"Damn it!"
Chen Yu never dreamed that Hei Dou failed to fuse with a divine general simply because his aptitude was disdained by the divine general, who had directly kicked him out.
He treated Hei Dou as his own child, only to find out he was a good-for-nothing!
But—
What made Chen Yu even more furious was the divine general Hei Dou encountered.
What was he?
To put it nicely, he was a heroic spirit; to put it crudely, he was a loser from a war.
And he dared to look down on Hei Dou.
No matter how Chen Yu bullied Hei Dou in the past, Hei Dou's position in the camp was unshakable. Not to mention the contract between them.
Just considering Chen Yu's early development.
As a spiritual pet for resources, Hei Dou had made tremendous contributions.
Even if his aptitude was mediocre, Chen Yu was willing to let him live a life of luxury and support him for a lifetime without any issues.
"My ass!"
By the lakeside, Chen Yu clenched his fists for a long time before sighing heavily.
"I didn't want to," Hei Dou whimpered, shrinking his head. "Boss, believe me, I'm definitely a genius. That divine general probably couldn't teach me anything, so he deliberately said that. In the future, I'll definitely give you a huge surprise. Give me some time. Or, can you point at me again?"
"Point my ass."
Chen Yu, holding the Imperial Tiger Tally for pointing generals, snorted.
"He looks down on us, but we don't look up to him either. A broken divine general, follow me and learn well. We might not be worse than that broken divine general."
"Huh?" Hei Dou was stunned.
What was going on?
Not long ago, Chen Yu was gritting his teeth and calling him useless, but now he was suddenly speaking up for him.
"Brother Yu, you don't think I'm useless anymore?"
"What else can I do?" Chen Yu's eyes were filled with speechlessness. "Can I throw you away? Besides, only I can criticize you for being useless. Who is he to kick you out? Tell me the physical characteristics of that divine general. If our people encounter him again, they will directly give up and ensure he has no successors in this life."
"Boss..."
Hei Dou, lying on Chen Yu's leg, had tears in his eyes. Chen Yu smiled and gently rubbed his head.
"From now on, we won't suffer this humiliation. But you have to study hard with me in the future, and fulfill all the boasts you made in front of Kuka and the others. You don't want them to surpass you, do you?"
"Of course!"
Hei Dou sprang up on his hind legs, his round eyes wide open.
What was his status?
Second Master!
In this city-state, the only ones stronger than him were Chen Yu. He didn't want to lose to anyone else, otherwise, how could he continue to live in the city-state?
"Charge!"
Chen Yu clenched his fist, and Hei Dou also clenched his.
"I'm fired up."
In the following days, Chen Yu was busy with conscription matters.
Having tasted the sweetness from the great crocodile, Chen Yu had already set his sights on the surrounding camps. With the five divine generals awakened, this matter should be put on the agenda.
Chen Yu had initially thought that conscription in his city-state would be very difficult.
Most of the people in his city-state were migrant workers who sought stability and high wages. Conscripting them to fight in the underground might not be acceptable.
And indeed, it was so!
When Kailin announced the city-state's recruitment, very few people came to sign up.
Who didn't yearn for a stable life?
But—
This was not a problem for Chen Yu.
He possessed the power of money.
In order to expand the city-state's troop strength, Chen Yu directly increased the salary for soldiers. Moreover, if any household had one person join the army, they would be exempt from taxes during their service. After one year of service, they would receive a city-state subsidy.
10 gold coins!
This was the benefit Chen Yu offered for conscription.
After one year of service, one would receive a city-state subsidy of 10 gold coins, which was an immeasurable fortune for anyone in the city-state.
If they unfortunately died, the city-state would provide 100 gold coins as compensation.
Furthermore, anyone who joined the army now and registered would receive a 5 gold coin city-state subsidy.
Chen Yu was going all out!
He was determined to build up the city-state's military strength as soon as possible.
He would attract them with wealth.
As for the later stages, he naturally wouldn't continue with such a plan. If he recruited tens of thousands of soldiers now and gave them hundreds of thousands in annual stipends, he could accept it.
But if the troop strength grew to hundreds of thousands or even millions in the future.
How could he afford it!
The city-state was still in its early stages of establishment, and various constitutional laws had not yet been implemented. Once the city-state's development entered a virtuous cycle, he could then change conscription into compulsory service.
This would compensate for the shortage of troops.
For the initial stage, he would use money to build it!
As expected, no amount of talk was as effective as real gold and silver. With tens of thousands of gold coins piled up at the recruitment office, the beastmen in the city-state enthusiastically signed up.
Even many of the survivors wanted to join the army.
With a significant increase in applicants, the screening standards naturally became stricter. Chen Yu had Kuka and Jack personally carry out the selection.
In about a week, Chen Yu's army was roughly formed.
The five divine generals were established as five corps.
The First Corps, commanded by Kuka, had a troop strength of over 6,000. It included one magical mage corps of 500 beastmen, while the rest were Bronze and Silver realm beastmen warriors.
The Second Corps, commanded by Ergou, had a troop strength of over 3,000. The corps consisted of elite Silver realm beastmen warriors, primarily responsible for the safety of the city-state.
The Third Corps, Fourth Corps, and Fifth Corps were commanded by Jack, Rousi, and Hélü respectively.
Each corps had a troop strength of 5,000.
They were a mix of Bronze and Silver realm warriors. Their overall strength was stronger than the Second Corps, slightly weaker than the First Corps, and individually comparable to the First Corps.
Each corps was trained by its commander. Chen Yu also delegated as much authority as possible to the internal positions within the corps.
Allowing Kuka and the others to select their own subordinates.
Then they would only need to report to Kailin.
As evening fell,
The five major corps were in training. Chen Yu, holding a telescope, quietly watched the area he had designated as the military zone, observing Kuka and Jack drilling their subordinates.
It was unclear if Kuka and Jack, who had fused with divine generals, had any past grievances.
They seemed to be competing with each other during their drills.
"Your heart must be bleeding."
Sitting on the mountaintop, Chen Yu heard a low whisper.
Chen Yu slowly turned his head.
Seeing the little demon, Chen Yu smiled.
"Not really, it's just spending some money. I can afford this amount. Moreover, I've contacted a legal expert I knew from outside the underground to help draft the constitution for my city-state. The laws within the city-state will be perfected soon," Chen Yu said with a faint smile. "I just can't help but feel that I'm growing further and further apart from these old comrades."
"Isn't that true? Kuka used to play whack-a-mole in the camp, but now that job has been given to someone else."
Chen Yu smiled noncommittally and narrowed his eyes.
"Where is Hei Dou?"
"He's been working very hard lately," the little demon smiled slightly. "He's pestering Sona to teach him knowledge. What a poor taste, he'd rather pester Sona than come to me."
"Who told you you're usually so unreliable?" Chen Yu chuckled.
The little demon knew her usual demeanor, so she didn't argue and stretched lazily.
"I came to tell you that I've already set up the magic-sealing gems. As per your instructions, the area is the eastern part. Are you so sure they will come from the east?"
"I wasn't sure before, but after betting with you, I'm certain."
"???"
"Alright, it's getting dark. Let's go back and rest," Chen Yu patted the dust off his clothes on the mountaintop, gazing up at the void above. "There's a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the commercial district tomorrow, and we'll have distinguished guests arriving."