Chapter 322: Eastward to Jieshishan

"It doesn't look too difficult to manufacture, or rather, the entire Rune Guard is actually divided into three parts." Sinuoli held the blueprints and headed straight for his workshop.

"The main body of the statue, the inscribed Runes, and the weapon in its hand—each part can be produced separately. My Apprentices have work again! How can this be called exploitation? It's giving them valuable practical opportunities. They should be grateful to be able to participate in such an important project right after starting out!"

The Rune Master, who had barely lifted a finger since passing his assessment, muttered to himself while studying the designs. Rune Guards were relatively common in ancient times, and the Southlands of today were fully capable of producing them.

"Summon the skilled craftsmen within the territory for me! Stonemasons, blacksmiths, and Rune Users—I want every city gate of the four Karaks to have two of them standing guard!"

"They will become the Southlands' flagship product! Every Karak will need these guys; they can free up valuable manpower." Sinuoli pondered the usage scenarios for the Rune Guards. They were good at everything, except that their movement speed was a bit slow, making them suitable for defense in most situations.

"Perhaps I can make adjustments during production and try adding some Speed Runes, but there's no rush. Future product updates and upgrades will be another source of income!" Sinuoli quickly put the matter aside; he had more important things to do.

"How much manpower has been freed up on the eastern front?" A few days later, Sinuoli summoned Andemuge, who had returned from rotating off the front lines.

"About five hundred of our kin, and over a thousand from other races." The figure given by the Superintendent of the Western Depot was somewhat vague, which couldn't be helped; previously, forces at Red Cloud Mountain were stretched thin, and every Bretonnian, Empire citizen, and Pygmy with combat capability had been mobilized.

"Not bad, not bad. Since His Majesty Wahaf has taken over the defensive line, you don't need to stay there anymore. Go back and help me keep an eye on the Rune Guard production line; it's better not to let this technology leak out at this stage!"

After issuing the new orders, Sinuoli set about reorganizing the troops. Since he had promised to do it even if it were difficult, a multi-racial force set out north from Red Cloud Mountain a few days later.

The Greenskins in the Mist Mountain had not yet birthed a new Warlord. Warbands consisting of anywhere from a hundred to over a thousand Orcs had little power to resist Sinuoli's troops. But while it was easy to rout them, it was very difficult to wipe them out completely.

"Yes, just like that!"

"Little Beard, how much force can you exert swinging your hammer like that?"

"Waaagh!"

"Hahaha, that's the eighth one!"

In a valley, the Dwarfs had blocked a group of Greenskins who hadn't retreated quickly enough and were engaged in a fierce battle. Sinuoli stood on the mountaintop watching the situation; the sweep had been going on for over ten days, and this was perhaps the last warband putting up a desperate fight south of the Dushuihe.

"No Greenskins are coming from the north to reinforce." Altman jumped down from a Helicopter. As the Dragons had fallen into a deep slumber, the beasts known as Wyverns had become the masters of the skies over the World's Edge Mountains.

These Wyverns were winged reptiles that fed on carrion, and thus their bodies were toxic. Although they had "Dragon" in their name, they shared only the most insignificant similarities with true Dragons.

Wyverns were much smaller than Dragons, only slightly larger than Griffons, and lacked forelimbs, having only two hind legs. Wyverns were cruel and irritable by nature, though some powerful Orc Warlords would still try to tame them.

Sinuoli had purchased another squadron of Helicopters, and these relatively easy-to-handle creatures were the perfect practice targets for rookie pilots. Altman commanded his subordinates to successfully seize air superiority.

"The plan isn't working. Training ends here! Notify the artillery crews to open fire! Let's finish this quickly so we can continue our advance."

Seeing through his binoculars that the Greenskins had nowhere left to retreat and were beginning to fight like cornered beasts, Sinuoli shook his head and gave the order. It seemed the previous series of battles had made the Greenskins in this area realize the gap in combat power, and his plan to surround a point to intercept reinforcements had fallen through.

Just as Sinuoli was methodically using the Greenskins in the Mist Mountain to train his troops in multi-racial coordination and land-air tactics, in a wilderness north of Peak of Eternity and east of Karak-Kadrin, a Greenskin Seer sitting on a giant war-pig sneezed.

"Cunning yet cruel Mork tells me the lads in the south have run into trouble!"

Wuerzhage-Lv Xianzhi rubbed his nose under his mask. He and the Savage Orcs following him had been trekking through this wasteland for a long time, following the guidance of the two Great Gods in his mind, but he hadn't seen anything interesting besides giant skeletons.

"But cruel yet cunning Gork tells me I'm almost there! There's a most-most-most Waaagh-filled guy waiting for me, and he needs my guidance!"

Wuerzhage swayed painfully from side to side; the Big 'Uns around him instinctively kept a distance from the Seer. Gork and Mork loved to fight; if there was no one else to fight, they would fight each other.

Right now, these two Great Gods were fighting in Wuerzhage's mind, and large amounts of Waaagh energy were leaking out uncontrollably. It happened from time to time that Greenskins with poor tolerance would have their heads explode when caught in the fallout.

"Waaaagh!"

Wuerzhage's cathartic roar even drowned out the howling of the north wind on the Bone Plateau.

"Hmph, lads, keep moving forward for me! To the south is that strange little Dwarf; he's become a tough nut to crack now!"

Once the Green Prophet calmed down, the Greenskin army continued its march toward the city of fear, shrouded in smoke and dust and spewing lava, as Gork had revealed in the Great Green.

"This is the place!"

After routing a few more small warbands, Sinuoli led his army down the river to the estuary. Standing on the mountaintop, the Dwarf King looked down at the boundless, massive bay.

"Eastward I gaze upon the Jieshishan, to watch the vast sea!"

He pulled out his binoculars to observe further while reciting the poem that had been etched into his mind. "Wei Wu—no, it should be: Sinuoli swings his whip, gazing east at Jieshishan, leaving behind a legacy; the bleak autumn wind is here again, but the world has changed."

"You even have research into the literature of Zhendan! Karaz-a-Karak is truly worthy of being the starting point of the Changya Zhilu!"

Ailike, standing behind him, began to flatter him. As a noble, he had received a better education; the other civilian generals couldn't understand Zhendan language at all and wouldn't have known where to begin if they wanted to chime in.

"From now on, let's call this mountain Jieshishan!"

Sinuoli tightened his cloak. The more he grew and trained, the more he realized his own inadequacies. Managing the Southlands alone already felt obscure and difficult, and now further expansion brought new challenges.

"Leave a portion of the brothers to build a stronghold, and let the others rest before we continue! King Belegar will cooperate with us for the second half of the journey."