Chapter 865: Summoning the Dandelions
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The northern and southern battlefields of the Holy Battle were not experiencing the same things. The battlefield in the south seemed to be in a worse situation as compared to the north, mainly because of the landing position and the location of the base. It was close to the center of the Mizobudapi World, so whether it was intelligence reconnaissance or the troop’s progress, they encountered fierce resistance. However, the Holy City Army still had the absolute upper hand. Although their losses weren’t that great, they had to deploy more troops for further advancement, resulting in a serious shortage of Holy City Army forces. They only had 50,000 people to take over a large area. If they had spread out, they would be almost unnoticeable. They had only taken over less than half of the northern battlefield, but the available manpower had become more and more restricted.
After the transmission array was successfully built, the Holy City had dispatched several batches of additional troops one after another, mainly to support the southern battlefield, but it was far from enough.
Although the Holy City had a large army, far exceeding hundreds of thousands, they still had to deploy troops to stand guard at other huge worlds. The same went for the huge secret realms. The development of humans in the Holy City had actually reached a temporary peak, due to being limited by human talents and numbers, as well as the degree of civilization. Therefore, there were actually not many idle troops that could actually be deployed for external battles. The secondary military sources were actually mostly supplemented by the other major forces and the 10 Great Families. However, this would create other problems. Whether it was the cultivation forces such as the Mystic Sect, the Tyrants, and the Sparta Clan or the Federation’s forces like the 10 Great Families that the Holy City had been supporting, all of them had been secretly acc.u.mulating and a.s.sembling forces. In fact, if every one of them were to truly work together, it wouldn’t even be a problem for them to deploy a million elite soldiers at one shot, but the problem was that they all had their own plans.
Each force would check and balance each other and fight among themselves for more power. The Holy City did not forcibly dictate how many soldiers each force had to send out. Each force thought the same way: If my family deployed more soldiers and they got wiped out on the battlefield, wouldn’t my family’s influence grow weak? Even if something serious were to happen, it wouldn’t be them who would suffer the consequences. Additionally, even if the battle was won, they wouldn’t be the only ones who would get the credit, so why should they fight so hard for the Holy Land? If they were fighting a war against a weak civilization, then things would be different. They would send as many troops as they could to s.n.a.t.c.h battle credit for their families. However, this time, everyone who understood the situation of the battle could feel that the Mizobudapi people were not a force to be trifled with. If the leaders of these forces didn’t even have the ability to understand the current situation, they wouldn’t be fit to lead. This would be a tough battle. Who would be willing to send their troops to their deaths? All of them actually secretly hoped that they could stay out of it and that other forces would send troops to their deaths so that they could replace the other forces’ positions or become stabler in strength and status among the major forces.
As such, the supposedly powerful major forces behaved like an almost-empty toothpaste tube when it came to deploying troops. When the Holy City put pressure on them, they would claim that they didn’t have enough manpower and eventually deploy the least amount of troops possible to the Holy Battle. The Holy City Army was naturally infuriated, but this was actually the normal situation of large-scale Holy Battles in the past, and the higher-ups couldn’t come up with a way to make the major forces comply. The law could not punish the ma.s.ses. If everyone behaved the same way, it was impossible to kill all of them.
In the past, if the Holy City encountered such a situation, they would often try to change the leaders’ mindsets and slowly force the major forces to deploy more troops. If the battle went well, then there was no need to do anything else. However, if the front line was really tight in manpower, the Patriarch Society would then force an order of deployment to make every force share the burden. However, this time was different. The Holy City didn’t even try to persuade the leaders of the major forces, because someone had volunteered to take their places.
The Kaiser Empire, Solomon.
He directly deployed 100,000 troops from the Kaiser Empire, and they were all elite soldiers. Although their group combat capabilities could not be compared with the high-caliber soldiers trained by the regular army of the Holy City, their fierce combat style, adaptability to harsh environments, endurance, etc., were better than the Holy City Army’s. Their combat power as a whole was comparable to the Holy City Army and even better than the private soldiers of those major forces and families.
The higher-ups of the Holy Land were obviously rather happy. They knew what tricks those major forces and families were up to. The Kaiser Empire’s troops not only directly solved the problem of the troop shortage in the front line, they were also an exemplar and warning to the major forces and families; as well, they were a strong reminder to the forces that were up to no good. A clear message was sent: The Holy City didn’t have to depend on them. If they were not willing to contribute, there were others who could take their place.
Therefore, this time, Solomon garnered many praises from the Holy City. After various propaganda, the Empire’s Army seemed to gain more prestige, and Solomon himself directly received many special privileges that were comparable to those of Great Teachers.
At this time, the major forces really didn’t know how they were supposed to act, but they were all basically waiting to see what would happen. Frankly speaking, Solomon’s choice was rather risky. On the surface, he took the opportunity to jump into the sights of the higher-ups in the Holy Land and become a valued member. But what if the battle didn’t go smoothly? What if his 100,000 troops, which were almost all the military forces of the Empire, were all destroyed in the Holy Battle? If so, although he might get a little fame and honor and gain a special place in the Holy City, he would no longer have the resources to compete with the other forces, and he would be worthless.
There were two such sayings: risks and opportunities coexist; man proposes and G.o.d disposes. Whether the Empire would rise or become history, no one could say for sure until the end of the war.
Solomon, who was personally involved in the battle, was clearly quite aware of this. It was certainly not based on impulse that he made this decision. In this world, if one wasn’t willing to give, there would be no gains. The 100,000 troops were only a test. He was not that idiotic to satisfy the higher-ups of the Holy Land all at once. If he was so ‘obedient’, the other party would not learn to ‘cherish’ him. Cooperation with the Holy Land was Solomon playing the long game. Of course, he had also been very active on the southern battlefield recently. This Holy Battle was an excellent opportunity for him to prove himself.
He directly quit Imperial Court and founded his own exploration team, Kaiser Corps, and he recruited 100 elites directly on the first day of formation, showing astonis.h.i.+ng strength. Only around half a month had pa.s.sed, and the Kaiser Corps already managed to complete several major missions on the southern battlefield and even managed to collect comprehensive intel. Yesterday, they attempted to kill a Sword Saint. Although they eventually failed to do so, they managed to get the Sword Saint’s arm without losing a single man. This was already the best record any exploration team managed to achieve when faced with an enemy at the level of a Sword Saint. As such, everyone started to realize that Solomon was indeed fully prepared for this Holy Battle. This was definitely not what a hastily formed group could achieve. Their entire operation and process seemed to have been carefully planned and a.s.sembled.
“Boss, in fact, we can take on harder missions. We shouldn’t set our sights on Sword Saints. Not to mention that there is no challenge, it will just waste our time. These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are usually sneaky and will slip through our hands.”
Solomon’s barracks were definitely the largest in the Exploration Team Department of the southern base. It looked like a small command post — with enough room to accommodate hundreds of people. At this time, only seven or eight people had gathered in the room, making the room seem quite empty.
“Don’t worry, the battle situation is still unclear. We just need to maintain a certain degree of exposure. We should wait and see.” Solomon was sitting in front of his desk, which was filled with thick doc.u.ments, but to be honest, Solomon would never read them in detail. He had professional a.n.a.lysts to handle both data a.n.a.lysis and intelligence a.n.a.lysis. They understood his intentions and would extract what he was interested in from these thick doc.u.ments. What he was better at was developing strategies, deploying talents, and manipulating people. He would never try to intervene in matters which were not his forte, and he had absolute trust in the people he employed.
“Sigh, it’s really no fun here, compared to Earth.” Lolly pouted as she crossed her legs in front of Solomon’s desk, and Solomon didn’t seem to mind at all. “The people here are all wrapped up like dumplings. It’s really boring that I can’t see any hot guy’s muscles or pretty girl’s b.u.t.t.”
Solomon smiled and said, “Don’t you like to try new things? The aliens here are rather charming.”
“Octopus people? Gross! Boss, you might as well kill me. I feel like puking when I see those huge tentacles on their head! I don’t like tentacles…” Lolly pretended to vomit and made an exaggerated expression. “Boss, anyway, you’re not planning to carry out any big plans these days, right? Don’t you have the right to come and go as you please? Why don’t you give me a few days off and let me go back to Earth to find a handsome guy? I promise to come back in ten days! Look at me, my pimples are all growing out! Also, I haven’t checked on the connections and seeds I left back on Earth…”
Lolly behaved coquettishly and made up various reasons. Solomon only smiled slightly. Before he could speak, a majestic-looking man next to him in heavy armor had already chided Lolly with a cold tone, “Wu! Is this how you should speak to our Young Master?”
Lolly stuck out her tongue. She was never afraid of anything and even dared to act cute in front of Solomon. However, in the presence of this man, she was somewhat fearful.
He was Solomon’s personal guard, Kai. No one knew his true ident.i.ty and combat strength. He was in his forties and seemed like a mute if he did not speak. However, the core team of Solomon’s Dandelions was all trained by him. This time, he was the one who managed to get the Sword Saint’s arm, and it was a one-on-one fight. If it was not for Solomon’s instruction to not pursue the Sword Saint, it was not impossible for him to kill the Sword Saint. All the members of the Kaiser Corps were Solomon’s most trusted people. People from the Empire had strong personalities, but once they had a goal in mind, they would stick to it to the end. They were much more determined than the Federation’s people. The Kaiser Empire had made many preparations for today’s success.
The people of the Empire yearned for things that the Federation had been enjoying. They were willing to sacrifice anything in exchange for the rise of the Empire.
“It’s okay. She’s the big brain of the Dandelions. She can speak to me in a casual tone.” Solomon shook his head with a smile, indicating that Kai need not be concerned about it. “We are past the planning stage, and we have understood everything we should know about. Now, it’s the best opportunity for us to gain strength and status. We must remain dedicated to our cause. If you want to have fun, there will be loads of time in the future.”
It was probably due to Kai’s constant stare that made her dare not talk about returning to Earth. Instead, she only stuck out her tongue and said, “If that’s the case, should we call the others back? I heard that w.a.n.g Zhong’s dead. There’s no need to waste any more time on him.”
“Huh, he’s dead?” Enoch, who had been busy eating a pork trotter, suddenly spoke.
“He was killed by a Sword Saint!” Xiao Wu confirmed it, nodding her head fiercely. In fact, she didn’t understand why the boss thought so highly of this guy. He was merely a guy with no roots and no background.