Chapter 553 - 525: Upgrade
Chapter 553: Chapter 525: Upgrade
Facundo wasn’t the only one growing anxious. So was Flame Wings, one of the three leaders of the Holy Storm.
He had originally thought the Oduin Kingdom would fall into a period of chaos after losing its King, possibly even erupting into a war of succession.
But he had underestimated Ronin’s influence. Not only did a war of succession fail to materialize, but the chaos had also lasted for less than half a month.
Now, the Oduin Kingdom had not only returned to normal, but many of its nobles were attacking Tricia as if they were on stimulants.
He and Tyrone had actively incited the Ferrensburg Duchy and the Villa Duchy to defect, successfully bogging down the forces from the Gistana Duchy and Wushan Territory. However, the main front at Mo’er City had still been lost. Meanwhile, the Blackthorn Duchy was also under immense pressure from the Noble Alliance Army of Double Peaks Ridge and Red Pine Castle.
’I knew it. Serdil and I should have built up our strength in secret for longer instead of rushing to occupy the Molten Fire Duchy.’
If they had developed quietly and grown to a certain level of strength before making a move, the situation would probably be much better than it was now.
The blame lay with the intelligence they had received at the time, which claimed there were barely any Proud Sun Level experts on this continent. This had caused Flame Wings and the others’ confidence to swell.
Now, his most trusted subordinates were dead, and he couldn’t possibly cross the Sea of Storms by ship to get reinforcements from the Crescent Continent. The situation was exceptionally dire.
「Mo’er City.」
After returning to Wubei City and hearing from Tom that Ridder and Macken had taken Mo’er City, Ronin had immediately rushed here without stopping.
He closed the population register in his hands, and a long-awaited notification appeared before his eyes:
["Population Prosperity" achievement unlocked. +30,000 Attribute Points, +60,000 Energy Essence]
The population of Mo’er City and its surrounding towns totaled over 160,000. Combined with Mist City and Watchtower Castle, both major cities with populations exceeding 100,000, the number of subjects in Ronin’s territory had now surpassed the one million mark, fulfilling the final tier of the [Population Prosperity] achievement.
Ronin glanced at the achievement panel. There was one less achievement he could complete.
Now, only the [Famous Throughout the World], [King of Slaughter], and [Siege and Conquest] achievements could provide him with additional Attribute Points.
But it was obvious that these three were also nearing their final stages.
Ronin opened his Attribute Panel. After nearly three months of accumulation, plus the reward from this latest achievement, he had amassed 30,825 Attribute Points and 64,650 Energy Essence.
He spent all the Attribute Points, raising his power to a new level:
[Level]: 10 - Legendary Knight (40,000/40,000); 10 - Legendary Mage (16,857/60,000)
As Ronin felt the surging Power within him, he also sensed that the Spirit-Catching Chain on his soul had been more than halfway devoured.
’My Knight Cultivation has now reached the Legendary Peak, but my Mage Cultivation is still short by over forty thousand Attribute Points.’
He glanced at the achievement panel. If he could conquer another major city with a population over one hundred thousand, he would complete the [Siege and Conquest] achievement and gain twenty thousand Attribute Points.
But that still wouldn’t be enough.
To quickly make up the difference, cross the Legendary threshold, and become a Sage, he would have to either hunt a Legendary expert or become a King.
Having finished considering his own matters, Ronin turned to allocating the Energy Essence.
Ridder was now a Legendary, one of only three on Orland. Thanks to his special Secret Skill, he should be able to hold his own against Flame Wings, so he didn’t need any points for now.
As for Carlos, its current late Eighth-level power was more than enough to spearhead sieges. Considering it would take over a hundred thousand Energy Essence to raise it to the Legendary Level, Ronin had to give up on that for the time being.
Therefore, it was more suitable to invest this batch of Energy Essence in Macken and Elron.
Ronin considered that Macken was responsible for the eastern front, so he decided to prioritize raising Macken’s power to the Proud Sun Level and invest the remainder in Elron.
However, he had accumulated over sixty thousand Energy Essence this time. Based on Ronin’s calculations, that should be more than enough to raise both Elron and Macken to the Ninth Level.
"Ridder."
"My lord, your orders!"
"I’m putting you in charge of the main front. In addition to our own troops, the nobles on this list will also join the main Alliance Army. You will have full command over all of them."
As he spoke, Ronin handed Ridder the roster that had been agreed upon at the Golden Feather Palace.
"How to fight, where to fight—I’ll leave all of that for you to decide. However, my requirements are the same as before: try not to harm innocent civilians. You must operate with the mindset that we need to govern these lands easily after taking them. Of course, for those who put up a stubborn resistance, you must be as ruthless as necessary!"
Ridder took the list and glanced over it. There were more than thirty nobles, major and minor, which meant a considerable number of troops would be involved.
"My lord, I plan to remain in Mo’er City until the end of March. Then I will lead the troops to sweep through the surrounding smaller cities before considering a push south."
Ronin nodded. "There’s no need to rush the march. Advance steadily. We can’t have a city fall into chaos the moment we leave. Although I’m eager to have our army at the gates of Giant Dragon City, I have no problem waiting two or three years."
Ridder indicated that he understood.
In reality, two or three years was not a long time for a stop-and-go campaign of reorganizing military affairs and taking over new territories.
If the enemy’s resistance was fierce, creating a major strain on logistics and the army, two or three years might not even be enough.
Ronin actually wanted to tackle both offense and development simultaneously, implementing his methods of governance in every place he conquered.
During this time, Wubei Territory had also trained a new batch of administrators. They would successively take on the roles of Civil Servants in the new territories, implementing Ronin’s governing philosophy.
"There’s one more thing I need to mention."
Ronin paused in thought for a moment before saying, "Starting from the next battle, we can allow enemy nobles to surrender and swear allegiance to me. However, I will only permit them to keep the property within their own castles. All of their lands and industries will become mine."
"Furthermore, regardless of whether they are a Viscount or a Count, once they surrender to me, they will all be reduced to the status of ordinary Free People, entitled only to a salary."
Ridder raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Then Placido is a truly lucky man."
Although Placido also lacked a Noble Title, he was still the Governor of Watchtower Castle, managing the city’s affairs.
And Ronin hadn’t confiscated many of the Carmen Clan’s lands and industries either.
"His surrender came at a crucial time, so it was handled as a special case."
Ronin smiled. "However, once we establish a new kingdom, this situation where nobles own all the land will have to change. Even if I grant noble titles later on, I will restrict the size of their territories, their land holdings, and their power."
Ridder was inwardly shocked. For Ronin to say such a thing, he had clearly given it considerable thought.
"My lord, what you’re proposing goes against the very nature of the current nobility."
Ridder reminded him, "Although you are powerful, policies must ultimately be implemented by people down the line. If the majority are dissatisfied, I’m afraid the implementation will not be effective."
No matter how strong Ronin was, the hearts of men were always fickle. There would never be a shortage of people who paid lip service while acting otherwise.
Ronin chuckled. "I’m surprised you see that side of things. I always thought you weren’t fond of politics."
"Haha, I was a high-ranking noble in my past life, after all."
Ronin nodded slowly. "You have a point. But we have plenty of time. For a reform like this, we just need to draw it out and push it forward bit by bit."
It was the same principle as boiling a frog in slowly heating water.