The Natural Empire of the Oceanic Dragon

The centaur raised his glass.

"Our trained spies aren't as professional as yours. The Dragon Lord's warriors are better at direct combat. They still need to learn a lot from the two Archdukes to better control the Northern Territory."

The smiles of the two Archdukes were a little stiff. This was a blatant slap in their faces.

From the time they raised their armies to almost reaching the royal capital, to almost being driven into the Southern Territory by the Sun King, it only took them two and a half years.

Each time Bloodstone Fortress was captured by them, it was because the Sun King had to deal with battles in other directions, and because Old Blind Eye, who was old but not senile, summoned some barbarian tribes that were almost affiliated with Atlantis to move south.

After all, the Northern Territory was already Atlantean territory, so the barbarians could no longer be allowed to plunder, but changing the barbarians would also take time.

Although Old Blind Eye had divided pastures for them in the no-man's-land of the Northern Territory, reducing their desire to plunder a lot, some barbarian warriors who were used to wielding knives were still not used to wielding grass-cutting knives.

Each southward invasion could eliminate some unstable elements among the grassland barbarians, while weakening the war potential of the royal territory.

Not to mention the barbarians, even some restless humans in the Northern Territory chose to join the coalition army and plunder south with Old Blind Eye. Relying on human cunning, this group of villains really made a fortune.

Having made a fortune, they became truly loyal to the Dragon Lord of Atlantis, whom they had never met.

The Archduke of the West dared to rebel, at least his thick skin was up to par, and he immediately seized the opportunity.

"Yes, yes, yes, the Dragon Lord's army is naturally powerful. I wonder if we can hire the Dragon Lord's army with some treasure to help us take Bloodstone Fortress?"

The centaur didn't know how to evaluate the Archduke of the West's shameless behavior for a moment.

"As long as we figure out the source of the Sun King's power and make the Dragon Lord happy, everything will be easy to talk about."

Regarding Sandrake, the Sun King who had made a name for himself, Atlantis was indeed curious about the source of his power.

If the dragon bloodline inherited by the Northern Royal Family really came from the Gold Dragon, then the power expression form of the Dragon Prince should not be the Solar Golden Fire he is currently using.

The two Archdukes of the East and West do have the handiwork of devils behind them, but as soon as they encounter this discerning Sun King, those demonic conspiracies all lose their effect.

The power of the Gold Dragon doesn't have such a strong evil-breaking effect.

This Gold Dragon of the Northern Royal Family does give Atlantis a feeling of Solar Gold Dragon.

Initially, devils were discovered infiltrating among the druids in the forest. Vine Woman cultivated a Solar Apple containing sufficient solar energy based on the golden apple and the solar kumquat.

Just as Atlantis was playing with a plump solar apple, thinking about the secrets of the Sun King, the old fishman who had finished reporting came in.

"Dragon Lord, I have already notified the envoy. We will take over the land south of the mountains and rivers in a month. Judging from his appearance, he probably agrees to our request."

"Hmm?"

Atlantis was slightly surprised. Although he was determined to take half of the Southern Territory, he still planned to save some face for the two Archdukes on the surface.

They were, after all, people who were about to become kings. If they lost all face, who would recognize them as kings?

To become a king, the most important thing is to have prestige in front of the army and subjects.

In fact, the two Archdukes now want to become kings, but before killing the Sun King, they are not qualified to become kings.

The old fishman asked in surprise:

"Dragon Lord, is there anything wrong with my handling of things? Now that five years have passed, the envoys we sent have recruited tribes and warriors from all directions, and the population of the kingdom has already exceeded 100,000."

"80% of the population can be used as soldiers to fight on the battlefield. There are very few forces on the entire continent worthy of our attention."

"Now the Dragon Lord is the adopted son of the strongest dragon Sethistis in the center of the continent, and he has mobilized Sethistis's army to destroy the united human and dwarf kingdoms in the east."

"Apart from the sea entrances needed by Sethistis, the remaining lands exposed to the surface have been handed over to the Dragon Lord for management by Sethistis. I don't understand why the Dragon Lord still wants to annex the Northern Kingdom according to the original plan?"

Atlantis tapped the table with his finger.

"Old fishman, I think you also know that five years ago, I helped the princess of the River Valley Kingdom and, with the help of my adoptive father's army, succeeded in helping her regain the throne of the River Valley Kingdom without much effort."

"The population of the River Valley Kingdom is approximately 300,000. In this war, which lasted less than a year, the kingdom's population only lost 30,000 for various reasons."

"Old fishman, do you know what problem is hidden here?"

The old fishman was greatly puzzled.

"Dragon Lord, didn't you say that the more people who farm, the better?"

"That's true, but the people of the River Valley Kingdom are already accustomed to their current way of life, which means that the River Valley Kingdom's style of doing things is completely different from my style."

"It would take a lot of time to change them to my style, and it might even be impossible to get that stubborn and ignorant group of people to change."

"Even the princess, the current Queen of the River Valley, feels that she has secured her throne and has begun to disobey my orders."

"If the River Valley Kingdom had lost 100,000 people in the war for the throne, I would have taken the opportunity to settle 10,000 of my loyal demihumans in the vacant land of the River Valley Kingdom."

"Then the River Valley Kingdom would now be a multi-ethnic kingdom, not like it is now, where it is difficult to arrange for some demihumans to settle down. Forcing it will only make the people of the River Valley Kingdom disloyal to me."

"Once we take action to suppress the rebellion, not only will we not be able to farm properly, but we will also lose most of the population, and it will also waste these years."

The old fishman nodded and said:

"Dragon Lord's meaning is that rather than having to eliminate half of the population in the end, it is better to adjust that piece of land to the way the Dragon Lord wants it from the beginning, so that it can save some time?"

That's about right. The longer the time spent and the more energy invested, the higher the sunk cost will naturally be.

The land of the River Valley Kingdom is not very suitable for farming, otherwise commerce would not have become the main economic source of the River Valley Kingdom.

But if you look carefully, the River Valley Kingdom can still find several pieces of land suitable for farming, but they need some small modifications, just like the former wetlands, now the River East Land.

The current River East Land is the granary of the Atlantis Kingdom, providing more than half of the kingdom's grain. Even the three halfling towns cannot compare to the River East Land.

Of course, the Halfling Three Towns is also a granary, the land here is equally fertile, but because of the small population, the land has not been fully developed.

As the number of demi-humans migrating to the Three Towns from Attilan has increased year by year in the past two years, the Shanbei area where the Halfling Three Towns is located will become the second granary that is not inferior to the Hedong area.

The people of the River Valley Kingdom still prefer to grow various cash crops, such as spices and fruits.

Through the dense river network within the River Valley Kingdom, they can be quickly sold to the Northern Kingdom's Eastern Territory and surrounding small countries.

Attilan doesn't like the current way of thinking in the River Valley Kingdom. As long as they are given enough benefits, Attilan believes they will not hesitate to push the Queen to betray him.

This Queen does have methods. Separated from the army sent by Attilan, she relied on the nobles she had won over to train an army with good strength, successfully repelling the invading army from the northern countries.

What Attilan wants is conquest, not destruction, so taking down a piece of land is not important, what is important is how to make this land recognize him, the Dragon Lord, after it is taken down.

The public cafeteria was originally a good idea, but it couldn't stand the presence of some villains in the middle, which gradually caused some problems in Attilan's system.

If the subjects are really allowed to be responsible for their own living expenses, then Attilan will no longer be able to conscript them to fight without paying anything like now.

The purpose of his establishment of the Natural Empire is to gain the admiration of his subjects, and then use the faith of his subjects to become a god.

Even if he doesn't become a god, the power of faith from his subjects can still do many things.

The difference between the two methods of using the power of faith is roughly like collecting protection fees and collecting taxes. Collecting protection fees has the advantage of collecting protection fees, which is that it will not be restrained by faith like a true god.

But becoming a god definitely has its advantages, that is, you can use the power of rules.

Attilan doesn't know which path he will take in the future, but it doesn't prevent him from planning the object of payment.

The Supreme Dragon Ball is a good thing. Whether it is the path of the Wild God or the path of becoming a god, it can play a big role, but the only drawback is that it consumes massive resources.

The Natural Empire can help Attilan collect resources layer by layer, so that he can stay in the Dragon Nest to cultivate, and also have a continuous supply of resources for him to refine the Dragon Ball and strengthen the Dragon Body.

Now the forest can provide enough resources to supply his growth, but in another ten years, the resources of the forest will not be enough.

Especially after five years of searching, the natural sacred objects of the Bearmen have already shown some signs.

Once the Bearmen want to advance, then Attilan will probably have to go out to find food himself.

Even the landlord's family has no surplus food. The energy of the forest is estimated to be enough for only one Bearman to use. Everyone has to move to a new forest rising on the grassland to live.

That's right, smash the Northern Kingdom, and then I will come out to save the common people, so that they can remember my goodness. If something is too easy to get, they will definitely not cherish it.

What you did is not wrong, those two guys are too useless. It's time to send some troops to the battlefield to train. If the army doesn't see blood, can it still be called an army?

The old merman nodded and said:

That's right, after five years of training, the talents of the grassroots generals in the army have indeed been greatly improved. The armies in various places can arrange complete formations.

But as five years have passed, the number of armies that have received actual combat in these years is decreasing, and fewer and fewer barbarian tribes in the south dare to fight us.

Dragon Lord, when will we take action and fight the Wood Elf's Magic King?

Attilan said with a smile:

The Great Horn Town Military Academy still plays a big role, cultivating many excellent warrior commanders. As for fighting the Magic King, don't worry about this matter.

Before we cultivate a formed magic unit, or before the Magic King invades Ranger General Vereesa's territory, we cannot act.

If we act in advance, the Wood Elves will not be grateful to us. It was not easy to get the Wood Elves to recognize our Atlantis, so we cannot destroy the possibility of them integrating.

Just forming an alliance with the barbarians in the eyes of the Wood Elves made those Wood Elves quite disgusted. If it weren't for Attilan's title as a Sea Dragon, a giant dragon.

The Wood Elf Rangers would not recognize such a barbaric alliance of demi-humans at all.

Of course, the cultural qualities shown by the demi-human students who went to the Druid School for further studies were still recognized by the Wood Elves. Anyway, the demi-human envoys Attilan sent to the Water Elf Kingdom were recognized by the Wood Elves.

The old merman said with some emotion:

Thanks to the Dragon Lord, I never thought that one day, we mermen could actually sit together with elves to recite poetry and play music.

Attilan's mouth twitched.

This has nothing to do with me, it's entirely the mermen's own efforts.

Although Attilan did set up various academies, all the knowledge taught was about improving strength.

He didn't bother to cultivate talents in music, dance, and poetry. The only profession that is good at these fields is the bard.

But what Attilan needs are professional talents, not jacks-of-all-trades like bards.

It was entirely because a Boarman bard came to his territory, and this Boarman bard's teacher was an elf from Frostwood Forest.

When this Boarman stayed in Great Horn Town, he naturally became a teacher at the Great Horn Town Magic Academy in order to survive.

Of course, the knowledge he is responsible for teaching is definitely not what bards are good at.

Teacher Peng Peng is indeed a talent. I didn't even know that such a unique existence could appear among the Boarmen. The elf who took him in at the beginning really had a different vision.

The old merman said quite emotionally.

Attilan has heard of Peng Peng's story. He comes from a Boarman kingdom in the southernmost part of the continent. Although the kingdom only has about a thousand Boarmen.

But the Boarmen there are not barbaric, but have cultivated their own civilization.

Peng Peng is a commoner who fell in love with the Boarman princess. His profession is even more different, a bard, and the result was that he was expelled from the kingdom.

Because Attilan sent troops to the southern grasslands for training, Peng Peng heard of such a northern kingdom, so he wanted to come and look for opportunities.

But he came too late, and the kingdom had no vacant positions for him.

Whether it is the Snakeman Opeia or the Mermaid Lynn, a Boarman bard, and a male at that, he cannot compete with them.

In the end, he could only go to the Magic Academy to be a teacher, hoping to one day become the commander of the mage group and participate in the battle.