159: Chapter 159 Organizing the Loot

The feigned indifference and arrogance on his face vanished completely, replaced by his usual calm.

He nodded slightly to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng understood and stepped forward. The crimson gold coiling dragon spear in his hand turned into a swift streak of golden-red lightning, accurately piercing Chief's heart with a slight twist before being withdrawn.

Chief's massive body twitched violently, then went completely limp, devoid of life.

This chieftain of the Split-Hoof Tribe, a platinum-level Minotaur warrior...

...concluded the final journey of his life, carrying with him his loyalty to the kingdom, his curse upon the invaders, and that distorted, erroneous intelligence regarding the "Purple Moon Dynasty."

Lin Tian sat atop Chi Yan, looking at Chief's cooling corpse, then raised his gaze to the vast, endless plains of the Minotaur Kingdom to the south, his eyes deep.

"The news... it seems it really did get out."

He muttered to himself, showing no real frustration, but rather a sense of "as expected."

A massive nation with nearly ten million combat power...

Even if only a portion of its mobile forces were deployed, it would be enough to form a terrifying torrent.

Today's battle had truly stirred up a hornet's nest, drawing the gaze of a powerful enemy.

"It seems the days of leisurely development are over."

Lin Tian exhaled softly, but the corners of his mouth curled upward. Instead of fear, a more vigorous flame of challenge and conquest ignited in his eyes.

"Very well... by the time the Minotaur Kingdom's reinforcements arrive, my army will have grown far beyond its current size. I'll have a surprise ready for them. The Minotaur Kingdom... is it? Bring it on!"

"Accelerate development, consolidate defenses, stockpile resources... the war has only just begun."

The dust from Chief's heavy fall, mixed with smoke and the scent of blood, slowly settled.

Lin Tian, mounted on Chi Yan, looked over the battlefield strewn with corpses and scorched earth. The slight gravity he felt due to the approaching enemy was quickly replaced by a more practical thought.

"Forget it, I'll deal with whatever comes."

"Thinking too much now is useless; the right thing to do is to consume the meat that's already in my mouth."

He dismissed his stray thoughts, his gaze falling on Chief's cooling, massive frame.

He activated [Collect] and took out the items obtained.

The heaviest item was a crystal the size of a longan, crystal clear like amber, with liquid energy seemingly swirling inside, emitting a heart-palpitatingly majestic surge of energy—a advanced spirit crystal!

Lin Tian felt it for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat.

The total energy contained in this small crystal was roughly equivalent to a hundred mid-level spirit crystals.

But its purity and density far exceeded those of a mid-level spirit crystal.

"Good stuff. The more of these, the better."

Lin Tian put it away with satisfaction.

Next were fifteen earthy-yellow crystals emitting a heavy, solid aura—Earth Element Crystals.

After dealing with the leader's drops, the true "harvest" was just beginning.

At Lin Tian's command, the army of 500,000 dispersed like worker ants, beginning a carpet-style search and cleanup of the entire Split-Hoof Tribe.

Mountains of wood, stone, and iron ore were tallied from the ruins and warehouses, each reaching a staggering figure of a million units!

This was the accumulation of years for this tribe of 100,000 people.

There were also 100,000 units of smelted Refined Iron ingots.

The combined total of Five Elements crystals of various attributes reached over 20,000.

The harvest of spirit crystals was even more astounding:

Two million Low-grade Spirit Crystals and 200,000 mid-level spirit crystals!

This almost instantly refilled Lin Tian's treasury to the brim, with a surplus to boot!

Indeed, war was the fastest way for primitive accumulation, especially against such deep-rooted indigenous forces.

Besides that, there was a large pile of various blueprints scavenged from the Minotaur's main tent, artisan shops, and even the leader's tent.

[Reinforced Arrow Tower], [Large Warehouse], [Smelting Workshop], [Leatherworking Workshop], [Livestock Pen], and so on.

Most were life and military building blueprints of Excellent or even Rare quality, which helped compensate for some of Lintian City's shortcomings in production.

"I've hit the jackpot, I've really hit the jackpot this time!"

Even though Lin Tian was mentally prepared, looking at the mountains of supplies, he couldn't help but feel his heart surge.

These resources were enough for him to raise the scale and quality of his army by another significant margin!

By the time the Minotaur Kingdom's army actually attacked, the cards he could play would certainly be far more numerous than they were now!

Next was the heavy but pleasant task of transportation.

Despite having storage equipment and the soldiers carrying what they could, transporting such a massive amount of supplies back to Lintian City was no easy feat.

The army transformed into a transport team, going back and forth for four full trips before the spoils were basically cleared out.

When the last transport team, escorting mountains of supplies, grandly passed through the newly constructed wilderness of the outer city—which still smelled of fresh earth—and returned to Lintian City...

The sight was quite spectacular.

In the outer city's refugee settlement area, the refugees who had just settled down and were still full of strangeness and curiosity toward this giant city stopped what they were doing.

Helping the old and young, they crowded both sides of the road, craning their necks to watch.

What they saw was:

An endless line of solemn human soldiers with blood-stained armor but still in perfect formation;

Countless spoils of war.

"Look! It's the Lord's army! They've returned from another great victory!"

"My god, so many things... they must have emptied an entire tribe, right?"

"The Lord is mighty! Long live Lintian City!"

"Following a Lord like this, our future days will surely have hope!"

Exclamations, praises, and discussions full of hope and pride rose and fell among the refugees.

They looked at the young Lord at the front of the procession, riding the majestic Crimson Flame Dragon Horse like a triumphant king.

Their eyes were filled with heartfelt awe, gratitude, and infinite yearning for the future.

Lin Tian, riding atop Chi Yan, responded to the gazes and cheers along the way with gentle nods.

Chi Yan took elegant and steady steps, its four hooves' flames flickering in the twilight, adding a touch of divinity.

He could feel a vigorous sense of "belonging" and "confidence" taking root in the hearts of these newly joined subjects.

Among the crowd was Yang Xu, who was so busy he barely had time to touch the ground.

He had just finished coordinating the registration of a new batch of refugees and squeezed out, covered in dust, to watch the commotion.

As a result, he was left dumbfounded by the continuous torrent of supplies that had taken four trips and was still not finished.

"Fi-five hundred thousand soldiers... four trips? My god..."

Yang Xu's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, and the shock in his heart was beyond measure.

He knew before that Lin Tian was strong, but strong enough to plunder spoils that required 500,000 soldiers to transport in four trips...

The military power represented behind this had completely exceeded the boundaries of his imagination.