Volume 2, Chapter 97 – Preparation

A sense of belonging. That was the question Xingyu Muxi thought about in her earlier contemplation.

“…Hmm, yes, it’s like that, because these half-beasts don’t hold very high status in the Stronghold, so they don’t really have much of a sense of belonging to it…”

“So, the lack of belonging is a fact then?”

“Ah… yeah, I suppose it is…”

Sharl nodded, seemingly understanding something.

As for Tianyin…

She didn’t seem to have grasped the meaning behind Xingyu Muxi’s words yet.

“Um…? Eh…? What… what’s wrong?”

Unable to understand what Sister Xiaomu was talking about, Tianyin asked in confusion. Though sometimes Tianyin could be quite sharp in certain matters, in others she was surprisingly slow.

“Xiaoyin~ what I mean is, if the half-beasts in the stronghold don’t have much attachment to it, then the future residents of our Eden will probably come from there~”

Looking at Tianyin’s adorably puzzled expression, Xingyu Muxi couldn’t help but smile softly as she patiently explained.

“And my earlier question was actually just to confirm that point. As things stand now, we can already be sure where the future population of our Dawn Faction will come from…”

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“Half-beasts?”

Tianyin blinked, then spoke without hesitation. After all, Sister Xiaomu had explained it so clearly. If she still didn’t catch on to the meaning, she really would be too dumb.

“I see… Sister Xiaomu means our faction’s main population in the future will depend on attracting the half-beasts from the Stronghold, right?”

That wasn’t a wild guess on Tianyin’s part. Since Xingyu Muxi had said it so plainly, and with Eden’s current location being closer to the Stronghold than to the Kingdom, it made sense to think about drawing in the half-beasts. Besides, the half-beasts didn’t seem to have a strong sense of belonging to their current Stronghold either.

“That’s right. For now, attracting those half-beasts is our main goal. Also…”

Xingyu Muxi’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“Xiaoyin… I have a feeling something big is about to happen soon… so gathering more population and organizing a proper army… that’s what will truly matter when the time comes…”

Organizing an army?

Tianyin didn’t quite understand why Sister Xiaomu would say that, but she could tell the concern in her tone wasn’t baseless.

Moreover, Tianyin still remembered what the Grand Duke of the Undead, Sargus, had told her during their private meeting.

The Undead would lose…

And it would be a loss unlike any before, unimaginably devastating.

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But… could that really be true?

Even if a Throne-class being like the Grand Duke of the Undead said so, Tianyin still couldn’t fully believe it.

Would the Graveyard really suffer such an unprecedented defeat?

From what she saw now, with the seven great factions joined together, there was no sign of the Graveyard losing. On the contrary, they were the ones suppressing the seven factions completely.

Maybe even the Grand Duke of the Undead, Sargus, was mistaken?

“Sister Xiaomu, if we’re going to organize an army… right now, there are only a few hundred of these newly arrived half-beasts. Even if we turn every one of them into soldiers, it’s impossible to raise a full army… and besides…”

Tianyin glanced at the long line of half-beasts in the distance.

“Most of these half-beasts are women. The number of males who could serve as soldiers is less than a hundred… Sister Xiaomu, we just don’t have enough people…”

Although Tianyin wasn’t the type to enjoy being a lord, and she wasn’t exactly the kind of lord who managed food and resources properly, this kind of problem was obvious even to her.

There simply weren’t enough half-beasts who could serve as soldiers…

Even though Eden City had been upgraded by the System into a city that could accommodate five hundred thousand residents, with a maximum military capacity of fifty thousand, the problem remained, where would Tianyin find enough people to fill the remaining forty-nine thousand soldier slots?

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“Well, Xiaoyin, there’s no need to rush. For now, let’s at least transfer all the half-beasts who can serve as soldiers into the barracks… After all, our current army is far too small. If we were attacked suddenly, we wouldn’t even be able to defend the city walls properly…”

After all, Eden was now a city capable of housing half a million people. Just the defense force needed to man the walls during wartime was already beyond what their fewer-than-one-thousand soldiers could handle.

“Alright then, we’ll do as you say, Sister Xiaomu. Over the next few days, we’ll transfer all half-beasts who meet the soldier requirements into the barracks for training…”

Although Tianyin knew that moving these newly joined half-beasts directly into military service might cause unrest among them, she trusted Xingyu Muxi’s judgment completely.

For now, Eden was far too empty and fragile. The newborn Ninth Faction, Dawn, was like an infant still in its cradle, weak and vulnerable.

One strike would be enough to shatter it.

Even though a Throne-class like Tianyin was holding down the fort on the surface…

It was still better to be prepared in advance. Everything should be planned ahead of time.

However, Tianyin never expected that just a few days later, the entire world’s order would be shaken to its core.

That earth-shattering change would cause the Graveyard, once so powerful it terrified all, to completely collapse and fall apart.

Not only that. Even the future Main World would descend into an unprecedented age of chaos following the fall of the Undead.

But Tianyin didn’t know any of that yet.

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All she knew was that the Ninth Faction, Dawn, needed to find a way to survive and grow in the cracks of the future world.

She used to drift through life like a salted fish without dreams.

But now, she has one.

That dream was to build this newborn faction, this Eden before her, into a true paradise.

“Sister Xiaomu, I’ll leave everything to you then. I don’t really understand this stuff anyway~”

Thinking that, Tianyin stuck her tongue out playfully at Xingyu Muxi.

“Pfft, really now, Xiaoyin, you need to learn how to be a proper lord~”

“But I have you, Sister Xiaomu, don’t I?”

“Sister Xiaomu will definitely help me, right?”

“Well… since you put it that way, of course I’ll help you~”