Chapter 328: Eternal Loyalty

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Lei En travels back and forth each day between the castle and the Jin Gang Peak Gorge; the main structure of the fort is nearly finished, and the training ground, dormitory building, playground, shooting range, guard posts, and so on have already taken shape. The teleportation hall carved inside the mountain has also been excavated several hundred meters deep.

All of this was accomplished by the dwarves using enchanted tools and spells, a construction method completely different from his previous life, which opened Lei En's eyes wide.

Chief stone mason Bulestein is unquestionably a top‑notch Master; whenever Lei En makes a request, a satisfactory result is quickly delivered, sparing him from excessive worry.

The project's progress is even faster than anticipated.

No wonder Blaymite previously dared to guarantee no charge if unfinished after three months; he now expects to finish just over two months.

As the employer, Lei En only needs to pay; everything else can be left to trust.

Before Jin Gang Fort is completed, the Extreme Warriors can only train temporarily inside the castle; Lei En organizes the sixty Extreme Warriors into five squads of twelve, naming them sequentially from Squad One to Squad Five, each squad having a captain and a mentor.

Xi Ka Liu Si, Ao Tuo and Tai Li En, three legends, become the captains of Squads One, Two and Three respectively.

Lei En appoints Kelu Nuan as the captain of Squad Four.

After careful consideration, Lei En selects Ge Long for the final captaincy; this Extreme Warrior was one of the original thirteen who followed him and ranks just below the three legends.

Choosing captains is easy; selecting mentors proves more difficult.

In fact, Lei En had already begun covert observations back when he was at Astarte.

The primary principle for mentors is, of course, loyalty—to the original body. Every Extreme Warrior was meticulously chosen by Lei En; their loyalty is unquestioned, yet a few are even more loyal, reaching the level of faith.

Lei En is not a deity, lacks divinity, cannot sense others' faith in him, nor can he ignite divine fire to convert faith into power.

However, he possesses the Soul Eye, which easily discerns the emotional states of the Extreme Warriors.

Among the sixty Extreme Warriors, more than ten are as loyal to him as they are to the deity Jili Man; he selects five who can read and write and deeply grasp his directives, appointing them as mentors for each squad.

Then, he sets aside one hour each day to teach the mentors.

For the curriculum, Lei En's mobile library contains five volumes of the "Dragon‑Slaying Outline" brought from his previous life; he extracts sections suitable for deployment in Ai Lun E Si, covering organization building, discipline, psychology, lifestyle, and other aspects, revises them, and imparts them to the mentors.

At first the five Extreme Warriors were somewhat bewildered, but Lei En's tireless explanations gradually led them to comprehension.

They then begin practical work within their squads; after only a few days, the Extreme Warriors' morale shows slight improvement.

The change in discipline is the most noticeable.

The Extreme Warriors are all barbarians by origin, most are illiterate and cannot speak the Empire language, only calling him "Boss"; without a symbiotic bond, they cannot understand Lei En's orders.

Essentially, they are a band of strong‑armed illiterates who know nothing beyond combat.

Mentors teach them literacy, correct bad habits, supervise training, conduct psychological communication during rest, channel emotions, and hold regular long‑talk sessions per squad to foster brotherly and comrade bonds.

Of course, the mentors repeatedly stress that the power, comfortable life, reputation, and honor they now enjoy are all bestowed by Boss Lei En.

Without the boss, none of this would exist.

Loyalty is not absolute; absolute disloyalty is.

Lei En himself also takes part, often speaking with the Extreme Warriors one‑on‑one.

With the Soul Eye and the symbiotic bond, he easily grasps the warriors' mental states; a few caring words can greatly narrow the gap, leaving the Extreme Warriors tearfully grateful, steadfast, and even more loyal.

Compared with the revered army of his previous life, these results are shallow, lacking theoretical basis and remaining intellectually backward.

Lei En only altered the shell; the core of the Extreme Warriors remains a feudal armed force, unrelated to the people.

Nevertheless, Lei En is already quite satisfied.

After all, this is a world ruled by extraordinary powers, with social conditions and class relations different from his previous life; he cannot copy everything, nor does he possess the bold courage to proclaim a new era.

In the past half‑month, Lei En has only been intimate with Ao Xiliya two or three times.

The iridescent dragon mage is almost wholly immersed in magical research, studying and training spells day and night, refining casting techniques, and has begun to explore mental arts, moonlighting as an Arcane practitioner and psychic.

Once, while handling affairs with Lei En, she actually zoned out, appearing absent‑minded.

This left Lei En both amused and a bit frustrated.

He has not forgotten his promise to Viola, so he rides a fire dragon alone to Winter Thunder City, flies through the night, and lands in Winter Thunder Fort.

However, the one who greets him from the fort is the lady steward Abigail, and Viola is nowhere to be seen.

"Count, welcome back to Winter Thunder Fort,"

Lei En leaps from the dragon, his gaze sweeping the watching servants and silver‑clad knight guards, and asks, "Viola? Isn't she at home?"

"The Lady Count has gone to Nuosiruier," Abigail replies respectfully.

"Nuosiruier…" Lei En raises an eyebrow.

It is the capital of the Oren Empire, perhaps the largest city in the world, and as an Empire councilor he has never visited.

Abigail whispers, "Before departing, the Lady Count instructed that she has already prepared the materials for constructing a teleportation array; Count, you may use them at will. Once she returns from Nuosiruier, she will go to Mo Du to meet you immediately."

"Fine, lead me there,"

Lei En nods and follows Abigail into Winter Thunder Fort.

Taking advantage of the lack of outsiders, he asks, "Why did Viola go to Nuosiruier? To conduct business?"

"Yes, and no," Abigail replies, staying a half‑step ahead, maintaining a steady distance. She adds, "After the Lord provided the Lady Count with Camera technology and produced the first batch of products, a prayer ceremony was offered to the Longhaired Lady, who bestowed a divine decree, directing the Lady Count to bring both the Camera and Phonograph to Nuosiruier to establish a factory and distribution channels there."

Lei En halts, surprised, "The Longhaired Lady's divine decree…"

"Indeed," Abigail nods solemnly.

Lei En immediately thinks of the Longhaired Lady's church, namely the Beauty and Goodness Church headquarters in the capital Nuosiruier; its decree sending its Divine Chosen Viola there sparks a connection.

Is it preparing to elevate Viola to the papal throne in advance?

Or to relocate the Beauty and Goodness Church headquarters to Winter Thunder City?

It is certainly possible; the Phonograph and Camera, two massive instruments for spreading the Longhaired Lady's faith, are produced in Winter Thunder City. Within a few years, Winter Thunder City will become a sanctuary for all musicians and artists, making the relocation of the church headquarters almost inevitable.

The Beauty and Goodness Church wields weaker influence among the many churches, far inferior to the Empire's three gods, yet its reach is extensive; even with divine support, it would be difficult for Viola's strength alone to stabilize the situation.

Hopefully the Longhaired Lady need not be so urgent, giving Viola a bit more time.

This is an internal church matter, and he is ill‑suited to intervene.

Lei En thinks with some concern.

Soon, Abigaier led Lei En down into the castle's underground, to a large chamber guarded by a silver‑armored knight, where a large quantity of alchemical materials had already been prepared in the corner.

Abigaier dismissed the guard and said, "Earl, if the materials are insufficient, please tell me, and I will have more sent from the city immediately."

Lei En inspected them and said, "It should be enough."

He did not delay, immediately began constructing the teleportation array; Abigaier dared not disturb him, and after personally delivering food and drink, withdrew.

Boxes of alchemical materials were poured out and spread across the room.

This was Lei En's third time building a teleportation array; using activated metal, he quickly molded the mithril alloy ingot into a mithril plate, laid the array's foundation on the ground, then painstakingly etched runes, mixed in other materials, and performed repeated testing and adjustments.

By the time the final step of embedding the arcane crystal and completing the coordinate linkage arrived, more than ten hours had passed.

The array was relatively small, under ten meters in diameter, and consumed little energy; Lei En had already taken this into account when giving Viola the material list.

Lei En crafted a teleportation rune and handed it to Abigaier, "Keep it safe; give it to Viola when she returns."

"Very well." Abigaier bowed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, my lord."

Lei En couldn't help glancing at the female steward; she was one of the first people he met in Longshande, essentially having watched his growth step by step, yet since becoming the Earl of Glamorgan, he had become increasingly deferential and distant, their relationship far less intimate and comfortable than when he lived in Viola's manor.

Each time she returned to Winterstorm Keep, she always addressed herself as "Earl" or "Lord."

Lei En let out a quiet sigh.

In truth, he would rather hear Abigaier call him by his name, but he also knew that such hierarchical notions were deeply ingrained and could not be changed by a word or two.

Abigaier was an extraordinary being, the Earl's steward, whose status far exceeded that of ordinary people.

She is like that, let alone ordinary people.

Lei En thought of his family in Longshande; since leaving, he had not returned to see them, even though he passed near Winterstorm City several times, never considering stopping by to visit.

His family also never made the effort to visit Mo Du, evidently sharing the same reservations as Abigaier.

"We'll talk about it later."

Lei En set aside his thoughts, went out to capture the fire dragon into a taming chamber, returned underground, and, under Abigaier's respectful gaze, activated the array's single‑person teleport.

In the blink of an eye, he traversed space and returned to Mo Du.

After closing the array's docking window, Lei En exited the teleportation hall, summoned the first squad of Xika Liusi, and left the castle for the public teleportation array in Mo Du City.

(End of chapter.)