Ideological Education

After seeing off the chieftains, Sorda and Ergou received commands through their mental link and arrived at Jose's lair, standing respectfully before the coiled Red Dragon.

Even while lying down, Jose was much taller than the kobold brothers. He scanned his two initial familiars with a condescending gaze, his golden, vertical dragon eyes sweeping over them.

"You two are my most trusted and valued familiars. I have an important task to give you, and you must not be careless."

"Thank you for your kindness, Master. Sorda will do his utmost."

Ergou then pledged his willingness to contribute to his master's cause with all his might.

Hearing the loyal speeches of his two familiars, Jose felt no change in his heart.

"Actions are more persuasive than words."

"Sorda, once the young warriors sent by the various tribes arrive, you will train them. I will use the number of official warriors born as the metric to evaluate your task's completion."

"Rest assured, Master, I will complete the mission!" Sorda declared confidently, puffing out his chest.

For the past twenty days, he had been training the soldiers of his own tribe, and the results were remarkable. Six out of fifty had awakened their Qi Sensation and become official Warrior class professionals. If given another twenty days, he was confident he could double that number.

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

The Mage, Priest, Warlock, Druid, Warrior, Knight, Rogue, Hunter, and Monk are collectively known as the Nine Basic Professions. Among these, the Warrior is the easiest to become an official professional.

It doesn't require vast knowledge reserves, only courage and food. The former provides the confidence for combat, and as for the latter, one cannot conduct physical training without enough to eat.

Of course, Warriors are not so cheap that any farmer who eats their fill and undergoes training can become one. A certain degree of physical talent is also required.

Generally speaking, the stronger one's physique and the richer their combat experience, the easier it is to awaken their Qi Sensation through repeated full-power bursts and advance to become an official Warrior.

Kobolds struggle for survival in harsh environments from a young age, and combat is an indispensable part of their growth. Abundant combat experience, coupled with the large amount of food from agricultural development, has led to a high birth rate of kobold warriors.

"Alright, Sorda, you may go now."

"Yes!"

"Oh, right," Sorda said, turning to leave, but then stopped and looked back. "Master, what is the same treatment as the Bloodtooth Tribe?"

"You will know in the future."

Jose chuckled sheepishly. He couldn't possibly tell his familiar that it was just an empty promise meant to motivate the kobold chieftains.

That's right, Jose hadn't finalized his plan for tiered management of his subordinate tribes; it was merely an idea.

In his plan, he would eventually have familiars from multiple tribes and races. These familiars would each perform their duties according to their racial talents, with living supplies distributed uniformly, ensuring everyone had enough to eat and wear.

However, to avoid a "one-size-fits-all" approach and to reflect differences, he would reasonably distribute higher-quality living supplies, such as meat, land, and wealth, based on the contributions made by each tribe, thereby creating an upward incentive.

Currently, however, Jose only had two familiar races: kobolds and harpies. The harpies were few in number and self-sufficient.

As for the kobolds, there was no shortage of food, but meat was a scarce resource. After the consumption of the two dragons, there simply wasn't enough left to distribute, so he could only issue an empty promise to the kobold chieftains that they couldn't quite understand but found impressive.

This boast would need to become reality sooner rather than later.

Shaking his head, Jose looked at his first familiar.

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

"Ergou, what progress have you made these past few days?"

When it came to progress, Ergou's face immediately lit up with a 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 for the tribe to get through a good winter, with plenty left over."

"The konjac's growth cycle is longer, and it hasn't sprouted yet. As for the mushrooms and wood ears, following the method you gave me, I have just figured out the appropriate temperature and humidity for their growth. They are growing vigorously. If this trend continues, mushrooms and wood ears will become our main food source, sufficient to supply all the tribes."

"Very good. Food is the foundation of tribal survival; it must be firmly grasped. Also, the five major tribes have sworn allegiance. Send people to their territories to guide them in collecting food."

After a moment of thought, Jose continued, "Leave them a month's worth of food, and send the rest back here to be stored. I'll assign this task to you, but you don't need to go yourself. I have a more important task for you."

Pausing, Jose decided to test his first familiar.

"Ergou, why do you think I am gathering the young warriors from all the tribes for training?"

Ergou answered without hesitation: "To give birth to more professionals and enhance the army's combat effectiveness."

"No, no, no. No matter how strong the kobold army is, it's just a matter of two dragon breaths. Enhancing combat effectiveness is only a very small part of my goal," Jose said, wagging his index finger. "I'll give you another chance to answer."

This time, Ergou dared not speak directly. He lowered his head and thought carefully for a moment.

"To control the army, Master. You are gathering the army to prepare for expansion?"

"You're half right, but not entirely."

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

"Loyalty!"

Jose said gravely, "My servants, strength without loyalty is worthless!"

Jose had been pondering a question for a long time: when facing dragon species stronger than himself, would history repeat itself – would his army defect and become the enemy's?

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

Except for his contracted familiars, everyone else was a being with free will and no constraints. The instinct for self-preservation and the kobolds' inherently chaotic and evil nature would drive them to side with the stronger party.

Having identified the problem, he had to find a solution, hence the current situation.

Jose stood up and paced back and forth in the cave. "Ergou, your task is to solve the loyalty issue of the new recruits for me, to prevent them from turning against me if I encounter an older dragon species. Do you understand?"

Ergou's eyes widened in understanding, and then he looked up at Jose with admiration. "Master, your foresight is as brilliant as the moon illuminating the earth."

After a moment, a pained expression crossed his face. "But, Master, I don't know any magic to change minds."

"No, magic isn't needed. My servant, sometimes the power of words is greater than magic."

Tydanore has some higher life forms that can naturally manipulate the will of others. Take Mind Flayers, for example.

Even powerful Legendary Mind Flayers have their own limits of control, able to control only twenty to thirty thousand people at a time, while language has no such limit.

"What you need to do is tell the newly trained recruits who gave them everything they have, and firmly implant the concept of loyalty in their hearts."

Thanks for the 2100 coins from Meng Yu Long Sheng and 200 coins from Yayla.