As a merchant, he had a keen eye for people. Since entering Marle Castle, this Bauhinia Knight had clearly shown a cautious and conservative tendency, definitely not the kind of person who likes to boast or speak carelessly.

Since the other party disclosed this information, he believed the Bauhinia Knight must have some confidence.

Su Li, of course, couldn’t explain to him, so he continued to look forward. The quality of the slaves on this fifth underground level truly showcased the strength of the Gray Market Trading Company.

Apart from vampires and minotaurs, Su Li also saw lizardmen from the Lusichia Rainforest and tiger men from the starting point of the Spice Road. Of course, what was indispensable were the beautiful elf women and dark elf women.

However, Roger said that these elf beauties were not virgins, so Su Li didn’t pay much attention. If they weren’t virgins, given their decadent lifestyle of the long-lived races, there would be countless companions of the same path, and Su Li could not possibly buy them.

After walking past dozens of cells, a middle-aged Imperial man finally caught Su Li’s attention.

Hilude noticed the emblem on his chest at once and whispered to Su Li, "This is a Senior Engineering Master from the Imperial Engineer College!"

Su Li looked at Roger in surprise and asked, "You even trade people from the Imperial Engineer College?"

Roger laughed wantonly and brazenly, "What’s there to be surprised about? In the Border Prince’s Territory, everyone can be treated as merchandise. Including certain noble children from an Elector’s Territory! After they are defeated in battle and captured by other Pioneer Lords, they are sold to our Slave Trading Company, and we negotiate with people from the Elector’s Territory to have their families pay ransom that befits noble status."

To be fair, nobles being defeated and ransomed was something that Su Li could accept, for within the Border Prince’s Territory, there were many Imperial knights coming to pioneer; the defeated paying ransom was merely bringing the Empire’s internal traditions into the Border Prince’s Territory.

Even Su Li himself was psychologically prepared for this situation. If he were defeated, the knight who captured him would likely not kill him directly but bind him to demand ransom from the Bauhinia family. If his father, Count Suna, was willing to pay around 2000 Golden Crowns, the victor would likely release him and expel him from the Territory. If they were kind-hearted, they might even send him to Bauhinia Castle. But if his father was unwilling to pay ransom, then Su Li would have to become one of the slaves, working for others.

But regarding this Senior Engineering Master from the Engineer College, Su Li was surprised because such high-level talents are rare within the Empire.

"Was he also captured after the defeat of some Elector’s descendant?"

"That’s right, the person who captured him sold him to our trading company. He is a powerful engineering master, having graduated from the Imperial Engineer College, and is said to be qualified to teach. However, instead of staying at the college, he was hired to come to the Border Prince’s Territory. He is far beyond those apprentices from the Imperial Engineer College. You know, Imperial people always have a pioneering spirit, and his improvements on gunpowder and shells are quite outstanding."

Su Li raised an eyebrow, turned to Roger, and seriously asked, "Improving gunpowder and shells? Are you kidding? Gunpowder is the domain of dwarves, how could a human improve it?"

Their conversation caught the attention of the engineering master inside. He, though unshaven, was not dispirited. Upon hearing Su Li’s doubts about his capabilities, he grasped the bars of his cell tightly, staring intently at Su Li, and exclaimed, "You stubborn human, your mind is as inflexible as a stubborn dwarf’s! Who says improving shells requires altering the intrinsic properties of gunpowder? Engineering, do you understand engineering technology! Through reasonable engineering structures, gunpowder can be distributed in separate sealed chambers of a shell, allowing a giant shell to be launched and disperse in the sky, with several flame beams descending to shroud a phalanx and completely destroy it. This is a technology that those rigid dwarves could never conceive of; even given a thousand years, they would go around in circles with their ancestors’ crafts."

Roger immediately fanned the flames and asked, "So, Bauhinia Knight, interested? This is something equivalent in capability to Akasha Magic."

Akasha, the Flame God, who governs the winds of fierce flame.

Hilude evidently had more knowledge in this area and whispered to Su Li, "This ability does resemble the Flame Magic known as ’Uzul Holy Fire,’ where a wizard fires a large magical fireball, which explodes in the air, generating dozens of flame beams that cover an area of enemy troops, and upon impact, the beams explode into flames, capable of injuring multiple enemies. This spell is an advanced version of the Uzul Fire, requiring at least a fourth-ring mage equivalent to a champion-level knight to use."

Isn’t this just the magical version of a rocket cannon?

Su Li’s interest in this engineering master from the Imperial Engineer College suddenly grew. If, through his improvements, the Territory’s cannons could fire a giant shell that explodes in the air, generating dozens of flame-beam-trailing shells crashing into enemy lines,

wouldn’t this be a divine anti-infantry weapon? With his four cannons, it’s like having four Flame Mages.

Of course, this would deal significantly less damage to elite cavalry. Knights in heavy plate armor aren’t the kind that split flame beams could harm easily. On Earth, two fighter jets dropping eight 500-pound bombs in a dense carpet bomb barely injured a dozen people, and even a direct hit on a farm vehicle only caused serious injury to two people. Once the shells disperse, it’s unlikely to cause significant damage to knights clad in heavy armor with more resilient life energy.