Recruiting Troops and Expanding the Ranks

"I once held tight, the Cosmo in my heart."

"Blaze fiercely, awaken every miracle!"

"Facing the distant Milky Way, I once bragged like hell."

"No one can erase it~ because~ those are the~ twin wings~ of my soul~!"

"Dreams!"

"Men never grow up until death!"

"Dreams!"

"May I leave for half a lifetime and return still a youth!"

Wild Chicken recited poetry and sang as he left, his heart filled with nostalgia and emotion for those verdant years of youth, as well as the determination he had made to fulfill his long-held dream. Was it someone? Was it some yearning? Was it some unrealistic hope and vision? Or was it some memory tangled with sweetness and bitterness, leaving him utterly lost?

He did not know. He could not explain.

"Zun Ge, if one day I really achieve my dream and become an International Broker and Arms Dealer, I'll definitely thank you—and while I'm at it, I'll thank your ancestors for eight generations too. Without those old masters from eight generations back, there wouldn't be you today, enlightening me like this!"

In short, Wild Chicken left this time with the resolve not to turn back until he had rammed into the southern wall.

Meanwhile, the Shi fellow being thanked had begun recruiting troops and launching a massive military buildup.

The previous Quick Reaction Squad had provided some experience for further expanding his forces—nothing abundant, but useful enough. It allowed Shi Tiexin to proceed with a plan and structure as he gradually enlarged the military. He drew up a five-stage plan, expanding his armed forces step by step to one thousand men, three thousand men, ten thousand men, thirty thousand men, and finally one hundred thousand.

As it happened, the consequences of the surprise attack on the Yamagata House had surfaced. Groups