Chapter 183 Preparation For War . . .

"You mentioned about levels? How does it work?" I asked.

And Athena answered, "I know it's confusing at first. But when you'll create your first army, everything will be easier from there. And about your query, every race you produced would start out as level one. And unless you build a Research Facility and have the necessary manpower to operate it, you can upgrade their levels from there and unlock their skills along with it.

"Of course, there's always an option of using a real inhabitant as your troops, but the more deaths you incurred in your fief, the more your realm would suffer."

"So, in short, it's best to use this creatures born from research and elixirs to fight?"

Athena nodded. "That's right. For this world would suffer ruin if every war were manned by the inhabitants."

"That makes sense . . ." Jin said. "I heard of it before. The kingdom of Trinity that the players put up are aggressive to wage war on other countries because they have unlimited troops that they could expend."

"This option is only available to players, right?" I asked Athena.

"That's right, my Lord."

"No wonder they were quick to expand. In just a matter of years. They had expanded into one of the major kingdoms in this world," Jin uttered.

Hmm . . . based on the conversation and information that I gathered, I had a clear picture of what to do.

"Let's build that Research Facility then. I have Tokens here with me that could operate the place. Also, tell Daedalus to exert all efforts into building more elixirs and elixir storage."

"Are we going to war, my lord?" Athena asked.

There was silence for a moment before I answered with a small smile.

"That's right. And not just any war. It's against one of the powerhouses in this kingdom, House Volmont."

". . . I see . . ." Even Athena portrayed a scowl.

I guess this situation was more serious than I thought.

But I welcomed the challenge nevertheless.

The others' faces turned grim as well, and even Thomas's daydreaming of flesh and blood, had suddenly focused his eyes on me.

"War . . ." Megu didn't like the sound of that. And I knew that no one else did.

"Cross . . ."

I heard the uncertainty in Amara's voice, and I didn't want her to waver now.

"Rest at ease, everyone," I started, "Sooner or later, the war would be upon us whether I triggered it or not. In the first place, this world is survival of the fittest, and every country is waging war at each other as we speak, so the earlier that we prepared, the better."

"I get what you're saying, but . . ." Jin wryly sighed. "Why does our first enemy have to be a Volmont?"

Florin shot to her feet and boldly declared, "Hmp! Whoever it is! Even if it is a god or a demon, Florin would lay her life to defend My Lord to the end."

I ignored her and said at Athena, "Have some builders develop this land into a fortress real quick. While half of them work on the buildings on the hill."

Athena nodded. "We can also weaponize the Town Hall and add some artillery now that the elixirs are open. You should have access to weapons on the HAVENs menu by now, My Lord."

"I'll check it later. For now, let's discuss about this impending war. We don't have much time, so I will cut to the chase. What races do I need to migrate here that are useful in battle?"

"About that, My Lord. To counter an enemy and emerge victorious, we must know the enemy first."

Our eyes went to Jin, and the latter scratched his head before he said, "The Volmont are a family of merchants. They have numerous ports throughout the kingdom, and their strength lies in naval war fair. They had the most ships in all of the kingdom, and they controlled most of the ocean and trade routes. They also set out exploration into the vast sea. That's how they got and accumulated their wealth."

"It's not about a matter of knowing them. They could easily hire thousands of the best armies to fight for them. The only window of chance we have is the fact that Edward is against a group of noob players. There's no way that his family would allow him to waste money and lives just to destroy a bunch of noobs.

"In this campaign if ever, Edward could only expend at least five thousand soldiers at most and most of it would come from his own money and personal army."

"That made sense," I said. "Who would expend tens of thousands of armies on just five noob players, right?" I chuckled.

Jin wasn't laughing, though. "They would first send some mercenaries to hunt us down. They had seen us going south, and the southern portion of this kingdom was a straightforward path. There are no other places to go except here, thanks to the mountains flanking on one side while the ocean is on another.

"And once they confirmed our location, these mercenaries would surely report it to Edward. They would also try to kill us and get Amara."

Amara's hand tightened on me while Megu's face crunched under pressure and worry.

"Don't worry," I told them. "As long as you're here in my territory, you'll be safe. Didn't I promise that?"

Megu only weakly smiled while Amara closed her eyes shut.

I didn't know what was running through her mind, but this was no time to have second thoughts.

"And if by chance we eliminated all these mercenaries that he would send our way. Then he would surely get serious and hire the big guns like a group of assassins."

"And if that didn't work?" I asked.

"Then they would send a delegate for diplomacy."

"And if that didn't work?"

". . . Then its war."

There was silence for a moment until the heavy tension was disrupted when a black bird suddenly landed on our table.

Before anyone could react, the bird burst into smoke, and with it, Perry's words rang in our ears.

"My Lord Cross. I'm glad that both of us survived that war with the Grendelkin. Too bad about the balloons, but everything turned out well in the end.

"Anyway, hope this letter might find you, know that Sir Edward Volmont is after your life. As a true merchant, I'm not taking anyone's side in this matter. But for the sake of the advancement of our realm and for the sake of gill, I decided that you must not die until you produce millions of lamps.

"And therefore, I will warn you that Sir Edward Volmont is going after you by hiring the Bugbear Brothers. I hope this letter reaches you, and good luck to you, My lord. I hope you live and produce more lamps for the good of the world. And for the good of our pockets."

I didn't know if I should be happy about his letter or not.