novelSmoke Rising
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Chapter 407: Smoke Rising
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Everything that happened outside had nothing to do with Marvin.
Although his Fame kept rising on the interface, he was already too busy to watch these things.
Time was running out.
If his grandfather's information was accurate, there was only a week left before the Great Calamity would begin.
He had too many things that he needed to do during this week.
Repelling the Alliance wasn't something to be overly proud of. After all, he had no intention to fight against them.
If the Alliance could take the time to reorganize and regain their morale before making a better attempt, White River Valley would likely be unable to keep resisting.
It was a pity that this Wizard Era was about to end.
Otherwise, Marvin wouldn't have done something so extreme.
As for the fight with the Alliance, the best thing about it was that there would now be no pressure to repay the large sum that he had borrowed from them.
Well... he had never planned to pay it back from the start.
The money had all been used for White River Valley's construction and development.
For example, although many adventurers left the adventurer camp at the Alliance's orders, about a third of them still decided to follow Marvin.
Their reasons were pretty simple. Adventurers already lived on the edge every day. White River Valley was very powerful, and if it really split from the Alliance, Lord Marvin would most likely become the ruler of the land south of the Shrieking Mountain Range.
In this new country, they would have a lot more opportunities. Some might even be promoted to become new nobles, obtaining proper territories.
Although seeking wealth from war was very risky, the potential rewards were also very high.
They believed in Marvin because this seemingly small youth had already caused too many shocking matters.
They believed that he was worth betting on.
Naturally, there were still plenty of traitors within that secretly sided with the Alliance.
But at this point, Marvin didn't bother looking for traitors. His people weren't fools. The low-level adventurers wouldn't be able to get a hold of any really important news. They could only listen to Marvin's orders. And with the Calamity coming up, soon it wouldn't really matter if they sided with the Alliance.
In short, since these adventurers didn't leave, they tacitly chose to comply with Marvin's conscription!
Marvin's conscription order was very simple.
The adventurers would become part of White River Valley's forces in times of war.
All of this would be under Gru's arrangement.
As some of the earliest adventurers to join as Marvin's followers, the members of the Bramble team were living a lot more comfortably these days. Almost all of them had minor positions of authority.
As for Gru himself, because of his excellent commanding ability, he was promoted to White River Valley's Head Swordsman.
He was in charge of supervising the adventurers and forming them into army troops.
...
As for the original guard squadron of White River Valley, they were rearranged into the Overlord's guards, still under Andre's leadership.
This group of young men was progressing very quickly. Because of the cultivation tanks, most of them were 2nd rank or above, and of these, half were at the 3rd rank!
Although this guard squadron only had a bit over thirty people, they were Marvin's direct subordinates, his most loyal people.
Apart from that first group, the rest had gone through Anna and Andre's strict tests. Whether it was moral standing, temperament or loyalty, all of them were top-notch.
And while Marvin wasn't in the territory, Daniela had continued the expansion of the lands.
Using Marvin's recruitment order, she had recruited people from across the South to open up more land in the wilderness.
At the time, the Alliance and Marvin had yet to fall out.
This recruitment was financed by the Alliance's gold, but the trained group of soldiers was under Marvin's command.
There were about three hundred of these people and most were unattached, or had moved along with their families to White River Valley, becoming residents.
This army's commander was Anna. Although Anna was busy with governing the territory, the Half-Elf was very gifted.
Marvin was happy to discover that his butler had hurriedly taken a break from work to advance to 3rd rank.
3rd rank might not be much in the coming Era filled with Gods where weaker Legends were no better than dogs, but it still made him pleasantly surprised.
What made Marvin feel moved was that Anna chose a second advancement that would let her better help him manage his territory.
This time she chose [Legion Commander]. He heard that she had paid a high price to an old man in a Half-Elven village to teach her. Almost all her skills and specialties had an effect that would improve the Legion she was commanding.
She completely sacrificed her chance to improve her personal combat abilities and chose to manage the territory and lead the army.
It had to be said that since Marvin came to this world, Anna had always been standing behind him, silently supporting him and making sacrifices.
This Half-Elven girl was also the first person he saw when coming to Feinan.
Recalling the predicament in Fierce Horse Inn, Marvin couldn't help but be deeply moved, feeling sour.
At that time, Marvin had been weak with a fever and Anna stayed at his side every day, looking at him and saying, "Young Master Marvin, it'll be better tomorrow. Believe me. I'll come up with something."
Anna, who was immersed in a pile of documents, raised her head and glanced at Marvin while he was dazed.
She saw Marvin frowning and thought he was worried about the future situation.
The Half-Elven girl put the documents back on the table and gently reassured, "Young Master Marvin, don't think too much, the future will definitely improve."
Marvin froze before smiling. He sincerely showed his appreciation."Anna, thank you."
Anna blinked and arranged the remaining documents, apparently wanting to say something, before ultimately carrying the documents in her embrace and smiling at Marvin before leaving the room.
Marvin sighed. He knew what Anna wanted to say, but it was just that the smart girl didn't voice her thoughts.
She knew he carried too many secrets, and he felt many times that Anna wanted to ask him.
But she never asked.
She had probably guessed some things... or perhaps nothing. But all in all, she was still supporting him with her actions.
Anna was like this, and the others were the same.
...
Marvin massaged his temples. The current White River Valley was very different from how it had been in those times.
Besides the adventurers, the regular army, and the Overlord's guards, there was still the independent Sha army.
The Sha village was south of the White River. Nominally it was under Marvin's management, but Constantine was their real leader.
To outsiders, this might seem like a danger to White River Valley, but Marvin trusted Constantine.
Just as Constantine trusted Marvin.
Two days after the war ended, Constantine arrived at White River Valley with another group of Sha clansmen.
He successfully persuaded a Sha tribe to move to White River Valley.
As a result, their numbers in White River Valley had grown to over two thousand, while the number of inhabitants of White River Valley itself reached about three thousand. These numbers definitely couldn't be compared with those on Earth, his original world, but Marvin knew that Feinan's population was a lot smaller than Earth's.
A territory containing five thousand people would already be considered a huge territory.
In many parts of the North, this would be considered on the scale of a Dukedom.
If Marvin wanted to, with the support of Constantine, he could publicly establish one.
But with the impending crisis, he didn't have that kind of interest.
So in short, there was no disadvantage in having the Shas become part of White River Valley. Many of them were also quite capable in combat.
Although their firearms might not be very powerful, they were certainly more useful in battle than farmers. The only issue was that they weren't good at cultivating lands. But Marvin had already settled the food issue a long time ago.
The twelve Golden Bulls were the food stores that the Twin Snakes Cult had prepared in order to get through the Great Calamity.
The Golden Bulls had enough food for the current White River Valley to survive for at least two years after the Great Calamity.
And by that time, White River Valley should already be self-sufficient.
Constantine and Marvin had a discussion. This time he not only brought the Shas, but also two of his close friends.
One was the Master Harvester, and the other one was the Potioneering Master.
These two were strong people in the North without a fixed residence. They were enticed by Constantine's tempting words of how Marvin had many Dragons' corpses. And just recently, he'd obtained the corpse of the Sea Monster Logenath, making them even more eager to see him in White River Valley.
Marvin treated his guests with courtesy. After all, he even gave excellent treatment to Necromancer Fidel and the Nameless Alchemist, so of course Marvin wouldn't treat such Masters improperly.
At least in the fields of Alchemy and Harvesting, White River Valley now had its own Masters.
...
Apart from this, Constantine also brought an additional piece of information.
The Legends previously gathered in White River Valley had gone to take care of their own matters, and some Legends with no previous ties might choose to join White River Valley.
The Legend Monk powerhouse Inheim for example!
During the Great Calamity, if a person's military force was powerful, then he would easily be able to handle the world's chaos.
Many powers had stretched out an olive branch to Inheim, like the North's Migratory Bird Council. Back then, Mother of Creation had saved Inheim's life.
But according to Constantine, Inheim would most likely choose White River Valley.
The reason seemed to have something to do with the Great Elven King, but Constantine himself didn't know the details.
And most of the other powerful Legend forces he was acquainted with would choose to cooperate with Marvin too.
Like the Heavenly Deer Lorant. Marvin had saved his children once and he clearly understood what would happen after the Calamity.
Although the Sage Desert was part of the Alliance, because of the faith of the Bai clans, the Heavenly Deer's influence played a critical role.
If he wished for it, the Sage Desert would ally with White River Valley. And then there was the three sisters' Rocky Mountain further west.
If the alliance between them was successful, then a large allied coalition would be appearing in the South.
Marvin was looking forward to this.
The old blacksmith Sean gave him some more news:
O'Brien went north to gather the scattered Night Walkers, and he would bring this group of people who had inherited the Night Monarch's will back to White River Valley before the Great Calamity!
When Marvin heard this news, his heart started beating extremely quickly!
Uniting all the forces before the Great Calamity was exactly what he wanted.
And this scene was just a step away from being realized.
Despite the Gods revealing their hands, the mortals were unwilling to become their slaves.
This was a war for freedom and dignity.
Although the war had yet to be ignited, the smoke was already rising!
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