Chapter 775: Can’t Remember the Chapter Title

After learning of Duke Jansen's injuries, Melissa plans to visit him.

Then news arrives from Ogiro Kingdom and Lumir. Both regions are showing signs that the Calamity War is about to erupt.

Ogiro Kingdom's Misty Forest Expanse lies close to Peace Haven's Southern and Eastern Districts. At the nearest point, barely more than three hundred kilometers separate them.

If Ogiro fails to stop the army of Quiet Forest Wanderers, Peace Haven will be struck next.

If the situation worsens, even the Expeditionary Zone farther south will not escape.

In Lumir, the subterranean waterways have begun to erupt, and rivers and lakes across the region are swelling.

Scattered Subterranean River Bandits have begun to appear as well. Lumir is now on full alert.

The eruptions begin between eastern and western Lumir, far from Peace Haven's territory.

The Subterranean River Bandits travel in an unusual way. They move through underground rivers and could suddenly raid Peace Haven's Southern District or the Expeditionary Zone.

The immediate priority is to devise a strategy and strengthen both regions' defenses.

Two newly formed reinforcement legions have already been assigned to the Eastern and Southern Districts.

Both districts have also begun forming reserve legions, and the number of garrison warbands in each has risen from four to six.

Peace Haven's heartland has assembled a massive supply convoy for the Expeditionary Zone, hoping to complete two journeys within half a year.

Ogiro no longer objects to a convoy of this size crossing its territory.

Its leaders are overwhelmed by their own problems. A stronger Expeditionary Zone is no longer their greatest concern.

Peace Haven's leaders are still most worried about the Expeditionary Zone if the Calamity War erupts.

Experience on the Northern Mountain Front suggests that Peace Haven's overland connection with the Expeditionary Zone will be severed.

Without help from the heartland, the Expeditionary Zone will have to rely on itself.

Beyond the two legions it was ordered to form earlier, the Expeditionary Zone has created another two reinforcement legions.

It is also training the population on a massive scale, giving ordinary people basic combat skills.

Nearly all the enhancement slots produced over the past three years have gone to the Expeditionary Zone and the northbound army groups.

These two large shipments include twenty thousand sets of enhancement potions and vast quantities of extraordinary materials.

After two years of training, the Expeditionary Zone has a team capable of assisting with the enhancement procedure.

The team can complete only around one hundred enhancement slots each month, but the zone can finally perform the procedure on its own.

The twenty thousand sets of potions are meant to last the Expeditionary Zone ten years.

Once the roads are cut, the zone will still be able to enhance qualified soldiers.

Something about this calamity is unusual. It is even more violent than the intelligence reports predicted.

Everyone must prepare for the worst: ten full years under the Calamity War's onslaught.

The supplies sent to the Expeditionary Zone therefore focus on things it cannot easily obtain for itself.

Even the Thunder Hand Cannon, perfected only half a year ago, will be sent there. Three thousand of them are included in the shipment.

Peace Haven will also send its newest steam engine, which has yet to enter mass production.

Peace Haven has done everything it can to arm the Expeditionary Zone. Whether the zone holds now depends on its own people.

Once support for the Expeditionary Zone is settled, attention turns to the defenses of the other districts.

The existing fortress-cluster lines need to be adjusted. Experience from the Northern Mountain Front also shows that more fortresses must be built.

The southern and eastern fortress lines must be modified to counter the Quiet Forest Wanderers and Subterranean River Bandits.

The Military Intelligence Office is just as overwhelmed. It sends elite operatives into the two southern countries' calamity zones to gather intelligence on the enemy forces.

Over the next half year, a steady stream of humanoid and nonhuman creatures reaches the Biological Analysis Department of the Peace Haven Technical Research Institute.

This new joint department draws elite personnel from several fields to study calamity creatures, identify their weaknesses, and devise the best countermeasures.

For now, most of the Biological Analysis Department's work centers on a recently captured calamity creature: the mountain demon.

The creature stands three meters tall and carries either a bone blade or a heavy weapon made from composite materials.

It has a humanoid build, walks upright, and weighs more than two hundred kilograms.

Its fingernails resemble animal spikes, while its hairy skin is remarkably tough.

Beneath that skin lies a layered, cartilage-like structure that cushions impacts.

During explosive bursts of combat, this subdermal cartilage hardens into embedded bone armor.

Its face is covered by an external bony plate, usually dark brown or black.

Its eyes are deep amber. The pupils contract like a feline's, granting it some night vision.

Its mouth connects directly to the bone armor. The armor forms two rows of sharp teeth, with a rasping tongue behind them.

Its nose has three openings lined with membranes that filter harmful gases.

From a distance, its face resembles a skull. That may be where the name mountain demon comes from.

Its legs are thick and powerful, and its arms reach past its knees, giving it a considerable advantage in reach.

Its most distinctive feature is a thick, powerful tail.

The tail keeps it balanced while it runs and climbs rapidly on all fours.

In battle, the creature can also swing it like a club.

The mountain demon has no extraordinary abilities, but its powerful body and vicious fighting style give it strength comparable to a professional.

One-on-one, it is still no match for a fully armed Knight.

But if the Knight is unprepared or the terrain works against him, a mountain demon can kill him.

That, of course, applies to Knights from other powers.

After more than two years of fighting, Peace Haven has noticed something strange.

Its soldiers hold an innate edge over the Northern Mountain Front's monsters, even the more humanlike soldiers of the Northern Mountain Raider army.

Peace Haven soldiers also suffer less harm when those enemies strike back.

And their attacks deal noticeably more damage to calamity creatures than those of other armies.

At first, everyone credits Peace Haven's excellent equipment and superior soldiers.

As time passes, however, they realize something else is at work.

Consider the Vorry army. The two forces most like Peace Haven's military are Lion King's Pride and the Honor Guard.

Lion King's Pride trains entirely under Peace Haven's doctrine. Its officers either studied in Peace Haven or came directly from there.

Its core is the former serf army from the Battle of Cellarwine City, and its commander, Archie, also comes from Peace Haven.

The Honor Guard is an even clearer example.

It began as a Peace Haven legion stationed in Yosui City, though it operated under the name Caravan Guard Corps.

The force consists entirely of Peace Haven soldiers and numbers more than eight thousand.

After the Battle of Yosui City, Arius wrested the legion from Henwell.

Both legions match Peace Haven's numbered legions in training and equipment.

Their combat strength is plain for everyone to see.

Yet against the Northern Mountain Raider army, they are visibly under greater pressure than Peace Haven's own troops.