Even with the extra help from the few dozen people that Roxi brought with her, the recruiting would continue to be done at full capacity for the next few months. Though the first step of the recruiting process wasn’t too bad, it was the second step that was a bit more difficult as this was mostly done by Han Xin. After the first few weeks of doing it the way they started, they devised another way to go about the process. The first step was done by a few of the more trustworthy recruits as well as the ladies that Roxi brought from the Femme Fatale faction. As time went on, this number began to grow and grow.

However, the second step was done by the most trustworthy people that Baron knew would look out for the faction’s best interests. Namely, Baron himself, Roxi, Chen Di, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, Ban Chao, and Xu Da. These 7 would judge the character of the people who made it past the first round and if they believed that the person was a fit, would accept them immediately. There was an added third step in which the 7 in the second round was not exactly sure about the character of the applicants would be sent to Han Xin. This was done so that Han Xin’s load was reduced greatly.

Under 1 Banner was getting stronger and stronger by the day. Compared to the many other factions, they could be said to have started off on a great foot. This also extended to Zhang Da Zhi and Qi Ji Guang’s new factions. Somehow, they were able to nearly keep up with Baron with the two factions of theirs. As time went on, different tasks had to be done to ensure that the faction could continue on in the absence of the inner circle members. A recruitment division, a bureaucracy division, an anti-corruption division, and many others had to be built up from the ground with huge amounts of oversight to make it as efficient as possible. The decision was completely up to Baron.

Guan Yu and Yue Fei were put in charge of the operations of the faction. Their duties included trade and alliance talks for now, but many more would be added as the business of the faction grew. Han Xin was to be put in charge of getting new talents as well as attracting them to the faction. This role was a bit of a challenge for Han Xin, but nothing that he couldn’t handle. For the time being, Ban Chao and Xu Da were to train the new faction members on how to be better when it comes to land sims.

Jaxon was put in the same duty but in the aerial department. If and when Zi Ji Ge returned and wished to join Under 1 Banner, the naval trainer post would be handed to her. Also, if Roxi ever decided to join Baron’s faction, she would be the sole senior research and development head.

One year after the start of their recruiting, Under 1 Banner had grown to become a faction 10,000 strategists strong. It came as no surprise that many more alliances were forged during this year in those who saw the potential of the new faction. In just this one year alone, Baron’s faction had managed to become a lower mid-tier faction that others took decades to get to. This success mainly came from two main points. The reputation that Baron and his group had managed to get while taking down a few big names like Bai Qi, Wang Yi, and a few others.

The Dragon factions led by Zhang Da Zhi and Qi Ji Guang had plateaued a bit compared to Baron’s faction, but they were still stronger than Baron if the two factions were counted as one. In the far more elite faction led by the leader Zhang Da Zhi, there were about 1,000 strategists that were all better at warfare than the average joe. Coincidentally, after commander Ke was rejected by Baron, he came to Zhang Da Zhi and demanded an inner circle position to which he was granted the request. There were a few other strategists that had a decent amount of achievements and reputation under their belts, but that was in the limited few. In terms of blueprints and tactical prowess, Zhang Da Zhi remained supreme in his faction.

Meanwhile, in Qi Ji Guang’s faction, the number of faction members were far greater than the number in the elite faction. Nearly the same as Baron’s faction, they had amassed almost 9,000 members. Even if these strategists were accepted no questions asked, there was just something reassuring knowing there were 9,000 people under your command. Both Qi Ji Guang and Zhang Da Zhi’s faction went through many of the same steps that Baron went through in terms of making the factions more self-sustainable.

The elite faction under Zhang Da Zhi was considered an upper low-tier faction while the normal faction was considered a lower mid-tier faction just like Under 1 Banner faction. These 3 factions were duking it out in terms of who would be able to outdo the other in getting more members, more allies, more everything. Then, one of the most surprising things happened to Zhang Da Zhi’s faction. They accepted an alliance with the Vesper faction of which Baron had disliked from the start.

In fact, once Baron learned of this, he sent a messenger over to Zhang Da Zhi immediately to convince him otherwise. Alas, it was unsuccessful and after that event leaked to the public, Zhang Da Zhi’s two factions swelled even more. Many of the recruits had heard of how evil the Vesper faction was, but despite that fact, all of those horrible encounters were no match for the basic desire to be protected. And that was exactly what the Vesper faction could provide, protection. Even more than Madam Zheng could. Baron could only look from afar as he hoped that Zhang Da Zhi's faction would not be infected by the parasites that were the Vesper faction.