Chapter 55: Zong Ge Stands Alone

After Tan Qiu left, the survivors’ leadership met again.

“Snake Rat Island’s ruling lord’s determination to eradicate Rou Zang is quite resolute.

“This time, he used the battle squad organization plan to obtain our strength.” The dragonman briefed them on the situation.

“Battle squad?” Cang Xu stared, “The Sha Ta Clan I served had two battle squad types. One is the Violent Sand Wind Archers and the other is the Tower Shield Guards. The specific organization of them is one of the secrets of the Sha Ta Clan, and is one of their pillars that supports them.”

“Battle squad plans are indeed rarely seen on the market, and whenever one is auctioned off, it triggers a mad scramble for them.” Said Zi Di.

“The Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army…” Zong Ge pondered, “I know of this battle squad. Its greatest strength is stealth, because it can travel underground for some distance. During the Green Acid Swamp Unification Campaign, the battle for Golden Steel Cliff, and the Star Prairie Joint Operation, this battle squad performed brilliantly.”

“In the Green Acid Swamp Unification Campaign, there were at least three contingents of the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army. The commander hid these spearmen in the swamps and waited until the lizardmen tribesmen passed by to ambush them, regularly causing disastrous losses to the lizardmen’s archers. Without long range firepower, the lizardmen sank into a large disadvantage. During battles, the imperial army easily exploited this disadvantage and used it to achieve victory.”

“During the battle for Gold Steel Cliff, the empire had been beaten back by the dwarfs. After the imperial generals talked it over, they launched their combined arms attack. In the sky there were griffin and eagle knights, while on the mountain the main force’s catapults and other units stormed it head on. After magicians used the Change Stone to Mud spell to soften the insides of the cliff, a unit of Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army seized that opportunity to attack the underground. However, their main mission was to protect the legend level druid, Lu Pan. Lu Pan transformed into a magic beast pangolin and dug into the foundations of Gold Steel Cliff’s fortress, creating an opening in the enemy’s defensive line. The Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army was nearly wiped out in this engagement,

“During the Star Prairie Joint Operation, the horsemen’s khan was poisoned. The imperial commanders had a small unit of 16 Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army go underground to sneak in and directly raid the khan’s tent. Their main purpose was to be bait, and they successfully distracted the cultivators in the army. Due to this, the horsemen’s army lacked its cultivators’ oversight, allowing the imperial forces to rout it outright.”

Zong Ge proved he was worthy of being an outstanding officer when he immediately recounted the military campaigns the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army were involved in.

This battle squad had undertaken many major missions and contributed much to achieving victorious wars. However, after the young captain had heard it all, his brows pursed.

He reckoned in his heart, “During the Green Acid Swamp Campaign, the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army were used for ambushes. During the fight for Gold Steel Cliff, they were the army that protected the legendary druid, Lu Pan, and were effectively depleted for that purpose. Then in the Star Prairie Joint Operation, they were candidly assigned as bait.”

When Zong Ge saw the young man frown, he understood what the latter was expressing.

He immediately illuminated him, “I don’t endorse the establishment of a battle squad like the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army.”

“How the imperial commanders used this battle squad reveals how much they think it is worth.”

“Besides in the swamps, other battle squads will perform better. In other places, they need to cooperate with others to be a threat. But even then, they are more often than not bait or cannon fodder.”

Zong Ge continued, “

“The primary aim of developing this battle squad was to fill in the shortage of cultivators and to check and balance out the enemy’s cultivators. They tried to use quantity to compete with quality.”

“But the results were not good.”

“This battle squad could indeed inconvenience cultivators, but can only inconvenience them.”

“The reason why battle squads have been circulated in present day, have many varied types, and are very popular on all continents, is because people noticed that although battle squads are not good at dealing with the strong, when dealing with enemies of the same level, the one with the battle squad will often crush them in battle.”

“Take our current situation.”

“Even if we establish a Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army, we cannot use it to deal with Rou Zang, on the contrary, Rou Zang will inflict heavy losses on it and even destroy it to a man.”

“And to deal with those pirates, we don’t require a battle squad. Because ships have limited space and our men are finite, while the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army requires large quantities of them.”

“The threshold to establish a Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army is low, and is comparatively easy to form the broad scale needed for stable battle strength.

“We need a higher threshold, and to pursue quality over quantity for our battle squad. This smaller squad also needs to be capable of making an impact.”

“Secondly, the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army is unsuitable for naval battles. Although they can go into the water, going underwater is different from going underground, and water is easier to examine than mud. They will find it difficult to sneak about and conduct ambushes.”

Zi Di nodded, “If that is so, then even if we set up this type of battle squad, won’t the earnings of it be low?”

“No.” Zong Ge nevertheless shook his head, “If we don’t have any other organization methods, I still suggest that we think about obtaining this battle squad organization method.”

“Anything is better than nothing.”

“And right now, I have a battle squad organization method.”

At that moment, Zong Ge got the attention of everyone.

Everyone was slightly surprised, but soon accepted it.

After all, Zong Ge had shown many hints of his extraordinary background.

“Describe it in detail.” Said Cang Xu.

Zong Ge nodded, “I believe the most suitable battle squad is an archer squad.”

“We have many alchemy firearms and crossbows on us. With those are our base, we can create Arrow Rain Archers and Arrow Storm Archers.”

“Kuai Tui and his dogmen are fit for establishing a Quick Knife Hand battle squad.”

“There are too few oxmen. We can provide them with heavy armor and turn them into the core power of small scale battlefields - Healing Tower Guards.” 

Despite somewhat anticipating it, when he heard Zong Ge’s explanation, the young man and the others still felt amazed.

It was very clear that these were not the only battle squads Zong Ge could make, they were the ones he picked as they were the most appropriate for their situation.

Compared to gathering battle qi techniques, collecting battle squad organization methods was far harder.

Because battle squad organization methods contained one or more battle qi techniques, the equipment used to fight, special training regimens, and other such things. 

Many organization or powers even deliberately disseminated battle qi techniques. But no power would circulate how they created their own battle squads.

The reason for both was actually the same – for the sake of organization.

Keeping battle squad formation methods secret was protecting the foundation of an organization. Spreading battle qi techniques filtered for suitable newcomers and allowed the continuous absorption of new blood that strengthened the organization.

It was rare that someone like Zong Ge could provide three battle squad formation methods in short succession.

Even Tan Qiu would be hard pressed to accomplish this.

“So, what family did Zong Ge come from?”

“He actually knows this many battle squad organization methods?”

Everyone was amazed and curious.

Anyways, the sudden fact that they had so many battle squad organization methods was a boon to the survivors.

Previously, the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Amry was alluring.

“In that case, do we have the resources to set up battle squads?” The dragonman looked at Zi Di with some concern.

Zi Di controlled the survivors’ money, and knew it like the back of her hand. But when it came to how battle squads were formed, she was uninformed.

The ghost girl looked at Zong Ge.

Zong Ge calmly ran his eyes across the room, they looked straight into the dragonman youngster’s eyes, “If I am to contribute these battle squad organization methods, I will need to be compensated.”

Everyone was immediately silent.

The dragonman youngster nodded, then sincerely replied, “Indeed, they belong to you Zong Ge, your requirement is reasonable and fair.”

“I was just negligent.”

“May I ask what you require?”

Zong Ge bluntly replied, “I need a ship, my own ship. I also need manpower, Kuai Tui and the dogmen can serve as my private guard.”

The other three were once again silent.

Zi Di’s face sank.

Cang Xu’s gaze also hardened.

Everyone felt that Zong Ge was crossing the line. He was openly making his own small group, it was very evident that he planned to part ways in the future.

Despite the competition earlier on Mystifying Monster Island, everyone was accustomed to cooperating with each other fully in solidarity.

Zong Ge’s request faintly betrayed everyone’s feelings.

The young man’s face did not change, and he sighed to himself.

However, upon careful thought, Zong Ge’s request was actually quite reasonable. 

Before on Mystifying Monster Island, when he first met Zong Ge. He had been a man of unfathomable ambition and a grand person unwilling to being under someone else.

During the later stages of Mystifying Monster Island as well as dealing with Rou Zang, in order to survive and compete with powerful enemies, the survivors had to join forces and unite tightly.

Upon reaching Snake Rat Island, and resting and reorganizing for so many days, the external circumstances had become far more relaxed, thus the unity that bound everyone naturally began to show cracks.

“Zi Di and I are very close, while Cang Xu is a necromancer, and because of that, he finds it very difficult to integrate with normal society or organization, in addition to the immense benefits of the Bloodcore. But Zong Ge…”

“Up until now, I still don’t know his background.”

“Anyways, I understand his nature. He really is that type of person.”

“Upon thinking that, the young captain nodded to Zong Ge, “You request is not excessive, and even quite low.

“I hereto accept your request Zong Ge, my comrade in arms. I shall give you a ship and the dogmen.”

“Not only that, but in accordance with the concrete market value of battle squad organization methods, in the future, I will give you more manpower and ships.”

Zong Ge was pleased with the young captain’s response.

The young captain’s reaction was within his expectations.

Like how the young man understood Zong Ge, Zong Ge too understood the young man’s character.

The speech the beast knight had given still left a deep impression on him to this day.

He knew the young captain always had the nature of a knight, Zong Ge even liked him more than templar knights. As for his magic beast transformations, it was just a way to elevate his battle strength, nothing more.

Zong Ge obtained what he wanted, thus he answered the query Zi Di had earlier, “After this, I will give you a list of items and the specific details on how to organize those three battle squads.”

“Although there are many things on the list, don’t be nervous.”

“In short, Tan Qiu was right.”

“Battle squads need time.”

“Because we need to use a specific battle qi technique, equipment, and drilling regimens, as well as selecting suitable members for the squad.”

“There are countless bloodlines, each unlike the other, thus selecting members is quite the long process.”

“We can form the three squads at the same time with very low investments in the early stages. You may even find that no one can be used, because there are no suitable candidates. During the later stages of formation, the cost to maintain the battle squads will gradually increase and we will need to pay attention to the upkeep cost.”

“Normally, the more difficult the member selection is, the stronger the battle squad will perform in combat.”

“The three battle squads we have selected all have a much higher selection criteria than the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army.”

Zong Ge’s standards for troops were very high, and he believed the sailors he had previously were of too low quality, they could not meet his eye, and he immediately gave them up.

The sailors now could barely reach his minimum standards.

Among them all, he valued the dogmen the most.

Thanks to his many years of leadership experience, he felt that after he trained these dogmen, they would become one of his cornerstones in the future.

After the brief discussion finished, everyone received an alchemy device.

Zong Ge left the captain’s room, he called over Tripleblade and Kuai Tui, began packing up his things, started mustering a group of people, and began the relocation to his own ship.

It was very noisy.

Tripleblade was very excited, while Kuai Tui already began to adore Zong Ge, thus he animatedly lead his clansmen to accompany Zong Ge’s relocation.

“What’s going on?”

“Is there a conflict going on?”

“I heard Lord Shi Qi’s cultivation has reached the peak of the silver level, he is only a step away from the gold level. It is normal that Captain Long Fu can no longer keep him under him.”

The other sailors were privately discussing.

Zong Ge was expressionless.

When he arrived at his own ship, he put his hand onto its side and sighed to himself, “This is my starting point.”

He knew what kind of vile effects his action would bring.

But he had to do this!

He was ambitious, and wanted to start an undertaking. He had to have a clear idea of who his troops would be.

Not only him, but also Tripleblade, Kuai Tui, as well as the dragonman youngster, Zi Di, Cang Xu, and the others.

“This group does not have a future, and sooner or later it will break apart.”

“Growing it now is indeed a bad influence. However, if I blindly compromise and mix up my benefits with them, when I separate in the future, it will be harder to explain, and I might have a falling out with them.”

“Me doing this is absolutely the correct decision!”

“He does not know what his is missing. Alas…” Cang Xu shook his head and sighed.

The qualitative changes the Bloodcore provided could turn heaven and earth upside down for anyone and any organization.

The Bloodcore also helped immensely in the formation of battle squads.

The main difficulty in forming battle squads was finding the people.

If one had a Bloodcore, would they still need to find people?

The greatest obstruction no longer existed for the young captain, for he had the Bloodcore!

“He won’t miss it.” The dragonman youngster shook his head, “It was a spoil of war that belonged to everyone, Zong Ge also has the right to have a part of it.”

“It was only because of how important it is that we concealed from him.”

“This is only temporary.”

“We will wait for an opportune moment to mature in the future to tell him about it.”

But it was undeniable that because of Zong Ge’s act today, such an opportunity would be further delayed.

Zi Di began to calculate the finances, “The battle squads need people and equipment.”

“We can do alchemy, but to create war gear, we need a blacksmith.”

“We don’t have the ability to create the needed equipment, but the price of then is comparatively low. Our alchemy capabilities can be used in other aspects to be more productive.”

“Furthermore, we lost a yellow crab alchemy puppet when building that formation.”

Altogether, they only had two yellow crab alchemy puppets, they were the main ones doing the physical labor of alchemy.

The tower spirit only directed them, and although the Deep Sea Monster Fish had alchemy formations that were very strong, they only had singular functions. 

The Deep Sea Monster Fish had very limited space, and there was no way to lay out even more alchemy formations.

The Anti-investigation and Prophecy Formation the survivors built took up an entire cabin. To say nothing of the packed alchemy cabin, the other holds wouldn’t do either. The boarding cabin had the most space, and they were barely able to meet the space required for the alchemy formation.

“We lack a steady income, and currently our finances are always unhealthy.”

“Even if I get in contact with my merchant alliance, it will still be hard to solve this predicament.”

Zi Di was the president of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance.

But the Wisteria Merchant Alliance had already broken up and did not have much sway in the seas.

In addition, before they successfully redeemed themselves to the empire, she could not overly associate with the Wisteria Merchant Alliance, lest she trigger suspicious.

Zi Di put forth a proposal, “Perhaps, we can place an alchemy factory on Snake Rat Island.”

“I have looked through all of the blueprints pertaining to one.” 

“A part of the alchemy factory can produce automations.”

Snake Rat Island has vast underground spaces, and with our great achievements, we have mapped out far more parts of the underground than Tan Qiu or the Hunting Guild.”

“We can pick an area in some remote corner, secretly construct a small alchemy factory and have it operate autonomously. We will dispatch a few alchemy puppets to garrison it and obtain raw materials from hunting magic beasts in the underground. These raw materials will be sent to the alchemy factory and be processed into products.”

“Every so often, we will come to reap the harvest here.”

“If we sell them without issue, it will greatly alleviate our financial predicament.”

Zi Di’s suggestion aroused everyone’s interest.

But after Cang Xu carefully thought about it, he shook his head, “How will we get the resources to build an alchemy factory? It is impossible currently! Such a thing needs far more than setting up battle squads.”

“It is also not safe to put it on Snake Rat Island. The ample magic beasts here is bound to be exploited much more in the future.”

Zi Di nodded, “That is indeed a hidden danger.”

The dragonman youngster followed up, “But it is still a good idea. There are many small uninhabited islands in the ocean, we can pick those that meet our standards and covertly build some alchemy factories on them.”

“As for right now, I must go and stabilize morale.”

When the young man said that he forced a smile.

Zong Ge’ independent attitude had caused the recently recruited people to become restless.

The young captain disseminated the following to everyone: the reason why personnel was being moved was mainly to prepare for the future development of branch groups.

After Zong Ge heard that, he also affirmed the sentiment, turning the worry the sailors felt into happiness.

The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corp had already drawn up a long term plan, it seemed that this organization had a bright future.

After hearing this, the most excited was Tan Qiu.

“Eh?”

“Such a thing really happened!”

“Hehe, my prior attraction is taking effect.”

“Of course it should be like this.”

“The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ leader is not only a dragonman hybrid, but he also has a lower cultivation than his subordinate, how can he sway the others?”

“Hehe, come everyone, I want to invite Shi Qi to dinner.”

“Keep it secret!”

“This is a private invitation, I don’t want others knowing about it.”

Tan Qiu exuberantly rubbed his hands as he left.

Previously, when the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps wantonly recruited many of Snake Rat Island’s future talents, Tan Qiu felt sick.

This gave him more motivation to recruit Zong Ge.

“If I can swipe their second in command, what does it matter if they leave with those talents?”

“Hehehe.”

Upon thinking of the advantages, Tan Qiu’s face couldn’t help but smile.