Chapter 653: Chapter 653

After deliberations between Du You and Shaliya, the final decision was made to begin tunneling at the weakest part of the mountain range. At this location, there was a mountain range fork. To improve transportation, Du You planned to construct two tunnels here.

Between the two tunnels, a small military town would be established, which would later become a vital hub for communication with the opposite side.

During the construction of the tunnels, Shaliya would gather the materials needed to build Icicle Towers in full force, aiming to build a large number of them all at once. This way, they could occupy the opposite side before the enemy could react.

Speaking of which, Du You would not have been able to construct these tunnels if they weren’t being built within his own territory. Without an abundance of earth attribute mages or other alchemical products, merely relying on ordinary citizens to dig these tunnels would have been year-round large-scale projects.

Heavy construction activities would have been undertaken for years and months. However, within the territory, the enhancement from the power of the territory itself would shorten the time it would take to complete these tunnels.

According to Shaliya’s estimates, this would approximately take a month. By the time, the various infrastructure projects within the territory would be completed again. The roles played by the territory’s own population of millions were extraordinarily significant.

Plus, when the military power for the following month is available, and with ample advanced troops, it would be much easier to secure the small town.

As for now, Du You planned to keep this development a secret and had no intention of informing anyone about it.

Bidding farewell to Shaliya, Du You, along with fifty elite griffin knights and twenty high-grade griffins, flew towards their destination, while other types of troops moved forward on the ground.

"It’s a pity that the number of high-grade griffin mounts is too limited. Otherwise, all hundred silver knights could have been turned into griffin knights."

Du You had no choice in this matter, as the territory’s building functions were limited to this extent. It seems that he would need to acquire more high-grade mounts in the future; otherwise, these extra silver knights would be wasted.

Traveling by air was fast, and by the end of the day, Du You had arrived at his destination.

"Master, did things go smoothly?" Lin Yucha and Lin Yushi greeted him on his arrival.

Du You dismounted his Black Jade Griffin and replied, "Very smoothly. Our territory has now entered a phase of rapid development. The tier-three troops are under construction. It’s a pity that we can’t build a passage to Earth right now. The strength of tier-three troops is far from being able to guarantee the safety of our city."

This was not merely Du You’s speculation but the reality of the situation. The reason why generally one needed to reach tier four to establish their own city was due to the numerous dangers in the wilderness.

Various alien beasts in the wilderness were on the fourth tier, and there were even some hidden evil organizations. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

One could say that establishing a city in the wilderness was safest when one reached tier five. As long as the territory could produce large numbers of tier-five troops, there wouldn’t be much danger in the wilderness. Troops of this level created a lot of commotion in battles, so even if someone wanted to attack, as long as they could hold on for some time, other nearby cities would receive the message and come to their aid.

Cities established after applying for them were completely different from those of evil organizations. Under the premise of certain responsibilities, these cities were actually under the protection of the alliance.

"No problem, with your advancement speed, Master, it won’t be long before we have our own city."

Neither of them had much understanding or yearning for the concept of their own city. They only wanted it because Du You did. It was that simple.

"Enough of that, how are things here? This time, I have brought a considerable number of tier-three troops. The first batch to arrive are all flying troops, seventy in total, with fifty of them being knights."

"This is indeed great news. With these troops, we can attempt to initiate an offensive," Luo Jia immediately said.

Du You asked curiously, "An offensive? Why, has the order been given from above?"

After all, it was a fight against a kingdom, not against the hostile Quicksand Empire or small forces. A war on this level needed to be approved by the higher-ups; otherwise, who would take responsibility for the trouble it could cause?

Luo Jia quickly explained, "Although there’s no explicit rule, the higher-ups have subtly indicated their approval many times. The main forces of the Kingdom of Hanhai haven’t been dispatched yet as they are testing our reaction."

"According to the current situation, both sides seem to be in a probe-attack phase. Once things stabilize, a large-scale war is unlikely to break out. On the Kingdom of Hanhai’s side, only a few minor lords on the fringe are developing here. Also, there are some creatures that don’t officially belong to the Kingdom of Hanhai, which won’t affect the relations between the two nations."

Du You nodded, "I see. These people spend their days stirring up this kind of trouble, don’t they find it tedious?"

Du You looked at the current map, and Luo Jia added, "After several big battles, the number of goblins in the goblin forest have drastically decreased. They essentially pose no threat to us anymore. South Mountain City plans to cut a path directly through the goblin forest to reach the opposite side, facilitating military and commercial activities."

"So, if we can keep them down, it’s business as usual, but if we can’t, they’ll attack like crazy, turning this place into a military transport route, right?"

Du You didn’t pay much attention to the goblins. It was very difficult to eliminate them completely. As long as a few survived, they could rapidly multiply en masse. So, periodical sweeps to clear out a batch was enough.

"What creatures, supposedly not belonging to the Kingdom of Hanhai, are you talking about?"

"They are deep-sea murlocs, specifically the Spotted Murlocs. I wonder how they managed to tame them. Murlocs generally aren’t very intelligent and rarely obey orders from outsiders. The Kingdom of Hanhai is said to have used large quantities of murlocs when dealing with overseas and Coastal Duchy affairs, which is how they were able to unify so easily."

"Murlocs? Aren’t their abilities similar to goblins?"

"No, murlocs are more numerous. Because of their high numbers, some of them are masters. But usually, murlocs are only tier two. Any claims that they can overturn other kingdoms probably refer to some special measures they have. Our trial this time is probably mainly to test out these murlocs’ tactics."

Understanding dawned on Du You. Because both sides didn’t understand the other’s military strength and combat effectiveness, this probing phase had arisen. After successful probing, final diplomatic policies would be decided.

"This is a good opportunity." Du You’s eyes sparkled. Regardless of other things, at least the number of tasks wouldn’t decrease. Getting a bit more crystal coin income was better than nothing.

I recommend a new book from a friend, Nine Items of Deity, written by Eight Peaks. It’s a city genre novel and is slow to start.