After the negotiation, the captives were released, and the ransom was in place.

Ye Fan's gains were enormous. There were a total of twenty-eight countries involved in the negotiation, and each one paid at least a ton, or even several tons, of gold or jewels.

Once the negotiation ended, Ye Fan converted all the gold, silver, and jewels into system funds.

[Congratulations, Commander, you have obtained fifty-one million three hundred seventy thousand in funds!]

Hearing the final figure, even Ye Fan was momentarily stunned.

More than fifty million in funds—this was truly striking it rich.

He didn't expect these countries to have so much wealth. It seems that in the future, if there's a chance, I need to take a few more bites.

These were only some small and medium-sized countries. If they were replaced with developed countries, one bite could completely fill Ye Fan to the brim.

However, Ye Fan was quite satisfied. More than fifty million in funds were enough for him to rapidly expand his army once more, replenishing the troops not immediately built last time due to insufficient funds.

Ye Fan's previous army expansion had some shortcomings, such as the Guard Company not being upgraded, Xiaoba not being upgraded to Hero, and a large number of octopuses not produced.

Ye Fan decided to first upgrade the Guard Company to a Guard Battalion. With over five hundred defensive forces, it should be enough to ensure his safety on Dawn Island.

Forming a Guard Battalion was quite simple. First, elite soldiers and officers were transferred from various units to serve in the Guard Battalion. After all, all Red Alert Soldiers had unlimited loyalty to Ye Fan.

Then, produce some new recruits to fill the gaps in their original units.

With a smooth series of operations, Ye Fan's Guard Battalion was freshly formed.

The Guard Battalion, consisting of 550 members, was responsible for Ye Fan's daily life, travel safety, and the security and surveillance of the parliamentary area, among other tasks.

Ye Fan always had guards around him, like Tanya, who often sat in Ye Fan's office, playing with her Colt pistol.

She usually said nothing, but the moment Ye Fan was in danger, Tanya could fire at any time and, relying on her formidable strength, block the incoming bullets for Ye Fan.

Additionally, Duanmu Xiaoyu was also Ye Fan's close guard. Her skills were strong, and she was proficient in makeup techniques, so with her present, another spy, Chen Lan, was no longer needed by Ye Fan's side.

Ye Fan silently expanded his army, his expression somewhat grim.

Although he gained a substantial amount of money, his other objectives remained unachieved, and his vulnerabilities still existed, untested by real combat.

Sadly, everyone around him was like wood, incapable of seeing what their commander was thinking. Why were these people so slow-witted?

Who knows what Shuang'Er is doing now, haven't seen her for a long time, I kind of miss her.

After replenishing the Guard Battalion, Ye Fan once again headed to the beach.

The villa area, after several battles, had now mostly become ruins, except on Ye Fan's side where there was still one dock. The other residents had already moved out.

When Ye Fan arrived at the beach, it was relatively quiet, with no sign of large crabs or sea turtles, or any other ocean monsters.

Only in the distance was there a flock of huge seagulls cawing, but they seemed reluctant to get too close to the shore.

This was the benefit of having Xiaoba nearby. Even ordinary ocean giant beasts would have to make a detour when they saw Xiaoba.

Sensing Ye Fan's arrival at the shore, Xiaoba cheerfully rushed over.

With a wave surging over, soaking Ye Fan's pants, Xiaoba came ashore.

Ye Fan immediately upgraded Xiaoba.

[Commander, do you confirm upgrading Xiaoba to a Hero Unit?]

"Yes, proceed with the upgrade immediately."

[The upgrade requires spending a hundredfold unit of money. Upgrade completed, costing five million, Xiaoba has been upgraded to a Hero Unit.]

Right before Ye Fan's eyes, he watched as Xiaoba underwent a qualitative transformation.

As the muscle cells rhythmically moved, they seemed to grow denser, and Xiaoba's size skyrocketed vertically.

Its sixty-plus-meter-long tentacles directly doubled in length, exceeding a hundred meters and reaching about 130 meters.

With tentacles fully extended, Xiaoba's total length could reach 300 meters!

Each tentacle's girth was more than twice as thick as a train, from the comparison, not at all inferior to the giant octopuses described in Caribbean Island stories.

Xiaoba, too, felt its strength, opening its city-gate-like massive maw and emitting a scream from the deep sea.

"Aooo~~~!"

The salty sea breeze hit Ye Fan's face, and the intense scent nearly made him faint.

But all this could hardly hide the excitement in his heart.

A Hero Unit crafted with five million funds, its size was simply unparalleled.

Ye Fan felt that at this moment, while it might not overturn an aircraft carrier, overturning a destroyer or battleship was absolutely plausible.

As for the aircraft carrier, a little shaking might cause carrier-based aircraft to fall off; with more shaking, overturning it might not be out of the question.

The previous frustration of not having women sent by other countries' representatives to help challenge his weaknesses was swept away.

"Xiaoba, take me for a spin in the sea."

Xiaoba immediately extended a tentacle, using the giant suction cup to latch onto Ye Fan, then holding this tentacle, it descended into the sea.

Initially, Xiaoba tried to hold the tentacle high, but Ye Fan soon asked it not to do so.

After all, he's a Peak of Level 2 Mutant, and holding his breath underwater for an hour is no problem for him.

His eyesight is also excellent, able to see distant things clearly even underwater.

Thus, Xiaoba took Ye Fan underwater, swimming in the deep sea.

A giant shark, over forty meters long, swam over from a distance and hesitated upon seeing Xiaoba, then turned around wanting to flee.

Xiaoba extended a tentacle far out, using the suction cup to firmly adhere to the shark.

The shark struggled frantically, but the tentacle was too strong, and it couldn't break free.

The tentacle wrapped around like a python, with suction cups blocking its gills, preventing the shark from breathing.

The shark futilely twisted its body for a while, stirring up a murky mess underwater, but in the end, it couldn't resist Xiaoba's monstrous strength and was suffocated to death.

Xiaoba dragged the shark with a tentacle and soon swam back to the shore.

Seeing this forty-meter-long giant Ocean Giant Beast, Ye Fan's heart burned with excitement.

This is Mutant Beast Meat, and it's a great white shark that not many people can get their hands on.

Such things are not something Adventurer Squads can deal with; ordinary firearms are useless against it, and if there's any danger, it retreats into the sea. What can anyone do?

Thus, in the market, the price of great white sharks has always been priceless.

Just selling this one fish on the market could bring in at least a million funds!

If Xiaoba were allowed to fish freely, wouldn't that provide another means of making money?

Ye Fan thought for a while but dismissed this tempting idea.

The market couldn't digest so much, and once there were too many Mutant Beast Meats, they'd lose value. Plus, Xiaoba had more important work, which was leading the team for upgrades.

Ye Fan opened the system and quickly spawned soldiers.

A five million gold deep-sea giant octopus spawned a hundred in an instant!

The five million spent quickly, and within a while, the sea surface was bustling like dumplings, with numerous tentacles flailing in the water, each octopus eager to meet the officer and tell them they've enlisted today.

Fortunately, Xiaoba maintained order with a shriek, and all the octopuses calmed down.

Clearly, they all recognized Xiaoba as their boss and followed this Hero Level unit's orders.

At this moment, Ye Fan seemed to see a hundred Xiaobas just like when it popped its head out of the river outside Dawn City to watch him.

"Good, you're all doing great, but the navy doesn't have star levels. You need to follow Xiaoba and train for a certain time. Xiaoba, I will give you a task, train these little guys to at least Two-Star, and some can upgrade to Three-Star. You can lead them into deep sea activities, but ensure their safety. Once they're all upgraded to Two-Star, bring them back. Understand?"

There's currently no significant danger by the sea since no one lives there, and even if Sea Monsters come ashore, it shouldn't be a problem. Xiaoba doesn't need to guard here continually.

If these hundred giant octopuses all upgrade to Two-Star or Three-Star, the assistance to Ye Fan would be immense.

With them, the safety of his island needs no worry.

Even during battles with enemies, these octopuses could be used as unexpected troops.

Two-Star octopuses can overturn small to medium-sized ships, while Three-Star octopuses can collaboratively overturn regular warships.

Xiaoba, now quite intelligent, immediately understood Ye Fan's intention, eagerly shouted a few times, bade farewell to Ye Fan, and led the hundred deep-sea giant octopuses away from the area.

To upgrade such a large group of octopuses, the nearby sea territory wouldn't suffice, and they had to head to the deep sea and travel farther, requiring time.

A hundred octopuses followed Xiaoba, leaving a massive water trail on the sea surface as they gradually distanced themselves.

Watching Xiaoba and the others gradually disappear, Ye Fan felt relieved about another concern.

Now, all units of the Dawn Army are bustling, and since the second field brigade collaborated with the air force and navy to eliminate the Corpse King, they've been consistently operating in Kaiyuan.

Ye Fan's task for them is simple: within a week, clear out all corpse groups in Kaiyuan County and recapture it.

Even if a county is abandoned, it still holds plentiful resources, and usable items can always be found.

Things like Crystal Core and Mutant Beast Meat are also resources.

If a few jewelry stores are captured, even a single one would have funds worth several million, which is a considerable income for Ye Fan now.

The over fifty million acquired was quickly spent on upgrading Xiaoba and spawning octopuses, instantly costing ten million. Now the money drains fast, so Ye Fan needs more funds.

For making money and further schemes, Ye Fan has a more profound strategy.

Everything is prepared, now it's just waiting to see if those people cooperate and take the bait.

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