In the dim corridor, Zhang Caidong led his Swadian Recruits to a window.
He held a spiked mace stained with sulfur-smelling blood, and clutched an old fan-shaped shield, nodding to the Swadian Recruits behind him: “Wait here for my command.”
At this moment, the 10 Swadian Recruits behind him all gripped their one-handed axes tightly.
They swallowed, looking at Zhang Caidong, their faces resolute.
They were clearly ready for battle.
'Click!'
So, as Zhang Caidong opened the anti-theft door, darkness and a thick gray mist immediately appeared inside.
And from within, there was a sound as if wings were flapping.
Accompanied by strange cackling noises.
Indicating that there were quite a few Undead Monsters inside.
Or rather, Abyssal Monsters.
“Charge! Charge! Charge!” The 10 Swadian Recruits behind Zhang Caidong didn't hesitate, raising their one-handed axes, holding up their old shields, and immediately rushed in with shouts.
Following a series of axe hacks and sharp, terrified cackling screams.
One of the 10 Swadian Recruits, covered in dark red blood, walked out and nodded to Zhang Caidong, saying: “There were about 12 Little Devils in total; they’ve all been dealt with.”
“Well done.” Zhang Caidong nodded at this, then turned and entered the room.
Looking at the corpses of the Little Devils lying on the ground, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Although these Swadian Recruits were just Farmers who had recently been armed, their combat effectiveness had greatly improved with this period of training; at least in terms of cooperation, they were quick to understand, so much so that they hadn't sustained much damage up to now.
There were very few even lightly wounded, let alone severely wounded; there wasn't a single one.
Therefore, Zhang Caidong was quite confident in the combat effectiveness of these soldiers; in his perception, other similarly newly armed Farmers had very little combat power, and it was good enough if they didn't scatter when facing the enemy.
Low morale, simple equipment, and extremely timid, they needed long-term training to form true combat power and become cannon fodder that could barely hold together on the battlefield.
Now, these Swadian Recruits could face the enemy, actively charging forward one by one to fight, completely fearless of casualties and the possibility of death.
It could be said that they were quite warlike, or that their confidence was extremely high.
After all, Farmers from a powerful empire possessed absolute confidence instilled by the empire, even when facing enemies, making them full of self-assurance and greatly inflated courage.
“I can’t imagine how prosperous the country you belong to truly is.” Zhang Caidong, looking at the corpses of the Little Devils in the room, couldn't help but exclaim.
“Our Kingdom is extremely powerful; the entire continent must bow down to our Kingdom, and we were once an Empire; if it weren’t for a conspiracy that led to the Empire’s division, we would still be just as powerful.”
The Swadian Recruits didn't say too much, only generally mentioning some background stories about the Swadia Kingdom that they knew.
Of course, in the Mount & Blade Warband World's background, the Empire fully existed on the Calradia continent, without the very large map of mount & blade II: Bannerlord's world.
Therefore, the background story centers on the Swadia Kingdom unifying the regions of the other five major kingdoms.
As for the Calradia continent area in mount & blade II, it only belongs to the westernmost territory of the Vlandians.
Then, through the Vlandians, it evolved into the current Calradia; at least, that's how it evolved in the background story.
However, it's important to know that this is inherently the background story of mount & blade II, and cannot be counted as part of the Mount & Blade Warband World.
Although these two worlds seem to have a predecessor-successor relationship, in reality, they each have their own independent evolutionary branches.
“Truly powerful.” Zhang Caidong nodded, listening to the Swadian Recruits' rather proud tone.
After all, he could see that although these Swadian Recruits didn't want to talk too much about what their world was like, from their words and actions, it was clear that their kingdom was indeed quite powerful; after all, being able to supply everyone with standardized equipment was something many small kingdoms couldn't achieve.
Moreover, these soldiers had clearly undergone unified military training; although it still looked quite unfamiliar and their movements were rather clumsy, after this period of cooperation, it was clear that they were integrating and had already mastered the content of the military training they had directly learned.
This is enough to represent that the kingdom not only has standardized equipment to provide, but also unified military training that can reach the lowest levels.
However, the Human Race kingdoms Zhang Caidong knew were not like this.
He had even heard from the Gnolls he once owned, talking about how a vassal's vassal is not my vassal, and in war, one only needs to summon their own vassals, and their vassals will also summon their vassals.
Then, they would just charge in chaotically, and as long as their direct forces and noble forces didn't collapse, it meant they wouldn't suffer any losses.
After all, the Gnolls and the Human Race forces had once gone to war.
They were quite familiar with the process of Human Race forces and their tactics, as the hatred between the Gnolls and the Lion Principality was quite deep.
“Brother Zhang Caidong, Brother Zhang Caidong, how are things on your end?” As Zhang Caidong was deep in thought, footsteps suddenly appeared outside, and a Blue Star Human Executive, leading his Swadian Commoners, excitedly walked over.
“Oh, I’ve dealt with everything here. How about your side?” Zhang Caidong nodded, glancing at this very familiar Blue Star Human Executive, and waved to him, indicating they could go out together.
“I’ve dealt with everything on my side too.” The Blue Star Human Executive smiled as he followed Zhang Caidong out, and the Swadian Recruits and Swadian Commoners also followed their steps, all arriving at the small plaza outside the residential area.
At the same time, quite a few people had already gathered in this small plaza.
These were all the Blue Star Human Executives who had followed later, 10 people each day, now forming a Spiritual Realm Commander force of 40 Blue Star Humans.
And behind these 40 Blue Star Humans, there were 400 Swadian Commoners waiting.
All of them were followers commanded uniformly by these 40 Blue Star Humans.
Of course, at least these Blue Star Humans felt this way, as they had already established a contract earlier, with soul anchors, forming a superior-subordinate relationship with these Human Race individuals.
According to traditional thinking, if this isn't a relationship between a commander and followers, then what is it?
Therefore, they all fell into a cognitive bias, thinking that as long as they controlled these followers, it meant they controlled their lives, and it was basically impossible for them to betray them, and the consequences of betraying them were quite severe.
After all, no follower wanted to return to that prison-like realm; if they couldn't escape from that prison-like astral realm, they would watch their minds be forever trapped in a stone-like body.
Therefore, these Blue Star Humans were quite at ease with the Lingjie Human Race they possessed; if anything happened, they would discuss it with these Lingjie Human Race, and even if they spoke, they weren't afraid of these Lingjie Human Race hearing it.
“Alright, it seems everyone is fine.” Zhang Caidong smiled as he saw these Blue Star Humans chatting and laughing together.
However, as his gaze swept over these Blue Star Humans, he could clearly see that they were actually gathering in small groups of two or three, each with their own cliques, and not entirely together.
Even when these Blue Star Humans were talking to each other, some resentment could be seen in their eyes.
Clearly, these cliques also had their own interests, and the groups disliked each other, with some cliques even revealing undisguised malice.
Evidently, these cliques themselves were full of discord.
“As expected of Big Sister Shen Mu, with just a slight move, she caused conflict between these senior managers and middle-level managers, turning their originally solid, iron-like unity into a frozen state.” Zhang Caidong was well aware of this, because he knew that this was a change brought about by Shen Mu herself.
Previously, those middle-level managers bypassed these senior managers one by one, submitting their lists, allowing Shen Mu to obtain everyone's names, and actively promoting these middle-level managers, enabling them to become Spiritual Realm Commanders according to her will.
Being able to become a Spiritual Realm Commander without the recommendation of those senior managers meant stripping these senior managers of a major personnel arrangement.
“Personnel is politics, this saying is truly accurate. I didn’t expect Shen Mu to be so young, yet her methods are so formidable.” Zhang Caidong's eyes showed a hint of fear at this moment.
When Shen Mu destroyed the Diesel Company before, he already felt a sense of awe towards this young person; now, seeing what could be called advanced political maneuvering, he felt even more Feelings and a faint admiration in his heart.
There was no other way, because what was done before was truly too smooth and decisive; it directly interrupted the process of these Blue Star Humans wanting to connect and merge into an impenetrable, solid block in the shortest amount of time.
Now, Zhang Caidong himself felt a bit awkward; if he were to discuss something with these Blue Star Humans, it's likely that some, whether senior or middle-level, would definitely not agree with him, as their personnel authority was not in his hands.
If they didn't agree, then they didn't agree; at most, they might be ostracized in daily life, but for them, as long as they could gain the approval of Lord Shen Mu, then everything would be fine.
“Forget it, I won’t think about this anymore.” Zhang Caidong shook his head at this moment, then walked over to the assembled Blue Star Humans in front of him.
And when those Blue Star Humans saw Zhang Caidong approaching, they all stopped their discussions and lined up.
They even sent a few leading senior managers to Zhang Caidong's side to report on their scavenging of the residential area.
“Hmm, well done.” Zhang Caidong nodded, listening clearly to these people reporting on the battles and casualties they encountered with the Undead Monsters found in different residential units.
They were training soldiers and accumulating points at the same time, as Lord Shen Mu had clearly stated that as long as they could lead these Human Race soldiers to gain combat experience and merits, they could return to Shen Mu for further promotion.
Moreover, their promotion already had a very clear comparison, which was Zhang Caidong's current equipment as a Tier 2 Swadian Militia.
He had a shield, a spiked mace, a spear, and a hunting crossbow.
It could be said to be a very versatile type.
Coupled with the Swadian Recruits behind him, who wielded long-handled scythes, they were indeed much stronger than them.
Therefore, they were all working hard, eager to accumulate combat experience and points quickly, and then exchange them with Lord Shen Mu for opportunities for promotion.
“So what’s next, Brother Zhang Caidong? Should we go to another residential area next?” At this moment, some male Human Race executives suggested, as there were still large areas of buildings beyond their current location.
And some Undead Monsters were also hidden within these buildings.
“Then let’s go.” Zhang Caidong nodded, looked at these highly motivated Blue Star Humans and the Swadian Commoners behind them, and after a moment of thought, spoke again: “However, in the afternoon, conserve your energy. If possible, tonight I want to take everyone into the darkness to see if we can deal with some monsters in the darkness, because the number of Undead Monsters in these buildings is really too small, and our speed of gaining points and combat experience is too slow.”
“Go into the darkness to fight those Undead Monsters?” These Blue Star Humans exchanged glances, and there was no fear in their eyes, only a hint of eagerness.
Their confidence was indeed quite inflated now, just going into the darkness to fight those Undead Monsters.
Relying on themselves and their Human Race followers behind them, couldn't they still deal with those zombies and skeletons, these low-level Undead Monsters?
Moreover, even if they couldn't deal with them, they could retreat in time back to Deherim, as Deherim had complete defenses.
And there were also patrols protecting the border.
Everything looked very safe. (End of this chapter)