Chapter 75: Subduing the Black Dog, Renaming It Black Wolf, and Establishing the Wild Wolf Army

Shen Tianxing took Zhao Lingfei and 100 cavalry, the remaining people stayed outside the town, and he went to inform Yang Hongyue and Qin Mingyue.

The stronghold where Heigou and the others were located was called Black Wind Stronghold, just over twenty miles from the town; upon reaching the mountain base, everyone left their horses behind, then went up the mountain, and soon arrived at the mountainside.

Inside Black Wind Stronghold there were also the elderly, weak, women, and children, about three to four hundred people, all of whom were the families of these bandits.

Shen Tianxing led his group into the hall of Black Wind Stronghold; besides Shen Tianxing, Zhao Lingfei, and Heigou, there were only a dozen or so minor bandit chiefs.

Although they all feared Shen Tianxing, they kept exchanging glances with each other.

"Do you think I brought too few people, planning to kill me on your turf? Actually, you can try; if you cannot sincerely serve as my This One, you might as well die by my hand now."

Shen Tianxing wore a smile, an indifferent demeanor; just two simple sentences frightened them so much they fell to their knees with a thud.

"Please calm your anger, sir; we dare not."

"Whether you dare or not is known only to you; go out, bring your subordinates, get a Military Token from my men, and after receiving the token you will officially become my soldiers."

"This Military Token has a miraculous function: it can show whether you truly intend to follow me as a soldier; if the 'military' character on the token turns red, it means yes; if not, it turns green."

"Remember to tell them clearly; of course I am not unreasonable. Before receiving a Military Token, step forward and cut off one hand—consider it the price for your past banditry—and you may leave."

"Being my soldier also has benefits: I give you one tael of silver per month as military pay; after receiving a Military Token, each person gets one tael of silver as a reward. But if you are not sincerely willing to follow me yet cling to your arms and insist on taking a Military Token, a green military character means your death date."

Shen Tianxing explained the situation; indeed, that is exactly how it works: his soldiers, once they receive a Military Token, will display loyalty; if the loyalty value is negative, the token shows green.

According to Hong Yi's saying, newly enlisted soldiers may have no loyalty, but cannot be negative; once negative, they definitely harbor ill intent, and harboring ill intent means death.

"We will obey your orders, sir; we'll go take care of this now!"

A dozen or so chiefs replied in unison, then quickly left, leaving only Heigou standing here awaiting Shen Tianxing's command.

"May I ask if you have any further instructions, sir?"

"First, tell me your name; we can't keep calling you Heigou, can we?"

"A name is just a title; This One wishes to be your dog, and being called Heigou is fine."

Shen Tianxing smiled, casually threw out a Military Token; Heigou instinctively caught it, and the token immediately glowed red, showing a loyalty value of 50% that Shen Tianxing could clearly see.

"Never mind, but the name Heigou is truly unpleasant; since you like using animals as your codename, from now on you will be called Heilang, and your brothers will be the Black Wolf Army!"

"From now on they will be under your command; your Military Token authority is higher than theirs, allowing you to see the color of their tokens; if you discover anyone's token turning green, seize them, interrogate them under torture, and see if they have defected to others."

"Finally, whether you recruit or not, they must die; as for those whose Military Token shows no color, if it does not turn red within a month, let them leave; if they refuse to go, wait another month—if still no color and they still refuse, kill them."

Heigou, or rather Heilang now, after hearing Shen Tianxing's words, immediately dropped to one knee; the loyalty shown on his Military Token increased by another 10%, reaching 60%, leaving Shen Tianxing somewhat incredulous.

"Thank you for your trust, sir; I am willing to go through fire and water for you, hesitating at nothing."

"Get up; I entrust you with managing the stronghold's affairs, using the silver earned over these years to continue recruiting troops; I will also leave you some silver, and you must do your best to enlist people here, making sure to expand the Wild Wolf Army to five thousand."

"I will also leave you the corresponding Military Tokens; in short, following the token's display, recruit only those who are genuinely willing, deal with those harboring ulterior motives—arrest, interrogate, and kill as needed."

"This One receives the order and will obey your commands, sir; could it be that you are about to leave? If so, when will This One be able to meet you again, sir?"

Heilang was very respectful and earnest; first, Shen Tianxing is strong enough; second, compared to the previous Heixuanfeng and the two bald fellows, he gave him sufficient respect.

"It won't take long—at most a few months; I hope you can properly manage the Wild Wolf Army during this time. Also, I am entrusting you with my 100 cavalry; they will help you manage things, and they will also occasionally convey my orders to you."

"You can also treat them as supervisors watching you; likewise, they will obey your commands, but my orders take precedence. Given your loyalty to me, I still feel reassured."

Shen Tianxing wore a smile; at this moment, wails sounded outside, but he didn't care—the system's judgment is infallible, absolutely so.

"Thank you for your trust, sir; This One dares to ask one more question: do you intend to seize the throne and replace the ruler, or to be loyal to the Imperial Court?"

"Of course it is to seize the throne and replace the ruler; what's there to choose?"

As Shen Tianxing's words fell, Heilang's loyalty surged from 60% to 70%—this is indeed a rebel at heart.

"This One is willing to go through fire and water for the lord, hesitating at nothing."

"Alright, this is a ten-thousand-tael gold note; take it, hurry to exchange it, bring more people, after exchanging it exchange even more silver—this way it can be used for the stronghold's construction, the brothers' military pay, and this Black Wind Stronghold is also an important location."

This gold note was taken by Shen Tianxing from the system; the system can directly give out gold and silver or gold notes and silver notes; although it hurts a bit, doing a few more tasks will recoup it, as raising and training troops requires so much silver.

"Will obey the lord's orders!"

Heilang answered respectfully; Shen Tianxing rose, took Zhao Lingfei, and prepared to leave—just as he stepped out of the stronghold's hall, he saw many corpses lying outside, and the slaughter had ceased.

Likewise, because some had died earlier, many also cut off a hand and left staggeringly; now only over six hundred remain.

"From now on, you will obey the orders of the original Heigou, now renamed Heilang, the chief; his words are equivalent to mine, and defying him will bring only death."

"We will obey your orders, sir; from now on we will follow the commands of Chief Heilang."

Those bandits who received a Military Token and did not turn green all knelt on one knee; although a small portion still showed no color, most displayed a faint red, indicating at least 10% loyalty.