The sudden influx of a large population into Dawn City was bound to cause disturbances, whether big or small.
Right now, the Dawn Order’s primary role was to stabilize public sentiment. The number of followers wouldn’t likely increase quickly in the short term.
After all, arriving suddenly in a city ruled by the legendary vampires, even if life here was safe and comfortable, would still stir unease and fear within the heart. People would naturally remain wary of the outside world.
In such circumstances, evangelism would yield two extremes: the simple-minded might immediately find a source of spiritual reliance and start believing fervently, while the more rational would respond with suspicion, thinking, ‘Could this be a vampire plot?’ and thus remain on the fence.
If there were a ‘most hated dark creature’ ranking among humans, vampires might not be number one, but they would definitely rank in the top three no matter who made the list.
But there was no helping it. The reputation of vampires among humans had long been completely ruined. Although Li De had been working tirelessly to rehabilitate their image, even rebranding them under the highly palatable name saintlight vampires, the deep-rooted beliefs ingrained in everyone’s mind couldn’t be changed overnight.
The previous batch of residents had taken three to five months of coordinated propaganda and administrative efforts before their views began to shift.
Now, although the existing residents could help reinforce the message, it would still take time to transform the newcomers' thinking.
“As you wish, I will come up with the most doctrinally aligned evangelism slogans.”
Niko’s big, sparkling eyes lit up like she had just received a divine decree. Her face glowed with excitement, as though a new idea had just struck her.
“Patriarch, the scale of the beastmen invasion this year is far larger than in previous years. According to intelligence provided by Odys, this might be the largest campaign in decades.”
Seeing their conversation pause, Harrison quickly stepped in and spoke up, “Should we carry out additional reconnaissance and make further preparations?”
Li De raised an eyebrow. The last time Harrison had interrupted his magic research, it was to bring up this very matter. Now he was mentioning it again, which suggested it was even more serious than he had thought.
“Has Odys uncovered the reason? Has the Dwarf Valley reported anything?”
Harrison shook his head. “Odys couldn’t penetrate deep into beastman territory, so he wasn’t able to determine the cause.
However, Craig has intentionally relayed several critical pieces of information. Reportedly, the scale of the beastman military mobilization is extremely intense.
Even the beastmen in Dwarf Valley were conscripted. Craig couldn’t refuse and ended up sending a thousand-man unit to join.”
An intense mobilization? Even Dwarf Valley had to send troops?
A thoughtful look appeared in Li De’s eyes.
Beastmen governance had always been tribal in nature. The Beastmen Empire only had a single large city deep within the Barren Plains; the rest of the beastmen lived like primitive tribes scattered across the wilderness.
When the Beastmen Empire needed an army, they would draw forces from these various tribes.
It was a model quite similar to the nomadic peoples of ancient China.
The difference was that the Beastmen Empire exerted far stronger control over its tribes. Once summoned, a tribe had to provide troops.
Disobey? The corpses of rebels had long since become fertilizer on the Barren Plains.
For centuries, the beastmen had invaded the borders every year during the Months of Deep Winter. At first, the Nolan Empire would send troops to engage them head-on.
But eventually they found the casualties were too great.
Over time, the will to fight waned, because the Nolan Empire realized the beastmen never stayed on occupied borderlands. They would withdraw back into the Barren Plains the following year.
In the end, the nobles discovered that allowing the beastmen to rampage after withdrawing from the border at the start of Deep Winter resulted in fewer losses than trying to fight them.
And since the beastmen always retreated in spring, there was no loss of land.
Thus, the border armies’ resolve to resist eroded year after year. Eventually, they would preemptively abandon the borders every Deep Winter and retreat to major cities.
As for the commoners living on the frontier? No one cared.
Without the protection of nobles, the civilians had come up with their own survival strategy, gathering in nearby major cities before winter, then returning to their lands once the Months of Deep Winter ended.
It was a twisted survival mechanism, but unavoidable. That was the reality across the Glory Main Plane. Even without beastmen, magical beasts and dark creatures roamed wild. So few were willing to move away from the borders, other places might be even more dangerous.
“As long as I run fast enough, the beastmen won’t catch me.” That mindset had been passed down for generations among border dwellers.
It was the main reason why the frontier population had remained relatively stable.
“Did Rekel mention any possible causes?”
Harrison hesitated for a moment. “Rekel speculates that the Beastmen Royal Court has sent the heir to the Beastmen Empire to the frontlines.
Beastmen are a strength-oriented race. Only military achievement can earn them prestige.
The current beastman king is aging, and the successor hasn’t yet earned enough renown. Humanity, of course, is the best way to gain it.”
“The heir to the Beastmen Empire?”
Li De’s expression turned intrigued at that title. If he could enslave such a nobly born beastman prince, then…
But he quickly shook his head with a wry smile. Was this a side effect of something?
If he really dared enslave the beastman prince, the beastman army would likely be at Dawn City’s gates the very next day.
The Beastmen Empire had legendary-level powerhouses.
It was just a fun thought. A figure like that was surely protected by powerful guards. No one would believe otherwise.
“Yes, the lionmen are the ruling race of the Beastmen Empire. The Kap we captured is a lionman. He might even carry a trace of royal blood in his veins.”
“Kap?” Li De shook his head. Whether the man had royal blood was unclear, but his combat power was certainly explosive. Still, Li De wasn’t particularly interested in the matter.
“Forget it. Let Craig handle this. What we want is population acquisition. The beastman prince situation is beyond our reach. Send out more scouts. Whatever happens, we must avoid clashing with the beastman main force.”
“No problem. Our population raids are mainly targeting the side near the Far Mountain Range, while the beastman main force seems to be gathering near what was once the southern core city, Risel City, located in the southern part of the border.”