One day later.
After the Night Tribe's great army rendezvoused with the Black Soil Stronghold, they finalized their plan and decided to act swiftly, marching out that night towards the depths of the Black Soil Plain to suppress the Barbarian Tribe.
A total of twenty-four thousand troops were dispatched, including three thousand Heavy Cavalry, thirteen thousand Shock Cavalry, and eight thousand Light Cavalry. All of the Night Tribe's cavalry had been deployed.
The Barbarian Tribe was not particularly far from the Black Soil Stronghold; they could reach it in about a day if they advanced at full speed.
However, traveling in the harsh weather of wind and snow, even with Sky-Rending Eagles guiding them and preventing them from getting lost on the plains, would inevitably deplete the warriors' combat strength.
Therefore, Su Xingyu's plan for Ye Zhan was to travel through the night with a brief rest stop midway. This way, they would most likely arrive at the Barbarian Tribe on the evening of the second day.
Su Xingyu did not accompany the expedition. The plan was set, and it was up to Ye Zhan to execute it.
Leave the professional tasks to the professionals.
He did not believe he was a better strategist than Ye Zhan, nor did his absence from the expedition mean he couldn't influence the battlefield.
The growing number of Believers granted Him more autonomy.
Currently, as long as there were enough Believers in a certain area, He could directly descend "Divine Power" to interfere with reality. Thus, even if the battlefield situation was unfavorable, He could still turn the tide.
Although Su Xingyu felt it might not be necessary for Him to intervene.
He had already thoroughly investigated the Barbarians. They were indeed strong, but to think they could contend against his meticulously crafted Iron Cavalry Legion was simply wishful thinking.
Moreover, Ye Zhan was launching a surprise attack, intending to catch them completely off guard.
After seeing the warriors off, Su Xingyu turned back and ordered, "Go find the Barbarian vanguard Adjutant we captured earlier."
Soon, a middle-aged man, bearing traces of blood, with a pale face, and appearing quite disheveled, was brought in by two guards.
"There's no need to tie him up. In his current state, he can't harm me."
Su Xingyu waved his hand, signaling the two guards to release the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man looked at the clean-faced young man before him with a calm expression, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He seemed not to expect that the overlord who unified the Red River Region was such a youth.
"What, surprised I'm so young? Or perhaps you expected people from the Savage Land to be rough, burly men..."
After a moment of stunned silence, the middle-aged man quickly recovered, placed his right hand over his chest in a salute, and said, "Respected Clan Leader of the Night Tribe, Balos pays his respects."
Su Xingyu nodded, then asked, "I can tell you're not from around here. Where are you from, and what were you doing here?"
Balos fell silent for a moment, then said with a bitter expression, "You guessed correctly. I am from a powerful kingdom—the Karl Dynasty. We encountered pirates while sailing at sea... After barely escaping, we lost our way and were caught in a massive storm. The fleet was torn apart... When I woke up, I found myself here."
"How did you get involved with the Barbarians?" Su Xingyu asked with some curiosity.
Balos's expression turned one of unbearable recollection. "I was rescued by tribesmen from a small tribe. They stripped me of all my clothes and then presented me to the Barbarian Tribe..."
As a Noble of the Karl Dynasty, even a low-ranking and fallen one, Balos still maintained his noble pride and dignity. Thus, after being humiliated by a group of Savage Land tribesmen, it was worse than death for him.
"I can see this wasn't a pleasant experience for you," Su Xingyu said with a hint of sympathy.
"Yes," Balos replied, his eye twitching slightly.
Su Xingyu suppressed a smile. "Not long from now, the Barbarian Tribe will cease to exist. Do you have any thoughts about finding a new patron? If you join the Night Tribe, we will all be one Family from then on. Your affairs will be the Night Tribe's affairs, and we will seek justice for the tribe that humiliated you."
"It would be my honor to join the Night Tribe... As for that tribe, there's no need to trouble you, Clan Leader. Some time ago, they were already absorbed by the Barbarian Tribe for failing to pay their tribute of food."
Balos's attitude was very respectful; he did not show any disdain despite Su Xingyu being from the Savage Land.
During his time living on the Black Soil Plain, he had learned a valuable lesson: no matter one's past status, it was irrelevant here. Strength was the only true currency.
And it was clear that the young man before him, who commanded tens of thousands of warriors, was someone he could not hope to match.
【Hero Template】
Name: Balos
Race: Human Race
Talent: Information Processing
Tier: Tier 1
Affiliation: Night Tribe
Loyalty: 60
Strength: ★★★
Constitution: ★★
Agility: ★★★
Spirit: ★★★★★★
Trait ① Super Memory: Rapid memorization, photographic memory.
Trait ② Information Analysis: Accelerated thinking, information parsing.
Trait ③ Information Integration: Rapid integration of information.
Even the Night Tribe had few individuals with Hero Templates, and outstanding ones like Balos were exceedingly rare, numbering fewer than could be counted on one hand.
Furthermore, most of the talents within the Night Tribe who possessed Hero Templates were combat-oriented or had life-skill templates. Those with administrative talents like Balos were similarly few.
"Very good," Su Xingyu said with a smile after examining Balos's template, clearly satisfied. With Balos's abilities, he would only need simple instruction to assist in managing the tribe's various affairs.
Balos did not understand what Su Xingyu was saying, his face still maintaining a respectful expression.
"Your abilities are excellent, and it would be a disservice to your talents to have you start from scratch. How about this: you will stay by my side for now, helping me with some miscellaneous tasks. After some time, I will assign you a specific position." Balos's capabilities were undeniable, and while it wasn't impossible to assign him to a high position immediately, it was still somewhat inappropriate as he was a new member. Therefore, Su Xingyu planned to keep him close for a while before assigning him to another role when the time was right.
"I will obey your will," Balos replied respectfully.
Su Xingyu waved his hand, instructing someone to escort Balos away and arrange a room for him.
He then separated the six thousand captives and conducted a "friendly education" session, making them realize their errors.
As prisoners and having witnessed the "might of a God," these captives were quite sensible and unanimously agreed to accept the Night Tribe's re-education.
After all, given the chance to live, no one would willingly choose to die.
After arranging the captives, Su Xingyu inspected the development progress of the Black Soil Stronghold. Overall, it was quite satisfactory; Ye Zhan had perfectly executed the orders issued by the tribe.
While Su Xingyu was handling matters at the stronghold, the Night Tribe's expeditionary force had arrived near the Barbarian Tribe.
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