Chương 257: 257： The Perfect Continent-Wide Propaganda

Soren walked back to the desk, leaning his weight heavily on his hands as he locked eyes with Lucia.

"Please, emphasize one crucial point in your report."

"Personal glory means absolutely nothing to me. The blood spilled by the forces of Greywater Village serves only one ultimate purpose!"

"To drive every last one of those blood-drinking Orcs out of human territory! To defend the living space of our innocent civilians!" Lucia was profoundly shaken by his righteous conviction, her eyes turning slightly red. In this dark era, where corrupt warlords backstabbed each other to steal military merit, there was actually a commander willing to voluntarily share his glory, fighting to the death solely for the survival of humanity!

"But, My Lord," Lucia voiced the core question burning in her heart—and the heart of anyone who would read these battle reports:"Facing elite Orcs with bodies a hundred times stronger than ours, backed by massive beasts of war like Ironclad Earth Dragons, Greywater Village's forces were always at a severe numerical disadvantage."

"Hundreds against thousands... how exactly did you achieve the miracle of dividing and annihilating them?" Soren sat back in his chair.

"It wasn't a miracle, Lucia. Nor was it a blind gamble."

"First, it is the result of systematic training of elite soldiers, forging them into a highly cohesive, lethal unit."

"Second, the absolute utilization of the terrain—the toxic miasma of the Misty Swamp and the bottleneck of Soul-Severing Gorge. We weaponize the natural environment itself to halt the enemy."

"Third, preemptive tactical deployment. Before the Orcs even broke camp, my encirclement was already waiting for them."

"Infantry meat-grinders, heavy crossbow suppression, wide-area magical bombardment... everything was the result of precise, cold calculation." Hearing tactical concepts that completely transcended this era, Lucia couldn't help but let out a long sigh. She turned to look out at the pitch-black night, her tone leaking the chronic pessimism common among scholars of the age:"But My Lord, this war of attrition between humans and Orcs is too grueling."

"The enemy's reproduction rate and sheer physical superiority are suffocating. Many frontline generals privately believe that humanity's defensive lines will sooner or later be bled dry. This war... is there truly hope?"

"There is!" Soren's answer came without a fraction of hesitation. His voice rang like clashing steel, instantly shattering the gloomy atmosphere in the room. He stood up, his posture as unyielding as a mountain pine:"I possess an unshakable faith. The human faction will ultimately triumph!" Lucia gazed blankly at the young Deputy Border Commander, feeling overwhelmingly awestruck by his profound vision and unwavering resolve.

But she couldn't hear the monologue echoing in the deepest, darkest depths of Soren's mind.

"Why will humanity triumph?" Soren sneered coldly in his heart.

"Because I, Soren, will crush every last alien race with absolute force! I will conquer these rotting human empires, and ultimately unite this entire world under my absolute rule!"

"Humanity will win because I am human!" Hiding his apocalyptic ambitions beneath a gentle facade, Soren smoothly steered the conversation toward the internal structure of Greywater Village. He knew perfectly well that this continent-wide exclusive interview would be his ultimate recruitment poster!

"Lucia, to give more people hope, I am willing to objectively dissect the factors behind Greywater Village's formidable strength." Soren held up a single finger, his tone brimming with pride:"First, armaments that far surpass regular border garrisons."

"Not only have we mass-produced [Black Steel Full-Plate] capable of stopping giant axes, and equipped our men with devastatingly lethal [Winch-drawn Heavy Repeating Crossbows], but we have also deployed pivoting anti-air ballistae and heavy trebuchets!"

"In terms of unit composition, we've broken the mold. We have established a Magical Ranger Battalion, Wolf Cavalry, Elite Sharpshooter Longbowmen, and an unbreakable Macedonian Pike Phalanx!"

"Second," he held up another finger:"Our highly efficient and mature training system. Monk Renn's close-quarters combat, Cavalry Commander Buck's mounted tactics, Longbow Commander Ein's marksmanship drills..."

"We can take malnourished refugees and raw recruits and, in the shortest time possible, forge them into ferocious warriors who dare to cross blades with Orcs!"

"Third, and most importantly!"

"Absolute logistical support. In Greywater Village, every soldier has ample meat and [Swamp Tubers]. They don't sleep in the mud; they live in dry, elevated wooden cabins."

"If they are wounded, they receive precious magical hydro-healing and alchemical potions." Soren looked Lucia dead in the eyes.

"Even if they tragically fall in battle or are crippled, Greywater Village will properly provide for their families and their remaining years." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Here, no one is treated as disposable military property!" Lucia's quill flew furiously across the parchment. How was this a border army? This was an absolute utopia for every refugee, eccentric talent, and battered veteran struggling to survive in this chaotic era! She could already foresee just how many unappreciated warriors would flock to the Misty Swamp in droves once this article was published.

"One last question, Honorable Commander," Lucia paused her pen, her face burning with immense curiosity.

"In less than three months, Greywater Village's forces have expanded from a mere twenty-five men to a massive army of two thousand. What exactly is the secret behind forging this miracle?" Soren smiled faintly. He walked to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters. Outside in the plaza, bathed in the glow of a brazier, an elderly half-elf woman was handing a bowl of hot soup to a soldier who had just finished his patrol. The soldier smiled, thanked her, and carefully took the bowl.

"The secret? It's quite simple." Soren pointed to the heartwarming scene outside, delivering a core answer that thoroughly shook Lucia to her core:"The grassroots foundation." He turned around, silhouetted against the light:"Only when you truly treat the commoners as human beings, only when you truly shelter them, will you earn the broadest support of humanity across this land."

"Only then will an army possess an endless supply of recruits and the inexhaustible logistical productivity required to sustain a war."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. An army divorced from the commoners is nothing more than a mob that has lost its roots." The exclusive interview concluded perfectly deep into the night. Throughout the entire process, Soren remained humble, courteous, impeccably logical, and seemingly burdened by the fate of the world, without a shred of arrogance. This extraordinary, transcendent demeanor of a commander completely won over the well-traveled Lucia.

Clutching her thick stack of parchment records, she returned to her guest quarters. Sitting at the desk under the dancing candlelight, she stared at the powerful words she had written down.

"Tactical genius... Protector of the commoners... The hope of humanity..." Lucia took a deep breath of the earthy swamp air. She foresaw it clearly: When this article was distributed through the Empire's intelligence network, when it was read aloud in the taverns, military camps, and plazas of every major human kingdom... It wouldn't just be a publication. It would be an earth-shattering sensation that would capture the attention of the entire Human Alliance and ignite the fiery resolve of countless souls!...

Early the next morning. The biting wind whipped up fine shards of ice, slicing sharply across the water's surface. It startled a few Two-headed Demonic Crocodiles lurking in the mud, causing them to thrash their tails in irritation and emit low, muffled growls. At the chevaux-de-frise barricades on the outskirts of Greywater Village. The battlefield recording scholar, Lucia, was already fully geared up.

She had tightly wrapped her thick parchment ledgers in three layers of waterproof oilcloth and carefully tucked them into the inner lining of her leather jacket.

"Lady Lucia, the journey to the giant stone fortress is a long one. The bandits and Orc guerrilla units on the outskirts of the swamp are still rampant." Soren, draped in his black windbreaker cloak, stood tall at the muddy crossroad. Behind him stood five frontline elites clad in heavy black steel armor.

"These Black Steel brothers of mine will escort you all the way until you safely enter the patrol zones of the Holy Halycon Empire's regular army."

"Thank you, Commander Soren!" Lucia mounted her horse. She took one last, deep look at the heavily armed fortress that had miraculously risen from the muck. She knew exactly what kind of world-shaking tempest the words resting against her chest would unleash once they landed on Grand Duke Valentine's desk and were broadcasted to the entire Human Alliance!

"My Lord, your philosophy, your mercy, and the glorious combat record of this magnificent army will absolutely not be buried in this swamp!" Gripping the reins, Lucia placed a hand over her heart in a solemn salute to Soren.

"The epic of humanity will undoubtedly reserve its boldest, most brilliant page for you! Until we meet again!"

"Hah!" With a sharp crack of the whip, Lucia and her five Black Steel elite escorts spurred their horses. Hooves kicking up dirt, they quickly turned into shrinking black dots, vanishing entirely into the rolling, thick grey miasma. Watching Lucia depart, a razor-sharp glint surfaced in the depths of Soren's eyes. Leveraging the Grand Duke's official channels to broadcast the prestige of Greywater Village across the entire continent...

This was the absolute perfect advertisement for him to recruit troops, buy horses, and absorb the strongest talents in the world!