Badge in Azure

Even if this suggestion did not tempt Saleen, it would have tempted the noble families around him. Gathering their armies at Huoxing City was only an opportunity. Whether anything would come out of it would still have to depend on Holy Rock City. Since Lex had decided to rebuild the city, there was no need to worry about Holy Rock City anymore.

In the end, Saleen still managed to convince Lex to invest in a fleet.

The reason was simple. There was a gigantic lake separating Qin, Cloudflow, and Titan. This lake was close to one-thousand miles wide and was practically an ocean.

If a fleet patrolled this lake actively, all the cities around the lake could be potential targets.

Lex occupied some lands near Luolan where the lake was only a few hundred miles behind. It would be a good location to launch attacks on Cloudflow or the south of Qin in future.

Lex knew what Saleen wanted; the real diagram of the Grukos family’s diving combat vessel and more mages.

“Alright, alright,” Lex said to Saleen helplessly, “I will give you the diagram and you will help me build a fleet. I will provide the money and the mages. I will send over five-hundred low-level mages and one-thousand high-level apprentices to Metatrin to help out in your alchemy factories. You have to deliver the fleet by next spring.”

“So many!” Saleen was shocked.

“Father left them for me, why do you think I have the determination to enter Luolan? This will not affect the development of Bitter Water Prefecture. After they follow you…”

Saleen smiled and said, “I will not treat them badly. I know how you usually treat your mages.”

“That’s good. Gather the materials you need quickly. As big as the lake may be, it will never be as dangerous as the ocean. There is still a fleet from Cloudflow on the lake so my vessels must be the best.”

“Don’t worry. I will send a skeletal warship over as well. Warships are easily longer than one-hundred yards. I will not be able to send them over in one piece.”

“I will be advancing into a sorcerer very soon. I will then be able to make full use of God’s ring. A hundred yard long warship is nothing. As long as I have sufficient mental strength, I will be able to store it.”

Saleen then realized that Lex’s abilities were way above his expectations. He had no idea what else Emperor Chanake left behind for her before his death.

Being born into a good family would really make things so much easier compared to being poor.

The only thing that Emperor Chanake would never expect was that Lex would build up a country and expand her armies by ten times so quickly. She did not lack money, materials, or mages. She only lacked armor, weapons, and arrows; all of which could be obtained easily.

Based on Lex’s status, these items could be purchased legally. Lex urgently needed to obtain these items within a month and could not seek help from Holy Rock City, so she came to Saleen for help.

What Saleen could not figure out was why Lex would lack magic nuclei.

After the military issues had been discussed, agricultural issues were next. Lex did not hide the fact that she wanted to take over Phoenix for its land. The land in Metatrin was fertile, but the window for farming was short. A change in weather could easily cause countless seeds to go to waste. This was why Saleen only dared to grow vegetables.

Green vegetables could be harvested within one to two months, but grain was a different case. He would not be able to hasten the process.

The weather in Bitter Water Prefecture was not any better. It was close to mountains and the soil was barren. Even the underground water was mostly bitter. If not for the snow accumulated on the high mountains that provided freshwater, Bitter Water Prefecture would not have been able to sustain its population of one-million.

Conquering half of Phoenix would solve the problem of lack of grain for both Saleen and Lex.

Lex’s purpose for fighting in Luolan was to quickly develop an elite army. Her main priority was still Phoenix. If she could choose to ignore Holy Rock City’s reaction, she would have deployed troops at the border and built a pass opposite of Guderian City to completely seal off the route towards Qin.

Saleen had struggled for close to two years, but still had yet to develop such an ability to see the bigger picture. Being aware of the global trends had long been an ability that the royal family felt confident in. It was due to pure luck that Saleen managed to control the resources in oceanic ice block for the time-being. If not for the enormous number of magic nuclei provided by the oceanic ice block, Saleen would not have been able to support so many armies.

Lex eventually left. Within these short two days, she and Saleen exchanged thousands of opinions and made many decisions together. It was fortunate that both of them were also mages and could use magic to boost their memories.

Both of them even shared the same thought that Nicholas would escort Lex on her journey back.

The strongest person that Saleen could deploy was Nicholas. Nicholas had no choice but to accept Saleen’s order. He really did not wish to get any closer to the Holy See’s army for fear that he would be found out and by then, who knew what kind of people the Holy See would send to deal with him?

After a thorough discussion with Lex, Saleen had finally understood the direction he should be taking. Huoxing City was more important than he thought. Lex left behind a lot of gold coins for Saleen to hire manpower for the building of the city.

Saleen had a plan. Since Huoxing City, Cexing City, and Tuxing City were originally cities that had been militarized, they would form an important gate on Phoenix’s north-south tunnel after they had been rebuilt.

Huoxing City would have to undergo expansion in order to fit two-hundred-thousand men and one-hundred-thousand soldiers. The cities on both sides would also have to be expanded in order to fit more than forty-thousand men. These three cities would split Phoenix up so that the northern lands could be reclaimed for agriculture. Once the crops had been harvested, they would be kept for their own use instead of being sold.

After ten years, he would have the means to feed armies made of millions.

Lex left behind quite a number of resources that were sufficient for Saleen to start work and arm his armies. This time around, the first group of soldiers that he would set up would be the temple corp.

The temple corp, which would be Saleen’s bodyguards, would be made up of three battalions. These thirty-thousand men would be complemented with one-hundred and twenty-thousand demons so there would be four-thousand demons in every regiment. In the future, the temple corp would be Saleen’s core force to suppress any noble families that dared to rebel. These thirty-thousand men and one-hundred and twenty-thousand demons would be the equivalent to Holy Rock City’s royal swordsmen battalion.

The proportion of the temple corp would be the benchmark for demon armies. There would be eight-thousand demons for every two-thousand humans.

As Saleen’s influence expanded, more and more noble families began to pledge their allegiances to him. It was essential that Saleen possessed the means to deter these noble families, otherwise it was not impossible for a rebellion to take place.

Since the demons had yet to be summoned, the equipment that Saleen prepared for the temple corp was a little strange.

Magic wolf warriors would take on the role of scouts since they could not be included within the three battalions. There were two-thousand of them in total. Saleen did not wish to depend on these Caucasus people riding on magic wolves as his assault team. He would have plenty of demons in the future. They would be the ones making up his main force.

In reality, after the temple corp had been set up, it would be made up of fifteen battalions and every battalion would be made up of two human regiments.

Demons would take on the roles of heavy-armored knights, heavy-armored infantry, and light-armored knights while the two human regiments would be in charge of command. The captain of each regiment would command four regiments of demons, then there would be a single battalion commander who would be given two-hundred bodyguards and would command a battalion on his own. Saleen gave all his best equipment, such as the wings of an elf and elf alchemy crossbow, to the temple corp first.

The palace swordsmen battalion would support the temple corp. If the temple corp suffered any losses, the vacancies would be filled from the palace swordsmen battalion.

The alchemy factories were doing all they could to produce the equipment that Saleen needed. If he did not arm the temple corp, Saleen felt insecure. How could he think of gaining the support of all the noble families if he did not even have his own core force in place?

Metatrin City seemed to regain peacefulness once again. Aini had left to build a city while the second battalion had led the noble families’ armies to Huoxing City. Other than training every day, Saleen would also head down to the alchemy factories to check on the progress of the production of equipment.

On that day, Saleen was on his way back to the temple when he was stopped by someone.

“Brother Saleen!” A young lady in long dress stopped him. Nailisi was not by his side, but he was accompanied by Isabella and a few hundred soldiers. The soldiers were ready to spring into action when they saw someone blocking their path.

Saleen waved his hand and said, “Sharman, you are looking for me?”

“Yes, Brother Saleen. What happened to what you promised me?”

Saleen smiled and said, “Why didn’t you just look for me at the temple? Why did you have to stop me on the road?”

There was sorrow on Sharman’s face as she spoke, “There was no way I could get near your temple. No matter what I said, those Caucasus people never let me pass.”

At that point, Saleen recalled the order that he had given. No one was supposed to get near the temple other than the temple corp or anyone from Sregl Island.

“Come with me then,” Saleen waved his hand and allowed Sharman to come to his side. Saleen preferred to walk instead of ride on a horse when he traveled within the city. Sharman tugged at Saleen’s sleeve with a grin on her face and said, “Brother Saleen, did you miss me?”

There was nothing seductive about her smile, only naivety. Saleen’s mood improved greatly. He patted Sharman’s hand and said, “Don’t beat around the bush. You want to become a general right?”

“Of course.”

“What does your sister think?” Saleen asked about Guya’s opinion. Guya was in the first group of people to whom Saleen had given the title of ‘Duke’. She was also a grand mage herself so she was considered to be a member of a noble family that was most similar to him.

“Sister said that it is better to become your follower first if I really want to become a general.”

“Haha!” Saleen laughed. Guya was really smart. If her sister did not become a follower, she would only be a battalion commander at most and lead ten-thousand elite soldiers. On the other hand, if she became a follower, there would be more paths for her to take in the future.

“Sharman, are you willing to become my follower?” Saleen smiled and asked.

Sharman felt awkward and said, “Brother Saleen, why should I become your follower?”

“So, you are unwilling?” Saleen purposely teased Sharman. This girl was already powerful but still had a very pure heart.

“No, I just want to know what is in it for me.”

“I want to set up an elite corp and I will need a general. A general and not a battalion commander. It will be tied to a rank of nobility. The person taking up this position needs to gain the trust of the people around me first.”

“So, I will have to be like them and call you ‘My Lord’ in the future?” Sharman pouted and seemed unwilling.

“If you prefer, you can still call me ‘Brother Saleen’, but we need to sign a bond first, alright?” Saleen felt a little uncomfortable bringing up bonds. It was as if he only believed in the power of bonds more than anything else now.