Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 592: Chapter 592. A Period of Peace

”Can you reprogram it?” Amon asked Zhong Yuan.

They were staring at the mid-tier runic battle puppet Amon had captured. It was restrained after capture. One of the puppet makers then shut it down forcefully.

”Of course I can. Who do you think you’re talking to?” Zhong Yuan asked in return.

”Don’t make me remind you of the dynamic of our relationship,” Amon said.

”Wow! And here I thought we had bonded. Never mind, just leave this thing here. I will send this back to you, and it will be as obedient as a kitten.”

”You do that... Tell me, how does it feel to work against your countrymen?”

Zhong Yuan stopped what he was doing and turned to Amon. The cheery expression was gone from his face. ”Is that supposed to be a joke?” He asked.

Amon chuckled. ”I never joke. I want to gauge your reaction. I can see you still consider yourself a citizen of this nation. Yet, I can also tell your aid is genuine. I told you before that I made it a business to know my followers, didn’t I? I have dug around the information from the people of the Vagrant Sect and Charger Guild. Are you a member of the Zhong Clan who used to be one of the clans that sit on Khode’s High Council?”

Zhong Yuan maintained his gaze on Amon without saying anything. Amon returned his stare in kind.

Finally, Zhong Yuan let out a sigh and said, ”The high council is no more. If you have friends with those two organizations, you should know by now Khode is now ruled by a despot who styled himself the Supreme Councilor.”

”I did hear that,” Amon replied. ”I also heard that the Zhong Clan was one of the clans that opposed this Supreme Councilor when he came into power. As a result, the clan was annihilated. This was the reason you fled to Echos.”

Zhong Yuan made a self-deprecating laugh. He said, ”To be honest, I never thought much about your campaign in this nation. I thought you were just a lunatic. If things went south, I plan to use the chaos to flee again. Perhaps this time I will flee to Kazhan.”

”You don’t think so now?” Amon asked.

Zhong Yuan shrugged. ”After recent battles. Well, I think you might have a shot.”

”That’s why I sensed your improved eagerness,” Amon remarked. ”You see this as a shot to get your revenge on the Supreme Councilor.”

”You disapprove of my agenda?” Zhong Yuan asked.

”On the contrary, I believe the most trusted allies are those whose objectives line up with mine. Now I know you won’t betray me, at least until we take down the Supreme Councilor. What about after? If I rule Khode, will you accept your citizens serving me?”

”It is the duty of the government to serve its people, not the other way around,” Zhong Yuan said.

Amon chuckled and said, ”An intelligent man like you should know that is horseshit, don’t you? It sounds nice, but that is not what happens most of the time, or ever.”

”You are one pessimistic fellow, aren’t you?” Zhong Yuan asked.

”I am pragmatic,” Amon shrugged.

”Anyway, we will cross that line when we cross it,” Zhong Yuan said. ”We still have a long way to go. Do not underestimate the Supreme Councilor. He is a brilliant tech specialist. He brute-forced his way into the High Council before dismantling it and turning himself into a one-person authority figure.”

”I want to know more about him. You will dine with me tonight. Tell me everything you know about this supreme councilor.”

”Oh? You are not preparing for a night assault?” Zhong Yuan asked.

”Why would I do a night assault?” Amon asked back.

”We have beaten back the enemy badly. Their morale is in the ditch. If we attack, we have a high chance of winning.”

”We do, but since it is so obvious, they will be prepared. Even if we win, we will still lose a substantial number of soldiers. I need my army mostly intact until we reach the capital.”

”How do you plan to do that?” Zhong Yuan asked.

Amon smiled. ”You let me worry about that. For now, focus on increasing our stock of battle puppets and rifles, and don’t forget about improving the Yuanxu Cannons’ wagons as I requested.”

”Those will all take some time,” Zhong Yuan said.

”Then get started. We will be here for some time,” Amon replied.

*

The next few days were devoid of confrontation. Khode Army remained in their camp. They were plagued with uneasy anticipation of enemy attack. Yet, the anticipated attack never came.

All the Echos Army did was come out of Surly Gate Town and scavenge the puppet parts amidst heaps of broken puppets and corpses outside the town. All the carcases were close to the wall since the battle took place right next to it, so Echos’ soldiers didn’t have to walk far to do the scavenging.

After restraining herself for three days, Zee Min sent several quick-moving soldiers to harass Echos’ soldiers who did the scavenging. The harassment didn’t go as planned because those soldiers became the targets of the far-reaching shots from the riflemen atop the wall.

After several tries, Zee Min gave up. Unless she was willing to mobilize a larger force, she had no choice but to let Echos’ soldiers scavenge in peace.

And so, days continued to pass. To their bafflement, the Echos Army never attacked. There was not even the night raid utilizing Yao Bird’s black fog. The Echos Army seemed content just staying inside Surly Gate Town.

*

”It has been two weeks already. Is their target for this invasion only to make Surly Gate Town their own?” Lang Gu asked. He was gazing at Surly Gate Town with Zee Min and Xuang Feng.

”My Martial Realm Scouts did say they busied themselves on the other side of this mountain range,” Xuang Feng informed.

”Shit! They can’t truly be trying to reposition the border between our two countries, can they?” Lang Gu asked.

”If we can’t retake that town, I’m afraid that might happen,” Zee Min said.

Xuang Feng shook his head dejectedly. ”If only Weylun Fort’s army hadn’t been annihilated, we could have sieged this town from two sides. If we cut off the town completely, they will run out of supplies sooner or later. The farms and wells inside the town cannot sustain both the army and the citizens. Alas, now they can move freely on the other side. Our siege on this side is practically pointless... When will our reinforcement arrive?”

Zee Min and Lang Gu didn’t respond to the question.

Xuang Feng thought at first that they didn’t hear him, but soon realized the truth. ”Wait, do you not call for reinforcement?” He asked in surprise.

”We can still deal with this ourselves...,” Zee Min answered.

”We can’t. Hasn’t the previous battle already taught you that?” Xuang Feng asked. ”We can’t attack them if they continue to turtle inside the town, and they won’t come out, so we are at an impasse. The only way to force them to come out is to seal them off completely. To do that, we must siege them on the other side as well. We can’t split our current army to do that, because we will be sitting ducks when our split army is taking a roundabout route to the other side. So, the only solution is to request an additional army to help us siege the other side.”

”In case you’ve forgotten, we no longer have a true military power. It has been disbanded by the Supreme Councilor,” Zee Min argued. ”The ones I brought here are all we got.”

”We can still request the Supreme Councilor to recall the soldiers or send his private puppet army,” Xuang Feng said.

Zee Min was silent. It was Lang Gu who answered for her, ”General Zee Min can’t request reinforcement because the Supreme Councilor gave her an ultimatum. If she can’t drive out the invaders on her own, she will be stripped of her ranks and cast out of the military.”

”What? That is insane. Why would he put that condition?” Xuang Feng asked.

”The supreme councilor has an unfavourable view of me and the military in general,” Zee Min said. ”Someone whispered in his ear that I might be a friend to this supposed uprising, which rumors are circulating on the streets. He directly appointed me to deal with this invasion. If I succeeded in repelling it, that’s good. If not, this is his chance to get rid of me and finally dismantle the military for good.”

”This... How can he do this? This is our nation’s sovereignty we are talking about. How can he use this matter as part of his politics?”

”Out of us senior officers, I think you are the only one who has faith in him,” Zee Min told Xuang Feng. Her tone was sarcastic. ”Can’t you see our people become more miserable after he came into power?”

”... He is still our ruler, and we must obey him,” Xuang Feng said.

”If that’s so, then calling for reinforcements is out of the question,” Zee Min returned.

The three were silent for some time. Finally, Xuang Feng said, ”I will return to the capital and plead the case. I will get you the help without letting you be blamed for this request.”

”... You do what you have to do,” Zee Min said.