Armipotent

Chapter 798 - Itʼs Over Before It Starts - Part 2

Tang Shaoyang was in the meeting room with Zhang Mengyao and Kang Xue. They were currently discussing the attack on the Suzhou Survivor Establishment. Midway discussion, the door was opened as Lu An, Cao Jingyi, and Wei Xi barged in.

Wei Xi took the seat opposite Zhang Mengyao and looked toward Tang Shaoyang. ”So, whatʼs the plan, Boss?” Since they were close, Wei Xi addressed Tang Shaoyang casually. Of course, the strict Origin nagged the Vice Supreme Commander, [Please be more respectful, Sir Wei Xi. Master is now an Emperor of millions of people. You canʼt continue doing this.]

”I know, I know, but it takes time for me to get used to the new culture, you know. Please spare me some time with this, Origin.” Wei Xi was indeed not used to how things changed so fast. Beforehand, he was asked to call Tang Shaoyang with the Lord, but now it changed to Your Majesty. It would take some time before he could adapt.

Of course, Tang Shaoyang did not mind how Wei Xi acted casually around him. He preferred that way, but he could not say it out aloud, or Origin would nag him too.

”Apparently, the Suzhou Survivor Establishment did not choose the War Mode, so the System chose my option, an All Out War. The only thing we need to do is to seize Suzhou Cityʼs smart base.” After saying that, Tang Shaoyang looked at Lu An, ”And I heard you have your people in Suzhou Survivor Establishment? We will be using your people to take over once the war starts.”

In twenty-four hours, the Tang Empire could not enter the Suzhou Survivor Establishment, and the same for the Suzhou Survivor Establishment as well. They could not enter the hostile territory until the war started, so they could not launch a sneak attack or anything.

”But we still need to organize our army to attack from outside, too, right?” Wei Xi had heard about the people who followed Lu An in the Suzhou Survivor Establishment. They stayed there to keep on watch of their neighborʼs movements. ”Marshal Alton seems too eager to make a contribution, and they are waiting outside.”

”We are not going to use the army from Lukan.” Tang Shaoyang shook his head. For sure, they would win the battle in a flash because his army from Lukan was an experienced soldier and had a higher average level. He explained why he did not want to use the army from Lukan. ”If itʼs not an emergency, we will use our army. They need to experience the war and also level up from the battle.”

”I agree with that.” Zhang Mengyao quickly interjected. ”We canʼt be relying on them, especially if itʼs just the Suzhou Survivor Establishment.”

Tang Shaoyang shot a glance toward Zhang Mengyao and shook his head. ”Donʼt underestimate our enemy regardless of how weak they are. They have finished the Survival Game, and we donʼt know what they got from the Survival Game. We have to be extra cautious, or we will pay a huge price.”

After that, he looked at Lu An and commanded the young man. ”Can you contact your people, Lu An? You need to organize your people for tomorrowʼs battle. From my understanding, only the Leader and the Vice Leader get informed for the war declaration. They may not be aware of the incoming battle yet.”

Lu An nodded his head and smiled. ”You donʼt have to worry about that, Your Majesty. My people should know about the war, and they may try to contact me right away.” He got up from the seat. ”I will meet them now and make arrangements for tomorrowʼs battle.” After saying that, Lu An left the meeting room.

”Supreme General Zhang Mengyao knows the details about the incoming war. You can ask her for more details. I need our army ready in a few hours and march to the border right away.” Tang Shaoyang instructed Wei Xi. There was no particular plan but an all-out attack since they had all the necessary information to take down the Suzhou Survivor Establishment.

”Yes, Your M-Majesty.” Wei Xi was a bit awkward to properly address Tang Shaoyang, but he needed to get used quickly if he did not want Origin to nag him every day. Zhang Mengyao, Wei Xi, and Kang Xue left the meeting room, leaving Tang Shaoyang alone with Cao Jingyi. He would lead the war by himself, but he was just there to observe the war. There was no benefit for him joining the war directly, and he was there for a precaution.

”Do you need something from me?” Tang Shaoyang glanced at Cao Jingyi, who was rooted on the chair while looking down. Hearing the voice, Cao Jingyi looked up. ”Why?” That question came out of her mouth. ”Why do you want to war against the Suzhou Survivor Establishment? Arenʼt we supposed to build our world together? On top of that, they are our fellow countrymen, and they havenʼt done anything that deserves to be rooted out. So why do we fight them?”

Different from her husband, Cao Jingyi wanted to know the real reason behind the war. She was not just going to follow whatever Tang Shaoyang ordered, especially something crucial and big like a war. Even though she spoke up for the Tang Empire in the arena, she did not agree with the war. It would be best to talk it out instead of declaring war like this.

”Talk it out? What do you want to talk about with them? Asking them to join us instead of the World Government? If they truly want to join us, they will come to us on their own.” Tang Shaoyang met with Cao Jingyiʼs gaze. ”You can see that they are more willing to follow the foreigner instead of joining us. Does it matter that they are our fellow countrymen?”

Cao Jingyi remained unconvinced with Tang Shaoyangʼs argument. It was so clear on her face as she made sure that Tang Shaoyang knew that was not enough to convince her.

”To be honest, thereʼs no need for me to convince you. You are my subordinate, and I am your Leader. The Tang Empire is still standing even without you in our rank. However, because you are the person who follows me from the beginning of the Game, I will convince you why we need to start this war.” Tang Shaoyang did not bother to butter up his words.

”The issue is not about the Suzhou Survivor Establishment, but the World Government! It seems you havenʼt realized what the World Government is trying to achieve.” He shook his head and continued with a solemn tone. ”What do you think will happen once the World Government unifies the small factions? They will target the Major Factions. Donʼt tell me you havenʼt realized it yet?”

Tang Shaoyang did not wait for Cao Jingyiʼs response. ”Why do we start the war right now? Because we want to catch the World Government off guard. They are not yet ready to war against the Major Faction, which is our chance. Furthermore, those people donʼt have any attachment to the World Government, so there will not be much resistance once we capture them. It will be easier for the people to switch to the Empire as they donʼt have any attachment to the World Government.”

The people in Tang Shaoyangʼs mouth were not the military force but the survivors. He did not care about the military force as he could train more people into the Empireʼs military force. But there would be no Empire if there were no people, so he put great importance on the people.

”Once the World Government takes a deep root in our region, it will be too late for us to make any move. We canʼt let the World Government have any information in our region. We canʼt give them time to let them grow strong to fight us.” His gaze deepened as his left eyeʼs slit narrowed down. ”Just information if you havenʼt fully realized yet. If we are to be defeated by the World Government, they will kill me, and itʼs the same for your husband too. Do you think the leaders of the Suzhou Survivor Establishment will care when that happens?”

”If you havenʼt fully adapted to the new world, then I will tell you that thereʼs no more human rights organization that will condemn the World Government if they want to kill us. No one prevented them from executing us in public to warn the other factions.” Tang Shaoyang went out before leaning back to his chair in a relaxed manner. ”If you donʼt agree with my leadership and want to leave the Empire, I will not stop you. It seems we have a different objective.”

This was not the first time that Cao Jingyi questioned his decision. If this continued, it would be better if they did not work together again. There might be a time the situation would escalate more than mere argument.

Cao Jingyi fell silent as she lowered her gaze. She realized that it seemed she had done something she should not have done. Leave the Empire? Where should she go? Moreover, her husband was attached to the Empire and worked very hard for the Empire. She could not say that she had done a lot for the faction as someone worked even harder for the Empire.

”I apologize for my impudence,” Cao Jingyi stood up and bowed her head. ”I donʼt think that far about the implication.”

*** ***

The words of war quickly spread to the people in the base. That brought panic to the people, especially the people who had regular work. If the war reached them, they could not fight to defend themselves. Like Zhang Mengyao predicted, the war was received negatively by the people. They just had peace for a few months from the zombies, now the base was going to war against the human establishment.

Of course, the Tang Empire did not involve the civilians in the war. They had the Tarriors that had been trained for a few months already. They called back all the Tarriors that went outside to clear the danger zone.

Within four hours, ten thousand Tarriors gathered at the main base, right in the front of the main base, wearing the same red armor. From ten thousand Tarriors, five hundred were Healer, four thousand were Elite Guard, and the remaining five thousand and five hundred were Elite Warrior.

”The Archer will return in one or two hours, and they will catch up with us together with the Fogged Ape Tribeʼs force.” Even though the Archer had not been upgraded to Elite Archer, they still had Archer within the Tarrior.

”Will this be enough to seize the Suzhou Survivor Establishment? They have built a wall like us even though itʼs shorter than our wall, but they still have a great defense with the wall.” Kang Xue was quite concerned that their army might not be enough.

”Donʼt forget we have Lu Anʼs people inside the establishment. It will be easier to break their defense from inside.” Tang Shaoyang reminded her of Lu Anʼs people. ”Donʼt worry, we also have Liang Suyin to break the wall, or I can do it myself.”

It should be easy for the Fire Witch to take down the gate outside unless the Suzhou Survivor Establishment had a stronger mage.

Under many peopleʼs watch, the Tarrior left the main base toward the border. They were going to meet with Lu An, who was at the rendezvous point, waiting for them.

Tang Shaoyang went ahead by himself and met Lu An first. Lu An was waiting at the top of the wall, sitting at the edge while swaying his feet in the air. ”Have you met with your people? Whatʼs the situation in Suzhou?”

Lu An was grinning ear to ear as he replied. ”I have prepared a present for you, Brother Shaoyang. But you have to wait until this barrier vanishes.. The war will be over before it starts.”