Chapter 524 - Putting a Nail
The capital army’s base camp.
Looking at Regent Obsidian with a gloomy face on the seat, neither the generals nor the lords dared to speak.
Last night, after the undefended Moonlight Fortress was captured, the coalition army’s new deputy commander, Pallor, led the capital’s 3 elite legions and the Flying Cloud Legion to chase the defeated army and assault the Town Dico.
However, the result of this raid was completely unexpected. Pallor was besieged by more than half a million undead army in Town Dico. The first legion and the Flying Cloud Legion that were chasing the enemy were pincered by the “defeated army” and the undead. The whole army was wiped out. At dawn, Commander Pallor led the second legion and the third legion with less than 30,000 remnants to break through the siege.
The deputy commander of the coalition army and the commander of this raid, Pallor, was seriously injured and unconscious.
The whereabouts of the first legion commander, Yefa, and the deputy legion commander, Kerry, were unknown.
The whereabouts of the Flying Cloud Legion commander, Rometty, was unknown.
The second legion commander, Franz, was killed, and the deputy legion commander, Toros, was killed.
The third legion commander, Newkel, was slightly injured, and the deputy legion commander, Lonjee, was killed in action.
The 3 Demon Overlords, Stiller, Baroco, and Stebil, retreated in defeat and suffered minor injuries.
The whereabouts of the Demon Overlord powerhouse, Pegasus, was unknown.
The situation of those with “unknown whereabouts” was normally unfavorable. Such a heavy loss! These were not the cannon fodders of the lords, but the real elite legion of the capital! Not only the generals of the Demon Emperor, but even Pegasus of the Demon Overlord are sacrificed!
If the previous battle of the Moonlight Fortress gave Obsidian a loud slap, then the battle of Town Dico was a tooth breaking punch. It was an unjustified fiasco.
Initially, based on the distance between Town Dico and the Moonlight Fortress, it was possible to directly reinforce the situation when the situation was not right. However, the enemy obviously took this into consideration and deliberately cut off the connection between the 2 places. The soldiers who scouted or asked for help were intercepted without exception. Until Pallor came out of the siege to realize that sending reinforcement troops at this time was useless.
“Your Highness! The scout reported that the undead army has withdrawn from Town Dico. It’s just...”
“Just what?” Obsidian’s face was terrifyingly gloomy.
“The armor and weapons left by the corpses were taken away by the enemy, and quite a considerable amount of corpses were missing.”
“Hmph!” Obsidian slammed the table, and the table suddenly turned into powder. Everyone was silent.
“Your Highness, the undead army took away the weapons and corpses, indicating that they also suffered a lot from the ambush, so they need to use the corpses to replenish their troops. Even a Demon Overlord magician with the help of a special altar will take a considerable amount of time to transform a large number of corpses into the undead. The opportunity is indispensable. I think it should be possible to send out a large army to chase down the undead. Even if they cannot be wiped out, it can regain our military morale.” It was Gerant who spoke. Although he knew that it was not ideal to be the first to speak up as Obsidian was currently in anger, the battle situation was everchanging and the opportunity was fleeting. Therefore, he did not bother too much.
“Everyone understands the intention of the undead army to take away the weapons and corpses; you don’t need to emphasize it.” Obsidian said coldly, “The Dark Moon Army is very cunning. If we pursue them now, who can guarantee that Pallor’s mistakes will not be repeated?”
Gerant argued for reasons, “Your Highness, after Town Dico is Leith Wilderness. The terrain is not suitable for ambushes. You can send an army to check it out first, then the army behind prepares to attack.”
Josh voiced out, “In the current situation, rash advance is not advisable. The morale of our army can no longer be hit, even if it is only a small loss. The reason for Pallor’s failure is that he underestimated the enemy and got ambushed by the Dark Moon. According to the disparity in forces, even if the opponent has the undead army, our troops and combat power still have the upper hand. I propose to play safe. Firstly, occupy the Town Dico, then slowly restore our energy and morale. In addition, send scouts to investigate and determine the movement of the enemy’s army before deciding the next specific action.”
Obsidian nodded slightly. Josh’s proposal is more secure, especially the phrase “our army still has the upper hand” won my heart.
“But......”
“Enough! Gerant!” Gerant was interrupted before he finished speaking. Obsidian’s slightly narrowed eyes flashed a glimmer of cold light. “At the moment, Pallor is seriously injured and is not awake, you will be the deputy commander again. The current task is to occupy Town Dico and try to stabilize the army morale, understand?”
Gerant didn’t say any more, and he gave a military salute, “Yes, Your Highness.”
After the meeting, Gerant was ordered to treat the soldiers and stabilize their morale. When he came to the military supply department, he happened to meet Josh who was in charge of logistics.
“General, please wait a moment, the supplies will be ready in about an hour.”
Gerant nodded slightly, and he suddenly said, “Sir Josh, I really don’t agree with the suggestion you made today. At this time, continuously seeking stability will only give the Dark Moon more time. Shall we persuade Royal Highness Obsidian together?”
Josh was taken aback and ordered the surrounding people to retreat. He said, “General, some words may not be appropriate, but I still want to say it anyway. When Samoer’s Nether Hydra Legion was dispatched at the Red Spirit Estate, general clearly had an opposite opinion with the regent. In the end, the Nether Hydra Legion sent by the Regent was annihilated. When we subsequently attacked the Moonlight Fortress, our army encountered a stubborn resistance, and the setback was huge. It was not a one-off success as the Regent ordered. The real reason was that Dark Moon showed strength far beyond our expectations. Even when the regent sent 2 major air legions, he still did not take down the fortress. It’s not that general’s command was wrong. However, the regent felt that his reputation was damaged, so he just removed general’s deputy commander post with the reason of inadequate command. Then, Pallor conquered the undefended Moonlight Fortress. When the regent ordered to pursue the Dark Moon’s defeated army, general made a statement to stop him. The regent refused to listen, resulting in a disastrous defeat. Now the regent obviously wanted the army to recuperate, but general objected again and proposed to pursue the enemy... If general’s judgment fails and the military morale is even lower, it’s fine. On the contrary, if general’s strategy succeeds and wins a victory, then it is equivalent to slapping the regent in front of everyone. General... do you understand what I mean?”
Gerant stared at Josh for a moment, and he finally sighed, “I understand what sir means.”
“General is not a foolish person. You should guess the reason that the Royal Highness Regent reappointed you as deputy commander despite holding a grudge against you.”
This lost and recovered deputy commander was not a nice task. The next battle with the Dark Moon would be even more difficult. If it was victory, Royal Highness Obsidian had a good judgement for people. If it was a loss, he would be the scapegoat.
Gerant smiled bitterly as he shook his head and said, “I’m just a soldier who knows military matters. I just want to win the war’s final victory, nothing more.”
“There is no independent military or politics...” Josh also sighed, “Forget it, I spoke too much... I sincerely advise general to think thoroughly about everything. Try your best to protect this useful body. The empire needs a pillar like general.”
Gerant nodded solemnly, “Understood, I will remember these words in my heart. Thank you Sir Josh for your guidance and friendship.”
“I didn’t say any nonsense today. I was just discussing the military supplies with the general.” As they said, Josh and Gerant smiled at each other.
Watching Gerant leave the camp, a strange smile appeared on Josh’s face.
Although these words were not enough to have the effect of separating them, they had effectively planted a nail in Gerant’s heart, making him worry more. In any case, the capital army was temporarily suspended for reorganization. The goal of delaying time for the Dark Moon was achieved.
Under the control of the master-servant contract and poison, Josh had now been firmly tied to the ship of the Dark Moon. For the sake of his life and power, he had to take the old master Obsidian off his horse at all costs. At present, he only incited a small flame secretly. When the time comes, as the most important spy, he would become the key figure in determining the entire war.
Chen Rui, who was far away in the White Feather Estate, didn’t know Josh’s small movements. As he swallowed the power of the Demi-God’s soul and integrated a trace of soul breath in the [Winter Territory], he was successfully recognized by the ruins. He entered the ruins with a group of lamp spirits.
The ruin was actually a broken alchemy civilization castle. Due to the severe damages in the war, coupled with the old age and lack of energy, most things were no longer usable.
In a secret vault, Chen Rui found the heart lamps of the lamp spirits. There were thousands of them, but many of them had broken and lost their effectiveness.
According to the power level of the lamp spirits, the heart lamps were divided into gold, silver, and iron in descending order. The first word of the name was also gold, white, and black. Genie’s heart lamp was golden, there were nearly 100 of the same golden heart lamp, and there were about 30 intact ones. It would be a powerful boost. (Note: The first word of Genie and Gensha’s name in Chinese consist of gold, it’s just that the names are a direct translation of pinyin. Gold’s pinyin is jin which sounds similar to Gen.)
Although the [Immortal Body] of the lamp spirits was powerful, the resurrection was not endless. Gold lamps could be resurrected 4 times, silver lamps could be resurrected 3 times, and iron lamps could be resurrected twice. The heart lamp that exceeded the number of resurrections would break and lose its function unless it was repaired at a very high price.
Chen Rui learned from the acquired memory that the heart lamp could not only be repaired. Moreover, it could be reforged and rank up through special materials and energy transformation. Each rank up was quite difficult; the higher the grade, the more so. If the rank up process failed, then the level of the heart lamp would drop by one ranj. The gold lamp would drop to the silver lamp, and the silver lamp would drop to the iron lamp. If the rank up failed on the iron lamp, it would directly shatter and fail.
Generally speaking, the rank of the golden heart lamp was already at the limit. In the alchemy civilization, an alchemist used a secret recipe to transform a maroon heart lamp that was beyond the limit. Unfortunately, the success rate was extremely low. If it failed, it would be directly scrapped.
Chen Rui had experienced the illusion of the territory kingdom and understood that these lamp spirits were slave girls who completely obeyed their master. They were not only powerful troops on the battlefield, but they were also stunners in the bed. However, the illusion was the illusion after all. In reality, he did not dare to have a crooked mind. Even if he had the [Dual Training] and the stamina of the dragons, facing the massive number of the lamp spirits beauties, it was inevitable that the oil lamp would run out [1]. Besides, if he really brought back so many women, even Athena, who had always been generous, would probably kill him.
Anyway, Chen Rui was also their master now, so there was no need to keep hiding. He scooped out a lot of aura fruit in front of the lamp spirits. So many good things like top-level energy essence almost dazzled those beautiful eyes. The lamp spirits cheered in surprise.
The higher the heart lamp level, the resurrection required more time and energy. With the help of Gensha, Chen Rui found Genie’s golden heart lamp and gave it to Gensha together with aura fruits.
After the excitement, the lamp spirits began to get busy in batches. Some made energy cubes, some cleaned up the items in the ruins, some set out to revive their partners, and some repaired the equipment.
Although these aura fruits are far from enough to repair the entire castle, didn’t master say that after a period of time, he can get the fruit of this top-level energy essence? Sooner or later, all our partners will be resurrected. The brand new castle will return to the ground!
There were many things that interest Chen Rui in the ruins, especially the tall assemble puppets. He had seen the combat effectiveness of this thing in the trial. It was simply a big massacre machine in the war. It was a pity that they were basically damaged. The lamp spirits could barely repair it, but it would take a long time.
Compared with the assemble puppets, the lamp spirits were at a loss for the damaged giant rystal beasts and crystal demonic beasts, but Chen Rui did not fret because he had a capable scientist wife. With Zola’s knowledge and standard in producing the goldman, as long as she understood the principle, repairing these things should not be a problem.
There were many weird things in the ruins including some potions and black potions. It was a pity that the potion’s validity period was not long. Even black potions could only last for 100 years, so these were no longer useful. It was better to reuse the thrash to let his wife research it. When Chen Rui first came to the Demon Realm, he carried the name of an inheritor of the ancient alchemy grand master. He never expected his words to become a reality; he was now worthy of the name.
In addition to the huge gains, Chen Rui realized an important problem. The Super System was generally omnipotent, but there were occasional exceptions. Aside from this trial, the Super System was also unusable when facing the Demi-God territory in the Rainbow Valley. In Chen Rui’s situation, if it were not for the 4 territories that were newly comprehended, the failure of the Super System would mean that he was inferior to ordinary powerhouses of the same level even with full combat power.
Now Chen Rui had S-level spirit power and could sense more things more clearly. He recalled sensing the Super System during the trial, but he couldn’t use the skill. Then, when he woke up from the illusion, he could use the Super System again. It should not be the problem of the Super System itself, but his own problem.
Chen Rui faintly had a kind of realization. For a long time, his understanding of the Super System seemed to have entered a certain misunderstanding. This realization meant that he would change to a new perspective and learn more about the mystery of the Super System.
Unfortunately, the Dark Moon battle was urgent and every second counts. He didn’t have enough time to study slowly. He must continue the plan on the White Feather Estate right away.
Although the battle caused the many of the caves in the Loeb Mine to collapse, the main cave was still intact under the support of Dragon Inscription. Many of the miners who survived had escaped. The mission commissioned by Sicali this time was considered to be completed successfully. He needed to return to the White Feather City immediately.
Chen Rui thought for a while. He ordered some of the lamp spirits to stay in the ruins to revive those intact heart lamps while the rest of the lamp spirits disguised themselves, left the misty swamp, and went to the nearby Town Ronnie. There were Dark Demon spies there who would lead the lamp spirits to a certain base of the Dark Demon in the White Feather City to stand by.
As for the medusa tribe, after witnessing the battle between Chen Rui and Jacob, they had completely surrendered to this powerful master. Chen Rui gave them an order to be ready to dispatch at any time.
After arranging all these, Chen Rui opened the [Star Gate] and returned to the White Feather City in an instant. At the beginning, Sicali gave him 10 days. Now, he had completed the task ahead of schedule. Sicali should be revealing his last card soon.
[1] Meaning exhausted, heart failure or near-death.
Hmm, when he returns, he will bring more forces back to the Dark Moon. What is the Super System? Is it similar to the Kingdom of God?