Becoming a Lord in Another World Starts With Farming – Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Foot Soldiers and Pirates

When Owen returned, he found Old Rui, along with the pirates who had been forcefully slapped awake, tying up the unconscious savages. Upon seeing Owen, Old Rui hurried over to salute, and even the pirates lowered their heads in submission. After all, they had all collapsed without warning, which was utterly terrifying. They would have died without even knowing how.

“Bring those savages here,” Owen commanded without hesitation.

Even though they were weak and limp, the pirates still didn’t have the courage to disobey Owen’s orders. Fortunately, the savages were small and thin, so carrying them wasn’t too strenuous.

Owen led the group of pirates, carrying the savages, to Tenshu Pavilion, and then began rummaging through his Space Expansion Pouch.

Although they were curious about the appearance of such a delicate building on an island inhabited only by savages, neither Old Rui nor the pirates dared to ask, obediently staying by Owen’s side.

With potions, spells, and the savages being unconscious, Owen spent a small amount of Progress Value to convert them into Tenshu Pavilion’s population. He then exchanged for some tools and had the savages chop down trees and gather stones in preparation for building barracks.

Witnessing Owen’s ability to seemingly change people’s hearts, the pirates turned pale.

“Don’t bother looking, you’re not worth it,” Owen said flatly, knowing what the pirates were thinking without even looking up.

The almost humiliating words actually gave the pirates, who had no moral bottom line, some relief. However, their relief was premature.

“Even though you’re all a bunch of trash, you’re still working for me. I’ll give you a mark to remember this by, so you don’t cause me any trouble.” Owen took out his long-unused wand and pointed it at each of them.

Green rays, obviously ominous, hit the pirates’ chests one by one, but not a single one dared to dodge. Throughout their journey, they had become well aware of how ruthless and cunning their new captain was, and how bizarre his methods were. Not dodging meant death at most, but dodging meant wishing for death.

After Owen put away his wand, a bold pirate pulled open his shirt and found a tattoo, or rather a mark, where the green ray had hit.

Old Rui could tell it was part of a pirate flag. His mark consisted of two snake heads, while the other pirates only had one. He immediately understood that his status was above the other pirates, and his initial panic vanished. Clearly, status and power were the best medicine.

“You should understand the purpose of the mark, so even if you want to prove your loyalty to me with your lives, don’t test my methods with betrayal.” Owen spoke with an expressionless face and then had the pirates, who were now chilled to the bone, go and rest, as they still had value.

The hundred or so savage-converted Japanese farmers swiftly built the barracks overnight, which was mainly due to the simplicity of Japanese architecture. They then entered the barracks to begin training.

There was no need to clear land for farming, as Owen had exchanged a few Progress Value for supplies that would last for a long time. What he needed now was efficiency.

Three days later, over a hundred Ashigaru, equipped with conical hats and bamboo spears, emerged from the barracks.

However, soldiers alone weren’t enough. The savage-converted Ashigaru weren’t particularly intelligent, and Owen had no interest in leading them to capture more savages. So, he used the accumulated Progress Value to exchange for an Ashigaru General.

“You shall be called Tanaka,” Owen said nonchalantly to the Ashigaru General kneeling before him, his head almost buried in his knees.

“Hai! I am eternally grateful for my lord’s bestowed name!” Tanaka kowtowed repeatedly in excitement, and then, under Owen’s orders, led the hundred Ashigaru to capture savages.

Tanaka’s abilities were average. He was decent against ordinary people, but he was lacking when it came to dealing with savages hidden in the mountains and forests. If not for the converted Ashigaru being of savage origin themselves, they wouldn’t just be battered, but would have suffered heavy casualties.

Owen didn’t blame Tanaka, as it wasn’t important. He simply sent out his three new Shikigami.

With the help of the three new Shikigami, the process of capturing savages became much smoother.

Although they were new Shikigami, it didn’t mean they were weak. The Blue Ogre’s Kanabo could smash hard rocks, while the savages’ wooden spears and stone axes could at most break skin. Therefore, they could only flee in the face of the Blue Ogre.

Although the Goat Demon wasn’t as powerful as the Blue Ogre, its speed and agility far surpassed that of humans. It was like a ghost in the forest, wielding its giant scythe to harvest the heads of savages as easily as cutting grass.

As for the massive Snake Demon, it was worshipped as a god by the savages as soon as it appeared, and they dared not resist.

Soon, Owen had captured many prisoners and began the conversion process.

It wasn’t as difficult as he had imagined. The savages on the island weren’t a united force, but were divided into many tribes, each harboring blood feuds with the others.

There was no other way. The island was only so big, and in order to compete for resources for survival, they had to fight to the death or starve.

However, the more primitive they were, the simpler their hatred. Especially when everything was based on survival, so-called hatred became unimportant.

Therefore, after being defeated and captured, as long as the victorious tribe was willing to accept them, these savages would immediately switch sides and fight for their new tribe. Their minds were that simple.

And as long as they accepted it in their hearts, the conversion began. So, Owen easily obtained a steady stream of manpower.

With a constant supply of manpower available at no cost, and with this world seemingly lacking any existence beyond ordinary comprehension, Owen went all out. In just a few days, he had filled the population limit.

After this period of observation, Owen found that Tanaka wasn’t suited for leading troops. He was slow to react and often missed opportunities in battle. However, he was meticulous and had risen through the ranks from Ashigaru, so he could get along well with the lower classes. Even the pirates praised him. So, Owen had him organize the farmers for cultivation, which actually made Tanaka quite happy.

Although Tanaka wasn’t suited for leading troops, an Ashigaru General costing ten Progress Value was no longer a big deal for Owen. He successively recruited Matsushita and Watanabe.

Compared to the farmer-born Tanaka, the samurai-born Matsushita was very rigid but brave in battle and eager for military achievements. He took over the task of capturing savages.

Watanabe had the poorest background. He didn’t even have farmland and relied on fishing for a living, but he was a rare talent in naval warfare. Owen sent him to learn naval warfare from the sailing ship and the pirates.

After this period of recuperation, the pirates had regained their energy. Under Old Rui’s arrangements, they had once again maintained the sailing ship and were now eagerly awaiting Owen’s orders.

But Owen didn’t rush, because the first batch of Ashigaru were ready for advancement.

Troop types could be upgraded. As long as they experienced enough battles, they could gain greater strength. For example, Ashigaru, after accumulating enough experience, could be upgraded to advanced Ashigaru such as Naginata, Katana, Bamboo Bow, and Matchlock.

Naginata Ashigaru used bamboo spears over three meters long, which were quite useful in formation combat, but had no place in this world.

Katana Ashigaru wielded Katanas less than one meter long, with average lethality but decent effectiveness on ships.

Bamboo Bow Ashigaru were useless. The nearly two-meter-long bamboo bows held by Ashigaru under one and a half meters tall were a joke. Their effectiveness was negligible.

Owen’s focus was on Matchlock Ashigaru, because compared to hand-to-hand combat, firearms, which made everyone equal before the muzzle, were more suitable for Ashigaru who didn’t have a physical advantage.