Thought Education

After seeing off the chieftains, Sorda and Ergou received an order through their mental link and came to Jose's lair, standing respectfully before the reclining Red Dragon.

Even while lying down, Jose towered over the kobold brothers. Looking down at them, his golden vertical dragon pupils swept over his two earliest servants.

"You two are my most trusted and valued servants. I have an important task for you, so do not be careless."

"Thank you for your favor, Master. Sorda will certainly give it his all."

Ergou followed with a declaration, willing to do everything in his power to contribute to his master's cause.

After hearing the two servants' loyal words, Jose felt no ripple in his heart.

"Actions are more convincing than words."

"Sorda, once the young warriors sent by the various tribes arrive, you will train them as warriors. The number of formal warriors produced will be the standard by which I judge your completion of the task."

"Rest assured, Master! I guarantee I will complete the task!" Sorda stood tall, brimming with confidence.

Over the past twenty days or so, he had trained the soldiers of his own tribe as warriors with remarkable results. Six out of fifty had developed Qi Sensation and become formal warrior professionals. Given another twenty days, he was confident he could double that number.

Seeing his servant's enthusiasm, Jose nodded in satisfaction. It was precisely because he had seen Sorda's training results that he had entrusted him with the task of training warriors.

Mages, Priests, warlocks, druids, warriors, knights, Thieves, hunters, and monks were collectively known as the Nine Basic Professions. Among them, warriors were the easiest formal professionals to produce.

They did not require an immense reserve of knowledge, only courage and food. The former gave one the confidence to fight, while the latter was necessary because one could not undergo physical training on an empty stomach.

Of course, warriors were not so cheap that any random farmer could become one merely by eating well and training. A certain degree of physical talent was still required.

Generally speaking, the stronger one's body and the richer one's combat experience, the easier it was to develop Qi Sensation through repeated all-out bursts and advance into a formal warrior.

Kobolds had struggled to survive in harsh environments since childhood, and combat was an indispensable part of their growth. Their abundant combat experience, combined with the ample food brought by agricultural development, resulted in a high rate of kobold warriors emerging.

"All right, Sorda. You may leave first."

"Yes!"

"Oh, right." Sorda had turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back. "Master, what does receiving the same treatment as the Bloodtooth Tribe mean?"

"You will find out later."

Jose felt slightly awkward. He could hardly tell his servant that it had merely been an empty promise meant to motivate the kobold chieftains.

That was right. Jose had not yet planned out how to manage his subordinate tribes by rank; he merely had the idea.

In his plans, he would possess servants from many tribes and races in the future. These servants would each perform their duties according to their racial talents, while living supplies would be distributed uniformly so that everyone could eat their fill and stay warm.

However, to avoid egalitarianism and reflect differences in contribution, he would reasonably distribute higher-quality living resources—such as meat, land, and wealth—based on how much each tribe had contributed, thereby creating upward incentives.

At present, however, Jose had only two servant races: kobolds and Harpies. The Harpies were few in number and capable of supporting themselves.

As for the kobolds, they did not lack food, but meat was also a scarce resource. After accounting for the two dragons' consumption, there was nowhere near enough left to distribute. Thus, he could only write the kobold chieftains an impressive-sounding empty check.

He had better make that boast come true as soon as possible.

Shaking his head, Jose looked at his first servant.

In recent days, Ergou had been busy increasing the tribe's food reserves and developing mushroom and wood ear cultivation.

"Ergou, what results have you achieved these past few days?"

At the mention of results, Ergou's face immediately broke into a broad smile. "Reporting to Master, the harvested and dried pine nuts have filled the warehouse, forcing us to dig a new one. These pine nuts alone are enough to see the tribe through a good winter, with plenty to spare."

"Konjac has a relatively long growth cycle and has not sprouted yet. As for mushrooms and wood ear, following the methods you gave me, I have just found the temperature and humidity suitable for their growth. They are growing wonderfully. If this trend continues, mushrooms and wood ear will become our main food source, enough to supply all the tribes."

"Very good. Food is the foundation of a tribe's survival, and it must be firmly kept in our hands. Also, the five major tribes have already sworn allegiance. Send people to their territories to guide them in gathering food."

After pondering for a moment, Jose continued, "Leave them one month's worth of food and send everything else back to be stored away. I am assigning this matter to you, but you will not need to go personally. I have a more important task for you."

After a pause, Jose decided to test his first servant.

"Ergou, why do you think I am gathering the young warriors of the various tribes together for training?"

Ergou answered without hesitation, "To produce more professionals and strengthen the army's combat power."

"No, no, no. No matter how strong a kobold army is, two breaths of Dragon Breath would be enough to deal with it. Strengthening combat power is only a small part of my purpose." Jose shook a claw. "I will give you one more chance to answer."

This time, Ergou did not dare speak immediately. He lowered his head and thought seriously for a while.

"To take control of the army? You are gathering the troops to prepare for expansion, Master?"

"You are half right, but not entirely."

Ergou scratched his head sheepishly. "Master, forgive my dullness, but what exactly is your purpose?"

"Loyalty!"

Jose said in a deep voice, "My servants are worthless without loyalty, no matter how strong they are!"

Jose had always been considering one question: if he encountered a dragon stronger than himself, would history repeat itself—would his army defect in battle and become the other side's people?

After careful consideration, he believed such a thing was highly likely to happen.

Aside from servants bound by contracts, everyone else was a living being with independent consciousness and no restraints. Their instinct for self-preservation and profit, along with the chaotic evil nature of kobolds, would drive them to stand with the stronger side.

Once a problem was discovered, a solution had to be found. That was why this scene had come about.

Jose rose and paced back and forth through the cavern. "Ergou, your task is to solve the loyalty problem among the recruits, so that if we encounter a dragon older than me, they will not betray us. Do you understand?"

Ergou suddenly understood. His face filled with admiration as he looked up at Jose. "Master, your foresight is like the bright moon shining upon the earth."

After a while, a troubled expression appeared on his face. "But, Master, I do not know any magic that can alter thoughts."

"No, magic is unnecessary. My servant, sometimes words are more powerful than magic."

There were certain higher lifeforms in Tydanore that could manipulate the wills of others by nature. Take Mind Flayers, for example.

Even a powerful legendary Mind Flayer had limits to its control and could control only twenty or thirty thousand people at most, but words had no such limit.

"What you need to do is tell the recruits in training who gave them everything they possess, and make the concept of loyalty take firm root in their hearts."

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