Second World

Chapter 1799 1799. Preparing Against the Underworld Forces

Jack didn't think he could sleep even after staying awake the whole night, so he decided to work. He went to the throne room and used the monarch system.

John already used the remote monarch system inside the mobile fortress to work on research and settlement constructions, so Jack no longer troubled himself in managing those. The matters John left for Jack to do were appoint officers and draft soldiers.

Jack had a higher luck stat and the runestone of luck. If Jack was the one who drafted the soldiers, higher-grade soldiers were more likely to appear.

Jack appointed officers into the blank portraits in the officer overview. Those were soldiers who had lost their lives during the battle in Dritzuut. He picked candidates based on John's report pointing out the meritorious soldiers from the same battle.

After finishing refilling all the portraits inside the officer overview, Jack started drafting soldiers from the settlements. When he did the first draft, he was surprised to see that the number of recruits was twice the draft from the previous month.

Peniel expected Jack's surprise. She explained, "Once the main underworld portal was opened, the world entered an emergency state. Go to the enchantment page. You will see a new enchantment."

*

State of Emergency (World enchantment)

All draft attempts yield double outcomes.

Training efficiency is doubled.

The country with an active underworld portal receives triple effect for drafting and training.

Negative effects from tax are halved.

*

"Oh? Even the training speed is doubled," Jack remarked.

"Yes, this is to prepare every country's military to face the underworld forces," Peniel said.

"So, all other countries also have this enchantment," Jack said. "The countries with the active underworld portals even receive the triple effect."

"Yes, but the active underworld portals have demons coming out non-stop. Even with the drafting volume and training speed tripled, the country will still have a problem keeping up."

"I understand. This triple effect is most likely given so the countries with the active underworld portals are not so easily overrun. The ones that contribute the main battle power against the main underworld forces will be the countries that have successfully closed their underworld portals. Sigh… I wish I had found more portal-closing stones. Right now, only Themisphere and Verremor are free of the underworld portal."

"If you ask me, finding two is already surprising," Peniel said. "Things could have been much worse with none of the underworld portals being closed."

Jack nodded. "I hope Four Winds has no problem winning the grand election tourney," Jack said.

Jack received the report that Verremor would hold the grand election tourney tomorrow. Normally, there would be a lengthy ritual accompanied by repeated meetings between the clans in power before the grand election tourney, but the appearance of the underworld forces gave everyone a sense of urgency. The grand election tourney would be completed within one day. Verremor would have a new grand chief by tomorrow.

If Four Winds won, his player status would provide him an edge in drafting recruits. Verremor would be the next country after Themisphere to produce sufficient troops in the hope of stopping the main underworld forces.

"His chance of winning is high," Peniel said. "His current level is enough to compete against the strongest native orc."

"Is the grand election tourney a tournament battle like the election tourney Four Winds and I took part in?" Jack asked.

"It is. The difference is the grand election tourney has participants only from Verremor's ten ruling clans," Peniel answered. "And the tourney will be a three-against-three battle instead of two-against-two like the election tourney. Do you plan to help him win the tourney again?"

"No," Jack said. "Verremor's leaders already know my cover. Furthermore, as you said, Four Winds' level is high enough by now. So are his people. They are all experts. They will win even without my help. I have my own things to do. John and the others will return tomorrow. We will discuss the best course of action to deal with the current crisis."

Jack proceeded with the military draft in every settlement. He then finished the drafting process using Call to Arms. The total number of recruits was 996,000. If Horatio, Aldrith, and Thelgrun learned that he recruited almost a million soldiers in a month, they might bang their heads on the wall.

The increase in recruitable soldiers was not without a cost. The number of coins required to draft each soldier remained the same. This meant Jack's expenditure of kingdom coins had doubled. He could still afford it due to all the wonder buildings that generated coins. Themisphere's economy was also steady because John's city management was very good. Additionally, Themisphere received the extra coins sent by Liguritudum after John issued the evacuation process.

If it was the other countries, they might not be able to fully utilize the effects granted by the State of Emergency. Even if they did, they might need to sacrifice something to cover their coin shortage, such as selling some buildings or applying taxes. The state of emergency halved the negative effect of taxes, but it would still hurt the country in the long run.

Verremor and Aurebor should be able to recruit a decent number considering their sovereigns were players. He sent a message to Four Winds and Nova asking whether they had enough coins for recruiting. Four Winds replied that he had to wait until he became the grand chief to make sure. But as far as he knew, Verremor was doing well economically, so there shouldn't be a problem.

Nova admitted she was not as confident. Aurebor had just undergone a war. The economy was low. Mistress also spent a lot to build the country's military. Hence, Aurebor's kingdom coffer wasn't in good condition. Whatever was left, Nova had been using it to rebuild the country's economy. She expected the war to end after the Allied forces departed to Liguritudum. She had been eager to rebuild the country and show everyone she was a worthy sovereign. Alas. she didn't expect a menace like the underworld forces to appear. Now, she might lose the country without being able to show anyone her worth.

Jack used the diplomacy page and sent her 500,000 gold coins. Nova couldn't believe the generosity.

"I don't know how to thank you," She said to Jack in message.

"Slow the advance of the underworld forces as much as possible. That would be gratitude enough," Jack replied.

"I will do my best," Nova promised.