Successfully Establishing a Stronghold

"Mm, very good." Shen Mu nodded calmly in response. "Please all sit down. You must be exhausted from the journey."

"Thank you for your concern." Everyone in the room sat down again.

Whether it was the 20 farmers from the Kingdom of Swadia or the 10 Lake Rats recruits from Sturgia, they were all slumped against the wall, panting heavily, still with lingering fear.

The battle just now had been too intense for them!

When they arrived in this world, Undead Monsters had continuously attacked them.

That only a few people had sustained minor injuries was thanks to their familiarity with war, knowing how to fight, how to organize themselves, and how to use formations to defend against the enemy, which allowed them to hold out until Shen Mu led his troops to rescue them.

"Lift the cloth curtain by the wheat field and let these immigrants and Lake Rats recruits rest there."

Shen Mu noticed the overcrowding in the room.

A small room of 30 square meters.

After removing the space for the toilet, beds, and stored items.

45 people were squeezed in.

It was terribly crowded!

"Understood." A Swadian Militia member stood up to direct, lifted the cloth curtain, and led the newcomers into the wheat field to rest.

At least it somewhat relieved the congestion in the room.

There was no absolute darkness in the wheat field.

Nor was there gray fog.

Although it was nighttime, no Undead Monsters would appear.

So it was relatively safe.

Furthermore, with the Lake Rats recruits, who were fishermen and pirate water bandits from the great swamp in Sturgia, the predecessor of the Kingdom of Vaegirs in the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord world (which is the Warband world), these 10 guys, who were Tier 2 Units, went over to half-rest and half-protect the immigrants, so it was considered safe.

At least Shen Mu was very confident in these Lake Rats recruits.

They were called recruits.

Recruits of the Lake Rats family, Low-Tier Troops.

Equipped with belted leather armor, wearing leather caps, and holding small bladed axes and kite shields, they had the rough and fierce characteristics of Sturgians, who later became Vaegirs, in close combat.

Moreover, on their backs, between the leather armor and the belt hooks, hung two thin javelins, each with 4 fishing darts.

They were usually thrown to spear fish when fishing.

But in battle.

They could still be thrown accurately, hitting any enemy they wanted within a 10-meter range!

"With these new immigrants settled, it's time for my own matters."

Shen Mu sat on the bed.

A dialogue box appeared on his retina.

Ding! You have won this battle!

Because you and your subordinates fought bravely, you have received 'Bronze Chest' × 1; Denar × 500.

You have 5 'Swadian Militia' soldiers who can be upgraded.

You have 20 'Swadian Farmer' civilians who can be upgraded. You can choose to upgrade them to 'Neutral Faction/Swadian Faction' units.

The first thing that appeared before Shen Mu was the settlement of this battle.

It was all about rewards and unit upgrades.

These could be handled later.

"Next." Shen Mu's thoughts stirred slightly.

A new dialogue box popped up.

Ding! Detected that the total number of you and your subordinates has reached 46, meeting the condition of 30 people to form a 'Stronghold'.

The majority of personnel are 'Swadians', so you can choose to establish a 'Swadian Stronghold'.

If you choose to establish a 'Swadian Stronghold', you will gain 'Swadian Trait (Brave People) (Basic)': ① Soldiers gain +20% courage when fighting around the Stronghold.

Ding! Detected that you can establish a 'Swadian Stronghold', your special item 'Robber Rendezvous Point' is allowed to be built.

"Establish a Swadian Stronghold." Shen Mu didn't hesitate and immediately made the decision.

This was what he was most concerned about.

You have confirmed the establishment of the 'Swadian Stronghold'.

Building interface is loading...

Swadian Stronghold

Lord: Shen Mu

Trait: Brave People (Basic) (Soldiers gain +20% courage when fighting near the Stronghold)

[Civilians]: 20 Farmers

[Soldiers]: 10 Swadian Footmen; 5 Militia; 10 Sturgia Lake Rats Recruits.

[Buildings]: 1 Acre Wheat Field.

[Buildable Buildings]: Stronghold Main House (Can be built immediately), Storage Room, Granary, Wall, Livestock Pen, Robber Rendezvous Point (Can be built immediately).

[Output]: Wheat (Extremely low yield)

[Recruitment]: Cannot recruit (Civilians must be maintained at a minimum of 30)

"Is this a Swadian Stronghold?" A dialogue box immediately refreshed before Shen Mu's eyes.

Soon, a complete information brief was generated.

Buzz!

And during this process, a mysterious power once again began to spread outwards from Shen Mu as the center.

It directly swept over the apartment room Shen Mu was in, and also swept over the 1 acre wheat field next to it, which occupied the space of 20 apartments.

This mysterious power even swept over the entire seventh floor, and even the six floors below, and the other three apartment buildings outside, shrouded in darkness and gray fog, were all swept through.

Vaguely, Shen Mu discovered that after he established the Swadian Stronghold on the seventh floor.

The entire apartment complex belonged to the vicinity of the stronghold.

As long as his soldiers were within the entire apartment complex, they could enjoy the Swadian Trait of the stronghold, and in battle, they could have a +20% courage boost effect!

Increasing courage is equivalent to increasing morale, and also increases combat power and defense due to bravery.

Even if they encounter enemies that are too strong, they will not easily rout.

A very good trait.

"There are also buildable buildings, and there are two buildings that can be built immediately."

Shen Mu's gaze swept over the content in the stronghold interface.

He looked at the only two buildings.

"Stronghold Main House... and Robber Rendezvous Point."

Shen Mu's thoughts stirred slightly.

As he communicated with the system.

Buzz! A mysterious power descended again.

Only this time, Shen Mu's perspective directly changed back to a third-person perspective, just like when he expanded the wheat field.

He was quite familiar with it.

And in Shen Mu's mind, a card depicting a building similar to a square tower, built with stone and wood, appeared.

And a card depicting a wall with crossed 'X' symbols on it.

Appeared quietly.

The former was the Stronghold Main House.

The latter was the Robber Rendezvous Point.

[Stronghold Main House (Swadia)]

[Description: This is a typical building of the Kingdom of Swadia, a sturdy square tower made of stone and wood. It is 6 meters high, occupies 50 square meters, and is divided into two floors. The upper floor can be used for living, the lower floor can be used for gathering subordinates and as a kitchen, and the top floor allows soldiers to be stationed for defense.]

[Effect: The core building of a stronghold.]

[Robber Rendezvous Point]

[Description: This is a common street method used by a group of robbers from the Kingdom of Swadia. As long as it is placed in the corner of any building, robbers who notice the mark will quietly come over.]

[Effect: Black market procurement or fencing stolen goods.]

The secondary pages of these two buildings naturally appeared before Shen Mu's eyes.

"Then let's build them."

Shen Mu's thoughts stirred slightly.

Then, before Shen Mu's eyes, a tall square tower, 6 meters high, appeared in the form of a phantom.

It just so happened to perfectly overlap with the room and corridor on the side of the apartment where Shen Mu was currently located.

And the top floor even broke through the ceiling and reached the rooftop of the apartment building.

It directly formed a special small tower that led to the top of the apartment building and was even higher than the rooftop!

[Do you want to deploy 'Stronghold Main House'?]

A dialogue box popped up before Shen Mu's eyes again.

"Confirm deployment!"

Shen Mu immediately made a decision.

His eyes flickered as he looked at the main house and apartment floors that could be edited again with the help of the Map Editor, and more ideas came to his mind.

For example, he could merge the main house, which was larger than a room, with all the rooms and the corridor outside, without damaging the load-bearing walls.

On the side facing the corridor, the walls of the main house also had about 20 firing ports opened on each floor.

These were for archers to station themselves in later.

Moreover, in the distance from the corridor to the elevator shaft, the top floor slab of the apartment building was completely removed in the direction of the corridor.

This meant that any enemy who turned the corner from the elevator shaft and entered the corridor.

Within this 30-meter range.

They would directly enter the attack range of what was called the Stronghold Main House, but was actually a square tower, which was 6 meters high, with firing ports on both the upper and lower floors, and crenellations with a concave and convex pattern on the top!

The corridor was only a mere 1.5 meters wide.

For the ranged archers of the Kingdom of Swadia, who were all soldiers using crossbow weapons.

This was simply the best terrain!

"That's right, just like this."

Shen Mu's lips curved slightly.

Data streams surged rapidly in his brow.

The building was expanding.

The apartment rooms also changed according to his ideas.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting at the head of the long table in the main house.

In front of him was a simple, solid wood long dining table.

And in the fireplace by the wall.

Crackling.

The bonfire was burning fiercely, and a lot of wood and silk fabrics were piled there, waiting to be added at any time.

Smoke also rose outwards through the chimney of the fireplace.

There was not much smoke in the room.

This made Shen Mu, who was sitting in the solid wood high-backed chair, stare for a moment, then he smiled: "This is truly... too perfect!"