Chapter 1222: The Course to Take
Qianye remained silent for a moment since he had no answer. All of a sudden, he wanted to know what Lin Xitang would think of his choice.
At this instance, a memory buried deep within his mind resurfaced once more. It had been so long that he had forgotten what that dumpster on Evernight Continent looked like. All he remembered was the final moments before leaving that place. His hands felt cold on the gun, and his little fingers had to stretch quite far in order to reach the trigger. The weapon’s sight was following a small figure staggering into the distance.
Lin Xitang lost a bet because of that.
After entering Yellow Springs, Qianye realized that his action that day was unacceptable. Even a fleeing enemy might reveal their fangs at any moment.
Lin Xitang never judged whether he was right or wrong, but Qianye could never forget about it. The bet and discussion between Lin Xitang and Gu Tuohai were so casual that it felt like they were discussing whether a child from their family was picking between water and milk.
Why did Lin Xitang not point out his mistake? If… that was a mistake.
Qianye looked up from his distant thoughts and looked at Song Hui. “I haven’t thought it through.”
Song Hui didn’t press the matter, either. She said before leaving, “I wasn’t telling you to kill all those werewolves, just reminding you that there are other options. I just want to give you suggestions from a different viewpoint so that I have value in remaining here. It’s not… nevermind.”
She left quickly following a nod from Qianye.
Song Hui’s words seemed to contain some other meaning, but Qianye had no intention of asking her about things she wasn’t willing to say. Too many questions would make things awkward for everyone.
Qianye opened the map and began drawing on it, making one marking after the other. The territory on this map was very different from several months ago. The southwest of Zheng, the great corridor, and the Jade Sea had connected into a vast nation. The surface area of this domain was three times that of Zheng, equal to seven provinces.
The land was big, but most of it was barren and far from comparable to the Empire’s rich lands. There were over a million humans on this land, but there were over ten million werewolves. Fully mobilized, they could produce an army of millions from this population, but this would stop all development. Qianye didn’t have the resources to equip such a big army, either.
At this point, it could be said they had full control of the Jade Sea. There were some tribes in the periphery that had not submitted, but dealing with them was just a matter of time. Internal stability would take some time, but judging from the three major tribes that had sworn their loyalty, it would seem that Eiseka’s legendary story was much more effective than expected. This would facilitate the process of unifying all werewolf tribes in the Jade Sea.
Qianye suddenly felt helpless. It was as though he had been forced onto the throne by Eiseka and his countless werewolves. He had thought about becoming a human general, or even a marshal. In his desperate moments, he had also considered heading to Evernight with his vampire ident.i.ty and live out his life in peace, watching Nighteye from afar. He had never imagined himself as the king of so many werewolves and humans.
It wasn’t quite possible for the feuding dark races and humans to live together in peace. Although Qianye had made the decision, he felt a bad headache at the thought of all the potential problems. Tactics and statecraft weren’t his strong suits. Even building a foundation in Fort Continent was within Song Zining’s greater strategy framework. Now that Song Zining was tied down in the Empire, he would have to rely on himself for everything.
Although his strength was sufficient to keep him on the throne, he was far from being skilled enough to run a country. For instance, he still had no idea where to take the nation after unifying the Jade Sea.
Looking at the map, he felt as though he could see countless werewolf warriors upon it. Their heads peering at him through the crowd, looking restless.
Qianye placed his hand in front of him. A gentle glow appeared therein, one that was almost white but with a hint of gold and scarlet within.
This was Venus Dawn after his advancement to the divine champion realm. It looked gentle but was, in fact, filled with boundless power. The domain derived from it naturally contained a burning characteristic.
This simple characteristic couldn’t be looked down upon because the heat could grow limitlessly. No person or object could truly defend against a ceaseless increase in temperature.
It could be said that Qianye’s current domain of weight and heat could turn into a raging inferno, provided that he could shoulder the ma.s.sive drain. Nothing would exist within, nor could any domain power contend against it.
Was that combat strength enough to intimidate ten million werewolves?
The primitive werewolves were naturally ferocious, especially the ancestral school which worked to drive the werewolves back to their roots, abandoning technology and turning them into something akin to beasts. Without any external battles, these werewolf tribes would frequently fight among themselves. They reproduced quickly, anyway, with each litter containing four or five offsprings. Only the high-ranking experts would give birth one-by-one.
So, there was no safety or peace to speak of in werewolf lands. Even if one of them was looted or defeated, their tradition claimed that it was only because the victim was too weak.
Being weak was a sin in their world.
“All in all, I can’t let them remain idle.” Qianye came to this conclusion. His gaze landed further out as he began searching for the next objective. He needed to find an outlet for the millions of werewolves to vent their impatience.
Since he had reached a conclusion, he quickly got down to the execution. Very soon, an arduous task fell upon Eiseka and Xu Jingxuan.
Both of them were laughing wryly when they walked out of the meeting room. They were both still wrapped in bandages—even a werewolf couldn’t recover so quickly from such severe injuries. The Great Qin army had no lack of regenerative equipment, but such facilities were beyond rare on the Fort continent. Even worse was that the medicines Qianye had prepared for his experts were all of the daybreak attribute, so Eiseka couldn’t use them. His recovery ended up no different from Xu Jingxuan.
Eiseka was just about to say something when he erupted in a violent cough. Blood began to seep out of his bandages.”
“Are you okay?” Xu Jingxuan asked.
“This little injury won’t kill me. That mission, though, just might do me in!”
Xu Jingxuan could only sigh as he could find no words.
A calm voice arrived from the side, “You guys can rejoice in grand deeds now! You must be happy, right?”
Xu Jingxuan and Eiseka turned around to see Song Lun and Song Hui walking out of the meeting room. Song Lun looked helpless, but Song Hui was looking sideways at them in anger.
As a slick person, Xu Jingxuan decided to keep his silence. Eiseka, on the other hand, couldn’t help his werewolf nature. He laughed out loud, saying, “This mission won’t succeed with just us. You guys are probably involved as well, aren’t you?”
Song Lun snorted while Song Hui glared at the werewolf count. “I really don’t understand why the commander treats you so well! I’ve never seen you people wearing armor in the last century. Don’t you have thick hides? Why would you need armor all of a sudden?”
Eiseka laughed. “He does treat us quite well.”
Xu Jingxuan said, “They traded their lives for their current treatment. Without the battle of the Jade Sea, the Whitebone Duke wouldn’t have come out so easily. The casualties wouldn’t have stopped here if we had to fight our way to the duke’s castle.”
Song Hui said angrily, “I know that! But our resources are limited and the number of armor we can produce is limited. How do we split things? Why don’t you yield your new army’s quota?”
Xu Jingxuan was immediately stopped up. Every general had his own motives, with their men being their first priority. Giving up life-saving items like armors and weapons was impossible to even for the most generous of leaders. The new army had to join the battle all the same, and humans were even more reliant on gear than werewolves.
Currently, there were roughly three forces under Qianye’s command. One of them was Dark Flame which had come from the neutral lands. These men were Qianye’s direct subordinates and far stronger than the people on the Fort Continent. Naturally, their status could not be shaken. In terms of number and fighting power, however, the werewolves were the strongest. There were simply too many of them. If they really had to contest for things, it would be between the new army and the werewolves.
But having experienced life and death together, the two generals were now feeling a bit awkward. Even if Xu Jingxuan didn’t try to rob the werewolves of their quota, it wasn’t possible for him to give up his own.
Eiseka was the first to realize this. He bowed toward Song Hui in a human-style salutation and said, “The werewolves lead bitter lives. Our soldiers are not afraid of death, but if possible, I would like for less of them to die, so that they can continue fighting for the commander.”
Song Hui snorted after hearing this, her initial displeasure lessening quite a bit. Everyone had some measure of compa.s.sion in their hearts. These werewolves had suffered grave casualties in the war in order to prove their loyalty.
Xu Jingxuan came to and also bowed toward Song Hui. “The same goes for our new army, we’ll always charge at the forefront in future battles. That way, the commander’s core forces can be applied at the critical moment. That’s why we’ll count on you, young miss, for their equipment. I have some good wine back at home. I’ll send some to you once we get back to the fortress.”
Eiseka was a werewolf, after all, so he had no idea about this human custom. Only after listening up to this point did he realize that just speaking good words wasn’t enough; he would have to send gifts as well. He immediately remedied his shortcoming, saying, “Our village has… that product. I’ll send some over for you to try.”
The two spoke one after the other, flattering and giving gifts in a hurry. Even the werewolf had realized that Song Hui held control over all supplies and logistics. No matter what Qianye had decided, she would be the one to execute the orders. They would need to gain her favor in order to obtain a steady supply of equipment.
Song Hui’s mood improved greatly and even found Eiseka much more agreeable. As for Xu Jingxuan, he had been working his way up in Zheng for some time, so he had his fair share of survival knowledge. His relations.h.i.+p with everyone was rather good, to begin with.
Song Lun simply couldn’t watch on. He coughed deeply, saying, “It’s fine wherever your equipment comes from, just don’t think about taking anything from Dark Flame.”
Song Hui said, “Supplies will always lean to the front lines. Whoever stays at the front will get better gear.”
Song Lun said indifferently, “Whatever you say, just don’t consider this as your family business and think that whatever you say counts.”
Song Hui said furiously, “What are you trying to say?”
Song Lun clasped his hands inside his sleeves and said calmly, “I’m one of Seventh Young Master’s men. Since he has ordered me to give it my all in supporting Sire Qianye, I must think for his sake. I suggest you do the same as well and don’t think about things you shouldn’t be thinking. To be completely frank, he can flatten the entire Jade Sea himself even without our help.”
Xu Jingxuan and Eiseka had both seen Qianye breaking through in battle and killing the Whitebone Duke with ease. Of course, they knew that Song Lun wasn’t bluffing. Shaken to the core, they immediately agreed to his suggestion.
Song Hui looked displeased but didn’t retort. In the end, she said coldly, “The commander will decide whether or not I have selfish motives, there’s no need for a third party to comment on it. If you think I’m not suitable for this position, I can give it to you!”
Song Lun switched to a smile. “The commander must have a reason for picking you. Why would I question him? Besides, I can’t work well in your position, either. My specialty is serving as a diplomat and liaison. I can’t do other things well.”
Song Hui glared at him for a good while. That nonchalant demeanor of his left her with nowhere to vent her anger. “As long as you understand!”
Song Lun said, “This upcoming mission is indeed difficult. Why don’t we sit down somewhere and discuss? Outfitting five hundred thousand werewolves and new recruits is no easy task.”