The Last King Of Darkness-Chapter 1617 - 763: Turning Point (2)

This statement made the Book of the Future overjoyed, it smiled so widely that its pages were nearly falling apart. It trembled as it stepped forward to receive the Book of Destiny handed by its master, shouting excitedly: "Yes, yes, that’s right, I am the future King of Destiny! Hahaha! I will control all destinies, my master’s future is mine to guard, the future of the Black Fog’s destruction is mine to write, hahaha!"

Amidst the wild laughter, the Book of the Future leaped into the bookshelf, beginning a new cycle of digestion.

Rod also left the Dream Realm, he had many tasks to attend to. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The most urgent of these tasks was reclaiming all the inheritances stated in the Pope’s last words.

The significant increase in the power of Horus thoroughly proved the importance of the Ascension Ceremony. The primary factor was the residual soul of the Holy King, which was only released because of the Ascension Ceremony; otherwise, relying solely on Horus for digestion would have taken ages.

Conducting Ascension Ceremonies for more people is the best way to enhance Trolian’s high-level combat capabilities.

And the inheritances in the Pope’s last words are all materials and resources related to the Ascension Ceremony. Collecting these inheritances promptly will rapidly boost Trolian’s combat strength, paving the way for successful expansion plans.

Rod felt a vague sense of crisis deep in his heart, unable to identify its source, but he knew that power is the ballast against all storms; as long as Trolian becomes stronger, no matter what crisis arises, it can be overcome.

The essence of expansion is also about acquiring more resources.

If that plan can be completed, Trolian will leap forward to become a civilization as powerful as during the Fire Epoch.

Perhaps this is the turning point for human destiny, which has plummeted to its lowest since the arrival of the Dark Epoch.

——

The beginning of the expansion campaign sent Trolian into a frenzy, from elite warriors to ordinary civilians, everyone felt a sense of mission to personally usher in a new era.

Everyone worked tirelessly, even the workers in food factories, miners underground, and apprentices in alchemical pharmacy were no exception.

They fervently hoped that each piece of material they produced could be delivered to the frontline warriors, contributing their part to the step that would determine Trolian’s destiny.

And the busiest position belonged to the Military War Department.

Such a large-scale war mobilization involved extremely complex affairs, the most complicated among them being the logistics and material management.

Both combat materials and medical supplies are indispensable in a large-scale campaign, and not only are they fighting, but they also need to occupy the cleared areas, which involves even more affairs.

At the start of war affairs, the First Defense Chief, Darlene, discovered a huge problem.

There aren’t enough potions.

Spiritual Power Potion, Healing Potion, and Purification Potion are the three essential materials in a large-scale campaign, indispensable.

However, Trolian’s combat strength has inflated too rapidly, with over two million registered combatants, about 1.6 million are official combatants, more than 200,000 advanced combatants above the Third Level, and the numbers are still swelling by 5000 daily, the Fire Hall has long been overcrowded; the Royal City specially raised the threshold to the First Level Combatants, yet it’s still packed.

In the past, Trolian had no more than 500 total First Level Combatants, and high-rank fighters like Guardians among First Level Combatants were just over 30.

Now, this number has soared to over twenty times that.

The number of First Level Combatants has broken through the ten-thousand mark, over seventy percent of them are Fire Holders, the ratio between Spirit Fire Series and Starfire Series is 3 to 1, whereas previously it was about 10 to 1. The main reason for this change is Bossivale’s arrival, which brought a standardized and correct system to the Starfire Series, elevating a large number of Starfire Series combatants.

Although the Spirit Fire Series also received standardization, its original system wasn’t as chaotic as the Starfire Series, most people’s potential had already been somewhat developed; Bossivale’s arrival further unleashed the suppressed potential of the Starfire Series warriors.

However, the greatest improvement wasn’t in the Starfire Series, but in Calier’s Unawakened and Black Inheritor; under the efforts of Great Priest Megan, their proportion among combatants surged from negligible to thirty percent.

Of course, Rod significantly contributed; without the spiritual material he provided, Great Priest Megan, no matter how wise, would find it difficult to perform without resources.

Additionally, within the expanding army, some new entities appeared, like the White Spirit Inheritor of the Taboo Armament and the war machinery from the Mechanical Research Institute.

They emerged from nothingness, undergoing tremendous development.

Such a vast and complex army immensely complicated logistics management.

Other types of materials can be resolved, like accelerating mining, utilizing stockpile, and resources ceaselessly delivered back from Saint Reel’s land by the Sun Knight Order and Moon Knight Order.

However, there’s no solution for the potions.

Because they are mostly refined from spiritual plants, have short shelf lives, and cannot be stored for extended periods.

Furthermore, the cultivation of spiritual plants requires not only special land but also special water sources and rich life energy, and there is only one Great Holy White Tree; the Royal City Botanical Garden has already been operating at full capacity, whereas the small Holy White Tree fails to provide such rich life energy, and the spiritual alteration of soil is formed over time, nurtured by years.

Despite Rod providing a large amount of soul residue, enabling the Great Holy White Tree to revive, significantly boosting the yield of potion ingredients, it still falls far behind Trolian’s rapidly growing combat strength, creating a substantial shortfall.

This problem made Darlene pull her hair in frustration; without enough potions, casualties and corruption rates would escalate to unacceptable levels.

After much deliberation, she reluctantly approached Horus, hoping to delay the start of the large expansion.

At this moment, Horus was at the main cathedral of the Holy Church, treating former elders who had been forced to retire due to severe soul corruption with Bright Light.

All elders of the Supreme Council, all masters of the Fire Hall, gathered here.

The first to complete treatment was First Elder Amendo, who was once a top-tier warrior of Trolian in a certain period, forced to retire to become an elder due to severe penetrating soul corruption.

Now, he seemed rejuvenated, his face free of wrinkles, his soul cleared of darkness.

"Ah, after all these years, I can finally return to the battlefield."

Tears filled Amendo’s murky eyes, a dream come true.

Elders and masters were also tremendously excited, chanting praises of Fire’s protection.

Rod was also there, smiling, "Now, our high-level forces have increased again. Darlene, you need to prepare more potions for them; souls just purified need proper care."

Darlene’s heart sank, hesitated for a moment, and finally bit the bullet to discuss the potion issue.

In an instant, it was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone’s heads, all turned to look at her, their gazes pierced like countless blades.

Amendo asked gravely, "Are you suggesting that because of insufficient potions, you want to delay the expansion war?"

Darlene nodded stiffly, explaining, "Otherwise, we will suffer significant casualties; fighting outside the realm of Fire, many warriors will suffer severe corruption without treatment, and even the Archbishop, soon to ascend the True King, cannot be constantly by everyone’s side."

Amendo frowned, "Then how long do you intend to delay?"

Darlene had calmed down by now, spoke solemnly, "Delay until we have sufficient potions. We cannot expand on warriors’ bones; bloody resources, I cannot stomach."

Everyone’s expression darkened at this moment.

Darlene’s statement was undeniably correct; expansion aims for strength, but the foundation of Trolian is its people, and if they die, what good are resources?

However, based on her potion requirements, Trolian might not be able to commence war this year.

Will the expansion end before it begins?

At this moment, Rod suddenly spoke.

"No need for delay, I have a solution."