Ice - Reinforcement (Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

After reviewing the current attributes of the Star-Slaying Sword, Zhao Fu was somewhat surprised. The Reinforcement Stone's effect first added two points to each of the original three attributes, added ice-attribute damage, and even restored the equipment to its original grade.

The effect of this Reinforcement Stone was excellent, but upon reflection, he realized such items were quite rare. Zhao Fu then thought of the Soldier Soul, which could also strengthen equipment. He wondered what its effects might be, and the thought made him feel quite restless.

However, he then remembered that the General's Artifact required one hundred Soldier Souls to fuse. Zhao Fu had to dismiss the idea of using the Soldier Souls; if the effect of a single Soldier Soul was equivalent to one Reinforcement Stone, the power of a General's Artifact fused from one hundred of them would be terrifying. This made Zhao Fu look forward to the day the General's Artifact would be synthesized even more.

Currently, Li Wen was leading the other soldiers to continue exploring the passage and had already collected 47 Soldier Souls, so the day of synthesizing the General's Artifact was not far off.

He handed the reinforced Star-Slaying Sword to Bai Qi. Bai Qi took the sword, which had undergone significant changes, and felt a sense of joy upon seeing its attributes.

Zhao Fu also ordered his men to process the various materials from the Ice Cold Tiger, as these materials could be used to craft silver-grade equipment. As for the meat, Zhao Fu glanced at the sky; the sun was hanging directly overhead, and it was nearly noon.

They rested on the spot to prepare lunch. The massive Ice Cold Tiger meat was divided into chunks and roasted. Zhao Fu ate some of the meat, finding it delicious and quite chewy. At the same time, he received a notification that his body had gained +1% resistance to the ice attribute.

He hadn't expected the tiger meat to be such a good item. Unfortunately, although one Ice Cold Tiger was large, it was only enough for about a hundred people, so many did not get to eat any.

Afterward, they continued their exploration. Little Gray, having eaten a few pieces of the Ice Cold Tiger meat, was working extra hard, sniffing for scents in the lead. Little Black, being a grass-eater, hadn't been able to eat the tiger meat and was initially a bit unhappy, but after receiving a Small Spirit Pill from Zhao Fu as comfort, it was in a good mood again, following behind Little Gray with a light step.

"Woo-woo..."

Little Gray sniffed something and barked at Zhao Fu a few times, then led him running along the path until they arrived in front of a Gnome village.

This Gnome village was only a primary-level village with about three hundred Gnomes. There were two types of troop classes within: Gnome Crossbowmen and Gnome Warriors wielding scimitars. These Gnome Warriors had very weak combat power, not even as strong as Goblin Warriors.

Facing these three hundred Gnomes, Zhao Fu didn't use any strategies. Since his own force had reached 1,400, he could completely crush the opponent. He directly led his men to tightly surround the Gnome village and then ordered his own Gnomes to persuade them to surrender.

To Zhao Fu's surprise, these Gnomes refused to surrender despite facing so many of his soldiers and wanted to put up a desperate fight. Zhao Fu was not in a hurry; his main task was population plundering. He first ordered his men to cut wood and build a simple fence around the Gnome village—he intended to trap them like dumplings.

Seeing Zhao Fu's group building a fence outside the village, the Gnomes understood his intentions and became somewhat panicked. They seemed to have some disputes among themselves, appearing to argue.

Watching everything in the Gnome village, Zhao Fu understood that a rift had formed. One side was likely the rational faction that chose to surrender, knowing the village could not defeat him and seeing that he had Gnomes among his own soldiers, which proved they would not be killed after surrendering.

The other side was the stubborn resistance faction, believing they should not surrender and should live and die with the village.

At this moment, Zhao Fu issued another order. As the archers set up fire arrows and were about to fire, the rift among the Gnomes reached a breaking point. They realized that if they didn't make a stand, they might all be burned alive.

A large group of Gnomes walked out of the village and knelt on the ground, indicating their willingness to surrender.

Zhao Fu nodded to accept. Turning his gaze to the fifty or so Gnomes remaining in the village who were unwilling to surrender, Zhao Fu changed his mind and ordered his men not to shoot at the houses, but to aim at those who refused to surrender.

Of course, Zhao Fu wouldn't shoot them all; it was just a warning to show he would not be soft-hearted. Zhao Fu didn't believe these Gnomes were truly unafraid of death and willing to persist in dying with the village.

"Fire!"

Following the command, arrows flew out. The Gnomes resisted desperately, firing crossbow bolts, but they were all blocked by Zhao Fu's shield bearers. Zhao Fu's side's arrows, however, carried immense force and pierced through a dozen Gnomes instantly.

Seeing the Gnomes who were just talking a moment ago shot dead in the blink of an eye, an aura of death spread. Facing true death, the remaining Gnomes were terrified. Just as Zhao Fu was about to order the second wave of archers to fire, the remaining Gnomes in the village cried out in fear, ran out, and knelt on the ground, choosing to surrender.

Zhao Fu chose to accept them all. This time, he subdued a total of 301 Gnomes. Zhao Fu then went to the Gnome Barracks to briefly check the Gnome Warrior Class Transfer Stele.

[Gnome Warrior]: F-grade troop class. Description: Warriors among the Gnomes. Troop effect: Transferring class grants the skill [Scimitar Mastery].

It was an average, trashy troop class. Zhao Fu glanced at it and lost interest. He went to the Village Hall; this Gnome village was only of ordinary quality. He chose to occupy it and then chose to migrate, gaining 50 Battle Merits and 169 experience points.

After subduing this Gnome village, Zhao Fu had intended to take them back to Great Qin Village to settle them, but unexpectedly, he encountered another ordinary Bandit village.

This Bandit village had about four hundred bandits. Zhao Fu took advantage of the time the bandit leader was out hunting to directly attack the village. Upon receiving the notification that the village was under attack, the bandit leader rushed back, only to be intercepted and killed by men Zhao Fu had already placed in ambush.

This time, Zhao Fu subdued a total of 340 bandits. Zhao Fu directly drafted 300 of them into his soldiers. This required some attention; Zhao Fu had read a post about it.

The population refreshed in Bandit villages was almost entirely male, and they all possessed decent combat power, unlike ordinary villages which refreshed with men, women, old, and young.

Some people wanted to rely on this to farm a large number of soldiers, so they would conquer two Bandit villages and not convert them into ordinary villages, instead letting them continue to refresh bandits. However, they didn't know that once the number of bandits reached half of their own troop strength, they would choose to rebel directly.

Although ordinary villages would refresh with men, women, old, and young, they would be absolutely loyal to you. As long as you didn't oppress them or leave them without a way to survive, they would remain loyal to you forever.

Bandits were different. Bandits originally belonged to the side of evil. If you didn't strengthen management and ensure their collective loyalty was at least 60 or above, they might betray you, especially when your own troop strength was not greater than theirs—that was when you were in danger.