Everything was getting on track.
Shen Mu was quite satisfied with this outcome.
"I didn't expect the Mount & Blade System to be so considerate as to prepare a function for me to recruit drifters by using Faith Power."
Shen Mu looked at this newly added function in his mind, and his face grew more and more satisfied. After all, as long as there was a continuous stream of civilian units coming, he would be able to continuously obtain a large number of Mount & Blade Soldiers through the characteristics of the civilian units.
This meant that he wouldn't need to wait for normal reproduction, for children to be born and then grow up over 10 years; he could obtain an enormous population and then transform that enormous population into an enormous number of Mount & Blade Soldiers.
This meant there was no buffer period in between.
And what's important to know is that the conversion ratio between mount & blade civilians and Mount & Blade Soldiers is 1:1.
This ratio means that every civilian unit in the Mount & Blade World can be converted into a mount & blade Soldier, without any loss or unsuitability. Regardless of gender, age, or youth, they are all equivalent to the most qualified soldiers.
Universal conscription would be nothing more than this.
"In that case, I can truly breathe a sigh of relief. After all, I always feel like a storm is brewing and something is about to happen. Now that the Mount & Blade System has given me this additional function, it also makes me feel a certain pressure."
Shen Mu was also contemplating in his mind.
After all, it was impossible for the Mount & Blade System to awaken this function for him without any reason; there must have been some cause for its awakening.
However, as for the reason, Shen Mu certainly did not understand it. But thinking about how the Mount & Blade System had been so considerate in preparing for him in advance to help him overcome future difficulties, it meant that the Mount & Blade System had already foreseen the upcoming danger, which was why it unlocked this function for him.
It could allow him to overcome a crisis that was definitely coming.
After all, many such things had happened before. If it weren't for the Mount & Blade System foreseeing potential dangers and giving him explicit or implicit hints, as well as various targeted assistance, it's truly debatable whether Shen Mu would have reached his current level of development.
"But at least now with these additional mount & blade civilian units, and with the help of my Blue Star Humans in training, many problems can be solved very well." Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
At least in terms of soldier training, he didn't need to worry.
Those Blue Star Humans would help him train batches of suitable Mount & Blade Soldiers.
"Of course, although those Blue Star Humans will receive the help of my Mount & Blade Soldiers, they will absolutely not obtain truly elite Mount & Blade Soldiers. For example, the most powerful Swadian Heavy Cavalry in the Swadian Kingdom, they absolutely cannot obtain them."
Shen Mu also had his own plans for these Blue Star Humans at this time, which he had already planned beforehand.
These Blue Star Humans, having mount & blade civilian units, could upgrade these mount & blade civilian units in the future.
However, the upgraded troop types would be entirely based on ordinary civilian upgrade units.
And not on noble series units.
The noble series upgrade units were, of course, the Swadian Heavy Cavalry and the Swadian Knight series.
Of course, the Swadian Sergeant and the Swadian Crossbowman, these two Tier 5 troop types, could also be loosely categorized as noble series upgrade units.
So, Shen Mu's arrangement for these Blue Star Humans was Tier 1 Swadian Recruit, Tier 2 Swadian Militia, Tier 3 Swadian Light Infantry or Swadian Skirmisher, and then Tier 4 Swadian Crossbowman and Swadian Infantry.
As for Tier 5 troop types, he would absolutely not allow them to specialize.
Because in the Mount & Blade worldview, Tier 5 troop types represent a complete qualitative change.
It is a complete, transformative change, a strengthening that has an absolute gap compared to Tier 4 troop types.
Therefore, Shen Mu would absolutely not allow these Blue Star Humans to upgrade to Tier 5 troop types; the highest they could upgrade to was Tier 4 troop types.
After all, the number of Blue Star Humans was very large, and the various tactics they mastered in their minds were also stronger than ordinary Mount & Blade Soldiers. Every Blue Star Human could be used as a general.
Although they were currently only conferred as Ten-Man Commanders, the threat posed by so many Ten-Man Commanders gathered together was also obvious.
After all, Shen Mu intended to turn all two to three tens of thousands of Blue Star Humans into Mount & Blade Soldiers; at least, he wanted to apply the mount & blade Soldier template to all these Blue Star Humans.
In this way, he would gain a continuous stream of a large number of additional aids.
These were the Blue Star Soldiers formed after these Blue Star Humans were given the template.
Therefore, if all these Blue Star Soldiers were to possess Tier 5 templates, then it would be dangerous. Moreover, once these Blue Star Soldiers were allowed to lead Mount & Blade Soldiers who were all Tier 5 troop types, it would also be tantamount to raising a tiger that would cause trouble later. If something really happened and Shen Mu didn't give the order to timely relieve them of their military power, then it would be dangerous.
That's right, Shen Mu had always been on guard against these Blue Star Soldiers; he truly only trusted Mount & Blade Soldiers.
Therefore, allowing these Blue Star Humans to obtain a maximum of Tier 4 standards was enough.
Tier 4 standards were already capable of solving many problems. Enemies like ordinary Undead Monsters, equipped with heavy armor, Tier 4 troop types could completely handle them.
"So now, let the caravans operate quickly again, and I also need to accumulate Faith Power so that the towns outside can be expanded again." Shen Mu touched his chin at this moment, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Now that the population in Deherim had increased again, to prevent the living area from shrinking again, the town could only be expanded.
Regarding town expansion, he had already discussed it with Manid earlier. At that time, they would add two larger urban areas, one to the east and one to the west, near the east and west city gates.
The existing urban area would become the central urban area.
Everything was easy to solve.
However, what prevented Shen Mu from directly choosing to expand now was the insufficient reserve of Faith Power. After all, currently, he could only obtain about 25,000 points of Faith Power per day, which was relatively small.
Just maintaining relatively fast operation and food acquisition already consumed most of the Faith Power, with only seven to eight thousand points of Faith Power being stored each day.
"But it doesn't matter. Once those Spiritual Realm Commanders lead my Mount & Blade Soldiers to become Ten-Man Commanders, when they pray, and my Mount & Blade Soldiers also pray with their mental power, they will be able to obtain 11 units of Faith Power."
Shen Mu's face was not embarrassed at this time, but rather calm: "As the number of my Ten-Man Commanders increases, the Faith Power obtained by leading Mount & Blade Soldiers in prayer will also increase. And whatever faith level my Ten-Man Commanders have, my Mount & Blade Soldiers will also have the same faith level, so the Faith Power they produce will also increase."
After all, his Ten-Man Commander would pray alone and also lead his 10 Mount & Blade Soldiers to pray together.
In this way, 10 Ten-Man Commanders praying would be equivalent to obtaining 110 points of Faith Power.
If 100 Ten-Man Commanders prayed, that would be 1100 points of Faith Power.
And if 1000 Ten-Man Commanders prayed, that would be 11,000 points of Faith Power.
5000 Ten-Man Commanders praying, that would be 55,000 units of Faith Power.
What if there were 10,000 Ten-Man Commanders or more?
For Shen Mu, this Faith Power would continuously appear every day, and it would grow, bringing him rich returns.
...
New Rivadin.
Aleron was patrolling the city wall at this moment, his hand gripping the hilt of his knight's sword, looking at this distinctly Vigia-style castle with a satisfied expression.
And behind him, 10 Holy Tree Knights were protecting him.
And on the city wall, a Vekia Archer was stationed at regular intervals.
And Swadian Light Infantry were also guarding here.
Standing on the city wall, closely monitoring the surrounding situation.
"Have you found anything unusual?" Aleron came up to a Vekia Archer at this moment, looking at the vast plain outside, and asked the archer.
"No, respected Lord Aleron, everything is normal here." The Vekia Archer replied.
"Hmm, very good, keep a close watch." Aleron nodded again, satisfied.
Especially looking outside at the vast plain where there was absolutely nothing unusual, his face also showed some regret: "It's a pity, such a vast and fertile land is just lying barren like this. If it were in Vigia's snowy highlands, to have such a vast territory, even the King of Vigia would probably be tempted."
The Vigia snowfields were truly quite barren. Although they had rich mineral and forestry resources, developing them was too difficult. And the Vigia Kingdom primarily lacked excellent farmland to produce enough food to feed more people.
What good were abundant mineral and forest resources?
People always needed to eat, and the wheat produced was the best food.
"It's truly a pity. We must wait for Lord Shen Mu to conquer this world. Otherwise, seeing these lands lie barren, I feel guilty." Aleron turned his head away, no longer looking at the barren farmland.
Besides, he also needed to go and check, especially to the west, to see if there was anything unusual at the subway station entrance.
So Aleron went to the stables below the city wall, mounted his warhorse, and, accompanied by the Holy Tree Knights, galloped quickly towards the west.
On the land to the west.
About 10 Kujit Steppe Bandits were patrolling there on their steppe horses.
Seeing Aleron and the Holy Tree Knights approach, they gathered together and came before Aleron, respectfully saluting on their warhorses by placing a hand on their chest and bowing: "Greetings, respected Lord Aleron."
"Hmm, very good." Aleron asked, "Has there been anything unusual at the subway station entrance?"
"No, Lord Aleron." These Kujit Steppe Bandits also replied respectfully.
"That's good." Aleron nodded, simultaneously looking towards the subway station entrance.
After all, the reason he came here was because inside the subway station entrance of Su Family Station, there were those extremely terrifying and cruel Hell Devil armies.
He had to be careful.
"However, Lord Aleron." At this moment, one of the Kujit Steppe Bandits spoke with a hesitant tone: "There is something I need to report to you."
"Something? Speak." Aleron looked at him.
"Last night, when we were patrolling the edge of the darkness, we seemed to hear the sound of cavalry galloping in the darkness." The Kujit Steppe Bandit said: "Perhaps I misheard, the sound of the cavalry galloping was very far from us, but I think as a Kujit, I shouldn't mishear the sound of hooves striking the ground."
"Cavalry?" Aleron's expression became serious, and he looked intently at this Kujit Steppe Bandit: "Are you sure? Don't say words like 'perhaps you misheard'."
The Kujit Steppe Bandit's expression also became serious at this moment; he was deep in thought.
And among the other Kujit Steppe Bandits nearby, some also changed their expressions slightly, as if they had suddenly thought of something and spoke: "Respected Lord Aleron, if my friend did not mishear, then I would say perhaps this is indeed true."
"It should be true, because I also heard the faint sound of cavalry galloping. The sound of hooves striking the ground cannot be wrong."
The other Kujit Steppe Bandits also spoke up one after another.
In fact, last night, they all heard the faint sound of hooves.
Although it was very faint, they didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just some auditory hallucination.
But when this Kujit Steppe Bandit spoke it out, they realized that what they heard was not an auditory hallucination, but genuine hoofbeats.
"You all heard it?" Aleron looked at these Kujit Steppe Bandits, though this was just him asking himself and answering, because when all these Kujit Steppe Bandits said they had heard hoofbeats, he knew that cavalry had indeed appeared in the darkness around New Rivadin last night.
"Lord Aleron, the sound should have been very far from us, and it was fast and did not stop, so we all thought we heard an auditory hallucination." These Kujit Steppe Bandits said seriously.
It was also a way to defend themselves.
"I understand. Next time, all of you pay more attention. Remember to report any abnormal sounds in time." Aleron also understood their laxity.
After all, the hoofbeats did not approach the city wall, and being able to faintly hear them and distinguish them was already quite impressive.
However, this did not mean that he would relax next. (End of Chapter)