In Dawn City, sitting in his office, Li De took a sip of the black tea on his desk. After swallowing, he looked at Stanley in front of him with a somewhat odd expression.
“You’re saying that Craig was requisitioned by the beastman prince to participate in the war? And the other side came in person to call him up??”
Today was already the third day since Li De had come out of seclusion, November 19th.
Ever since Niko deduced that the beastman prince’s likely target was Green City, the already busy Dawn City had become even more hectic over the past few days.
Not only did the population plundering operation have to proceed as planned, but now they also had to gather intelligence on the movements of the main beastman forces.
In past years, beastman armies were scattered and rarely concentrated into forces of several hundred thousand.
But this year was clearly different. The beastmen had begun to operate in organized formations along the border, and in five major cities with populations exceeding 500,000, each now had over 100,000 beastman troops gathering outside.
Of course, most of them were cannon fodder below Level 5, but a full 20% were real beastman warriors in leather armor, carrying sharp weapons.
That was an astonishing figure.
Though beastmen were a war-hardened race, they had always lived in poverty. Mobilizing more than 100,000 armored warriors required immense authority and influence.
And such influence was almost nonexistent in past years. Most of the time, it was minor tribes lacking food that invaded human borders, beastman groups that couldn’t survive otherwise.
Powerful tribes rarely lacked food. Of course, those major tribes would also actively join raids on humans, but they rarely took the initiative to organize assaults on major cities.
The border between the Nolan Empire and the Beastmen Empire stretched for hundreds of kilometers. A full-scale invasion by several million beastmen was virtually indefensible unless a major army was mobilized for suppression.
“That’s right, Your Majesty,” Stanley replied. “Craig was requisitioned directly by a Level 19 being, almost at the Transcendent threshold.
To protect Dwarf Valley, the Lionmane Tribe had set up a new encampment ten kilometers outside the valley. Its concealment was not great, which is likely why it was so easily discovered.”
Because the beastmen hadn’t fully wiped out the area during their previous sweeps, Dwarf Valley, especially around the original Lionmane Tribe location, was no longer a secret. Rekel’s decision to reestablish the outpost had been done at Stanley’s suggestion.
Li De furrowed his brow after hearing this. A Level 19 personally showing up?
It seemed this matter was even more serious than he had anticipated.
“What about the mithril vein?”
“It’s operating normally. The other party only came to summon personnel and left in a rush. They showed no interest in anything else.”
“Tell them to scale down activity in Dwarf Valley and strengthen its protection. We’re too far from the valley, if a large-scale conflict breaks out, it’ll be very difficult to provide immediate support.”
Li De’s expression turned grave. This was precisely why he had wanted to rebuild the Lionmane Tribe, Dawn City currently didn’t have the bandwidth to manage Dwarf Valley properly.
The consequences of the beastman border offensive were becoming more and more severe.
“Why would the beastmen specifically choose Risel City as their main target? Is it just because Risel was once the core city of the South, with a direct backline access to Green City?”
Stanley shook his head. “No, it’s not just that. Risel City possesses a powerful weapon that the beastmen deeply fear.”
Oh? Li De raised an eyebrow in interest.
“A Divine Artifact?”
“No, alchemical bombs.”
Alchemical bombs. Li De’s expression turned subtle.
Some of the rules of this world differed from Earth. He had previously tried and failed to produce gunpowder and cement. Alchemical bombs weren’t like Earth’s explosives, they were bombs crafted with a core made of magic crystals containing vast magical energy.
Though they were called ‘bombs,’ they belonged to an entirely different system from Earth’s gunpowder, purely magical constructs unique to this world.
Still, just hearing the word bomb stirred something within him. The obsession with explosions was practically imprinted in the soul of every modern person.
“What’s the story?”
“It’s said that Risel City is backed by a group of ancient goblins capable of producing extremely powerful alchemical bombs. From my deductions, the beastmen targeted Risel City for two reasons: first, because its rear connects directly to Green City...
And second, because of those goblins and the bombs.”
“How did you come by this information?”
Li De looked at Stanley with keen interest. The production process for something like alchemical bombs would normally be kept under strict secrecy.
Just like the Crimson Mage Tower’s Magic Factory, the public knew it could mass-produce stable magic scrolls, but no one knew how or who was making them.
“Your Majesty, Risel City runs a large-scale business,” Stanley explained. “The Risel family even set up a merchant guild in Green City, and a sizable one at that.
Dark Pact once had dealings with them, and they did, in fact, bring out several items with clear goblin craftsmanship.
Risel City earned tremendous wealth through these goblin-made goods. That’s why their development has been so rapid in the past two years.
Among the Green City nobility, this isn’t even a secret anymore.”
Li De nodded.
“So in other words, the beastmen’ real goal is the goblins who can produce alchemical bombs? And Risel City just happens to be where they’re located?”
His expression turned a bit odd, why did this matter feel like it kept taking twists and turns?
He shook his head. Ultimately, the issue was a lack of intelligence channels, or rather, he had not yet fully integrated the various forces under his command. Each one provided different types of information, constantly shifting his judgment.
He began pondering from another angle.
At present, he had many factions under his control, but lacked a unified coordination department. There was no way to integrate their collective strength effectively.
Dark Pact was under the management of Stanley and Grote. The Crimson Mage Tower had Vina and Betty. Dwarf Valley had Craig. And then, of course, there was his own base, Dawn City.
Each of these forces was formidable, but this beastman invasion had clearly exposed many underlying issues.