After settling matters in the Dark Valley and making his intentions clear, Su Xingyu didn't linger. He soon departed with his men and returned to the Night Tribe.
But his responsibilities were far from over. In fact, things were just beginning.
The addition of the Gnoll Tribe was both a blessing and a burden.
For now, Su Xingyu considered the jackals as auxiliary troops. They were capable fighters—perfect as support units in battle.
The idea had come to him unexpectedly during a skirmish. How he'd proceed with them, however, would depend entirely on their performance moving forward.
From what he had seen so far, the jackals showed a strong affinity for darkness. Their leader, Harvey, clearly understood the situation and his role within it.
As long as the Night Tribe didn't suffer major losses, Su Xingyu wasn't worried about the jackals turning on them.
Still, leaving Harvey in charge of the Dark Valley was a dangerous move. Nearly 200,000 gnolls remained there.
With those numbers, it wouldn't be hard to raise an army of 100,000 jackal warriors—an army strong enough to pose a serious threat if they turned hostile.
To balance the risk, Su Xingyu took a sizeable force back with him: the elite Giant Wolf Legion, the Wolf Knight Legion, the Sacrificial Corps, and 20,000 werewolf warriors. Altogether, more than 30,000 fighters returned to the Night Tribe, roughly 30% of the werewolf force.
Harvey didn't object. As a long-time tribal leader, he understood the message Su Xingyu was sending. Being entrusted to govern the Jackal Tribe after surrender was a rare show of trust.
Frankly, if the roles were reversed, Harvey wouldn't have been nearly as generous. Sparing a defeated leader was mercy enough—leaving him in charge was almost unheard of.
Letting him remain the boss? That was bold. Maybe even foolish.
But the real reason Harvey stayed compliant wasn't about respect or honor.
It was about power.
The Jackal Tribe had gone all out in their battle outside the Dark Valley, and still, they had been crushed. They hadn't even pushed the Night Tribe to their limits. The gap in strength was vast—so vast it left Harvey feeling hollow and hopeless.
There was simply no room for rebellion.
That was why Harvey didn't question Su Xingyu's decision to remove 30,000 troops. To him, it was a perfectly reasonable move.
If Su Xingyu really wanted to wipe them out, it would've been easier to do so the moment they surrendered.
Now, back to the matter at hand.
Su Xingyu already had a plan for the 30,000 soldiers he'd brought back.
Their new destination: Bloodfang Stronghold.
Unlike humans, gnolls were adept at forest warfare. Sending them to Bloodfang was the most logical step. There, they could help eliminate lingering monsters in the Bloodfang Forest and speed up the stronghold's construction.
More importantly, their presence would pave the way for future control of the Blood Red Mountains.
As for the Sacrificial Corps, Su Xingyu had other plans. He wanted them to join his newly founded magic academy. While jackal priests weren't particularly advanced, they had retained some ancestral knowledge, making them far more useful than the Night Tribe's magic users.
Once the deployment of these soldiers was settled, Su Xingyu turned his attention to two major tasks: constructing new barracks and relocating the population.
After the unification of the Black Soil Plains and the defeat of the Jackal Tribe, the system rewarded him with two special barracks blueprints. But unlike others he'd seen, these were shrouded in mystery. The information provided was minimal.
[Dark Knight Barracks]
Type: Divine Domain Building
Effect: Comprehension of Darkness
Maximum Capacity: 8000
Requirement: Dark Favor
Consumption: ??? Divine Source per day
[Dark Warrior Camp]
Type: Divine Domain Building
Effect: Comprehension of Darkness
Maximum Capacity: 8000Requirement: Dark Favor
Consumption: ??? Divine Source per day
There were no further descriptions. Nothing about the structure, the training process, or even the resource consumption. But the phrase "Comprehension of Darkness" intrigued Su Xingyu.
He decided to build them first and analyze them afterward.
With that decision made, he summoned the Construction Department to begin preparations. Once suitable barracks were erected, he could integrate the blueprints directly.
What came next would have to be figured out as it happened. After all, no one knew what the true effects of these buildings would be until they were complete.
Still, based on his years of gaming experience, anything surrounded by question marks and secrecy usually turned out to be powerful. But players always had to discover the secrets themselves.
There was another development. Su Xingyu had recently unlocked a new wonder blueprint, and with the two new barracks being pushed forward, the Construction Department's schedule had been thrown into chaos.
When he handed over the blueprints, the Minister of Construction turned pale. The man looked like he might faint.
But duty called. No matter how overwhelmed he felt, he had to work through the night to revise the construction plans.
Compared to civilian infrastructure, boosting military strength was clearly the higher priority. No one in the Night Tribe would object to building more barracks.
Houses could come later. Meals could be modest. But the strength of the warriors? That could never be compromised.
Security didn't come from walls or policies. It came from power.
Thanks to Su Xingyu's calculated propaganda, the people of the Night Tribe knew there were vast lands beyond the Black Soil Plains—and enemies far stronger than any they had faced so far. They didn't become complacent after their victories. Instead, they became more driven.
The tribe's rapid development created a constant sense of urgency. Everyone feared being left behind.
Still, barracks construction wasn't something that could be rushed. The buildings had to meet precise standards. Otherwise, they would be completely ineffective.
That was a problem for the Minister of Construction to worry about. After tossing the blueprints his way, Su Xingyu left the matter in his hands.
He had confidence in the man's abilities.
The next headache was relocation.
How many people should be moved? Where exactly should they go? And how would the process be managed?
Most tribesmen didn't want to move. They had only just settled down, and the thought of uprooting again was unappealing. It wasn't just about inconvenience—there were real risks involved.
And there was another issue: the Dark Valley.
It was the gnolls' territory, after all. Even though the Night Tribe had conquered them, old habits and fears didn't vanish overnight. The area carried a heavy stigma.
With nearly all humans on the Black Soil Plains already consolidated, there weren't many new recruits to assign to the area either. That made it difficult for Su Xingyu to transfer population there.
Reluctantly, he was forced to offer generous incentives and guarantee safety to persuade a group to relocate.
Of course, forced migration was an option—especially for newly joined tribesmen who had yet to put down roots. They wouldn't complain.
But Su Xingyu preferred not to use that authority unless absolutely necessary.