After three days, the five leaders of the Mountain People met again in Brettel City. Apart from the aged Adleman, the other four comparatively young leaders all agreed to Han Shuo's demands.
Eventually, even Adleman, who lacked the lofty ambitions of the others, agreed with the four young mountain leaders that the majority of the mountain people would be forced to work in the mines and join the army. Adleman would be in charge of extracting ore from the five nearby mines, and a share of the ore would be given to the four young leaders.
Brettel City was now full of life. Eight thousand people came from the five mines to join the city's burgeoning population. Dorcas, called back by the news, decided to reorganise his troops. He broke up their traditional formations into four large units, with Han Shuo's men as their commanders.
Although the mountain people had previously acquired a small amount of weapons and armour, Brettel City didn't have the equipment to fully arm eight thousand new recruits.
An armoury, funded by the Boozt Merchant Guild, was quickly set up by Jack and Dorcas. It was set up on the site of the former workshops on Mount Silk. In addition, Brettel City also provided funds to purchase smelting equipment, while the Boozt Merchant Guild was tasked with hiring skilled metalworkers.
With the help of the Dark Forest dwarves, Han Shuo instructed the weaponsmiths of Mount Silk to concentrate on forging armour. The dwarves' ability to forge weapons was far superior to anything a human could make, but in return, their armour wasn't as refined as that forged by humans.
Dorcas put each of the four Mountain people units through rigorous training, a regimen of his own devising. A former student of the Lancelot Imperial Academy, Dorcas was undoubtedly a talented field commander. Under his training, the eight thousand mountain tribesmen saw a noticeable improvement in their strength.
Upon Faulke's return, he began instructing the mountain people in the proper use of battle chariots, ballista chariots and catapults. Such powerful defensive weapons required strong men to operate them, and the mountain tribesmen were perfectly suited to the task. Under the auspices of Faulke, the mountain people learned how to properly operate the gates of Brettel City and the chariots.
As the days passed, Dorcas found Han Shuo one day and made a suggestion. "My Lord, the moat outside the gates of Brettel City is full of shallow sewage. Now that we have the eight thousand mountain people at our disposal, we can spend some time making the moat even deeper. That way, even if the Seven Grand Duchies decide to invade, the moat will cause them to lose a lot of men.
The moat of Brettel City was originally only half completed, but as Brettel City was repeatedly plundered by the Seven Grand Duchies, the construction of the moat was left as an unfinished project. In the end, Brettel City became a lost cause, and the moat was eventually forgotten.
Dorcas was indeed a clever strategist, and he immediately saw the value of the moat outside the gates of Brettel City. Since the moat had already been given its initial shape, it wouldn't take too much time and material to complete it. Once completed, the moat of Brettel City would be a severe blow to the invaders.
This suggestion was immediately taken to heart by Han Shuo. The mountain people, relaxed after learning how to use the defensive siege weapons, immediately went back to work widening and deepening the city's moats.
Han Shuo's arrival had also drastically increased the number of Dark Mantle agents operating in Brettel City. With Dick directing them, they then proceeded to infiltrate the seven grand duchies, resulting in a steady stream of information. When information about Brettel City came up, it was dutifully recorded and passed on to Dick and then to Han Shuo.
As an emissary of the Second Dark Sun, Han Shuo was far superior to Dick. In fact, Han Shuo even had the authority to award medals and citations to members who had made contributions in his name. Chester was one of those few. Under Han Shuo's deliberate recommendation, he had become the second most powerful person in the Dark Mantle branch of Brettel City, second only to Dick. Chester had also risen in rank within Dark Mantle.
One day, Adleman suddenly sought out Han Shuo, who was studying necromancy. Delia of Mount Silk, who'd joined the military in the meantime, also appeared at his side.
"My Lord, numerous stone men have appeared in the mines halfway up the mountain. These stone men have attacked the miners in the deepest parts of the mines, causing many deaths. These stone men don't fear magic, and their bodies are too strong. We don't know how to deal with them, so we wondered if you could help us. When Adleman found Han Shuo, he immediately told him what had happened.
Han Shuo was shocked. Frowning, he asked, "Stone men? How can there be stone men in the mines? Was there anything like this in the past?"
Wearing soft armour, the heroic and imposing Delia had a high nose and long legs. Standing ramrod straight, she presented an imposing figure. She shook her head at Han Shuo's question and replied, "No, this has never happened before. Even since my father took over Mount Silk, there have never been any traces of stone men there."
Delia had originally been the leader of Mount Silk. Even now, Delia still had many subordinates on the mountain. The people of Delia's father's generation had lived there before. Now that the stone men had appeared, the former leader of the mountain people was now the centre of attention.
Those stone men found halfway up Mount Silk... did you suddenly find them after reopening an area?" Han Shuo continued to ask with a furrowed brow.
Nowadays, Mount Silk was not only home to miners, but also to a joint armour workshop owned by the Boozt Merchant Guild and Brettel City. It produced about ten sets of high-quality armour every day. When more metalworkers arrived, the armoury would be able to operate more to Han Shuo's satisfaction.
The mines on Mount Silk were rich in iron and copper ore. Taking advantage of this, the ore could be smelted directly into iron and copper. These could then be mixed with various other metals and forged into armour by skilled metalworkers. In Han Shuo's eyes, Mount Silk was not only an important source of ore, but also the linchpin of his armour campaign. As such, Han Shuo was very concerned about what Adleman had said.
"It is, my lord. As we excavated further down, we found that the iron deposits seemed to be getting even richer. When we planned to send people down, a group of stone men appeared from an unknown place. These stone men seemed to have a very poor intelligence, making it impossible to communicate with them. They immediately began to attack us, killing many of our miners. Adleman replied.
"So that's it!" Han Shuo thought for a moment and nodded. He said, "I'll go with you to Mount Silk to see what's going on with the stone men in the mines."
"Thank you, my lord!" Adleman replied gratefully.
"My Lord, Mount Silk was my region to govern; even now I still have many friends there. I would like to go with you to have a look around. I hope my lord will allow it." Delia stared at Han Shuo with sparkling eyes, pleading with him. Since joining the military, the mountain people had to follow orders and couldn't do as they pleased. It looked like Dorcas' recent training had already taken effect. Delia seemed much more rule-abiding now than the first time Han Shuo had met her.
Han Shuo simply nodded, "Alright then."
At the base of Mount Silk, one could see quite a bit of green. However, the amount of green diminished as one went up the mountain. There were jagged rocks as far as the eye could see, without a trace of flora or fauna.
Spring had arrived. The warm weather was also very pleasant. Han Shuo, Adleman and Delia walked towards Mount Silk with a group of mountain people. Due to his advanced age, Adleman walked slower than the others, so Han Shuo had no choice but to walk slowly up the mountain with him.
Delia radiated her beauty along the way, dressed in light armour. Her arms and legs were bare, and she wore glittering silver armour covering the "important places" on her chest. It glistened in the sun. It set off her wheat-coloured skin, mesmerising and attracting the gazes of Adleman's young companions.
In Brettel City, Delia was known as the greatest beauty of the mountain people. But her strength was also extraordinary. Because of her former position, no one dared to be rude. Delia was now a mere captain, but since her strength was enough to suppress both Jack and Dorcas, ordinary mountain people had no way of attracting her attention.
On the way to Mount Silk, Han Shuo thought about the stone men in the mines with a heart full of suspicion. Not knowing where the mountain people came from, he paid no attention to Delia's adoring fans.
Halfway up Mount Silk, Delia asked Han Shuo, "My Lord, how do you plan to deal with these stone men?"
Han Shuo was in deep thought. He turned his head and smiled brightly, "We'll see when we get there. We won't know how to deal with the stone men until we see them."
"If it's like that... if the stone men attack us the same way our enemies attack us, then what do we do?" Delia continued to ask, looking at Han Shuo with bright eyes.
"Then we'll turn them to stone forever." Han Shuo replied casually.
Hearing Han Shuo's words, Delia nodded and said, "They dared to kill people from my tribe. I won't let them off the hook. Damned stone men, I'll make you pay!"
It seemed as if Delia really cared about the ten or so miners who were killed. From this, Han Shuo deduced that Delia was a person who really cared about her subordinates. Even though she was no longer in charge of Mount Silk, when she heard that there was a crisis, she had immediately asked to go investigate with Han Shuo. This proved that Delia was indeed kind to her subordinates.
After Han Shuo had made his stance on the stone men clear, Delia seemed more relaxed around Han Shuo, and later she excitedly inquired about Han Shuo's experiences, especially his challenge to various experts in the Lancelot Empire and the corpses that lay behind him because of it. She also inquired about his conflict with the Brut Merchant Alliance, Cain and the like-minded. Delia was very interested in these things.
There were many merchants in Brettel City who had come from Ossen City. These merchants were very familiar with some of Han Shuo's exploits. Because of their reverence for Han Shuo, they would exaggerate stories about Han Shuo's heroic deeds and pass them on to the citizens of Brettel City.
As a result, the citizens of Brettel City were all unknowingly exposed to Han Shuo's past experiences. Combined with his previous battles with the four bandit groups, Han Shuo's reputation in the city was beyond imagination. In the eyes of the citizens of Brettel City, a city lord who could provide security and prosperity was far more trustworthy than the king in Ossen City who had abandoned them.
In response to Delia's agitated questioning, Han Shuo didn't say much, just a few sentences. But the more remote Han Shuo seemed, the more interested Delia became. Delia spent the entire journey asking about Han Shuo's duels with other strong figures.
After a headache inducing conversation, the group finally reached the entrance to the mines. A group of miners with dust-covered faces and muddy clothes were waiting for them. These young miners were pleasantly surprised to see Delia and shouted "Boss!
From the miners' genuine joy at seeing Delia, Han Shuo could tell that Delia was a good leader in their eyes. He looked at her a little questioningly. When Delia saw Han Shuo looking at her with surprise, she stuck out her well-rounded breasts with a bit of pride, as if to say, "See? I'm actually quite good!"
Han Shuo laughed involuntarily at Delia's behaviour and didn't say much. When Delia asked about the miners using the tone of a leader, Han Shuo released the Yin Demon while listening to the content of their conversation and slowly flew towards the area that was said to have problems.
"Let's go in and see what's going on." Delia instructed a group of miners as Han Shuo used the Yin Demon to look inside.
"Hold on. Mr. Adleman, you shouldn't go inside." Han Shuo said suddenly. "It's cold and wet inside. At your advanced age, you should wait outside for a while."
Adleman didn't insist, knowing that with his body condition, he would only be a nuisance if he went inside. He smiled and agreed, "Thank you for my lord's understanding." Smiling and nodding his head, Han Shuo looked at Delia and her party and led them into the dark caverns of the mine.