Summoner in One Piece

While Tsunade was dispatched, Alex turned his attention to the broader manpower issue. "Chief Scholar Yuan," Alex addressed him, "those thousand men Ho Kaku dismissed... where did they come from? Were they city folk, or from the surrounding villages?"

"Many were from the city itself, Count Alex," Yuan replied, "but a significant portion were drawn from the five villages surrounding Tonryuu. The refugees you aided, for instance, were from one of them."

"Olvia," Alex said, "your next task, alongside your administrative duties, is to begin a recruitment drive. We need to find those dismissed soldiers. Send our elite squad leaders in pairs to each of the five villages. They will seek out the former soldiers and appeal to their loyalty to Qin. For those in the city, use the newly swayed city guards to help locate them. And beyond that, we need to recruit new militia, both from the villages and within Tonryuu itself. We need every able-bodied man."

Olvia immediately began to organize the effort, dispatching pairs of Alex's elite squad leaders to the villages, while others began the search within the city.

Days later, the reports began to trickle back. The news was mixed. "Alex," Olvia reported, looking grim, "of the thousand dismissed soldiers, many have left the region entirely, seeking work or joining other armies. We've only been able to find about three hundred who are still within the fief and willing to rejoin. However, the militia recruitment has been more successful. We've managed to gather one hundred militia from the villages and two hundred militia from the city itself."

Alex reviewed the numbers. Their total force was now 267 (from the initial coup) + 300 (recalled dismissed soldiers) + 100 (village militia) + 200 (city militia) = 867 men. It was a significant improvement, but still far from the 5000 men he was promised, and General Ren's 400 rogue soldiers were still outside the city, not to mention the 100 with the bandits.

He felt a cold knot in his stomach. The situation was perilous. An outlaw general with a rogue army was operating within his fief, and Tonryuu, being on the Zhao border, was constantly at risk. With an urgent need for more manpower, he used a dead soldier (a system resource acquired from a previous battle, allowing for a limited summoning) to summon five additional soldiers, adding them to his elite ranks. He then looked over his system store, his gaze falling on his 5000 system points. He browsed the items, searching for anything that could solve his immediate manpower crisis. Nothing seemed to directly address the urgent need for a large, trained army.

Then, he found it: an Army Training Barracks. The description was intriguing. Soldiers could be assigned and trained into particular units, and it offered various customization options to enhance units. A warning glowed beside it: "Only if magical barracks is selected can the unit later proceed with magical training. If normal barracks and units are used, they cannot progress with other powers." This was a long-term solution, a way to build a powerful army, but it wouldn't solve his immediate crisis of 700 rogue soldiers and a looming threat.

Meanwhile, Tsunade's mission was underway. It would take her roughly a day and a half to reach General Ren's stronghold, and for his army to return to Tonryuu, it would take even longer around two days. This gave Alex a small, but critical, window of time.

Tsunade moved like a whisper through the pre-dawn wilderness, her ninja skills honed by years of rigorous training. Her destination was the remote mountain region where Ho Kaku's "training exercises" were supposedly taking place. Olvia's intelligence had narrowed down the general area, and Tsunade's heightened senses quickly picked up the subtle signs of a large, disciplined encampment.

She found General Ren at a highly disciplined, camouflaged training camp nestled deep within the mountains, surprisingly close to the newly discovered iron mine and the bandit hideout. Unlike the disorganized city guards, these 500 soldiers were well-drilled, their movements precise, their camp meticulously maintained. Ren clearly kept a tight rein on them.

Tsunade observed General Ren himself: a stern, ambitious man with a sharp, intelligent face, currently overseeing a grueling morning drill. He exuded an air of ruthless efficiency. She waited for the opportune moment, then, moving unseen, she placed the forged summons in a prominent, yet seemingly accidental, location where it would be discovered by one of Ren's trusted lieutenants.

Soon, the message was brought to General Ren. He broke its seal and read the parchment with a calculating gaze. Tsunade, observing from a concealed perch, noted a flicker of suspicion in his eyes as he absorbed the contents – the urgent summons from Ho Kaku, the mention of a "new Count," and the need for their immediate return to Tonryuu to "retain power." He paused, his brow furrowed, clearly weighing the implications.

Despite his initial suspicion, Ren's ambition seemed to win out. He barked orders, his voice carrying across the camp. "Break camp! Prepare for immediate return to Tonryuu! We move at once!" His troops, well-drilled, immediately began to comply.

However, Tsunade's keen eyes caught a subtle, almost imperceptible, hesitation in his command. It wasn't overt defiance, but a slight tension in his jaw, a momentary narrowing of his eyes that suggested he was not entirely pleased or convinced by the summons. She also observed him pull aside a trusted lieutenant, whispering urgent, secret instructions.

As the camp began to dismantle, Tsunade focused on the lieutenant Ren had spoken to. She trailed him discreetly. He moved towards a smaller, more rugged path leading deeper into the mountains, away from the main road back to Tonryuu. This path, Tsunade knew from her previous reconnaissance, led directly to the iron mine and, beyond it, the bandit hideout. The lieutenant carried a small, sealed pouch.

Tsunade's suspicions were confirmed: Ren's camp was indeed positioned to oversee the mine. While the main extraction of the iron ore hadn't begun in full force, there were clear signs of recent, smaller-scale mining operations, with crude tools and fresh piles of ore visible nearby. She also noted that the camp's strength was closer to 400 men, not the full 500 Alex had anticipated. The missing 100, she deduced, were likely the ones aiding the bandits. She then overheard a conversation between two soldiers: "General sent a hundred more to the Iron Hand's camp last night. Said the bandits lost too many villagers in the last raid, needed more muscle to keep things 'proper' at the mine."

This was the critical piece of information. General Ren was not merely commanding a rogue force; he was actively involved in Ho Kaku's illicit mining operation and directly reinforcing the bandits. His decision to return to Tonryuu was likely a strategic play, not an act of genuine loyalty to Ho Kaku or Qin. He was bringing 400 men back, leaving 100 with the bandits and the mine. Tsunade melted back into the shadows, her mission complete, the vital intelligence secured.