Chapter 158: Golem Army Formation, Holy Fist

Chapter 158: Golem Army Formation, Holy Fist

"Can you give me the military details of Cyclops City?"

Su Nan withdrew his gaze from the map and continued his questioning.

Kore bowed his head and replied, "Based on our current intelligence, we estimate that Cyclops City houses no fewer than a thousand eye monsters, with at least five of them being Legendary-level variants. Additionally, there are no fewer than twenty thousand slaves."

Eye monsters were notorious for their ability to control other creatures using mental powers, turning them into their slaves. To them, slaves were expendable resources; if one batch died, they could always control another. This made eye monsters infamous for their sadistic treatment of slaves.

With over a thousand eye monsters controlling just twenty thousand slaves, the number seemed rather conservative. Su Nan estimated that there were likely closer to thirty thousand slaves in Cyclops City.

Of course, the creatures controlled by the eye monsters were generally weak, typically dog-headed men, lizardmen, and ogres—common cannon fodder in the Underworld.

After a moment of thought, Su Nan made his decision and spoke firmly, "Red Widow will be the commander, and you two will serve as her deputies. Lead a small golem army to attack Cyclops City. I'll provide an additional Adamantine Golem. Do you have any issues with capturing Cyclops City within three months?"

After the base was relocated into the Dragon Forest, the importance of Base 1 and Base 2 significantly decreased. Su Nan reduced their defensive forces by a large margin, transferring the freed puppets entirely to the Star Alliance.

Following this, Su Nan reorganized and restructured the golem army, primarily by establishing a formal hierarchy.

The hierarchy, from lowest to highest, was: Squad, Platoon, Banner, Company, and Legion.

The first four ranks consisted of 10 to 500 puppets, primarily Stone Golems and Dual-Blade Puppets.

The Banner rank included one Elite Stone Golem in addition to the regular puppets.

The Company rank included five Elite Stone Golems and one Iron Golem.

The highest rank, the Legion, started with 5,000 puppets and necessarily included a Second Circle Legendary-level puppet.

Legions were further divided into Small, Medium, and Large based on the number and strength of the puppets.

A Small Legion consisted of ten Companies, totaling 5,000 puppets. In addition to the standard Elite Stone Golems and Iron Golems, it included two High-Grade Stone Golems and one Elite Dual-Blade Spider.

Five Small Legions could be combined to form a Medium Legion, which, in addition to numerous First and Second Circle Legendary-level puppets, included one Adamantine Golem.

Similarly, five Medium Legions could be combined to form a Large Legion.

Above the Large Legion, Su Nan had a grand vision of a Corps, but it was still just a vision. The current Star Alliance was far from capable of forming a Corps. In fact, they didn't even have a Medium or Large Legion.

Currently, the Star Alliance only had two Small Legions.

It wasn't that Su Nan didn't want to form more legions; it was simply beyond his current capabilities. The cost of forming a single Small Legion was approximately 700,000 gold coins. The puppets that made up the two Small Legions were the result of Su Nan's gradual accumulation over time.

He couldn't form a third Small Legion in the short term, let alone a Medium or Large Legion.

The higher ranks were set up to prepare for future army expansion.

Xeman and Kore had already heard about the recent changes in the Star Alliance's military structure from Adriel and readily agreed.

A Small Legion, an additional Adamantine Golem, and Red Widow, a Second Circle Legendary-level powerhouse, would be more than enough to capture Cyclops City.

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, you two have worked hard lately. Take a few days to rest and familiarize yourselves with the new base, and then handle the preparations for the attack on Cyclops City."

"Yes, Master."

With a wave of Su Nan's hand, Xeman and Kore respectfully left.

Once they were gone, Su Nan's gaze returned to the map.

Within a 300-kilometer radius of the Star Alliance, Cyclops City was the only true city; the rest were mere tribes, not worth worrying about. Capturing Cyclops City would allow the Star Alliance to freely develop the surrounding 300-kilometer area. Finding a few mineral veins in such a vast region should be no problem.

As for the attack on Cyclops City, Su Nan had no intention of personally leading the assault. He would delegate the task to his subordinates. The Star Alliance was established precisely for such situations. Cyclops City would serve as a test. If successful, future attacks on smaller and medium-sized cities could be handled by his subordinates, allowing him to focus on the bigger picture.

"Capturing Giant Eye City and securing their silver mines will nearly complete the mithril needed to forge a secret puppet."

The thought of soon being able to craft a legendary fourth-circle puppet made Su Nan's heart race with excitement.

Regaining his composure, Su Nan turned to another stack of documents.

These were the reports submitted by the six knight academies.

Next year, during the month of Summerlong (June), these six knight academies would welcome their first graduating classes.

Following the example set by Dragonheart Knight Academy, the graduation exams for these six academies would also take place in the underground world, with little change in format.

Su Nan wasn't particularly concerned about this; Carolina would handle the logistics of the graduation exams.

What truly required his attention was the magical rune constructs for the three thousand graduating students, including 2,970 first-tier constructs and 30 second-tier constructs.

Creating such a large number of magical rune constructs would keep him exceptionally busy for the entire year.

"Xie Man and the others can only manufacture enchanted weapons at best; they're not yet capable of crafting alchemical magic items, let alone magical rune constructs."

"I'll have to do it myself."

Sighing, Su Nan got up and headed toward the workshop.

Fortunately, the elemental pool had been repaired, and the Dragon Grove's operations were gradually stabilizing. Apart from his own cultivation and enhancing the bloodline concentration of Hidden Dragon, he had no other major tasks on his plate, leaving him time to manufacture the magical rune constructs.

"I'm almost done mastering spell construction. By the second half of next year, my training progress should reach 100%."

On a vast, open plain.

Two figures were sprinting at breakneck speed, their movements as swift as streaks of light, faster than the finest warhorses.

Despite this, the two figures frequently looked back over their shoulders, their pale faces filled with terror, as if some terrifying monster was pursuing them.

Only after sprinting for a couple of hundred kilometers and seeing no one in pursuit did they finally relax and slow down.

Even so, having sprinted such a distance in a short time, both of these legendary knights were nearly depleted of their battle energy and elemental power. They needed to find a place to recover quickly.

The two soon found a hidden cave, sat down cross-legged, and closed their eyes to restore their battle energy and elemental power.

But as soon as they closed their eyes, they both sensed something was wrong. They opened their eyes in shock to find themselves back on the open plain.

"What's happening?" the taller knight's face changed dramatically.

The older knight with gray temples looked around, his expression one of disbelief.

"This is where we started!"

The taller knight glanced around and indeed found large battle scars nearby, which looked very familiar—clearly the marks left from their recent fight with the enemy.

His face drained of color.

It turned out that their sprinting had been in circles, and they hadn't actually escaped far at all.

As a member of the Holy Fist, he knew exactly what had happened.

Illusion!

Both of them had fallen victim to the enemy's illusions!

A gentle breeze suddenly blew past.

The taller knight and the older knight sensed something and looked to their left front, where a woman had suddenly appeared in the previously empty wilderness.

She was a tall, slender woman clad in a gray robe. Her skin was fair, her hair smooth and silky, exuding an air of noble elegance.

Most men would be captivated by her graceful figure.

—Until they saw her face.

Apart from a pair of bright blue eyes, her face had no other features.

Droplets of water danced around her, and faint wisps of greenish wind occasionally appeared.

"Eira!"

The taller knight spat out the name with a mix of hatred, fear, and dread.

They thought they had escaped this woman, only to fall into an illusion and waste their efforts.

"Thank you for your hard work," Eira said, elegantly bowing to them.

The beauty of her gesture was marred by the thick layer of sarcasm it carried.

The two legendary knights' faces turned ugly.

"Ha, how pathetic!"

Another voice sounded.

About ten meters away, a flame suddenly appeared and quickly grew into a humanoid shape, with a male face faintly outlined where its head should be.

His mouth opened and closed, and sparks flew as he spoke, leaving scorched marks on the ground.

"Two ridiculous fools, busy all this time only to realize they were under an illusion. I nearly burst out laughing watching them."

He turned to look at Yiluo and mocked, "In my opinion, you're being too cautious. Just finish them off; why waste your energy?"

Yiluo didn't get angry. The gentle breeze swirling around her carried a melodious female voice.

"These two are Second Circle Legendary Knights. Fighting them head-on would take a lot of effort. This way is much better."

Seeing the two of them talking as if they didn't exist, the tall knight and the elderly knight turned livid with anger.

But they soon realized in despair that they were no match for their opponents.

A Third-Class Wizard Apprentice was already a headache.

Let alone two of them!

And these two were among the strongest of the Third-Class Wizard Apprentices!

"You Eternal Life Society are too arrogant! Do you really think you can toy with us, the Holy Fist, as you please?" the tall knight gritted his teeth.

"Or what?"

The flame humanoid's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Just a group of Legendary Knights, and you dare to meddle in wizard affairs. I don't know whether to call you bold or foolish."

"If you know what's good for you, hand over the keys to Evans and the Starlight Tower, and I'll give you a quick death!"

The tall knight snorted. "Don't think I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Anyone who believes in the Eternal Life Society's honor is the real fool!"

The flame humanoid didn't get angry but laughed heartily.

"You're finally showing some sense."

"Then there's no need for more talk. Once I kill you, I'll extract your souls and interrogate them slowly!"

As the last word left his lips, the flame humanoid's body exploded into countless waves of fire, sweeping forward like a flood, colliding with the two knights.

The tall knight and the elderly knight exchanged a glance, then shared a bitter smile. Their expressions quickly hardened, and they advanced without retreating, fearlessly meeting the wave of flames.

Both knew there was no hope of survival today, so they decided to fight to the death rather than flee.

Boom!

The plains echoed with continuous explosions.

Blinding flames and dazzling martial auras intertwined.

The battle lasted only a dozen breaths.

The two exhausted knights were no match for the Eternal Life Society's Wizard Apprentices. Yiluo didn't even need to intervene; the Flame Wizard Apprentice easily dispatched them.

"Arrogant fools!"

The flames receded, reforming into the flame humanoid.

He opened his mouth, and two faint, ethereal figures struggled to break free from the charred corpses, only to be forcibly sucked into his mouth.

"They probably don't know much," Yiluo finally spoke.

Embers sneered. "It doesn't matter. Kill everyone in the Holy Fist, and Evans will have nowhere to hide. We'll find him eventually."

"Except for that Hunter. He's close to Evans. If he helps Evans escape, it will cost us more effort."

Yiluo remained silent, acknowledging Embers' words.

A Wizard Apprentice who could escape from Saulo's grasp was worthy of their respect.

Suddenly, both of them sensed something and turned to the side.

A figure slowly materialized in the air—it was Saulo.

Saulo glanced at the charred corpses and asked, "Any leads?"

"We'll know after the interrogation," Embers shrugged. "But don't get your hopes up. These two probably don't know Evans' whereabouts."

Yiluo asked, "What about Scorpion?"

"Same," Saulo replied coolly. "The Holy Fist's secrecy is impressive."

"What do we do next?"

"Continue. Root out the Holy Fist and force Evans to show himself."

Embers grinned, licking his lips. "I like this straightforward approach. I've heard the leader of the Holy Fist is quite powerful. Let me handle him. I can't wait to taste the soul of a strong opponent."

"Suit yourself."

With those words, Saulo's figure slowly faded into the distance.

A gentle breeze swept by, and Yiluo disappeared as well.

"Two uninteresting fellows."

Embers sneered and turned into a pillar of flame, rising into the sky.

Next came the soul interrogation, a time to savor the agony and pain.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end