supply instead.”

“Yes, sir.” Palebeard took his orders and left the tent.

This tent was from the exploration team. It was put up by the brothers Yellowteres and Blueteres. Aupin was able to take an afternoon nap there.

As soon as Palebeard left the tent, Violette opened the curtain and walked in.

“My sir, the old scholar has a complicated background,” Violette said.

While Aupin summoned Palebeard to meet him alone, Violette met with each member of the team. Violette was roughly able to learn the whole story from the team members.

“So it turns out that the analysis of Palebeard made Yellowteres and Blueteres realize that they were in great trouble?” Aupin asked after listening to Violette’s report. He smiled slightly and continued, “It seems that the trophies we collected from the eight-legged spider shocked these people.”

“Don’t overestimate people, and never underestimate people…” Aupin sighed from the bottom of his heart.

The result of this matter was ideal, but the whole process prompted Aupin to continuously reflect on himself.

He overestimated the morals of Yellowteres and did not think of the possibility of him concealing information. He also foolishly thought that Yellowteres would repay him for his life-saving grace.

But it turned out that Yellowteres fled and abandoned his saviours, Aupin and Violette.

Later on, under tremendous pressure, the brothers Yellowteres and Blueteres sold themselves as slaves.

Is it because the two of them sincerely wanted to repent?

Perhaps that was part of the reason.

But it was more likely due to the powerful strength of Aupin and Violette, as well as their profound background.

What about the rest?

They were happy to be led by Aupin.

Why?

Aupin was a powerhouse. In such a crisis-ridden environment, relying on the strong was one of the best survival strategies, right?

Aupin’s identity as a Templar, and his good deed in saving Yellowteres, made people believe that although this leader was young, his character was worthy of their trust.

Among them, the one that stood out the most was the old scholar Palebeard.

He had served noble clans for more than 30 years. He had learned about the noble way of survival, game theory, and wisdom.

He was unarmed and had no fighting power, but he was respected by the entire exploration team. The brothers Yellowteres and Blueteres obeyed Palebeard’s words.

When Palebeard received information from Yellowteres, he immediately sensed the power of Aupin and Violette.

Led by him, the entire Exploration team immediately went back, and took the initiative to surrender to Aupin.

Yellowteres and Blueteres became gifts for Aupin. But even though the brothers sold themselves as slaves, they were grateful towards Palebeard.

What Palebeard said to Aupin was on the surface for the brothers’ sake, but in fact it was an exchange.

Palebeard took the initiative to surrender to Aupin, and Aupin accepted these subordinates. Having taken in two Bronze-rank slaves, Aupin also gave a return. Palebeard became the third ranking person after Aupin and Violette.

The first order that Aupin gave was to make Palebeard lead a group of people to collect fresh water.

This was the young man’s response to Palebeard’s voluntary surrender.

He maintained his guard towards Palebeard, but at the same time admired him.

He knew that he needed such talents by his side. Even though Palebeard was just a scholar, and ordinary farmers could beat him down, he had knowledge and wisdom that ordinary people could never match. Knowledge was a sort of invisible force.

“As for my memory loss and my inability to use battle aura, we need to keep it confidential for the time being,” Aupin said to Violette.

Violette nodded, her face slightly solemn. “I understand.”

Aupin had just taken control of this exploration team, but there were still hidden dangers.

If these subordinates found out that Aupin couldn’t use battle aura, would they have some bad ideas in mind?

Without battle aura, the difference between ranks was not huge, especially based on physical attributes alone.

Just like the motto of the Centum’pin clan said, “Don’t overestimate people, and never underestimate people.”

Aupin now had a deep understanding of this motto!

Although he had become the leader of the exploration team, he had weak control over the entire team.

He was nowhere near the level of complete control and command.

“Call in the members of the exploration team one by one, I will talk to them alone in the tent,” Aupin said to Violette.

After Palebeard led several people to collect fresh water, he returned back to the tent to give a report, but he was stopped by Yellowteres and Blueteres guarding outside.

“Sir Aupin is talking with Whitesprout.”

Palebeard was taken aback for a second. He knew the young man Whitesprout. He had a hearty smile, and was the son of hunters. Whitesprout did not stand out in the exploration team.

“Did Whitesprout make a mistake?” Palebeard asked.

“No, the entire exploration team must go into the tent alone and be questioned by Aupin,” Blueteres replied.

Palebeard was very interested. “What does he ask them?”

Yellowteres shrugged. “Nothing more than personal background, family status, personal expertise, and information about the shipwreck and the island.”

The entrance curtain was lifted, Whitesprout, a member of the exploration team, came out with an excited expression.

“Ah, it’s Mr. Scholar,” Whitesprout greeted them.

“Seems like Aupin views you in a new light?” Palebeard smiled and nodded.

Whitesprout grinned and said, “Of course not. In fact, Aupin promised everyone that as long as they perform well, they may follow him and join White Sand City! At worst, they can become a guard at White Sand City.”

“Doesn’t this exactly fulfill your wish? Kid, you must behave well.” Palebeard patted Whitesprout on the shoulder.

Whitesprout nodded repeatedly as he said with great enthusiasm, “I will work hard!”

After Blueteres reported to Aupin, Palebeard entered the tent again and met with Aupin.

“Sir, according to your instructions, we discarded half of the crude oil and used the oil bags to store more fresh water,” Palebeard reported respectfully.

“Good, well done, you can go and rest first. After lunch, there will be a meeting to discuss our next plans. Make sure you are ready.”

“Yes, sir.” Palebeard bowed and exited the tent.

He didn’t go far, but instead, he stood near the tent and observed for a while.

The members who followed him to fetch fresh water were also summoned by Aupin one by one.

No one stayed in the tent for long, but when they came out, the look on their faces drastically changed. Even the faces of the usually serious people seemed to be filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

Palebeard looked at the tent, smiled, and whispered to himself, “This is good.”

Not all powerhouse had the ability to lead.

In Palebeard’s opinion: Aupin was young. It was rare for such young people to have at least a Silver-rank cultivation. He was afraid that most of Aupin’s time was spent on self-cultivation, and he was weak at mastering other areas.

But now it seemed that Aupin was at least qualified in terms of serving as a leader.

This young man was not yet the White Sand City Lord, but he made promises to outline a bright future for these exploration team members.

People’s ambitions were gradually being raised by Aupin and the morale of the team was also improving. Aupin’s control of the entire exploration team was deepening.