Chapter 489 - 229: Extraordinary Corps
Chapter 489: Chapter 229: Extraordinary Corps
Upon hearing this, Chief Kadama pushed Chief Aido forward.
"My Lord, this is the Gnoll Chieftain from the Tiger Race Royal Court. His name is Aido," Chief Kadama said.
At these words, Chief Aido immediately offered a salute, though it was a clumsy version of the common greeting.
Just like the common tongue of the continent, there was also a common form of greeting. It was also a type of conversion Magic, generally adapted from spellcasting gestures.
However, very few people had any use for it, so it was not widely practiced.
Robson had crammed on such knowledge before, so of course he understood it.
"Show him our philosophy," Robson said. "Go and ask around. If any of them want to join us, give them the appropriate compensation. If they don’t, we are not to force them."
Lord Robson had grown much bigger and stronger now. He wasn’t desperate for these lesser races; he still hadn’t finished assimilating the members of the Centaur Royal Court.
Of course, that wasn’t to say he didn’t want those from the Tiger Race Royal Court. It wasn’t that he was rejecting them, just that he would assimilate them slowly.
Right now, the title of a benevolent and compassionate envoy was more important to Robson.
When Chief Kadama heard this, he was deeply moved.
’As expected of the great envoy, so benevolent!’
Chief Kadama had completely forgotten how his people had joined Robson’s ranks in the first place.
.....
The Cavalry Robson brought with him was just the vanguard, intended to support the Gnoll Legion and prevent any accidents.
The main force of the First and Third Corps was still on its way, under the command of Baron Ed.
Baron Ed was his angel investor. Robson still had faith in Ed, so he had recently begun to let Ed try his hand at commanding troops.
The First and Third Corps were highly resilient on their own. With Robson watching from the sidelines, it served as a training exercise for Baron Ed while also ensuring he wouldn’t make any major mistakes that could tarnish his political career.
There were a couple of reasons for treating Baron Ed this way. First, Baron Ed was genuinely making an effort, and as an old friend, Robson naturally had to give him opportunities.
After all, Ed had received a higher education. Although he was useless at first, with a bit of development, he could be considered a halfway-decent talent.
Second, it was also a matter of Lord Robson’s personal feelings. In fact, this was the main factor.
Lord Robson was a man who valued old ties. The longer his subordinates had served him, the more they felt this. This was why his old subordinates from the Western Front had remained firmly on his side when he wanted to do something that violated principles, like recruiting Alien Race Warriors.
The only person Robson had ever cast aside was Orgrim, who had made the mistake of siding with Earl Uman. However, after Earl Uman surrendered, Robson took no action against him. He even brought Orgrim along on this campaign, though he was no longer allowed into Robson’s inner circle and was instead classified as part of the "northern faction."
Robson’s old subordinates all understood his intentions and outwardly severed their ties with Orgrim.
If even Orgrim was treated this way, how much more so Ed, who had been an "angel investor"? That fact alone guaranteed his wealth and status with Robson.
Moreover, being a good-for-nothing had its advantages. Because he had previously appeared so useless, no one tried to recruit Baron Ed. Even his own family, the Gauss Clan, had cut ties with him.
It could be said that, aside from Valentino, Ed was the person most deeply bound to Robson. Their interests were inextricably linked. Of course, even so, Robson had not let him know about his ability to create Extraordinary Soldiers in batches. When the time came for the awakenings, he would find an excuse to send Ed away.
....
The main Infantry force had not yet arrived, but Robson had no intention of sitting idle.
There were still many matters awaiting him in the Beastman Camp.
Inside the Beastman Camp, besides the magical beasts, there was also a great deal of livestock like cattle and sheep.
Previously, Robson wouldn’t have given them a second glance.
After all, the haul from the Centaur Royal Court had made him rich.
Unfortunately, that was then, and this is now.
As Robson’s army pushed deeper into enemy territory, his logistical shortcomings were gradually becoming apparent.
The distance between the eastern front and the central line was nearly a thousand kilometers.
Even if the artisans of the Gauss Clan worked their fingers to the bone, they could not possibly produce enough carriages and horses in such a short time to supply the army’s logistical needs.
After all, no one had ever imagined that Robson’s ultimate goal was to eliminate the two great Beastman Royal Courts and then advance to the central front to besiege Beast Emperor Kemel.
Everyone had thought he would stop after dealing with the Centaurs.
From this point on, Robson’s army could only be supplied by foraging and plundering along the way.
So now, this beef and mutton was an important strategic resource for Robson.
Any race capable of establishing a Royal Court within the Beastman Empire was undoubtedly at the top of the Empire’s food chain.
Although this large Magic Beast Breeding Farm had only a few hundred magical beasts, there were more than five thousand other ordinary animals.
He had heard that the animals here were being kept as breeding stock. Originally, there had been over sixty thousand animals, including more than two thousand magical beasts, but they had all been sent to support the front line.
Robson felt a pang of regret for the lost ordinary livestock, but he said nothing.
The loss of the magical beasts, however, truly made Robson’s heart ache.
Robson’s army currently had a massive demand for Magical Beast Meat!
Not only did ordinary Soldiers need Magical Beast Meat to become Extraordinary, but Extraordinary Soldiers also needed it to further increase their strength.
With only a few hundred Extraordinary Soldiers, the deficit wasn’t yet apparent. But once their numbers swelled into the thousands, this shortage would become increasingly obvious.
If he couldn’t find a ready supply on the Beastman Grassland, Robson would have to hunt in the Demon Beast Mountain Range in the future. And due to the treaty between magical beasts and the intelligent races, he couldn’t even venture into the deeper regions.
Every time he thought of this, Robson dearly missed the Legendary Magical Beast from the siege of the Gray Rock Bear Race. Its ability to lure ordinary magical beasts was something he coveted greatly.
’If only I could capture that creature.’
Led by a Gnoll guide, Robson finished organizing matters related to the magical beasts. By evening, Baron Ed finally arrived on the battlefield with Soldiers from the First, Second, and Third Corps.
At that moment, Robson was still handling matters concerning the local Gnolls. With the exception of the group that had abducted the wood spirit, all the other Gnolls, swayed by Chief Kadama and the other Gnoll Elders, had sworn allegiance to Robson.
It was the first time these Gnolls had learned that their kinsmen had become so powerful all because of the Human Race lord before them—no, the great envoy!
After more than a month, the title "envoy" had spread throughout the Gnoll population, earning their unanimous recognition.
On the Beastman Grassland, power is revered. Knowing that Robson possessed the ability to make them stronger, the Gnoll Chieftains flocked to him, scrambling to be the first to join his legions.
Robson spoke with the Gnolls for a while, beginning to spread the doctrine of his so-called "Great Being."
Initially, Robson was afraid of his cover being blown, so he never discussed the Great Being with the Gnoll Elders and Chieftains. However, he gradually discovered that this fear was entirely unnecessary.
This was because the Gnolls themselves had no definitive understanding of the Great Being or his teachings. Everyone had their own interpretation and clung to their own views, which made it very convenient for Robson to spin his narrative.
The Gnoll Chieftains’ explanations of the Great Being were riddled with holes and lacked any systematic structure; it was nothing more than primitive tribal worship. In his previous life, Robson had been an eclectic reader in his spare time. He had read his share of religious books and knew even better how to use religion to consolidate his rule as Lord Robson.
His general idea revolved around the doctrine of Heaven and Hell. It was the most cost-effective method of controlling the lower classes, especially when they were poorly educated.
The Great Being says the Human Race is the Gnolls’ salvation, that Gnolls should be loyal. The Great Being says,
Gnolls are born into sin, which is why they suffer such humiliation. However, as long as a Gnoll can earn the envoy’s approval, they can ascend to Heaven...
Robson was no professional theologian, but compared to traditional tribal worship, these concepts were a crushing blow from a higher dimension. At the very least, within this new system, many things could be made to seem self-consistent.
The Gnoll Chieftains had never encountered such a complete religious system before. Robson’s doctrine immediately won their unanimous approval.
Of course, Robson didn’t lay everything out in absolute terms. He only mentioned these things "casually" and occasionally, leaving many points open to interpretation. No matter how capable he was, Robson couldn’t create a truly authoritative religion unless he abandoned all else and remained on the grassland, which was obviously unrealistic. Therefore, Robson chose only to say what was necessary. For the rest, he would let the Gnolls argue amongst themselves. A religion would hash out its own internal logic through such squabbles; one had to have faith in the wisdom of the crowd.
After speaking with the Gnoll Chieftains for a while, Robson heard that Ed had arrived with the army and immediately went to greet them.
For Robson, the most important matter at hand was his Extraordinary Corps.
This was the capital Lord Robson would rely on to establish his footing on the Eastern Front for the next year, and even for decades to come. Nearly a thousand Extraordinary Soldiers—the very thought of it was thrilling.
Finding an excuse to dismiss those not involved, Robson immediately ordered all the magical beasts to be slaughtered.
This order horrified the Gnoll Chieftains, who rushed over to confirm if the news was true.
It turned out that the magical beasts actually intended for consumption had already been sent to the front line. The ones remaining in the pasture were all breeding stock, meant to propagate the herd.
Hearing this, Robson hesitated. ’Breeding stock...’ That made them much more valuable. But his hesitation didn’t last long.
’To hell with whether they’re breeding stock or not. The most important thing right now is to raise the Soldiers’ levels and then go deal with the Tiger Race People. As long as we can intercept the Beastman Emperor, any sacrifice is worth it.’
The Gnoll Chieftains were baffled as to why the envoy would waste the breeding stock like this. But it was the great envoy’s command, after all. ’Perhaps the envoy has a deeper reason for this?’
That night, the magical beasts in the pasture met with a cruel slaughter. They were beasts that had long been domesticated. Though their fighting spirit had been diluted, their combat strength was also weak—they couldn’t even defeat a group of Tier-Five Gnolls.
That night, Robson called the Tier Seven Soldiers over as usual.
The chosen Soldiers were ecstatic. Everyone knew this meant they were about to receive their Lord’s blessing.
Most of the soldiers and officers under Robson knew that his army was divided into the First through Third Corps and the Fourth through Fifth Corps, and that the soldiers in the First through Third Corps received the best treatment.
However, only the soldiers of the First through Third Corps knew that their Lord’s true elites were those who had received his blessing.
Gathered around the bonfire, Robson also took the opportunity to praise the soldiers who had performed exceptionally well recently, reaping another wave of morale.
As expected, the next morning, the entire human camp was shrouded in a thick fog.