Swadian Militia

"Sir Geng Jun, they're just ordinary human farmers. If you want, heh heh, bring all four of us brothers along, and we can slaughter our way through them!"

Geng Jun walked down the stairs. Behind him, a gnoll with a chunk missing from one ear spoke with a savage grin.

The other gnoll was also snorting and grinning viciously, looking eager to give it a try.

"And then?" Geng Jun showed no reaction.

He merely continued down the stairs.

His tone was calm as he reminded them, "If the Black Tide comes, and we have no allies to help us, are you expecting me and the four of you to hold back those Undead Monsters?"

"Heh heh, don't be angry, Sir Geng Jun. At the very least, us four gnolls are your allies."

The gnoll showed no irritation at being rejected. It still followed behind Geng Jun and laughed indifferently.

Only the pink tongue hanging from its mouth twitched twice, revealing its displeasure.

It could not be helped.

Fresh humans, and likely humans from the Spiritual Realm at that—they had not tasted them in a very long time.

Ever since breaking free of the seal and coming to this world, it had constantly longed for that fresh, delicious, rich human flesh and blood.

Yet the human from another world before them had always obstructed their greedy desires.

Snort. It let out a rough breath.

Snort. The member of its kind beside it also let out a rough breath.

Their dark green eyes glanced at each other, and they immediately understood what the other was thinking.

They also understood each other's feelings.

They were hungry.

"Also, let me remind you of something. If you want more of your kin to come out of the seal, then you'll need to gather more Spiritual Realm Marks."

Geng Jun spoke.

"Sir, what do you mean by that?" The gnoll with the damaged ear spoke sinisterly.

Its claws began to feel around for the hilt of its rusted scimitar.

Geng Jun continued downstairs.

He showed not the slightest trace of fear, even though he knew these Spiritual Realm Creatures following him harbored ulterior motives.

When he reached the Fire Door on the Second Floor, he turned around, met the gnoll's eyes, and said seriously, "If you two, along with the other two waiting at home, don't want to return to your sealed state, then obey my orders properly!"

The expressions of the two previously unruly gnolls grew increasingly grim.

But after three to five seconds.

They still struggled before slowly lowering their ferocious wolf-like heads.

"Understood, Sir Geng Jun."

Geng Jun said nothing more.

Instead, he pushed open the Fire Door and returned to his territory on the Second Floor.

That was why, when he saw that Shen Mu possessed human Spiritual Realm Creatures, he felt both envy and approval.

You have soldiers available for upgrade.

Upgradeable troop type: Swadian Recruits ×5.

Spend 20 Denar per person to upgrade them into Swadian Militia.

The system then displayed a new dialogue box.

"Twenty Denar per person, and five Swadian Recruits can be upgraded into Swadian Militia."

Shen Mu felt as though the system knew exactly how many Denar he possessed.

After all, he had just been rewarded with one hundred Denar last night.

"Confirm upgrade." Shen Mu made his choice.

Buzz!

A mysterious force descended once more.

Countless Data Streams appeared again between Shen Mu's brows.

They transformed into Data Chains that extended directly into the room, especially toward the five Swadian Recruits Shen Mu had first summoned into this world.

They underwent tremendous changes within the white light formed by the Data Chains.

And when the white light faded, everything was revealed.

"Swadian Militia." Shen Mu carefully examined the five newly appeared soldiers.

They were indeed Swadian Militia this time.

Compared to the recruits, who had barely looked any different from farmers, these militia were of similar build but noticeably rounder. Their weapons and equipment had all been replaced, making them look far more like soldiers.

The Swadian Militia stood there holding two-meter-long, more standardized spears.

They wore grayish-white Cotton Robes and Cotton Caps, carried wooden shields pieced together from rotten Wooden Boards, and had Pointed Hoes at their waists as their One-Handed Weapons, offering better armor-piercing effects.

At the backs of their waists hung quivers filled with twenty crossbow bolts, while rough Hunting Crossbows were suspended behind their hips.

"The primary weapon is a spear. The Secondary Weapons are a Pointed Hoe and wooden shield, plus the most basic Hunting Crossbow."

Satisfaction appeared in Shen Mu's eyes. "Very good."

"Salutations, Lord Shen Mu!"

The upgraded Swadian Militia stood respectfully in a row and saluted Shen Mu.

"Mm, very good." Shen Mu nodded at them in response.

"My lord, we found some fresh vegetables and food." The Swadian Recruits still searching the room had found quite a few things.

They had all been found in the kitchen.

There were whole napa cabbages, a bundle of celery, two heads of cabbage, two trays holding around twenty eggs, and two ten-pound bags of rice.

After opening the refrigerator, they even found over ten pounds of frozen pork and beef.

Along with bags of salt and all kinds of spices and seasonings.

It was quite a bountiful haul!

"Mm, put it all away and bring it to our room." Shen Mu made the arrangements.

After the Necromantic Rules descended, time stopped flowing in the darkness, which meant the supplies stored on Blue Star would not rot or spoil.

It was at least one advantage amid the bitterness.

"Let's continue to the next room." Shen Mu did not stop moving forward with the mission.

After looting this room.

He continued leading the five militia and ten recruits as they inspected the apartment rooms one by one.

With the five more Regular Army-like Swadian Militia leading the way, the battles became even easier.

Whenever Shen Mu sensed something abnormal inside a room, the instant the door opened.

The spears in the hands of the five Swadian Militia would thrust in at tricky, precise angles.

Whether it was zombies or skeletons.

Or little demons.

They could pierce them through the body in an instant with a single exchange.

Then the Swadian Recruits behind them, wielding Long-handled Sickles, would swarm forward and hack them down.

The battle ended easily.

"As expected of the Kingdom of Swadia. From low-tier troops to high-tier troops, they're all top-notch."

Shen Mu sighed.

As the strongest kingdom in the Mount & Blade: Warband World.

Even its tier-one recruits had large shields that could cover their entire bodies, polearms, and armor-piercing one-handed axes.

Once upgraded to tier-two militia, not only were all those weapons improved, but they also gained Hunting Crossbows capable of ranged attacks.

Although the Hunting Crossbow only had an effective range of around thirty meters.

And its damage was low.

It was still equipment for tier-two troops.

Before engaging in close combat, using Hunting Crossbows to harass the enemy first was clearly a good idea.

If their numbers increased.

Even Hunting Crossbows could kill people!

"Once we finish clearing every room, we'll get a ten-person Upgrade Scroll."

Shen Mu was quite tempted.

At that point, if all his soldiers were upgraded into Swadian Militia, fifteen Hunting Crossbows could be deployed.

Together with the spears and large shields in the soldiers' hands.

They could basically seal off the narrow corridor, which was only one and a half meters wide.

Deploying a Spear Phalanx in such a confined environment.

Even if that Geng Jun from earlier sent the two gnolls under his command charging over, they would likely have to pay a terrible price.

The entire seventh-floor Apartment Building was cleared fairly quickly. By noon.

All forty apartments had been cleared.

"This is the last one. Once we clear this apartment, we'll head back for lunch."

Shen Mu waved forward.

"Understood!" The Swadian Militia and Recruits behind him responded eagerly.

After all, among the dozens of apartments, only around ten had problems.

At most, there were seven or eight little demons inside.

Otherwise, there were just two or three zombies or skeletons.

Against them, it was simply like sweeping away dead leaves.

"Come on, let's see what's in the final room." Shen Mu took out a piece of wire and began picking the lock with practiced movements.

But as he worked, his expression changed slightly.

He seemed to hear some movement inside the room.

And a sense of unease washed over him.

"Something's wrong." Shen Mu turned to the Swadian Soldiers behind him and said in a grave voice, "Prepare for battle."

The Swadian Militia and Recruits also raised their weapons and readied themselves.

Click. The wire picked open the lock.

Shen Mu immediately pulled open the door.