One reason Henry condoned the looting was that he was out of money. Without pay, he couldn’t keep his soldiers in line.

These soldiers had little sense of duty or responsibility. Who would be willing to die for you if you didn’t pay them?

Fang Zhen disapproved of the soldiers’ complete lack of discipline.

He didn’t just want to absorb Henry’s Army; he intended to reform them and win their willing, wholehearted submission.

"Sir, we haven’t received our pay for three months. The Count told us we’d get paid after arriving in the Ashton Territory, but we still haven’t seen a thing."

"Yeah, Sir, we’re all dirt poor."

"I became a soldier to earn money to buy my woman bread and clothes, and to fix up the house. If I don’t bring money home soon, my woman probably won’t be my woman anymore."

At the mere mention of their overdue pay, the soldiers immediately grew agitated.

"Henry is out of money, but I am not," Fang Zhen said, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. "I will give you all the pay you are owed, and I will do it today."

"Sir! You are such a great man!" The soldiers were instantly invigorated.

"You are truly a kind man, Sir! You are so merciful."

"My family will finally see me bring money home! Thank you, praise be to you!"

A cheer erupted from among the soldiers.

If their earlier awe was born of respect for Fang Zhen’s status, their current excitement was pure exhilaration fueled by the promise of cold, hard cash.

Fang Zhen watched his surroundings, taking in the soldiers’ reactions.

He raised his hand and pressed it downward, gesturing for the soldiers to be quiet.

In an instant, the hundreds of men fell silent.

It was clear to the naked eye that Fang Zhen’s authority among these soldiers was growing.

Fang Zhen looked at the surrounding soldiers and said, "The money. I have it."

"But my money is not so easy to take."

"I demand your loyalty and your obedience to my commands. Furthermore..." Fang Zhen’s gaze swept around, a cold glint in his eyes. "I demand absolute discipline. First, cease all plundering of civilians. And return the women you’ve abducted and the property you’ve stolen."

His words were met with a heavy silence.

Previously, when Henry couldn’t pay their wages, he tacitly allowed them to loot, and many soldiers had participated.

Now, hearing Fang Zhen order them to return the property and the people, some of them didn’t know what to do.

At that moment, a soldier from Henry’s Army, in his twenties with thick brows and large eyes, suddenly stepped forward. He turned to his comrades and shouted, "Brothers! Since the Sir has promised us our pay, we have no reason to rob civilians."

"Before, we had no choice. If we didn’t loot, we would’ve had nothing to eat or drink."

"He is merciful and has promised us our pay. We’re soldiers, not bandits! Let’s do as he says. We won’t lose out, and it’s the right thing to do."

Hearing his shout, a good number of the soldiers felt that he was right. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Hmph! Easy for you to say, you’re a bachelor! I’m not giving anything back. I say we should just forget what happened before and just get our back pay. Only then will we be satisfied. Am I right, boys?" a short, stout soldier in his forties with straw-yellow hair shouted.

"Bawei! I’ve been sick of the sight of you for a long time!" The soldier who had spoken up for Fang Zhen turned, glaring furiously. "You were the one who led the looting of civilians! You were the first one to start taking women, too!"

"Don’t you have a mother or sisters of your own? You were the most gleeful of all, committing the worst acts. How dare you stand up and speak?"

"What’s it to you, Jonah? Did I force myself on your sister or your mother? Is it any of your business?" the short, stout soldier with yellow hair sneered.

The soldier, Jonah, was enraged and was about to draw his sword.

"Both of you, stop!" Fang Zhen suddenly shouted, stopping Jonah.

Fang Zhen looked at Jonah and pointed at the yellow-haired Bawei. "Was he the one who started the looting of property and women?"

"Yes, it was him, Sir." Jonah took a deep breath, suppressing his rage toward Bawei, and said to Fang Zhen, "He didn’t just loot and take women, he also killed people!"

Fang Zhen looked at Bawei.

Bawei was a typical soldier ruffian. Unaware of what was about to happen, he continued to shout, "Sir, I just wanted everyone to have a better life. Is that wrong?"

"Shouldn’t you give us some tangible sign of your goodwill first? Then we can..."

Before Bawei could finish speaking, the phantom image of a long spear appeared in Fang Zhen’s hand and solidified.

A white light flashed on his spear as it shot directly toward Bawei’s waist.

BOOM!

Bawei didn’t even have time to scream before the Second-stage Power Mountain Seal blew him apart at the waist, sending flesh and blood flying. A single spear strike had blasted him in two.

An expression of astonishment was still frozen on Bawei’s face as he rapidly lost consciousness.

The man’s corpse was a gruesome sight. His waist was obliterated, splitting his upper body from his lower limbs. Chunks of flesh had been blasted away by the force of the Power Mountain Seal.

Fang Zhen withdrew his spear.

The immense power and killing intent stunned everyone present into silence. No one dared to speak.

"Bawei looted, raped, and murdered."

"I have set the rules. Those who steal will be punished. Those who kill will die."

"Bawei deserved to die."

"As for the rest of you, considering you truly had no pay and your lives were hard, I can understand your reasons."

"I only punish the ringleader, killing him to appease the people’s anger. His followers will not be pursued. What’s past is past, but do not make the same mistake again."

"Do you understand?"

"Does anyone else want to challenge this rule? Do you want to be proper soldiers from now on, or do you want to be bandits and end up just like Bawei?"

Fang Zhen’s words silenced the men below. Not one of them dared to make a sound.

"Brothers, he said it himself! He’s only punishing the ringleader and won’t come after the rest of us. We should stop this now!"

"We’re soldiers, so let’s be proper soldiers. Isn’t that a thousand times better than being homeless bandits?"