375: Chapter 363 Project Completed, Journey Back to Earth Begins

Before the doors of the Council Hall.

The morning air was slightly cool. Sunshades were arranged in an orderly fashion along both sides of the street, with beds and daily necessities placed beneath them.

The weather had not yet turned cold, so there was no need to enclose the sunshades with wall cloths. Farmers who had rushed in from the areas surrounding Keton City sat on the edges of their beds or on the ground, discussing what the City Lord's upcoming speech would be about.

They weren't particularly worried about new tax hikes or similar policies driving them to a dead end, because they had already reached the very end of that road.

If not for the bread and vegetable soup the City Lord distributed for free every day, they likely would have already starved to death in their villages.

When things are already like this, what else is there to worry about?

After a short while, the morning sun slowly emerged from behind the mountains. The noisy chatter filling the streets paused. The Farmers gazed at the sun, which was not yet too dazzling, their eyes filled with expectation.

The Soldiers who distributed breakfast would be arriving soon.

Soon, a squad of Soldiers pushed carts into the street entrance. The Farmers stood up one after another to line up, maintaining perfect order.

It hadn't been like this at the beginning.

Some Farmers, driven mad by hunger, had cut in line or snatched bread from children and women. The Soldiers who arrived tied them to the flagpoles at the street corner and gave them a severe lashing with horsewhips. The whipping was brutal, and their screams echoed throughout the street.

After that, everyone became well-behaved and, in the process, learned how to queue.

Furthermore, as time passed, the Farmers discovered there was enough bread and vegetable soup for everyone. There was no risk of leaving empty-handed if one arrived late, so they naturally lost interest in fighting for it.

"Eh, Captain, there were always two loaves of bread before. Why are there four today?" a Farmer at the front of the line asked in confusion after receiving his bread.

"You idiot, isn't having two extra loaves a good thing?" the Farmer behind him cursed in a low voice.

The Soldier distributing the bread glanced at him, muttering to himself that the man would definitely fail the "interview" stage. Aloud, he said, "There's a meeting today that will last quite a while, so breakfast and lunch are being distributed together."

Hearing this, the Farmers' faces immediately filled with sorrow; the free food was coming to an end.

Thinking this way, even the bread in their hands seemed less enticing than usual.

Unaware of what was going through the Farmers' minds, the Soldier steadfastly carried out his duty, placing bread into everyone's hands before pushing the cart away.

One Farmer returned to his family clutching the bread and said gloomily, "Today is probably the last time."

His wife, sitting by the bed, wasn't as worried. She smiled and moved the pillow aside slightly to reveal a cloth bundle hidden beneath, patting it gently. "These are all high-quality white loaves. They can be traded for many loaves of black bread, enough to last us until next year."

There were many Farmers with the same mindset.

They only ate enough of the daily bread to sustain life, saving all the rest to trade for cheaper food once the meetings were over.

When the City Lord discovered this situation, he specifically sent people to announce that upon their departure, enough rations would be distributed to last until next year's planting season.

However, this had little effect; the Farmers still stuck to their own ways.

It wasn't that they suspected the City Lord of deceiving them, but rather they felt that saving a bit more could never be wrong.

Seeing this, the City Lord had no choice but to let them be.

The Farmers were in low spirits, silently eating their breakfast—a family of three sharing half a loaf of white bread.

Then they waited quietly for the meeting to begin.

The young children, with their simple minds, did not notice the somber atmosphere. As usual, they chatted and laughed with their companions from the neighboring sunshades.

"Are the ones giving out bread Soldiers?" a child asked his companion.

"They should be. I heard people calling them officers."

"What does 'officer' mean?"

"Uh..." The companion scratched his head, unable to explain.

Seeing this, his mother smiled and said, "An officer is the captain of the Soldiers, responsible for managing them."

"Oh, so it's like a village chief?"

The child was still confused. "The Soldiers... why aren't they wearing armor?"

As the topic was brought up, the Farmers also snapped out of their anxiety about tomorrow. "Yes, why aren't they wearing armor? Why are they all wearing green clothes the color of grass?"

"Can those even be called Soldiers?"

"I heard that only elite Soldiers are worthy of wearing armor. Elite Soldiers... wouldn't be sent to hand out bread, would they?"

"Nonsense, these Soldiers are from the Third Army that drove away the Allied Forces."

This person seemed to know some inside information, and everyone looked at him.

With everyone's gaze gathered on him, he couldn't help but look smug. "I saw the two sides fighting from very close by. I heard with my own ears a Lake Soldier in green clothes say, 'Call the Third Army Command Post.'"

"That doesn't prove it was the Third Army that drove away the Allied Forces, does it?"

"When the Allied Forces were fleeing later, the Soldiers pursuing them were all wearing green clothes!"

The legion uniforms in the Kingdoms of the Saul Continent were different from those of Blue Star. The latter were distinguished by branch of service, while the former were distinguished by legion unit.

Therefore, the Farmers looked at each other and felt that this logic was sound.

Someone who couldn't stand his showy manner questioned, "Are you sure you saw it from nearby?"

"There are Professional lords among the Soldiers. How could they not have noticed you?"

"I have proof!"

"What proof?"

The Farmer looked around for a moment, reached into his pocket to fumble around, and then pulled his hand out, opening his fingers in front of everyone.

They stared. In his palm lay a cylindrical object, copper-colored, with a very smooth surface that even reflected a blurry image of the surroundings.

"What is this?"

"Heh heh." He leaned his head closer to the group and lowered his voice. "An arrow used by the Soldiers of the Third Army!"

"?"

"An arrow?"

"Hahaha... I say, even if you're going to lie, you should find something more believable."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, then burst into laughter.

Being mocked by the group, he immediately became anxious. "I'm not lying, this was shot by a Lake Soldier..."

"Shot what?"

Someone suddenly interjected from behind. Everyone instinctively looked over, and upon seeing the person's appearance, they immediately knelt on the ground.

"Lord Domit!"

As the Farmers knelt in a mass, Domit felt somewhat helpless.

A few days ago, he had hidden his identity to inspect the Farmers' living conditions in front of the Council Hall. Unexpectedly, an adjutant had business with him and came running over shouting "Lord Domit," causing his identity to be exposed. Now, these Farmers knelt whenever they saw him.

"Stand up."

The Farmers rose tremblingly, their faces showing slight unease, which aroused Domit's suspicion.

They hadn't seemed afraid of him when he visited before. What was going on?

Domit put on a stern face. "What wrong have you committed? Tell the truth!"

The Farmers who had just stood up knelt right back down. "Lord Domit, have mercy!"

"I..." Domit's face twitched. It took him a moment to suppress the urge to complain. "Speak quickly."

Everyone was shaking and didn't dare to speak. Domit's expression gradually hardened. Had they really done something?

Looking at this... was it no small matter?

But they stayed at the Council Hall every day and hadn't gone anywhere else. What could they have done?

Just as Domit was about to ask, someone in the crowd suddenly stood up, walked over to him, and knelt again, holding something up with both hands above his head. "Lord Domit, it's all my fault alone! I shouldn't have kept an arrow from the Third Army!"

An arrow?

Do we have archers?

Domit didn't react at first, but when he saw the bullet casing in the Farmer's hands, he realized. He said cheerfully, "This is called a bul—um... it's a discarded arrow. If you like it, you can keep it."

"Thank you, Lord Domit!"

After saying that, he looked around at the nervously watching Farmers. "The meeting is about to begin. Everyone, enter the venue in an orderly fashion under the guidance of the Soldiers."

The Farmer who had "escaped disaster" stood up with the help of those around him. Watching the Council Hall doors slowly open inward and the back of Domit as he walked inside, an impulse suddenly surged in his heart.

He murmured to himself, "If only I could..."

"What?" The Farmer next to him couldn't hear clearly and asked instinctively.

Shaking his head, he pushed away the hand holding his arm, steadied himself, and walked toward the steps in front of the main doors.

...

High in the sky, Zhang Mu burst through the clouds and looked down at the earth.

There were mountains, rivers, and wilderness, but the Elf Army was nowhere to be seen.

Releasing his Shadow Technique, he muttered in confusion, "Damn it, they moved that fast?"

"Was the intelligence Domit gave me wrong?"

"The Elf Army didn't take this road?"

Just as he was thinking of contacting Domit, someone suddenly flew over from the right. Zhang Mu took a look—oh, it was an acquaintance.

"Brando?" Zhang Mu pulled out his staff, ready for a fight. "What are you doing here?"

Brando was also puzzled. He had doubled back to tail the Elf Army for a distance to confirm they were indeed leaving. Why was Zhang Mu here?

The Elf Army was only a few dozen kilometers ahead. You are a Core figure in the Lake high command; aren't you afraid of being killed on the spot by a Saint-level Elf, causing Lake to collapse?

Seeing his extreme vigilance, Brando guessed he wouldn't get an answer even if he asked. Remembering his own plan, he simply decided to take credit first. "I came to drive away the Elf Army, and I succeeded."

Zhang Mu gave a disdainful laugh. "Who are you kidding? Driving away the Elf Army? You?"

Brando was a bit embarrassed. "In any case, it was indeed I who made the Elf Army leave."

Him?

True or false?

What was the reason?

Countless questions surfaced in his mind, but Zhang Mu remained impassive. "The Elf Army's goal was Lake, not the Kingdom. Why would you drive the Elf Army away?"

"Because..." After a moment of silence, Brando felt it wasn't the time to reveal his hand and changed the subject. "You will know in the future."

Zhang Mu gripped his staff tightly. "The thing I hate most in this damn life is a riddler..."

Before he could finish, Brando, sensing trouble, had already flown off into the distance.

With nowhere to vent his anger, Zhang Mu took a deep breath. "The next time we meet, if I waste a single word on you, my last name isn't Zhang."

The reason for the Elf Army's strange turnaround had been found, but not completely.

Zhang Mu couldn't understand why Brando would take action, and the ridiculous thing was that he had actually succeeded.

He thought for a while and decided that since the Elves had given up on attacking Lake, he didn't need to worry about it. He had many things to do, so he should head back.

Returning all the way to Keton City, Zhang Mu landed in front of the Council Hall.

The sunshades that had filled the road were all dismantled, and the Farmers had returned to their homes. It looked like the recruitment work had finished.

Entering the Council Hall, Zhang Mu summoned Domit to ask about the specific situation. Domit gave a quick and simple account.

The recruitment progress was very encouraging.

Perhaps it was due to the half-month of free food, or perhaps the approachable Soldiers. The Farmers didn't have too many doubts about the generous treatment of the Soldiers.

They only raised some questions about the "military merit peerage system," mostly regarding whether it was true or false.

Could one be promoted to nobility just by killing enemies?

Wasn't killing enemies a Soldier's basic duty?

After bringing out several Soldiers from the Third Army who were originally part of the Keton City garrison to speak from experience, and with the corroboration of Farmers who knew them, these doubts were dispelled one by one.

The meeting concluded successfully. The departing Farmers all received enough food to last until next year's sowing season and returned to their respective homes.

Over the next few days, the young Farmers, having settled their families, returned to Keton City to participate in the formal recruitment selection.

After reporting the good news, Domit spoke of a difficulty. "According to the Marshal's orders, we collected evidence of crimes committed by the nobles of nearby cities."

"Those with more serious crimes were sentenced to hanging. Those who maliciously annexed farmland were sent to farm to atone for their crimes."

Recruiting Farmers into the army would lead to a shortage of manpower to cultivate the family's fields if the numbers were too high. Zhang Mu had thought about it for a long time and came up with this solution.

Heinous criminals certainly couldn't be used. If they were truly forced to farm, the Soldiers needed to guard them would be a huge cost. In that case, it would be better to just use a military colony system; why take this extra step?

"Is something not going smoothly?" Zhang Mu asked in confusion, hearing his low tone.

"They claim they are nobles and refuse to be insulted."

"What do you mean?"

"They say taking back the farmland is fine, but they shouldn't be sentenced."

Zhang Mu's eyebrows shot up. "You didn't take them to watch the hangings?"

"I forgot."

"Take them to see the bodies."

"They've been burned."

Zhang Mu's whole body stiffened. "Why were you so fast?"

"It was your order, Marshal—to burn them on the spot after the execution."

"Was it?"

Domit carefully observed Zhang Mu's expression. "Uh... should it have been?"

"Am I asking you or are you asking me?" After a curse, Zhang Mu waved his hand. "If they're burned, take them to see the ashes. The effect is the same. Don't tell me the ashes were scattered too."

"No, the ashes are still there."

"Fine, go deal with it."

After resolving this matter, Zhang Mu took a tour of Keton City.

Three schools were under construction. The reorganized administrative system was incredibly efficient, and they would be able to enroll students in about a month.

Zhang Mu had also prepared the teaching materials early; he had personally compiled all the textbooks.

Considering Lake's special situation of being in a period of war, conditions weren't sufficient to cultivate students from all angles like "morality, intelligence, physical education, and aesthetics" as on Blue Star. The teaching direction could only lean as much as possible toward "mechanical operation."

The goal was to quickly train a group of talents who could get the Armory running.

At the Armory, the buildings had already been completed. Although only the transport and installation of equipment remained, the workload was still significant.

Because people who mastered equipment installation skills were a tiny minority even within the First Army, things could only proceed slowly.

Project Seventeen, however, was more troublesome, despite having blueprints.

The project manager didn't seem to quite understand Zhang Mu's modern drawing methods. While they could generally determine how to construct it, the details were quite tricky and required the designer—Zhang Mu—to explain it to them.

For this reason, Zhang Mu, who had originally intended to return to Blue Star, stayed for a few more months. It wasn't until the spring of the following year, when all matters except for the finishing touches on Seventeen were completed, that he set out on his return journey.

Before leaving, Zhang Mu found Domit and told him he had to go out for a few days. He also instructed him that vigilance against the Allied Forces must not be relaxed.

Although they had been soundly defeated and suffered heavy losses within Lake's borders, they still possessed the foundation to organize another offensive. To prevent the other side from launching a desperate sneak attack on Lake, heavy troops must be stationed along the border.

Domit nodded solemnly in agreement, and Zhang Mu turned and left with peace of mind.