Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 390 - 20: The Tenth Recruitment

Roman left the military camp, but Tashina stayed behind.

The construction of Origin City’s military camp is very well established. It was planned and built by Roman himself, which cannot even be compared to the makeshift setups in Fertile City. After years of trial and error and improvement, it embodies advanced concepts for training professional soldiers. Even ordinary nobles can significantly enhance their army’s combat power by learning just a fraction of it.

These things pose a deadly temptation for Tashina, just like a martial arts genius obtaining a book of secret techniques and naturally retreating to seclude and cultivate.

After observing, Roman found the White Steel Princess to be dependable, straightforward in personality, and strong in action; she could be considered both brave and wise.

Her only flaw is being overly arrogant, always thinking she can single-handedly thrash all the kings of the land without considering the consequences of failure.

She is very courageous; winning battles is normal for her. But she is also too courageous. If she fails, it would inevitably be a devastating defeat that ends her future.

Roman is very aware of this because he’s also in that state.

He’s won again and again, but just losing one battle would expose him, and he’d have to bury his head and start over.

Because his foundation is thin and cannot withstand turmoil.

The White Steel Princess chose to forge ahead courageously and expand wildly. Roman understands that the source of Tashina’s confidence—her claim as the Black Iron King—means that captured land counts as recovered. However, if this process is too fast, it can also cause the foundation to become unstable.

Roman is not prepared to do that; taking steps too big brings the risk of tearing something apart. It’s better to build high walls, store abundant grain, and delay claiming kingship.

The impact of war on production is too severe, and Roman himself holds the position of logistics minister as well.

He is well aware of how much material a campaign consumes; for example, the River Valley Army’s expedition this time has clearly slowed the development speed of both Origin and Fertile.

He holds the overall view, able to directly see the development trend. At the current stage, not fighting battles if it can be avoided and consolidating the foundation is most important.

But with the Black Iron King gone, Roman and Pirate King Alex are the Church Court’s only opponents.

Roman is under great pressure, so he didn’t reject Tashina as an ally.

With just a little bit of material resources, he can gain a large batch of elite soldiers; where else can you find such a good deal?

Besides, as allies, how can they fight side by side without being familiar with each other’s situations?

Allowing Tashina to check his cards in the military camp is entirely within the acceptable range.

Roman then starts his tenth recruitment.

If Tashina’s alarm isn’t an exaggeration, then it’s very likely the Church Court has undergone a super-evolution.

In that case, the preparations he made earlier might not be enough.

Quickly mobilize troops!

Enhance our combat power!

Roman immediately calls Gwivelle over.

Limited edition claw machine!

Destiny Magic is astonishing!

When Gwivelle sees Roman, her bright eyes immediately curve like crescents, very pretty. With a small donkey following behind her, she says in a soft, gentle tone, "Roman, what blessing do you want this time?"

"I want to find those angel envoys with the highest potential and strongest combat power." That’s what he always says. Calling them angel envoys, and himself the Heavenly Destiny. Gwivelle isn’t unfamiliar with this rhetoric; his purpose is exceptionally strong and he never acts without reason.

He entrusts her with the mission to cultivate the land and breed excellent varieties. Whenever he visits her, it’s either to inquire about improvement progress or to use her power to help him find talents; never once has it been just because he ’wanted to see her.’

She knows Roman is busy, too busy to spare time, having to sit in Fertile City while she has to stay in Origin City, with a mountain and a river lying in between.

But Fertile City has recently begun the project of Ice and Fire Pass, and presumably, when the mountain is pierced through, their distance won’t be so far apart, right?

Gwivelle says, "Your wish has already been realized!"

She smiles and gazes at the man staring into the void, noticing he seems to have grown taller, become stronger, his arms thicker than her thighs, and his forearms robust. Placing them on the armrests of a chair, she feels an urge to climb up and hug his neck, but fears interrupting his important matters, so she just watches, quietly.

...

’Come on!’

Roman said in his heart.

He has great expectations for this recruitment.

To be blunt, even the best-trained mortal soldiers don’t stand a chance against the extraordinary on a cold weapon battlefield.

The Shield Guard Army wasn’t driven back by black gunpowder or spears, but by Aaron and other Heavy Equipment Apostles forming a shield wall at the front to withstand the strongest pressures; otherwise, facing humanoid tanks weighing over a thousand pounds, the mortal formations would crumble like tofu at a touch.

...

Shoosh, shoosh, shoosh—

The first ten recruitment attempts of Roman’s tenth recruitment, the dazzling golden light bursting from the recruitment pool directly blinded his eyes.

Damn! Gold!

More than one!

...

[Five Star Iota Hina (Angel Envoy designation assignable)

Attack: B+, Defense: C+, Speed: C+, Constitution: C+, Energy: B

Talent: Insight — Swift and clear discernment, penetration of illusions

First Skill: Marching Posture — Battle power enhancement

Second Skill: Fearless Will — Significant exemption from negative states]

...

[Five Star Enya Oak (Angel Envoy designation assignable)

Attack: C+, Defense: C-, Speed: B-, Constitution: C-, Energy: C+

Talent: Nature’s Gratitude — Greatly increased agility

First Skill: Light as Swallow — Certain degree of control over body weight

Second Skill: Elf Bloodline — Improved battle continuation]

...

Present before Roman now are these two cards, one as valiant as a white steel knife, the Black Iron Princess, the other elegant and handsome, young and cheerful, the Oak Marshal.

This directly stunned Roman into silence.

Is it possible to recruit from different forces?

Another perspective: the entire world is under royal dominion, every strip of land under royal command.

No flaw in that logic.

Mine! Mine! They’re all mine!

The attributes panels of both also astonished Roman.

One is 3C2B, the other 4C1B, definitely the panel of a fifth-tier knight.

Especially Iota Hina; saying she’s a Sixth Order Knight, Roman wouldn’t disagree.

The attribute panel is exceedingly remarkable, even stronger than Margaret.

The Relationship isn’t as satisfactory.

Tashina and his Relationship is only over forty, while Enya’s Relationship is under forty. In Origin and Fertile, that’s considered a level of very low awareness.

After all, Roman has extremely high prestige; any local resident recruited straightforwardly has fifty to sixty Relationship, and soldiers receiving special training in the camp start with Relationship over sixty, and just need a little nurturing to boost it above seventy.

Roman’s assessment is... physically well-developed but with thoughts needing reconstruction.

Of course, they shouldn’t be treated like reform-through-labor prisoners; they need to be subtly influenced...

But if direct resource manipulation is used...

Not mentioning Tashina, turning Enya into a fanatic supporter of the River Valley King, would it spark a war between him and the Oak Grand Duke?