CHAPTER 212: CHAPTER 107: BOOTLICKERS? CATLICKERS!

The night passed quickly.

Last night, after drilling with Anya, Duncan got up early the next morning to train the soldiers.

The elite battle group he planned to form was different from the past imperial structure; it wasn’t a thousand-man legion but was composed of about ten hundred-man squads. Similar to merging the top-tier units in Mount & Blade II, combining the high-tier units of various kingdom powers into small-scale battle groups to adapt to the complex battlefield environments of the wilderness.

This is waging a strategically advantageous localized war with absolute strength.

The elites Duncan selected were mainly those marked with an asterisk, and each hundred-man squad would have a two-star centurion. The Gaul Oath Warriors Battle Group was already restructured, with about a hundred and twenty people, while the Highland Swordsmen being trained and reorganized were estimated to have more than three hundred people.

Besides that, there was the Druid Order, with only forty people, and the Imperial Eagle Banner Field Army, with a size of two hundred.

Because the conquered area was desolate and cavalry couldn’t operate well, a small number of high-tier warriors might be reorganized into the ’Governor of Britain’s Personal Guard Battle Group,’ and the ranged troops were mainly the recruited Welsh archers, with a small number of Saxon elite hunters marked with an asterisk.

It is worth mentioning that Duncan surprisingly recruited a batch of Frankish axe-throwing infantry (one-star), who were a branch of exiles from the defeated Frankish tribe.

These people were remnants of other tribes that Molov had not successfully conquered and secretly joined the Bagada people.

Recruiting them would offend the Frankish leader Molov, but Duncan didn’t care at all.

Duncan would sooner or later go to war with Molov.

Perhaps due to the legendary level’s influence, Duncan even had some Hunnic mounted archers under his command, though there were not many, just a dozen, incorporated into the Barbarian Race Foreign Legion. Although he had killed God’s Whip - Attila, the Hunnic Empire didn’t hate him much because Duncan had won honorably.

Moreover, the defeated were allowed to take Attila’s body back, and the words Duncan said after the battle were spread among many Hunnic tribes, earning the respect of the Hunnic chieftains and warriors.

The Huns were not afraid of death; they had their own honor and respected strong warriors.

Under such circumstances, Duncan was able to win, and they respected that.

So, interestingly, the Hunnic Empire wanted to gather an army in the name of revenge, and the target of their revenge was unexpectedly the empire and Aetius.

Aetius: ???

Why am I the scapegoat? Why are they seeking revenge on me?

Anyway, Aetius was busy now because the Hunnic Empire had begun gathering troops, and if everything went smoothly, they might attack Italy from the Alps by March next year.

Avenging God’s Whip - Attila was fake, just an excuse. The Hunnic Empire relied on war and plunder to maintain itself, using astonishing military achievements to intimidate various barbarian tribes. They needed a victory in war and abundant spoils to keep the Hunnic Empire running.

Just a few years ago, the Hunnic Empire ravaged the Balkans, and the Eastern Empire had nothing left to offer.

Looking across all of Europe, only the Western Empire was still relatively affluent, making it a target for raiding.

Attila wasn’t an exceptional political leader; the Hunnic Empire he built was a massive war machine. Once he died, the Hunnic court would collapse unless someone could lead them to continue extracting wealth from all of Europe.

Empires like this were very common in history, such as the Macedonian Empire, the Hunnic Empire, the Mongol Empire, etc., which divided very quickly.

Dimension Space.

After arranging internal affairs and development, Duncan switched back to the number two human form. The juvenile dragon that had been sleeping soundly had woken up and was leisurely catching fish to snack on.

Since it was eating a lot, the nearby fish schools were almost depleted, forcing it to go to the frozen river area.

Boom!

The solid ice surface shattered as the juvenile dragon broke through the ice and soared into the air, its ice-blue dragon scales gleaming brilliantly.

After surveying the surrounding area, Duncan controlled the juvenile dragon to fly towards the direction of the bonfire, having already illuminated a native gathering place and exploring more locations. The Northern Land was very extensive, comparable to the Siberian area on Earth, and the young dragon’s activity diameter was only a few tens of kilometers, with many dark regions still on the strategic large map.

——Ancient Catman Tribe.

As the silhouette of the juvenile dragon appeared once more, the catmen at the gathering place were no longer as panic-stricken as before.

"The dragon is coming!"

"Quickly, notify the priest." A catman hunter said hastily.

Perhaps due to the last tribal war, they had set up sentry posts on nearby high points. Some of the catman warriors wore bear-skin coats, relying on thick fur, and had hunters cut through the ice to continue fishing through ice fishing.

A young catman hunter ran wildly over the snowy ground and, upon entering the tribe, soon had the elderly priest come out.

His expression was full of joy!

"Quick!"

"Quickly bring over the fish caught in the past few days."

The elderly catman priest, looking harried, directed others to place the tribute food on the previous small hill.

Interestingly, six sacrifice stones were placed there at some unknown time, with dragon images carved into them using daggers.

More than ten plump river fish were placed on the central altar.

The catman warriors retreated reverently, leaving only the elderly priest standing a hundred meters away. Interestingly, last time he stood two hundred meters away, and this time the distance had closed by a hundred meters.

"What are they trying to do?"

Duncan was quite curious. After the catman warriors retreated, he controlled the juvenile dragon to land, taking big bites of the frozen solid river fish. Having food delivered was much more convenient than hunting himself.

The juvenile dragon gobbled them up.

Soon, it finished eating all the river fish, and then the dragon’s ferocious head curiously examined the sacrificial stones around it, which were just ordinary stones with dragon images carved into them. It seemed a simple ritual had been performed once on them.

Because there were bloodstains on the ground, the offering might have been a bear’s head.

In ancient times, various rituals predominantly involved blood sacrifices, and the ancient catman tribe was no exception. They performed traditional blood sacrifices and even killed a severely wounded bear-man captive.

"Are they planning to worship me as a divine spirit?"

"That’s not right!"

"The number two human form is just a juvenile dragon; to be worshiped, it should at least be an adult giant dragon, right?" Duncan was quite curious.

Unknowingly.

The catman priest in the distance began to approach, walking cautiously and observing the juvenile dragon’s reactions.

Giant dragons are very intelligent, and even juvenile dragons possess an intelligence close to that of humans.

The distance was gradually closing.

The elderly Catman Priest paused every fifty meters to observe the juvenile dragon’s reaction. Once he confirmed there was no hostility, he would inch closer, conveying that he too harbored no ill intentions.

This fellow was extraordinarily patient, it took him several minutes to cover over a hundred meters.

"Great Giant Dragon!" (in the Catman language)

The Catman Priest wasn’t certain if the juvenile dragon could understand him. Rumor had it that Giant Dragons mastered all languages and could even use magic to transform into the likeness of other creatures, but after all, what stood before him was just a young, inexperienced dragon.

Dragons were innately arrogant, enjoying when other beings expressed submission, so one had to adopt a humble posture in their presence and know how to flatter them.

The Catman Priest recalled the legendary knowledge about dragons. Before even getting close, he lowered himself into a half-kneel on the ground, almost crawling, speaking in a language the juvenile dragon would not understand: "We did not know this was the territory of a great giant dragon."

"We beseech you to allow the Catman tribe to live on this land."

"To that end."

"We are willing to offer regular tributes to you!"

Temporarily unable to understand.

But it didn’t matter when the attitude and actions could be observed, for the Catman Priest had already knelt, and the juvenile dragon was curiously watching him.

— Oh! Little fellow!

— Didn’t expect you to conquer a vassal helper tribe so quickly.

— Look, he’s about to offer tribute.

— Some shiny treasures. My, what a sorry sight, you being a giant dragon without your own treasure trove yet.

— Accept it. Even as a juvenile dragon, you should have some shiny treasures.

Strings of bubbles floated up.

Even just the inherited memory of the dragons, the bubbling frequency was influenced by treasure, becoming somewhat greedy.

Indeed.

The Catman Priest spread his palm open, revealing a nugget of gold, a chunk of native gold, and a few pearls, along with bits and pieces of gemstone scraps. To make it appear more plentiful, he mixed in a few worthless agate stones, plus some brightly colored shell currency.

The juvenile dragon instinctively felt a rush of impulse; it surprisingly wanted to act on its own.

Was it a bodily instinctive reaction?

But all of this was restrained by Duncan; the juvenile dragon seemed to activate its dragon genes at once, trying to snatch away the treasure and gulp it down its throat. Its throat and abdomen could store a bit.

"It truly is a greedy reaction from dragon genes!" Duncan looked surprised.

The juvenile dragon craved the treasure.

The Catman Priest took a few steps back voluntarily. Under Duncan’s control, the juvenile dragon used its claws to pick and choose, contentedly swallowing all the valuable items.

Forming a relationship with a giant dragon couldn’t rely solely on food; substantial gifts were necessary.

The Catman Priest nearly ransacked the entire tribe’s gold and silver treasures.

But it was just this little bit.

Success!

Since the juvenile dragon accepted it, for now, at least, they could coexist peacefully. The Catman hunters nearby breathed a sigh of relief, prepared to rescue the Priest at any sign of trouble.

"Great Giant Dragon."

"As long as this altar stands, we will regularly offer tributes to you."

"Furthermore, if you require it in the future."

"We can ignite the sacrificial fire for you, as long as you allow us to live on this land."

Regardless of whether the juvenile dragon understood, the Catman Priest said a lot in one breath, then reverently knelt to the ground, awaiting a response from the juvenile dragon with anticipation in his eyes.

Duncan was a bit bewildered too.

A dragon’s linguistic aptitude required maturity, but with the emergence of dragon inheritance memory, he quickly controlled the juvenile dragon to use a sharp dragon claw to pluck an ice-blue dragon scale from the tail area, tossing it in front of the Catman Priest.

This was the ritual for forming a vassal contract in the Ancient Era, a dragon scale serving as a token of proof.

A cheer erupted from the distant Catmen.

The Priest, using his wisdom, found a way to form a contract with a giant dragon. They need no longer worry about being casually preyed upon by the juvenile dragon.

"Did you surrender to me so easily?"

"Darn it."

"Dragons are truly blessed."

Duncan’s first human form couldn’t recruit subordinates and followers this easily; the Catmen had completely offered themselves voluntarily.

The legendary terror of the dragons was indeed so.

This was even without having encountered creatures like Kobolds. If Duncan encountered them, even if the opposing strength was far greater, those elite unit Kobold leaders would voluntarily submit to a juvenile dragon, and might even fight to protect it.

Famous lapdogs in fantasy, not without cause; they would guard and tend to abandoned dragon eggs, nurturing them until the juvenile dragon hatched, instantly recognizing the dragon as their master.

Kobolds recognized dragons as their masters and considered it an enormous bargain.

The entire Kobold tribe would cheer and celebrate, even attracting nearby Kobold tribes to join their group of devoted followers. Of course, exceptionally powerful Kobolds might still manage to overcome their ingrained behavior as lapdogs.

In terms of dragon vassal races, Kobolds were amongst the most loyal.

The Northern Land was still too cold.

In such frigid conditions, many weaker races struggled to survive, and the Catman Tribe found it extremely challenging to live here.

.........