Work Prophet
Chapter 727 - 53: The First Meeting of the Movie Viewing Club

Chapter 727: Chapter 53: The First Meeting of the Movie Viewing Club

Golden Eyes and his companions easily crushed the small guard unit of only dozens of men by the gate and seized the towers on both sides.

To prevent any pursuers from following them, they deliberately left a squad to cover their rear, but it turned out to be an unnecessary precaution.

Given the current state of Duolin City, where various factions were busy scheming and forming alliances, no one wanted to waste their precious troops on an unknown black cavalry that had suddenly appeared.

Especially those who knew the details about this cavalry, they kept as far away as possible, hoping that these men would leave soon because when it was their turn to die, there was no telling what crazy things they might do.

Thus, Golden Eyes and his group left Duolin City smoothly without facing any obstacles and headed towards the Green Field.

...

Golden Eyes was not the only one seeking allies.

Miss Rabbit was also busy with the same task. A year earlier, with the sponsorship of the Double Rest Sect, the lady had been hosting a salon in her castle every now and then.

She invited nearby nobles to participate. Initially, only people from obscure, minor families or neglected second sons from major families would accept the invitations.

But as Miss Rabbit’s reputation grew, many realized that the rise of the Arias family was inevitable. Being in the same region, establishing good relations with the Arias family became urgent.

Consequently, the lady’s salons became increasingly popular, even attracting family heads from many families.

However, the salons were rather informal—great for making friends and spreading the doctrines of the Double Rest Sect, but the situation on the continent had changed.

The Empire was fighting the invading Wing Tribe, Dwarfs, and Elves. Although the flames of war had not yet reached the western regions, perceptive people could see it was only a matter of time.

Furthermore, there was a recent need to find an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of the Immanuel family, to support a certain weasel; hence, Miss Rabbit transformed her salon into a movie viewing club.

Compared to its predecessor, the movie viewing club had an organizational structure, stricter regulations, and required its members to assist each other during war times and follow a belief in "Saturday".

This new rule made many who had previously participated in the salon hesitant, as joining the movie viewing club required a change of faith and obligated them to provide military support when other members were in danger.

It was beginning to bear the semblance of a military alliance.

However, the western region had its master; it was the territory of the Figrola family.

Though vassals creating private alliances was not entirely forbidden, it drew attention when numbers grew, and one could only guess what the sovereign might think.

Such matters were indeed somewhat conspicuous.

Therefore, in the end, only fourteen people were willing to join the movie viewing club, and one was not approved by the lady; thus, the number of club members was temporarily set at thirteen.

This time, the lady gathered everyone around a round table and held the first full meeting of the movie viewing club.

The main agenda was to account for the military forces everyone currently had and discuss what to do should the Wing Tribe attack.

The first issue was straightforward; everyone just needed to disclose their resources, and the one with the most substantial resources was, of course, Miss Rabbit herself.

After all, ever since she had learned that the Wing Tribe might invade Bratis, the Lady had been urgently recruiting soldiers.

Today, she had over two thousand guards and six thousand militiamen at her disposal, and considering there were just over forty thousand people in her territory, this proportion of military readiness could certainly be deemed as exhaustive.

Especially the number of professional soldiers was alarmingly high.

It was only after an agricultural revolution and relying on the Double Rest Sect, and through the new products Li Yu had churned out, whether it be the earlier paper and linen or the later steel and glass, all were traded in the Lady’s new city, allowing her to levy taxes effortlessly.

Moreover, the Lady, by capitalizing on slaying a dragon and the battle at the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range, had sold the captured Dwarf Prince for a good price, which provided her the capital to maintain her troops.

It could be said that Miss Rabbit now had more professional soldiers under her command than all the noble families in the west, including the Figrola family. From this perspective, it made sense that both Hels and Gwen were wary of her.

Second in military power in the Blood Moon Association was Angela and her backing, the Immanuel Family, which had about eight hundred guards.

However, many of these were taken by Ilkand to participate in the battle at Dragon Ridge Mountain, and none managed to return, which greatly weakened the Immanuel Family.

The remaining family guards now numbered less than three hundred, but the Immanuel family still owned two towns and considerable land, which could potentially muster another five or six thousand militiamen if necessary.

And because they were wealthy, their equipment was generally of superior quality, surpassing other families in the west, except for Miss Rabbit who had equipped her elite with full sets of Dwarf Armor and weapons, as well as Dragon Scale Shields.

Third was Ferdinand, whose family guard numbered less than a hundred, and the militiamen roughly eight hundred, which could barely exceed a thousand when combined.

Even the weakest among them, Ferdinand, was still considered a major Lord in the west, with many others being merely knights, whose fiefs typically comprised only one or two villages.

And some young people in various families who couldn’t make decisions, their control over military strength was very limited.

But the Lady didn’t exclude them; as long as their character was fine and they were willing to follow Saturday, she approved their membership applications.

After calculating the troop strength, the meeting moved to its core topic, how to counter the Wing Tribe invaders.

A young member named Zoro hesitated, "Such matters... should still be discussed with the Figrola family first."

"The Wing Tribe managed to breach Lion Heart Castle and also defeated the hundred thousand soldiers of the Imperial Alliance Army in White River City. We alone can’t possibly stop them."

"It’s best to wait for Lord Hels to return; with him leading, only then can we gather all the forces of the west."

"You make sense, but we also don’t know when Lord Hels will return, and since Lord Gaven died at the hands of the Blood Moon Association, we can only..."

The Lady had only spoken half of her sentence when she heard a rush of footsteps outside the room.

Fosto even forgot to report in advance and directly pushed open the door, "A very important message has come from the Sabbath staying in Elk Valley, and I think both you and your allies will want to hear this message."

"What message?" Miss Rabbit felt this scene was somewhat familiar, but couldn’t quite remember when it had happened before.

"Lord Hels is in trouble," said the old advisor with a grave expression.

"What?"