Chapter 461: The First Major City

Lieyanbao is the castle of Duke Andreya of the Vila Principality.

In terms of the castle's magnificence alone, it is on par with the Jinyu Palace.

Duke Andreya sat upon his throne, listening to the herald Zhake report the detailed battle situation of the Black Gold Brotherhood, as well as the compensation for those who had sacrificed themselves but held some status; his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Although the Vila Principality did not participate directly in this battle, the Black Gold Brotherhood was their hired muscle.

Andreya had not expected that Wushan Castle would split its forces and actually uproot the power he supported.

That was not just one or two Knight Squads, but five Knight Orders, and they even had three Meteor Knights leading them.

They were actually completely annihilated.

As someone who had always held a grudge against Lulansi, Andreya had a massive headache upon receiving this news.

On one hand, he felt pained by the loss of three Meteor Knights in this battle; on the other hand, the enemy was becoming stronger and stronger, which was something he was even less willing to see.

"My Lord, should we continue to assemble troops in the Black Pine Mountain area and look for an opportunity to strike into the Wushan Territory again?"

The herald Zhake asked with a bow.

Andreya shook his head, "No need, such minor skirmishes are already painless and itchy to the Wushan Territory."

If they were to truly fight, it would have to be the Vila Principality taking the field itself, rather than relying on an armed organization propped up temporarily.

But if they really were to fight, besides considering under what pretext to launch the attack, they would also have to consider whether it was worth it.

As it stands now, it is not worth it.

Thinking of this, Andreya could not help but sigh in his heart.

Originally, during the civil strife in the Tricia Kingdom, Feilunsi had approached him, wanting to use the alien races of Yueguang Valley to ignite the flames of war in the Wushan Territory, and then let the war spread throughout the Kingdom, even affecting Jinyu City.

In this way, they could obtain greater benefits amidst the chaos.

Now that the Wushan Territory has not only withstood the pressure but also resolved the key point of Yueguang Valley, the fuse that would have ignited the civil strife is gone, and the plan he, Feilunsi, and Screaming Island had has fallen through.

In a sense, the actions of Lulansi and Luoning even solved certain troubles for Bruno.

"It looks like we really have to respond to Bruno's call and send troops to the Tricia Kingdom."

If benefits cannot be obtained within the Kingdom, then they can only shift their gaze elsewhere.

It is just that they hold a bias against this King Bruno from the bottom of their hearts; letting that father and son expand their territory or even rebuild the empire is more painful than killing them.

In fact, it is not just Andreya; Duke Feilunsi and Screaming Island are also very uncomfortable.

Especially Screaming Island; Mailun had the Viscount of Crescent Island lead the team personally this time, which led to Screaming Island directly losing a powerful battle commander.

The key is that no matter how Mailun thinks about it, he cannot understand how he was defeated; why would Jiliu Island, with five warships, led by a Meteor Knight, and guarded by a Silver Knight named Kalada, win?

Unable to figure out the reason for the failure, Mailun can only shrink his strategy and no longer harbor designs on Jiliu Island.

Strike once to avoid a hundred strikes.

This battle in the Wushan Territory can be considered to have completely resolved the border problems of the last thirty years.

A few days later, Luoning and the others withdrew to Anbian City with their pockets full.

Next was the time for compensation for the knights and soldiers who died in battle; whether it was Lulansi or Luoning, they needed to spend a large amount of gold coins in this regard, and would also grant fields to the families of the deceased and exempt them from a certain degree of taxes, among other things.

Luoning only formulated the policy for such matters; he did not need to worry about the specific execution.

"My Lord, according to current statistics, nearly twenty thousand people from Yueguang Valley are willing to migrate to your territory."

Qiaofuli, who came from a savage tribe, now also oversees the military affairs of Jushi City and holds a high status in the Wubei Territory.

The goal he was determined to follow Luoning for at the time has now been realized.

However, Qiaofuli knows that he can go even further, because the lord before him is no Mortal.

"Only twenty thousand?" This number is fewer than he imagined.

Although Mofisite transformed two or three hundred thousand people into the Witch Soul Clan, Yueguang Valley was, after all, a Count's territory that had developed for many years; losing two or three hundred thousand was only losing half.

Qiaofuli explained: "Many of them feel that the war is over and do not want to leave their homes. Some were pulled over by Baron Feilipu and others; their territories are also short of people."

Luoning nodded slightly, "I understand. Twenty thousand is not bad; move them all to Jushi City and Chishan Town. Tell Sailin that the mining of the Chishan Iron Mine must be accelerated; the more iron ore I need, the better!"

"Yes, My Lord, I will go do it right away!"

Qiaofuli felt a surge of joy; the more population the cities he manages have, the greater the number of knights produced, and the easier it becomes to form Knight Squads.

Although there are difficulties in settling these twenty thousand people, the food obtained after this looting—no, after this victory—is enough to support their consumption.

After handling the affairs of Anbian City, Luoning cast the Wind Shadow Art; huge transparent wings spread out, and he streaked across the sky above the city at an extremely fast speed, galloping toward the Zilei Territory.

In fact, he had already received the victory report sent by Maiken two days ago—not only were the enemies invading the territory wiped out, but even Black Pine Mountain had been recaptured.

Maiken also reported the battle results to Luoning; besides things like armor, defensive gear, warhorses, and food, the main thing was the population.

Black Pine Mountain already had quite a few people, and in order to support the newly added Knight Orders and seek expansion into the Wushan Territory, a large number of personnel were gathered here for logistics.

Now that Black Pine Mountain has been occupied by the Wushan Territory, it is impossible for certain caravans or individuals in the Vila Principality to continue supplying food here, and the eighty or ninety thousand people left behind will soon fall into a state of famine.

Maiken knew that Luoning was concerned about the population issue, so he immediately discussed it with Meilongnika, Kabier, and others, and brought more than thirty-six thousand people back to Purple Thunder City.

With the food surplus of the Zilei Territory and the recent autumn harvest yield, accepting so many people is not a problem at all.

The speed of the Wind Shadow Art is indeed fast; two hours later, Luoning arrived at Zileibao.

In fact, if he were to push it at full speed, he estimates it would only take one hour.

It is just that the consumption would be too great, and his Magic Power could not support it.

"My Lord, you have arrived!"

Maiken came out to greet him.

"Congratulations, Maiken, for fighting such a beautiful battle!"

"This is all the result of the cooperation of several Knight Orders."

Maiken still has his usual steady personality and appeared quite humble.

"Without your strength, this battle could not have been won so easily."

The enemy had five Knight Orders; if not for Maiken being there, it would have been impossible for Meilongnika alone to defeat those three Meteor Knights.

"Have you finished the tasks I entrusted to you?"

Maiken led Luoning into the study, "After receiving your letter, I had Saimen set to work on it, and it was compiled into a register last night."

Hearing this name, Luoning couldn't help but think of the young Magician who had voluntarily defected to him that day, "How has Saimen been performing?"

"He has performed well."

Maiken said, "I am preparing to have him serve as my deputy."

Luoning nodded slightly; it was fine to leave these matters for Maiken to decide, as he did not need to concern himself with every little thing.

He walked over to the desk and opened the register placed in the center.

The specific number of captives brought back from Black Pine Mountain this time was 36,122, and adding the 68,000 original inhabitants of Purple Thunder City, the population in this city now exceeded 100,000.

Not to mention the question of how these 100,000 people would live in the future, this number alone had already reached the large city standard required for the 【Gongchengluedi】 achievement.

Therefore, upon seeing this number, a line of text appeared before Luoning's eyes:

【"Gongchengluedi" achievement reached, Attribute Point +2000, Energy Essence +4000】 (End of chapter)