Chapter 11: Crazy Troop Expansion

The not-so-bright sunlight shone on the lofty tower top.

Above was a somewhat deep white‑day starry sky; below stretched an endless black cloud sea.

In a high‑rise building area near the center, a line of figures walked briskly at the foot of the towering Gothic‑style buildings.

The buildings were so tall that the people below looked like a cluster of ants.

"Sir, the refugee area is just ahead."

Bunoke led the way ahead, surrounded by the most elite veterans, with Xisi in the middle.

Xisi raised his head to look at the surrounding tall, sacred buildings.

As the residential area for the elite of Nest City, the buildings here were constructed almost without regard to cost, making them extraordinarily grand and magnificent.

Although the road beneath his feet was already several hundred meters wide, like walking on a vast, uniformly colored football field, before these buildings it still felt narrow and cramped.

He withdrew his gaze, ignoring the fearful eyes behind individual windows above, and looked in the direction Bunoke pointed.

A tall, wide National Church Cathedral stood before an empty, spacious square, with only a cold high wind blowing, kicking up clouds of dust.

Then the dust blew onto the Emperor statue, covering his divine martial form.

Through the statue, one could see behind the Emperor, the cathedral doors trembling slightly, a frightened figure slipping into the gap behind them.

Bunoke's face showed a slight embarrassment:

"They've kept the doors tightly shut; we've visited several times, but they never opened."

After all, this is the tower top and the National Church; even Bunoke dared not show the slightest disrespect here.

All they could do was make several polite visits with kind words.

Xisi scanned the surroundings, then, under the fearful gaze from behind the door, suddenly stepped forward toward the cathedral.

Bunoke and the others wanted to follow, but Xisi raised his hand:

"You stay here."

Saying this, Xisi also unloaded his sidearm and sword in public, handing them to Bunoke.

Next, Xisi went to the Emperor statue, took off his glove, picked up a cleaning tool nearby, and despite the high‑altitude cold, he hammered open the frozen water with his bare hands to wipe the dust from the Emperor's body.

Seeing this, the veterans behind Bunoke were stunned; their original respect for Xisi now turned into reverence.

Although the Emperor's own family may not like it, faith remains a crucial pillar that has kept the Empire standing to this day.

Even with his body undergoing a hundredfold amplification, the bitter cold still turned Xisi's hands bright red.

When the last bit of water was used up, the statue, whose dust‑covered age was unknown, finally shone anew.

Afterward, Xisi stood silently before the Emperor's deity statue, praying without words, until Bunoke and the others grew ever more devout, and the eyes behind the door were no longer so fearful.

Xisi opened his eyes and then walked alone toward the cathedral.

This time, as Xisi's unaltered face was clearly shown, the doors that had been shut for a long time finally opened a crack.

An old man clad in divine robes gathered his courage and stepped out.

"Has the Divine Emperor answered our prayers, sending you to take us away?"

The old man looked hopeful, while Xisi raised his eyes to look behind the old man as sunlight streamed in, lighting up the cathedral.

Gazing at the crowded crowd beneath the lofty dome, Xisi turned back to the priest and slowly shook his head:

"It is the Emperor who needs your loyalty."

Three days later.

With the cathedral as the center, surrounding buildings were filled with refugees.

And even more refugees streamed along the wide avenue, converging from all sectors of the tower top.

A few bonfires were lit, above which a huge iron pot churned with steaming hot water and starch.

Countless refugees formed nearly endless lines, wrapped in coarse cloth against the cold wind, waiting for hot porridge in which the starch was barely visible.

A group of soldiers in black uniforms maintained order around them.

The soldiers' faces were wary, fearing robbery, until a few figures approached the cathedral from afar, at which point the black‑clad soldiers snapped to attention and saluted:

"Group Leader!"

Returning the salute casually, Xisi's stride did not slow at all; he merely glanced at the soldiers' black uniforms, somewhat puzzled:

"Where did Ana get so many black uniforms?"

Xisi's mad troop expansion, and when the nobles left the tower top after patting their backsides, they took almost all supplies, so much that even uniforms could not be issued one per person.

Yet for Xisi, uniforms were absolutely necessary, because only by wearing a uniform could a civilian be most directly transformed into a soldier.

And upon joining the collective, they received a bit of morale as Imperial currency.

Thinking of the various monsters and evil gods they would soon face, Xisi would not let any means of boosting soldiers' combat will slip by.

Still, even Xisi wondered how Ana managed to produce the uniforms, and why they were black.

Bunoke then gave a helpless glance, looked around to confirm Ana was nowhere in sight, and spoke helplessly:

"These aren't really uniforms; they're civilian clothes gathered to resemble uniforms."

"Ana merely used phosphorus to brew dozens of pots of liquid fuel, dyed these clothes black, and issued them."

Bunoke said this while specially opening his own 'new uniform' to reveal the skin inside the cuffs that had been dyed black.

Xisi froze.

This is hardly different from smearing 'oil' on one's body.

He also wanted to show a hint of helplessness on his face, but seeing the neat rows of black‑clad soldiers and the uniform attire, which indeed looked somewhat formidable, Xisi pursed his lips and held back.

Because in just these three days, Xisi had expanded his forces by a hundred thousand, fielding twenty full infantry regiments, and being able to equip them with uniforms was already extremely difficult.

Although in this apocalyptic‑level Alert Star Chaos Battle, twenty infantry regiments are really not many.

Yet Xisi only had two thousand veteran soldiers on hand; a ratio of one to fifty was already the limit of what veterans could manage by shouting.

Let alone, without logistics, how to arm them at all.

You should know that even the armory at the tower top was completely cleaned out when the noble lords evacuated.

Xisi didn't join in complaining about the oil uniform; instead, he walked past the porridge pot, looking at the clear starch porridge, and changed the subject:

"Are the soldiers' rations sufficient?"

Bunoke's face grew even uglier:

"According to the minimum standard, the soldiers' supply is barely enough."

"But the training intensity is high, and soldiers often wake up hungry in the middle of the night."

Saying that, Bunoke looked around at the bustling porridge distribution, thought for a moment, and then lowered his voice:

"Could we take a portion from the civilians' rations?"

Bunoke didn't dare be too direct, either, because even the food they're eating now, aside from what was brought from the supply station, mostly comes from the National Church's stores.

Being able to provide most of the food to Xisi is already the limit of the National Church.

After all, you can't really expect faith in the Emperor to be edible!

Xisi didn't directly voice his thought, but the glare he gave already said it all.

As for another, more direct and efficient option......

Xisi looked at the soldiers training hard; the idea that had just arisen was immediately squashed.

Among the refugees, there are not a few soldiers' families.

Helplessly withdrawing his gaze from the recruits, Xisi fell slightly silent, and his eyes suddenly turned toward the DeepChannel leading deep into Nest City.

"The Rebel Forces can feed so many people; their supplies..."

"They certainly won't be lacking!"