Chapter 204: Untitled

“The war is over. You can have thirty percent of the spoils here.” Su Lun pointed to the various weapons and equipment just collected from the battlefield.

“Sir Su Lun, we don’t want these things.” Mishen shook her head.

Su Lun looked at Mishen with some confusion, “Don’t want them? Then what do you want? Food?”

“Sir Su Lun.” Mishen hesitated for a moment and then said, “Our Centaur Tribes want to join Zhenbei City.”

“Ding, the Recruitment Token takes effect.” A system prompt sounded in Su Lun’s ear. Hearing that the Centaur Tribes were prepared to join Zhenbei City, Su Lun was overjoyed. With the addition of over three thousand Centaurs, Zhenbei City’s military strength doubled instantly. More importantly, these Centaurs were the best mounted archers and Heavy Cavalry. The shortcoming of Zhenbei City lacking cavalry was instantly filled.

“Join Zhenbei City?” Su Lun suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued asking, “Now that the Orc Tribe has been eliminated, you can completely return to your former lands. Why join Zhenbei City?”

“Sir Su Lun, you should also understand that the Wasteland has always been about the strong preying on the weak. Before, our Centaur Tribes had Legendary Power. But ever since my father was killed by Orcs while covering our breakout, the Centaur Tribes no longer have any Legendary Power.”

“On this Wasteland, without the protection of Legendary Power, even the most powerful tribe is just like a fortress made of ice and snow. Once the weather warms up, everything will vanish without a trace.”

“You are now the only Legendary Tier power on this Wasteland. Our Centaurs can no longer withstand any more turmoil. So, we wish to join Zhenbei City and gain your protection.”

The young mare Mishen looked at Su Lun and said seriously.

“Mishen, I can offer protection to the Centaur Tribes. But the Centaur Tribes must pledge their loyalty!” Su Lun pondered for a moment. Although he was more than willing inside, he still needed to maintain a proper posture. If he agreed immediately upon request, wouldn’t that make this Legendary seem too cheap?

“Naturally. We swear to the gods, loyalty to Zhenbei City, loyalty to Su Lun.” Mishen said solemnly.

“Mishen, Zhenbei City welcomes everyone who is willing to pledge their loyalty to it.” Su Lun said with a smile.

Mishen looked at Su Lun with surprise, her large eyes blinking. Suddenly, the young mare opened her arms and hugged Su Lun tightly. Then she whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”

Su Lun suddenly felt a soft warmth on his cheek.

Then the young mare let go, gave a charming laugh, and ran off. Su Lun wiped his face. The young mare had quite a figure. He chuckled softly, feeling in a very good mood, and began to inspect the camp. “I have a little mare I ride every day, if I don’t ride her one day I feel upset…”

…

Zhenbei City gained many benefits from this battle. The most important was the addition of over three thousand Centaurs. From these Centaurs, roughly about a thousand could be recruited. They would serve as Zhenbei City’s mobile forces. Su Lun would assign a pasture area to the remaining Centaurs.

Centaurs are nomadic tribes. Making them live in the city would be very uncomfortable for them and would waste their talents. These Centaurs are the best herders. Su Lun planned for them to raise horses, cattle, sheep, and other livestock. The best horses would be Zhenbei City’s warhorses. The remaining horses would be traded as commodities with the Human Kingdom.

Similarly, raising cattle was for use as draft animals, and sheep were for meat and fur. With the addition of the Centaur Tribes, Zhenbei City’s livestock farming suddenly caught up.

Besides the Centaur Tribes, the spoils from this war weren’t particularly rich. Apart from some crude supplies, there were only the Orcs’ weapons and equipment left. However, most of the Orcs’ equipment was Leather Armor. The number of Iron Armor pieces was very few, and their quality was poor.

They were heavy but offered insufficient defense. Naturally, this kind of armor couldn’t satisfy Su Lun. So, their final destination was to be melted down and reforged. As for the weapons the Orcs used, because the Orcs had limited ironworking technology and were physically strong, they used heavy weapons, mostly Two-Handed Axes or Spiked Clubs. They would all be taken back to be recast as raw iron.

Su Lun planned to bring the leather armor back to modify it into iron-reinforced leather armor. Although it was not as good as iron armor, it was considered a decent item in the wasteland.

The large number of weapons left by the Orc Army were all sent back to the blacksmith shop in Zhenbei City. The blacksmiths would be busy for the next few months.

Cleaning the battlefield took one day, and burning and burying the bodies took another day. It was not until the third day that the army of Zhenbei City returned with their spoils.

After the victory, Su Lun had already sent people back to report the good news. Now that the Zhenbei City army had returned, a grand welcome ceremony was held in the city. Su Lun rode a tall horse at the front of the procession, followed by Chris, Heatherway, and Carina on her young mare Mishen. Jushi and Johnson led the barbarians behind them.

As soon as they entered the city, dazzling magical fireworks bloomed in the sky, and a large number of flowers fell from above. A beautiful half-elf girl rushed forward and placed a wreath on Su Lun’s head.

Many more half-elf musicians played music. The entire city was immersed in a sea of joy.

Amid the cheers, Su Lun arrived at the central square, which was crowded with soldiers and civilians. Su Lun announced a three-day celebration.

After burying the ashes of the fallen soldiers in the martyr’s cemetery, Su Lun returned to the lord’s castle. He did not join the outside celebration. The refugees and slaves, who usually worked hard all year round, were allowed to relax during the festival. Su Lun, however, wanted to rest for a day.

The celebration lasted for three days. Zhenbei City became a sea of joy. After three days, everyone returned to their posts and began working. Zhenbei City once again started accepting refugees. With the addition of nearly four thousand centaurs, the population of Zhenbei City directly exceeded thirteen thousand.

However, this also brought a hidden danger. The number of humans was too small. The barbarians, half-elves, Drow Elves, and centaurs together numbered close to five thousand. Although there were eight thousand humans, their strength was still weak compared to these races.

The current situation in Zhenbei City was entirely maintained by Su Lun’s own strength and personal charm. To eliminate the hidden danger, Zhenbei City increased its efforts to attract immigrants.

The defeated orcs in the wilderness had already spread the news of Zhenbei City’s power. In this wasteland, no other tribe dared to challenge them. Besides increasing immigration efforts, Su Lun began recruiting soldiers again. This time, Su Lun planned to directly recruit two thousand spearmen.

The spearmen who survived several major battles would serve as junior officers. After reading the military training records, Su Lun’s ability to train soldiers improved significantly, and the speed of forming the army greatly increased.

To quickly establish the Trap Camp, Su Lun needed to recruit a large number of spearmen. After announcing the army expansion, Su Lun called the four soldiers in the army who had already reached the level of Divine Spear Guard. He intended to let these soldiers attempt to advance and become Trap Camp soldiers.

Unexpectedly, among these four Divine Spear Guards, only one was human, while the other three were Spirits of War he had previously summoned. Among these Spirits of War, there were still over a dozen archers, but the number of spearmen had dropped to less than ten.

To advance to the Trap Camp, soldiers had to undergo a harsh test. Su Lun built a training ground outside Zhenbei City according to the Trap Camp’s assessment requirements. Soldiers participating in the advancement had to train here, and only after completing the training would they proceed to the final step.

The Trap Camp was limited to seven hundred members because the Tiger Tally only contained seven hundred light spheres. These light spheres looked very similar to the self-created general templates Su Lun had obtained before, but they were much smaller. They should be similar items, but the self-created general templates were the complete version, while these were a cut-down version.

After training, if a Divine Spear Guard successfully merged with a light sphere, they would advance again and become a Trap Camp soldier. Of course, if the merge failed, it would not affect them. It only meant they were not suitable for the Trap Camp. Since there were only seven hundred light spheres, the Trap Camp could only have seven hundred members.

Whenever a Trap Camp soldier died, the light sphere on their body would automatically return to the Tiger Tally, and a new Trap Camp soldier would be selected.

After having the four Divine Spear Guards train there, Su Lun took the architects of Zhenbei City to begin surveying the environment. He was already preparing to build the wonder building, the Triumphal Arch.

Su Lun planned to build the Triumphal Arch in front of the central square, on the Sunrise Avenue. From the main gate of Zhenbei City, along the Sunrise Avenue, all the way to the central square, and then to the city lord’s manor and the Harvest Altar, all located along this central axis.

The Triumphal Arch Su Lun intended to build was a classic three-arch structure, entirely carved from pure white marble. It would depict the major battles Su Lun had experienced so far.

Su Lun had already drawn a rough sketch of the Triumphal Arch. Of course, the actual construction blueprint still needed to be supplemented by the master architects. The final blueprint would only begin construction after Su Lun confirmed it.

Building the entire Triumphal Arch would require hundreds of tons of marble. Fortunately, there were over a dozen pack beasts in the territory. These tall, powerful pack beasts could carry several tons of stone materials at a time. If they relied solely on manual labor, just transporting these marbles from the Lotas Mountains would be a major problem.

To mine the marble, Su Lun specifically allocated a team of five hundred kobold miners and arranged for two squads of soldiers to go to the Lotas Mountains for mining.

The construction of Zhenbei City was also ongoing. Due to the population growth, outside the city, besides planting sugar beets on the cleared land, over seventy percent of the remaining land was planted with potatoes. The rest of the land was planted with barley, oats, and other brewing materials. Some land was also used to grow spices.

Buying spices from caravans was too expensive. Su Lun planned to grow some not only for their own use but also to make money. However, Su Lun was a bit disappointed that there were too few types of spices suitable for planting in the north.