Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 345 Internal Affairs Hall (Tower)

Sumu emerged from the hilly region, detoured through the southern jungle, and arrived at the entrance to the plain.

This position was originally heavily guarded, but the Hill Army withdrew eastward, leaving only a small force to garrison it.

Su Mu decided to go all the way and led his vampire army to wipe out the remaining fortified troops. He first used necromancy to transform them into skeleton soldiers, and then fused them into vampires with the Soul Cauldron. He then continued to spend money to advance his rank to Vampire Count.

His troops have grown by several hundred men.

Currently, the vampire army is still mainly composed of earls, since recruiting a prince requires 1 Primogem, which is too expensive.

After this great victory, Su Mu rewarded Liliana with 300 Primogems to help her improve her troops' strength, which could be seen as tacit approval for her to develop in secret.

Next, Su Mu will return to his identity as a human lord. With so many boundary stones, he plans to undertake a major city construction project. However, the hidden entanglements cannot be ignored, so he can only delegate authority to Liliana and see how the Night Queen handles things.

The northwestern region of the plains is not easy to navigate. Ancient ruins are looming large, and Lloyd is eager for revenge. Liliana needs to make careful arrangements.

After reaching the plains, there is the Black Cliff under construction. It was supposed to be completed in a month, but it is still not finished. The craftsmen sent by the kingdom are mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled. Although the blueprints are complete, the efficiency is too slow.

Judging from this situation, it seems that many people were replaced along the way.

As for who was causing trouble, Su Mu didn't want to investigate. There were plenty of people who disliked him, but they couldn't do anything about him. In short, he would just keep trying to get benefits from the kingdom.

Wanting him to stand in front of you without giving him any benefits? How can you have such a thing?

According to Meiji's intelligence, after Dino went south, he joined forces with another legion of Isildur, and they are very likely to launch a surprise attack westward to get back at him.

After all, they were completely overwhelmed by the undead and hadn't even caught the culprit yet. They couldn't possibly take the blame themselves, could they? They definitely needed to fight a few battles to bolster their prestige.

The hills are already enemy-occupied territory; if the enemy wants to find a foothold, they can only break into the plains or valleys.

Judging from the distance, it is most likely the valley, and the new marshal is currently training troops in the valley, which could easily attract Isildur's attention.

Of course, it's also possible that they will continue to pursue them and reach the plains.

However, Su Mu was not going to give them a chance. He led his vampire army to Black Cliff and pretended to attack the human army.

When he met Maggie, they understood each other perfectly and moved north while fighting.

The next day, news spread: "The human defensive towns in front of the hills are quite fortified, and the garrisoned legions are powerful, driving away the undead army that ravaged Isildor and forcing them to retreat north."

Upon hearing this news, Dino and Ryan were nearly stunned. The vampire army they had been relentlessly pursuing had actually suffered a defeat on the human border. Just who was the general guarding this place? Could he be more powerful than hundreds of golden dragons and tens of thousands of fortified troops?

Later, rumors circulated that Black Cliff housed special treasures of the kingdom, as well as advanced ballistae and arrow towers, and that it also ambushed many of the kingdom's elite troops to defeat the vampires.

This news was even more outrageous; the Diet even secretly held an internal meeting to discuss who still had the resources to secretly ally with Kuraki.

Regardless of the rumors, the result is that the human legion won, demonstrating the strength of their defenses. Even if Isildur wanted to move west into the plains, he would have to think twice.

At this point, Liliana led her army northwest and went into hiding once more.

Su Mu left the Fire Spirit Orb with Maggie so that she could enhance her fire magic abilities, and gave the captured dragon blood essence to Randall.

I heard that there's been progress on alchemical dust and Dark Night Blood, and they'll be transported back soon. Now, we just need a small amount of Dragon Blood Essence to evolve the Sacred Blood Bottle.

Gathering materials wasn't Randall's responsibility. He spent his days forging iron, listening to music, having a couple of drinks at the tavern, and mentoring Hammonddale. Hammonddale was highly talented and quickly distinguished himself among the blacksmithing apprentices, winning Randall's favor.

Randall even made some custom weapons specifically for him to practice with.

Since Randall was so thoughtful, Kuraki naturally treated him to good food and drinks.

The talents discovered last time have all made progress, but they are still some distance from being heroes.

Even the highly regarded Knight Commander Goode has hit a plateau, spending his days in the stables studying his warhorses. The good news is that he continues to practice riding skills day after day without slacking off.

However, for advanced troops to break through to the hero level, it's not just about hard work; they also need sufficient talent. In this regard, only Su Mu can help.

Su Mu wanted to give him some more time to see how far the cavalry commander could go.

So domestic affairs continued as usual, and he traveled north to Silvertop City, which was under construction. In just a few weeks, it was already vastly different from the city he had last seen.

A white stone house with a dome rose from the ground, built on the snow, with smoke billowing from its chimney, suggesting that it was quite popular.

【Hero Tavern Special Effect (Tower): Provides special abilities based on the alchemy of the tavern scene, currently at alchemy level 2.】

All garrisoned heroes gain +1 Knowledge and their spell duration increases by 20%.

Alchemists can create special guardian golems to take the brunt of magical attacks in place of troops (only one unit can be selected per battle, retaining 1 HP).

[Additional costs: 1 gold, 20 logs, 20 stones, 10 crystals, 10 gems]

Obviously, the basic function of the Hero's Tavern needs no further explanation. This time, Forrest built a special effect unique to the tower, which, although costing a lot, had a remarkable effect.

The knowledge of the garrisoned heroes is enhanced, and the duration of their spells is increased, enabling them to better fight prolonged battles.

What's rare is that with the Guardian Golem, you can withstand magical attacks, preserve a sliver of your troops' lives, and launch a desperate counterattack.

At this point, we must mention the desperate gamble of fire magic. With the defense of the city walls, if they can withstand another magical attack, then they do indeed have a chance to fight to the death.

Forrest's gains were naturally not limited to these. After completing the construction of the remaining buildings, he began to prepare the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boundary stones that were originally given by the Kingdom of Fenrun were now being used by him with the large amount of resources brought back by Su Mu, so he could finally let loose and do whatever he wanted.

[Inner Affairs Hall (Tower): Collect tax payments and refine magical energy to earn 1000 gold coins daily.]

Resources needed: 2500 gold coins, boundary stone.

Allows the construction of a town headquarters, a level 2 magic guild, a manufacturing plant, a mage tower, a watchtower, a blacksmith shop, and a wisdom wall.

The Town Hall is a further upgrade of the Tower City, not only enhancing the main base but also strengthening it with watchtowers and the Wisdom Wall. If there's one building in the Tower City that's most unique, it's undoubtedly its far-reaching view; the towering watchtowers can even survey the entire border region.

Of course, this isn't just about visual observation. At the top of the watchtower is a cloud eye that can see through the sea of ​​clouds and the vast expanse of snow to observe the earth's movements. With it, defensive arrangements can be planned in advance. And as the city is strengthened, the cloud eye will play an even more powerful role.

Forrest was thrilled to see the new batch of resources brought by the lord.

"Craftsmen, what are you waiting for? It's our turn to make our mark!"

(End of this chapter)