Half a year

Modun charged up to the enemy ranks and swiped a claw at the soldiers in front. Dust flew up at once, and the severed limbs of many soldiers scattered through the air.

As Modun killed, he said, "Drop your weapons. Those who surrender will be spared."

The Dothraki soldiers all dropped their weapons when they heard him. After all, anyone would despair when facing a monster that could not be shot dead and regenerated no matter how they attacked it.

These Dothraki had no way at all to deal with an impossible creature like a Giant. After some of them were killed, they could only kneel to show their submission.

Once Modun saw them surrender, he stopped killing, but he did not undo his transformation. Instead, he continued using his Giant body to intimidate those who had surrendered.

By the time the empire's men arrived to take them into custody, those who had surrendered were already kneeling quietly on the ground under Modun's intimidation, holding their weapons high in both hands. After all, they were all Dothraki. They would follow whoever was stronger.

Eren watched this from a distance. Once everything was on track, he returned to his tent. They had taken in quite a few people this time, so some people would certainly need to be promoted.

That evening, Eren summoned the four regiment commanders.

Eren asked Modun, "You were in charge of taking in those who surrendered today. Tell me how many there were in total, and how many can fight."

Modun answered, "Your Majesty, seventy thousand in total, but quite a few of them are slaves. There are fifty thousand Dothraki. Excluding the old, weak, sick, and disabled, forty thousand can fight."

He had not mentioned women because Dothraki women were also fierce by nature and skilled at fighting. It could be said that the only Dothraki who could not fight were children and the elderly. Everyone else would fight once they came of age.

After hearing Modun's words, Eren said, "Give those women to our warriors as rewards. As for the men, put them to work when we need to construct buildings later. Keep them for now. Giving them one meal a day will be enough."

"When people have too much to eat, they start thinking too much. When they don't have enough, all they think about is filling their stomachs, and they won't cause so much trouble."

As a modern man, Eren knew very well that someone who ate too well would start looking for trouble. How did that saying go? Too full for their own good. With nothing to do, they would find trouble.

Only by keeping them hungry would they behave. Of course, once the empire was on track and all its facilities had been built, he would give these people their freedom, but he could not give it to them now.

Even if Eren released these people, they had neither food nor weapons. Wandering the Dothraki Sea, they would sooner or later be targeted by another Khalasar. They were better off staying with him. Though they would not eat their fill, at least they would not die.

After hearing Modun's report, Eren said to the four regiment commanders, "Now that our numbers have grown, keeping you in your old positions won't really do. Modun, first incorporate twenty thousand of them into my Guard Corps, bringing it to twenty-five thousand."

"That leaves thirty thousand. Flock, Colin, and Link will each command ten thousand. From now on, you will be division commanders, with fifteen thousand men in each division. After your promotions, the battalion commanders under you will take over as regiment commanders, and every officer below them will move up one rank in turn."

Modun and the other three were filled with delighted surprise when they heard Eren's instructions. They all knew that with Eren's power to transform into a Giant, the empire would grow stronger sooner or later, but now that the day had arrived, they were still overjoyed and looked forward to the days ahead even more.

Moreover, after seeing the Giant Modun had transformed into this time, Flock and the other two longed even more for the power of the Giants, hoping that they, too, might one day be granted it.

The four immediately saluted Eren, then heard him say, "Next, I'll leave the reorganization to you. Finish the work within two days."

After the four withdrew, Eren lay down on his bed, with the women beside him attending to him. As he lay there, he thought about how satisfied he was with Modun's performance after transforming this time. However, what he had given Modun was only the Jaw Giants, which he did not care about.

There were not many other Giants he could give away, only the Beast Titan and the Female Titan. By that reckoning, apart from himself, there could only be three holders of Giant powers. He also did not know whether the Female Titan's restrictions allowed a man to possess it. Otherwise, he could only give it to a woman.

Aside from the power of the Giants, he was now also wondering whether he could research a way to create an Ackerman. The manga had not clearly explained the origins of male Ackermans, saying only that they were the result of genetic modification. Exactly how their power originated was unclear.

Although, in his view, the Ackermans seemed somewhat like people whose brains had released their protective restraints on their own bodies. It was a little like the Gene Lock in novels he had read before, but not as powerful, perhaps an extremely weakened version.

He would focus his future research on the brain first and see whether he could discover anything. But research on the brain required meticulous procedures. The brain was the most mysterious part of the human body, and he had to be exceedingly cautious.

Eren mainly wanted to research the Ackerman bloodline to use it on himself. After all, before transforming into a Giant, he was just an ordinary human. He needed some strength to protect himself, too.

After he finished thinking, Eren began exercising. Once he had worked out for a while, he went to sleep.

Half a year later, Eren had spent six months in the Holy City and waited for several more Khalasars to arrive. After having Modun repeat the same method, he gained several more groups of Dothraki warriors. By now, his empire had a fighting force of a hundred and fifty thousand. The Guard Corps at his side numbered fifty thousand. Flock and the others still held the same positions, but each division now had thirty thousand men, with some additional battalion commanders and regiment commanders.

Eren assigned the remaining ten thousand to logistics, having them guard the slaves and provisions in the rear.

Half a year had passed, and Eren was preparing to take everyone in the Holy City away. Now that he had a hundred and fifty thousand troops, it was time to change his previous strategy, too. He would leave the Khalasars that had yet to arrive to grow a little more out on the Dothraki Sea.

Now he wanted to head to Pentos, first securing those Dragon Eggs, looking for Daenerys Targaryen along the way, and then seizing cities to found a nation.

Before going to Pentos, he planned to bathe all of Slaver's Bay in blood and reap a haul of wealth. Unlike last time, his aim this time was complete plunder and destruction. Building the empire's various facilities in the future would all require money. If he did not steal it, earning it would take too long. After all, the Dothraki under him knew nothing except killing.

During this round of plundering, he would see whether there were any Dragon Eggs circulating on the continent. For someone who wanted to drop Giant bombs from the sky in the future, the more aerial power he had, the better.

Eren summoned all his current troops, transformed into a Giant, and spoke with fervor:

"Over these six months, we have grown much stronger. Now it is time for us to leave, and it is also time for me to fulfill my promise."

"I once promised to give all of you lives with meat to eat, wine to drink, and women at your side, and to have every one of you carrying gold. Now is the time to fulfill that promise."

"Our target is Slaver's Bay. Let all of Slaver's Bay fall beneath our horses' hooves. Destroy everything within sight. Kill those who wear iron clothes, tear down their stone houses, seize their gold, and take their women."

"Dedicate your hearts, soldiers. The God of the Titans Yeager is with you. For Valhalla!"

"For Valhalla! Dedicate your hearts!"

Eren issued his proclamation to the soldiers, and they raised the weapons in their hands high as they shouted.

"Dedicate your hearts!"

"Dedicate your hearts!"