Throne of the North.

Chapter 584 Bringing the World into a New Era of Extraordinary Power (Part Two)

The world is driven by the force of inertia. Once habits become second nature, most people find it difficult to imagine anything entirely new.

The Flor Empire entered a new era of development a century ago, but a century is too short a time, and the world has long since become entrenched in its ways over the past countless years.

Even the great nobles cannot completely escape this inertia.

Over the course of more than a hundred years, the Flor Empire has gained many things, but it has not made much progress in matters of great importance such as war. The ancient system continues to hinder the progress of the empire.

For example, in the past, the way nobles waged war was almost always to turn slaves into soldiers to form armies, which would then participate in wars under the leadership of knights.

The emergence of the Extraordinary Legion cannot completely change this pattern, but the combat power of the Extraordinary Legion is fully capable of eliminating the massive slave army.

The world is vast, and slave armies simply cannot wage war in distant places, but the extraordinary legions can.

One knight can defeat an army of one hundred slaves, and an army of one hundred knights can defeat tens of thousands of slaves.

"Only extraordinary armies should be the main force in war, because civilians and slaves have no chance of winning against them."

Ryan believed that combining the superhuman legion with the ordinary army was a terrible mistake. The slave army would drag down the superhuman legion's fighting power, and similarly, the existence of the superhuman legion would render the battles of the starving and poorly clothed slaves meaningless.

War depends on the clash of extraordinary forces; the death of slave soldiers is a pure waste.

War certainly needs cannon fodder, but cannon fodder should also play a role.

The interests of nobles are always purposeful, and when cannon fodder can no longer serve a clear purpose, slave soldiers should not exist.

"An extraordinary knight can complete a battle faster and more bravely in war."

"They should not be confined to a certain piece of land or a certain war. Their power is strong and has a certain degree of uncertainty."

"As for the slave and civilian armies, their strength cannot overturn the fighting power of the superhuman legion, even if only a small portion of them are involved."

Ryan's words caused the nobles to fall into deep thought, and it was only after a long time that one of them asked a question.

Indeed, the fighting power of the Extraordinary Legion is terrifying; the role played by those knights on the battlefield has long overshadowed the achievements of the slave soldiers.

After a long silence, a nobleman spoke up:
"But according to you, then we don't need those slaves and civilian soldiers. Those peasants don't even qualify to be cannon fodder?"

Ryan looked at the other person, shook his head and said:
"They are not without purpose, but whether as cannon fodder or as soldiers, they should have their own time and battlefield to face enemies more suited to them."

Ryan's desire to change the mode of warfare has caused some fear and confusion among the nobles. After all, war can be easily altered, and if they lose, it could mean the loss of the empire's future.

"But what if there is no slave army..."

The nobles hesitated, and Ryan, knowing what they meant, spoke up:
"Are you afraid that if the war is only a war between the superhuman legions, then the outcome will be unacceptable?"

Ryan understood what these nobles meant. No one doubted the fighting prowess of the extraordinary knights. When a knight was dressed in full armor and weapons and rode a strong warhorse, the slave soldiers would have no choice but to kneel before him.

However, if such an extraordinary knight were to die on the battlefield, the nobles would lose the more than ten years of time spent nurturing him and the wealth spent on it, and after the defeat in the war, the nobles would forever lose this knight.

Within the Extraordinary Legion, there are knights like these; if they suffer too many losses, it means mountains of gold coins.

Even the most elite noble families probably couldn't withstand such a loss.

"You worry about the enormous losses caused by the deaths of knights, and you also worry that the flower of life in the Imperial Inner Hill Province is gradually withering away, and that it will be unable to train more knights in the future."

"But this is inevitable. We cannot maintain the current number of knights forever unless we have a much larger hunting ground."

This was information Ryan learned from Grand Duke Freming, and he believed that the nobles present must also know this news, since even he, a baron from the northern border of the empire, knew about it.

The Flower of Life in Neiqiu Province is no secret to the local nobles.

The Flower of Life determines the number of Life Potions a Knight can obtain, and Life Potions are extraordinary potions that help Knights ignite the flame of life, thus determining the number of Imperial Knights.

The knights of the empire were the knights who served the nobles.

"The widespread withering of the Flower of Life in Neiqiu Province means that the Empire will not have hundreds of thousands or millions of knights in the future. Knights are also human, and the vast majority of knights are not even qualified to cross over from Gold to Sky Knight—the second stage of the sublimation of the Flame of Life."

"Knights do not live long. In fact, the injuries accumulated from years of fighting and training shorten their lifespan. The knights we currently have will all die in the next few decades."

"But after these knights die, we won't be able to get any more knights. How will we face the Dawn Church then?"

"Everyone thought the war between the Empire and the Dawn Church would be a long one, perhaps even a slow war that would last for centuries."

"But in reality? Without the Flower of Life from Neiqiu Province, could we nobles cultivate more knights on our own than we do now? We seek and plunder the wealth of other worlds, which makes us richer than a country, but that wealth is even harder to turn into knights than the Flower of Life."

"Over the past hundred years, thanks to the countless flowers of life in the Neiqiu Province, the warhorses of the highlands, the prosperity of the west coast, the grain of the Volga Province, and the human slaves in the alternate dimension, we have become a hundred or a thousand times stronger than the empire of a hundred years ago."

"But this power is short-lived."

"When the land of Neiqiu Province withered, the warhorses of the highlands ate up all the grass, and the prosperity of the west coast was severely affected by the destruction and reconstruction of the Western Fleet, the food of Volga Province could no longer support the empire that now has many people from other worlds."

Ryan wasn't speculating; he was stating a fact.

The life flowers used to refine life potions have withered on a large scale, and the warhorses on the highlands are also suffering from huge losses due to human consumption and horse chewing. The prosperity of the west coast is affected by the ocean. After all, the elector Volvo is already considering establishing the Northern Warriors Guild in the same way as Ryan to provide himself with wealth and income. This in itself is a signal that the reconstruction of the West Sea Fleet is not as smooth and powerful as imagined.

The arrival of people from another world on the continent of Norris was inevitable, as can be seen from the Frozen Territory of Ryan and the other world described by Archbishop Catherine, who was captured not long ago.

Under the cover of the North, many worlds are dying. When those worlds die, resources disappear, but population is a huge problem. Should we just watch them die?
The nobles would not let their wealth die meaningless; they would rather move it out and sell it as slaves.

Because of his spiritual panel, Ryan always encounters otherworldly realms driven to the brink of destruction. When Ryan discovers them, it means that world is not far from its eternal demise. Nobles, on the other hand, do not encounter this problem, so the future that Ryan can see may not be seen by the nobles.

Population pressure brings more conflicts. The current distinction between commoners and slaves in the empire is one example. Similarly, the pressure on food will increase year by year. The empire's resistance against the Papacy represents its strength, and a strong empire means an increasing population.

Despite population growth, the food base remains at the same scale of grain cultivation as a century ago. Ryan is shocked by the world's grain production and how much those slaves only need to eat to survive each day.

Why was he constantly reclaiming wasteland and planting more grain in the Northwind Province? Wasn't it so that the food crisis wouldn't affect the Northwind Province in the near future?

The land in the south is not like this, which in itself is a hidden danger.

The Dawn Church foresaw this future conflict between population and food supplies even earlier than the Empire.

Therefore, Archbishop Doyle could directly use 200,000 believers and soldiers as expendable resources to die in the royal city of Carlos, and Archbishop Catherine, that compassionate woman who was full of pity for all disasters, could also harden her heart to let her acquaintances and believers be sacrificed by holy judgment.

There's only one reason: the Vatican can't afford to support itself anymore.

Even the Holy See can't support the massive populations of those other worlds, yet the Empire can?
An empire with a foundation spanning millennia? Impossible.

"The key is to enable the knights to create more unlimited resources for the nobles within a limited time."

"If we want to maintain a large number of knights decades from now, the first thing we cannot avoid is resources. Only with more land and more wealth can we continue to cultivate a sufficient number of knights after we lose the Flower of Life."

"Otherwise we will lose everything, including the short-term gains we have made in the war with the Papacy."

"The knights of the Papacy wouldn't rely on the Flower of Life from the province of Neqiu, would they?"

"Or if the Empire can find... a second land where the flower of life grows."

Ryan's last words were spoken while looking at the elector Freud. If such a place truly existed in the empire, then the royal family would undoubtedly be the ones who knew the truth.

However, the elector did not avoid Ryan's gaze, and the nobles' hopes vanished in that instant.

Everyone knows how Neiqiu Province prospered.

Blasphemy.

The empire has not committed a second direct, large-scale blasphemy in a century, and therefore it is impossible to have a second Inner County province.

The events of a century ago brought power and wealth to the nobles, but also left behind curses and hidden dangers.

"The Empire must be willing to sacrifice the losses of the Extraordinary Legion in the war, because we will most likely end the war against the Dawn Church within these few decades."

"Decades later, the Dawn Church will still be powerful, but decades later, the Empire may be even weaker."

"The feud between the Empire and the Papacy today will not be forgotten by the Papacy tomorrow; they will only punish and oppress our descendants with even more viciousness!"

Ryan's words made all the nobles gasp. The noble lords were full of love for their descendants, and the descendants represented inheritance, the glory and splendor of their family bloodline.

"If that time really comes, how many nobles in the empire will still be capable of resisting the Dawn Church? At that time, will the clergy on the Holy Mountain kill us—the blasphemers?"

Ryan posed a question that struck to his core.

"For profit, the clergy of the holy mountain need to grant land to their descendants, and for the sake of faith, blasphemers have no choice but to die."

"The vast lands of the Empire, the vast number of blasphemers of the Empire, and the Papacy are eternal enemies."

"Our only chance is victory, and the faith in the light."

“The great gods will not care whether their followers have been blasphemous. If the empire completely defeats the Dawn Church, then the nobles will be able to guarantee the right of their surnames to be used in the names of the land forever.”

Ryan looked at the nobles. Perhaps at this moment, what he said made the nobles feel unreal. How could he talk about how the war was going to be fought, and suddenly it was as if the imperial nobles were going to be extinct?
Ryan didn't intend for the nobles to immediately accept these things; he said all this... not to remind them what the future world would be like.

It was for the war.

Sometimes, if nobles are unwilling to open their windows for fear of the cold wind blowing in, try removing the roof and demolishing their houses; then the nobles will agree to open the windows.

Isn't it a very simple principle?
Ryan, looking at the nobles who were still pondering, continued:

"I've always been curious, Your Excellency the Grand Duke, Your Excellency the Elector, and the other nobles, do you consider the Empire's victory in the war against the Dawn Church—forcing the Church to the outskirts of the Empire's Thousand Lakes Province and occupying half of the Kingdom of Carlos—to be a great victory?"

"Is this kind of victory really that great?"

"But as far as I know, our gains so far in this war are only the killing of a cardinal. Apart from that, the Vatican has suffered no losses."

"Oh no, another part of the Empire's loss is the ten thousand Holy Light Knights that I personally killed."

"The Dawn Church's losses were not significant, but the Empire has fallen into a euphoric celebration of victory."

“We should not stop here. We should launch a stronger attack on the Dawn Church and acquire more...land and resources.”

"For the war, and for the near future."

Ryan's eyes turned cold and filled with murderous intent. Even the Chosen One couldn't help but breathe heavily. He had a guess, but he asked nervously:
"What do you want to say?"

Ryan suddenly smiled, but his words were filled with absolute murderous intent.

"I want to say that we haven't killed enough."

(End of this chapter)