Chapter 948 As One Increases, The Other Decreases
On the one hand, their mission completion rate was high enough. Furthermore, they also had support from external sources, the Vasilyevich Family, as well as Ma Dong in Tianjing.
The Vasilyevich Family originally had a family exploration team in the Holy City, but even after so many years, the exploration team did not grow much stronger. They remained at the bottom of the level-4 exploration teams and struggled to level up. Even direct descendants like Vladimir joined the Blue Ray Squadron in order to obtain more opportunities to develop. One could well imagine the reason why. Now, Vladimir had joined the Wanderl.u.s.t Team, which did not have the support of any Holy City powers. Thus, the Vasilyevich Family had taken a fancy to the Wanderl.u.s.t Team’s potential. Furthermore, Vladimir had a central position in the Wanderl.u.s.t Team. Thus, the family greatly supported the Wanderl.u.s.t Team. Besides providing them a certain sum of money, they also provided support in other areas. For example, a majority of the members in the second group were chosen from the exploration team of Holy Disciples that Vladimir was once part of.
They managed to choose the elites from a level-4 exploration team and form a group within the Wanderl.u.s.t Team. This served to show how much the Vasilyevich Family valued the Wanderl.u.s.t Team.
On the other hand, Ma Dong did not have the power to provide support in so many aspects. He could only provide money.
Needless to say, he was a genius in doing business. He earned a profit by buying and selling between the Federation and the Holy City. With his shocking courage, as well as w.a.n.g Zhong as a middleman, he used his ident.i.ty as a person from the Federation to obtain sole attorneys.h.i.+p of Murphy’s Alchemy Workshop on Earth. As a result, he became rich overnight. The rate at which he acc.u.mulated wealth was shocking. Furthermore, in the short span of two to three months, he had opened up a shop in the Holy City which specialized in selling special goods from Earth.
Although a shop was not much, if a mere person from the Federation wanted to open a shop in the Holy City, they had to be at least a Teacher in order to have the authority to do so. Even though w.a.n.g Zhong had the t.i.tle of a Teacher, it was only in name. He definitely needed the help of Great Master Murphy.
He seemed to be flushed with success recently. His business in the Holy City was extremely successful, and his fame was gradually rising. Furthermore, the pa.s.sion that the Vasilyevich Family and the Mo Family showed allowed his position in the Federation to change constantly. Just one month ago, he was officially appointed as the mayor of Tianjing City. But three days ago, he was promoted once again. He was now the youngest official member of the Federation Parliament.
In the past, Ma Dong might swell with intense pride. But now, he was completely calm. He had to control his authority, not become a slave to it.
“…I want to turn Tianjing into a mighty city, a great and internationalized city!”
After returning from the elections, he delivered his first remarkable public speech outside of the Tianjing Parliament building.
The young man on stage was wearing a suit with a neat tie. He was no longer the excited student of the past. Instead, he became more majestic as the days pa.s.sed. When he spoke, his voice was powerful and resonating. “The Empire and the Federation are a family. We are all humans! Although we have been separated on two sides of the coast because of the changes on Earth, the Dark Era is over. We should start to communicate again. We have shared our trials and tribulations and faced the same enemy. The difference in our skin color should not be an obstacle in the integration of our races. Our future…”
Sustained thunderous applause sounded from the audience. Many people from the Empire who spoke in poor Federation language were squeezed in the crowd and cheered loudly. They were the earliest group of people to benefit from this kind of policy. No matter whether they were businessmen from the Tutankhamun desert or from the Amazon Empire, Tianjing had given them many opportunities to fulfill their dreams. Only the people from the Empire who had truly integrated into the Federation were able to genuinely feel the shallowness of the past and greatly desired the ideal society that Ma Dong had proposed in his speech.
In the past, no matter whether it was how the people from the Federation saw the people from the Empire or the other way around, they viewed the other party with tinted lenses. The people from the Federation felt that those from the Empire were uncivilized and primitive. They seemed to advocate violence and were not particular about hygiene, to the point that they did not use toilet paper when using the toilet. On the other hand, the people from the Empire felt that those from the Federation were like fat white men who only lived in comfort. They were gluttonous and lazy and were not eager to make progress. However, in reality, these perspectives were created out of thin air by politicians who controlled public opinion and the media. They had never personally experienced this or engaged with the other party. Naturally, it was difficult to discern how true these perspectives were. As a result, the Empire and the Federation looked down upon each other and did not have friendly relations.
But now, it was different. With Tianjing as a testing ground, more and more civilians interacted with one another. Their impressions of the people from the Empire and the Federation, as well as the news from both places, were not just transmitted through official media, and their tinted lenses gradually broke. The abundance of the Federation, as well as the primitive style and various local specialties from the Empire, became points of attraction for each other. Their acceptance towards each other grew stronger and stronger. As a result, more and more people from the Empire came to Tianjing City and New World City. Plans for new branches had also been discussed. The New World would establish a branch in the Amazon Empire with full support from the government of the Amazon Empire and the Federation Parliament…
Everything was developing in a good direction. The Federation and the Empire seemed to be slowly walking towards unification. However, among all these successes, there was something that people found strange. The Kaiser Empire, who had always kept their relations with the Federation a secret, had disappeared from the scene while the two parties were working together…
There would be a demon when there was an abnormality. No one believed that the Kaiser Empire, who had spared no effort in carrying out trade with the Federation, would miss out on this great chance. However, the Amazon Empire and the Tutankhamun Empire were in the lead.
Where in the world were Solomon and the Kaiser Empire?
…
Phoenix Shrine, Jiaozhi Mountain.
In a concealed mountain forest, seven or eight humans were hiding here.
In the lead was Solomon. Unlike his usual elegant self, he was dressed in military camouflage that allowed him to hide easily. As a result, his slender body seemed unusually tall and straight. He had a Night Vision Telescope in his hands and was currently observing the situation in the fields at the foot of the mountain.
Two armies were pitted against each other, and battle cries shook the heavens. There were thousands of large-scale flying dragons from the Octopus people and small-scale airs.h.i.+ps from the humans attacking one another in the sky. Meanwhile, on the ground, an intense large-scale war that involved over 100,000 people had broken out.
Compared to the small-scale fight in the north battlefield, the war on the south battlefield was in full swing. The reinforcements from the Kaiser Empire, as well as the 200,000 soldiers that Carolyn had borrowed from the 10 Great Families, allowed for ample low-leveled military forces to be dispatched to the south battlefield. Furthermore, the 10 Great Teachers from the Holy Land had all entered the south battlefield. At least two Great Teachers led a group of soldiers. They split up and charged in an attempt to spread out. They wanted to use this strategy to disperse the Octopus military forces in the south battlefield and break through their external defenses.
The Phoenix Shrine at the Jiaozhi Mountains was one of the places where the battle was the most intense.
The Mizobudapi World had many Phoenix Shrines, and the shrine at the Jiaozhi Mountains was only one of them. However, this was where the faith of the Octopus people lay. The Sword Faction, who was in charge of controlling the shrines, had authority comparable to the royal family. They could even tower over the royal family under special circ.u.mstances.
Naturally, this kind of place was heavily guarded. It was also the toughest frontline base of the Octopus people to break through. The humans had invested over 100,000 thousand soldiers in this small area, but this intense fight had continued for three days. Corpses piled up at the foot of the mountain, but victory and defeat had not been decided.
Most importantly, the humans were still forbidden from flying in the sky. For now, large-scale airs.h.i.+ps did not dare to fly in the skies of the Mizobudapi World. Thus, they could only use their small-scale airs.h.i.+ps and were in a stalemate with the Octopus airforce. They were unable to display their advantage in the skies. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the humans had the advantage in military force. They had 100,000 soldiers, which was three times the number of guards at the Phoenix Shrine in the Jiaozhi Mountains. However, the individual strength of an Octopus Heroic Soul was much higher than a human Heroic Soul. Furthermore, among the main forces of the human army on the battlefield, only about one-fifth of them were elites from the Holy City Army. The rest of them were new reinforcements from the 10 Great Families in the Federation. Compared to the Holy City Army, the soldiers from the Federation Families still had a lot to work on, and good and bad soldiers mingled together. Thus, even though they had three times the number of soldiers compared to their enemy, they could only ensure that they were not defeated.
Both sides had Great Teachers fighting, but this combat level was too precious. The death of one Great Teacher would definitely be a ma.s.sive loss to either side. Thus, they were especially cautious and did not choose to directly attack on the battlefield. Instead, they observed their enemy a distance away from where the two armies were fighting as if they were nuclear weapons threatening the enemy. If the battle was smooth, it would have been easy for them. They were most afraid of this kind of stalemate. If both they and their enemy did not move, no matter who attacked first, they would end up in a disadvantageous position as they would use up their trump cards first. At that moment, the outcome of the war would emerge very quickly.
Of course, the two sides would not focus just on the battlefield. While the stalemate continued for two days, many small actions continued on both sides. The Kaiser Corps, which Solomon was a part of, had received a mission. They would carry out a sneak attack on the Phoenix Shrine while the battle was most intense in order to shake the morale of the Octopus people.
Evidently, this kind of mission would not succeed simply because you were strong. In fact, Solomon did not even bring the elite soldiers from the Kaiser Empire. He only brought the six Dandelions who were by his side, bringing the total number of people here to seven, including him. Quality, not quant.i.ty, was most important. There were 10 Dandelions, but not all of them were adept at combat. Furthermore, Solomon had lost the Dandelion he had valued most, Grai. Although he was not the strongest seed among the Dandelions, his thoughts and opinions were the closest to Solomon’s…
Thus, the six people by his side were truly Solomon’s resources. He was determined to succeed in this mission.
“Boss, should we attack?” Xiao Wu was slightly impatient. They had infiltrated and hidden in this place at dawn, and a full seven or eight hours had pa.s.sed. However, Solomon did not give the command to attack. They were extremely tired.
Without waiting for Solomon to answer, Kai, who was by the side, calmly looked at her. Lolly’s excited heart obediently returned to its original state, and she stopped talking.
After another half an hour, when Solomon saw a new wave of reinforcement troops traveling from the hillside to the battlefield, Solomon put away the Night Vision Telescope. “Set off!”
There was no nonsense. Their objective had been very clear from the start, and they did not hesitate at all. Xiao Wu spat out the gum that she had chewed until there was no taste left. “d.a.m.n it, it’s finally time for me to s.h.i.+ne!”
Carrying out sneak attacks was a skill. Many people had the misconception that sneak attacks involved hiding and secretly carrying out cheap tricks like a thief, but this was not the case in reality. If you were able to take your enemy by surprise, you would not become a thief. Instead, you would gain the upper hand by showing your strength. You would use shock and your sudden appearance to cause chaos in your opponent’s command chain and reaction. This was much better than wasting effort on carrying out cheap tricks.
Besides making use of their geographical position to hide halfway up Jiaozhi Mountain, the seven of them did not intend to hide their traces. They walked up the wide jade steps in the middle of Jiaozhi Mountain and headed towards the campsite outside the shrine halfway up the mountain.
“Die!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
There was a series of sonic booms. A silver light rapidly flew out from the seven-man team like a shooting star.
Piercing Star Arrow!
A man with sharp ears was at the back of the seven-man group. Although his skin was slightly pale, his facial features were perfect and flawless. He had a morbid and melancholic charm. There was a ma.s.sive bow in his hands. Unlike the soul tools, which strove for beauty, the bow was black and did not have any bright colors on it. It seemed simple and unadorned, but every time he pulled the bow fully, the s.p.a.ce around the bow would bend slightly as if the s.p.a.ce had achieved some sort of harmony with the bent bow.
In front of them, the shooting star was not aiming at the Octopus people. Instead, it aimed at the cart that was positioned outside the campsite, which was filled with green energy pieces ready to be used. These were the energy ‘cannonb.a.l.l.s’ that the Octopus people used for their jar cannons. At that moment, several Octopus people were loading and unloading the cannonb.a.l.l.s near the cart. When they saw an enemy suddenly approaching them, before they could even react, the shooting star fiercely attacked the energy cannonb.a.l.l.s.
Although the Octopus people had a high level of cultivation, they were backward in terms of industrial development. The energy cannonb.a.l.l.s exploded, but the s.h.i.+ning arrow was still extremely powerful and explosive. Several carts containing energy cannonb.a.l.l.s instantly exploded in front of the campsite!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Octopus people who had been loading and unloading the energy cannonb.a.l.l.s exploded. Not even their corpses were left. In addition, a large piece of the wooden wall surrounding the campsite flew into the sky and crashed into the campsite. In an instant, the campsite was thrown into confusion. An earthshaking attack had set the campsite on fire!
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
Du! Du! Du! Du!
Among the furious shouts, a sharp alarm fluctuated in the campsite. Meanwhile, the Master tower nearby immediately discovered the seven invaders.
The Master towers were similar to the arrow towers that humans used during ancient wars, but evidently, the Masters guarding the towers had bows and arrows that were much more powerful and had a greater range than that of the humans’. The three tall and sharp towers nearby reacted very quickly. They almost immediately glowed with a red or green light. Elemental energy immediately gathered. Closely after, a series of fireb.a.l.l.s or ice arrows shot fiercely at the seven people.
Ding ding ding ding!
“Sharp Ears! Protect me and Small Wolf!” Xiao Wu shouted. Then, she spread her arms and broke away from the group with a cry as she disappeared. There was no change in Holmdi’s expression, but his concentration increased rapidly. He raised the ma.s.sive arrow in his hand. However, he did not load any arrows. Instead, his left hand rapidly pulled the empty bow backward as quick as lightning.
Boing boing boing boing boing…
His actions were very quick. Just as he let go of the bow and the bow rebounded for the first time, he put his hand on the arrow once again and used the rebound force to pull back the bow! The natural and clear sound of the bow when it was drawn was not heard. Instead, there was a succession of dull sounds. The speed at which he drew the bow was simply unbelievable. You could not clearly see his left hand pulling the bow, but you could hear countless explosive sounds! An actual arrow was not shot, but countless invisible arrows flashed past.
The fireb.a.l.l.s and ice arrows that filled the sky immediately exploded into pieces while in midair. They all missed their targets, leaving behind a sky full of ice and fire pieces.
“What… in the world is this?!” One of the Masters in the Master tower was extremely shocked as his mouth gaped open. He had seen humans use this kind of arrow weapon. To be honest, the impression he had of these weapons were that they were weak and lowly, just like the typical random soldier. However, the bow that this human held had instantly broken through three Master towers as well as the combined attacks of three Masters!
Although the Master did not understand this, he found this impressive. He hurriedly realized that the ma.s.sive bow in the human’s hands was aimed at his Master tower.
“You wis.h.!.+” He felt threatened and was shocked and angry. The elemental formation beneath his feet instantly flashed brightly. This was one of the advantages of the Master tower. The elemental formations in the towers could provide the Masters in them with boundless elemental power to ensure that they could fight for prolonged periods of time.
A sparkling see-through protective barrier immediately appeared in front of the Master tower, tightly protecting the entire tower. He did not believe that the lowly human with a primitive weapon would be able to destroy this enhanced defense in one shot.
But before the arrow he was waiting for was shot, a cheery voice sounded by the Master’s ear. “Have a good trip. I won’t be sending you off.”
The voice was in human language and sounded like a female’s voice. Although the Master could not understand what she was saying and did not even have enough time to react, he could not imagine how the group of people, who were dozens of meters away, had crossed that distance in the blink of an eye and arrived beside him, several dozen meters up in the Master tower.
A chill ran down his spine. The master felt as if the world had turned upside down. His head flew off and tumbled to the ground.
Meanwhile, the Masters in the other two Master towers did not die so elegantly. The smell of blood already filled the towers before Xiao Wu chopped off the head of the Master. A young man with a sharp and thick aura of a wolf had already thrown a second head aside and threw the b.l.o.o.d.y corpse down the tower.
The werewolf bloodline! They were said to have the most tyrannical bodies on Earth. No matter whether it was their physical speed, strength, or reaction time, their abilities were above all the other known bloodlines on Earth. The Bella Dean Family of the 10 Great Families in the Federation once had the werewolf bloodline, but they had stolen it from the Stark Family, another family among the 10 Great Families in the Federation. The Bella Dean Family had inherited the former glory of the Stark Family to achieve their current status.