Chapter 407: Smoke Rising (2/2)

Marvin froze before smiling. He sincerely showed his appreciation. ”Anna, thank you.”

Anna blinked and arranged the remaining documents, apparently wanting to say something, before ultimately carrying the documents in her embrace and smiling at Marvin before leaving the room.

Marvin sighed. He knew what Anna wanted to say, but it was just that the smart girl didn't voice her thoughts.

She knew he carried too many secrets, and he felt many times that Anna wanted to ask him.

But she never asked.

She had probably guessed some things... or perhaps nothing. But all in all, she was still supporting him with her actions.

Anna was like this, and the others were the same.

...

Marvin massaged his temples. The current White River Valley was very different from how it had been in those times.

Besides the adventurers, the regular army, and the Overlord's guards, there was still the independent Sha army.

The Sha village was south of the White River. Nominally it was under Marvin's management, but Constantine was their real leader.

To outsiders, this might seem like a danger to White River Valley, but Marvin trusted Constantine.

Just as Constantine trusted Marvin.

Two days after the war ended, Constantine arrived at White River Valley with another group of Sha clansmen.

He successfully persuaded a Sha tribe to move to White River Valley.

As a result, their numbers in White River Valley had grown to over two thousand, while the number of inhabitants of White River Valley itself reached about three thousand. These numbers definitely couldn't be compared with those on Earth, his original world, but Marvin knew that Feinan's population was a lot smaller than Earth's.

A territory containing five thousand people would already be considered a huge territory.

In many parts of the North, this would be considered on the scale of a Dukedom.

If Marvin wanted to, with the support of Constantine, he could publicly establish one.

But with the impending crisis, he didn't have that kind of interest.

So in short, there was no disadvantage in having the Shas become part of White River Valley. Many of them were also quite capable in combat.

Although their firearms might not be very powerful, they were certainly more useful in battle than farmers. The only issue was that they weren't good at cultivating lands. But Marvin had already settled the food issue a long time ago.

The twelve Golden Bulls were the food stores that the Twin Snakes Cult had prepared in order to get through the Great Calamity.

The Golden Bulls had enough food for the current White River Valley to survive for at least two years after the Great Calamity.

And by that time, White River Valley should already be self-sufficient.

Constantine and Marvin had a discussion. This time he not only brought the Shas, but also two of his close friends.

One was the Master Harvester, and the other one was the Potioneering Master.

These two were strong people in the North without a fixed residence. They were enticed by Constantine's tempting words of how Marvin had many Dragons' corpses. And just recently, he'd obtained the corpse of the Sea Monster Logenath, making them even more eager to see him in White River Valley.

Marvin treated his guests with courtesy. After all, he even gave excellent treatment to Necromancer Fidel and the Nameless Alchemist, so of course Marvin wouldn't treat such Masters improperly.

At least in the fields of Alchemy and Harvesting, White River Valley now had its own Masters.

...

Apart from this, Constantine also brought an additional piece of information.

The Legends previously gathered in White River Valley had gone to take care of their own matters, and some Legends with no previous ties might choose to join White River Valley.

The Legend Monk powerhouse Inheim for example!

During the Great Calamity, if a person's military force was powerful, then he would easily be able to handle the world's chaos.

Many powers had stretched out an olive branch to Inheim, like the North's Migratory Bird Council. Back then, Mother of Creation had saved Inheim's life.

But according to Constantine, Inheim would most likely choose White River Valley.

The reason seemed to have something to do with the Great Elven King, but Constantine himself didn't know the details.

And most of the other powerful Legend forces he was acquainted with would choose to cooperate with Marvin too.

Like the Heavenly Deer Lorant. Marvin had saved his children once and he clearly understood what would happen after the Calamity.

Although the Sage Desert was part of the Alliance, because of the faith of the Bai clans, the Heavenly Deer's influence played a critical role.

If he wished for it, the Sage Desert would ally with White River Valley. And then there was the three sisters' Rocky Mountain further west.

If the alliance between them was successful, then a large allied coalition would be appearing in the South.

Marvin was looking forward to this.

The old blacksmith Sean gave him some more news:

O'Brien went north to gather the scattered Night Walkers, and he would bring this group of people who had inherited the Night Monarch's will back to White River Valley before the Great Calamity!

When Marvin heard this news, his heart started beating extremely quickly!

Uniting all the forces before the Great Calamity was exactly what he wanted.

And this scene was just a step away from being realized.

Despite the Gods revealing their hands, the mortals were unwilling to become their slaves.

This was a war for freedom and dignity.

Although the war had yet to be ignited, the smoke was already rising!