The march toward the northern garrison felt different from every forced movement he'd endured in the labor camp. It wasn't the weight of the shackles—those still clinked at his ankles—but the weight of eyes. Soldiers watched him as though he were some tool whose value had yet to be measured. The inspectors rode at the front, their black robes snapping in the wind like banners of authority.
Behind him trailed a line of newly conscripted laborers, men the empire had plucked from fields, mines, and walls to feed its appetite for expansion. Perhaps the empire saw no difference between a worker and a soldier. Perhaps the empire never cared—as long as the wall rose higher and the borders stretched wider.
The system pulsed quietly beneath his ribs.
[New Environment Detected: Northern Expansion Project]
[Objective: Assess local power structures. Establish influence. Secure survival.]
He glanced back once—just once—to see Zhang and Hu's silhouettes shrinking under the shadow of the Great Wall. Zhang's hand lifted subtly, the gesture hidden from inspectors. A promise. Not farewell, but expectation.
He faced forward again.
The world had grown larger overnight.
The Northern Garrison
The garrison rose from the horizon like a blunt fist. Earthen fortifications surrounded the camp, reinforced with wooden beams and half-constructed watchtowers. Soldiers patrolled the perimeter, their armor dusty from long marches. Beyond the fort stretched the barren frontier: hills that rolled into jagged ridges and plains scarred by hoof prints.
A commander waited at the gate, flanked by two guards. He was older, with graying temples and a beard cut in sharp angles. His eyes narrowed as the inspectors approached.
"Report," he demanded.
The inspector dismounted. "We bring a worker—skilled with stone and organization. Useful for fort construction."
The commander's brows rose. "A slave?"
"A convict laborer," the inspector corrected, "who showed ability."
The commander's gaze raked over Li Wei. Not unkind, but unyielding. "Name."
"Li Wei, honored commander."
"Builder?"
"Yes."
"Can you read?"
"Yes."
A short nod. "Good. You'll be assigned to the fortification corps. Fail, and you die. Succeed, and we'll see."
He gestured to a pair of soldiers. "Remove his shackles. A builder cannot work if bound."
The cold weight at Li Wei's ankles dropped away. The freedom was not real—merely functional—but his breath caught all the same.
The soldiers pushed him toward a cluster of tents set apart from the main barracks. Laborers were already there—stacking timber, carving stone blocks, pouring mud into molds for brickwork.
For the first time since arriving in Qin, he saw workers who were not half-dead—men who moved with practiced precision, who murmured to each other in low tones about load-bearing strengths, weather patterns, and mortar composition. Skilled workers. Artisans.
A foreman approached, his thick arms coated in dust. "You're the new one? Come. The commander wants section three reinforced before the next inspection."
Li Wei followed him, absorbing everything—the layout of the walls, supply routes, guard rotations, the location of stored tools, the rhythm of labor.
The system chirped softly.
[Environment Mapping: 12% Complete]
[Skilled Labor Detected: Stonecutters, Carpenters, Engineers]
[Potential Recruits: Medium]
Potential recruits.
His heart steadied.
A Different Kind of Camp
This was nothing like the Great Wall labor pit. Here, men worked hard, but they did not break under every blow. Overseers shouted, but rarely struck. Soldiers watched, but not as predators—more like guards ensuring the workflow stayed smooth.
But danger was different here.
Sharper.
Quieter.
Less predictable.
He spent the first day assisting with measuring angles and reinforcing foundations. The foreman watched him closely. When Li Wei corrected the angle of a support beam and prevented a collapse, the man grunted approval.
"You've done this before."
"Yes."
"You're wasted as a slave." A beat. "But the empire wastes many things."
Li Wei smiled faintly. "What do you expect of me, Foreman?"
"Look, listen, work. If you can keep men alive and walls standing, you'll survive. If not…" The foreman shrugged. "This frontier eats the slow."
He learned quickly that the fortification corps respected competence above all. Men who worked well were fed better, housed better, sometimes even granted small privileges—like access to warm water or a thicker cloak at night.
And he needed every advantage.
Nightfall Insights
When night fell, he sat outside his tent, studying the garrison under torchlight.
Formations of soldiers marched along the battlements. Messengers rode in and out with reports from northern scouts. The clang of weapons training echoed in the dark.
He memorized everything.
The system provided a quiet analysis:
[Power Structure Analysis]
• Commander Feng — authority, respected, unpredictable
• Deputy General Han — ambitious, resents Commander Feng
• Supply Officer Rong — corruptible
• Artisan Foreman Lao — influential among workers
• Garrison Soldiers — disciplined, overworked
• Frontier Scouts — veterans, tight-knit, distrustful of outsiders
[Opportunity Level: Moderate]
[Threat Level: High]
He exhaled.
This place was a battlefield of politics. Quiet, sharpened politics that could kill more quickly than a whip.
He needed allies.
He needed a position.
He needed a foothold.
An Unexpected Encounter
As he returned to his tent, a voice stopped him.
"You're the one from the Wall camp, yes?"
Li Wei turned.
A woman stood beside the supply shed—someone he hadn't noticed earlier. Dressed in rough work clothes, hair bound tightly, eyes sharp as drawn bronze.
He straightened. "Yes."
She stepped closer. "Names travel fast in frontier camps. They say you stabilized a collapsed ramp before the overseers even knew it was falling."
He stayed quiet. "Stories grow in mouths."
"Maybe," she said, studying him. "Or maybe you're exactly as capable as they say. And capable men draw attention—good and bad."
"And who are you?" he asked carefully.
She smiled faintly. "Someone who can tell you one thing: in this place, talent is more dangerous than incompetence."
Wind rattled the tents as she walked past him, vanishing into the shadows.
He watched her go, sensing another thread being woven into the tapestry of his fate.
The frontier garrison would test him differently than the Wall camp—but he had one advantage he never had before:
He knew how to build influence from nothing.
Teaser: A mysterious ally warns him of unseen dangers—just as the frontier's first true threat moves in the dark.