Chapter 41: Enhancement Space
At two in the afternoon, in the city of Ailanyel.
After the formal surrender of the Elf race, the entire city was taken over by the Wolf Cavalry. The civilians within were initially panicked, even despairing, but by the afternoon, the elves in the city discovered that the Wolf Cavalry were not burning, killing, or looting, nor were they abducting elven women as the rumors had claimed.
In reality, this was the elven civilians scaring themselves. The Grey Orcs and the Elf race were two distinct species, both with civilizations. Despite the rough appearance of male Grey Orcs, their aesthetic standards were quite clear.
Pale-skinned, slender female elves did not meet the Grey Orcs' standards of beauty; they preferred sturdier individuals. In the Western Region, only strong Grey Orc infants could survive, a consequence of resource scarcity.
When facing survival pressure, all races prioritize strong individuals as mates to ensure the continuation of the group.
At this moment, inside the Elven Hall, Su Xiao was enjoying lunch. It had to be said, the culinary skills of the elves far surpassed those of the Grey Orcs.
Across the dining table, the Elf Queen was discussing matters with two elven elders: first, gathering resources, and second, tallying the number of elven warriors.
"We still have... 220,000 warriors, waiting outside the city."
The Elf Queen placed a list on the table and fell silent.
"That few?"
Baha hooked the list with his claw, clearly dissatisfied with the current elven military strength.
"Yes."
The Elf Queen had a lot to say. The reason the elven forces were so few was simply because they had been slaughtered by the Wolf Cavalry Legion. If they hadn't surrendered early, even these remaining city defenders would have been wiped out.
Although the Aier Great Forest wasn't large compared to the entire Southern Region, it was home to over 50 million elven civilians. The Elf race's strength didn't come from population; their power lay in their talent.
In contrast, the Chaos Legion, excluding soldiers, had a population of only 5.92 million, just slightly more than the Lizard race.
In Su Xiao's view, rather than annihilating the Elf race, it was more beneficial to defeat them into submission.
First, excluding war casualties, he currently had a total of 600,000 Wolf Cavalry. These 600,000 couldn't rely indefinitely on sustaining war through plunder—it was too unstable. Once they engaged in a plains battle with the enemy, even if victorious, they could only capture weapons, armor, and the like, but not much in terms of supplies.
Regarding weapons and armor, Su Xiao wasn't short on raw materials. Every time he annihilated an elven force, he seized a large quantity of weapons and armor. By smelting these down, he could forge equipment suitable for the Wolf Cavalry Legion.
In fact, the Wolf Cavalry Legion still had significant room for improvement. This was evident from the weapons and armor they currently wielded. Moreover, the armored saddles on their war wolves needed replacement.
The current all-metal armored saddles placed a heavy burden on the war wolves. The direct friction of metal against fur could only be imagined in terms of discomfort.
For the saddles, the parts contacting the war wolf's back and flanks should be made of tough leather, with metal plates added externally to enhance defense.
Equipping 600,000 Wolf Cavalry with full gear would take at least two months if done by their own Lizard craftsmen, and the quality wouldn't match that of elven artisans.
The Elf Queen promised that, given a complete design blueprint, the elven craftsmen would need at most three days to fully arm the 600,000 Wolf Cavalry.
During the crafting process, simple tasks could be handled by elven civilians, such as leather selection and cutting, metal smelting, etc., which would save the craftsmen a lot of time.
Besides weapons, armor, and saddles, rear supply was also crucial. The Elf race's existence solved this; they could provide large amounts of dried meat and easily preserved fruits.
"Within three days, forge these weapons, armor, and saddles."
Su Xiao placed several blueprints on the table. The saddles were a structure of leather plus metal plates, with newly added stirrups on both sides. As for the armor, it consisted of scales, armor plates, and an inner leather layer. Grey Orcs weren't afraid of weight; the key was flexibility.
For the final weapons, spears and the like wouldn't work. Grey Orcs were better suited for heavy sharp or blunt instruments.
The front rows of cavalry would be equipped with long-handled war hammers or long-handled axes—single-bladed, with a weighted opposite end, about the size of a bucket. Once charging, the power of such heavy weapons would be terrifying.
The middle and rear rows of Wolf Cavalry were better suited for bladed weapons of sufficient length and weight. Further specifics would be designed by several elven craftsmen, overseen by Wobor.
Forging all this would take three days. Su Xiao still had plenty of mission time. In fact, the second ring of the main mission had no clear requirements; the reward would depend on how much territory he conquered.
Currently, Su Xiao had taken most of the Southern Region. The Aier Great Forest area still belonged to the Elf race. Excessive pressure would only backfire, potentially spawning civilian rebel forces within the Elf race, aiming to overthrow the Elf Queen while making Su Xiao their primary enemy.
Dealing with rebels would be simple, but it would waste precious time.
If he didn't occupy the Aier Great Forest, elven civilians would find their lives largely unchanged—still three meals a day. They might not even see a single Wolf Cavalry soldier.
What Su Xiao wanted more was the frontline war zone, which occupied four-fifths of the Western Region. The remaining fifth was the Chaos Legion's territory.
In the current main war zone, only Duoyin's many fortresses remained, totaling 17. The Northern Region, Dwarf forces, Wild Man forces, etc., had been gradually withdrawing from the main battlefield since this morning, returning to their respective territories.
If he could reclaim the entire Western Region and combine it with two-thirds of the Southern Region, merging these two adjacent territories, Su Xiao believed the reward for the second ring mission would be quite astonishing.
Su Xiao drank the fruit juice in his cup. Just then, several elven warriors carried in several large chests. These chests were exquisitely crafted. When opened, they were filled with Soul Crystals and various secret treasures.
[You have obtained Soul Crystal (Large) x215.]
[You have obtained Soul Crystal (Complete) x147.]
...
Given the Elf race's heritage, this amount of Soul Crystals seemed abnormal but was actually reasonable.
Su Xiao had long noticed that worlds with powerful soldiers tended to have scarce resources, while resource-rich worlds had strong individual combatants, such as the Dark Crow World, Ghost Continent, Wizard World, etc.
With the current Soul Crystals (Large) reaching 235, Su Xiao took one from the wooden chest, rinsed it with water, and bit off a large chunk like an apple.
"!"
The Elf Queen's originally gentle expression suddenly froze. Her pupils contracted. Previously, even during the massive elven defeat, she hadn't shown such a drastic change in expression.
Su Xiao tossed the last piece of Soul Crystal into his mouth. With so many Soul Crystals (Large) now, he could afford to consume them.
Besides the Soul Crystal gains, the secret treasures in the two large chests were also quite good. Su Xiao needed to find equipment that could be certified by the Reincarnation Paradise.
After searching, he found 2 Holy Spirit Rank equipment pieces, 10 Epic Rank pieces, and 27 Legendary Rank pieces.
[Watcher's Scabbard (Holy Spirit Rank Defense Gear · 807 Rating).]
[Withered Misfortune (Holy Spirit Rank · Special Equipment · 1000+ Rating).]
The remaining Epic and Legendary Rank equipment had relatively low ratings. These could be considered for sale to the Divine Emperor Adventure Group.