[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela":3,"chapter-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-89":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Exiled from the Start and Dominating the Wasteland with an Intelligence System",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1688689,2155,"Chapter 89 : Chapter 89","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-89",89,"\u003Cp>Chapter 89. The Rudiments of Intelligence\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the study, Eli drew a deep breath, then, out of habit, let his consciousness sink into his mind as he silently prayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A blue beam of light immediately lit up, and information poured into his awareness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Within the sanctuary in Nightsong Forest, the elf princess Irene and her companion Gulu have gotten into an argument.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a fit of anger, Gulu has run away from home and is currently moving rapidly in the direction of Obsidian Territory Valley.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli opened his eyes, and his blue gaze was filled with astonishment and a trace of absurdity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quarrel? Over grilled fish? She ran away from home? And she is heading here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A string of question marks popped up in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could they have quarreled? Irene... no, not Irene... Her Highness, could she have run into some kind of difficulty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what kind of madness had that noisy marmot gotten into now? What was she running to Black Territory for? To add to the chaos?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knock, knock, knock!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The urgent pounding at the door cut off his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord! Captain Aika has returned! He is waiting outside to see you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard’s voice came through the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli instantly threw Gulu’s little farce to the back of his mind, his spirits lifting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Send him in!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door was pushed open, and Aika stepped inside, carrying the dust and weariness of travel with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coarse robe of a traveling merchant that he wore was spattered with mud, and his cheeks had grown leaner as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord!” Aika struck his chest in salute, his voice a little hoarse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve worked hard, Aika! Up, speak.” Eli motioned for him to rise, his gaze sweeping over him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You weren’t hurt, were you? How did it go? What is Runestone City like now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A trace of lingering fear appeared on Aika’s face. “Reporting to my lord, it was indeed dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The five of us disguised ourselves as traveling merchants selling beast hides and cheap ironware, and slipped through the city gate at dusk while the crowds were thick and confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Security in Runestone City was very strict, but the soldiers guarding the gates seemed more concerned with whether people were carrying weapons or large quantities of grain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were relatively lenient toward small peddlers like us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused. “The hardest part was scouting their training ground. It was located in the western part of the city and heavily guarded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We circled around for a long time. In the end, we spent a little money,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>bribed a low-ranking officer in charge of procurement, got some information out of him, and found the location of the training ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, during the brief confusion when one group of soldiers was changing shifts,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>two of the brothers and I slipped in through a breach in a section of the wall that had fallen into disrepair.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli frowned. “That was too dangerous. Aika, you...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aika straightened his back. “My lord need not worry! To speak the truth, it was also a stroke of luck...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were discovered by a sentry while leaving, and in the desperate struggle to break out,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I made a breakthrough at the brink of life and death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am now in the Silver Tier!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Silver Tier?!” Unconcealed approval shone in Eli’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good! Well done, Aika! That risk was not taken in vain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Receiving such direct praise from his lord, a flush of excitement rose on Aika’s dark face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suppressed his exhilaration and quickly returned to the main point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, the three of us lay hidden in the trees outside that training ground for a full day and night. We saw everything clearly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At present, Runestone City has a standing force of about four hundred soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their equipment is fairly uniform, and their training is passable as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their morale... does not seem especially high. In addition,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aika lowered his voice, and a trace of coldness entered it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“the officials under Sabda are carrying out large-scale forced conscription inside the city!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as a man is young and strong, whether he is willing or not, he is dragged off to serve. Their methods are brutal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that rate, in only a few more days, his troop strength will likely swell to five hundred.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five hundred...” Eli’s fingers tapped lightly against the desk as his mind began racing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He compared it against the current state of Black Territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black Territory currently had three hundred and fifty veteran soldiers who had survived the beast tide, plus the forty remaining Black Crow Knights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On top of that were two hundred newly recruited soldiers, personally drilled by Buck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That brought his total force to six hundred men. In terms of numbers, Black Territory held the advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of quality, Black Territory had Buck, a Gold-Tier Knight, holding the line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were fifty well-equipped and highly trained Black Crow Knights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were also three hundred and fifty battle-hardened veterans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Runestone City’s side, there was only the Gold-Tier warrior Sabda had brought with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the soldiers were newly conscripted recruits and remnant troops forced together. Their fighting strength could not even begin to compare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aika nodded and added, “Aside from that, the atmosphere inside Runestone City is stifling, and the citizens are full of resentment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s gaze turned cold. Sabda had completely torn away all pretense now and was willing to drain the pond dry to catch the fish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed the temptation of Eli’s two cities had already driven him utterly mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli paced to the window and murmured to himself, his thinking becoming clearer and clearer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five hundred troops... even with the two hundred household soldiers Count Alders promised him, that only makes seven hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if we add the remnant federal army from Scorpion Gorge...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How many can Sabda actually mobilize? Three hundred? Four hundred? Perhaps a little over a thousand.” He seemed to be asking Aika, yet also asking himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A little over a thousand...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That sounds like a lot. But to force an assault on Obsidian Territory?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed toward the earthen-yellow wall outside, gleaming under the sun, now already approaching five meters in height.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A siege?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black Territory’s walls were still rising. The main structure now stood nearly six meters high, tamped earth wrapped in stone, exceptionally solid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One had to know that storming a city was never a game of simply piling up numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without an overwhelming advantage several times greater than the defenders, and without fine siege engines, a direct assault was suicide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the forces Sabda currently had, trying to storm Black Territory was no different from throwing an egg against a rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the three parties combined and managed to muster a force of over a thousand men,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>taking Obsidian Territory from a force of six hundred defenders who held the terrain and had a Gold-Tier expert in command would still be as hard as ascending the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then... the answer was already becoming obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda’s target was most likely not a direct assault on Black Territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So Sabda wants to play his old trick... to find a way to lure me out and force a decisive battle in the open.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Or... perhaps their main target is not Obsidian Territory at all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze turned in the direction of Lucerne City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lucerne City? Its walls are sturdier than Black Territory’s,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but Brandon only has a little over two hundred defenders there, and it is the link connecting the two territories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they feint east and strike west, and Lucerne City falls, then Black Territory becomes an isolated city. Its rear would be unstable, and if the army’s morale broke apart,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then Sabda could apply pressure from the front...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That truly is a fine scheme...” Eli murmured to himself as he considered every possibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only... there was still no reply yet from the marquess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to prepare with a second plan in hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Lucerne City... he intended to send Brandon a warning at once and have him recruit two hundred new soldiers and raise his vigilance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his thoughts now sorted out, Eli looked at Aika, and his tone softened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You and your brothers have worked hard. This mission was completed beautifully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take two days off and get some proper rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Go to old Sebastian and collect five gold coins each as your reward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, my lord!” Aika bowed gratefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Eli walked up to Aika and looked deeply into the eyes of this old subordinate who had followed him all the way here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aika, you have been with me from the Marquess’s Residence to Black Territory for more than half a year now, haven’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aika froze for a moment, then straightened at once, his expression becoming incomparably solemn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reporting to my lord! From the very day you were invested as a Frontier Knight and selected the knights who would accompany you,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>this subordinate has followed at your side! Not one step has he left!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good!” Eli struck him heavily on the shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your loyalty and your ability—I have seen them both clearly. The intelligence you brought back is of the utmost importance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked straight into Aika’s eyes, and his voice was steady and strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The brothers who infiltrated Runestone City with you will no longer be assigned to the ordinary soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From this day forth, you, Aika, are formally appointed Chief Intelligence Administrator of Black Territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You and the men under your command will take your orders directly from me and be responsible to me alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You will be solely responsible for intelligence gathering and compilation both within and beyond the territory. Any manpower or resources you require may be requested directly from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chief Intelligence Administrator!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aika felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The immense sense of responsibility, and the glory of being trusted, made his whole body tremble slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dropped to one knee at once and slammed his right fist heavily against the armor over his left chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aika accepts the command! Thank you, my lord, for your trust!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Up.” Eli pulled him to his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sabda’s scouts were able to slip in without a sound and stir up rebellion. Our own men, meanwhile, nearly died right beneath his nose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, we relied too much on... mm, too rough a method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, I am handing this task over to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This subordinate understands!” Aika’s eyes were incomparably resolute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I will certainly do everything in my power and not fail your trust, my lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The study door closed softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli sat back down in his chair, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cold surface of the desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Establishing a dedicated intelligence department was not only an act of rewarding and promoting loyal old subordinates such as Aika.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was also the most direct response to the series of shocks Sabda had brought him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabda’s scouts had been able to infiltrate silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had even found a point of weakness in a man like Huck and used him to incite unrest. That had sounded an alarm in Eli’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had relied too heavily before on the “revelations” of the World Intelligence Support System.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had indeed provided much critical information, but it was elusive and impossible to control proactively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the real world, a web of intelligence woven by loyal and reliable people, one that covered every corner within and beyond his territory, was of immeasurable importance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Aika and his department were the beginning of filling that fatal weakness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was still immature, only a rough framework, but at least the crucial first step had finally been taken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli wrote the letter meant for Brandon, then stamped it hard with Pendragon’s black dragon crest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He called for Coalball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slid the completed letter into the copper tube tied to Coalball’s leg, then gently rubbed the raven’s head with his fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he opened the window and watched as Coalball gradually became a tiny black speck in the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sabda... you truly have taught me a lesson.” Eli murmured softly, with not the slightest trace of pride in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>",2032,"2026-06-06T13:50:45.844Z",1,"novelbin.me","0d2c98fc6b6b311cf2de90dc4195a93878a09909a38640eb04aba1f427b90c1d","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-90","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-88",112,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fexiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-cover.jpg"]