203 – How to make people move
What is needed to make people move?
Ed has had such thoughts countless times, repeating the same failure over and over again over the past hundreds of episodes.
In the end, in order to prevent humanity from being encroached upon by the devil religion, and to prevent a large-scale devil invasion, it is necessary to move people and unite them as one.
So in the early episodes, Ed was mislead with the ‘truth’.
Evidence and data on the devil’s evil deeds were collected and submitted to the imperial family or notified to the academy’s board of directors.
But the ‘truth’ was useless.
In the end, people are a group of people who only believe what they want to believe.
He did not listen to stories that did not benefit him.
‘We must catch those in power.’
So Ed thought of a second method.
It is about capturing those in power and using their power to bring about coercion.
In fact, the method seemed quite effective.
When powerful figures in the empire like Elena and the princess move, the entire empire has no choice but to follow suit.
‘Is it only limited to the empire?’
However, this only applied to the empire.
In this world, there are hundreds of kingdoms and countless social communities other than the empire, and they could not do anything even with the laws of the empire.
No matter how much Elena and the princess talked about it, they didn’t care because they were ‘people from a foreign country’.
‘Is there a way to unite other kingdoms?’
After that, Ed thought about numerous ways.
Because the awakening of the Empire alone will never be able to stop the invasion of demons.
I thought of a way to prepare other kingdoms for the devil’s invasion as well.
In the end, wasn’t the reason why the world collapsed due to the devil’s invasion because the kingdoms of each country were corrupted by the ‘devil religion’, and those kingdoms became the strongholds of devils, and the entire human race collapsed?
‘There is no way.’
But no matter what I tried, it didn’t work.
Even if you achieve excellent results at the academy, it only strengthens your position within the academy.
Even if we tried to solve the problem through diplomacy, there were bound to be limitations in the end.
I couldn’t find an answer.
‘It’s different this time.’
But after becoming ‘Edgar Fix’, things started to go well.
Once we invested money based on technological innovation, a path began to appear.
‘In the end, you have to have everything.’
And Ed realized that in order to make people move, you need to have many things.
Strength and power. And enormous wealth. I realized that many elements, such as a paradigm shift that would change the perception of the world, were needed.
So Ed developed the dreadnought battleship, opened ports around the world, and sold the advanced technology of the empire to them.
Although they were simply following what the Western powers had done, Ed’s method was closer to modern trade based on mutual respect.
By allowing tariffs to be levied, the industries of other kingdoms were preserved.
Ed, who thus expanded the influence of himself and his empire, informed people of the existence of ‘universe’.
Overturned the logic of Count Cromwell, who claimed that ‘there is no such thing as a celestial being,’ and presented a new paradigm called ‘descendants of the stars.’
People began praising Ed, becoming enthusiastic about the existence of the universe and that they were ‘descendants of the stars.’
‘In the end, the power to move people is money.’
However, Ed did not stop there.
Because we know that the most reasonable means to fulfill human desires is money.
He literally made money by fostering various businesses.
He has been reborn as an overwhelming global wealth that no one can surpass.
‘Now is the time to make an impact.’
Afterwards, Ed spread the money around the world.
Trading with other kingdoms satisfied their desires (cold, hunger, and outdated technology), and as a result, awareness and influence began to expand.
Humanity’s greatest intellect and engineer who changed the paradigm. And he began to be called ‘the savior of the starving and naked.’
“Let’s go make money~~~!”
And so we come to the present.
Ed succeeded in getting countless people to voluntarily fight using ‘stability’ and ‘money’ as bait.
A farming competition was created by automatically returning standard suits and paying rewards based on the type and number of monsters slain.
“Come on! Ruler! The portal to Area F is here! “Please line up in order!”
In this way, mercenaries and soldiers from numerous countries began to voluntarily participate in the battle.
There were so many lines lined up to go to ‘Area F’, which was designated as their battlefield.
“Stop! Stop input! “A retreat has been ordered!”
But then.
The news was delivered like lightning within the northern defense line.
At a time when they were busy making even a penny, an order to retreat was suddenly issued.
“What do you mean! “Retreat!”
Naturally, complaints arose.
There is no better mercenary than this, but they are angry when they suddenly receive an order to retreat.
“The entities of the monsters have changed. “I can’t handle it with normal hand-to-hand combat.”
However, the host who gave the retreat order calmly explained the situation.
He pointed to the large screen in front and continued.
“Monster waves become stronger sequentially. The initial monsters are mostly low-level monsters, and no matter how demonized they are, their population can be sufficiently reduced through close combat. That’s why we put you in Area F and reduced the population sufficiently.”
“······.”
“But look! Now there are hordes of heavily armored monsters appearing. Instead of making money against these monsters, it is obvious that you will continue to lose money. “You do know that you lose 10% of your settlement money every time it is automatically refunded, right?”
“······.”
The mercenaries scratched the backs of their heads as if they were convinced by the host’s explanation.
Definitely, it was difficult to defeat such a monster unless you were a Sword Expedition level or higher or an Elende level magic spellcaster.
Furthermore, with such high-risk monsters pouring in in droves, engaging in any more close combat would be tantamount to suicide.
“Hmm… Then what should we do? There’s quite a bit of distance left from Area F to Area A, so you’re not doing anything while you get to Area A?”
However, it was a pity to just suck my fingers like this.
Most soldiers and mercenaries came here because they heard they could make a lot of money, but now that they have just started making money, they are itching to stay inside the defense line.
“Just wait. “Once we get to Area D, we’ll be able to compete again.”
However, in a confident tone, the host promised the mercenaries to participate again.
And then he looked at the screen in front with a heightened expression, as if he was waiting for something.
One of the mercenaries tilted his head and said.
“No, we were ordered to retreat because it was a monster we couldn’t handle, so what do you mean by re-entering the D area? “The moment you compete, you only lose money.”
“Just shut up and believe. This is a plan planned by Edgar Fix. If you don’t believe me, check the screen. Monsters will soon arrive in Area E.”
However, the host cuts off the mercenary’s words and points to the screen in front with his chin.
The mercenary had a disapproving expression on his face, but kept his eyes on the screen in front of him as he heard the words ‘Edgar Fix’s operation.’
Soon, the mercenary realized why he had told him to shut up and look at the screen ahead.
[Bang! Quagwagwagwang! Bang! Bang!]
A tremendous roar echoing throughout the space.
It felt like an earthquake had occurred.
I felt like my insides were churning just by looking at it.
Cremore.
Implantable explosives commonly used in the military began to explode simultaneously.
[Bang! Kwa Gwa Gwa River! Bang! Quagwagwang!]
“······.”
The mercenaries looked at the scene blankly.
The scene where monster mines and Cremore explode.
It was a scene of hell, with the flesh and internal organs of monsters flying everywhere.
[Okay! Cluck!]
And it wasn’t just that.
Sharp skewers rising from the ground.
In Area E, installation traps were spread out in several places.
It was full of things that were fatal to living things, such as cremois, mines, sharp skewers rising from the ground, flamethrowers, and hydrochloric acid fountains.
When the massacre show ended and the thick smoke cleared, only numerous corpses and barely alive monsters remained.
Monsters with persistent or lucky vitality began to move into Area D.
The host looked back at the mercenaries and said.
“Okay, the rough draft is finished. Now, go strike the final blow.”
***
The morale of the mercenaries boiled over.
They have turned monsters of a level that they cannot even dare think of into half-assholes, and they say they will settle 100% of the money if you just hit the last hit, so their morale is sky-high.
This was literally the equivalent of giving money for free.
Everyone rushed into Area D, praising Edgar Fix, who designed it all.
All they had to do was just tap the dying monsters to finish them off.
“All right as planned.”
However, all of this was Ed’s plan.
It is within his calculations to provide mercenaries with the opportunity to make money for free.
Because the essence of mercenaries is ultimately ‘fighting in exchange for money,’ and in order to motivate them, strong rewards must be provided at the beginning.
And the principle of this was similar to ‘beginner’s luck.’
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Just as many game companies use the superstition of ‘beginner’s luck’ to quickly immerse users, Ed also distributes rewards at the beginning to immerse mercenaries into battle.
If that happens, they will increase their will to fight, expecting to easily obtain rewards.
“But it’s not easy anymore.”
However, so far it has only been a preliminary battle.
The number of monsters currently moving south to the empire is in the millions.
The monsters Ed’s camp had defeated so far were only a small part of him.
These are also low-level monsters with poor physical and intellectual abilities.
It was literally just an exploration battle.
“Go ahead, Koji-kun.”
Because of this, Ed knew it well.
As time passes, the morale of the mercenaries who fought here will decline.
In the end, the ‘real enemies’ will appear in the latter half of the monster wave, so it will not be easy to boost the morale of the mercenaries.
I knew it better than anyone else.
“Eve, are the World Tree preparations going well?”
But since Ed knew that fact better than anyone else, he had made thorough preparations.
They prepared various devices to raise the morale of the soldiers.
[Yes. Currently, synchronization is 76% complete and progressing smoothly. I will be able to compete on time.]
And the ‘thing’ being prepared along with the World Tree was also one of the ‘devices’ prepared by Ed.
This is the ‘Titan’, which combines hundreds of golems into one and is armed with powerful mechanical weapons.
In other words, the appearance of ‘giant cavalry’ is not far away.