After handing the 100 skeletons over to Sean, Mag and Irina returned to the restaurant.
Mag went up to take a look at the children. The light in their room was still on. Amy was lying in bed with Ugly Duckling in her arms, sound asleep while Annie was laying on the study table with a pencil in her hand, sleeping.
"This child…" Mag took out the pencil from Annie's hand carefully and carried her gently over to her bed before tucking her in.
If she was on Earth, Annie would definitely be a scholar, the typical child that all parents would compare their children to.
Mag stood by the beds, watching the children for quite a while. He tucked Amy in again after she kicked her blanket and switched the light off as he left the room softly.
"When do you intend to take action?" Irina stood outside the door as she asked Mag who was closing the door behind him gently.
"Tomorrow," Mag said with certainty.
"What about the children?"
"I intend to get Miya and Xixi to help me take care of them for a few days."
Irina nodded. She said with a smile, "A drink?"
"Sure. I'll take a shower and make a couple of dishes." Mag nodded.
With some simple side dishes and the best red wine, Mag worked hard for his second child that night.
***
The information released from Chaos City reached the various races very quickly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtRodu, the palace.
Andre and the courtiers who were gathered at the last minute, all watched the images projected from the photostone in shock.
"Your Majesty. According to the informant, our bow and arrows could only inflict damage to the 3rd-tier skeletons but it is still very difficult to kill them. To think that changing the arrow heads to mahogany and cinnabar would create double the impact," a general said agitatedly.
The informant they sent to the northern icy plains had some contact with the skeletons and based on the information he brought back, it seemed that with the Roth Empire's current weapons and ammunition, they would be at the losing end if they were to fight head on with the Army of the Dead.
The courtiers could not hide their joy. No one expected that Alex would provide such crucial information when everyone thought that all was hopeless.
Andre said in a solemn voice, "Mahogany and cinnabar are important war resources. Draft my decree immediately around the country to cut down all mahogany and ship them to the nearest military factory to be made into arrowheads in replacement of the original arrowheads.
"Collect all cinnabar in the market and underground stores. If there is anyone who dares to disobey or hide the resources, deal with them as traitors. Deliver all cinnabar similarly to the military factory and ship them all to the frontlines together with the mahogany swords!
"In addition, do a one-to-one trade with rice and collect all glutinous rice within the country. Those that hide resources should be dealt with as traitors!"
"Yes, Sir!"
A courtier bowed and drafted the decree immediately. After presenting it to Andre and getting his seal of approval, the courtier quickly sent the decree out to the various provinces.
That night, the guards of Rodu started cutting down all mahogany trees from the South of the country.
Be it a commoner or a noble, once the King's decree was passed out, whoever opposed would be arrested as a traitor immediately.
The moment news was released at the break of dawn, all those who had mahogany trees planted at home took the initiative to cut down their mahogany and placed it at the door, awaiting the troops to pull the trees away.
In the orchard outside of the city, guards barged in and the farmers had no choice but to help cut down all the mahogany trees.
Within a day, the mahogany collected at the military factory piled up into a mountain.
The mission for glutinous rice exchange was handed over to the lower-tier officials. The stores were all opened and the glutinous rice that was exchanged were all delivered to the north.
As there was a heavy punishment, no one dared to hide any of the resources.
***
The Twilight Forest.
Connie and the other Orc chiefs had just finished watching the video from the photostone.
"Do we have mahogany trees in the Twilight Forest?" Connie asked the Orcs.
There were a substantial number of archers in the Orc tribes. If they could make mahogany arrowheads, they would definitely be able to increase their attack power.
The Chiefs all shook their heads to show that they do not have mahogany trees in their tribes.
Connie thought for a while and said, "Deploy 5000 woodcutters to the Dragon tribes' border right now. Since we do not have any mahogany trees in the Twilight Forest, we will take charge of cutting trees to get out mahogany. Deploy another 1000 orcs to Vic Mountain. We would need to transport the cinnabar over."
"Chieftain, we still don't know how many mahogany trees there are in the Giant dragon tribes' borders and they also did not invite us over to cut their trees. Isn't it inappropriate for us to go over right now?" one of the chiefs said hesitantly.
The other chiefs nodded in agreement that this decision was rather hasty.
However, Connie shook her head and said, "Don't forget. Jinx is a golden dragon. For a dragon to describe a forest of mahogany trees as a mountain of mahogany, that is definitely a large forest. As for the giant dragon's invitation, I will liaise with the commander and the giant dragon tribe."
Her expression turned serious as she said, "We must ensure that before we start the fight, the Orc soldiers can use the weapons that we make and not wait for the remaining weapons to be passed down to us.
"It's a million-man army with such a short preparatory time. No one can take care of you. We do not rely on others. We must depend on ourselves."
"Yes!" the other chiefs all answered seriously and started deploying their people.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThat night, thousands of flying steeds took off from the Twilight Forest toward Dragon Island and Vic Mountain.
***
Wind Forest, The Starry Cave.
"Our forest does not have enough mahogany. We've sent 2000 woodcutter elves and 3000 bow-and-arrow-making elves over to the mahogany forest in Dragon Island to cut and make the bow and arrows there before shipping them back.
"Deploy another 1000 elves to Vic Mountain down south and bring back the cinnabar we require," Helena ordered.
"Yes!" an elf received the order and left.
Very quickly, a troop of elves departed from the Wind Forest towards two destinations.
***
In the Boundless Sea Realm, on the usually deserted mahogany island isolated out in the sea, demons from the Top Ten Demon Tribes arrived for a visit.
Large ships docked near the coast. The different tribes all watched each other without taking action.
"This island is where we have the most mahogany trees in the Boundless Sea Realm. Camilla has already agreed to Alex that we, the demon tribes, would supply our own mahogany, so this forest of mahogany belongs to every demon going to war. All of you better not have any other thoughts. We'll split the resources up based on the percentage of demons going to war," Dracula said with a smile as he flapped his wings in mid-air.
The powerhouses of each tribe thought for a while and agreed to Dracula's plan.
***
Within the night, the various races on the Norland Continent responded to the calls and worked hard to increase their battle capabilities and self-protection ability before the war started.
The effectiveness of the mahogany and cinnabar had increased the allied forces morale by leaps and bounds.
At the same time, the various races would also have a rough judgment on the Army of the Dead's abilities. With some expectations, they would not have so much fear in them.
***
The next morning, Mag woke up energetically and made a sumptuous breakfast.
"Amy baby, Annie, Father wants to discuss something with you," Mag said with a smile as he watched the two children eat.