The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 510 Establishment of Imperial Outposts
into the night.

Apophis Breo and several other officers sat around the campfire wrapped in thick blankets. Due to limited supplies, they couldn't set up tents, since they had left their belongings at the foot of the mountain. These blankets were something Olaf had suggested each soldier carry.

"Send some men down here tomorrow to bring our stuff back! We'll be stationed here permanently from now on!" Apophis Breo, though shivering from the cold, couldn't hide his joy.

"My lord, hurry up and get that outpost up and running! We can't keep sleeping in this mess all the time!" Olaf glanced at the sky; thank goodness the Dragon God, it wasn't raining today...

"This used to be a training ground, didn't it?" Apophis Breo, bored out of his mind, decided to chat with everyone to pass the time on this cold night.

"I don't know. It's quite strange that there's such a large platform on the mountaintop without any buildings!" The Great Knight shrugged. After all, this platform was quite out of place in the old pass, with only a winding stone staircase connecting it to the pass below. However, it was clear that the pass below couldn't be used for a short time. Apophis Breo wouldn't dare to put his soldiers into this drafty building without a long period of clearing and repair.

"It looks like it's for assembling a large army!" The great knight stirred the campfire to make it burn brighter.

"Who cares what he does? We've taken over now, so it's up to us how we use it," Apophis Breo chuckled.

He took out the Imperial Outpost that Roland had given him before he left from his storage space, and stroked the alchemy bottle with deep emotion, feeling the traces of time.

Imperial Outpost:

Within a radius of one hundred meters.

Made with high-grade magic-patterned stone bricks, it comes with a magic array that provides sturdiness, self-healing, shock absorption, and magic resistance!
It consists of four secondary castles and one main castle!
The secondary fortress has two levels, each ten meters high, with an arrow tower on the terrace of the second level.

The main fortress has five floors, is 25 meters high, and has complete storage, living, and troop garrison spaces! The entire outpost can garrison 500 soldiers!
In front of the main fortress, there is a courtyard that is 20 meters long and 20 meters wide, which can be used to gather troops. Soldiers in the courtyard can climb the 5-meter-high city wall to fight or enter the secondary fortress through the city wall to provide support at any time.

Apophis Breo gazed at the outpost sealed within the alchemical bottle in his hand. To be honest, it was no exaggeration to call this thing the cradle of the Imperial Baronies. Its area of ​​a hundred meters in radius was more magnificent than many noble castles of that era. The five-story main castle, along with its narrow passageways, allowed the garrison to hold off a large number of enemies with a minimal force. In addition, there were two underground storage levels, and the entire outpost was constructed using magic stone bricks. Most terrifyingly, some ruthless lords would even equip it with magical shields... This meant that, with ample supplies and a full garrison, this thing could withstand dozens of times more people.

"My lord, is this the legendary Imperial outpost?" Olaf leaned closer and stared at the miniature outpost sealed in the alchemical bottle, marveling at it.

“It’s hard to imagine that the border outposts of the Empire were as magnificent as castles back then…” Olaf said wistfully, his eyes filled with longing.

“Yes, according to family records, at the height of the empire’s prosperity, a border baron’s castle was comparable to that of Swiftstream City!” Apophis Breo said casually.

"Pfft!" Olaf spat out a mouthful of ale, pouring it onto the campfire and making it burn even brighter.

"Get excited! Don't waste the beer!" Another centurion snatched the flask from Olaf's hand with a pained expression.

"Get some rest! We'll be busy tomorrow!" Apophis Breo looked at the crescent moon hanging in the sky. The bright moonlight illuminated the entire old pass, and Apophis Breo couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. This was his territory from now on, and he would soon once again raise the banner of the King's House! The roaming lion would awe the entire mountain range!

"Go early and come back early!" Apophis Breo patted the knights on the shoulder and instructed them. The knights were powerful fighters, and although their numbers were small, they would be fine as long as they did not encounter a large orc army.

"Yes, Your Highness, please be careful. We're heading down the mountain! We don't know if any wild animals have broken into our camp tonight!" The great knight tightened his armor and then turned to leave.

"Probably not, we've scattered a lot of dragon dung, no wild beasts or magical creatures should dare to approach!" Apophis Breo roared to the departing knights.

The knights didn't turn back, they just waved and left. Apophis Breo watched them pass through the old pass and descend the winding mountain road.

"Come on!" Apophis Breo watched the knights leave and then took out the alchemical vial that sealed the outpost.

"Where do you plan to place him?" Olaf looked at Apophis Breo curiously. The wide platform was simply covered with some stone walls, which were severely weathered. The only sign of life on the empty platform was the pool with the spring water flowing from it.

“Of course we’ll put it at the spring! That way we won’t face the risk of running out of water!” Apophis Breo said matter-of-factly.

Olaf immediately led Apophis Breo past the shacks the soldiers had set up with blankets and weapons to the spring.

"Holy crap!" Apophis Breo almost choked on his own breath. The spring in front of him was truly shocking. It was called a spring, but it was just a small pool about ten feet square. The overflowing water flowed along the low-lying side of the land, into the cracks in the wall, and then down to the mountaintop.

"So small?" Apophis Breo stared wide-eyed at Olaf.

"How big do you think it is?" Olaf spread his hands. He couldn't see clearly last night, but when he looked this morning, wow! It's so small!
“Alright, it’s just the right size to fit in the center of the outpost courtyard…” Apophis Breo shook his head and released the seal directly.

As a halo of light exploded in front of the two, a tall, phantom castle appeared before them.

"Huh? It's fake?" Olaf scratched his head and stared at Apophis Breo in shock, his face practically screaming, "Boss, you bought a fake."

“…Wait a minute!” Apophis Breo’s eye twitched; releasing the power would still take some time.

"Crack!" As the underground stones cracked, the two underground levels of the castle materialized first, and soon the upper levels also gradually solidified. Finally, as the halo dissipated, a gray castle stood abruptly on the mountaintop.

"Bang! Bang!" Olaf reached out and knocked on the wall; the solid feel of it brought a sense of security.

“How about it? Our future home!” Apophis Breo nodded, looking at the open gate of the outpost.

Brothers, once the chapter count reaches 500, there will be two updates a day. Brothers who are reading, let's get going!

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(End of this chapter)