Global Lords: Starting with Female Hero Fusion

As for Lü Hong, Zhao Chi didn’t recognize the name.

He hadn’t even heard the name before.

However, since he was also from the Eighth Academy, Zhao Chi might have met him before without knowing his name.

Zhao Chi shook his head. "I don’t recall him. Never heard of him."

Zhao Jiao nodded. "Don’t worry about it. He’ll definitely be here. You two can meet in a little while."

Lü Hong had joined the Zhao Family, making him one of their Lords, so he would certainly be coming.

Zhao Chi nodded but said nothing.

They had reached the entrance of the meeting hall, where Zhao Mu stood with a few Soldiers.

Zhao Jiao also fell silent, and the two of them entered without a word.

There weren’t many people inside.

After all, everyone present was a Lord.

They looked bewildered, completely unaware of what was happening.

But they could sense it wasn’t anything good.

Some people’s hair was a mess; you could tell at a glance they had been summoned from their beds.

With his arms crossed, Zhao Quan continuously scrutinized the crowd.

Zhao Tan stood beside him, also with her arms crossed, watching the people who entered.

Zhao Chi entered silently, positioning himself behind his many clan cousins and continuing to be just another face in the crowd.

A short while later, everyone had arrived.

Zhao Chi made a point to count them. There were 39 people in total.

The family originally had 33 Lords; the extra six must have been the ones who had joined in the last few days.

’Say what you will about their strength, but at least the number of Lords has increased by 18%.’

Although Zhao Chi and some of the family elders were unwilling to become Zhao Quan’s vassals...

...many others were still scrambling to do so.

Life was never easy for those at the bottom.

Just then, a young man came to stand behind and to the side of Zhao Chi, who glanced over at him.

’He looked familiar.’

’I’ve definitely seen him before.’

’So that must be Lü Hong.’

He had an Ordinary face and very short hair.

A very Ordinary young man.

’If I remember correctly, Lü Hong was in Class 7.’

Lü Hong clearly recognized Zhao Chi as well.

When Zhao Chi looked back, Lü Hong gave him a friendly nod.

After all, Zhao Chi had been on the awards podium after the placement tests at the start of the term.

Even those who hadn’t known him before knew who he was after that.

Zhao Chi wasn’t familiar with Lü Hong, having only met him a few times. ’An unknown student like him must have very Ordinary strength,’ he thought.

’He probably has no chance of winning anything in the upcoming rookie tournament.’

Zhao Chi nodded back, then turned away.

’The tournament could wait. First, I need to get through whatever this is.’

After a few days of rest, Team Leader Zhao Shizhang had clearly recovered.

He said to Zhao Quan, "Your Highness Zhao Quan, all 39 Lords of our family are present. We await your instructions."

Zhao Quan didn’t answer.

He just swept his gaze over the assembled Lords once more.

Then he said to Zhao Shizhang, "Have all the Lady Lords of your family step forward for an inspection."

Zhao Shizhang’s expression faltered.

’Lady Lords?’

’What is this Zhao Quan up to?’

He couldn’t help but ask, "Your Highness Zhao Quan, what... what is this about?"

The other Lords exchanged confused glances, not understanding his intention.

If he was just looking for women, Zhao Quan certainly had no shortage of them.

In fact, plenty of women actively threw themselves at him.

Therefore, this had to be about something else.

Zhao Quan grew impatient.

His attitude wasn’t as explosive as before, but he clearly had no intention of explaining.

"Don’t ask questions you’re not meant to ask. Knowing too much about noble affairs won’t do you any good."

Zhao Shizhang nodded hastily. "Understood. Please, go on ahead."

Soon, 12 Lady Lords stepped forward.

They included six of the family’s aunts, five sisters-in-law, and one of the newly joined unaffiliated Lords.

They all looked just as bewildered as everyone else.

"Zhao Tan, go."

"Yes."

Although dozens of Soldiers stood behind Zhao Quan, he didn’t have them step forward this time.

Instead, he had the noblewoman, Zhao Tan, conduct the inspection personally.

This was a huge change from the last inspection.

Perhaps because the Zhao Family had now sworn fealty to Zhao Quan, their status had been elevated, and they no longer had to endure the humiliating searches by those Soldiers.

It was also probably a sign of how seriously this matter was being taken.

After all, Zhao Tan’s Ability had to be far superior to that of those Soldiers.

Among the 12 Lady Lords, some looked bewildered, some nervous, and a few remained calm.

Zhao Tan scanned them one by one.

The scanning process was very fast.

In less than ten minutes, she had checked everyone.

"Your Highness, there’s nothing unusual."

Zhao Tan reported to Zhao Quan.

Zhao Quan nodded. "Of course. This sort of thing..."

He didn’t finish his sentence.

His eyes swept over the Lady Lords once more.

Then, he walked over himself.

He patted the shoulders of the two Lady Lords with the best figures.

A faint light glowed from his palms.

The two Lady Lords had been relatively composed, but now, being inspected by Zhao Quan himself, they couldn’t help but grow nervous.

After all, if a noble wanted to find fault, there were countless excuses they could invent.

But Zhao Quan only inspected them briefly before withdrawing his hands.

As expected, he found nothing.

"Alright, you may go back."

Hearing this, it wasn’t just the Lady Lords who were relieved; the entire family breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Zhao Quan said, "Nowhere is safe lately. The resistance is running rampant, causing Destruction everywhere and attacking nobles... You will soon have your chance to earn merit. Don’t disappoint me."

The expressions on the faces of Zhao Shizhang and several other family elders visibly stiffened.

The implication was obvious.

They would soon be battling the resistance.

He called it a chance to earn merit, but in reality, it was incredibly dangerous.

But there was no other choice.

They had already boarded this ship; getting off now wouldn’t be so easy.

Besides, even if they hadn’t sworn fealty to Zhao Quan, they would have been assigned missions eventually.

Whether it was fighting the resistance or fighting Magical Beasts, the result would be the same.

Moreover, the nobles were the ruling authority now.

The resistance was a rebel force; on the surface, standing with the nobles was the logical and righteous path.

There were many different resistance groups.

Some had clear objectives, strict discipline, and strong Combat Power.

Their goal was to overthrow the nobility.

But others were simply chaotic rabble.

In other words, they were just bandits and brigands.

They used the pretense of resisting the nobles to oppress ordinary civilians, plundering and annexing their territories.

The nobles lumped these bandits and brigands into the same category as the resistance.

For one, this served to tarnish the reputation of the true resistance.

After all, since they were all called "the resistance," it was difficult for ordinary civilians to tell them apart.

This way, even if civilians harbored great resentment toward the nobles, they would find it hard to trust the resistance, let alone join them.

The true resistance, in turn, found it incredibly difficult to earn the trust of the common people.

Secondly, from the nobles’ perspective, it didn’t matter whether they were facing the true resistance or mere bandits.

They were all enemies.

To be annihilated on sight.

It was just that some were harder to fight, and others were easier.

It made little difference.

However...

The people from Strong Fragrance Food Street were most likely the real resistance.

The Zhao Family had provoked them, so they would surely face retaliation down the line.

It was just a question of when.

Zhao Shizhang cupped his hands in a salute. "Our entire family awaits Your Highness Zhao Quan’s command. We will obey unconditionally."

Zhao Quan grunted.

But a faint smile appeared on his face.

Looking at his expression, one could even detect a hint of resignation.

"Things aren’t like they used to be. The external pressure is mounting, and the number of those Magical Beasts never seems to decrease.

"What’s more, many of our territories have been conquered by the Alien Race...

"And those damn rebels, stirring up trouble when we’re at our busiest—they really don’t care if the entire city lives or dies!

"Now that the Zhao Family has demonstrated its Loyalty, even if you don’t go looking for the resistance, they’ll come looking for you.

"So, it’s only a matter of time.

"Don’t get any other ideas. Your job is to follow me. You will fight wherever I point.

"I’ve already adjusted your quotas. The standard quota will be reduced by 30%. That should give you more time to develop, shouldn’t it?"

Everyone had heard his previous words, but they were just that—words.

But this last sentence sent a jolt through the crowd.

’A reduction in the standard quota?’

’By 30%?’

That was a significant reduction.

These quotas were a real burden for the Lords.

It was like mandatory labor or military conscription.

Although killing Magical Beasts yielded experience and spoils of war...

...if the Magical Beasts were too numerous or too strong, you would also constantly lose personnel, Soldiers, Equipment, and Supplies.

These were all tangible losses.

Soldiers had to be trained.

They had to be raised slowly from Level 0.

Although items existed that could increase experience, it was impossible to use them on every single Soldier.

Most had to be leveled up one battle at a time.

The loss of a single High Level Soldier was a huge blow.

But sometimes, you had no choice but to send your strongest Soldiers to the front lines and let them bear the brunt of the assault.

Just like in the previous battle, Tang Ruan and the Female Soldiers in the center had to hold the line for them to achieve victory.

Thus, Lords always had to find a balance between Consumption and gain.

Slowly increasing their own strength.

Moreover, everyone knew that the quota system was a tool the nobles used to suppress the commoners.

With the quotas in place, commoners were constantly being worn down by Magical Beasts, making it impossible for them to grow too strong.

That was why the previous increase in the quota had been so devastating for the Lords.

Their strength would be drained away.

A 30% reduction in the standard quota was, by any measure, a massive change.

This would make it much easier for the Lords to deal with Magical Beasts.

Originally, the Magical Beasts they were assigned to fight were only slightly weaker than the Lords themselves.

Now, the assigned Magical Beasts would be much weaker in comparison.

This meant their daily Consumption would be reduced by far more than 30%; their overall Loss might even be cut by over 50%.

This would allow them to build up their own strength much faster.

To grow strong, and quickly.

It was rare for nobles to voluntarily reduce quotas for commoners.

This also went to show just how critical the current situation had become.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!