Chapter 681 – Influential Figure
Zhao Hai stood under the city’s gate, he didn’t want to act too high-profile, it just wasn’t his character. Although he was now the Emperor of the Lyon Empire, he knew absolutely nothing about the Empire at all. Because of this, he really didn’t think of himself as the Emperor, he was more like a stabilizer, temporarily acting as the Emperor because of the present situation.
At the same time, he also didn’t deem himself to be an influential person. In his mind he was just like any other person on the continent, doing what anybody would have done. The only reason why people were unable to do things that he can do was because they didn’t have the help of the s.p.a.ce.
Zhao Hai might not be aware, but he was actually an extremely influential person on the continent. From what the continent knew, Zhao Hai was a Foreign Prince of the Beastmen as well as a Foreign Elder of the Dwarves and the Elves. In fact, Zhao Hai was also given the t.i.tle of Foreign Admiral by the Fishmen, but this information was withheld by the Mermaid Queen.
Thess many statuses on one person was unprecedented in the continent, something that might not even be repeated in the future. This made Zhao Hai an very influential figure in the continent. Perhaps it was only Zhao Hai who has yet to discover this point.
The gates of Demon City slowly opened. What made Zhao Hai surprised was the first person to come out, it was a Dark Mage. This person looks like 40 years old, he wore a somewhat new Dark Mage robe, he had a gra.s.sy hair and a thin beard. The person was also quite thin, he looked just like that weird uncle that everyone has. This person had a flush on his face along with s.h.i.+ning eyes, he actually gave Zhao Hai a bit of a scare.
This person was naturally Wei Gan. He was too excited, he didn’t think that he would meet his idol while defending the city wall. His heart was extremely happy to the point that he began to lose control of his body.
Under Zhao Hai’s gaze, this strange uncle ran very fast toward him. Then the man plopped to the ground, and under Zhao Hai’s surprised expression, he kissed Zhao Hai’s shoes.
This made Zhao Hai stare, then he immediately pulled the Dark Mage up and said, “Mister, there’s no need to do that. Who are you?”
When Wei Gan discovered that Zhao Hai was asking for his name, he immediately bowed to Zhao Hai and said, “Paying respects to Mister Zhao Hai. This one is called Wei Gan, a mage of Demon City’s Gan family. I represent the Gan Family in welcoming your arrival. If it is possible, please pay us a visit.”
Wei Gan was very excited, he really wasn’t expecting Zhao Hai to be a guest in the Gan Family. In his opinion, even if Zhao Hai only promised visit, then it would already be the greatest honor to the Gan Family.
Zhao Hai looked at Wei Gan. In fact, he already knew the things that Wei Gan has been doing since Cai’er has been monitoring the entirety of Demon City. Zhao Hai was afraid that there were people controlled by the Demons here. It wouldn’t be good if there was a Demon collaborator inside the city when the battle starts. But unexpectedly, there were no Demon controlled people inside Demon City. Especially in this Gan Family, they were the ones that advocated for the defense against the Demons the most. Therefore, Zhao Hai had a very deep impression towards this family.
Zhao Hai immediately smiled and said, “So it turns out to be Mister Wei Gan. I already know about what your Gan Family had done, so I must thank you in behalf of the people of the continent. You can rest a.s.sured that I would pay a visit to the Gan Family. However, I need to pay a visit to the defending army first. I have some things to discuss with them.”
Wei Gan didn’t dare to stop him, he immediately replied, “I won’t dare to stop Mister from doing his business. But please make sure to pay a visit to the Family. We will welcome you at any time. I will now go back to inform the family.” Then he turned around and ran back to the city with a speed that even a Warrior wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Zhao Hai looked at Wei Gan’s departing back and couldn’t help but smile. He thought that this Mage from the Gan Family was quite interesting. At this time, the army officer has arrived in front of Zhao Hai. The officer then gave Zhao Hai a salute and said, “We welcome the arrival of the Lyon Emperor Zhao Hai. I am the defender a.s.signed to the East Gate, Leonard.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Captain Leonard is too polite. There’s no Empire here, so you can just call me Zhao Hai. We’re now allies, jointly fighting against the Demon Race.”
Leonard didn’t’ expect that Zhao Hai was very easy to speak to, he immediately replied, “Alright, Mister Zhao Hai. Mister, come with me, I already sent word to the General. I’ll be taking you to the General’s residence.”
Zhao Hai nodded, then he took a step towards Demon City. At this moment, a horse carriage flew from inside Demon City. This carriage was quite spirited but it still managed to keep stable. It stopped in front of Zhao Hai as its driver got down and said, “Mister, please board the carriage.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and then boarded the carriage. Then the carriage turned itself around and rushed back to the city. Leonard didn’t dare to neglect Zhao Hai’s arrival as he lead 20 other subordinates and escorted the carriage on the back to the city.
Zhao Hai wasn’t surprised about this reception, although he didn’t regard himself as a Monarch and an influential person, he was after all the Buda Clan’s Patriarch. In Demon City, this status should’ve at least gained high regard, giving him some allowance when it comes to authority.
Before long, Zhao Hai and the others had arrived at the General’s residence. The General’s residence was actually just a normal house. Since there was no military outpost here, what the General used was the residence of a former Merchant in Demon City. Because that Merchant has returned to the Buddha Empire, his house was requisitioned and became the General’s temporary place.
As soon as the carriage arrived, Zhao Hai didn’t even need to open the door as it was opened from the outside. Zhao Hai stared blankly as he saw a middle-aged man in military uniform holding the door of the carriage open.
Then that middle aged person gave Zhao Hai a salute and said, “Buddha Empire’s General Besmir welcomes Mister Zhao Hai to Demon City.”
Zhao Hai walked out of the carriage and returned the salute, “General Besmir is too polite. There’s actually no need to open the door for me.”
Besmir smiled and said, “It is only proper for me to open the door for Mister. Mister has been running around the continent, contacting each power personally. Compared to Mister’s effort, me and the others can only bow down in shame. Mister, please come with me.” Zhao Hai quickly replied, “Alright.” Then he walked towards the General’s residence alongside Besmir.
This temporary residence was not big, just a house and a courtyard. Besmir invited Zhao Hai to sit inside the residence’s living room. At this point, the living room looked a lot more like a battle command center. There were stretches of map hangin on the wall as well as a big table at the middle of the room. This big table also had a map. This map showed Demon City as well as outside of it, the verified areas of the Demonic Abyss.
This Demonic Abyss map was naturally incomplete. But the map of the surrounding areas was already helpful for the upcoming fight.
Zhao Hai nodded at Besmir’s methods, he turned to Besmir and said, “General is very diligent. May I know the plans that the General has come up with?”
Besmir didn’t expect Zhao Hai to be straightforward, having just arrived to Demon City. However, Besmir also knew that it wasn’t time for small talk, so he immediately lead Zhao Hai to the map. Then Besmir said, “Mister, look here, this terrain is very crucial in protecting the Demonic Abyss. This is due to the gentle slope, although it isn’t that steep, it can still hinder an army’s advance. I intend to use this slope to carry out layers and layers of blockade to resist the Demon Army. What does mister think about this?”
Zhao Hai looked at the map, gently knitting his eyebrows. To be honest, there weren’t any major issues to Besmir approach. However, that plan didn’t take into account the large number of demonic creatures that would be coming out of the abyss. If a large amount of creatures come out, then this layers upon layers of blockade would eventually be overrun. At the same time, this plan would also dilute the number of personnel on each point, which was also detrimental in defending the city.
When Besmir saw Zhao Hai frown, perhaps not contented with what he heard, his heart couldn’t help but beat faster. Zhao Hai was an existence that he cannot afford to offend. In fact, even the Buddha Emperor wouldn’t dare offend Zhao Hai. Therefore, when Besmir saw that Zhao Hai seemed to be dissatisfied with the arrangement, he immediately became afraid.
Zhao Hai was divided on whether to expose the numbers of the Demon Race or not. He was afraid that if he revealed the number of invaders to Besmir, then it might topple the General’s confidence in defending the city. However, if Zhao Hai didn’t tell the General the enemy’s numbers, how could Zhao Hai convince him to change the plan?
Zhao Hai thought about this for a while, then he opened his mouth and said, “There are no problems with the General’s arrangement. However, I think the General seems to have overlooked something. That is the quant.i.ty of the Demon Realm’s army.”
When Besmir heard Zhao Hai, he couldn’t help but stare for a moment. Then his expression turned ugly, he looked back at the map which made his expression change even more, he turned his head to Zhao Hai and said, “Mister, are you saying that there would be a large number of Demon Realm invaders?”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “General, think about it, if the Demon Realm wanted to invade the continent, then would they only send a small number of soldiers? First, let’s not discuss about how big the Demon Realm is, but in Ark Continent, if one were given the power of the entire world, how big would their army be? The number of Demon Realm soldiers certainly wouldn’t be smaller than that. At the same time, the combat power of the Demons is quite strong, when I met a 9th rank Demon last time, he didn’t die even when I managed to slice his head open, he even managed to make a counter attack. This kind of combat resilience is astounding. Therefore, I think that the General should just withdraw the army and defend the city. And while the General defends the city, the external defenses will be handed over to me.”
When Besmir heard Zhao Hai, he immediately understood. Zhao Hai had a lot of strong undead, this fact was already known to the continent. He also didn’t doubt the fighting capability of Zhao Hai’s undead. Besmir just overlooked the power and numbers of the Demon Realm army, now that Zhao Hai said it, he also felt like there were problems in his plan.