novelraw Chapter 506: Expansion
Chapter 506: Expansion
Although the Total Population suddenly increased by so much, inside Liwei Keep, there was Deathly Silence and extreme solemnity.
Whether it was the legion and Logistics Camp drafted from Ah Qing's Territory, or the soldiers returning to the ranks from the Blazing Territory, they all very consciously stood in formation where they were, waiting for orders.
On the contrary, Li Yue, Zhao Xuanxuan, Thomas, and the others looked On High Alert, almost startled. Suddenly gaining thousands of unfamiliar soldiers whose military appearance and discipline were absolutely top-notch—who wouldn't be confused? Who wouldn't be surprised?
At one point, they almost thought the Nine-Star Council had created a bug, until Li Wei used his Pioneering Card to quickly and concisely explain everything, and then they finally understood.
"Zhao Qingshan, I temporarily appoint you as the Internal Affairs Officer of Liwei Keep, fully responsible for the residence, board and lodging, and material arrangements of all personnel! In addition, the newly arrived Artisans are also under your management."
Li Wei urgently issued an order. Now that the people were here, they couldn't just keep standing there without arrangements. Speaking of which, the soldiers and Artisans received from Ah Qing's Territory seemed to have received an informational announcement, including Ah Qing's experiences and her outcome. In short, the Nine-Star Council was reliable in this regard.
Therefore, after these people were incorporated into Li Wei's Pioneering Card, their initial Loyalty Level was 55.
This was very good, even though it dragged down the average all at once, causing the territory's overall buff to revert to Unity and Fraternal Love.
But this was a population of over four thousand! Originally, their military strength was Stretched Thin, and now they were suddenly wealthy.
While Zhao Qingshan led his Logistics Camp to get busy like a whirlwind, Li Wei personally went to welcome Hathaway back. The others could wait a bit, because she deserved it.On the contrary, Hathaway was a bit embarrassed and became reserved, but Li Wei saw through it at a glance. She felt victory was in her grasp and was preparing to build up a certain persona, right?
That being said, when the two embraced each other, both were quite moved. From their initial Mutual Deception and plotting against each other, to mutual appreciation and Tacit Understanding on the same frequency, without realizing it, they already had the appearance of an old married couple.
So, after a moment of tenderness, Hathaway's first words were—"Let's hold a meeting first, and call those newly arrived individuals over. They must be feeling somewhat uneasy; this first contact will be very important."
"Alright!"
Li Wei nodded. Currently, he only had three days to prepare before he had to go to Siyuan Keep at the Locke Pass to help defend. Many things had to be quickly settled; there was no time for Lovey-Dovey behavior or Emotional Ties.
Immediately, Li Wei ordered the Blazing Legion to conduct daily patrols and keep watch, while the Ice Legion was to go to the Six North-South Fortresses to garrison first.
The Royal Guards served as guards inside Liwei Keep.
Then, he called Li Yue, Zhao Xuanxuan, Thomas, and fifty or sixty other core members of the legion, and also summoned the Tier-4 Ranger A Su, Tier-4 Warrior He Yibo, Tier-3 Spellcaster Tucker, and the core members above Centurion in the Legacy Legion.
All in all, a full hundred people entered the fortress hall.
Speaking of which, although the name of this fortress was very strange, its level was solidly built according to the specifications of a Tier-1 Capital.
Currently, there was a five-kilometer-long Tier-4 City Wall, forming a straight line that connected and blocked off the trailing ridges of the northern and southern mountain peaks. The entire semi-elliptical Valley was the interior of the city, and the City Walls on the other three sides didn't even need to be built.
The total interior area was roughly over thirty square kilometers. If the hillsides were also developed, along with the peak areas, scraping together fifty square kilometers wouldn't be a problem. Feeding tens of thousands of people would be very easy.
As for the main structure of Liwei Keep, it was built according to a structure with two underground levels and three above-ground levels, with a total area of over ten thousand square meters.
The overall structure presented a circular shape, with a small courtyard in the middle. But in reality, it was a Magic Power Mine, upon which a Mage Tower could be built later on.
This construction concept basically referenced the structure of the Mage Tower in Weir City.
It could be said that it was done entirely for the sake of the Mage Tower.
A Mage Tower is the defensive core of an area, a territory. All important institutions and buildings must revolve around the Mage Tower unless there is another plan.
At the very beginning of the construction, Li Wei gave Zhao Qingshan a reference concept: use a very small number of people to manage the defense, so that more soldiers could be mobilized to go out on rapid strike missions.
Who told him to have such a small population?
Currently, the second underground level of The Fortress was used as a storage Warehouse, while the first underground level was the kitchen operation area, and the future heating supply area.
The first level above ground was a hall + a place for Banquets, and also the office space for the Internal Affairs Officer and other officials.
The second level was used as a laboratory for the Spellcasters, and part of it was also used as living quarters for the guards, as well as the living quarters for Li Wei, Li Yue, Hathaway, Zhao Xuanxuan, and the others.
The third level was used for military defense. Catapults and Ballistas could all be installed here. It was a very excellent war Platform.
But in the future, when the Mage Tower was Upgraded, this massive Platform would become the foundation of the Mage Tower.
At that time, this place would be exactly the same as the Mage Tower in Weir City.
At this moment, after everyone entered, Li Wei didn't speak any nonsense. He directly operated through the Pioneering Card, and the relevant information was transmitted directly to everyone.
Not only did it allow everyone to quickly know each other's names and Professions, but even their Professional Fates and Weapons and Equipment were Clear at a Glance.
There was nothing to hide, because next, everyone would be fighting in the same trench.
Afterwards, Li Wei then said, "For the newly joined soldiers, due to certain reasons, they only have one Resurrection opportunity left. Therefore, making up for their attributes and increasing their growth potential is of utmost importance. Starting today, Three-Star Food must be provided for all three meals a day, and Three-Star Food must be provided once every seven days."
"In addition, a portion of the soldiers also needs to be mixed and reorganized. Li Yue, your Blazing Legion currently has a total of three hundred cavalry. Expanding it to five hundred—is there any problem?"
"There's a bit of a problem. We lack Warhorses. Furthermore, their weapons and Armor need to be re-enchanted and forged. And then there's the issue of coordinated training. Due to the lack of high-quality food over the past century, they probably haven't fought with full force for a long time. Coupled with the fact that they have too few Resurrection counts, they cannot fight immediately. So, I can at most accept 100 of the most elite cavalry to join the Blazing Legion. This way, they can follow along with recovery training, I'll have enough spare energy to protect them, and it won't drag down the combat power too much."
"Good! Then pick out one hundred cavalry!"
"A Su, He Yibo, Tucker, what are your thoughts?"
"Reporting to My Lord, we resolutely obey all dispatch orders!" These three were quite sensible, and their stance was very firm.
Li Yue immediately stepped forward to pick. On the spot, she selected twelve cavalry Centurions and two cavalry Chiliarchs, and then went outside to select the cavalry. As for the core layer of the Blazing Legion—Javier, Seth, Jocelyn, Duan Bowen, Paul, etc.—they hurriedly followed. From this moment on, the Blazing Legion had to enter a wartime training state.
Because it seemed like three hundred leading one hundred, but in reality, it was forty-two Tier-3 Knights leading a group of newbie Veterans.
Dying once delayed things for half a year, and their strength had fallen behind too much.
Even Javier, Seth, and Paul were like this, let alone the others.
So, arduous training had to begin!
"Thomas, how much do you think your Ice Legion can expand this time?" Li Wei then looked at Master Thomas. In the past, this guy occasionally had startling insights and was quite wise.
But this time, Thomas was completely out of sorts. He just furrowed his brows tightly, "Boss Li, there are too many people. I can't count them all. Too many, too many!"
Fuck, he entered a bugged state. It seemed that until he figured out exactly how many more people there were, Thomas's brain wouldn't shift away from this matter. Unless a sudden combat situation arose to temporarily interrupt it, he would still continue counting after the battle ended...
So Li Wei could only helplessly look across at the Fourth-Tier Warrior He Yibo, who had a Night Warrior Card, the lowest tier kind.
So he couldn't be blamed for being left behind by A Qing to guard the house back then; he was indeed weak in all aspects.
However, he was indeed a Six-Star Professional, with a 6+5+5+4+4+4 Profession Card level, respectively Blacksmith, Miner, Butcher, Tailor, Mountain Folk, and Hunter.
All of them were Common Cards, but his Destiny Grid was very shiny. All six Professional Fates were maxed out at 100.
But this was understandable. For a full hundred years, he didn't need to execute any missions, and they were all Common Cards, so the Destiny Grid upgraded quickly. If he still couldn't reach the max level, then he really would be trash.
And he also awakened two Hidden Attributes: one was Blood Burn +18, and the other was Perception +9.
This entirely relied on piling up Destiny Grids, Titles, and Codenames.
But in reality, this was much safer than Li Yue.
Because Blood Burning and Perception didn't conflict, which included Zhao Xuanxuan as well. She was Perception +3, Blood Burn +17, which was very steady.
"He Yibo, you will serve as the legion commander and Chief Commander of the Ice Legion, commanding the Ice Legion. Currently, I have five hundred Heavy Armored Infantry here, and you have one thousand five hundred over there. We will mix them all together, temporarily establishing four brigades. You personally command one brigade, Thomas commands one, and the remaining two brigades will be assigned when there are suitable Chiliarchs. For now, you will temporarily act as proxy for them."
Hearing Li Wei's words, He Yibo wasn't too surprised, but he still stepped forward quickly and knelt on one knee towards Li Wei, "Lord, I am only worried that my strength is insufficient and I am unfit for the task."
"Rest assured, I believe in you. Although A Qing didn't take you on the Cross-Border Mission, indicating that your personal strength is still lacking, since she allowed you to become a territory Advisor, it means you must have something extraordinary in a certain aspect. I observed those two thousand infantry, five hundred cavalry, and five hundred heavy armored Archers. Although their Armaments have all reverted to plain white quality, they have not wasted or slacked off over a hundred years. This shows that among you three, there must be a master of commanding troops."
"This person cannot be Tucker, nor can it be A Su, so it can only be you."
"Although A Qing is already dead now, I also believe in her judgment of people. He Yibo, A Su, Tucker, from this moment on, the three of you will also become Staff Barons in my territory. In the future, if I can carve out a Duke's position in this Ascension Continent, you will certainly not be lacking a Count's Fiefdom."
"Don't decline anymore, just accept the order!"