The Grand War (4)

Finder looked towards the wooden house in front of him. The walls consisted of split logs connected by a frame using long nails. The logs were closely joined to prepare for the upcoming winter.

Meanwhile, the house's roof was made of wooden boards nailed to form a triangle, which would make it easier for the homeowner to clear snow piles. Additionally, the wooden fence enclosing the house yard was neatly arranged.

The wooden house in front of Finder was not the only one in this area. There were hundreds of wooden houses built by the construction department, and many more were yet to be constructed.

These rows of wooden houses clustered together, giving the once quiet area the appearance of a village or a small town.

"Come on, let's go inside," Finder invited his wife.

"Okay, Gloria and Dekker are exhausted; they haven't had a proper rest for days," replied his wife.

The couple then took their young children inside the wooden house. The room was still empty. The house wasn't too spacious, with only two bedrooms, one living room, and one kitchen. There were no available bathrooms, but dozens of public toilets, men's and women's bathing areas, and washing places were scattered around.

Adam, coming from an advanced world, prioritized cleanliness. The cleanliness standards for his subordinates and the people living in his area had improved. Naturally, he didn't want these immigrants to disrupt the cleanliness culture here.

For now, strict food rationing would be implemented for these immigrants. The high prices of grains indicated a need for specific policies to conserve Adam's grain reserves, especially considering a portion of those reserves had already been sold.

Finder's family received 700 grams of wheat flour every day: 250 grams for each adult and 100 grams for each child. The amount was appropriate for Finder's family, consisting of four individuals—two adults and two children.

The wheat flour was the result of grinding wheat seeds using water power in a flour mill. This mill was built near a river, utilizing the river's flow to power a waterwheel that transmitted motion to the flour milling mechanism inside the mill. Besides grinding wheat seeds, the milling factory was used for other grains as well.

The main river in the Kingdom of Florent originated from the mountains dividing the Reon Federation's territories. It flowed into the Kingdom of Florent, creating numerous tributaries, eventually leading to the Oziloth forest near the Kingdom of Florent. This caused the Oziloth forest, bordering the Kingdom of Florent, to be an area with many swamps.

After providing the wooden houses, these immigrants also had to start working immediately. Adam declared that the ownership of these wooden houses still belonged to him. If the immigrants wanted full ownership, they needed to work under his department for a year without pay, only receiving food rations for their families.

His reasoning was to motivate these immigrants to work hard. Nonetheless, Adam didn't bring them to his territory solely based on his morality. As a return for Adam's actions, the immigrants also had to work.

Although Adam could forcibly implant permanent suggestions into these immigrants, it would be futile if they didn't want to be subjects of Adam.

There were several jobs arranged for the immigrants. The primary ones included construction work under the construction department, farming under the agriculture and plantation department, working in iron mines, assisting blacksmiths, and carpenters in their workshops. Besides these, there were other more specialized jobs for immigrants with specific skills.

While immigrants continued to arrive in Adam's territory, the grand war persisted.

On the 28th, after advancing undisturbed into the Oziloth forest, the combined Otheni forces finally encountered the enemy forces. Unfortunately, they didn't meet ordinary troops but an aerial unit, the Falcon Bloodwings unit. As its name suggested, this unit was an aerial force led by General Arkmenom, who used Falcon Bloodwings as mounts.

Arkmenom's power system differed from mages. Each Arkmenom had the chance to reach the highest level, Level 10. From the basic Level 1 to Level 5, there were remarkable physical enhancements. Then, at Level 6, unique powers emerged within the Arkmenom.

Essentially, three types of powers manifested in Arkmenom who reached Level 6.

First was plant manipulation, the reason why deforestation in Oziloth was not a good strategy against battling Arkmenom.

Second was the beast throne. The ability to transform into animals or control the animals themselves. This was a power possessed by the General Arkmenom leading the Falcon Bloodwings unit.

Lastly was gigantium. Its meaning was literal - the ability to enlarge the body into a giant.

Due to this system, Arkmenom had a quantitative advantage in battles among lower-ranked warriors and a qualitative advantage in higher-ranked battles.

The arrival of the Falcon Bloodwings unit, numbering nearly 50,000, inflicted significant losses on the combined Otheni forces, especially Aylox's Otheni forces.

Despite the presence of flying mages, the 50,000 Arkmenom in the Falcon Bloodwings unit were not ordinary Arkmenom. The weakest Arkmenom in the Falcon Bloodwings unit was a Level 3 Arkmenom.

The high numbers, aerial supremacy, and warrior quality made the Falcon Bloodwings unit truly superior to the combined Otheni forces.

"What are the mage units doing?! Our casualties keep rising! The mage units must immediately deal with the Falcon Bloodwings unit!" Aylox expressed frustration. He quickly instructed his subordinates to approach Jeanne and deliver his message.

Today, his troops suffered casualties reaching up to 12,000 people. If the Falcon Bloodwings unit couldn't be stopped, the casualties would continue to rise. Even thinking about conquering Elzoron seemed challenging, let alone returning safely to the Reon Federation's territory if they couldn't defeat the Falcon Bloodwings unit.

Fortunately, the Falcon Bloodwings unit withdrew their troops when night fell. The soldiers began clearing the battlefield, gathering various fallen weapons, plate armor worn by their fallen comrades, and other valuable items. Afterward, they collected the bodies of their fallen comrades and burned them.

The camp was eerily silent; the attack from the Falcon Bloodwings unit made people realize that their smooth journey was about to end. The grand war continued, but it seemed the outcome of the war wouldn't be as ideal as humans had thought.