Chapter 82: War Hammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Thus, everyone fell silent.

They lowered their heads, not daring to look at Carter, and even less daring to look at Lin En.

They cursed Karadong ten thousand times in their hearts.

Old thing, you fucking schemed for half a day, schemed yourself in was bad enough, but you dragged us in too!

Karadong sat in the main seat, his withered fingers gripping the armrests tightly.

Anger hid deep in his green eyes.

But his face remained as calm as water, and he even put on a kind and approachable smile.

"Good."

"Since Governor's Excellency is so determined, that's all the better."

"The future of Brevis is entrusted to you."

He spoke very slowly, every word as if squeezed out from between his teeth.

Old fox.

Looking at Karadong, whose smile did not reach his eyes, Lin En returned a smile.

"Thank you for the Supreme King's support."

He cupped his fists in salute: "I will surely not betray this trust."

The two locked eyes, their gazes colliding in the air, appearing to flatter each other.

But in their hearts they had already cursed each other's families.

The meeting ended, and the nobles left one after another.

Everyone who passed by Lin En stopped, saluted, and said a few flattering words.

Their attitude was worlds apart from before the meeting began.

Lin En responded to each one, a gentle smile on his face.

After everyone left, only he and Carter remained in the hall.

Carter walked to his side and said in a low voice:

"Adult, well done."

Lin En turned to look at him and smiled.

"You did well too."

After chatting a few words, the two entered the Governor's Special Car outside the door.

"But the matter of the mole..." Carter's gaze gradually turned cold.

Lin En just shook his head: "It's fine, with so many people, it can't be investigated anyway."

"And it's exactly this kind of feeling—he knows what I want to do, but can do nothing about it."

Carter didn't expect Lin En to have this preference, but he still chose to respect it.

He nodded, indicating his approval.

Back at the Governor's Mansion, Lin En took a deep breath.

Supreme Commander of a fifteen-million-strong army.

This result was far better than he had expected.

But he couldn't celebrate yet!

Until Lin En walked into his office, he immediately couldn't help but pick up the Tearing Worm gnawing on a leg on the table and spin around.

"Hahahaha! Lena, did you see? Fifteen million!"

The Miniature Shredder Worm was held aloft by him, its six small calves kicking blankly.

Lena didn't understand.

Fifteen million humans, is that a lot?

She wasn't sensitive to numbers; fifteen million and fifteen hundred made little difference to her.

But she could feel Lin En's excitement.

So she became "happy" too.

Its small calves stared cheerfully, making the Tearing Worm's "laughing" sound of kaka kaka.

Lin En put her in his arms and patted her head.

"Now that's good, with military power in hand, I can reap the harvest."

Just as Lin En expected, after the news spread, those independent minor noble factions soon flocked over.

Zack Faction, Isaac Faction, Glen Alliance.

At least a dozen factions lined up to request an audience with Lin En, expressing willingness to "pledge allegiance."

On Carter's suggestion, Lin En carefully screened them.

Finally, he chose the Zack Faction and Isaac Faction as his first batch of vassals.

The selection criteria were simple: sufficient strength and sincere attitude.

These two factions combined controlled over eighty food production lines and twenty Purified Water lines.

Lena, meanwhile, probed these people's emotions through psychic power, confirming they genuinely defected to Lin En rather than seeking an escape route for themselves.

Other factions either lacked sufficient strength or sincerity, and were all screened out.

Next came the issue of profit distribution.

From his fifteen-million-strong army, Lin En drew out three hundred thousand PDF and seven hundred thousand militia, stationing them respectively within Zake and Isaac Faction territories.

Nominally, they were reserve troops.

In reality, they were responsible for protecting the family industries of both factions; with this one million "garrison,"

other nobles would not dare to easily move against them again.

And the "protection fee" they needed to pay was a four-six split of all produced food and purified water, with Lin En taking four and them six.

Lin En four, they six.

Moreover, all expenses of the garrison—food, drink, excretion, equipment maintenance—were borne by them.

Calculated, what they could actually keep was probably only about fifty-five percent.

Yet the leaders of both factions still agreed without hesitation.

Why?

Because if they did not agree, they might end up keeping not even ten percent in the end.

The Twelve Star Families were like a pack of hungry wolves, circling them, slowly devouring their flesh and blood.

Now, although only a little more than half remained, at least they could stably survive.

Moreover, having clung to the Governor's thick thigh, they might still have a chance to turn things around in the future.

Thus Lin En could obtain from the two factions each day about one hundred thousand tons of grain and four hundred million liters of purified water.

These resources were enough to minimally sustain the daily survival of two hundred million people.

And his fifteen-million-strong army was fed by grain scrounged up by the Noble Council.

He instantly became the Nest Capital version of "Monopoly."

With grain in hand, Lin En did not immediately set out for the Front Line.

He sat in the Governor's Office, looking at the military data on the table, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Fourteen million strong army," he muttered to himself.

"Looks impressive, but how much of it truly has combat power?"

"Except for those five hundred thousand PDF who are elite, the other private armies and militia have uneven combat power."

"Estimated overall combat power cannot even compare to Lena's one million Swarm."

Lin En shook his head, thinking it was truly troublesome.

If it were not for Lena Swarm currently being unable to defeat Brevis and his people, he actually would not mind directly and forcibly seizing control of Brevis.

After all, becoming the supreme ruler would certainly be easier than slowly grinding it out like this.

"So, we cannot just draft them like this."

"We need to train them first, and also expand the ranks further."

He looked at the Lower City District on the map, where there were at least tens of billions of people.

Even if thirty percent starved to death, the population was still enormous, and manpower was never lacking.

What was lacking was equipment and grain.

And now, he had grain, only equipment was lacking.

He touched the Tearing Worm's carapace, his gaze turning toward Middle City.

Workers and the common people, the sharpest sword from ancient times to the present.