Chapter 2321

"The Emerald Kingdom probably doesn't know about Feilun's situation." Anse mused.

"What if humans have allied with them?" Ilis guessed, "Perhaps it has nothing to do with the legend of Wehrel, maybe they want to capture and tame flying dragons."

"That's also possible." Anse stroked his chin in thought.

The Fangtooth Forest indeed has many flying dragons, so it's normal for the Emerald Kingdom to replenish the Dragon Rider Corps with tamed ones.

Ilis held the transport cube: "Controlling White Stone Island is more important first."

Her idea matched Anse's: to build White Stone Island into a rear base, allowing flexible advance and retreat.

"I'll return to Durag immediately."

"Then I'll gather the guards here and wait for you."

The two disembarked simultaneously; Anse casually shoved the demon statue from the shrine into the emptied dragon-hide pouch, still undecided on how to handle it—perhaps selling it to the Traveler's Rest wouldn't be bad.

As for why not destroy it?

Because destroying a deity's image constitutes serious religious provocation and desecration; if a deity had ever descended upon this statue, it would likely sense its destruction, as well as the desecrator who destroyed it.

Thus, this act would likely provoke hostility, even pursuit.

Balro Flame Demons aren't gods, but they still shouldn't be underestimated.

Afterwards, Anse attempted to teleport the ship into Holorune patterns; though somewhat strained, he ultimately succeeded.

The Scepter of Sanctuary's teleportation has limits; if the Dragonfly Ship were slightly larger or heavier, it probably couldn't enter, unless disassembled for transport.

"Let's go."

He waved at Ilis, summoned Norlunos, and headed straight for Durag.

Norlunos hadn't been close to Anse in a long time; running, it was especially excited, hooves flying.

Anse soothingly rubbed its forehead horn—cold to the touch, as if it had grown a bit larger.

He pulled up Norlunos's character sheet: experience 2133/2700, not far from leveling up.

Speaking of which, man and beast hadn't fought side by side in a long while.

Anse's expertise and abilities were sufficient to support his airborne spellcasting; his flight technique required no focus, so he had long grown accustomed to aerial combat.

Still, Norlunos remained useful, and mounted combat scenarios were not uncommon.

Soon, man and beast arrived in Durag; Norlunos slowed its pace, trotting along the streets.

Nearly all of Durag's populace recognized him, stepping aside voluntarily, then couldn't help glancing after he passed.

Aside from the Union's high echelons, no one knew he had been missing for days.

At the Union garrison, Quentin was watching the defense force's first training session with several councilors.

The original Durag Guard had already split into the Watch and the Defense Force. The Watch numbered just over a hundred, led by Sheriff Parldo, mainly maintaining public order, resolving disputes, and handling various legal cases.

The Defense Force had over three hundred fifty, led by Juwei, one-third of whom were newly recruited, selected from the best, with solid physical fitness; moreover, over a dozen professionals had joined.

Although Juwei had once been the Lizard King, this was ultimately the human world, and the soldiers were predominantly human, so drills still relied on the old methods—conditioning, team combat, individual martial techniques, etc.

Upon Anse's arrival at the Union garrison, Quentin, Carleno, and a few others received the news and hurried out to greet him.

Seeing him safe and sound, the heavy stone pressing on everyone's hearts finally fell to the ground.

The former president had just passed; if the new president encountered any mishap, the entire Durag Union would likely collapse.

"President, you've finally returned." Quentin's tense expression eased slightly; he could manage affairs, but many things he truly couldn't bear without the president.

"Just a trip out; even if I weren't here, I believe you could still manage Durag well." Anse said little, lest they overthink.

"Durag can't do without you." Quentin naturally knew it wasn't as simple as a brief trip, but he held his tongue.

After a moment, the group recovered and began reporting the past few days' events; aside from the Fangtooth Forest anomalies and the Dragon Rider Corps, everything else was minor.

The Am people hadn't returned, nor had they found any Soul-Stealers or Brain-Eaters; overall, things were calm.

"Isn't that all quite good?" Anse chuckled.

"This is a sign of impending chaos—I haven't slept well these past two days." Carleno complained helplessly.

"No matter; I'll check later, slaughter a few flying dragons and hang them on the city walls." Anse smiled, "Now, mobilize a hundred soldiers—I've claimed an island and need to guard against pirates."

Everyone froze, some not quite understanding.

"An island?" Carleno instinctively thought of Holorune, but that was an extradimensional space—where would pirates come from?

"White Stone Island, located in the Fallen Star Sea, far from here; I brought people there via teleportation array." Anse explained, "Councilor Graham, I need to establish a full administrative system there too—you start selecting officials and personnel today."

"Oh, alright." Graham paused before reacting; the information load was somewhat large, leaving him stunned and unable to quickly process and organize it.

"Is the Defense Force training?" At that moment, Anse faintly heard Juwei shouting in non-standard Common at someone.

"Yes." Quentin immediately replied.

"Come, let's go see."

The group proceeded together to the training grounds, where soldiers were practicing the most basic formations.

The drill's requirement was to recognize the squad leader and comrades, locate one's own squad, and march forward and retreat—no need for perfect alignment, just don't scatter.

This was actually simple, but after every rest or bathroom break, someone couldn't find their squad, someone confused left/right and east/west/north/south, someone suffered from face blindness.

Anse felt helpless; most of these soldiers were illiterate, making training difficult.

Yet he didn't demand too much—slowly, being able to patrol, defend the city, and hold the line would suffice; after all, once in leather armor and armed, they looked like warriors, and others couldn't tell their training level.

He immediately halted the training, ordering Juwei to gather the most elite hundred soldiers, fully equipped but without supplies.

Juwei and Quentin accompanied him, one leading troops, the other handling administration, to swiftly bring White Stone Island under control.

Carleno and the other councilors were responsible for recruitment; the Defense Force would enlist another five hundred soldiers, officials and talents of all kinds welcomed without restriction, with generous compensation. Currently, Durag had over ten thousand refugees—manpower was no issue.

Coincidentally, he also wasn't short on money; these hundreds of thousands of gold coins sitting idle earned no interest; better to distribute them as coinage to rapidly expand influence.

In turbulent times, buying legendary gear was hard, but "buying" people was too easy.

After arranging these, he informed Quentin of the situation there, then directly cast the teleportation array on the training grounds, tearing open a portal to White Stone Island.

Juwei and Quentin led the soldiers charging in, but only half had passed when the portal dissipated.

Magic is not comparable to a permanent teleportation array; the portal can only remain open for a short time, and even with Anse's ability, he can only keep it open for a dozen or so seconds.

He had anticipated this, and after waiting ten minutes, he cast the teleportation array again.

As expected, the mage Mohan appeared at the other end of the portal; while the soldiers passed through, the two exchanged a few quick words, confirming that the pirates had not returned, before Anse finally relaxed.

He did not go over, but instead remained at the Union's garrison.

Since it was still early, he immediately sent someone to contact the Phil Mercenary Group and the burly barbarian with a big beard who works under the noble Talon Salberg of the Claw City-State.

Taking advantage of this time, he drafted several magic contracts, leaving the amount and compensation fields blank.

He was about to start spending money!

An ordinary worker can earn dozens of gold coins a year, a junior professional can earn hundreds of gold coins a year, and an elite professional starts at one thousand gold coins.

As long as he is willing to spend money, he can recruit any professional below elite level at will; recruiting an elite for just a few thousand gold coins is an absolute bargain.

Once someone gains momentum, others dare not provoke them.

As long as they are not legendary, when facing a force with numerous professionals, they will always hesitate first.

(End of chapter)