A fairly large group of Splenish infantry was marching throughout the paved roads towards Peking and leading the group was none other than Emperor Splero 'Spleriia' Kerano himself. He sent his garrison to China for so long in the hopes of creating a new Asian colony for the sake of his own vast 'Heavenly Empire' that he made in the ages that came through the years. Even though he was a true outsider, Splero decided to go public.

As he marched on, he immediately halted his troops abruptly.

'Halt!'

The infantry simply stopped at their spots. All of them were armed with Hanyang 88s and wearing their iconic conical hats of grey on their heads. They also have queues very similar to the soldiers' of the Qing Dynasty at the time. Most of them were young male individuals with slightly built bodies and a height not exceeding 5'4.

While the soldiers stood idly by, Splero grabs hold a map of China and took a look at it. In the map, Hong Kong was being circled with red ink and a line was being drawn on the areas that were next to the coastline. At the end of the line was the marker pointing to the city of Tientsin which was also circled with red ink. Peking was circled with black ink and that's the marker that Splero and his troops should go.

With a sigh, the Emperor kept the map away into his pocket as he faces to his soldiers.

'Everyone. I hate to say this but I'm afraid we'll be arriving to Peking a bit late.'

Splero's soldiers groaned. Some of the soldiers collapsed onto their own knees.

'Impossible!'

'How we could possibly arrive there in time?!'

'Our allies there wouldn't wait for much longer! We have to keep moving!'

The monarch simply raises his two hands at the faces of his soldiers.

'Calm down, gentlemen! Despite of the time schedule, this isn't mean that it's the end of the line.'

The soldiers quiet down.

'At least we tried to reach Peking even though we're late or anything. What is more important is that we succeeded in the end at any cost that we might encounter here in China.'

Splero sighed again and sat down near one of the men who were sitting on the grass.

'I guess it's time for us to stop here and get some rest for a few hours. Besides, we're been marching from Hong Kong for hours.'

The Splenish infantry forces agreed and all of them rested their heels down. A pair of young men dressed in green military uniform approached to the Emperor.

'Emperor Spleriia.'

'Hmm?'

'Both me and Renar have a scout report.'

'OK then. What is it?'

'We both found a river that we could use as a shortcut for us to reach Peking much more faster than just marching through the streets of Tientsin.'

'My brother is right, Sire. I guess that river would be a direct route to the capital of China in no time.'

Emperor Splero nodded.

'Very well, guys. We'll move out there once we done in getting some rest.'

'Sire?'

'Hmm?'

'We should be started to march to the city by now.'

Splero groaned.

'Oh come on, Regent Acher. Have some sympathy to the soldiers! All of them were tired from marching from Hong Kong to here.'

Acher lowered his head in shame.

'I'm...I'm sorry, Sire. I haven't realized that.'

Splero sighed.

'Don't worry. I forgive you for that.'

'Thank you, Sire.'

'Anyway, have you guys received any word either from Mulan or General Shang?'

Both Acher and Renar shook their heads.

'Oh. I wonder if they would be finding us?'

'We don't know, Sire.'

'Certainly a big mystery there.'

Splero groaned as he removed his saber from his scabbard.