Chapter 009: Recruiting Troops

The War of the Gods was undoubtedly the most brutal conflict on the continent. Not only did the divine realm lose nearly a thousand deities, but the continent itself also suffered the loss of millions of magical beasts and humans, leaving it on the brink of collapse. Yet the most terrifying aspect was that all elements on the continent were drained, making cultivation extremely difficult for humans.

Fortunately, a perfect solution was found. Most of the races that participated in the War of the Gods never reappeared on the continent—races like dwarves, chimera, and earth dragons remained dormant in the underground world. Some claimed the War of the Gods was a conspiracy orchestrated by the continent’s rulers, with some deities turned into scrolls and divine artifacts scattered across the land. Decades of wars ensued over these artifacts, but they were eventually reclaimed by the rulers of the divine realm.

Thinking about the consequences of another massive war involving millions of troops, even Du Fan and the others grew extremely anxious. If such a situation arose, they would be unable to handle it. Even if it did happen, with the forces at Du Fan’s disposal, it would be nearly impossible to defeat those millions of troops or the approaching archangel legions.

Realizing the dire situation they faced, everyone fell silent, avoiding the topic.

“Du Fan, don’t worry too much,” Long Yi said, looking at Du Fan with sympathy and patting his shoulder. He then turned to Long Ba nearby and asked, “Are there any races on the continent we can mobilize now?”

“I don’t think so,” Long Ba replied helplessly, shaking his head. He looked at his elder brother in confusion and asked, “If we want to boost Du Fan’s forces, it might be more practical to find our former subordinates. But I don’t know where they are now. I’ve been to Dragon Valley—it’s full of descendants of the Dragon God, with no trace of our bloodline.”

“Hmph!” Hearing Long Ba’s words, the fiercely temperamental Long San spoke disdainfully, “That so-called Dragon God is just a little reptile. He was just a lowly soldier when we fought in the War of the Gods. Brother, with just one word from you, we can go capture that little reptile right now.”

“Don’t be impatient.” Hearing Long San’s words, Long Yi was truly helpless this time and said in a somewhat reprimanding tone, “Can’t you calm down a bit? Although the Dragon God we knew before wasn’t very strong, he survived the Divine War, so his energy must have been blessed by the Creator. I’m afraid even if we all work together, we won’t be able to defeat him.”
“Sigh.” Hearing Long Yi and the others’ words, Du Fan slumped in his chair and sighed. If it weren’t for the interference of the Divine Realm, even if the enemy had a million troops, he could still turn the tide in favor of Fisher’s side with the Bimons and other races. But now, the situation had gone beyond his expectations, and the chances of victory for his side were extremely low if a fight really broke out.
“Second brother, shall we go see your kin in the Lituo Mountains?” Du Fan suddenly changed the topic and asked Bashaa.
“Ugh, it’s been a long time since I last saw them. Let’s go!” Hearing Du Fan’s words, Bashaa immediately said loudly.
……
When Du Fan arrived at the territory of the Bilu Tribe with Bashaa, Chief Li’s lips twitched several times.
As the new dwarf king, Chief Li naturally recognized Bashaa from the great battle against Bashaa’s dwarf army. Seeing the dwarf king, the new leader of the Bilu Tribe didn’t know what to say for a moment.
On one hand, it was Bashaa’s army that had nearly wiped out the elite warriors of the Bilu Tribe, making him their arch-enemy. On the other hand, as the dwarf king, Bashaa was, after all, a branch of the dwarf race, and the Bilu Tribe, in name at least, still had to submit to him.
Not to mention that, since Bashaa was Du Fan’s second brother, the Bilu Tribe still relied on Du Fan’s protection. No matter what Bashaa said, the Bilu Tribe wouldn’t dare offend him.
“Your Majesty, the Dwarf King,” Chief Li said, his lips moving slightly, still somewhat stiffly.
“Haha, Chief Li, now that your Bilu Tribe follows my third brother, it falls under his jurisdiction. There’s no longer any master-subordinate relationship between us. You don’t need to be so polite just because you see me,” Bashaa laughed.
The two hundred thousand people of the Bilu Tribe weren’t much in number compared to the several million dwarves in the entire Dusk Mountains. Moreover, by coming to human territory, they were helping their third brother, so Bashaa had no objections to that.

Anticipating that a major war was about to begin, Du Fan’s first thought was naturally weapons and armor. Coming to the Lituo Mountains, the territory of the Bilu tribe, Du Fan was there to inquire about the availability of weapons and armor.
“Leader Li, how many tens of thousands of sets of weapons and armor have been produced so far?” Du Fan asked gently.
“Twenty thousand sets are ready to equip the army right away. I wonder how many more the lord needs?” Leader Li asked promptly.
The existing 350,000 troops, plus another 150,000 from the northern army, meant that all 500,000 troops already had weapons and armor.
The newly recruited 100,000 troops still did not have any weapons or armor. It seemed that the Bilu tribe had prepared enough of them.
Hearing Leader Li’s reply, Du Fan nodded in satisfaction. He was quite pleased with the Bilu tribe’s production speed.
With 200,000 sets of weapons and armor available, he might consider ordering another 100,000 troops through the recruitment department later.
In fact, since the Bilu tribe entered the Lituo Mountains, their sole focus had been on crafting weapons and armor. Du Fan had taken care of all their daily needs, ensuring the tribe’s safety and eliminating concerns about food and clothing. Thus, the Bilu tribe could devote themselves entirely to producing weapons and armor.
Dwarves were natural masters of forging, and almost every household in the Bilu tribe was busy smelting weapons! This greatly increased their production speed.
If not for most of the strong, able-bodied dwarves going to mine iron and smelt pig iron, the number of weapons and armor they could produce would likely exceed 500,000 sets!
…
When news spread that Du Fan planned to recruit more troops, enthusiastic recruitment efforts immediately ensued across the four southern provinces under his rule.
Those who hadn’t been accepted in previous recruitments flocked to the recruitment sites.
“Hey, buddy, watch me! I’m a farmer—very strong!” a seemingly simple-minded young man shouted at the recruitment staff.
After saying that, he started searching around. Soon, a large rock appeared before him. He stepped forward, grabbed the rock with both hands, shouted loudly, and lifted it with great effort.

The recruitment officer took a look and nodded.
That rock weighed at least 200 jin! With such strength, one would naturally be considered an excellent soldier among ordinary troops!
Someone with such innate strength certainly qualified to join Du Fan’s army.
“You’ve been accepted. Go home and get ready. Come back here at 6 p.m. the day after tomorrow,” said one of the recruitment officers.
“Hey, young man, I want to join the army too!” said an old man whose beard was already gray, clearly over sixty years old.
“Sir, you’re a bit too old. We have certain rules for recruitment,” the officer replied. “We only accept those under 33.”
“You’re lying to me!” The old man became upset upon hearing this.
“I just saw a young man lift that rock, and you accepted him into the army. I can lift that rock too!” the gray-bearded old man declared fiercely.
After saying that, he walked over to the large rock, grabbed it with both hands, and lifted it.
“Young men, see! I can lift it too!” the old man shouted at the recruitment officers.
Watching the old man’s actions, the recruitment officers felt helpless.
Although his beard was gray, a person in his sixties still didn’t lose much strength—only their endurance decreased significantly!
While the old man could lift a 200-jin rock, forcing him to march over 200 miles a day would be too much for him!
Being able to lift 200 jin only indicated good explosive power and didn’t prove much else.
“Sir, it’s not that we disagree. We have rules—those over 30 can’t join the army,” the officer repeated.
“I want to go too! I’m strong! I want to help the king avenge himself!” The old man ignored the officers’ attempts to dissuade him and kept shouting.
After the officers finally managed to calm him down, something even more embarrassing happened.
A woman in her fifties appeared.
“Young men, I want to join the army too!” she shouted as soon as she showed up.

Hearing the old woman’s cries, the conscription officers immediately felt a wave of frustration.
“Madam, that’s not appropriate. You’re quite old, and besides, you’re a woman—how can we let you join the army?” one of the officers said awkwardly.
“Young man, that’s the wrong way of thinking! How can you look down on us women?” the old woman retorted immediately.
“Ah, madam, that’s not what I meant! Fighting in battle is men’s duty. If you were to go to the battlefield, I’m afraid that bastard Fischer would laugh at our king! He’d say our Silro Kingdom doesn’t even have enough men to send, and instead sends an old woman to fight!” the officer said, secretly enjoying himself.
“You young man! Look at you! I said I wanted to join the army, but I didn’t say I wanted to fight! I just want to be a cook—helping you soldiers boil water and cook meals. I’m not exaggerating; my cooking skills are top-notch. My son A’Niu used to eat five big bowls of food every meal! My A’Niu serves in the Third Legion!” the old woman kept talking nonstop.