World Online

by Srtyi

Earth Online – a virtual MMORPG that takes place in the future year of 2190 – a game that everyone will bet their futures on. Set in a map that is ten times the size of real-world Earth, players battle for supremacy in the first game to feature personal adventure, territory construction, and grand warfare. For every death you experience in the game, your level would drop back to 0.

23. 665

Read The World Online - Chapter 665-Richest Man in the World online free - Light Novel Full

Chapter 665-Richest Man in the World

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo's words made the atmosphere among the Spanish Squadron rather weird.

The Spanish Lords had also noticed that their troops were looking at them with weird expressions. If they made them charge to fight the enemy now, it would instantly cause an uproar.

Even the adventure gamemode players were feeling uneasy.

After all, in the prior galleon retreating operation, the players and sailors had an intense conflict. Their relationship was like a rubber band pulled tight; a little more exertion, and it would break.

Now, with Shanhai City supporting them, who knows what these natives would do.

"Cough, guys let's quickly pay the money and leave. I do not want to stay at this stupid place for any longer." Pepe looked at the Lord players; his glance contained a hint of warning.

"Forget it; let's end it like this!"

Observing the situation, the Lord players had no choice but to compromise; however, bitterness filled their eyes.

At this moment, a majestic scene occurred.

The voyage squadron set up a payment station to the north. Any boat that wanted to pass, regardless of their identity as player or NPC, would have to pay 200 gold per person.

However, when the turn of navy general Alvaro arrived, he was stopped.

"What is it? Do you all want to go back on your words?"

The following Lord's face sunk as he spoke in an unhappy tone.

During this country war, the ones that had lost the most were these Lord gamemode players. Not only did they lose the cannons and warships they had spent so much on; they even had to leave behind troops based on their monetary situation; they could only bring away their elites.

This pent-up anger was too hard to swallow. However, in this situation, they had no choice but to bow their heads. If they truly fought, the first to disagree would be the adventure gamemode players.

The Lord who had spoken was Casillas, the second-best Lord in Spain and also the strongest Lord along the coast. Alvaro was a general under him.

"Other people can pass but this old general cannot," said the guard as he pointed at Alvaro.

"Why?"

"The Lord said to invite the old general to the voyage squadron as a guest."

"Do not go too far!"

Casillas felt furious when he heard these words. Even a fool would not believe such a stupid reason like 'inviting him as a guest'. Shanhai City obviously wanted to keep Alvaro.

"These are the instructions from the Lord; we are just following them." The soldiers did not budge.

"You!" Casillas's rage turned into laughter, "Good! Ask the Lianzhou Lord to speak to me."

"The Lord is temporarily not seeing guests." The guard stuck to his instructions.

The situation dragged on like this.

The guards did not let them go, but he did not forcefully snatch the man either. Facing the shouts of Casillas, they acted like they heard none of it. They were like iron guards, not budging no matter what.

With that, the people queuing behind could only wait.

As the matter dragged on, they were naturally unhappy too.

Since they could not see Ouyang Shuo, the other players could only try to persuade him to take a step back, "Forget it, since it has already reached this stage, why are you still doing this? He will just be a guest and will return in a few days."

"That's right. People are inviting you so nicely; do not reject it."

In truth, these words were incredibly fake. The Spanish actions were just like the phrase, 'You dying is better than I dying.'

The players only cared about escaping from this place. As for the loses of others, how would they bother? They would only grumble about Casillas being incorrigible and wasting their time.

Casilla's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth. Even with his upbringing, he was on the verge of exploding. Alvaro was the best general in Spain, the trump card of trump cards, so how would he give this general up so easily?

The longer this dragged on, the more annoyed and triggered the other players grew. At the later stages, it was not only the normal players; even the guild leaders stepped out to try and convince him.

"Forget it. We have lost this time; we are under their mercy."

"That's right. China has an old phrase, 'If we do not bear the small things, it'll mess up the big plans. Since they want to keep him, your actions will not make a difference."

"What if their patience runs dry, and they decide to forcefully keep us here? We would be in trouble then."

Each attempt at persuading him was like knives stabbing into his chest, making him spit blood, "Shameless, really shameless!"

Casillas's hatred toward his brothers even exceeded his hatred toward Ouyang Shuo.

What kind of people in the world were hated the most? They do not know what you have been through and how much stick you have eaten, just trying to convince you to, 'Be more magnanimous.'

"Magnanimity your sister!"

In real life, lightning would strike these people.

Casillas was facing such people. He wanted to fight till the end and drag these people down to hell with him.

Regretfully, he was still a rational person.

As a Lord, he had to warn himself not to be rash; he could not let his emotions dictate him. If he made enemies with them, he would not be able to survive in Spain.

He was bound to lose here.

"Lianzhou Lord, I'm not finished with you!"

Casillas threw down these words and left without turning his head.

The person involved in the issue, Alvaro, did not even speak a single word from start to finish. It was like no one had bothered to ask him for his opinion.

When he saw his Lord turn around and rush off furiously, Alvaro sighed. Under the guidance of the guards, he walked toward Dragon Head.

Peace and order resumed.

At 2 PM, everything finally cleared up.

Final calculations put the numbers at 30 thousand players and four thousand NPCs paying the gold. Ouyang Shuo's redemption gold amounted to a terrifying seven million.

Undoubtedly, this was the biggest fortune that Shanhai City had ever obtained. The two million gold he spent in Atlantis did not seem like much now.

Ouyang Shuo calculated the funds in his storage bag and found that he was the world's richest person. He had a full eight million gold in his storage bag.

Apart from that, there was another set of gold from the trading profits.

Before setting off, they had acquired 500 thousand gold worth of various resources. In Xingzhou Port, they had also bought a batch of peppers and spices. After passing through the Mediterranean they had sold basically all of the items.

After a six times profit, their total trading income reached 3.5 million gold. Of this sum, they spent 500 thousand on purchasing local products.

After the final calculations, Ouyang Shuo had a total of 11 million gold in his storage bag.

If he announced his gold count, it was unlikely that anybody would believe him.

The more terrifying part was that his money-making journey was not over yet.

Who knows how much wealth he would have amassed when this journey ends. No wonder people said that a voyage was a crazy money-making journey.

When Spain was at its most prosperous period, thousands of Galleons traveled across the globe and shipped countless gold back to Spain.

When England controlled the seas, it swept up a large portion of the world's wealth.

It seems like Shanhai City was following their path.

Apart from the redemption money, there were also 23 Spanish Galleons. Moreover, each one had 20 Spanish cannons. Apart from that, there were 36 Carracks, each equipped with 10 cannons.

In terms of Spanish cannons alone, they had acquired 800 of them.

Apart from the current cannons, when this matter ended, Ouyang Shuo was going to send the frogmen to scour for cannons at the bottom of the ocean.

This was the big part. After all, there would be no less than five thousand. These cannons were all built with the power of the Spanish nation but now it was theirs.

"War brings wealth, war really brings wealth!" Ouyang Shuo muttered.

Apart from the warships and cannons, there were the soldiers that the Lords had abandoned; Shanhai City accepted them all. Even pirates could change sides, so Ouyang Shuo obviously would not mind the Spanish joining him.

The final tabulations put the numbers at around 56 thousand soldiers and around 20 thousand sailors.

It was the same as saying that with suitable warships, Shanhai City could build another half a squadron.

This batch of sailors and soldiers were the real reason behind Ouyang Shuo putting in so much effort for this plan. To him, money would always be there to earn. On the other hand, a true navy was an insurance.

Crushing the Spanish Invincible Squadron was the best chance for the Shanhai City Navy to gain a footing in the Mediterranean. Wasn't this batch of people the most precious treasure?

Ouyang Shuo did not think that the Spanish would back down after eating such a loss.

He would plan a series of operations to control their revenge and restore order in the Mediterranean, allowing the Shanhai City military to gain the recognition of the other countries.

This was difficult, but Ouyang Shuo was confident.

Currently, he did not simply have one good card but several in his hands. As for how to use them all, Ouyang Shuo still needed to carefully plan to avoid mess ups.

Before this, Ouyang Shuo still needed to meet one person.

Whether or not his plan could smoothly succeed relied on whether this stubborn old man cooperated or not. If he managed to make Alvaro surrender, he would have mostly succeeded.

Obviously, this was not going to be an easy matter.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 666-France

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

3 PM, Dragon Head, guest room.

After handling everything nicely, the voyage squadron proceeded toward the location where the Spanish Invincible squadron had sunk to scoop up the cannons. Finally, Ouyang Shuo had time to meet Alvaro.

"Sorry for making you wait!" Ouyang Shuo slightly smiled.

After learning about Alvaro's history, Ouyang Shuo's interest greatly increased. Ancient China lacked navy generals, and Shanhai City had already basically taken the limited pool. On the other hand, the west had many famous navy generals.

Shanhai City aimed to have territories everywhere and wanted to spread its influence. Naturally, it should turn its vision to the whole entire world and accept all talents. Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not mind having a Spanish navy general under him.

However, Alvaro did not fall for it; he was unwilling to surrender.

"Old general, reality has proven that the times of the Spanish Invincible Squadron are over. Their glory is no more. However, Shanhai City is different. We went past the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, crossing from Asia to Europe. We are the only ones that can be called a global squadron," Ouyang Shuo said.

Alvaro's eyes shook, "So what?"

"So what? Commanding a global squadron is the dream of every navy general. Don't tell me you have grown old and lost your ambitions?" Ouyang Shuo joked.

Humph!

"Old general, as long as you agree to join Shanhai City, I promise you that the voyage squadron will only take Gibraltar Port and will not attack the Spanish. How's that?" Ouyang Shuo was ready to take a step back.

From the start, he did not expect to destroy Spain.

He had accomplished his goal of crushing their arrogant squadron. One could foresee that in the future year, they would struggle even in the Mediterranean.

If Ouyang Shuo only had to take a step back in exchange for the allegiance of a great general, he felt that it was worth it.

"Are your words true?" Alvaro was in disbelief.

The Spanish Invincible Squadron was completely swept up in this battle. The long coastlines were basically defenseless; they were right there for the taking.

"At this time, you actually do not want to push for the win?" Alvaro looked toward Ouyang Shuo with probing eyes, "You are so young. Can you actually resist such temptation?"

When Ouyang Shuo heard these questions, he smiled, "I've never gone back on my words. Old general should know that in Shanhai City, players and natives are equal existences."

Ouyang Shuo's words directly struck a scar in his heart. During this battle, the Spanish's actions toward their sailors had made Alvaro feel truly disappointed.

"Okay, I promise you!" Alvaro raised his head with a determined expression, "However, I hope that you do not forget your promise. If not, I'll go all out, even if I have to die."

"Of course." Ouyang Shuo nodded.

"General Alvaro greets the Lord!" Alvaro officially greeted Ouyang Shuo.

Ouyang Shuo nodded and looked at his stats.

Name: Alvaro de Bazan (Emperor Rank)

Title: Father of the Spanish Soldiers

Dynasty: 16th Century Spain

Identity: Shanhai City General

Occupation: Special General

Loyalty: 65

Command: 87

Force: 75

Intelligence: 75

Politics: 65

Specialty: Naval Warfare (34% increase in cannon range and power, 25% increase in warship sailing speed, 25% increase in defenses of warships, 30% increase in navy warrior morale, 15% increase in navy tactics.)

Weapon: Spanish Rapier

Evaluation: Alvaro de Bazan, the 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, proficient at tactics and a genius in terms of planning and commanding. The General of Phillip the Second.

Gaia granted the skill ratings and stats of generals based on a standardized rubric. At the same time, it would use the power of the country, the scale of the country, its historical foundation, and the like to perform a second round of correction.

Hence, the historical generals of some countries were at most emperor rank or even just king rank. If they could not even reach the king rank standard, Gaia would just change one to king rank.

As a result, no matter how small a country was, they would have a king ranked general at the very least.

As an ocean overlord and a European superpower in real life, Spain also had an incredibly strong history. Although it could not be compared to China, Gaia's evaluation for it was still rather high.

Across the entirety of Spain, there was only one god ranked general, the Spanish military god, the one known as the blood slayer - Fernando Alvarez. Apart from that, there were also many emperor ranked generals, including Alvaro.

Without a doubt, his addition was of great meaning to Shanhai City. Just as Ouyang Shuo was about to discuss with Alvaro regarding his appointment arrangements, a system notification sounded out.

"Global Notification: Congratulations China region Lord Qiyue Wuyi for successfully recruiting Spanish General Alvaro, becoming the first person to recruit a historical general from another country. Rewarded 10 thousand merit points, 50 thousand reputation points, and one king rank summoning talisman, congratulations player!"The moment the notification sounded out, the world was stunned.

They were stunned not only because Qiyue Wuyi had recruited a general from another country, but because the notification had an underlying meaning. It meant that in this country war, Spain had lost.

Along with the news of the country war being spread online, the conflict between Spain and Shanhai City was known across the world. Before this, no one thought that Shanhai City could defeat the strong Spanish like they had taken down Singapore.

Especially to the other Mediterranean countries, the Spanish Invincible Squadron was basically a nightmare.

Hence, the various European states did not even think about joining in and sat quietly at the side.

In the end? Ouyang Shuo actually recruited Spain's strongest general. This development had many peaks, causing various reactions.When the notification sounded out, the ones that were the most shocked were the Mediterranean states.

Italy, Greece, France, Egypt, Turkey, and the like were filled with various thought. Their first course of action was to confirm what had happened to the Spanish Invincible Squadron.

"Can the Spanish Invincible Squadron still continue to rule the Mediterranean?" They needed to confirm this point and adjust their strategies regarding the seas. If possible, they would use this chance to rise up.

Amongst which, the most delighted party was France.

During the later parts of the 17th century, France was also extremely prosperous.

In that 50 years of glory, the French navy defeated the strong Spanish, Holland, and even the English to hold power over both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, becoming the strongest country of that time.

However, in the Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue in 1692, the newly risen French Navy was defeated by Holland and lost their control over the ocean. Afterward, they swiftly withered into dust in history.

As a result, the French had a greater desire than any other Mediterranean country to rise up.French Region, Vic City.

As the strongest Lord in France, Henry had shown his face on the world stage and was even among the top 10 Lords of the world. However, in the Mediterranean, he actually acted low profile.

Although he desired to make himself known, the Spanish Invincible Squadron had suppressed him.

The moment the notification sounded out, Henry finally saw a chance for France to enter the Mediterranean. In truth, when the war between Shanhai City and Spain had started, he had already started paying attention to it.

When Lianzhou Lord Qiyue Wuyi completed the storyline quest, Henry saw a little hope. Despite this, he still did not make any moves.

However, when this notification sounded, he finally decided to strike.

"Men!"

"Present!" The secretary walked over.

"Three things!" Henry raised three fingers, "First, send all our scouts out to find out exactly what happened in the Spain battle." Henry placed down one finger.

"Understood!"

"Secondly, order the Gaule Squadron to enter a level 1 state of alert. Get ready to enter the Mediterranean at any moment." The Gaule Squadron was the secret weapon of Vic City; Harry had hidden it all along. Now, it was time for him to use it.

"Thirdly, send someone to contact the voyage squadron to let them know our kind intentions."

The secretary did not ask anything; he just turned around and left.

In the gloomy reading room, Henry muttered,"Lianzhou Lord, do not disappoint me."Apart from the Mediterranean countries, the various European countries were also stunned.

England Region, Avic Fort.

"He recruited a Spanish navy general? Interesting." William sat in the reading room on the highest floor of the castle, "The next destination of the voyage squadron should be us, right?"

"Yes!" The secretary's face was extremely serious.

Without a doubt, although Shanhai City was not deemed as a war maniac, its reputation for stirring up problems had been recognized by the various countries.

Wherever they went, problems would follow.

As the final destination, how could England avoid all these problems?

"Sire, we should make some preparations in advance," the secretary tried to persuade him.

William raised his brows; he picked up the cup of red wine on the table and slowly sipped, "What preparations? Who knows, there might be a huge deal."

"Huge deal?" The secretary did not understand.

William was not planning to explain the matter to him, so he changed the topic and asked, "Where did Annie go to?"

"Sire please forgive me. She snatched five warships and brought along her Iron Lady forces to attack pirates."

"She's really fooling around." Although he chided her, he did not look angry. Obviously, he really loved and pampered this sister, "Remember to arrange a squadron to protect them."

"It has already been done." The secretary had not forgotten to take such precaution.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 667-Glory of the Empire

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

In terms of shock, the most shocked party was still the Spanish themselves.

When the Spanish Invincible Squadron heard the notification on their way back, they naturally felt ashamed. However, since they had suffered such humiliation already, they quickly adapted.

A broken can breaking apart was bound to happen.

Casillas felt all the more furious. Both of his eyes were totally red like fire was about spurt out. Who knows whether he was angry at Ouyang Shuo for being shameless or Alvaro for being a traitor, or even his countrymen for being selfish.

Maybe it was a combination of all these aspects.

The ones who truly could not accept this matter were the players in the country. Such a system notification was a massive slap to the proud and face-loving Spanish people.

"What happened?" The Spanish people were stunned, "Didn't the Invincible Squadron swear to crush the voyage squadron? Why did our own general become theirs in the blink of an eye?"

"Was the squadron from Tortola City ambushed, or was the Invincible Squadron defeated?" The Spanish players had a greater desire than all other players to know the truth.

Tortosa City was the territory of Casillas.

The Spanish forums exploded. The panicky players desired the truth; they wanted someone to step out to explain to them what had happened.

Finally, the player group that was still floating on the oceans could not bear the pressure from the forums and just revealed the entire battle proceedings.

The moment the news escaped, Spain was stunned.

"Is it April Fools? Our invincible squadron actually fell in just one day?"

"Oh my god, please do not make such a joke!"

"Please tell me this is not true."The prideful Spanish people totally could not accept such a reality.

Additionally, the players posted photos of the Spanish Galleon sinking into the ocean.

The vast ocean surface had countless Galleons and Carracks sinking into the sea at the same time. Only their sails represented their identity and past glory.

Such a stunning picture directly dragged the Spanish into the depths of the unknown.

"Oh my god, I cannot believe it."

"Is the enemy the devil? How could our invincible squadron fall just like that?"

"Can anyone tell me what magic the enemy used?"

The Spanish could not wake up from such a great blow. To put it another way, they would rather not wake up; they did not want to face this cruel reality.

The invincible squadron, the ruler of the Mediterranean, the crown jewel of Spain, had actually sunk in just one night, becoming a matter of the past.

The prideful empire was walking toward destruction.

The only party that remained clearheaded was the Spanish Media. They gathered all the news that was revealed and wrote out article after article.

The pictures on the articles made use of the sunken ships that sent one into despair.

"Darkest day in Spain!"

"Glory crushed, invincible destroyed!"

"Losing the invincible squadron, how will the empire continue its hold on the seas?"

"Who will save Spain?"

The answer was evident. The only one that could save Spain was the Madrid imperial city emperor squadron. It was still country war time. In theory, they could be sent out.

The problem was that Shanhai City did not attack Madrid. Hence, based on the country war rules, both sides were still at a regional war stage, so the imperial city army would not throw themselves into the battle.

However, the despair-filled Spanish people did not care much anymore. Especially the Madrid players, who gathered together, and arrived before the imperial palace to request and beg for Phillip the Second to send out the Spanish royal squadron.

"Fight for the honor of the empire!"

"We are willing to be the vanguard; we wish that the king can pity us!"

"Pay back blood with blood. Us Spanish players will not back down!"

The shouts that the players hollered were getting more and more motivating. To increase their persuasiveness, some even slit their own wrists and used the fresh blood to write banners.

The prideful Spanish decided to follow the spirit of the matadors; they would never back down.

Phillip the Second did not know what to do about the player's requests. With his war loving character, he naturally wanted to help the players out. However, due to the system restrictions, he could not act.

The rules the Gaia set were something that the NPCs had to follow.

"If you want to blame someone, blame the player squadron for failing," Phillip said helplessly.

The imperial palace could only reply to them with silence.

When the Spanish players that shouted outside saw the king not reply, an unconcealable despair appeared in their eyes.

"Spain really is finished?"

Some people were so sad that they even wanted to kill themselves in front of the palace.

The fresh blood on the stone steps became the last signs of the Spanish glory.

Eye-catching, eye-piercing, tragic.At this very moment, the defeated troops seated on the small boats arrived at the Spanish Port without any danger.

When the players received the news, they were naturally furious.

Some people took pictures of the scene of the six to seven thousand boats entering the port and posted it onto the forums. This totally ignited the rage in the hearts of the Spanish people.

"Scum of the empire, how do you all have the face to return?"

"All of you will forever be sinners of our country, go kill yourselves!"

More and more players gathered toward the port and scolded the defeated soldiers. If it was not for the army maintaining law and order, a bloody conflict would have started.

The defeated ones were naturally ashamed.

Confusion clouded their hearts; till now, a large portion of them still did not understand how they had lost. They only found after waking up that their ships had sunk one by one.

Following which, they were surrounded by the voyage squadron.

"We are innocent!" The players shouted in their hearts but did not dare to say such words out loud.

Their blood was boiling, and they wanted to claim glory for their country. Who knew that they would not even fight a war. They would even pay 200 gold per a person to the enemy and become sinners and disgraces.

How could outsiders understand such a feeling?

Helplessly, the furious players had already lost their rationality, so how would they listen to the defeated players' words? Curses, numerous smelly eggs, cabbages, and tomatoes were the only reply they received.

The soldiers swiftly fled using teleportation formations, either going back to their territory or their bases. Some even went back home to lick their wounds.

Even if they went back, they had to bear the weird looks of their friends, family, and more. This was the most unbearable part for the invincible squadron.The boisterous port was emptied out by half in less than half an hour.

The player group who had lost their target of abuse loitered around the port, their eyes filled with helplessness. The small boats docked at the port were eye-piercing to them.

"Burn them!" someone suggested.

"That's right; burn them all. Just looking at it makes me angry!"

The players needed to use such extreme ways to vent the anger in their hearts.

Naturally, most people were like that.

All of a sudden, thousands of small boats were burned in less than half an hour. The massive flames charged toward the heavens, dyeing the port red. Within the flames were numerous ugly, despaired faces.

The great fire spread, but there was no one to extinguish them, so even some of the port facilities were burned. The burned black port became the most apt description of the empire.

Night fell, and the players slowly left.

A more intense event was slowly brewing in the night sky.

That night, no one fell asleep.

When the Lords returned to their territories, the first thing they did was to send out an emergency recruitment order. At the same time, they ordered the shipyards to work around the clock to build warships.

They were crystal clear that after losing the protection of the navy, the territories close to the shores would be the first targets. If they did not increase their preparations, they might even lose their territories.

Thousands of workers were put to work and started to build war forts along the ports.

The current Spain could not afford a second failure.

They lost the navy battle, so they definitely needed to defend the land; if not, their country would be over!

For the country and for themselves, the Lords gambled it all. They spent everything in their treasuries, occupation changing each soldier, building warships, and building forts.Working through the night were also the various reporters from the big media groups.

This weird naval battle still had many specifics that were waiting for them to dig out. The reporters started to break through the defenses of those who participated, saying they wanted to uncover the truth for the people.

The next morning, the various media headlines posted some shocking news. The redemption money matter was dug out by the reporters.

With that, it was like pouring oil onto fire.

The players who had just calmed down once again protested on the streets. The players who participated in the war were like rats on a street, abandoned and hated.

Of course, there was still the rational media people. They were anxious to gossip, but they had a bottom line; they would not touch the sensitive nerves of the players.

Their eyes turned to the battlefield.

The most asked question was, 'How did the ships sink?'

Through interviewing the normal players, guild leaders and Lords, what they described helped clarify matters and uncover the fog.

When the Spanish players saw the report, their doubts were cleared.

Without a doubt, their enemy had some kind of technique or equipment that was truly the nemesis of warships.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 668-Mediterranean Squadron

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The Spanish people asked and asked, finally arriving at the conclusion of Atlantis.

"Apart from this, there is no other way."

After the truth was revealed, their moods became even more complicated. If they had truly lost to the Shanhai City voyage squadron, they would not be able to accept it. After all, in their eyes, Shanhai City represented the east, which was synonymous with backward.

However, if it was the Atlantis Civilization, it would be a whole different story. In their eyes, Atlantis represented a whole new and advanced system.

"If we think about it this way, we did not lose too much face." The Spanish consoled themselves.

However, they felt complicated about the Atlantis island that had just reappeared. Facing this cause of their destruction, they felt a love-hate relationship.

The battle with the voyage squadron had made them fall far behind in the search for Atlantis compared to the other countries.

If they did not act, it would all be over.

However, the destruction of the invincible squadron posed a huge problem. This was without mentioning the fact that the Shanhai City squadron was still roaming the Gibraltar Straits and staring at them.

"Don't tell me that Shanhai City is going to extort us once more?"

Thinking about the chance of this occurring, the Spanish wanted to vomit blood.

The Lords along the seas even said, "Now, it is not about going out to sea; we must prevent the voyage squadron from attacking our territory. A country war is imminent, so the matter of Atlantis should be left for another time!"

"Well said!"

Finally, the Spanish realized that the country war was far from over.

The entirety of Spain instantly entered a crazy battle preparation state; they were determined to stop the enemy on land, "If they dare to attack us, they will not return!"

One had to say that even though this proud race had faced some setbacks, their personality was hard to change.

This news from Spain made it easier for all the spies from the various countries. They did not need to do much and could learn about everything that had happened in the Mediterranean, passing the intel to their Lords.

This time, the Mediterranean region was in an uproar.

"The Spanish Invincible Squadron has fallen; their glory is no more!" This news was just too massive.

Not only France, even Italy, Greece, and Egypt saw the chance to attack the Mediterranean. They wanted to make use of this chance to break the control of Spain and swiftly become a strong country in the region.

Of course, there were some Lords who were worried about the voyage squadron. Even the Invincible Spanish Squadron had fallen to Shanhai, so would there be room for them in the Mediterranean in the future?

"We are afraid of blocking a tiger from the front but a wolf creeps up from behind!" This was their worry.

The Lords had complicated feelings. They were afraid of the strength of the Shanhai City squadron, but they were unwilling to give up the chance to rise up in the Mediterranean.

With that, all sides held many meetings to try to strike a balance.

The entire Mediterranean became chaotic to the extreme.

On the contrary, France's Lord Henry had a certain attitude. When he received the news, he immediately contacted his officer in hopes of forming a strategic alliance with Shanhai City. He was willing to add much more to the terms that he had set before.

The Mediterranean looked like it was going to flip upside down, but Ouyang Shuo acted like everything was normal and continued on as usual.

In the guest room of Dragon Head, Ouyang Shuo was discussing appointment matters with Alvaro.

Alvaro was born in Spain and was extremely familiar with the Mediterranean and the Atlantis. The Spanish Invincible Squadron in history walked out of the Mediterranean and entered the Atlantic under his guidance.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo had no reason to move him back to China. If he did, it would be like destroying a treasure. The best choice would be to form a new squadron here in the Mediterranean.

Ouyang Shuo planned to build a fifth squadron under the Nanyang Navy, which Alvaro would become the fleet admiral of.

The backbone of this squadron would be the 56 thousand Spanish soldiers and the 20 thousand sailors.

Under normal circumstances, the Mediterranean Squadron would need to be mixed up.

As such, Ouyang Shuo let Zheng He choose some capable generals from the voyage squadron and added them to the Mediterranean Squadron. At the same time, he set a rule that more than half of the core generals in the Mediterranean Squadron must be local Shanhai City soldiers.

With that, the Mediterranean Squadron would be formed up from the Spanish Navy, the Shanhai city local soldiers, and the pirates from the Gulf of Aden. The three of them merged together, providing good internal competition.

The Mediterranean Squadron was alone out at sea, not to mention that Ouyang Shuo was just getting to know Alvaro. Even if they were his own generals, he would still defend against them.

The shortfall in the voyage squadron was naturally filled up by the Spanish Navy.

Based on the Shanhai City navy allocation, a full squadron would have 110 thousand soldiers, a crew of 14 thousand. There would be five divisions, each having 22 thousand soldiers and a crew of 2800.

Based on the current numbers, they only had enough to build two and a half divisions. Ouyang Shuo gave Alvaro the power to build three divisions. As for the 10 thousand they lacked, they would be filled up in the future.

The Mediterranean Squadron would not only patrol the Mediterranean but also the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Even the navy unit in Somalia City was under the control of the Mediterranean Squadron.

Undeniably, this was going to be the squadron under the Nanyang Navy that was in charge of the biggest sea region.The moment he received his appointment, Alvaro's loyalty stat rose by 10 points. He did not expect the Lord to treat him with such importance and grant him such a crucial post.

The current scale of the Mediterranean Squadron was enough to compete with the Spanish Invincible Squadron in history. Furthermore, the Lord had already promised he would fill up the remaining two divisions when the time was right.

Of course, Alvaro was an experienced general after all, so he instantly got into his role.

"Lord, what about the uniforms of the Mediterranean Squadron, the weapons, and the warships? Also, the base and logistics, what are the plans for those?" Alvaro was truly straightforward.

Zheng He, who was sitting at the side, frowned when he heard these questions.

In his eyes, Alvaro was a little disrespectful.

"General Alvaro, please pay attention to your words. Do not be rude to the Lord!" Zheng He reminded him.

"What?" Alvaro's brows tightened; he did not understand what he had said wrong.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this scene, he waved both of them off in amusement.

In truth, this was the difference between eastern and western culture. Easterners were more reserved, humble, and polite when they spoke. On the other hand, Westerners were more direct and efficient.

It was only a cultural difference.

"Well asked. The military uniform of the Spanish Squadron definitely has to be changed. As for equipment, general can discuss with Admiral Zheng He and base it on the strengths of the soldiers to flexibly adjust," Ouyang Shuo said.

Alvaro and Zheng He exchanged glances and nodded, "Understood!"

Zheng He was Alvaro's superior. As someone who was in the military, he would naturally follow the rank system and respect his superior.

Alvaro also knew that Zheng He's reminder was a genuine one. It seemed like he still needed to get closer to Zheng He to learn how to merge into the Shanhai City system.

"The needed warships will be built in Somalia's Friendship City. They will probably be handed over in two months." Ouyang Shuo was not planning to use the large number of Galleons they had acquired.

Ouyang Shuo paused for a moment before he continued, "As for the housing and logistics problems, they will be solved together. I've decided to immediately set off for Gibraltar Port after fishing out the cannons; we will reclaim it."

The meeting room fell silent; instantly, the smell of gunpowder rose up.

7th month, 29th day, the voyage squadron, which had returned with their bags full, once again occupied Gibraltar Port.

Spanish Lord Juan had left a portion of his army at the port. When the news of the Invincible Squadron's failure spread back, they immediately left. However, before they left, they nabbed all the residents and even burned the port.

It seemed like they did not have any hopes of reclaiming the port once more.

The current Gibraltar Port was basically a ghost town.

Looking at the charred port, Ouyang Shuo had a rather complicated expression. However, amongst the squadron, Alvaro had the most conflicted expression. He did not expect the Spanish players to be so decisive.

"Let's build an invincible fort right here upon these ruins."

In the game, Gibraltar formed a large concave, and the mountain ranges that surrounded it made it a natural harbor. Three sides had mountains, and one side faced the sea. It was perfectly separated from the Spanish mainland; not even small paths between them existed.

The foot of the mountain was narrow; it covered less than 50 square kilometers, even smaller than Friendship City. As it was near the sea, the soil had a high salt content and normal crops were unable to grow here.

Most of the old residents lived off fishing while some imported soil to plant crops in their homes.

In the 3rd year of Gaia, before long distance trading was prosperous, the strategic position of Gibraltar Port was not evident. Only a few merchant ships ever passed, which made it hard for the people to purchase necessities.

Even so, there were still people who lived here.

Although Gibraltar was a place with nothing much, it could still be considered a paradise separated from the world. Who knew that it would change hands so many times in such a short period.

Ouyang Shuo did not care about the fates of the people Juan had taken away. Currently, he was thinking about how to turn this place a war fortress; he wanted to prevent the Spanish from reclaiming it again.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 669-Jidian City

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo decided to keep the name of Gibraltar Port.

He was planning to build a mid-sized city on the limited and narrow land. It would be used for trading and would act as the supply center for the Mediterranean Squadron.

The name of this territory would be Jidian City.

Jidian meant center and base. Ouyang Shuo chose such a name because he hoped to build Jidian City into the base and root of their long-distance trading in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Oceans.

As the country war had not ended, Shanhai City's occupation of the port was unofficial; the situation could change at any time. Based on the rules of country wars, the war could only end in a few ways: either one country gets destroyed, both sides come to a truce, or land or money is paid.

The only way the development of Jidian City could head on the fast track was if the Spanish royal family agreed that Shanhai City's occupation of Gibraltar was legal. Only if they received such permission could they open up a relay in the country.

Ouyang Shuo needed to personally come out to settle matters if he wanted to achieve this goal.

Day, Gibraltar Port.

The charred black Gibraltar Port turn into a huge construction site. Many navy warriors took off their equipment, becoming construction workers. They cleaned up the facilities of the port as well as the houses in the area.

Ouyang Shuo's order was to clear up Jidian City within three days.

After leaving most of his forces at Jidian City, Ouyang Shuo led two navy camps and once again proceeded toward Atlantis Island. For this visit, Ouyang Shuo was using the name of Shanhai City Lord.

Hence, this was an official visit.

For the Mediterranean Squadron to truly set up roots here, they needed friends. Gibraltar Port alone would face massive issues in supplying them.

Atlantis was undoubtedly the best ally they could obtain.

From Ouyang Shuo's point of view, they could complement one another.

For this visit, Ouyang Shuo did not come empty-handed. He brought high grade tea leaves, porcelain, great spices, and an especially huge gift.

During the ocean floor operation, the voyage squadron had obtained a total of 5300 Spanish cannons.

The voyage squadron kept 10. They would bring these 10 cannons back to Shanhai City for the No.7 Research Institute to research it and aid Shanhai City in cannon making.

The newly formed Mediterranean Squadron would keep three thousand for themselves. Based on the plans, they would fix 300 cannons onto the walls of Jidian City.

Of the remaining two thousand, Ouyang Shuo was ready to gift Atlantis one thousand. If they were set up around the outer circle islands, it would greatly increase their defense.

After all, the combat puppets were strategic weapons and could not be easily used.

Atlantis had just risen. Naturally, no one would have other thoughts about it yet. But as the game progressed, and the country wars grew more intense, overlords would rise.

At that time, they would surely target Atlantis, this juicy piece of meat.

Ouyang Shuo roughly recalled that in the 5th year, the Spanish threatened Atlantis. In this life, because of Ouyang Shuo, Atlantis had appeared a year and a half early, and the Spanish Invincible Squadron was crushed. Hence, everything would change.

Even so, that did not mean that Atlantis would have nothing to worry about.

Planning for the worst was always the best strategy.Kalia seemed extremely delighted about Ouyang Shuo's Visit, and she arranged a massive welcoming ceremony. Fresh red carpets lined the floor from the north port into the palace in the inner circle island.

Kalia led all the ministers of the country to personally welcome them at the port.

"Lianzhou Lord Qiyue Wuyi greets the queen."

After Ouyang Shuo got off the boat, he bowed toward Kalia to show his respect.

"Lord Wuyi, welcome back to Atlantis!" Kalia tried her best to control her emotions and introduced him to the various ministers.

During the rushed goodbye last time, they had not had the chance to meet.

Of course, most of them were appointed in these few past days. They were previously struggling to survive, so why would they bother to build a perfect structure?

Everything was just to survive.

When they reached the surface, everything was different. Atlantis needed to show the outside world their strength and unity, so they must complete the structure in a short time.

Kalia herself was officially coronated and wore the crown.

The research organizations, factories, and other important facilities on the island had started to be used again. Atlantis was recovering at a shocking pace, and it was filled with a boundless vitality.

During the greetings, the Divine Martial Guards and the sailors dragged out box after box of gifts from the boats, forming a small mountain on the port. One thousand Spanish cannons were lined up, forming a truly majestic scene.

When they saw this pile, the ministers felt shocked.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, "Shanhai City being able to defeat the Spanish Squadron was due to your majesty's help. Based on our eastern traditions, we often give gifts as forms of thanks. It's a small gift, just accept it."

The moment his words sounded, it caused a slight commotion.

The ministers started looking at Ouyang Shuo differently, their wariness turning into thankfulness.

10 thousand years ago, Atlantis had built an amazing civilization, so how could they be fools? The problem on Ouyang Shuo's mind were things that the ministers and Kalia had noticed.

It would not be easy for the Atlantis people to gain a stable footing in the Mediterranean. Hence, they had rushed day and night to recover all the old facilities to obtain some self-defense power.

However, all of this needed time.

Ouyang Shuo's one thousand cannons were undoubtedly sending charcoal when it was snowing, immediately equipping Atlantis so that others would not have any weird thoughts.

With that, Atlantis would gain some much-needed breathing space.

Before this, Kalia was too close to Ouyang Shuo, which worried the ministers; they thought she had grown smitten with him.

It seemed like they had thought too much.

Despite his youth, the man in front of them was truly magnanimous, and he did not have any thoughts of taking advantage of them. The two working together became a really good choice.

"Since it's a gift from Lord Wuyi, we will accept it." Kalia smiled widely, leading the way, "Lord Wuyi, follow me inside!"

The large group walked into the inner circle imperial palace.

In the past few days, many players had located Atlantis and started to do missions. Especially in the middle circle island, many players could be seen there.

Such a majestic scene shocked those players who were doing quests.

When the players saw the Lianzhou Lord and his men receive such respectful treatment, they felt jealous, but they also felt warier and more respectful toward Shanhai City.

"Looking at the current situation, the Lianzhou Lord and the Atlantis Queen seem really close." The various country spies amongst the players noted down this detail.

As for the one thousand Spanish cannons, these weapons dazzled the players.

They could only worship the magnanimity of the Lianzhou Lord. Everyone knew that the Spanish Cannons were the most advanced currently, and each cannon was worth 500 gold.

Even in such a situation, there was no market.

One thousand Spanish cannons. Even with the most conservative estimates, they would have a value of more than 500 thousand. To normal players, this was a sky-high amount that they would not earn even in 10 years.

The actions of the Lianzhou Lord were truly something that they could not understand.Ouyang Shuo, who was walking on the red carpet, could see the players at the sides talking about him from the corner of his eyes. On the inside, he felt gleeful. After all, he had made such a grand entrance so that the other countries would notice him.

He wanted to send the message that Shanhai City and Atlantis Island were extremely close and to tell them to not have any thoughts.

The current Ouyang Shuo had gone past the stage of using military might to threaten others. Suitable diplomatic means would sometimes be more effective than weapons.Inner circle island, imperial palace guest room.

"Brother Wuyi, Kalia is really happy that you came to see me." Without any outsiders around, she immediately put down the mask of a queen and became closer to Ouyang Shuo.

Ouyang Shuo was truly frank, smiling, "Apart from seeing you, I also have something I would like to ask."

"Speak." Kalia was more anxious than Ouyang Shuo, "As long as I can do it, I will."

Along with Kalia was Minister Arras, a white-haired old man. His identity was special, and he was the assistant appointed by Kalia's father.

When he heard the queen make such a promise, Arras frowned. But thinking about it, he did not stop her. Although the queen was young, she was actually keenly intelligent.

At this time, it would be best to give her some face.

Ouyang Shuo could not help but glance at the minister as a look of praise appeared in his eyes, "I hope that we can form a strategic alliance in the Mediterranean and advance and retreat together.

Cough. Arras gave a short cough, stopping Kalia before she spoke. At this time, he had to be the bad guy, "May I ask, what responsibilities do both sides have in this alliance?"

When Kalia heard this question, she did not speak. She also knew that an alliance was an important matter, and she could not let her personal feelings get involved. If not, she would be irresponsible to her country.

Ouyang Shuo did not mind. After all, he liked such an honest conversation.

"I've set a few basic rules to discuss with all of you. As for the specific details, let's let the officials handle it. What do you think?"

"That's great." Kalia smiled. She did not want to quarrel with Ouyang Shuo just for the interests of their various parties.

Such fighting and debating should be left to the underlings.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 670-Mediterranean Alliance

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

After a morning of closed door discussions, Shanhai City and Atlantis officially formed a strategic alliance and signed an alliance contract. As for the core terms of the contract, it was the four matters that Ouyang Shuo had raised.

First, peaceful coexistence. The alliance did not aim to create conflict in the Mediterranean Ocean. On the contrary, they would work toward ensuring peace and stability in the region.

Hence, the two sides were willing to work with any third party willing to protect the peace in the Mediterranean Ocean and were eager to develop long-distance trading.

Secondly, protecting allies. If any side was attacked militarily, the other side must provide resource and troops unconditionally.

Note: This was limited to Jidian City and the Mediterranean Squadron.

Thirdly, open trade. Both sides would freely open their ports to one another. They would allow merchant ships to travel freely, encouraging native merchants to trade with one another and to promote technical and technological exchange.

Fourthly, Atlantis Island would allow Shanhai City to build ports and house troops there when needed.

These four terms showed Ouyang Shuo's ambitions in the Mediterranean.

Obviously, his end goal was not just to have one strong ally in Atlantis but to develop a circle of allies to proactively develop a friendship circle.

The core four terms were basically suitable for countries or even territories.After signing the contract, Ouyang Shuo had no intentions of acting low profile and just announced a press conference in front of the Mediterranean players in Atlantis.

He not only announced the success of the alliance, but he also announced the exact terms. Within a day or two, this news would be spread by the word of mouth to the rest of the Mediterranean.In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo set off to return to Jidan City.

As the return gift for the thousand Spanish cannons, Kalia also imparted Jidan City with a rich reward. This included two combat puppets, four construction puppets, two mimicry flying devices and 10 shark type mimicry warships.

Without mentioning the other things, just the two humongous war puppets were worth the thousand cannons.

These combat puppets were strategic level weapons; Atlantis City used 200 mimicry flying devices to air freight these two puppets to Jidian City.

If it was not for the transport difficulty, Ouyang Shuo would have rather just brought them back to Shanhai City. Even if they were not used, these 100-meter tall giants would not look half bad before the front gate.

As for the construction puppets, Ouyang Shuo needed them greatly. Jidian City had basically no resources and without a single NPC smith or artisan, the city could not even be constructed.

Ouyang Shuo had worried about this matter, who knew that Kalia would easily solve his problem.

As expected from the Queen of Atlantis, such magnanimity. Ouyang Shuo was thinking about compensating them when he had the chance.

8th month, 5th day, Jidian City.

After a month of running, they had demolished all the basic buildings into flat land. Not only that, a 12-meter high stone wall was built near the ocean.

On the city wall, many Spanish cannons were lined up, emitting a dangerous aura.

One had to say, the construction puppets the Atlantis people gave were extremely strong, especially in terms of city wall construction, they went to chisel stone from the mountain and built the wall like they were stacking wood.

These giants were not only huge but also great smiths.

Normal masonry was nothing too difficult for them. The Atlantis people had equipped them with many different types of mechanical arms to ensure that they could flexibly perform different kinds of work.

Of course, for inner city buildings, these huge puppets were not that useful. If they were not careful and accidentally stepped onto a wrong spot, they could easily crush a house.

Hence, it was still empty within the city walls; only the city Lord Manor had been built up.

At the side of the manor was an airport to park the mimicry flying devices. The two flying devices given by Kalia would act as a reserve power in the skies to act as their eyes.

Apart from Jidian City, Gibraltar Port was also cleaned up and port facilities were being reconstructed. The main use of the port in the future was for military matters, so it needed facilities like shipyards and ship repair facilities.

The 12 mimicry warships were quietly docked at a corner of the port. As for the mimicry warships given by Kalia, Ouyang Shuo was not planning to give them to the navy. Instead, he planned to make them into entertainment facilities on the water.

For travelers and tourists to sit on the mimicry warships and go around the port, it would cost one gold coin.

At the entrance to the sea, at the foot of the mountains, one left one right, the 200-meter giant combat puppets were like the iron giants of legends, quietly looking over the safety of the port.

One could foresee that the future Jidian City would remain safe, having defenses in all aspects: land, sea, and air.

In the surrounding ocean region, the Mediterranean Squadron and vayage squadron were training together. The Spanish war tactics and the ancient navy tactics from China were vastly different.

In the past few days, Zheng He and Alvaro, these two generals, had been spending all their time together to train their troops to try to use their strengths to cover their weaknesses. This was a great chance for the navy to improve themselves.Jidian City changed by the day while the Mediterranean region was similarly not quiet.

The arrival of the Shanhai City had flipped the area upside down, there being new news about them every day. The alliance between Shanhai City and Atlantis had messed up the already settled situation.

Anyone with even a slightly strategic eye would realize that the era of the Spanish invincible squadron had ended and would never return. The Mediterranean was going to have a new ruler.

Who would be the victor of this contest?

Each and every country all felt that they stood a chance.

And today, Jidian City welcomed a special guest, the Lord of Vic City- Henry.

Four days ago, Henry's messenger had arrived in Jidan City and expressed the greetings and kind intentions of Henry. Ouyang Shuo personally took time to meet the messenger and hoped that both sides could have a more well-organized discussion.

Hence, there was this visit from Henry.

Ouyang Shuo knew about Henry in both the last life and in this one.

Henry was a short man who looked rather dull; he was a man of a few words. The entire European continent did not think highly of him.

Only Ouyang Shuo knew that in the last life, Henry had smoothly become one of the three heads of Europe and his position was unassailable. On the other hand, the one that people thought highly about, Manstein, had fallen off.

At the same time, another Lord in the Mediterranean had risen up unexpectedly in the mid game and became one of the three heads along with Henry and William of England.

With that, one could see how intelligent and capable this little fellow was.

When he learned that the Spanish invincible squadron had fallen, Henry was the first Lord to find Shanhai City to cooperate. Just this point alone showed his foresight.Jidian City, Lord's Manor.

In the simple guest room, Ouyang Shuo sat facing Henry, "This room is simple, sorry for making a fool of myself!"

"Your country has an ancient phrase, 'What's important about the mountain is not how high it is but which saint lived in it.'" Who would have expected that Henry would know something about Chinese culture? However, even this phrase, he only said half of it, truly a man of few words.

He really is not simple! Ouyang Shuo thought to himself.

The current Henry's heart was not calm either. When he arranged for the messenger to contact Shanhai City, he did not expect to form any cooperation yet; he just hoped to make a friendly relationship.

If France wanted to rise, it had to face its enemy, Spain.

As they say, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

When Shanhai City signed an alliance contract with Atlantis, Henry finally felt truly tempted. Without a doubt, the cooperation between the two had signs of leading the situation in the Mediterranean.

What they lacked was the addition of a native power.

Vic City nicely filled this void. It wasn't just because Vic City was a native power. In terms of geography, Vic City and Jidian City were positioned north and south of Spain; they perfectly pincered it.

After balancing everything, Henry decided to grab this rare opportunity to form an alliance. With that, they would unavoidably be seen as a traitor by the Europeans.

Normal people would not possess such boldness.

The exact discussion between the two was not revealed to the outside world.

The next morning, a piece of news was once again spread throughout the Mediterranean.

Shanhai City's Jidian City, Atlantis City, and Vic City had formed a strategic alliance, becoming partners in the Mediterranean. Together, they formed the Mediterranean Alliance.

The core terms of the contract were still the four Ouyang Shuo previousl raised. Sete port in Vic City was officially open to Shanhai City and Atlantis.

Apart from forming an alliance, Ouyang Shuo and Henry also made a huge deal.

Jidian City used 300 Spanish cannons to exchange for 30 thousand artisans and 50 thousand coolies to work for a month in the city to build the city and port facilities.

At the same time, Ouyang Shuo spent 200 thousand gold to purchase large amounts of resources from Vic City.

Obviously, Ouyang Shuo was replicating his experiences from building Friendship Port to use gold in exchange for time to try and build Jidian City in the shortest amount of time.

The establishment of the Mediterranean Alliance had a massive influence on the Mediterranean Ocean.

The result of the strong working together meant that the alliance had swiftly filled up the gap that the Spanish invincible squadron had left. With that, before Greece and the other countries could develop in the region, they realized that they had no more chance.

The only difference was that when compared to the Spanish invincible squadron, the Mediterranean Alliance was relatively peaceful and welcomed the addition of new members.

Things always remained unexpected and could change easily.

At this point, the situation was settling, so Greece and the other countries should reflect on themselves.

The Mediterranean was going to welcome a new order.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 671-Ocean Auction

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Shanhai City's series of actions made the Spanish people feel rather complicated.

First, they formed an alliance with Atlantis. Next, they grabbed Henry and formed the Mediterranean Alliance. All of a sudden, they had replaced their position as the overlord of the Mediterranean.

The problem was that they were still in the middle of a country war.

The Spanish felt conflicted, and the Lords near the oceans were still waiting and making preparations for war. They had raised their morale to the highest point, but when they were right ready to fight, they realized that the enemy was totally ignoring them?

This made the Spanish extremely depressed; it felt like they had punched air.

"A*holes, focusing won't kill you, right? It won't kill you, right?" The Spanish could not help but curse.

When the matter of the Mediterranean Alliance came to an end, and the Spanish thought that they could finally have an all-out battle with Shanhai City, the messenger from Shanhai City arrived in Madrid with a proposition for peace.

Ouyang Shuo announced that he was willing to stop right now; the two sides could shake hands and settle for peace. The Mediterranean Alliance was also willing to coexist with Spain to maintain order in the Mediterranean.

On the exact same day, Henry and Kalia both expressed similar views.

Of course, if Spain was not happy about it, the Mediterranean Alliance did not mind fighting. His words were soft but had a tinge of toughness, truly showing his style.

This god-like change in situation totally caught the Spanish off guard.

The Spanish formed two differing views. The main faction felt that the Spanish needed time to rebuild their invincible squadron and backing off now was the right move.

The other faction wanted war, and they felt that the direction of war could not be totally directed by Shanhai City, 'Why? We fight because they want to fight and go for peace when they peace?'

The Spanish people felt that this was hard to swallow.

Even though they felt aggrieved, the enemy's strength was apparent and easy to see. Shanhai City alone was enough to give the Spanish a headache, and now there was even the revived Atlantis City and the Spanish mortal enemy, Vic City.

If they truly started a war, things would not bode well for them.

Amongst all the clamoring, there was one more view that many of the Spanish agreed on, 'Shanhai City is just here for long distance trading, they didn't hold any ambitions toward Spain. But our neighbor France is different, they are the true wolves.'

'In my opinion, that kid Henry is hoping we reject peace so that they will have a chance to use both Shanhai City and Atlantis to fight us.'

This time, the Spanish were totally jolted to their senses and broke out in cold sweat.

Even the ones who wanted war were totally silent, saying in unison, 'That's right, we need to stop the rise of France."

With that, the opinions of the players in Spain slowly came to a consensus.

Under such a context, Phillip the Second meet the Shanhai City messenger squad in the imperial palace.

After a period of negotiation, Phillip the Second decided to give Ouyang Shuo the title of Honorary Knight and also hand Gibraltar over to him.

With that, they just barely saved the face of the Spanish.

Of course, scars remained.

However, the Spanish people needed to focus time and effort into stopping the rise of France. As for Shanhai City, they could only take a step back.8th month, 8th day, Jidian City.

The title from Phillip the Second allowed Jidian City to be like Friendship City; they could open a relay.

At the same time, the meeting hall gave birth to a stone steele, which Ouyang Shuo used a black iron village creation token merged with a merger token to activate; this allowed him to increase the population count of the city at a quicker rate.

The manpower and resources from Vic City had started to be transported over to Jidian City.

Jidian City was slowly going onto the right track.

After opening the relay, Ouyang Shuo wrote his first letter to the city magistrate of Friendship City, Gu Xiuwen.

Half a month ago, Gu Xiuwen had already led his forces and reached Friendship City in Somalia, officially taking office. The large shipyard had also been completed.

Ouyang Shuo ordered Gu Xiuwen to get the shipyard to rush production of a batch of warships to send over to Jidian City for the Mediterranean Squadron's use. At the same time, he would also send a batch of civil servants over for the time being.

For the second letter. Ouyang Shuo wrote it to Military Affairs Bureau Director Du Ruhui; he asked the director to prepare navy logistic supplies and military officers to send over to Jidian City.

Similarly, Administration Bureau Director Xiao He and the Financial Bureau Director also received the news. The Administration Nureau would send civil servants while the Financial Bureau would lead merchants and Chambers of Commerce over to trade.

Along with the establishment of Jidian City, Ouyang Shuo's great trade route passed through Jidian City, Friendship City, Lion City, Yashan City, and Beihai City, forming one line.

Under the massive motivation of large profits, not only the chambers of commerce in the territory but even the ones in the various imperial cities rushed over to use this newly formed trade route opened by the voyage squadron.

The age of seafaring had truly arrived.

With that, just by collecting taxes, Shanhai City would be able to earn plenty.

More importantly, Shanhai City had raised its power and strength to speak up on world matters.

Of course, the various countries in Europe could also use the trade route to enter the eastern regions. The game was still different from the ancient times. With China as an example, they could not obtain too much of an advantage because of this trade route.

The difference in technology levels even meant that China would be at a loss. Hence, the Lords in China needed to focus their attention on developing technology in their various territories.

If not, and they lagged too far behind, they would definitely be attacked.

In conclusion, Shanhai City opening the trade route was like opening pandora's box. It caused the territories and Lords to face many uncertain challenges.

The opening of long distance trading would bring changes, challenges, and chances for new industries; it could alter the prosperity of the territories.

At the same time, it would also be a huge challenge for Shanhai City and the Nanyang Navy to maintain this trade route. Under the temptation of huge profits, people might come over to challenge their power.

The road to conquering the seas had just started.

8th month, 10th day, Jidian City.

Jidian City heading on the right path meant that it was once again time for the voyage squadron to leave.

Before setting off, Ouyang Shuo held a grand ocean auction at Jidian City. The items auctioned off included 20 Spanish galleons, 30 Carracks, 700 Spanish cannons, and two thousand underwater breathing devices.

The moment the news was sent out, the entire Mediterranean was shocked.

The current countries were fighting to increase their ocean strength. Be it warships or cannons, they were all items that they desperately needed. Moreover, the Spanish galleons and cannons were all the top of the line items.

As for the underwater breathing devices, they were even more eye-catching.

Under the investigation of the spies of the various nations, the underwater breathing devices that had caused the destruction of the Spanish invincible squadron entered their field of sight, astonishing all the countries.

Before it had happened, nobody would have expected that the invincible squadron would actually fall to something like that. However, the Atlantis Civilization was too mysterious, and the underwater breathing device was too magical.

The current underwater breathing devices were all sold at sky high prices.

Meanwhile, Jidian City was selling off two thousand of them at once, so how could that not make their blood boil? When they heard the news, the Lords were worried that they would be too late.

In the few days, many warships had parked at Gibraltar Port.

The port, which turned cold due to the actions of Juan, had once again become bustling.

At the same time, the insane defenses of Jidian City were clearly displayed to everyone.

The huge combat puppets, the strong Mediterranean Squadron, the high city walls, the cold cannons, and the mimicry flying devices soaring overhead made everyone fearful.

The auction was mainly to clear resources that were not needed; it was also to form relationships with the Lords of other countries. At the same time, it also had a hidden intention - to warn everyone that Jidian City was not weak

He could not be too sure that the other countries would not have any strange thoughts after the voyage squadron left. Hence, he could only create a positive situation for Jidian City before he left.

Ouyang Shuo also took this chance to share the hot potato that was the underwater breathing device.

One could foresee that if Shanhai City were the only ones to possess such a secret weapon, the Mediterranean Countries would not truly trust them.

After the war, if people like the Spanish fanned the flames, it would be easy to cause people to be wary and start to hate Jidian City.

To Jidian City, it would be a huge loss.

As such, he might as well throw out a bait to allow the other countries to fight; this would buy him some space and time to retreat.At 10 AM, the auction officially began.

The ones who joined the auction were all Lords from the various countries, and they all had enormous wealth. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo would not be petty and sell it item by item. Instead, he sold items batch by batch.

Moreover, to the various Lords, buying one or two warships had little to no meaning.

10 Spanish galleons, 15 carracks, 350 cannons, and 500 underwater breathing devices were sold in one batch.

The entire auction would be split into three batches. The last batch would be left with one thousand underwater breathing devices and the starting bid of each batch was 400 thousand gold. Each addition in bid had to be no less than 20 thousand gold.

At the same time, Ouyang Shuo also made a rule that the player who had already won could not join again. Hence, there would be three winners.

Such intense competition far exceeded their expectations.

The Lianzhou Lord really is a huge schemer, the players could not help but think.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 672-Viking Pirates

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

After the ocean auction ended, Ouyang Shuo obtained a total of two million gold. One of the three winners was a person he paid a lot of intention to, the Mediterranean Lord that would rise up in the future.

This person was known as Caesar, and he was rumored to be the direct descendant of the ancient Roman Empire.

In the 4th year of Ouyang Shuo's last life, Caesar had risen up in Europe, becoming one of the three giants of the European continent. At that time, his legendary past was slowly revealed on the forums.

He was a Lord gamemode player, but his game life had started from the mysterious Roman Imperial Palace. He was born in the roman imperial palace at the start and was nurtured as a member of the royal family.

Regarding the specifics of his experiences and past, even the people closest to him lacked knowledge.

In the first half of the Gaia third year, Caesar left the imperial palace and officially started his journey as a Lord. His followers included 50 thousand Ancient Rome Guards, 20 thousand top grade artisans, thousands of experienced officials, a few million gold worth of riches, and thousands of special items, building blueprints, technical manuals, and the like.

All in all, the Roman Imperial Palace prepared anything that a Lord would need for him. Even the rank that restricted Lords was given to him directly – the rank of 2nd class Marquis rank.

Based on the news revealed on the forums, even the village creation token he used was gold rank.

Gaius Octavius Augustus, who was in the Roman Imperial Palace, even sent his great general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to Caesar.

One must know that Agrippa had helped Augustus defeat Anthony, the general who had contributed the most to them winning the internal conflict of Rome. Even in roman history, he would be considered one of the top 10 generals.

In the Battle of Actium, Agrippa commanded the troops and defeated Anthony and Cleopatra's alliance army. After this battle, Anthony killed himself and Egypt became a province for Rome.

One could see that Emperor Augustus treated Caesar as his successor.

Although Caesar had stayed in the imperial palace for two years, his starting point was enough to put every other Lord to shame. Without a doubt, this was a typical type of Lord that overtook at a corner.

'Born in the imperial palace,' was the adventure quest that Caesar had been given, making every outsider extremely jealous. One could imagine that his luck stat was incredibly high. As for his claim that his bloodline belonged to that of the royal family, very little people believed it.

Ouyang Shuo did not trust his statement either.

He announced such a claim to raise his prestige in Italy and to raise his legality.

In truth, Caesar was not the only one who had obtained such an adventure quest. At least, Ouyang Shuo knew that the Jingdou Palace had a young man who was quietly gathering strength to shoot for the skies.After ocean auction ended, Jidian City officially obtained the recognition of the various Lords in the Mediterranean.

Ouyang Shuo's mission here had similarly to an end.

The next morning, the voyage squadron left Gibraltar Straits and set off once again. Going past the straits, the squadron officially entered the Pacific, heading north toward the English Channel.

If the squadron continued to travel west and went past the pacific, they would be able to reach New York in America. If time permitted, Ouyang Shuo really did not mind taking a trip to North America.

However, it was already the 8th month; based on his predictions, the 6th battle map was about to be triggered. He needed to end the voyage before the battle started.

Compared to exploring America, England was the main agenda of this trip.North Pacific, Celtic Sea.

The Celtic Sea was located at the intersection between the Gibraltar Straits and the West Europe voyage line, where North America and Western Europe intersected. This was an important chokepoint between the North Pacific and the east, and it was deep with less obstacles, which made it easy for various ship types to pass through.

Since it was a chokepoint, pirates would definitely be present. The pirate organization here was the famous Viking Pirates.

From the 8th century to the 11th century B.C., the Viking Pirates have disturbed Europe and the English Islands, and their traces could be found all over the European Continent. 500 years before Columbus found the new land, the Vikings had already reached Newfoundland and explored the north region.

At that time, the Vikings were synonymous with pillaging and killing. One could even say that they gave birth to the word pirate; they were the ancestors of the western pirate.

At that time, they were all elite artisans, sailors, adventurers, and merchants. Most importantly, the Vikings were valiant soldiers, equipped with long spears, war axes, and circular shields; they also believed in the God of Thunder, Thor.

The Vikings originated from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. They once controlled a large portion of the Baltic Coastline, Russia, France Normandy, England, Sicily, South of Italy, and Pakistan.

Their dragon boats were also famous.

The Viking ships were light because the main raw material was rubber trees. The ships were narrow and extremely flexible and mobile. At the same time, it could take waves and weather. The head of the boat was curved and carved from an entire section of rubber tree.

It was carved in the image of a western dragon.

Hence, it was called the dragon boat.

According to the legends, the Vikings did not only worship Thor; they were also good at taming dragons. They were born dragon tamers and could tame various kinds of dragons.

Movies and dramas in real life all had such depictions.

In the game, Gaia merged historical and film works together to strengthen the presence of the Vikings, turning them into a massive pirate organization in the North Pacific.

The Vikings were sitting on bigger and even more terrifying dragon boats than in history. The headache inducing part was that they could actually tame dragons, a flying beast that was gold rank and above.

The strong Vikings became a huge obstacle to England, Holland, and other west European countries from expanding outward.The Celtic sea region was where the Viking pirates and the English Navy were fighting. On the vast ocean, 15 English Warships had lined up, firing at the Viking dragon boats at both sides.

The flag ship in the center had three floors of cannon decks, where no less than 100 cannons were mounted; it was pretty much an ocean castle.

The flagship was carved with the words 'The Annie" in English, truly eye catching.

If one was familiar with English navy history, they would know that the one in front of them was a typical Man o' War. The Man o' War was an elite amongst wooden warships, even stronger than the Ming Dynasty turreted warships.

They appeared in the 17th century, right at the end of the Ming Dynasty; these ships used sails to harness the wind to move. Its displacement was around one thousand tonnes; the ships were equipped with smoothbore cannons that could fire solid cannonballs.

After the English-Holland War, the Man O' War slowly were built larger, and its water displacement went up to three to five thousand tonnes, and the cannon count went from the tens to the hundreds.

In naval warfare, these types of warships had been the main warship of navies.

Regretfully, their cannon range and firepower were limited, and they could only use a straight-line sailing technique. The warships had to line up into a single file and travel, and they could only fire the cannons when the enemy entered their range. Hence, they were unable to form an intersecting cannon fire net.

Apart from that, these battleships also had a weakness: in a storm, the third floor of cannons could not be opened.

The Man O' War relied heavily on wind, so it had limited mechanical movement. In situations when both sides were around the same level, gathering together was really difficult. The naval battle became a long crossfire between two sides lined up in a straight line, which was often unable to bring about decisive results.

These types of warships were known as battleships.

It seemed like the squadron in front of them were in such a situation.

Hundreds of Viking dragon ships braced the cannon fire, dodging left and right while surrounding the navy from all sides. Those that got sunk were in the minority.

At the same time, the Viking Pirates launched long spears toward the battleships. On the dragon boat, thousands of Vikings roared out, looking savage to the extreme.

The Viking Pirates had massive ambitions regarding pillaging and robbing, but they had limited numbers. Hence, they had to rely on unexpected ambushes and careful planning. Their ambushes were often split into two parts: throwing spears from a distance, then ending the fight with swords and axes at close range.

The Viking Pirates also had dragon pets in the game to help them, so they were overpowered existences.

This English Navy had been ambushed by the Viking Pirates. Since they were caught off guard, they had lost five to six grade 3 battleships under the attacks.

In the skies above the battlefield, two vicious looking fire dragons with huge wings circled, shooting flames at the English Navy.

Anyone could tell that the English Navy were on the back foot.On the Annie, a conversation was taking place.

"Missus, we can't drag this on anymore; let's retreat!"

The one who spoke held a large sword; it was a girl with red hair in a guard's uniform.

Her body was well-proportioned, and her huge twin peaks seemed exceedingly luscious. However, they were closely covered by her golden metal armor.

The guard's skirt totally failed to cover up her long legs. Due to long hours of training, her long legs s looked toned and healthy, truly alluring.

"No, Caroline, we cannot retreat."

The red-haired girl was facing another girl who held a silver sword and wore silver armor. She wasn't old; she looked around 23 and had an exquisite appearance.

Along with her golden hair, she seemed like the angel warriors of legends.

"Missus!" Caroline was anxious.

The missus was known for being stubborn; she did not like losing to others.

However, situation at hand would only result in a wipeout if they continued. If the pirate ships got close, they would be able to enter the close combat battle that they excelled at.

At that time, retreating would be impossible.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 673-Iron Lady Army

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Annie shook her head, rejecting Caroline's suggestion. He raised her head and looked at the skies, "Those two dragons are a problem. Ask the musketeers to give up on shooting the pirates and focus on the fire dragons."

"Understood!" Caroline's face froze; she turned around and left.

Thousands of musketeers changed their targets to the fire dragon circling above; this terrified the dragons and stopped them from making any sudden moves. In the end, if they were hit, they would lose a layer of skin even if they did not die.

If a critical spot or their wings were hit, they would face the danger of falling into the ocean.

Dragon taming in the game was not like in the films where everyone had one as a pet. Each dragon was like their children and a strategic weapon.

Under the command of the dragon tamer, the two fire dragons stopped circling and shooting flames down, which allowed the navy squadron some breathing room.

"Quickly, extinguish the flames!" Annie's expression was resolute.

Although the 'Man O' War' was an advanced warship, it was still made of wood in the end. The moment the fire on the ship spread, even without the Vikings acting, they would be buried in a sea of flames.

"Quickly! Pour water!"

"Faster!"

Under the hard work of the sailors, the massive fires were slowly put out. As the overlords of the oceans, not to mention some flames, these battleships wouldn't easily sink even if they were struck by cannonballs.

Their huge weight made them unusually stubborn.

Those who followed Annie out to sea, be it the soldiers or the sailors, were all extremely experienced.

After their desperate attempts at saving the situation, the navy squadron finally regained their footing.

However, without the musket fire suppressing them, the Viking dragon boats became fearless. They swiftly sailed toward the navy battleships.

Each battleship was surrounded by five to six dragon boats.

The soldiers on the battleships could already see the curled-up beards of the Vikings. Each pirate revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth as they opened their mouths wide; there was even meat stuck in the gaps.

On one side were the giant dragons spitting fire from the sky, while the terrifying pirates approached from the other.

The musketeers were suddenly placed in a tough spot.

The ocean surface was in total chaos. The navy squadron formation was spread apart by the dragon boats. The 15 battleships suddenly started to fight for themselves. As the formation had scattered, they now had to be afraid of firing cannons in case they hit their allies.

Close combat was unavoidable.

Pa, pa, pa! Huge planks were slammed down from the dragon boats, connecting them to the battleships.

If they followed the old Viking tradition, they should go up one by one to face off the enemies now.

The fate of the person who went on the board was as such: they either killed everyone or died themselves; the people after them would help them take revenge.

If one felt afraid, they could jump into the sea. No one would chase a deserter, but anyone who gave up would be seen as dead, and their family would neglect their presence.

Hence, the first ones to head up were usually the most elite. During the battles, they would act like possessed beings, roaring out and enjoying the atmosphere and the adrenaline. They knew that the boards were all soaked with the blood of their ancestors, and their descendants would similarly lay foot on the same spot.

In the battles, the Viking Pirates were exceptionally crazy and fearless. Their fury made the Viking pirates seem even more terrifying. Such soldiers could even be called berserkers.

Unfortunately, what they faced were not pirates but the English Navy. The navy focused on efficiency. If they truly tried to fight one on one, a musketeer could kill a whole boatful of Viking Pirates.

The olden traditions were left in the times.

"Shoot freely!"

Numerous bullets rained down on the pirates directly.

The pirates charging at the front all fell, their corpses falling into the water. The pirates behind them did not even feel the slightest amount of fear as they braced the bullet rain, waving their war axes and charging forward.

All of a sudden, the board was dyed red; to the Viking Pirates, this was a type of honor.

The Viking Soldiers on the dragon boats continued to throw spears over to cover their attacking brothers. Their spear throwing technique was truly accurate.

With the weak defenses of the musketeers, the moment a spear struck them, they would instantly die.

In the Gaia 3rd year, firearms were just developing. Along with the unique cultivation type support of the game, in a battle between thermal and cold weapons, firearms might not have the upper hand.

Be it the eastern primordial energy or the western battle magic, neither could be underestimated. When one cultivated to a high level, normal firearms could not even hit the; the current Ouyang Shuo was such an example .

After paying huge sacrifices, the pirates finally crossed the less than four-meter-long board.

The ones at the front jumped onto the decks; it was like a ferocious tiger had jumped into the musketeer formation. The huge and sharp double-headed war axes had insane killing power.

All of a sudden, the musketeer formation was in chaos.

The moment a hole was breached, it would be impossible to block it up.

"Charge!" Thousands of Viking Pirates stepped onto the decks and onto the battleships.

The chaos had begun.

Such a battle method was what the Viking pirates excelled at. The glory times that belonged to them had finally arrived.

At the same time, without the suppression of the musketeers, the two huge dragons charged down; the dragon tamers had ordered them to spit out flames.

The sails of the battleships were once again set ablaze.

To the battleships that used wind to move, destroying their sails was like removing the legs of a giant or the wings of a bird. Their huge bodies suddenly became cumbersome and useless.

The situation was more and more against the navy.

Wanting to retreat at this moment was nearly impossible.

Annie was still really determined, pulling out the long sword by her waist, "Iron ladies, follow me to kill the enemy!" Their morale shot toward the heavens.

As the sunlight shone onto her, she looked like a war angel, eye-catching and dazzling. The boisterous noise of the battlefield could not dull her luster; her soldiers would all willingly die for her.

"Yes!"

A group of united and tender voices replied to her.

On the deck of the Annie, three thousand Iron Lady Guards were well-equipped and ready. They were all female and elite combat players.

Their equipment was great, and they were well trained.

They were the Iron Ladies, the most unique squad in England.

Although they were females, they were basically heroines.

"Kill!"

Annie waved her sword, the silver light shining as they fought with the pirates.

"Kill!"

The Iron Ladies charged into the crowd, even more brutal and violent than the Vikings. Facing these attacks, the Viking Pirates were forced back despite their high on morale.

With the help of the Iron Ladies, Annie was like a God, killing everyone.

All of a sudden, the navy soldier's morale skyrocketed.

"A bunch of female devils!"

On a dragon boat far away, the pirate head Tuffnutt muttered.

"Boss, what should we do?" A big fatty beside him asked.

"Don't bother about The Annie, focus on the other battleships before taking care of those female devils." Tuffnutt was small and different from normal Viking leaders.

His huge cow horn helmet stood in stark contrast to his body.

His yellow teeth made it difficult for one to look at him.

"Understood!" The fatty laughed; he was as cunning as his boss.

Hence, without Annie knowing anything, the strategy of the Viking Pirates changed.

The flames of war burned, and blood boiled.

Fresh blood and honor intersected on the battlefield."Missus, not good, the other battleships cannot hold on!"

Caroline, who was soaked in blood, suddenly ran over. Several streaks of dried up blood ran down her face, making her look like a rose that bloomed in battle.

Even the Vikings drooled at her body.

"Scoff!"

Annie swung her long sword, chopping off the head of a Viking Pirate.

She looked around; since the Annie had the Iron ladies Defending it, they were safe and had the advantage. However, on the other battleships, the cheers of the Viking Pirates grew louder and louder.

For this trip out to sea, Annie only brought five battleships. Three of them had already sunk, and the remaining 13 were the territory navy arranged by William.

Orthodox naval battles were the strong point of the navy and not chaotic fights. Under the strategic pincer movements of the Vikings, the navy soldiers were suppressed, and numerous bodies were strewn all over the deck.

In her stubborn eyes, regret appeared for the first time.

She was too rash for rushing out to sea. In the end, she was ambushed by the Viking Pirates.

In truth, this was not the first time she encountered pirates. However, for the last two times, she had only met small-scaled Viking Pirates that were easily taken care of.

Hence, her passion of killing off the Viking Pirates was ignited.

She did not even know that the Viking Pirates had their eyes on her. The third time she went out to sea, she fell into their trap and was ambushed.

Not only that, she also dragged down the guard squadron that her brother had arranged for her.

"Missus, while the other battleships are fighting, let's leave!" Caroline was exasperated.

"No!" Annie stubbornly shook her head, "I'm not a deserter!"

"Missus!" Caroline was helpless; her tone could not help but turn more serious, "If this drags on and you are captured, won't their lives be lost in vain?"

"That can't do either. At most, we will die in battle." Annie suppressed Caroline's attempts at convincing her, "There's no need to speak anymore."

Each fighter had a way of life that they persisted on.

Her mojo was never to compromise. At most, she would just die.

On The Annie, a determined aura instantly appeared; an aura to fight to the death.

The Iron Ladies did not get unhappy because of her stubbornness. After her, this spirit was one of the reasons they followed her.

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

Their killing aura rushed to the skies.

Just at this moment, on the ocean surface far away, a huge swallow formation squadron slowly proceeded over.

The golden dragon flag floating above the ships was exceptionally eye-catching.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 674-Dragon Slayer

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Celtic Sea region, Dragon Head.

"Lord, there seems to be a naval battle in front; seems like they have met some pirates!" Zheng He reported.

"Oh?"

Ouyang Shuo took the telescope and looked out at the battlefield.

"English Man O' War?"

Ouyang Shuo immediately recognized the battleships and the ongoing battle.

"Giant dragons?"

When he saw the huge dragons circling around in the air, he thought back to the information from the last life. He was basically certain that these pirates were the infamous Vikings.

"Send down my orders. We will immediately fight, save the English squadron." Ouyang Shuo put down the telescope and ordered without hesitation. No matter who the enemy was, such a favor would help him in England.

"Yes, my Lord!" Zheng He did as told.

In contrast to the English battleships, the Shanhai City voyage squadron was made up of many different warships. They were also equipped with trebuchets, arcuballistas, arrows, rockets, and more.

The voyage squadron was better equipped to deal with the Vikings.

Under the orders of Zheng He, the voyage squadron formed into a battle formation and charged over. At the same time, frogmen dived down toward the dragon boats.

Although the Europeans already knew about the frogmen tactic, the Vikings were still unfamiliar with it.

Before the voyage squadron even approached, the drums of war rang out.

Cannon fire, arrow rain.

The Viking Pirates who were in the middle of an intense battle were pushed back; instantly, they panicked.

"Cover up!" Zheng He ordered.

Crossing boats and fighting were things that the voyage squadron did not fear.

Chen Dameng and the Divine Martial Guards were all raring to go, their killing intents boiling.

"Kill!"

The strong Divine Martial Guards and the sword-shield soldiers charged into the chaos; another round of massacre ensued.

On the dragon boat in the distance, the head of the pirates, Tuffnutt, stared at them like a bull; he opened his mouth, revealing his disgusting teeth, "Can anyone tell me who that damned fellow is?"No one could answer his question.

"Send the dragons to kill them." Tuffnutt was not ready to give up.

"Yes!"

The fatty took up the cow horn by his neck and blew a special melody. When the dragon tamers in the air heard this sound, they immediately controlled the fire dragons to charge toward the voyage squadron.

On board Dragon Head, Ouyang Shuo stared at the two dragons flying over, unfazed. He had even fought the mysterious eastern dragon. In comparison, these two 'dragons' were just lizards that could fly.

"Shoot down the two lizards!" Ouyang Shuo ordered.

"Don't worry!" Zheng He was also completely confident.

Handguns or muskets were not the true killing weapon to deal with these flying beasts. The true ones were the three-bow arcuballistas prepared by the voyage squadron.

The arrows shot by the arcuballisatas were like harpoons, flying over 1500 meters. Even giant dragons would definitely be heavily injured if struck.

On the various turreted ships, hundreds of arcuballistas had zeroed in, aiming at the flying dragons.

On the backs of the flying dragons, the Viking dragon tamers looked rather bored; they did not feel that any weapon could threaten their giant dragons. Just thinking about the enemy warships going up in flames, they could not help but break out into smiles.

"Dumb humans, prepare to be burned!" The dragon tamers clamored.

Aang!!

One of the dragons roared, sucking in air; its stomach instantly bloated and shone with a bright fiery red as if magma was boiling in its stomach.

"Fire!"

Just as the giant dragon was getting ready to shoot out its flames, the order to fire was given.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

Huge spear like arrows shot through the air.

Aang!

The dragon in the air let loose a painful cry; the gigantic 'one spear three sword arrow' either pierced its stomach or its wings, putting it in immense pain.

The flames that it was about to fire out were swallowed; its face turned red and smoke bellowed from its nose.

Aaaaang!!

The roars continued; the dragon tamer stumble and was tossed off its back.

Ahh!

The dragon tamer screamed helplessly in the air, crashing into the ocean. Their dragon could not last for long, stumbling and struggling to fly for less than a few meters before falling into the ocean and causing huge waves.

The pirate leader Tuffnutt looked on with his mouth agape; he pinched the fatty beside him in disbelief.

Ahh!

The fatty let out a pig like squeal.

"It's real!" Tuffnutt muttered.

"Boss, what should we do?" The fat pirate looked at Tuffnutt, annoyed.

"Pa!" Tuffnutt kicked him, "Are you dumb? Run!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The fat pirate immediately ordered the ships to start to retreat.

As for the pirates who were still fighting, they could not care for them any longer. Pirates were not soldiers, loyalty or brotherhood did not exist. Deserting their brothers was common to them.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Making use of the time when both sides were fighting, the frogmen had already arrived beneath the dragon boats. The flagship that the Viking leader was on became their focus.

Just as the flagship was about to escape, it slowly started to sink.

"What's happening?" Tuffnutt kicked the fat pirate once more.

The fat pirate had done nothing wrong; he was on the verge of crying!

Following a boss with such a bad temperament was truly unlucky. Luckily, his skin was thick; if it was another pirate assistant, he would be handicapped.

Even so, the fat pirate did not dare to retaliate.

He knew that the moment the boss was furious, he would become exceedingly crazy.

"I'll go take a look!"

The fat pirate ran away; for a fat person, his movements were quite swift.

In less than 10 minutes, the fatty came back panting, his face ashen white as he stammered, "Boss, boss, not good, the cabin has been chiseled; it's going to sink-"

"Sh*t!" Tuffnutt could not help but spit out a vulgarity, pointing a middle finger toward the heavens. He swiftly placed down a small dragon boat and jumped onto it.

When the fat private saw his actions, a strong power burst out from within him as he jumped down as well.

"Boss, wait for me!"

Peng!

The fat pirate fell into the dragon boat, causing the boat to sink slightly; luckily, it did not capsize.

"Jerk!"

Tuffnutt gave the fat pirate a kick in anger.

The fatty who was saved did not mind it, giving out a relieved smile instead.

Tuffnutt face palmed, having nothing to say to this subordinate.

These two pirates left the battlefield, quietly disappearing into the ocean.

"Boss what should we do?" In the distance, the voice of the fatty spread out.

"Look for our boss Xikapoor!"

"Ah, we are finding the boss? That's great!"

"A*hole, stop jumping; if not, the boat will sink."These two best partners disappeared across the vast ocean. Who knows what waves they would cause in the future.

On The Annie, the Iron Ladies similarly had their mouths agape.

"What in the world!" some people exclaimed.

A while ago, these Viking Pirates were crushing them. However, under the attacks of an unfamiliar squadron, they were like weak chicken, finished off in a few blows.

The strong giant dragons were even killed in the first wave.

The final boss in their eyes became monsters in a newbie village in the blink of an eye.

"Are we in the wrong version?" Someone started to question their life.

"We might have just killed a fake boss."

"Missus, that seems like the Shanhai City voyage squadron that has been making waves." Compared to her group of little sisters, Caroline was much calmer. Who claimed that people with big breasts would be brainless?

"Scoff, not long ago, they, Vic City, and Atlantis created some Mediterranean Alliance. Looking at the time, it is just about right." Annie had been paying attention to the news regarding the Mediterranean.

"The strongest Squadron in the world, as expected from there!"

When Annie heard these words, she frowned. Although she was willing to admit defeat, she did not say anything.

"Missus, let's go over to thank them." Caroline reminded.

"Let's wait for a while more." Annie did not act.Caroline had a 'I knew this would happen' expression on her face.The voyage squadron did not have time to bother with the ladies as they collected war prisoners, gathered the spoils of war, fished up the dragon corpses, and completed other matters; everything was done in an orderly manner.

It was like this was their main battlefield.

After an hour had passed, even a gold coin that was dropped on the deck was cleaned up. The bodies of the two giant dragons were hung on Dragon Head and taken apart.

The dragon's body was something of legends, so why would Ouyang Shuo waste it?

As for leaving some for the English Squadron? Sorry, this was their spoils of war.

Shanhai City was experienced in war. In terms of sweeping the battlefield for rewards, they were right there at the top.

Their actions caused the Iron Ladies and the English navy soldiers to exchange glances with one another. The prestigious and highly regarded image that the voyage squadron had establish instantly crumbled.

"Idol is destroyed!"

"Cough, keke, even a strong person would have a small weakness, right?" Caroline's expression was as hard as a zombie as she tried to speak for them. After all, they had just saved their lives.

The only reply she received were quiet stares.

"Greedy!"

Annie did not give them face and coldly spat out these words.Caroline could not laugh anymore.

Just at this moment, a tall and fierce looking general walked over, "Is this the commander of the squadron? I'm the captain of the Personal Guards. The Lianzhou Lord has instructed me to use his name to invite you to Dragon Head."

Every word that he said seemed to be forcefully memorized. A brute like him obviously lacked the talent to speak such words.

When Caroline heard his words, she smiled and introduced, "This is infanta Annie, the commander of our squadron."

"Please!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 675-Avic Fort

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Dragon Head, war room.

Zheng He reported the results, "During this battle, we obtained 12 thousand Viking pirates, 20 thousand gold, and many equipment."

Ouyang Shuo nodded expressionlessly, "Send a navy unit to escort them back to Jidian City and put them into the Mediterranean Squadron. As for the gold, gift it to the soldiers as a reward for being a part of the voyage."

Zheng He laughed, cupping his fists, "I thank the Lord for his gifts on behalf of the soldiers."

The Viking Pirates were all top-quality naval soldiers in terms of body qualities and naval battle skills. Compared to the Gulf of Aden pirates and the Spanish navy, they were a little stronger.

Their only weakness would be their lax discipline.

However, with Alvaro in charge, there should not be too much of a problem. That experienced general was known for not giving others face, and he was described as a cold person.

No matter how disruptive and ill-disciplined they were, Alvaro would train them up nicely.

12 thousand Viking prisoners were enough to fully fill up the 3rd squadron. In that aspect, destroying the Viking Pirates was a good way to increase their troops.

Relying on the snail-like pace of Jidian City to expand population of the squadrons was not practical. The new people were mainly to increase the basic population of Jidian City.

It seemed like he needed to send a letter to Alvaro to ask him to lead the Mediterranean squadron through the Gibraltar Straits into the Pacific to attack some Viking Pirates when the time was right.

With that, he would be able to train troops and expand the military.

"As for the equipment, take half with the prisoners and send it to Jidian City. As for the other half, give it to the English Squadron. They put in so much effort, so we should not make it too ugly for them." Ouyang Shuo instructed.

"Understood!" Zheng He was a polite person.

At this moment, the guard outside said, "Lord, Infanta Annie visits."

"Invite her in." Ouyang Shuo stood up to welcome the guests.

When he learned that the squadron they had saved was actually the Iron ladies Army under Annie, Ouyang Shuo was surprised.

In the last life, this cold-faced angel was famous across the world. On the forums, there were rumors that she had the beauty of an angel but a heart as cold as a devil's.

If history had not changed, Annie would rise up after her first failure; she would totally become the nightmare of the Viking Pirates.

In their words, she was a female devil that killed without blinking.

Annie became the humiliation of the Viking Pirates.

By the 5th year of Gaia, no less than 200 thousand Viking pirates were killed by her; this was more than half of their total number.

With that, her fame spread across the globe.

Numerous Lords and guild leaders chased after her, but nobody succeeded.

Someone even spread the rumor that she was a lesbian and that Caroline was her lover, which was why she rejected everyone.

In the last life, people treated it as side news and did not pay much attention to it.

When she walked into the room, the room lit up. Amongst all the beauties Ouyang Shuo knew, probably only Feng Qiuhuang could compare to her.

Beside her stood a red-haired beauty with a tantalizing body. Needless to say, it was Caroline.

Thinking back to the rumors in the last life, Ouyang Shuo could not help but glance at the two. This was the first time he had seen them. In terms of looks, the forums had not exaggerated in the slightest.

They were truly more beautiful than the pictures online.

Only her cold expression caused men to not dare to have any crooked thoughts. It was like even just thinking about it would be blasphemy to this goddess.

However, Annie misinterpreted the meaning behind his gaze and thought that he was like other men; she thought he was shallow and only went for looks, so a look of disdain flashed across her eyes.

"Infanta Annie, I've heard about you, please sit!"

Ouyang Shuo was truly sharp; he had noticed the despise in her eyes. However, in his heart, he did not feel bothered about it much and sat at the main seat. With his current position and mental strength, why would he bother to explain anything?

When Annie heard his words, she sat down coldly, "Speak, what would you like in return?"

Cough!

Even though Ouyang Shuo was calm, these words managed to catch him off guard. What kind of attitude was this? This was the first time he met someone who was saved and still so stubborn.

"Forget it!" Ouyang Shuo waved his hand to prevent Zheng He from speaking, smiling, "Since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush. As long as Infanta Annie leads me to see your brother, that will be enough. How about that?"

"Just that simple?"

Annie unknowingly frowned; she had seen so many so-called gentlemen who loved to take a step back, only to take a step forward later to get close to her and gain a good impression. Ouyang Shuo's action had deepened her misunderstanding.

"Yes, it's just that simple." Ouyang Shuo nodded.

"Okay, I'll promise you."

Annie bore the annoyance in her heart. Although she was cold and arrogant, she knew how to differentiate between hate and gratitude.

I really want to see what tricks you, the so-called 1st in the world, are trying to play, Annie thought to herself, Do not blame me for being upright you disgusting fellow!

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became extremely cold.

Ouyang Shuo had reached his goal, and he was not interested in talking to this ice-cold beauty. At his level, how would he be tempted by a person's looks? Furthermore, this was such a cold person.

In comparison, Ouyang Shuo felt that Caroline, who had a fiery body, was better to look at. Caroline, who stood behind Annie, had a rather awkward expression when she heard her missus's words, and she gave an apologetic smile.

Annie sat quietly, waiting for Ouyang Shuo's following 'act'. She had seen a lot of these tricks. They had all tried to use a similar excuse to invite her for a meal to get close to her.

Next, they would give her gifts to show their power and wealth.

Just thinking about it, Annie felt disgusted.

However, contrary to her expectations, Ouyang Shuo actually stood up and sent her away, "Well, I hope Miss Annie will not forget your promise. I still have matters to attend to, so I will not waste your precious time."When Annie heard his words, she froze.

This is not right! Annie could not help but roll her eyes, consoling herself, Scoff, is he trying to 'Loosen the reigns so as to grasp them better latter?' Just wait and see!

"Let's leave!"

Annie got up and coldly said goodbye."How can she act like that? If we knew beforehand, we would not have saved her." When Annie left, Zheng He could not help but express his dissatisfaction. Evidently, her actions were contrary to the eastern education Zheng He was used to.

"Forget it, do not care about her!" Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, "Send some medical officers to heal their injured. Pack up all the stuff; let's leave for England as soon as possible."

"Understood!"

"The navy unit that was taking care of the prisoners, let them set off now!" Ouyang Shuo said, "Return to Jidian City and immediately rush back to England to meet the squadron."

"Yes!"

Zheng He made the arrangements while Ouyang Shuo walked toward the deck. He had not had time to check on their spoils of war, especially the two dragons that they had killed.

"Lord!"

On the deck, the dissection work of the corpses was nearly completed.

When the smiths and artisans saw Ouyang Shuo, they all bowed.

In Earth Online, dragons were just spirit beasts that could fly, they were not as mystical and as magical as described in western folklore. As long as one found the right spot, it was easy to rip off their skin.

Amongst leather, dragon leather could be considered top grade. Amongst which, the arm and the spine portion were the best, as these parts had strong fibrous tissues and stensile strength.

Perfect Dragon Skin: Quality 28, top grade leather from a western giant dragon, can be used to craft top grade defensive equipment.

Ouyang Shuo kept the spine and waist portion of the huge dragon. It was not that he wanted to use it to make something in particular. Rather, he wanted to give it to Qing'er as a present.

She would definitely love such top-grade leather.

Apart from the leather, another valuable part would be the dragon crystal in its head. It was similar to the inner pellets in desolate beasts, which could help in cultivation.

Both of the killed dragons were fire element dragons, and the dragon crystals were of the fire element, a mismatch with Ouyang Shuo's cultivation method and talent. If he forcefully used it, it would not be that effective.

However, to the western hidden occupation, Magician, they were top grade items.

Ouyang Shuo kept the two dragon crystals into his storage bag, turning around and leaving. As for using the dragon blood to train one's body, such a method did not exist in Earth Online. At most, the dragon meat contained a huge amount of energy.

The two giant dragons gave them many tonnes of meat, which would be enough for the voyage squadron to use for a long time.8th month, 15th day, the voyage squadron set off once more, along with them Annie's remaining troops.

The road was smooth, and they did not bump into any other Viking Pirates.

The most active region of the Vienna Pirates was not the Celtic Sea but the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and the Greenland Sea; their main base was located in that area.

Annie had bumped into the biggest bunch of Viking Pirates in the Celtic Sea.

8th month, 18th day, the squadron smoothly arrived at the Plymouth Port in England.

In reality, Plymouth was a city with a vast naval seafaring history, and it was once the shipyard of the English Royal Navy. It was also an important port of the English from the 16th to the 19th century.

At around one thousand B.C., there was a small commercial port here.

The Plymouth Port in the game was a port that belonged solely to Avic Fort.

When he received the news, the Lord of Avic Fort, William, waited at the port to welcome Ouyang Shuo and his men.

Similar to Ouyang Shuo, William was rather controlling of his sister. However, because Annie was around his age, it was really difficult for him, and she gave him a huge headache.

Knowing that Annie was attacked, and her troops were nearly crushed, he was so furious that he nearly summoned the entire navy to hunt the Vikings. He only stopped when his subordinates managed to persuade him.

William felt really grateful toward Ouyang Shuo.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 676-Upgrading to Duke

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Just as Ouyang Shuo entered Plymouth Port, a system notification sounded out across the entire world.

"System Notification: Congratulations China Region Lord Qiyue Wuyi for leading the Shanhai City voyage squadron to crossing three big continents and oceans, unparalleled in history. Rewarded 50 thousand merit points, 100 thousand reputation points, and 1 special item, congratulations player!"The moment the notification went out, players around the world were astonished.

Till date, after a little over four months, the journey of the Shanhai City voyage squadron was known by the world. Their adventures in Southeast Asia, the Gulf of Aden, and the Mediterranean had all caused huge waves.

Not only Shanhai City, the whole world was paying attention to this unprecedented voyage squadron; they felt envy, jealousy, or even simply awed.

This also opened a huge page in cross ocean travel in the game.

Ouyang Shuo clearly remembered that the one who had gotten this achievement in the last life was the Spanish Invincible Squadron.

History was already slowly changing.

The moment he reached England, Shanhai City officially jumped to the position of the world's most influential territory. Be it in terms of reputation or speaking rights, they had broken away from the control of the Chinese.Ouyang Shuo stood at the bow, a complicated expression on his face.

At this moment, he thought about a lot; everything that happened on this journey flashed across his mind.

The waves he caused at the Spratly Islands, the mysterious dragon island, the life and death battle at Singapore, the bloody night at Somalia, the underwater adventure at Atlantis….

All these events seemed like they had just happened yesterday.

Through this whole journey, Shanhai City had gained so much but also lost too much. The voyage squadron was pretty much brand new, changing a few waves. Tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors were buried in the oceans for the territory's chase for ocean supremacy.

Only by sailing though the oceans of blood and corpses did the voyage squadron finally achieve such a feat.

The opening of such a great trade route, Xingzhou Prefecture, Friendship City, and Jidian City, the establishment of the Mediterranean Alliance, these were all massive matters.

Whilst Shanhai City had started the flames of war, they had continued to make friends.

The training and development from the blood and flames made this voyage squadron the elites of the elite.

"In the end, we succeeded, didn't we?" Ouyang Shuo's expression was one of loneliness, but there was an unusual steel about it. His journey to the position of overlord was far from over, and his heart could not waver even in the slightest.

Zheng He, who was not far away, had a complicated expression when he looked at the straight back of Ouyang Shuo. He sighed, "The journey to being an overlord is always a lonely one."

At this moment, Zheng He suddenly felt like he understood the Lord.

He understood the loneliness hidden below that determination.

In the end, the Lord was just a 20 odd year-old young man. However, he bore the hopes of millions of people on his shoulders; they hoped he would build a future for them in the wilderness.A white light shone in his hand and a scroll appeared; this was the special item awarded to him. It was actually the World Ocean Region Geomancy Map; it had all the geographic information of the various oceans marked.

This map was crucial to Shanhai City's journey to ruling the seas. With it, they could save a lot of manpower and resources, saving them a lot of precious time.

More importantly, from the 50 thousand merit points, Ouyang Shuo's total merit points broke the million bottleneck and he had become a duke.

This matter caused a second system notification.

"World Notification: Congratulations China Region Player Qiyue Wuyi for becoming the world's 1st duke, awarded the title of Shanhai Duke, rewarded 50 thousand reputation points. Additionally, there will be rewards from the imperial city."Such glorious achievements could not be described by words.

If Ouyang Shuo did not recall incorrectly, in his last life, the first duke was only born at the end of the 4th year of Gaia. Which meant that in this life, Ouyang Shuo had achieved that a full year earlier.

Ouyang Shuo's position as the World's Best Lord was becoming more and more stable.

With this, he had cleaned out the last obstacle to Shanhai City starting a country. He only needed to quickly upgrade Shanhai City into a capital city.

The current Shanhai City was just a Grade 2 Prefecture. Ouyang Shuo estimated that when he returned, he should be able to smoothly upgrade it to Grade 3 Prefecture.

As for upgrading to capital city, that would probably require some more time.

Without mentioning other aspects, just feeling up the one million population required was a huge problem.

Needless to mention, Gaia would definitely set some upgrade quests.

The difficulty of the quest would surely be much higher than that of upgrading to prefecture as a capital city was a huge jump. The capital city of a player could compete with the system imperial cities.

Of course, all of this would need to wait till he returned to Shanhai City.

As for the title that Gaia gave, after the territory sets up a country, the Lord could set their title. For now, he would be restricted to Shanhai Duke.

When truly building a country, the title would best be a single word; if not, one would know that it was a random lousy country without any skill or power. A country's fate would even be affected because of a single title.

The title of a country, a Lord in China could choose from the Spring Autumn Warring States Period, or he could set one themselves. As for how to do all this, Ouyang Shuo would have to seek advice from Jiangshang and Xiao He.

That was because simply using the title of other countries was something that would cause an uproar.

When upgrading to duke, the 50 thousand reputation point reward had also caused his total reputation points to break the million mark and successfully upgraded to Well Known Around the World.

A system notification sounded out in his ear.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, reputation points broke past 1 million, upgrading to Well Known Around the World, awarded the title Overlord, congratulations player!"

Overlord: raises the good impression of historical people by 55%, raises success rate of recruiting historical people, raises success rate of recruiting historical people from other countries by 20%.

Compared to the Mighty Lord title, these stats were not only a huge raise, but it also increased the chances of recruiting overseas historical people, befitting of the description of being well-known around the world.

If the current Ouyang Shuo went to persuade Alvaro, it would probably be much easier.

His reputation reaching the 6th stage meant that he had already reached the limit. Gaia had not set any settings further up, so he would need to wait till the system update.

It seemed like Gaia had not expected an abnormal player like Ouyang Shuo, who would break past the one million reputation point mark in just the 3rd year.

Even until the 5th year of the last life, no one had accomplished this.

Ouyang Shuo's actions could be called unprecedented.

In all likelihood, no one would be able to come close.

Luckily, breaking the reputation upper limit did not have a notification. If not, three consecutive notifications would be truly too eye catching.

Being too high-profile would make one hated.

Making use of this chance, Ouyang Shuo took a look at his stats.

【Name】: Qiyue Wuyi

【Territory】: Nanjiang Governor-General House

【Occupation】General (sub-occupation)

【Title】: Overlord (-), Barbarian King (-)

【combat strength】:Dark Gold

【Merit】: 1.01million/2million

【Rank】: Duke (Shanhai Duke)

【Reputation】: 1.03 million/??? Well Known around the World

Primordial Energy: -

【Body Structure】: 45

【Comprehension】: 38

【Luck】: 22

【Charm】: 15

【Command】: 85

【Force】: 80

【Intelligence】: 45

【Political】: 70

【Talent】: Wargod (Permanently increase combat power by 20%)

Talent: Ice (attacks have an icy effect)

【Speciality】: Magic God Possession (Raise combat power by 200% for 30 minutes, followed by a period of added weakness)

Specialty: Way of the King (raise sensory abilities and gives birth to the aura of a king)

【internal Art】: Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique (layer 11/12)

【Technique】: Tianmo Spear Code (Mastery through comprehension), Killing Sword Sword Manual (Mastery through comprehension)

Movement Skill: Floating Ghost Shadow (Mastery through comprehension)

【Art of War】: "Liu Tao" (Wu Tao Volume)

【Skills】: -

【Mount】: Little Green (God beast subspecies)

Special Mount: Dolphin mimicry flying device

【Equipment】: Tianmo Spear (High grade god weapon), Chixiao Sword (god weapon)

Armor: Dragon War set: Twin Dragons Swallow the Heavens Armor, Cloud Dragon Nine Pattern War Boots

Cape: -

Accessories: Emperor Seal (God rank), purple magnetic ohlite (royal family specific)

【Unique Items】: Yin Yang Copper Coin, group revival scroll, black dragon skeleton, fire element dragon crystal.

Apart from the rank and title, Ouyang Shuo's other stats had experience a huge change. Be it basic data, equipment, cultivation technique, and more, all were all changed.

Even his weakness, the luck stat, had started to catch up.

The dragon and phoenix pendant Ouyang Shuo had given to Song Jia before going out to sea. The purple magnetic ohlite that he had gotten at Atlantis filled up the void left by the pendant.

After going out to sea, Little Green finally recognized Ouyang Shuo as its master and became his personal mount, replacing Qingdian.

Ouyang Shuo's mimicry flying device was also listed. With that, one could see that Gaia did not only treat living organisms as mounts.

After this voyage, Ouyang Shuo's storage bag had a new collection of special and weird items.

Plymouth Port, Harbor.

The successive system notifications had disrupted the welcoming ceremony that William had planned.

Of course, his smile became even brighter. Even the cold Annie could not help but take a look at Ouyang Shuo. At such a stage, such achievements were simply too eye-catching.

"Lianzhou Lord, no, now it's the Shanhai Duke, welcome!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 677-Steam Engine

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Avic territory, William Castle.

After a simple but warm welcoming ceremony, William held a grand reception for Ouyang Shuo in his manor, which was the current William Castle.

William Castle followed the olden English castle style. Although it was newly built, one could feel the strong historical past. The castle brimmed with life, and the sights inside were beautiful and filled with substance.

At 3 PM, the two Lords finally had time to talk alone.

In reality, William was a member of the royal family; pure and legit royal family bloodline flowed in his veins. As a result, he had an unusual amount of prestige in the England region.

Although he was a lazy person, but he was definitely intelligent. After he heard what his sister described, William confirmed his suspicions: Ouyang Shuo came over for a reason.

Between the two territories, there was definitely going to be a huge deal.

Shanhai City had definitely paid attention to Avic Fort because of the steam engine they had researched. At the current age, England was right when the industrial revolution was sprouting.

The strength and energy of the industrial revolution was about to spurt out.

And the root of all of this came from the small steam engine. To research and develop it, Avic Fort had thrown in endless amounts of resources.

Conservatively speaking, it would not be any less than two million gold.

One must know that they had started developing the steam engine during the 1st year of Gaia. At that time, before they had developed it, the entire Avic Fort was living on a really tight purse string.

They finally saw results during the 1st half of this year.

Hence, William was not ready to hide this technique because of how rare it was. Instead, he wanted to sell the technique to earn back a large sum of funds, which would allow him to speed up the construction of his territory to catch up with the others.

After all, the game was different from reality. England was not the only region that could develop the steam engine. The entire Europe did not lack technological tree bottlenecks with regards to the steam engine.

A second, third country could soon succeed. For the England region to take sole possession of the steam engine technology was a pipe dream.

Since that was the case, William might as well take this chance to sell the technique for a good price.

In his eyes, Shanhai City was undoubtedly a good buyer.

Without mentioning the gratitude for saving Annie, first, Shanhai City was rich; secondly, Shanhai City was really far away from Avic Fort and would not pose a direct threat in a long period of time.

He did not even consider pulling up the technological levels of the eastern countries as a result of this. Since the global federation was established, the animosity between the east and the west was not as serious as before.

In the game, players chased for personal interests.

The so-called country's interest was just a lie.

And even if England did not sell the technology to China, William believed that America would sell similar technologies over to their allies in Asia, Tokyo and Korea.

With that, William did not have any psychological burden.

Now, he just had to see what kind of good price Shanhai City could give.In the meeting room, Ouyang Shuo did not beat around the bush and asked directly, "May I ask boldly, you have invented the steam engine, right?"

"Not bad." William nodded. In truth, the steam engine was being pushed out throughout the English region. With the strong intel ability of Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo finding out this news was not something surprising to William.

"Are you selling it?" Ouyang Shuo was simple and directly breached the topic.

"The price isn't cheap though."

William's face gave out a 'treasure in his hand' expression. Obviously, he would not be easily convinced.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this reaction, he was delighted. As long as he was willing to sell, it would be possible; after all, Ouyang Shuo did not lack money.

One could say that purchasing the steam engine crafting technique was the true goal of this voyage. Opening the trade routes was just something that he did along the way.

However, Ouyang Shuo had to make this deal succeed.

Shanhai City's industrial system needed to break out of the bottleneck of the Chinese technology tree if they wanted to develop. If not, even with the strong research organization at the No.7 Research Institute, they would be restricted by the technology tree.

Ouyang Shuo believed that Handan City's group of scientists also faced similar problems.

This was the weakness of the entire China region.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to lead the China region in future country wars, so he had to solve this disadvantage. As ap erson in his second life, in the last life, Japan and Korea had obtained the steam engine from America which helped them rise up, suppressing China.

In this life, Ouyang Shuo definitely would not allow such a humiliation to take place once more.

Hence, no matter what price he needed to pay, Ouyang Shuo needed to acquire the steam engine. Before leaving for the ocean, Ouyang Shuo even planned to forcefully snatch the technique through a country war if necessary.

Of course, that was the worst scenario.

Hence, one could imagine how emotional he felt when he knew the squadron he had saved belonged to Annie.

Needless to mention, without such a spark, William would not be so willing to sell it. Dragging matters for another half a year was a pretty normal thing.

At that time, Japan and Korea would have probably gotten the rights to the technique. The changes in the game were so swift; half a year was enough time to open up a huge gap.

One could say that Ouyang Shuo's luck stat was slowly starting to work."Three million gold!" Ouyang Shuo made his first offer.

Ouyang Shuo was not petty and did not raise little by a little. Three million gold was the result of his calculations and balancing; it was basically the limit to the worth of such a technique.

In the last life, the forums revealed that Japan region Lord Honda Keisuke had obtained the steam engine crafting technique from the Americans for three million.

Of course, that was already the 1st half of the 4th year.

In comparison, Ouyang Shuo's bid was already sincere.

"Brother Wuyi is truly quick!" William was surprised; this bid was really close to what he had hoped for.

In the end, William was a lazy and relaxed person and did not like bargaining.

Three million gold could be said to have reached his lowest valuation, but there was still room to rise.

After all, to a Lord like William, although gold was important, it was not the most important. Although three million was a sky-high amount, it was not enough.

"Not enough!" William resolutely shook his head.

"Add in one thousand underwater breathing devices." Ouyang Shuo was not flustered.

Ouyang Shuo understood and did not increase the gold as three million was basically the limit. William said it was not enough because he wanted him to use other items.

Sales was just a demand and supply relationship.

As long as one had something the other needed, one had all the talking rights.

The underwater breathing device was undoubtedly such a god weapon. Any navy would desire such an item. Especially after Shanhai City successfully used the frogmen, it pushed the demand for underwater breathing devices to the peak.

Whether or not one had a frogmen force would become one of the markers to whether one was a strong navy.

Speaking of whichh, England was a true navy superpower.

Without a doubt, Avic Fort was also known for its navy, so it had a huge need for the underwater breathing device.

Ouyang Shuo offering one thousand right away was truly a magnanimous act.

One had to say, William was tempted.

However, the steam engine was not a joke, and it was the core of the 1st industrial revolution. Selling the technology at such a time was a huge risk to Avic Fort.

"Not enough." William hesitated once more.

Ouyang Shuo's eyes froze; William's greed had exceeded his expectations. Seems like when discussing business, William had tossed aside the matter of him saving Annie.

When he became rational, he was truly a scary person.

"Then what about adding this?"

Ouyang Shuo took out another card, a dragon crystal.

When William saw the crystal, his breathing sped up as William was a magician.

"This is my limit." Ouyang Shuo had to remind him.

William nodded; he was not too greedy. However, there was a tinge of disatisfaction in his eyes, and he asked, "You should have another one in your hands right, say your terms."

"Throw in the sewing machine technology," Ouyang Shuo smiled and said.

"No." William did not even think about it and directly rejected him.

One must know that the sewing machine was one of the symbols of the 1st industrial revolution, and it was enough to bring huge changes to the entire sewing industry.

Although it could not compare to the steam machine, it was still a treasure.

How would William be willing to sell such an item at such a low price?

Ouyang Shuo did not expect William to directly agree, and he continued, "If I add in one million and 20 three-bow arcuballistas?"

One million was to make up for the price difference while the three-bow arcuballistas was a special need.

When William heard Ouyang Shuo's words, his eyes lit up, "The one you mentioned, is it the secret weapon you used to kill the giant dragon?" He had obtained news about the entire process through Annie's mouth.

"That's right!" Ouyang Shuo did not hide anything.

"Deal!"

This time, William answered without any hesitation.

"Deal!"

Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to reach out and shake hands with William; the joy in his heart was tough to hide.

Shanhai City, even the entire China region's foundation, was basically set for the next three to four years. They would not fall behind and be humiliated due to their technology.

Of course, a gap still existed.

Buying the steam engine and sewing machine technology only helped to make up for a portion of the technological system. In terms of firearms, the western countries still held a huge advantage.

Such technology, America was the most advanced.

Who knows, at a certain time in the future, Ouyang Shuo might need to make a trip to America.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 678-Returning to Shanhai City

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

After settling the deal, Ouyang Shuo relaxed and smiled, "William, let's do another trade. Shanhai City will use three turreted ships to exchange for 1 class 1 Man O' War and two class 3 Man O' War."

In the Gaia 3rd year, before the rise of iron warships, both ships had their strengths and weaknesses. Ouyang Shuo hoped to combine the strengths to raise their warship building standards.

More importantly, the design of the Man O' war was closer to that of the future iron warships. If Shanhai City used it as a model, they could naturally speed up their iron warship research.

William was a smart person and understood immediately, "Sure."

He hoped to use this chance to build some personal friendship with Ouyang Shuo. Western and eastern giants working together, what a sight to look forward to.

Next, they needed to discuss the dealing details.

At 6 PM, these two finally came to an agreement.

This deal was enormous; Shanhai City paid four million, one thousand underwater breathing devices, 20 three-bow arcuballistas, two dragon crystals, and three turreted ships in exchange for the Avic Fort steam engine crafting technique, the sewing machine crafting technique, and three Man o' Wars.

At the same time, William agreed to provide Shanhai City with 12 mechanics and 15 sewing talents to help Shanhai City technologically.

Naturally, they were delighted after reaching a deal.

William had obtained enough construction funds while Ouyang Shuo got the techniques he dreamt off.

With that, the gold in his storage bag had decreased by a small half.

When he defeated the Spanish Invincible Squadron, he had close to 11 million; the construction of Jidian City and the Mediterranean Squadron had used up a million.

The ocean auction allowed him to earn him two million.

His personal wealth amassed to 12 million. After this deal, he lost a third and now had 8 million.

Of course, everything was worth it.

That night, William held a huge feast in the castle's largest banquet hall to welcome Ouyang Shuo and celebrate their deal.

The next day, both sides settled the deal.

William passed Ouyang Shuo the two books; when he took them, they felt rather heavy.

Other than that, William gave Ouyang Shuo five prototypes as an extra gift.

Only after the massive trade started did the other people in Avic Fort learn of this astonishing deal.

"Shanhai City is truly rich; as expected from the richest man in the world!" Some people exclaimed.

"Selling the steam engine and the sewing machine to easterners, that isn't a good thing, right?" Some people doubted this matter. However, the deal was set in stone, and no one could stop it.

"No matter what, at least we have money now." The finance officer was the happiest.

Amongst all the debate, the deal continued.

Only at 5 PM did the batches of goods finally exchange hands. The hardest was naturally the warship trading. The Man O' War was still okay, they directly handed them over from the shipyard.

As for the turreted ships, they had to shift the resources over to the Man o' War and vacate it on the spot.

In an afternoon, this mega deal spread across England and even some countries in Europe learned about it. Naturally it caused an uproar.

Some said that England had betrayed Europe, some were envious, and some were angry.

Even in the mid 3rd year of Gaia, four million gold was still a huge amount to Lords. Furthermore, Europe was a place with a smaller land area, so these funds were even more important.

The rise of Avic Fort could not be stopped.

At the same time, the various Lords in Europe started to speed up their steam engine research. The 1st industrial revolution was going to totally explode in Europe.

8th month, 20th day, Dragon Head.

After the deal was completed, the voyage squadron did not spend too much time at Plymouth Port and got ready to return.

The squadron had three turreted ships less but three more Man O' Wars. Using this chance, the Shanhai City soldiers, including the sailors, got familiar with the functions of the Man O' War under the teachings of the engineers at Avic Fort.

If based on normal traveling speeds, even if they were not held up by matters, the voyage squadron would need two months to smoothly return.

At that time, the 6th battle map would have already started.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo needed a way to swiftly return to Shanhai City.

As for the specific method, before coming out to sea, Ouyang Shuo had it all planned. Even the entire voyage squadron, if everything went smoothly, did not need to return to the country.

Some of the rules in the game could work miraculously if used well.

In the war room, Ouyang Shuo instructed Zheng He," Lead the voyage squadron back to Jidian City and wait for further instructions."

"What about you Lord?" Zheng He did not understand.

"Tonight, I'll return to Shanhai City using a secret method; don't worry."

"Understood!" Zheng He nodded.

The mysteriousness of players was something that NPCs understood.His mysterious method was the Yin Yang Copper Coin he had obtained during the Chinese New Year's Eve of the Gaia 2nd year.

Yin Yang Copper Coin: After use, can revive without any penalty.

With this, Ouyang Shuo could commit suicide and revive in Shanhai City.

Without hesitating, Ouyang Shuo took off all his equipment and placed the items into his storage bag.

The so-called revive without penalty was just not losing level, internal technique, skills, merit points, and the like; your equipment would still be dropped.

Hence, to prevent problems, he needed to keep all his equipment.

Following which, Ouyang Shuo killed himself without hesitation. A short while later, his corpse disappeared from the Dragon Head war room.

At the same time, tens of thousands of miles away in the Shanhai City Reincarnation Hall, Ouyang Shuo slowly walked out. The equipment he had taken down were all re-equipped.

"Lord, Lord?"

The guards in charge of the Reincarnation Hall were so astonished when they saw him that they could not speak. The soldiers all knew that the Reincarnation Hall was not anything good for players.

Anyone who walked out had died.

"No need to panic; I'm fine."

"Yes!" The soldiers accepted his words.

In the Guards Legion, Ouyang Shuo was the pinnacle existence.

Towards their Lord, the guard soldiers would not have any doubts or distrust.

Ouyang Shuo's sudden return caused massive waves in Shanhai City.

The entire city became busy because of the Lord's return. For this half a year, the achievements of the voyage squadron had been spread around the entire territory by Xiao He.

In the eyes of the people, the Lord was an overlord; his prestige was at its pinnacle.

In less than two hours, the news of his return had spread through the entire China region.

Those who should know, knew.Handan City, Lord's Manor.

"Has the old fox returned?" Di Chen's eyes were deep in thought.

Who knows starting from when, the Yanhuang Alliance had all started to calling Ouyang Shuo old fox.

Juedai Fenghua smiled, "The China region will be thrown into chaos once more."

"Yea, that guy really causes a lot of problems."

Juedai Fenghua suddenly remembered something and smiled, "Who knows what the old fox will think when he learns of our recent war results?"

"Thoughts?" Di Chen's eyebrows perked, "Compared to what he did on a global scale, our little achievements mean nothing. He wouldn't even bother about us!"

"You don't need to be so pessimistic." Juedai Fenghua tried to persuade him.

Di Chen shook his head, looking really lonely and sad, "It isn't being pessimistic. You know that Difeng had spread the latest intel that the old fox purchased the English steam engine technique."

"You say, would he share this to the entire Shanhai Alliance?" Juedai Fenghua thought deeper into the matter.

"Probably!"

Di Chen was not certain; if it was him, he definitely would not share it with his allies. But Ouyang Shuo was different, he did not follow logic and often took unexpected action.

One had to see, in terms of magnanimity, Di Chen really could not match up with him.

"If that's the case, the rewards of our work this half year would be greatly reduced."

Di Chen was not triggered by it, "Well, we are the ones without the ability to go out to sea."

"I heard that Xiong Ba has been developing his navy." Juedai Fenghua paid attention to Di Chen's expression and continued, "I also heard that he has been getting close with the old fox. Who knows what he'll do this time when the old fox returns."

Hearing that name, Di Chen could not help but frown.

"Let him do as he wishes!"

In the end, Di Chen did not say anything.If one said that Yanhuang Alliance was worried because of Ouyang Shuo's return, then the Yunnan City-State felt utter fear.

In this half year, the Dragon Legion Corps housed by the Yunnan Province border, under Baiqi's leadership, did exercises regularly.

At the same time, the Consonance City Army and the Dragon Legion Corp kept having interactions. Their spies went in and out of the Yunnan Province, pretty much investigating the entire province.

The reason for these actions were obvious.

There were rumors that the Dragon Legion Corps was making preparations to attack Yunnan City-State. The reason why the battle had not happened yet was due to Shanhai City's seclusion policy.

Ouyang Shuo's sudden return meant that this seclusion had ended. This fierce tiger would once again show its fangs.

The first to be hit would undoubtedly be the Yunnan City-State.

With that, they were obviously terrified.

Starting a four City-State emergency meeting was something that definitely would occur.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 679-Clouds over the Alliance

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The moment he returned, Ouyang Shuo caught the attention of the entire China region.

The Nanjiang Governor-General House was similarly bus. Half a year had passed, and Ouyang Shuo had finally returned! There was the sister he doted on and his newly wed wife.

Only with loved ones could a place be called home.

"Brother!"

Bing'er ran over, hugging Ouyang Shuo. The glow in her eyes was filled with the vitality of youth. In just half a year, this young girl had started to look more mature and demurer.

Ouyang Shuo sighed. The past of her jumping like a monkey into his arms had passed.

He wanted to pat her head, but his right hand suddenly stopped in the air, landing on her shoulders instead, "After not seeing you for half a year, you are around my shoulder height already."

"Really?" She walked closer; her voice crisp. She raised her right hand over her head and measured it with Ouyang Shuo's shoulder. She was just a few centimeters off.

"Missing by just a little."

Her voice lacked any regret; she wrapped her hands around him and tightly hugged him.

"Brother, Bing'er misses you," she muttered.

Ouyang Shuo was stunned; his eyes trembled, and his right hand naturally rubbed her head.

Time seemed to have stopped at this moment.

The relationship between the two was pure and precious, like wine, becoming better with age.

"Brother, did you bring me any gifts?"

The young girl raised her head, the corner of her eye showing a hint of cunningness.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, taking out an exquisite European style box; this was what he had specially prepared for her. Apart from a pair of communication conches, there was also an underwater breathing device, a blue magnetic ohlite, and a red gem the size of a pigeon egg.

"So beautiful!" Bing'er opened the box and was instantly attracted by the magnetic ohlite. The pure blue was mysterious and grand. She looked extremely excited, "Brother, help me wear it."

She was a smart one, noticing that the blue magnetic ohlite was the same type of gem as the one around Ouyang Shuo's neck.

"Okay!"

This magnetic ohlite was one that Ouyang Shuo had specially asked from Kalia; it was an elite blue magnetic ohlite that helped cultivation.

Even the chain tied to the stone was made by a special grass in Atlantis, soaked in a mysterious blend for 49 days; it helped to calm one down.

It seemed like Bing'er would use it for the Wugou Heart Sutra. Even for someone who did not cultivate, wearing this item would help nourish their looks.

To women, this was undoubtedly a treasure.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo prepared one for Song Jia, Sun Xiaoyue, Mulan Yue, Cui Yingyu, and Qing'er. As a result, he owned Kalia a huge favor.

After all, the blue magnetic ohlites were rare items.

In his last life, the magnetic ohlite produced by Atlantis were sold at sky high prices. A top grade blue magnetic ohlite was sold for 500 thousand gold.

"Brother, what is the conch for?"

"This one is a fun item, it's like a telephone." Ouyang Shuo explained.

"Wow, so magical!"

Each item was astonishing to this little girl.

She was really pleased with the gifts that Ouyang Shuo had prepared for her.

While the two of them spoke, Song Jia stood at a side, watching quietly as a smile broke out on her face.

Bing'er was a smart girl, closing the box and laughing, "Brother I'll leave now, spend time with Sister-in-law!" As she spoke, she even specially took a look at Song Jia.

Ouyang Shuo shook his head, such a mischievous child.

"Madam, this is for you!"

Ouyang Shuo took out a similarly designed wooden box; however, it was a little bigger.

"I won't accept normal gifts."

Song Jia purposely said as she opened the box.

Instantly, the light from a gem shone brightly.

The most eye-catching item was not the blue magnetic ohlite but a 150-carat pear-shaped white diamond.

The entire diamond was perfect without flaws, totally eye-catching.

If one understood diamonds, they would know that this was exactly the same as the De Beers Millennium Star only 50 carats smaller.

"Ah!"

No matter how many items Song Jia had been exposed to, she could not help but cover her mouth with her hand when she saw such a rare diamond. Her eyes were filled with delight and awe.

Such a look was rarely seen from her.

As expected, women generally lacked resistance to diamonds.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, personally helping her wear the diamond necklace, "As expected, only you are worthy of this diamond."

For this diamond alone, Ouyang Shuo had spent 100 thousand gold. One must know that in game, diamonds were just decorative sand and had no use.

Of course, the meanings of diamonds went past merely stats.

Song Jia could not take it anymore, hugging Ouyang Shuo and kissing him right away.

Just at this moment, someone reported, "Ying Yuchang Infanta and Qing Yangchang Infanta have arrived."

"Greetings brother!"

"Sit down; let's talk." Ouyang Shuo smiled and took out his gifts for them.

Each gift was one that Ouyang Shuo had spent a lot of effort on, and they were all different. For Yingyu it was a huge blue gem; for Qing'er, it was an emerald.

Apart from that, there were other small things.

Of course, Qing'er' gift was the most unique; it was a huge wooden box filled with dragon leather.

Brother and sister speaking; naturally, it was joyous.

During the night meal, Ouyang Shuo rejected the suggestion to have a giant feast and just had a small family dinner at the back courtyard.

As for administrative matters, he would naturally address them afterward.

8th month, 21st day, Wuji Palace.

The morning sunlight shone into the sleeping palace through the thin windows.

Ouyang Shuo kissed his wife, whose face turned instantly red. He donned his clothes and got up. From the start of the game till now, he had never slept in and was already used to it.

As for Song Jia, she was disturbed by Ouyang Shuo a lot last night, so she was still in deep slumber.

Ever since the dragon island, after being washed by the dragon vein, Ouyang Shuo found that he had become rather intense.

The rumors of dragons being crazy about sex was not just random words.

During the voyage, he had no choice and could only bear with it.

When he returned, Ouyang Shuo could not control it and went on and on. At the later parts of the night, Song Jia could not take it anymore and begged for him to stop.

Only then did it end.Leaving the sleeping palace, Ouyang Shuo arrived at the reading room.

On his desk was a huge stack of memorials. Needless to say, they were all placed there by Bai Nanpu. Before he returned, these matters were all dealt with by the four directors.

Ouyang Shuo was not in the mood to read them and directly summoned Black Snake.

"Speak, what changes happened in the China region in this half a year?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

Black Snake nodded; he clearly and concisely explained the matters one by one; he had prepared for this.

In truth, not only Black Snake was prepared. All the officials in the Nanjiang Governor-General house basically did not sleep and were rushing to collate information and data.

The return of the Lord meant that they would definitely be summoned.

The Black Snake Guards were in charge of intel within the country, especially in regards to players. Naturally, they were the first that Ouyang Shuo called upon. The territory construction should not have much changes. If there were changes, it would be with the other Lords in China.

As expected, his thoughts were on the spot.

The first news that the Black Snake Guards reported related to Yizhou Island. When Ouyang Shuo was building Friendship City in Somalia, Xunlong Dianxue and Xiong Ba fought over the island and Xunlong Dianxue was at an advantage.

However, the end result would make one drop their spectacles.

After destroying the King City Navy, Xunlong Dianxue grew too careless and did not set up any defenses. In the end, they were ambushed by the King City Army that sneaked onto the island, and nearly the whole navy fell.

Only 10 thousand of them were left out of 40 thousand.

After this one battle, Xunlong City was left in a shaky state. They not only lost Yizhou island, losing something that was right there in their hands, even in Minnan Province, Xunlong City was struggling to hold on.

The current Minnan Province was in a chaotic state.

During which, Xunlong Dianxue had personally rushed over to Shanhai City to seek help but Song Jia had rejected it. At that time, his face was truly ugly.

Black Snake took a look at the Lord and said carefully, "Based on the intel from our spies, Xunlong Dianxue has been grumbling about the Lord."

When Ouyang Shuo heard these words, a sharp light flashed across his eyes, sharpness incredibly suppressing.

"Continue!" Ouyang Shuo was speechless.

Ouyang Shuo believed that since Black Snake reported it, he definitely had some actual intel. This also meant that within the Shanhai Alliance, cracks had finally started to appear.

People would change.

In the last life, Xunlong Dianxue could be considered a semi-successful lord, how was he as famous as now?

Some people would grow arrogant if they stood at the peak for too long. Xunlong Dianxue forgot who had pushed him step by step up that peak.

Maybe he felt in his heart that his position was all from his own hard work.

"Not long ago, the Black Snake Guards received intel that Xunlong Dianxue was contacting a mysterious power. As for the specifics, it was top secret, so we can't confirm it." Black Snake threw out another bomb.

Ouyang Shuo's eyes focused, "Is it the Yanhuang Alliance?"

"We won't exclude that possibility, but we can't be sure either." Black Snake was really careful with his words, "There is the possibility that it's a 3rd party."

"Hu!"

Ouyang Shuo took in a deep breath, uttering expressionlessly, "Investigate, investigate it."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Remember, when investigating, you must not alert him." Ouyang Shuo instructed, "As for those grumbling, we can bear it. We mustn't be biased because of this."

"Understood!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 680-Mongol Empire

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The matter with Xunlong Dianxue had spoiled Ouyang Shuo's mood.

The matters of the world were just like that.

When Shanhai Alliance first started out, they were all small Lords, with dreams, drive, and goals.

At this date, they were all famous.

Their greed and pride swelled, internal conflict and splitting up was unavoidable.

The lessons of history showed up time and time again; of the startups in real life, very few ended nicely. In the end, it was unavoidable that animosity would start, and even good friends would turn into enemies.

It seems like even Shanhai Alliance could not avoid this cruel part of history.

Ouyang Shuo pressed down his emotions and asked, "What about the other members?"

"Consonance City has totally solidified their rule of Kunming Prefecture and are getting ready. If we don't move, they would act alone on Dongchuan Prefecture on the north side." As he spoket, Black Snake smiled, "Lord, Yunnan Province doesn't have any big problem."

"Okay."

"Fallen Phoenix City is progressing at god speed in Taoyuan Province; they have already taken the center and north portion of it. The 20 odd Lords in the north have gathered together to resist their attacks. From an optimistic viewpoint, at most, they can succeed in defending. As for Fallen Phoenix's position as a superpower in the province, it is unshakeable."

Ouyang Shuo nodded; Feng Qiuhuang was really amazing. As expected, she did not let him down.

"There is only one thing I need you to look over." Black Snake stopped.

"Speak!"

"Based on the reports from the Black Snake Guards, the alliance leader of the Taiyuan Province north region Lords is Feng Qiuhuang's brother, Feng Tianlie. Under the support of the Yanhuang Alliance, Fengxiang City has been developing well and is of a great scale now. Di Chen even suggested to raise the speaking rights of Fengxiang City in the alliance."

"That isn't surprising." Ouyang Shuo was rather calm.

Ouyang Shuo was pretty familiar with all of Di Chen's schemes.

Two years ago, with Ouyang Shuo's support, Feng Qiuhuang had broken free from the Feng family and kept Fallen Phoenix City. The remaining members, under the support of the Yanhuang Alliance, rebuilt a new territory in the north known as Fengxiang Village.

Their consideration then was to just place down a chess piece since they could do so.

Hence, in the following one to two years, although Fengxiang City was a member of Yanhuang Alliance, they did not have a presence. Even Wandering Magic's Fallen Leaf City was more eye-catching than them.

Currently, Fengxiang City had suddenly become the castle to sniping down Fallen Phoenix City. Hence, attention was paid to them by Di Chen and the others, giving them speaking rights was just an act.

These aristocratic sons and daughters were truly cold to the extreme.

It seemed like the Feng family had been really hard done over the past year or two. Who knows whether they had started to regret the decision they had made two years ago.

"One more matter." Black Snake reported, "A month ago, Feng Tianlie stepped on some dogsh*t luck and managed to form relationships with a noble in a Mongol tribe to the north. He obtained a batch of elite Mongol Warhorses. They even sent men over to train their cavalry."

"What?" Ouyang Shuo leaped to his feet in shock

When Black Snake saw his reaction, he was a little confused, asking carefully, "Lord?"

Ouyang Shuo's eyes were unsettled, and he only sat back down after a while.

The scenes from the last life once again appeared in his mind.

The strong Mongol Empire has already started to act? Ouyang Shuo muttered in his heart.

In this life, probably only Ouyang Shuo was aware of the terrifying strength of the Mongol Empire. This giant was laid in wait since the start of the game and remained truly low profile.

The only time the Mongol Empire dealt with players was trading goods, especially the Mongol warhorses that the players loved.

All the while, the Mongol tribe seemed exceedingly calm and friendly. They did all deals that came their ways and did not disturb the neighboring territories.

It was like this was a genuinely gentle nomadic tribe.

Hence, the China region Lords had totally no defenses against the Mongol tribes.

Only Ouyang Shuo knew the catastrophe this nomadic emperor would cause for the entire north side, and it even affected the country war.

Black Snake's words jolted him to his senses.

In the last life, Ouyang Shuo was just an adventure gamemode player; he had limited contact with information. He only remembered that in the 5th year, when the iron Mongol cavalry went down south, the neighboring territories all fell within a night.

Only a month later did news spread that the Lords at the borders had led them in.

Digging deeper into the matter, all these territories had a similarity; before the war, they had made friends with the Mongol tribes and had gained their help.

More than half were helped by the so-called nobles of the Mongol tribe.

It was obvious that the Mongols had been preparing for this war since the start. However, Ouyang Shuo had not expected for them to start acting already in the 3rd year.

The peculiar Fengxiang City caused Ouyang Shuo to link it to that.

Ouyang Shuo tried to calm himself down and said in a low tone, "Let the Black Snake Guards follow this lead and investigate all the way. Also investigate the neighboring territories to see if there are similar situations."

"Understood!" Black Snake nodded.

The Lord's reaction showed that there was something hidden behind all of this.

However, Black Snake was a smart person and naturally knew when to act dumb. Especially as an intel organization person, he couldn't have too many thoughts and opinions of his own.

"This intel, pass Fallen Phoenix City a copy." Ouyang Shuo instructed.

"This..." Black Snake suddenly hesitated.

"What, is there a problem?" Ouyang Shuo frowned.

Black Snake gritted his teeth, "Lord, I want to report something. Our sources show that the people from the Feng family are trying to persuade Lord Feng Qiuhuang; they hope that she can return. For this, they were willing to give her huge power in the family and remove the gender discrimination."

"Eh, the rough method can't work so they are trying the soft one?" Ouyang Shuo felt amused, "How did Feng Qiuhuang react?"

"She rejected the offer." Black Snake nodded, "Even so, I feel that we have to defend against them."

"Understood." Ouyang Shuo nodded, "Remember, do not to cross the line. No matter what, they are our allies and our friends. Without proof, don't let cracks form in the alliance because of your investigations. Understood?"

Ouyang Shuo spoke seriously because he did not want the whole alliance to have internal distrust. He did not want to the alliance to suspect each other just because of Xunlong Dianxue.

If that happened, that would be dangerous.

"Don't worry, I know what to do." Black Snake nodded.

"Focus your investigation on the Feng Family, don't touch Feng Qiuhuang. Remember, you are an intel organization, not the special ops, and definitely not white terror." Ouyang Shuo reminded.

Under the support of Ouyang Shuo, Black Snake had already become an important person and his influence covered the entire world. His current achievements far exceeded those he had as a mercenary group leader.

Sometimes, he felt fortunate, fortunate about the choice that he had made. At that time, he had hesitated to disband the mercenary group and merge into the Shanhai City system; how would he know that he would have the position and achievements of today?

Such power was truly unbelievable.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo had to remind Black Snake. It wasn't that he suspected his loyalty, but it was to prevent the Black Snake Guards from using their power for personal use.

"Understood, Lord's lesson, I will remember; I will follow all rules." When Black Snake heard these words, he decisively replied, his face tense.

In truth, Black Snake was not the only one that had changed.

He was not the mercenary guild leader from back then, and Ouyang Shuo was not that sharp and rash Lord.

The current Ouyang Shuo, no matter where he went, would place an immense pressure on his subordinates. Before which, Black Snake could still guess what the Lord was thinking about, but now, his heart was only filled with respect.

There were many times that Black Snake forgot that both of them were players.

It was like they were truly in an ancient country, facing a Lord with absolute power. He had full respect and worship toward him.

To outsiders, it was weird, and even could not be understood.

To the players in Shanhai City, especially to the players that held roles, they felt that it was to be expected.

No one was certain of when this eye-catching Lord slowly transform into a true overlord. Especially after his return, this feeling became even thicker.

Who else in the whole world could cause such a storm just by returning?

No one.Ouyang Shuo did not know what kind of waves had been started in the heart of this subordinate, and he asked, "What about Stone City?"

In the end, what concerned Ouyang Shuo the most was the north. If not, he would not have sent the city protection legion over.

Black Snake suppressed the emotions in his heart and replied, "Temporarily nothing. In this half a year, the busiest in China has to be Handan City. Under Di Chen's leadership, they struck out, either attacking, using schemes, or using baits. Under the support of his family, Di Chen claimed territory after territory."

"Jingdou Province, apart from Stone City in the north, is all under the rule of Handan City. If it wasn't for the city protection legion helping in the defense, Stone City probably couldn't have defended themselves."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 681-One Man Show

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo did not support Black Snake's deductions.

Di Chen did not attack Stone City because he feared the Shanhai Alliance, not the city protection legion. He had seen through the determination of Shanhai Alliance to protect Stone City, which was why he did not dare to act.

The current Handan City was similar to the Shanhai City from before; they had swallowed up too much and needed to digest it. Jingdou's territory scale would be among the top three provinces.

If Handan City started another conflict, rushing into a fight with Stone City, and Shanhai Alliance got involved the flames of war would spread, and it would not be good news to them.

The current Di Chen had learned how to measure pros and cons.

"The other members of Yanhuang Alliance have taken similar actions?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

Black Snake nodded, "That's right. In half a year, Chun Shenjun had spent a lot of gold and hired 100 thousand player mercenaries to sweep the Jingchu Province. The current Jingchu province, apart from Xiangyang Prefecture where the imperial city is located, the rest is the territory of Pill Sun City."

"The current Chun Shenjun has a massive appetite and is ready to enter the Zhongyuan Province."

When Ouyang Shuo heard this report, he shook his head.

Chun Shenjun had tasted the sweetness of using a mercenary army, even to an irrecoverable state; he was walking further and further onto that path.

On the surface, a mercenary army was far cheaper than maintaining a proper territory army. However, in truth, they could only support but not take over. If not, it would be truly detrimental to training a local army.

In the last life, Pill Sun City's army was extremely weak in country wars.

Who knew that in this life, it would be exactly the same.

One had to say, Chun Shenjun was too much of a merchant and liked to balance finances. In the grand scheme of things, there were no improvements, truly disappointing.

It was the case of, 'The person involved in the situation is too caught up in the whole matter, while people looking on can see the whole situation clearly.'

The deeply involved Chun Shenjun would not think about this point; instead, he would feel pleased by his own actions.

"Donghai Province's Blood Red City as well as King City in Jiangnan Province have had similarly taken over their provinces. The difference is that Donghai Province still has an imperial city in Jianye Prefecture while King City did not only take over the entire province, but it has also started to work on Yizhou Prefecfure." Black Snake reported.

"What's the scale of King City's navy, and how's their strength?"

Black Snake froze; luckily, he had prepared beforehand, "Our intel shows that they have already built up a Zhoushan Squadron. Not only that, he also plans to build the Penghu Squadron in Yizhou Island. Weirdly, their squadron numbers are exactly the same as ours. I suspect that our info has been leaked."

"That fellow really has his ways." Xiong Ba's methods were something Ouyang Shuo had witnessed, "Did you investigate how it was leaked?"

"Pretty much." The Black Snake Guards was truly efficient, "It should be the officers from King City in charge of buying warships; they must have tricked the manager of our shipyard. We have captured him; he still thinks that it was not a big issue, and he could just randomly reveal it."

Ouyang Shuo grew more serious and said, "It seems like all you intel organizations aside from intel collecting also needs to train the officials to strengthen their anti-investigative abilities."

"Yes, my Lord. I'll work with Shen Buhai on this."

"En." Ouyang Shuo nodded, asking, "What about Guanxi Province?"

On the topic of Guanxi Province, Black Snake laughed, "The Guanxi Province is so boisterous now. The mid region is taken over by Xiangyang Prefecture and Chang An Prefecture, the north and south by Asura City and Fallen Leaf City respectively. If the imperial city did not stand in the way, Asura City and Fallen Leaf City would have fought already."

"They have not thought about expanding outside?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

"There are such signs." Black Snake nodded, "Fallen Leaf City is trying to enter the Zhongyuan Province from the east. Helplessly, the strategy of Pill Sun and Fallen Leaf City conflicted. Along with Hanwu Emperor making things clear, all of a sudden, the Zhongyuan Province became a mess."

"As for Asura City in the north, the other regions are all high plains with bad geography. The soil is not fertile and has limited potential, which is why Sha Pojun wanted to expand. Helplessly, it's north, west, and south are all NPC powers, so there's nothing he can do. The east is covered by Fengxiang City, so the current Asura City is like a trapped bird, unable to break away."

Ouyang Shuo frowned, thinking about the Mongol Empire once more, "When a dog is eager, it can even jump over a wall. Pay more attention to them, especially whether they have come into contact with the Mongol tribe."

"Understood!" Black Snake nodded his head once more, "Looking at the Yanhuang Alliance, the one without ambition would be Swordsman City. Till date, they have only taken down one prefecture. After which, they have shown no desire to expand. Although the Shu Land is mountainous, this is too weird."

"On the side of Swordsman City, let the Shadow Guards of the Shanhai Guards pay attention to them!"

In the Gaia 3rd year, the underworld was not out yet, so it was not time for Swordsman City to take the center stage.

"Yes, my Lord!"

Black Snake also knew that Cui Tianqi, who led the Shadow Guards, was trusted by the Lord. In this half a year, the Shadow Guards had captured many of the corrupted officials n Shanhai City.After such an introduction by Black Snake, the situation in the China region became crystal clear.

In this half a year, the giants rose and the weak had been defeated, this had become the melody of the wilderness.

Out of the 17 provinces in China, five had been taken down by the Yanhuang Alliance. On the contrary, only Taiyuan Province in the north and Chuanbei Province in the south were truly taken by the Shanhai Alliance.

As for Yunnan Province and Lingnan Province, only a third were taken.

Be it Consonance City, Black Lion City, or Xunlong City, none of them had obtained the power over their provinces. Stone City was being beaten into a corner by Handan City, and it only wished for survival.

Amongst which, there was still the problem with Xunlong City.

In comparison, Shanhai Alliance was at a total disadvantage.

"The situation is not good!" Ouyang Shuo sighed.

In the current situation, members of the Yanhuang Alliance were spreading out in a flower and becoming true Lords of a region. Meanwhile, Shanhai Alliance only had Shanhai City as a lone flower while the other allies dimmed.

Such a situation occurred because his allies lacked the ability and also because of Ouyang Shuo forcing their hand. In the first three years of the last life, when did Di Chen and the others have such skill?

In this life, Shanhai City forced them to take out all their trump cards, which caused them to obtain such battle results.

With that, the achievements of Bai Hua and the others seemed lackluster.

If Ouyang Shuo did not recall incorrectly, Bai Hua had completed the takeover of the Yunnan Province in the 5th year. Her current achievements could not be called bad.

One could only say that the times have changed.

In this half a year, the seclusion of Shanhai City had truly caused a lot of trouble.

Rumours had spread around China. Some said that Ouyang Shuo was scolded by the federation higher ups, and they had asked him to slow down; some said that Shanhai City knew that they could not beat the Yanhuang Alliance, so they were surrendering.

Although it sounded funny, it also showed what the players thought of Shanhai Alliance. If it was not for the huge news caused by the voyage squadron, the rumors might have gotten even worse.

Naturally, Ouyang Shuo did not bother about these rumors. However, this huge flag of the Shanhai Alliance was one that Ouyang Shuo needed to wave. After all, this was the key to him leading the future country wars.

"Since you all have shown your cards, it's time for a battle!" At this date, there was nothing for Ouyang Shuo to fear; on the other hand, his morale was high.

After half a year of seclusion, the tiger that was Shanhai City was going to come down the mountain!Ouyang Shuo rubbed his head, temporarily tossing out his thoughts, "You can leave now!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Black Snake bowed, leaving the reading room. At the door, he bumped into Zhang Yi.

The two of them exchanged glances, their hearts resonating with one another.

It seems like this 'reporting meeting' was going to last for an exceedingly long time."Greetings, Lord!" Zhang Yi entered the reading room and bowed.

"Sit!" Ouyang Shuo was causal; his mood was unaffected by the matter just now. He directly entered the topic, "Speak, what kind of progress has the Honglu Temple had in this past half a year?"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Zhang Yi was prepared and started to report.

In this half a year, although it seemed like the Honglu Temple had done nothing, they had actually worked a lot behind the scenes. The results they got was a huge energizer to Ouyang Shuo.

As expected from Zhang Yi, he truly did not disappoint Ouyang Shuo.

Based on what Zhang Yi's report, Yunnan, Chuanbei, Wannan, and Lingnan, these four city-states, were all broken through by the Honglu Temple, and they had inserted some of Shanhai City's chess pieces into these parties.

Amongst which, the Black Snake Guards and Shanhai Guards had worked together.

Last night, the Yunnan City-state had called for an emergency four city state meeting. This morning, the news had already spread to the Honglu Temple.

Apart from placing chess pieces, their greatest achievement came from the Chuanbei City-State. In that city-state, a fourth of the Lords had started to turn to their side.

Amongst which, a few of them were the Lords who held massive sway in the city-state.

This also meant that Shanhai City also had the ability to lead the strategic direction of the Chuanbei City-State at the appropriate moment.

On this point, he had to give it to Zhang Yi's guile.

The rise of the Four Seas Bank had helped the Honglu Temple to a certain extent. Using the chips of future loans, Zhang Yi managed to persuade some of the Lords.

It was the same as saying that the moment that Shanhai City could remove one corner of the four city-states without moving any troops.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 682-Grade 3 Prefecture

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The success of the Honglu Temple was without a doubt good news for the war plans of Shanhai City.

Shanhai City coming out of seclusion, who to attack, how to attack.

Long before Ouyang Shuo headed out to sea, he had handed this problem over to the Military Affairs Bureau, Baiqi, Han Xin, and the others; he asked them to come up with a detailed military plan.

Military Affairs Bureau had finished the military preparations Now, they only lacked military orders from Ouyang Shuo. As long as he shot the gun, the entire Nanjiang would enter war once more.

After Zhang Yi left, Ouyang Shuo met many officials. This reporting meeting only came to a halt when the guard reported that the Dali envoy had arrived.

When Ouyang Shuo upgraded to Lianzhou Lord, the imperial court envoy had come.

Now, when he became the Shanhai Duke, as expected, the imperial court would reward him once more.

Only, for this second time, Ouyang Shuo did not feel as excited or emotional. After all, the current Shanhai City was not too different to Dali Imperial City.

It was to the point where if Ouyang Shuo was determined to take them down, it was not impossible.

Since both sides were on an equal level, why would Ouyang Shuo feel excited?

This was without mentioning that once Shanhai City established a country, the seals, coronation uniform, and other items given by the imperial court would be useless; Shanhai City would have to make such items themselves.

Hence, although the second ceremony was grand; it was not really anything exciting.After sending away the envoy, Ouyang Shuo decided to not see any more officials and prepare to upgrade Shanhai City to a Grade 3 Prefecture first. As for the remaining administrative matters, he would solve them during the morning court assembly.

Ouyang Shuo arrived at the main hall and muttered 'territory upgrade' in his heart. Then, a white light shone, and the golden stone steele in the middle of the hall rose slowly once again.

Placing his right hand onto it, the system sounded out.

"System Notification: Checking Shanhai City upgrade requirements."

"Requirement 1: population one million upper limit, requirement met!"

For the 500 thousand new people, Shanhai City spent close to a year, and this was under the help of three village creation tokens working together.

This time, to increase the population, Ouyang Shuo had to think of other ideas.

There was no way he would wait for two more years before upgrading to capital city as that was impractical.

"Requirement 2: all basic buildings constructed, requirement met!"

The two buildings required for a Grade 2 Prefecture was long built during the Gaia 2nd year.

Near the wholesale center, which was located in the middle city region, was the distribution center built when the territory was still a Grade 1 Prefecture.

These two centers were the heart of Shanhai City trade.

The current Shanhai City was not only the political core of the territory but also its trading capital.

"Requirement 3: Lord is at least 1st class Marquis, requirement met!"

Ouyang Shuo had already upgraded to duke. However, in the entire China region, there was not a second 1st class Duke. Even Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang had not reached the rank yet.

His rank advantage was unassailable at this stage.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, your territory Shanhai City has met all upgrade requirements, will you upgrade?"

"Upgrade!"

A golden light shot up into the sky from the stone steele, bursting open mid-air. The golden luster spread in all directions till the new corners of the territory before disappearing.

Not only in the China Region, Xingzhou Prefecture, Friendship City, and Jidian City were all covered by the golden light. Only now were the fates of the new territories truly tied together.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for upgrading to Grade 3 Prefecture. Prefecture Grade Lord's Manor has automatically upgraded, player please take a look!""System Notification, Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for upgrading to Grade 3 Prefecture. After upgrading, the territory can have one more teleportation formation, please choose its location! Friendly Reminder: It is not restricted to Shanhai City but any city in the territory."

When Ouyang Shuo heard this news, he was delighted.

The rewards for upgrading to a Grade 3 Prefecture simply came at the right time.

If the territory were to have two or three more teleportation formations, maybe Ouyang Shuo would need to consider matters further. But now it was only adding one, so apart from Jidian City in the Mediterranean, Ouyang Shuo did not even need to think about anything else.

This was because Jidian City really needed a teleportation formation.

With this formation, he would be connected to the entire European Continent, even the African Continent.

"I choose Jidian City!" Ouyang Shuo was excited.

"System Notification: Location selected, teleportation formation is being formed."

"System Notification: Found that Jidian City is located overseas; hence, this will be a cross-country teleportation formation. For the rules related to cross country teleportation, player please familiarize yourself."

Ouyang Shuo was not surprised about this.

In Lion City, the teleportation formation was also a cross-country one and could only be connected to teleportation formations within the territory.

In truth, at this stage, Ouyang Shuo was not ready to open the Jidian City teleportation formation to China players, not even to his Shanhai Alliance allies.

The Mediterranean was more complicated than Southeast Asia, and it was not wise to start conflict now."System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for upgrading to Grade 3 Prefecture. After the upgrade, the Lord can adjust one of the geographic features in the territory. The degree of change will be decided by the system. Friendly Reminder: the change can only be done on the base and not totally change the area. For example, widening rivers, making mountains higher, and the like."

"It's finally here!" Ouyang Shuo was elated.

When he upgraded to Grade 2 Prefecture, Ouyang Shuo had used the chance to expand Friendship River and Qiushui River, so that Shanhai City did not need to depend on Beihai City.

As for this second chance, Ouyang Shuo would naturally cherish it.

During the Battle of Singapore, Ouyang Shuo had obtained a Mountain Opening Seal. After use, this item could open a path through any mountain.

If he did not have this item, Ouyang Shuo would have definitely chosen to open a path between Lianzhou Basin and Annan Region to sneakily open up his route to there.

With the seal, there was no need to waste such a precious chance.

Ouyang Shuo noticed that this time the system said adjust, not the slight adjustment like last time. This meant that the degree of change he could make was far greater than the previous time.

Thinking about it, Ouyang Shuo finally said, "Extend Friendship River and Qiushui River and connect them to Chuanbei Province and Lingnan Province."

Ouyang Shuo's goal was to increase the connections of Shanhai City with the other provinces to make it not as enclosed as before.

A true capital city should be a transport hub in both land and sea transport.

The current Shanhai City was only connected to the ocean; the north through Zhennan Pass to Chuannan Province; the east through the mountains to Lingnan Province.

The mountains on the west were slowly being opened up.

The problem was that roads were difficult, and some were even mountain paths that were hard to scale.

Opening the water paths was the right way. The two life rivers of Shanhai City naturally became the key to all this.

"System Notification: Land change being verified, extending river, calculating.""Calculations completed, geography changed. Friendship River can stretch north west 1200 kilometers, Qiushui River can stretch south east 1300 meters; these two are now connected to the pearl river water system. For the specific situation, player please take a look!"

Ouyang Shuo was delighted.

The pearl river system was the second largest river in China and the thirrd longest. In reality, it contained close to 349.2 billion cubic meters of water, taking second out of all water systems in China, only second to Changjiang.

The pearl river included Xijiang, Beijiang, and Dongjiang, flowing past Yunnan Province, Chuanbei Province, Chuannan Province, Lingnan Province, Wannan Province, and Jiangchuan Province.

Basically, pearl river covered the entire Nanjiang.

It was even connected to the north east portion of Annan.

Hence, it was understandable that Ouyang Shuo was so excited. Friendship River and Qiushui River connecting to that system basically settled the waterway of the territory.

Especially in the game, with the maps 10 times larger, the rivers were wider, making the waterways more developed and convenient.

At this point, the strategic geographical position of Shanhai City had basically been established.Along with the extension of the river, the territory upgrade had been completed and the system notification sounded out in his ear.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for becoming the 1st Lord in the China region to upgrade to Grade 3 Prefecture, awarded 10 thousand merit points!"The moment the notification sounded out, the entire China region was shocked once more.

Ouyang Shuo used this unique method to announce his strong return.Handan City, Lord's Manor.

The moment Di Chen heard the system report, his face instantly turned green, and he gritted his teeth, "Damn it, that fellow has snatched it again."

Handan City only lacked Di Chen's rank; once he ranked up, he could upgrade the territory to Grade 3 Prefecture.

He was now a 2nd class Marquis; he only was only 20 thousand merit points away from 1st class Marquis. Originally, he was planning to use the next battle map to upgrade.

With that, Handan City would have a chance to overtake Shanhai City.

If that was truly the case, the reputation of Handan City would definitely soar. Along with the glorious results that the Yanhuang Alliance had obtained, they would be able to step down on the Shanhai Alliance.

However, no matter how he calculated, he did not expect Ouyang Shuo to succeed at this time.

With that, his hopes went up in smoke.

After Grade 3 Prefecture, he was left with one more chance - capital city. Thinking about Ouyang Shuo's current rank, Di Chen did not hold any hopes.

Hence, this was his only opportunity. Who knew that even so, Ouyang Shuo would still beat him.

Obviously, Di Chen would be furious about this defeat.

"He truly is my nemesis. I really cannot get rid of this nightmare."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 683-Iron Faced Wei Yang

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo obviously did not know or care about Di Chen's rage; he was busy checking out his territory stats.

【Territory】: Nanjiang Governor-General House

【Lord】: Nanjiang Governor-General, Lianzhou Duke Qiyue Wuyi (Duke)

【Main Title】: The World's First Prefecture (Increases territory's fame by 50%)

【Sub Title】: Home of Martial Arts, Land of Philosophers, Blessed Land of Artisans

【Governed Area 】: Shanhai City (Grade 3 Prefecture)

【Population】: 1 million/ 2 million

【Refugee Spawn Rate】: 500 * (1 50%) = 750 / day

【True Refugee Spawn Rate】: 750700700= 2150/day

【Territory area】: 8 prefectures, approximately 2 million square kilometers

【Territory Specialty】: -

【Territory Fate】: Red Dragon (1/3 purple)

【Political】: 87/100 (Affects the administrative efficiency and morale)

【Economic】: 88/100 (Affects trade prosperity and taxation)

【Cultural】: 91/100 (Affects the education development and quality of residents)

【Technology】: 60/100 (Affects technology levels and technology tree)

【Military】: 90/100 (Affects military strength and stability)

【Affliate Counties】: Lianzhou Prefecture, Leizhou Prefecture, Qiongzhou Prefecture, Zhaoqing Prefecture, Wuzhou Prefecture, Zhen An Prefecture , Zhenhai City, Xingzhou Prefecture, Jidian City, Friendship City

【Financial Institutions】: Four Sea Bank

【Education Institutions】: Xinan University (Principal Jiangshang), Army Military Academy (Principal Sun Wu)

【Philosophies】: Military Advisors, Legalism, School of Agriculture, School of Diplomacy, Mohism, Business School of Thought

【Territory Chamber of Commerce 】: -

【Special Building】: -

【Hidden Building】: Mazu Temple, Recruitment Hall, Yellow Emperor Temple, Silver Prayer House, General Appointment Stage

Basic buildings list:

Calligraphy Institution: Department in charge of calligraphy, apart from research, it takes up the development of calligraphy disciples. Construction Requirements: Calligraphy expert, calligraphy institution blueprints, 40 thousand units of wood, 40 thousand units of green brick, 20 thousand units of stone. Construction Time: 20 days.

Observatory: astronomy building that takes charge of the calendar, observing the stats and shadows. Construction Requirements: Yin and Yang school of thought core member, observatory blueprints, 20 thousand units of wood, 100 thousand units of green brick, 50 thousand units of stone. Construction Time: 30 days.

In contrast to a Grade 2 Prefecture, the Grade 3 Prefecture listed the territory fate. Not for other reasons, only because to establish a country, the territory fate was a much-needed requirement.

The population upper limit had directly doubled. Based on Shanhai City's refugee spawn rate, he would need another year and a half to fill it up.

Apart from that, the current Shanhai City was following the capital city planning, making it into a political, economic, cultural, technological, and trading hub.

Although Shanhai City was huge, each plot of land was gold.

Hence, normal refugees were unable to settle in Shanhai City and were sent to Lianzhou Prefecture. With that, it would take a longer time to fill up that one million population shortfall.

However, Ouyang Shuo could not wait anymore.

Gaia 4th year at the latest, Shanhai City needed to set up a country.

In a year, Shanhai City's four indices had risen by a point. Its increase totally could not be compared to before and only moved at a snail-like pace. Only the newly added technology index had risen quickly.

Based on Ouyang Shuo's knowledge, out of the five indexes, apart from technology, the other four all had to cross 90. Even their technology stat needed to pass 75.

What a tough mission.

The newly added two basic buildings, the calligraphy institution, was slightly better. After a little hard work, it could be built. The observatory was a little more problematic as the representative figures of the Yin Yang School of Thought has not showed themselves, making it seem like it a hidden school of thought.

It would not be an easy matter to invite the Yin and Yang disciples out.

All in all, the moment Shanhai City upgraded to a Grade 3 Prefecture, they needed to put in more effort and could not slack at any moment; they had to reach the final goal of becoming a capital city.

After checking the territory stats, it was noon.

Ouyang Shuo returned to the back palace to have lunch with Song Jia and Bing'er. When Song Jia saw Ouyang Shuo, she shot him a vicious look that was filled with emotion.

The redness of her face still had not totally faded and was obviously covered by blusher powder. The clothes she wore today were rather conservative and high collar; obviously, she wanted to hide the signs of last night.

Thinking back to the crazy evening, Ouyang Shuo laughed.

Picking up the bowl and drinking it, Ouyang Shuo froze. Based on his sense of taste, he noticed all the immensely nourishing herbs within.

Rough estimations placed it at no less than six nourishing items, and they were all rare herbs. If it was not for Ouyang Shuo having a strong cultivation base, he would have a nosebleed.

"This is too nourishing!"

Ouyang Shuo shook his head in amusement and took a look at his wife.

Song Jia noticed his gaze and lowered her head, acting like she had not seen anything.

The atmosphere around the table instantly became weird.

Bing'er sat quietly at the side, becoming more and more like Song Jia; her actions were elegant and gave off the vibe of a little gentlewomen.

Obviously, she had started to awaken her femininity and was learning from Song Jia.

Seeing the situation between her brother and her sister-in-law, she asked curiously, "Brother what's with you, why do you look so weird? Did you bully her, she does not look so good today?"

Cough! Ouyang Shuo's face reddened, and he stared at the little brat, "Eat your food!"

"Scoff!"

Seeing that her brother was unwilling to explain, Bing'er pouted, stabbing the rice with her chopsticks unhappily.

Ouyang Shuo did not bother about it, hurriedly eating his lunch and returning to his room. After his return to Shanhai City, there were still so many things he needed to deal with; he could not rest even after lunch.

When he returned to the reading room, he finally had time to read the memorials that Bai Nanpu had placed on his desk.

In this half a year, so much had changed in China. Naturally, Shanhai City was no different. Before Ouyang Shuo left for sea, the missions he laid out for the four bureaus were all completed.

Under Wei Yang's leadership, the territory law system was pushed out smoothly, and the concept of the law had started to develop in the hearts of the people.

His way of doing things was to promote and execute it at the same time. To those who broke the law, no matter how high or low their position, he would deal with them strictly.

When the law system was just announced, be it the normal people or the officials, they could not adapt right away. Every day, there were thousands who broke the law.

There were thieves and molesters, rapists; scammers, and bribers. The Internal Affairs Bureau would not let them off no matter the severity of the issue; they captured all of them.

With that, the jails of each prefecture were full. The officials in the Internal Affairs Bureau were all so busy and had to deal with numerous cases.

Hence, Wei Yang decided to form two patrolling courts to go to the various areas to help deal with all the tough cases.

All of a sudden, the territory was jittery.

The law system not only targeted natives but also players living in the territory. For this, Wei Yang instructed the Household Registration Division to increase the management of the players.

Anyone who registered in the territory had to follow the law system. Those players who were not registered were treated as illegal immigrants and needed to leave within three days.

Not Long ago, a son from the Song Family, Song Jian, used Song Jia's name to cause trouble and start conflicts with merchants. In anger, he stabbed one of them to death.

This had pierced a hornet's nest.

Based on ancient sayings, Shanhai City was the foot of the Son of God, and Song Jian dared to do such things.

Immediately, he was captured by the bailiffs for interrogation.

Throughout the process, Song Jian even resisted captured; he was truly arrogant, "I'm the nephew of your Lord, how do you dare to capture me?"

When the bailiffs heard his words, they hesitated and seemed to seek help from the officer, "Sir what should we do?" They obviously hesitated. In ancient times, he would be considered a relative of the emperor.

The one in charge of this operation would be one of the three god constables, Security Division Secretary Zhao Kui. He frowned and ordered, "Capture him, if anything happens, it's on me!"

With his understandings of the Lord, Zhao Kui knew that the Lord would not protect such a person.

"Yes sir!"

With the orders of their superior, the bailiffs boldly captured Song Jian.

In just a short while, Song Jian was captured. The Shanhai City bailiffs were all occupation changed from the army, so they were rather strong; they were not something that Song Jian could match.

Shanhai City's internal affairs efficiency was extremely high. The next day, the Procuratorate Division made an announcement, 'If you kill you have to die, execute him!'

The moment the news went out, it immediately shocked the entire Shanhai City.

That night, Song Jia's Grandfather walked into Nanjiang Governor-General House to plead with Song Jia.

As for what they talked about, the outside world would not know. However, less than an hour later, he walked out with a completely black face.

The next morning, Song Jian was executed in public in front of everyone.

This time, it totally shocked everyone in the city. The theory could not be simpler, even someone like the relative of the emperor could not avoid death, how could they?

All of a sudden, the prestige of the law system boomed.

In half a year, there were three to four similar incidents that were dealt with impartially.

Through the fair dealings, Wei Yang led the Internal Affairs Bureau and smoothly pushed the law system through. During this period of time, Song Jia's actions had earned Wei Yang's praise.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 684-Industrialization Sprouting

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Apart from the Internal Affairs Bureau, the Military Affairs Bureau was also effective.

The territory military expansion goal was already reached, and the Garrison Divisions were all being completed. The construction of the logistic centers of the three legion corps had finished.

A huge number of resources were being transported over to the frontlines.

At the same time, the team competition and the overall champions of each soldier type had been decided for the military martial arts competition that had lasted for three months.

Apart from the overall champion, only the martial genius of the entire army needed Ouyang Shuo to personally grant the prize. The other winners had already obtained their titles and rank upgrade.

After the competition ended, martial arts became commonplace in the military.

Those who were defeated in the arena were naturally unhappy and wanted to win it back.

Military Affairs Bureau Director Du Ruhui had spread the word that this competitor would be a yearly event. Each year, one martial genius would be born.

Apart from the army, the navy construction was even more eye-catching.

The Beihai Bay Squadron, Yashan Bay Squadron, Jiaozhou Squadron, and Xingzhou Squadron under the Nanyang Navy were all built up. Along with the current Mediterranean Squadron which was lacking, Nanyang Navy's overall numbers hit 470 thousand.

Their overall combat strength could be compared to the army.

The navy strategy of Shanhai City had slowly taken shape; they only lacked warships and firearms. With the steam engine technology, this goal was right there in front of them.The basic education and medical facilities under the support of large amounts of funds had proceeded smoothly. This autumn, the second term students followed the new education system and entered the schools.

With that, during the 4th year, the talents developed by the territory would truly explode. Even if they did not hold an imperial exam, from the graduated students, the territory could recruit group after group of basic level officials.

The talent system that they were constructing had started to break away from the ancient system; it was turning into a more vibrant and alive system like the modern day one.

The five thousand odd students in the spring semester of the Xinan University and the Army Military Academy had graduated and were sent off the various Houses and the military.

Under the funding of Ouyang Shuo, the two education institutes had reached a new level in terms of teaching levels, teaching material, and student standards.

People who came over to these two educational institutes were not limited to Shanhai Alliance members. People from the imperial cities also rushed over.

The learning environment here far exceeded the imperial cities. Even Luoyang, with Hanwu Emperor there, focusing on Confucianism did not attract as much people as the Xinan University.

Not only was it free, but it even gave extra help to poor students. With that, the poorer students decided to move their families over to live in Shanhai City.

The officials here would give these students a suitable amount of help.

More importantly was the open learning environment here. Philosophers would speak here, and differences in teaching techniques could be debated here every day. The philosophers debate era in history was slowly developing in Shanhai City.

Apart from the graduated students, the officials and generals who were studying had already returned to their positions. Those who performed well and were recommended even received promotions.

Some County Magistrates were promoted to prefect, some majors to colonels.

The official system in the territory was becoming more perfect by the day.

In this half a year, the quality of civil servants and generals had experienced a large increase.

The talent pool of the territory had also risen by a large step. Based on Director Xiao He's words, even if they expanded to four or five more prefectures, they still had enough talents.

The problem of last year did not exist anymore.

With that, Ouyang Shuo could focus his energy on external conflict. The China region situation became clearer and clearer, and it was far from a battle between Shanhai Alliance and Yanhuang Alliance.

Apart from within the country, there was also the international situation. Let's not mention the further away ones, the ASEAN right in front of them already posed a large challenge.

Ouyang Shuo needed to have a plan about how to settle them in one to two years.The Financial Bureau also performed well.

The trade route between Shanhai City and Quanzhou Imperial City had been opened. After the Battle of Singapore ended, Shi Lang led the Jiaozhou Squadron and started to clear out the pirates in the area.

He was an expert at exterminating pirates and the south sea was also a region he was familiar with. Hence, he acted with great efficiency. More than half of the members of the Yashan Squadron were obtained from pirates.

At this date, the entire trading route was protected by Shanhai City sailors and merchant ships could travel in peace.

Opening this route not only held great meaning to the territory, it also meant that another important trading point was added.

The merchant ships would use Quanzhou as a layover point to head into Shanhai City and proceed toward Southeast Asia.

The trade agreement that Shanhai City signed with Johor, Brunei, and the others also played an important part.

Because of the addition of Shanhai City, ASEAN was in a mess.

On one side, Johor, Brunei, and the other earned massive profits through the trade. On the other side, the PK between China players and Java players had reached a boiling point.

Each day, there would be hundreds of people dying.

The Java players were extremely strong. After fighting for so many months, they still did not back off.

Last month, even the Johor Adventure gamemode players, under the instructions of the leader of the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group, started to disturb the Xingzhou Prefecture border.

Naturally, the China players would not take this lying down.

The long coastline between Xingzhou Prefecture and Johor became a grey region for PK.

With that, cracks within Johor formed too.

With Shantha and Guo Yannan at the lead, they wanted peaceful trade. On the other hand, Sha Duya wanted PK.

The situation in Southeast Asia became more and more complicated.

Any wind blowing, or small movement could lead to a huge war.

After reading the memorials, it was already 4 PM.

Ouyang Shuo rubbed his swelling head and laid on his couch, closing his eyes and resting.

The voyage had ended, but the burden on his shoulders had increased. Such a huge problem of Shanhai City laid completely on his shoulders.

In truth, it truly was not simple.

Especially the matter with the Shanhai Alliance, it really worried him.

It had been two days since his return, and he still had not contacted his allies. It was not that he did not want to, but before he understood the situation, he did not know where to start.

His current allies were all like elders of a region, they would not like being bossed around by him.

Without mentioning Xunlong Dianxue, Ouyang Shuo could not see through Feng Qiuhuang's thoughts. Since the start, there had been a gap between her and the other allies.

Her heritage was something that Gong Chengshi and the other commoner Lords hated.

To make matters worse, Fallen Phoenix City was the second strongest territory in the alliance. While they did not do much, Feng Qiuhuang had obtained glorious achievements and saved the reputation of the alliance.

With that, Gong Chengshi and the others would naturally feel unhappy about it. A deeper and wider tear would be stabbed into their hearts.

The alliance was not like the alliance from before.

Thinking about this, Ouyang Shuo could not help but feel emotional. At the start of the 2nd year, they had held the 1st alliance meeting at the back garden. At that time, they were just a group of young people singing campfire songs and dancing.

They were so well-matched.

It was like it had just happened yesterday, but the truth was so far from his ideal.

I really need to have a good talk with them! Ouyang Shuo thought to himself.Half an hour later, Ouyang Shuo opened his eyes.

After looking through all the memorials, Ouyang Shuo was not ready to continue staying in the reading room, "Men, prepare my horse!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Chen Dameng acknowledged his order, turning around and leaving.

Jumping onto Qingdian, Ouyang Shuo led the Personal Guards and headed to the South City region.

Although Little Green had become his mount, when he was in the city, Ouyang Shuo still decided to sit on Qingdian. After all, Llittle Green was too eye-catching and too much.

Furthermore, the little fellow did not like Ouyang Shuo riding him. If it was not war time, it was difficult to see it, as it would either be in the Spirit Beast Hall or swimming in the ocean.

Compared to Ouyang Shuo, this fellow was a free spirit.The South City region was directly connected to the imperial city, and the city gates were guarded by the Guards Legion.

When they saw the Lord, they immediately opened the gates.

Just half a year had passed, and the South City region, the military work region of the territory, had undergone a total change. The four military workshops used to be the main attractions but now this was a place for industrialization.

The four military workshops had turned into high range equipment crafting.

The Bow and Crossbow Division Workshop was only in charge of the three-bow arcuballistas and the Zhuge Crossbow, the Armory Division Workshop in charge of the Mingguang Armor, Buren Armor, and Iron Armored Beast equipment.

The weapons workshop only made orders from the military.

Normal equipment was all completed by the regional workshops in the various prefectures.

Of the emptied land, half was used to build steelmaking factories, handgun workshops, and cannon workshops. Half or more was still empty and used to prepare for the steam engine and industrialization machines.Arriving at the South City region, Ouyang Shuo wanted to go to the No. 7 Research Institute, to personally pass the techniques over to Liu Mo. At the same time, he could take the time to understand the industrial developments.

Seeing the current state of the region, Ouyang Shuo was dazzled. If no one led the way, he would not even be able to find the research institute.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 685-Monarch Enters the Court

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Luckily, Liu Mo's timely appearance helped Ouyang Shuo out of that pickle.

"Lord!" Liu Mo bowed, greeting Ouyang Shuo enthusiastically.

When Ouyang Shuo saw Liu Mo, he smiled. Naturally, he knew the reason behind Liu Mo's excitement. The matter about the steam engine had spread throughout the China region, even someone like Liu Mo who locked himself up for research had heard the news.

However, till now, the relevant technical manual had not been sent over to the No. 7 Research Institute.

"Let's go over to your headquarters."

Ouyang Shuo dismounted and proceeded side by side with Liu Mo.

As they had to stick to the territory industrialization proposition, the No. 7 Research Institute had relentlessly expanded during this half a year. Now, they had become a machine with over thousands of researchers.

The headquarters where research took place had also been expanded.

Around the headquarters, five to six large research labs stood; these labs included material research labs, experimental labs, and machine research labs.

The ones leading the research labs were all top experts in their fields in real life.

The reason the No. 7 Research Institute could become a technological center and research brain was because everyone here was easily professor or doctor grade. In fact, no less than 20 were academicians in real life.

Just as they walked into the research center, Liu Mo started to mutter, "Steam engine! Steam engine!"

Toward such a technology crazy fellow, Ouyang Shuo was helpless and directly passed both technical manuals to him, "Take a look!"

Liu Mo acted like he had obtained a treasure, and he started flipping through the manuals on the spot, totally not caring about Ouyang Shuo. Luckily, his assistant was alert and quickly gave the Lord a cup of hot tea.

"Why is there a sewing machine?" Liu Mo suddenly opened his mouth; his tone showed a hint of despise.

As a thermal weapons expert, he was interested in the steam engine because it could push the development of the steelmaking industry. It could quicken the design of machinery to hasten thermal weapons research.

"Why a sewing machine? An old antique with no use at all."

Ouyang Shuo had a 'I knew this was going to happen expression.' He solemnly said, "I'm telling you now, you must put in as much effort into this as the steam engine."

The sewing machine did not attract Liu Mo at all.

But from Ouyang Shuo's perspective, it was an item that could generate endless profits.

"Okay!" Liu Mo gave an extremely forced reply.

His time was exceedingly precious. Asking him to split up his time was harder than ascending the heavens.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this situation, he gritted his teeth, "How about this, when you all push the sewing machine to large scale production, I'll give you all 500 thousand gold?"

"Really?" When Liu Mo heard these words, he jumped.

"I do not tell lies!"

"Great. Two months. In at most two months, there will be results." Liu Mo promised.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, standing up and entering the courtyard outside the hall. Peng! Peng! Peng! He quickly took out a few massive items, including one steam engine, one sewing machine, and two Spanish cannons.

Luckily, his storage bag had huge capacity. Otherwise, he could not bring back all these items.

"This is the steam engine prototype." Liu Mo followed Ouyang Shuo, his eyes lighting up.

"That's right. There's also that." Ouyang Shuo pointed at one of the cannons, "That's a Spanish Cannon; it might give you some inspiration for the new cannons you are designing."

Liu Mo walked up and performed a close inspection of the Spanish cannon.

Following which, Liu Mo took out stationary, ruler, microscope, hammer, pencil, notebook, and other items that Ouyang Shuo did not recognize.

It truly felt like his storage bag held everything in it.

Following which, Liu Mo asked people to take out cutting tools; it seemed like he wanted to directly break apart the Spanish Cannon.

"Wait, wait."

Ouyang Shuo called him, taking out a thick book once more, "Take a look at this."

Liu Mo took a look, "What's this? Atlantis Mimicry Flying Device Crafting Technical Manual? The legendary Atlantis technology?"

"Research it and see if you can craft it." Ouyang Shuo nodded.

Looking at the book, Liu Mo fell into a trance.

In comparison, the cannons were unable to attract his attention. One had to say, Ouyang Shuo had brought him surprise after surprise.

"This is really difficult!"

After a short while, Liu Mo said, his eyes burning with fire.

The more difficult the challenge, the more exciting it was for him.

"Take your time." Seeing that it was already late, Ouyang Shuo took out one last item; it was an exquisite wooden box. He passed it to Liu Mo and prepared to leave.

"What technique is this?" Liu Mo was curious.

Ouyang Shuo sighed, "This is not a technique. It's a gift I brought for your parents."

Ouyang Shuo had heard that Liu Mo had put too much effort into research. The situation was like the one previously in real life; he did not bother about his parents.

From Song Jia's words, this god brother had not returned home in two months.

Liu Mo held the wooden box, his whole body freezing up.

Ouyang Shuo did not say anything, patting his shoulder, "Although research is important, if you have time, you still need to accompany your parents. They miss you a lot."

After he said that, Ouyang Shuo left.

Leaving Liu Mo alone with the wooden box, standing dazed in the courtyard.

8th mont,h 23rd day, Shanhai City Wuji Palace.

Ouyang Shuo woke up early and finished his morning training. Song Jia had also woken up and prepared the warm water for his bath. After bathing, Song Jia brought over the coronation uniform for him to change.

"No, bring the armor over." Ouyang Shuo shook his head.

"Today is your first court assembly, but you're wearing the martial attire?" Song Jia could not understand.

"That's right!"

Ouyang Shuo needed to send a signal to the outside world that Shanhai City was ruling the country with martial and using martial to set up their country.

Three days after he returned, Ouyang Shuo upgrade to Duke seemed to only have a one-time reward from the imperial city. Even the way his subordinates called him did not change.

However, the truth was not so simple.

Compared to Marquis, Duke was a level higher and was a qualitative change.

During the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, even a Lord of a country might not have been a Duke. Especially during the Spring and Autumn Period where people like Qiheng Duke, Songrang Duke, and Puwen Duke were all called Duke.

Of course, the middle words were only added in after their death.

Their true identities should be Song Duke, Queen Duke, Pu Duke, and the like.

Only after the end of the Spring and Autumn Period were the strong Lords started to be called kings, for example Chu Zhuang King who was the Chu King. At the end of the Warring States, the Qin and Qi states even had emperors.

In China, the knowledge behind how to call their ruler had passed.

Hence, they needed to be changed at such an important occasion.

Based on ancient traditions, after Ouyang Shuo became a Duke, the people would start calling him Monarch. When he established a country, he would be called King.

As for emperor, and imperial Lord, that would have to wait till they reached the emperor dynasty and the imperial dynasty.

Everything had its rules.

At the same time, all military and administrative meetings would be called court assemblies.

As such, today was the 1st court assembly in Shanhai City's history and held deep meaning.

On such a day, everything he did would be read into by the officials. Ouyang Shuo wearing the martial attire was obviously to send out a signal.At 8 AM, the high-ranking civil servants all gathered in the main hall.

During the previous meetings, the directors had seats in the main hall, where they could cross their legs and sit. In front of them were a few tables with fruits and drinks on it.

The current main hall, apart from the Lord's throne that was high above, the rest was empty. The Culture Division officials made use of these two days to properly arrange the new main hall.

During the meeting, apart from Ouyang Shuo, the others had to stand.

This was the prestige of the Lord, even Ouyang Shuo himself could not change it and had to follow the rules. Luckily, such court meetings did not need to be held every day.

Normally, they would be held twice every month.

Usually, Ouyang Shuo would deal with administrative matters in the reading room so the officials did not need to always stand.

Just at this moment, Secretary Bai Nanpu announced, "The monarch has arrived!"

Ouyang Shuo wore martial attire with the Chixiao Sword by his waist; he held the emperor seal as he slowly walked into the main hall. He stood in front of the table, his expression exceedingly solemn.

"Greetings, Monarch!"

All of a sudden, within the hall, hundreds of officials bowed in unison. They followed the most traditional form of respect, folding their hands in and bowing.

With Ouyang Shuo's way of thinking, he naturally could not get used to the Ming Dynasty kneeling and bowing rituals.

Old people felt that kneeling was only for the gods and the emperor did not have that right; ancient emperors loved the people; naturally, they could not accept the people kneeling to them.

Especially in the Qing Dynasty, where if one treated the ministers as slaves, it was a huge insult to their own character.

To a modern person like Ouyang Shuo, he could not accept it all the more. Asking Xiao He, Fan Li, and the other ministers to kneel was a humiliation to them.

Qin Shihuang and Hanwu Emperor did not believe in this either.

"Officials, please rise!"

Ouyang Shuo calmly proclaimed. As he had not established a country yet, he could not call them ministers yet.

"Thank you, my Lord!"

They all got up. Upon seeing the Lord in martial attire, their eyes narrowed.

Du Ruhui, Huo Qubing, and the other military officials were all excited. On the other hand, Xiao He and the other civil servants were shocked.

His action contained deep meaning.

Luckily Xiao He, Fan Li, and Wei Yang, these three heads, were not pure civil servants strictly speaking. They were all rounded and were not what the Confucians from the latter ages could compare to.

Furthermore, this was the wilderness, a time that could not be compared to the Warring States Period.

Ruling the country peacefully was not practical.

Ouyang Shuo walked toward his seat, looking around and saying, "Today's court assembly, we will first discuss a matter."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 686-Popular Science Lecture

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

"Announcing the martial genius."

First, Ouyang Shuo granted the title to show auspiciousness.

"Martial genius Niu Da, please enter!"

After a moment, a burly general strolled into the hall; he did not even dare to raise his head. With a Shua! he knelt on one foot, cupping his fists and greeting, "I am Niu Da, greetings Monarch."

His voice trembled.

Niu Da was just a normal major in the Dragon Legion Corps. Before this, he had never expected to have the chance to appear here. Not to mention to be the first person the Lord summoned in the 1st court assembly.

Just that point alone was enough for him to brag about for the rest of his life.

"Please rise!" Ouyang Shuo signaled to Bai Nanpu.

Bai Nanpu understood; he took out the prepared decree and read, "The Monarch decrees, martial genius Niu Da, champion of the three armies, awarded grade 5 title Zhaowu General, promoted to major general of the 5th division of the Guards Legion, effective immediately."

Elation flashed across his face as he kowtowed, "Thank you Monarch for your good grace!"

This honest military man did not even try to hide his excitement. His open emotions caused the old foxes present to shake their heads; some admired him, and some looked down on him.

The martial genius receiving a promotion to major general was Du Ruhui's promise before the competition. As for the specifics of the division they would go to, the Monarch would make the choice.

Du Ruhui had suggested to send him to the 2nd legion of the Dragon Legion Corps. After all, he was from the Dragon Legion, so he would face less obstacles there.

From major to major general, it was a massive leap.

Majors led men, and they needed to use their strength as a deterrence. At the major general level, one had to use their brains. Niu Da skipping the ranks meant that he had jumped over the colonel training.

Du Ruhui's plan was to play safe.

However, Ouyang Shuo had another idea. Coincidentally, the 5th division of the Guards Legion lacked a major general. As such, why not send him there as an example for the whole army?

The Guards Legion was the trump card legion of the entire territory.

The ability of the major generals there was not something that other major generals could compare to.

Hence, it was no wonder that Niu Da would feel so delighted. Upgrading to major general was already a promotion of two levels and entering the Guards Legion was all the more an honor; it was like taking a step up to the heavens.

As for whether or not he could live up to expectations, it temporarily was not on his mind. In his eyes, the military was about whose fist was the biggest; the person with the bigger fist would be the boss. If you did not like someone, beat them up until they submit.

This was also his military logic, simple, violent, and sometimes rather effective.

In the following period, the 5th division would experience many interesting matters. Luckily, they had God General Huo Qubing in charge, so nothing big would happen.

Ouyang Shuo stood, taking a tray over from Bai Nanpu.

On the tray was a golden shiny armor; this was Ouyang Shuo's previous Mingguang Armor.

"This armor was the armor that I wore before. Now, it is awarded to you. Do not disappoint me."

Thinking about it, there was nothing that held as much meaning as this armor.

As expected, Niu Da was emotional beyond words; he shook as he accepted the tray, putting it on the floor beside him. He thanked respectfully, "I will not forget the Monarch's good grace. I will repay you with all I have."

"Great!" Ouyang Shuo exclaimed and said in a low tone, "Niu Da, listen to my orders!"

"Yes, my Monarch!"

Niu Da was extremely alert. As the martial genius of the entire army, he did not lack courage. Under such an atmosphere, even if the Lord asked him to attack an imperial city, he would not even frown.

"Yunnan City-State has disturbed our border and cannot be forgiven. I order you to lead the 5th division to act as a vanguard to meet up with the Dragon Legion Corps." Ouyang Shuo's words shocked everyone.

Disturbing the border was just a random reason he had found.

Of course, it could not be considered a lie.

After all, at his position, he could not say any lies.

Speaking of which, this was a special incident Baiqi, the Military Intelligence Division, and the Honglu Temple had planned ago.

A month ago, the Lord of Qiubei City in Mengding Prefecture had led his troops to invade Zhen An Prefecture, killing 300 residents, destroying two villages before escaping back to his territory.

When Baiqi, who was in charge of the west border, heard the news, he was furious and ordered the person to be dealt with.

As Qiubei City was a member of the Yunnan City-State, the city-state naturally took responsibility for his actions.

Baiqi wrote a letter to request them to hand over the problem maker but nothing had been done.

With that, matters had dragged on. Apart from the people involved, everyone quickly forgot about the incident.

Who would have expected Ouyang Shuo to raise this past topic upon returning, even starting war against Yunnan City-State before any of them could react?

The meaning within gave them many thoughts.

"Yes, my Monarch!"

Niu Da did not think about anything else; he only wished to contribute on the battlefield and not let the Monarch down. After receiving his reward, he backed off to the last row of the generals.

Ouyang Shuo returned to his seat and ordered once more, "General Huo!"

"General!"

A light shone in Huo Qubing's eyes as he walked forward confidently.

After coming to the territory, Huo Qubing had only managed to lead the troops in the Xingzhou Prefecture; he had not had the chance to enter the battlefield.

The great war he had hoped for had finally arrived.

"During this battle against Yunnan City-State, Baiqi will act as the main general while you will be the front general. You will lead the Guards Legion to bring resources to the Dragon Legion Corps base to meet." Ouyang Shuo's expression was a little weird.

The desire for battle in his eyes was too sharp and strong. Hence, after ordering him to lead the Guards Legion, Ouyang Shuo decided to store this god general in ice.

With that, the famous, genius general that millions of girls loved had disappeared from the view of players, hidden in the deep palaces of the imperial city away from everyone.

There was a period of time where people even protested against Ouyang Shuo's actions toward him.

"Huo Huo is mine!"

"Give me back my Huo Huo!"

Similar grumbles and complaints did not stop at all.

'Huo Huo support team' had become one of the strongest supporters of him online on the forums. The Black Snake Guards even found out that Bai Hua was a core member.

When Ouyang Shuo heard the news, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed like Huo Qubing had truly dazzled her. Who knows what waves Huo Qubing would cause when he headed to the Yunnan Battlefield this time.

"Yes, my Monarch!"

Huo Qubing did not hesitate and accepted the order.

In any battle, the front general was the vanguard, and this matched like his personality. The genius general in history finally had a chance to show his skills.The court assembly had ended up as a pre-war battle mobilization. Without a doubt, the moment this ended, the news of Shanhai City declaring war on Yunnan City-State would spread across the entire China region.

At that time, the entire Nanjiang would be shaken and everyone would be alerted.

This was Ouyang Shuo's purpose.

The Guards Legion rushing to the Dragon Legion Corps base needed them to pass through three prefectures of land, so it would take close to half a month.

Hence, the true war would not start so quickly.

Hence, the Monarch making such a big deal about the mobilization surprised everyone. Normally speaking, wouldn't quietly mobilizing the troops and launching a sneak attack be better?

On the contrary, Du Ruhui and the others were expressionless.

This plan was not something Ouyang Shuo had come up with on the spot but was raised after careful consideration by the Military Affairs Bureau.

After settling the troops issue, Ouyang Shuo changed the topic, "Summon Liu Mo!"

"Summoning, No.7 Research Institute Deputy Manager Liu Mo. Enter the hall!"

Liu Mo walked in and bowed, "Greetings, Monarch!"

"You can begin!"

Yesterday, Ouyang Shuo had already told Liu Mo what he needed to say.

"Yes, my Monarch!"

Liu Mo nodded, clapping his hands toward the outer door.

Instantly, the Divine Martial Guard in charge of guarding the Governor-General Manor carried a steam engine, a sewing machine, and a blackboard into the hall.

"What's that?"

Looking at such this 'monster', the civil servants all looked at it curiously, not knowing what in the world it was.

When Ouyang Shuo heard their questions, he sighed in his heart.

Shanhai City's civil servant and general formation was so dazzling; however, it was still lacking.

No matter if it was civil servants like Xiao He or generals like Huo Qubing, they were all unfamiliar with technology. Apart from Zhang Tingyu, who had seen western technology, probably only the Taiping Army generals had.

Ouyang Shuo's voyage was a whole new world to them.

Even so, they still did not have a clear idea about industrialization. Their thinking still stopped at the age of following the thinking and ideals of the king.

They had no knowledge about the uses of technology and the effects it could cause and have.

As a result, the industrialization of the territory had been proceeding slowly, making Ouyang Shuo displeased. One problem was the officials not understanding industrialization.

Now with the steam engine, sewing machine, and even the flying device crafting technique, it was the best time to industrialize. In the future period of time, territory finances, territory funds, and more would all pour toward it.

With that, Ouyang Shuo needed all the officials to realize the importance. After all, the ones taking action were them. If their thinking was not open, industrialization could not even start.

Ouyang Shuo could not actually replace all of them with players, right?

That was not practical.Liu Mo was a technology nerd. Even in the imperial court, he did not dare to speak any false words. With a blackboard, he started to give all the ministers an eye-opening popular science lecture.

In terms of theory, Liu Mo had extremely deep skill. Furthermore, he was not a dull person and knew that he was teaching novices, so he started from the basics before going deeper in.

Along with practical aspect and diagrams, his lecture was extremely easy to understand.

Such a scene could be said to have opened up the ancient generation to the new world.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 687-Country Establishment Meeting

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Liu Mo's popular science lecture lasted a full hour.

Ouyang Shuo sat on his seat, quietly paying attention to the reactions of the ministers standing below him. Some were interested, some listened with focus on his words, and some acted like they were listening but were not actually.

The road to industrialization for the territory would not be a smooth sailing path.

During this round of promotions for the industrialization, Ouyang Shuo did not add new organizations as usual; instead, he allowed the Industry and Development Planning Department to take charge of it.

The only change would be that he moved one of the old professionals from the No.7 Research Institute to the position of deputy director of the department to be in charge of coordinating work between the Nanjiang Governor-General House and the No.7 Research Institute.

Ouyang Shuo did not choose Liu Mo as his god brother was basically a technological nerd; he was not cut out for this kind of thing.

Liu Mo took his leave and the court assembly continued.

The popular science lecture was just a start, used to show the will and ideals of the Monarch. The people within the hall were all sharp and intelligent; naturally, they understood the deep meaning within.

"Following this, the No.7 Research Institute will introduce this to the entire territory. Only when everyone has a clear understanding can the territory undergo industrialization.""Shanhai City has just upgraded to Grade 3 Prefecture. We have a population shortfall of one million. I want to fill this gap in half a year, do any of you have any suggestions?" Ouyang Shuo tossed out a difficult question.

The moment they heard his words, the officials all exchanged glances with one another.

"If I may ask, Monarch, what's the rush?" Xiao He stepped out and asked.

Shanhai City took a year to upgrade from Grade 2 Prefecture to Grade 3 Prefecture. From their perspective, they could proceed slowly and there was no need to rush the process.

"The time that Shanhai City upgrades to capital city is also the time for us to establish our country." Ouyang Shuo did not hide his ambitions and revealed it to them for the first time.

The ministers were excited, and some of the old ones even had signs of shedding tears.

Establishing a country had great meaning in Ancient China; it was one of the signs of unifying the country. If a country was not established, the ministers would always feel that something was lacking, that they could form a country ideal.

To the territory, establishing a country was an enormous matter.

Ouyang Shuo announcing this matter to them caused a huge tremor. To these ministers, this was the best description of this court assembly and the best reward anyone could receive.

Any doubts from before had been swept aside.

The ministers were now even more passionate than Ouyang Shuo, coming together to solve this population shortfall problem.

"Monarch, I think we could move some people from the other prefectures over to Shanhai City," suggested Household Registration Secretary Du Quan.

The Household Registration Division controlled the population; naturally, they had the most right to speak. At such an important court assembly, as a young official, Du Quan wanted to impress.

"Definitely not!" Xiao He immediately spoke against it, "Such an act is like drying the lake to fish. The population of the various prefectures have all along been slow, and it was not easy for them to settle down, how can we causally move them?"

In the wilderness, apart from people spawning, the naturally population increase was 0. In the 10 years of the game, even if the natives naturally grew, it was at most enough time for a child to grow into an adult.

Xiao He's words made sense.

In the territory, only Shanhai City, Yashan City, and Zhenhai City used the village creation token and could have new people.

The only special case was Beihai City, this subsidiary city.

Other than that, it was the territories that used the merger token, including Tianfeng City, Yishui City, Broken Blade City, and the overseas cities of Lion City, Friendship City, and Jidian City.

Compared to the hundreds of cities in the seven prefectures, this was just too little.

Du Quan's suggestion was truly not feasible.

"This..."

Du Quan's face flushed red, and he did not know how to react.

When Wei Yang saw this, he could not help but frown. Du Quan's performance had totally lost the face of this Internal Affairs Director.

Even so, Wei Yang still needed to get Du Quan out of the situation, "Director Xiao He's suggestion makes sense but it's not absolute. I suggest we move a batch of suitable people from Beihai City, Tianfeng City, Yishun City, and Broken Blade City. Apart from that, we can also move some over from Zhenhai City."

As the Internal Affairs Director, Wei Yang had a good grasp of the population layout of the territory. He did not mention Yashan City as its population would need to radiate to the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture; it was not easily moved.

"That could work." Ouyang Shuo nodded; he did not put the silent competition between Wei Yang and Xiao He to heart, "This matter, I'll let the Internal Affairs Bureau lead; the Lianzhou Prefecture and Zhenhai City will work with them."

"Yes, Monarch!"

Lianzhou Prefecture Governor Wei Ran and Zhenhai City City Magistrate Song Wen both stepped out to accept the orders.

Compared to the calm Song Wen, Wei Ran's face was a little tensed up. Taking out a large amount of population would cause Lianzhou Prefecture to be much worse than Shanhai City in terms of stature.

To be an official under the feet of the son of god, this was why it was a bad thing.

"Moving population is like destroying the east wall to fix the west wall; it cannot solve the root of the problem. Do any of you have other suggestions?" The one million population shortfall was not something that just moving the population could solve.

To move 200 thousand people from the five cities was already the maximum.

"I suggest we recruit population from the imperial city." Wei Yang took over from Du Quan and answered.

"How so?"

Shanhai City had already gone so many times to the imperial cities to recruit talents. The people they recruited were all technical talents or civil servants and generals; hence, the numbers were not high.

They had not gone to the imperial city to recruit any basic population.

"Use the industrial revolution as the key." Wei Yang said; he was one of the few that saw through the sewing machine and the steam engine, understanding it thoroughly.

In such a short while, Wei Yang was able to put what he learned to use.

The revolution the sewing machine would cause to the garment industry was groundbreaking. With it, sewing cotton and cloth did not need professionals. Normal people could be hired as long as they were diligent and willing to learn.

With that, it reduced the requirements to work.

This was a massive attraction to the normal people in the imperial cities.

"We can try that." Ouyang Shuo did not reject the proposal, "Let the Household Registration Division take charge of this. Apart from migration, they are also in charge of settling them."

"Why not take this chance to promote the Household Registration Division?" Wei Yang suggested.

"How so?" Ouyang Shuo was expressionless.

This was the first time that a minister had taken the initiative to suggest changes to the territory structure.

What huge meaning!

Ouyang Shuo could not tell whether Wei Yang came prepared or was it something he thought of on the spot.

"The role of the current Household Registration Division is too narrow; they only take charge of the welfare with regards to the population, population registration, dealing with prisoners, life of the people, and the like, things that are out of the system." Wei Yang was exceedingly thorough in his analysis.

"Hence, I suggest we upgrade it to the Civil Affairs Department to be in charge of household registration, civilians, customs, conflicts in towns, running the wilderness, treatment of the old, respecting the old, dealing with widows, and lonely folks, giving people titles, burial procedures and many matters."

Civil affairs existed in olden times and was comparable to the modern times. Although their jobs were a little different, the basics were not changed in thousands of years.

Wei Yang's suggestion hit the sweet spot, and it caused Ouyang Shuo's eyes to light up.

"What does Minister Xiao think?"

Ouyang Shuo did not make the decision himself. In terms of reorganization of the territory structure, Xiao He had power as the Administration Director.

In the court assembly, if Ouyang Shuo skipped him and made decisions, it would be an inappropriate act.

His long time of training had made Ouyang Shuo have a clear and deep understanding of the culture and rules of the court.

"Director Wei's words make sense, I agree!"

Xiao He directly nodded and agreed; he did not add his own thoughts. Although with this the power of the Internal Affairs Bureau would increase, when it was time for him to lower his head, Xiao He did not hesitate.

"Good, this matter is settled! As for the specifics, you two ministers discuss and settle it. Today, we will only discuss who will be the director. Do any of you have any suggestions?"

Du Quan's performance was not good enough. For him to keep his role as secretary of the Household Registration Division under the Civil Affairs Department would already be good enough.

Hence, no one felt that he should be promoted.

The Monarch's words once again proved this point.

Ouyang Shuo had left the territory for half a year, but the territory was not a dead swamp. During this half a year, there were a few historical talents who came over. Some had been given jobs, while some were given temporary roles for Ouyang Shuo to decide when he returned.

Those that were not given permanent jobs were naturally the prominent talents.

Although Ouyang Shuo asked all of them, the ones who truly had the rights to speak were only Xiao He and Wei Yang. One was in charge of the evaluation of officials, while the other was in charge of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Even Financial Bureau Director Fan Li had no say in this.

This time, Wei Yang was truly prepared, not avoiding the question and giving his recommendation, "Monarch, I recommend one person, he's the Brother of Pei Ju, Pei Yun."

"Pei Yun?" Ouyang Shuo tried hard to recall any historical information regarding Pei Yun.

Like the governor of Xingzhou Prefecture Pei Ju, Pei yun was born in the Pei Family and was an official in the Chen Dynasty. He was the direct court general and the Xinning Magistrate.

After the Chen Dynasty was destroyed by Sui, Shiwen Emperor insisted on breaking tradition and making use of him. He became the Yang, Zhi, Di state governors.

After the Suiyang Emperor took the throne, Pei Yun became the assistant minister of the Civil Department.

In the 14th year of Daye, Pei Yun and the emperor were killed in a coup by Sima Dekan in Jiangdou.

Compared to his brother, Pei Ju, Pei Yun's achievements were a little duller.

The only achievement he could take out would probably be revolutionizing the household registration system.

While he was the assistant minister, there were a lot of missing registrations of people, affecting the financial income of the court, becoming a huge societal problem.

As Pei Yun had been a provincial governor before, he understood the problems, so he suggested a plan, which was the Maoyue Profiling Method. After this method was pushed out, it had significant effects, recording 1,641,500 new people.

Although this was the case, Pei Yun could not be considered a good official.

He worked for the Suiyang Emperor and did many things that harmed the common people.

For him, Pei Yun had expanded the entertainment manor, expanding it to over 30 thousand men for the emperor to enjoy it alone.

After becoming the royal doctor, he used the secrets he held to break laws, using his power to convict people, murdering people and robbing them on his own will, promoting and deepening the Suiyang Emperor's dictatorship-like rule.

With that, Ouyang Shuo naturally needed to be extremely careful about giving Pei Yun power.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 688-Look of the Monarch

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Compared to his brother, Pei Yun could be said to have received both praise and blame.

Wei Yang recommended Pei Yun because he saw the latter's experience in civil administration. Pei Yun definitely had the ability to take control of the department, but in turn, he might cause other problems.

The only difference with history was that Pei Yun still lacked a position in the core of the territory.

"Let the Official Ruling Department evaluate him. If everything is okay, appoint him!" Ouyang Shuo decided to trust Wei Yang's suggestion.

"Yes, my Monarch!"

Official Ruling Director Zhang Tingyu nodded and accepted the orders.

This was not a good task to him. From the Monarch's expression, Zhang Tingyu had no way to deduce the Monarch's attitude toward Pei Yun.

If they truly decided to use him, it would be due to the face of Wei Yang. However, if the evaluation results were different from what the Monarch wanted, he would be in for a tough time as the director of the Official Ruling Department.

Ouyang Shuo did not bother about his little thoughts and continued the court assembly, "Minister Wei has raised up the suggestion of recruiting people from the imperial city, and it is a good plan. But even so, there's still a huge shortfall. Do any of you have any other ideas?"

The officials all exchanged glances with one another.

Small random suggestions would not be raised at such a court assembly.

The Monarch desired a well-thought out plan.

But such a plan would not be something that anyone could think up on the spot.

What had happened to Du Quan reminded all of them that in the court assembly, one could not speak simple. If not, losing face would be the least of their worries.

"Why, is there really no one that can split the worries with me?" Ouyang Shuo's tone turned serious.

This scared and terrified everyone as they bowed, "We are useless, Monarch please do not be angry!"

"It's okay!" Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, looking a little disappointed, "Since you cannot think of any other ideas, let's just bring in players. Shanhai City will be open to players; lead them to move in."

"Monarch, this..." Shanhai Magistrate Zang Wenzhong started to speak but stopped.

"If you have something to say just speak."

"I'm worried that the large influx of players could pose a huge challenge to the law and order of Shanhai City." Zang Wenzhong said carefully, "Furthermore, the city protection legion is not here so..."

When Ouyang Shuo heard these words, he was furious; his voice was not loud, but it was suppressive, "Why, is the law and order so bad that you cannot even control players?"

Instantly, a mountain-like pressure descended onto the court assembly; it was like thunder and lightning during a sunny day.

All the officials felt uneasy.

Zang Wenzhong's face turned ashen white as he trembled, "This official did not do his job, please punish me!"

Ouyang Shuo did not bother with Zang Wenzhong, turning around to look at Wei Yang, "The territory law system pushed out by the Internal Affairs Bureau will treat both natives and players the same. Even like this, do you still have no confidence about keeping the players in check?"

"Of course, there will be no problems." Wei Yang did not dare to give the military order.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, his expression relaxing, "Ministers, you must remember that the army is used for war and not to act as bodyguards for the city. Today, even if the City Protection Legion returned, they would not guard the city; instead, they would move outside the city. The law and order would remain under the hands of the Internal Affairs Bureau, the power of the bailiffs."

"Yes, my Monarch!"

The ministers all bowed in unison.

In the court assembly, any word and action of Ouyang Shuo was read into by them.

When the Monarch was angry, it was like lightning striking down.

They could truly feel that after this half a year, the prestige and might of the son of god had been formed.

The aura of the Monarch.

This came from Ouyang Shuo's calmness and training, related to the dragon vein, the imperial seal, the Yellow Emperor Cultivation Technique, the fate dragon, and more; all these factors added together.

All of these factors had caused a qualitative change.

The prestige of the Monarch was as high as the mountains and as deep as the sea.

Only such a Monarch could talk about establishing a country.

If not, even if Shanhai City managed to upgrade to capital city, it would just be a dream in the end.

At this moment, Xiao He and the other officials could truly see that a new empire was rising in the wilderness; a bustling and vibrant empire, shocking all four corners of the land.

"A new era has arrived!"

At this moment, apart from emotional, there was no other way to describe it.

Some officials teared up.

If Ouyang Shuo went to check their loyalty stat, he would be shocked to find that the stat would have risen by 5 to 15 points.

This was all due to the prestige of the Lord.Ouyang Shuo turning his attention from the army to putting more focus on the bailiffs was not something random without basis.

In modern day society, the police maintained the law and order of the city. Apart from special times or during war, the army would not enter the city.

If not, it would not be considered a prosperous time but a time of chaos.

In truth, the ancient times similarly had a police force. However, they were termed as bailiffs instead. Specifically speaking, the ancient bailiffs had three different types.

Each type had their own specific role.

One was called constable. Their jobs ranged from bringing in the accused, witnesses, tracking down and arresting suspects, and searching for evidence. They had similar work to the modern-day frontline cops.

Constables belonged to the Procuratorate Division under the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Another was the Yamen Runner, similar to the marshals in modern day.

Their main role was to follow their officials around and guarding their paths. During the court session, they would stand at two sides to maintain order, protecting the accused and executing the punishments.

The Ming Dynasty set that these Yamen Runners would wear square hats and had a peacock feather stuck at their ear.

Based on the records of the Ming Dynasty's 'Three Talents Meeting', the dressing was based on how the Semu people from the Yuan Dynasty dressed. Zhu Yuanzhuang used this as the dressing as a sort of a way to lookk down on the Semu people.

After which, the color changed to green, but the name remained the same.

Yamen Runner was under the Security Division under the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Third was Minzhuang, which were in charge of guarding the city gates, Yamen, important storages, jails, patrolling the streets, and the like; they were similar to the modern day armed police.

Before this, the role of the Minzhuang was taken by the city protection forces. After Ouyang Shuo's suggested change, this role was under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

With that, it was not hard to conclude that if the olden bailiff structure was in place, they would be able to maintain the law and order of the entire territory.

The problem was that in olden times, bailiffs were listed as shameless jobs like that of prostitutes and dancers. Normally speaking, people were not willing to marry them.

The ancient bailiffs did not receive a salary and only had small amounts of expenses.

Even so, there were still many people who wanted to be bailiffs. Helplessly, this job was hereditary and passed down from one generation to next.

Why did such a job hold such attraction?

The only reason was that while they were doing their duties, they had too many methods to rip off the people to earn money. Hence, they did not bother about whether or not they had salary.

Such a con about the job; naturally, Ouyang Shuo had a clear understanding of it.

Hence, since building the Security Division, bailiffs were mainly chosen from the army. They were people with quality and received salaries like basic people from other jobs.

With that, it restricted the bailiffs from doing as they wished and fooling around.Before this, Ouyang Shuo had already given the order to expand the bailiff forces. Now, it seemed like the various city magistrates were still worried about players and wary toward them.

The source of this problem was related Ouyang Shuo's attitude toward the players.

Speaking of which, he truly could not blame others.

"Upgrading Shanhai City, the population booming, the bailiff forces must also be expanded." Ouyang Shuo changed his tone to a gentler one and said to Du Ruhui, "Get the Military Affairs Bureau to calculate if they can disband the Lianzhou Garrison Division and hand over all defenses, including the Mulan Stronghold in the basin, over to the city protection legion."

"There should not be a problem." Du Ruhui nodded.

The current city protection legion was a full strength five division legion. Along with the training at Stone City, they possessed exceptional combat strength. As for defending Lianzhou Basin, Du Ruhui was still confident in doing so.

"That's good." Ouyang Shuo nodded; he loved the quickness of Du Ruhui's response, "The Lianzhou Garrison Division had a total of 13 thousand soldiers; they would be changed to bailiffs and merged into the Internal Affairs Department."

"Do you have confidence now?" Ouyang Shuo looked at Zang Wenzhong, who had been looking unsettled.

"Thank you, Monarch, for your good grace!"

Zang Wenzhong did not know what else to say, simply nodding his head.

The matter was settled just like that.

In truth, opening up Shanhai City was something that Ouyang Shuo had planned early on.

He only lacked the opportunity.

Shanhai City upgrading once more was that opportunity.

Conservatively speaking, the number of players he would recruit this time would be no less than 400 thousand.

Him taking such action would unavoidably attract and 'recruit' the spies from various territories, causing many more problems and uncertainties in the territory.

However, the ones willing to move in would mostly be commoner players. Ouyang Shuo was the representative figure of the commoner players in China; numerous people dreamed of moving into Shanhai City.

But Shanhai City's checks were too strict, and it was basically closed off from the outside world.

Currently, those who moved into Shanhai City could be split into two types. First, the members of the Fallen Moon Guild; they were all recruited work occupation players.

Secondly, the scientist groups, and the highly intellectual people and their families.

The next step would be for Shanhai City to open up to commoner players.

During the prosperous Tang Period, Chang An City accepted everyone from everywhere. Shanhai City should not lack the confidence and courage to accept other players.

With that, a more open and inclusive Shanhai City would slowly rise.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 689-Everyone Wins from Cooperation

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

After discussing the matter of filling up the population, it was already noon.

"Today's court assembly will end here." Ouyang Shuo said without hesitation.

After the court assembly ended, Ouyang Shuo returned to the back palace.

At the back palace, Song Jia was talking to a middle-aged woman; they were both smiling, looking like they were having a happy conversation.

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he smiled.

After the marriage, Song Jia had changed from her previous swordsman character; she had started to act more like the lady of the Marquis. She would interact with the wives of the officials in the territory, becoming Ouyang Shuo's right hand.

Along with her ability to separate work from personal matters, she was well loved by the people.

Having a wife like this, what more can I wish for?

Of course, Song Jia did not completely put down her cultivation. Every morning and evening, she would continue cultivating. Along with the vast resources of the Governor-General Manor, her martial arts improved at god speed.

The current Song Jia was like the legendary Kuihua Empress. Although she lived in the back palace, her martial arts were extremely strong, and the underworld had rumors spread about her.

These two mystical girls were similar.

When she saw Ouyang Shuo, the middle-aged woman immediately got up and bowed, "I am Lady Xian, greetings Monarch!"

Ouyang Shuo vaguely remembered that she was the wife of Huo Guang, Huo Xian. Looking at her, she seemed gentle and polite; one could not see any signs of her being the vicious wife in history.

At the side, Bing'er was playing with a young lady. When she heard the voice, she raised her head and looked at Ouyang Shuo. She crisply said, "Brother!" Before continuing to play.

Ouyang Shuo had no way to keep this little sister who was at her rebellious phase in check.

The little girl playing with her looked rather intelligent; she had large eyes and long eyelashes. Despite her young age, her cuteness showed a hint of beauty.

No wonder in the future she would grow up to become the root of troubles for her country.

"Chengjun greets Brother Monarch!"

She walked over in front of Ouyang Shuo and bowed.

When Ouyang Shuo heard these words, he laughed. Such a greeting was truly interesting. After thinking for a moment, he took out a green magnetic ohlite bracelet from his storage bag and personally put it on Huo Chengjun, "Come and play often!"

"Thank you, Brother Monarch!"

Huo Chengjun looked extremely happy, her cute cheeks filled with emotion.

When Huo Xian saw this exchange, a similar joy appeared in her eyes. The Monarch personally granting you a gift was an immense honor. Furthermore, it was a mystical gift like the magnetic ohlite, so who knows how many other people would feel envious about it.

First, Ouyang Shuo gave her this gift because he truly liked her; she was so cute and smart at such a young age. The saying that she was the root of evil was just nonsense created by writers about a weak and helpless girl.

Secondly, he wanted to use this chance to get closer to the Huo Family.

Huo Qubing and Huo Guang, these two brothers were the civil servant and general of the territory.

Especially Huo Qubing, who was alone, probably only his brother's family could bring him some warmth. Ouyang Shuo also heard that Huo Qubing really doted on this little niece.

The current Ouyang Shuo was not so pure when he did many things.

The moment the court assembly ended, the news spread across the China region and caused plenty of debate.

Some were excited while some were terrified.

The most excited ones were naturally the adventure gamemode players in China, especially the commoner players that had long wished to move to Shanhai City.

In their hearts, Shanhai City was the safest city in China. Even imperial cities could be occupied, only Shanhai City would remain infallible.

Just this point was enough for players to grow crazy over.

Not to mention that along with the opening of the massive sea route, Shanhai City had slowly opened its windows to the outside world.

Business opportunities within the city were everywhere.

All of a sudden, numerous player groups, guilds, and chambers of commerce swarmed over.

The first to be approached was the office of Shanhai City in the nine imperial cities. The players were eager to learn the requirements of Shanhai City.

400 thousand seemed like a large number but it was a small number relative to 10s of millions of players. Hence, even if Shanhai City had lowered the requirements to enter, not everyone could move in.

The next day, Nanjiang Governor-General House, Administration Bureau, and Civil Affairs Department announced three migration terms. Adventure gamemode players, chambers of commerce, organizations, and people with good reputation would have priority.

Players with the intention to migrate needed to send in an application to the imperial city office. After the Civil Affairs Department passed them, they would give them their household registration documents.

This also meant that pure combat occupation players, especially those with PK records, would be rejected.

On the contrary, the chambers of commerce with good reputations would be welcomed with open arms. Some small guilds and mercenary groups were similarly sought after.

On the other hand, towards solo players, Shanhai City held a careful attitude.

Solo players were either exceptional technical people, extremely arrogant people, or just weird people. All in all, they were not easy to manage.

As for the top 10 guilds in the nine imperial cities, they were all rejected. Even the branch guilds of the Shanhai City Alliance were rejected, including Snow-War Rose.

This migration used a descriptive phrase that was not that suitable, the terms being 'middle class' or 'middle or small enterprises with an ability to survive.'

Since these people had some technical ability and financial stability, they would be able to develop here. With that, they would be able to make it a win-win situation.

Four Seas Bank Treasurer Meng Zhida has already said that as long as the time was right, and the conditions were met, they were willing to grant loans to the player chambers of commerce and adventure groups to support them.

This message was undoubtedly important news to the numerous medium and small chambers of commerce.

Developing voyage trade required a vast quantity of funds, not to mention buying merchant ships, hiring sailors, and purchasing resources.

With the support of the Four Seas Bank, everything would be solved.

In truth, when Ouyang Shuo returned, Meng Zhida had used the memorial to describe this aspect. The Four Seas Bank's ability to attract loans was too astonishing, just relying on Lords borrowing could not keep up.

Furthermore, Lords borrowing had the risk of contract breach.

Meanwhile, player chambers of commerce, and small adventurer squads had been overlooked. However, they were actually a market with huge potential. Just one chamber of commerce might not need a lot of gold but hundreds and thousands, even tens of thousands of them would need a terrifying amount of gold.

Before this, be it the Four Seas Bank or the Huitong Bank, they would not loan to these chambers of commerce. They were worried that these parties would not be able to return the loans.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not immediately accept Meng Zhida's suggestion.

However, now was a good time. Anyone that was taken in by Shanhai City had been through many layers of selection and investigation, so their backgrounds were clean, and they had good reputations.

After moving into Shanhai City, they would be bounded by the territory law system, and the fixed assets they bought in the city would also be under the supervision of the city.

With that, the risk would be minimalized.

Using long-distance trading returns as collateral, giving loans grew smoother.

With that, it both solved the loan problems of the Four Seas Bank and brought life to the small and mid-sized chambers of commerce, allowing them to grow quickly. This would in turn truly make voyage trading prosperous.

Everything was linked together and formed a god-like interest chain.

One could foresee that if this plan succeeded, the trading in Shanhai City would take another huge step up.

Shanhai City would be destined to be a city filled with energy and drive. It was the star for young people who were willing to give it their all; it was not an old folks home for players.

This was the migration catchphrase that the Civil Affairs Department had come up with.

The moment this catchphrase came out, it reverberated amongst numerous players. At this moment, they truly felt that they were truly close to the tall and mighty best player in China.

During this migration, Shanhai City did not think about giving benefits to the commoner players.

Such a thing could be understood but could not be verbalized.

Furthermore, elite did not mean they were bad, and commoner did not mean that they were good.

After experiencing so much, Ouyang Shuo obviously had such basic knowledge. He had already learned not to generalize people and make such deductions of good and bad.

As long as it was good for the prosperity of Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo welcomed it all.

Yunnan Province, Tengyue Prefecture, Tengchong City.

An emergency meeting between the four city-states was being held in the Lord's Manor of Tengchong City.

The host of this meeting was the Lord of Tengchong City, Qin Feng. At the same time, he was the chair of the Yunnan City-State. He suddenly received emergency news and his face sunk.

"Guys," Qin Feng solemnly said, "I've just received news that Qiyue Wuyi has openly announced in the court assembly that he wants revenge against Yunnan City-State. The reason given was the matter of Qiubei City attacking the border of Zhen An Prefecture."

As he spoke, Qin Feng looked at the Lord of Qiubei City, his face growing darker and darker.

"As expected, have they already declared war?"

The one who spoke was the representative of the Xiangnan City-State, Caiyun Zinan.

When Ouyang Shuo returned, they knew that such a day would arrive. Who knew that it would come so fast and swift.

"Was there any specific news?" Caiyun Zinan asked.

"Qiyue Wuyi has sent his strongest legion - the Guards Legion - to rush to the border to gather with their Dragon Legion Corps. At the same time, Bai Hua has also openly announced that they will advance together with Shanhai City. The only war fighting legion in Consonance City has proceeded toward the border."

The large meeting room instantly fell totally silent.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 690-Battle of Red Cliff

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

A large war was only a touch away.

Shanhai City's actions had greatly exceeded the expectations of the four city-states.

"You will help us, right?" Qin Feng looked at the representatives of the other city-states; he looked exceedingly nervous.

"Do not worry Brother Qin, Lingnan City-state will help you. When we go back, I'll convince the members of the committee. We will move our 150 thousand alliance army to the Zhaoqing Prefecture border to face off against the Tiger Legion. If there's a need, we will fight our way in in accordance to the battlefield on the west." Yuan Ping was the first to express his opinion.

His stance was not surprising at all.

After Ouyang Shuo married Song Jia, Yuan Ping had become extremely stubborn, to the point where he was obsessed with getting rid of Shanhai City.

"Xiangnan City-State will also move the 100 thousand alliance army into battle status to take charge of the Leopard Legion." Caiyun Zinan expressed his stance.

Caiyun Zinan only said that he would keep the Leopard Legion busy. Hence, if the Leopard Legion did not strike, the Xiangnan City-State would not either.

Lastly, the representative of the Chuanbei City-State, West Gate Big Official, was a little jittery, "Oh, um, okay, we will support you. The Chuanbei City-State alliance army will maintain alert."

Half a year had passed, and many unknown changes had occurred within the Chuanbei City-State. There was a level of internal conflict regarding the matter of facing off against Shanhai City.

Even West Gate Big Official was unwilling to directly conflict with them.

When Qin Feng heard their words, he frowned.

Obviously, the stances of the three City-States did not please him, "You need to hold them, but is there any chance you could send troops to help us?"

The enemy troops they faced included the two legions of the Dragon Legion Corps, the Guards Legion, and the war fighting legion of Consonance City for a total of 280 thousand elites.

Four legions were already a huge challenge to the Yunnan City-State. The alliance army there only had 100 thousand, and they could only gather 300 thousand if they tried.

Qin Feng knew that his 300 thousand troops were not even in the same league as the enemy; there was a big gap in both strength and equipment.

Not to mention that Shanhai City had sent the two god generals Baiqi and Huo Qubing to lead together.

The cold-blooded Asura Baiqi and the genius cavalry general Huo Qubing.

Just thinking about it terrified them.

If Yunnan City-State faced them alone, it would be a little too much.

"This..."

This time, even Caiyun Zinan became jittery.

"Brother Caiyun, if the lips die, the teeth will grow cold!" Qin Feng looked anxious.

Caiyun Zinan sighed, "Cough, Brother Qin, it is not that we are not helping you. You also know that the committee must discuss such issues, and it is not up to me. If it was just to go up against their threat, the committee would not have much resistance, but sending assistance is rather difficult."

"That's right, Brother Qin, you have to understand our situation." West Gate Big Official replied.

Even the most eager Yuan Ping did not speak out.

The Lingnan City-State was not an alliance where he could make all the decisions, and it had extremely complicated internal circumstances. Especially in this half a year, Yuan Ping could feel that there was a group waiting for them to make a mistake and give them a chance to strike.

Hence, although he really wanted to dive into the battlefield, he could not.

When Qin Feng saw this situation, his face turned extremely ugly. On one side, he understood the worries of Yuan Ping and the others. Taking their place, if the Yunnan City-State wanted to help their allies, it would be a problem too.

On the other hand, Qin Feng felt a chill; his allies were leaving them in the lurch.

The emergency meeting of the four City-States ended in unhappiness. The three other City-States only promised to be in charge of dealing with the Tiger and Leopard Legion. As for the main battlefield, there was nothing they could do about it.

"I have no choice, we can only fight to the death!"

After sending away his allies, a look of determination appeared on his face.

Shanhai City, Nanjiang Governor-General House.

8th month, 24th day morning, Ouyang Shuo personally sent off the Guards Legion.

Huo Qubing led the Guards Legion to leave from the north city gate toward Mulan Stronghold. Such a scene was captured in the eyes of all the spies from the various territories.

Rain was coming.

That afternoon, Ouyang Shuo personally met Zhang Tingyu and Wei Yang and received their assurances. Finally, he agreed to let Pei Yun take up the role of Civil Affairs Director.

Zhang Tingyu agreed to the appointment in the end because he had made considerations. If he rejected the offer, he would be offending both Wei Yang and Pei Mo; it would not be a smart decision.

Furthermore, during the Qing Dynasty, such actions were simply too common. Even Zhang Tingyu sometimes had to go along with the Yongzheng Emperor's wants.

Under such circumstances, all the more Zhang Tingyu had no reason to reject his appointment. However, the Monarch's smile during the court assembly caused his heart to tremble.

With that, the Wenxi Pei family had two people taking important roles in Shanhai City.

Name: Pei Yun (King Rank)

Dynasty: Sui Dynasty

Identity: Shanhai City Civil Servant

Occupation: Civil Servant

Loyalty: 70

Command: 45

Force: 30

Intelligence: 70

Politics: 80

Specialty: Civil Rule (15% increase in territory administrative efficiency, 10% increase in territory prestige, 20% increase in civil affairs efficiency)

Evaluation: Pei Yun, an official during the Sui Dynasty. At the start, he worked for the Chen Dynasty, with his Father in the north, he requested to be a spy for the Sui Dynasty. Entering the Sui Dynasty, he became the provincial governor of three states and became an assistant minister.

The history books truly did not have a high evaluation of Pei Yun.

Pei Yun had also become the first official in Shanhai City who truly had a dark history. Ruling over such a scheming minister would be Ouyang Shuo's challenge.

After all, when they reached Planet Hope in the future, something like a loyalty stat would not exist. Judgment of the loyalty of the subordinate would solely depend on Ouyang Shuo's eyes.

8th month, 25th day, morning.

Just as he was drawing his sword in Nanjiang, a system notification sounded out.

"System notification, China Region has reached 50 prefecture cities, starting the battle map system, the 6th battle map - Battle of Red Cliff, will be activated in three days. Friendly Reminder: Battle of Red Cliff is not a forced battle map scenario, only territories that have upgraded to prefecture city can sign up to join."Battle of Red Cliff, the most famous battle during the Three Kingdoms Era.

If the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, including the famous Battle of Guandu, was the turning point in the Cao Cao regime, then the Battle of Red Cliff was the turning point in the Sun Liu regime.

After this battle, Liu Bei truly started to rule, and the Jiangdong Sun Family started to get truly famous.

However, due to the literature work of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the outer world had many misunderstandings regarding this event.

First, Zhuge Liang's straw boat borrowing arrow tactic was purely fictional.

However, the story did not come out from nowhere.

Based on the records of the Three Kingdoms, Pei Song recorded that in the 18th year of Jian An, five years after the Battle of Red Cliff, Cao Cao had led the army south to attack Sun Wu.

One day, Sun Quan made use of the fog in the river to ride the warship to approach the Cao army and observe their troops. Cao Cao was a worrywart; when he saw the fog and the Sun army waiting solemnly, he was afraid there was a scheme and did not dare to fight. He ordered the archers to shoot at the Wu Ships.

Sun Quan's boat were shot by arrows and one side suffered heavy damage, causing the boat to slowly tilt. Sun Quan ordered them to switch the direction of the ships to let the other side get hit by the arrows to stabilize the ships. Then, Sun Quan ordered the warships to leave.

This was just a story that happened to Sun Quan, it was just a reactionary plan. Sun Quan did not plan to borrow the arrows and the history books did not mention any straw boat.

The straw boats borrowing arrows was exaggerated while the borrowing the east wind by Zhuge Liang was total bullsh*t.

In truth, the commander of the Battle of Red Cliff was Zhou Yu, and Zhuge Liang basically did not even participate in this battle.

However, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms author loved Zhuge Liang and attributed some matters to him to glorify him.

Not just the Battle of Red Cliff, even the empty city plan was not Zhuge Liang's.

Similarly, Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai was also a fake story.

The Three Kingdoms history did not have the story of Huang Gai using a self-torture ruse, but he did in fact fake his surrender. To ensure that the fireships that did not have any weapons were not intercepted and to smoothly approach the water stronghold of the Cao army, Huang Gai did a fake surrender.

Cao Cao easily believed his surrender as he felt that since Huang Gai had been under Sun Quan, he had more experience than Zhou Yu and was unhappy to be under Zhou Yu.

Apart from that, Jiang Ziyi being sent by Cao Cao to persuade Zhou Yu was true, but this event did not occur during the Battle of Red Cliff.

In the records of the Three Kingdoms written by Pei Song, he recorded that after the Battle of Red Cliff, there was only Jiang Ziyi persuading him to surrender but no Zhou Yu counter tactic.

And Cai Mao, Zhang Yun was not wrapped up in this, they were not even the admirals of Cao Cao's navy.

Similarly, during the true Battle of Red Cliff, the number difference was not as exaggerated as described in the stories. Beating the many with lesser numbers was not really true.

If Lords used the storyline in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms to guess and prepare, they would definitely fail this time.

In the last life, there were Lords that actually committed such a mistake.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 691-Choosing Camp

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The Battle of Red Cliff could be called a fight for heritage and inheritance in Jingzhou by the Cao, Sun, and Liu families.

Before the battle, Liu Biao basically occupied the entire Jingzhou; Liu Bei occupied the north of Jingzhou and during the end of the 12th year of Jian An, he recruited Zhuge Liang and started to want Liu Biao's land as well.

Cao Cao had calmed down the situation in the north, and its navy was ready to conquer the south. Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu at the start of the 13th year of Jian An; he killed Huang Zu and opened up the east door of Jingzhou.

All three sides wanted Liu Biao's land while Liu Biao was sick due to old age and lacked the charisma and flair he possessed during his youth. His heirs ended up splitting up, with Liu Zong being chosen to inherit Jingzhou and Liu Qi requesting to move out to Jiangxia. Under such circumstances, Jingzhou was basically able to defend itself.

In the 7th month of Jian An 13th year, Cao Cao led his troops down south. As Liu Biao had passed away because of his illness, Liu ong intended to surrender to Cao Cao; Liu Bei housed in Fan City did not know about this.

After Cao Cao passed Wan City, Liu Bei received the news and immediately fled. At the same time, Guan Yu led the navy and headed toward Jiangling; Cao Cao smoothly entered Xiangyang and accepted the surrender of Liu Zong before sending troops to attack Liu Bei.

Along the road, Liu Bei accepted many of the tribesmen of Liu Zong; this group quickly rolled and snowballed into hundreds of thousands in number. At this point, they moved extremely slowly and could only cover 10 miles a day.

Cao Cao knew that Jiangling had vast quantities of resources and was afraid that Liu Bei would reach them first. Hence, he made the army leave all the heavy items while he led five thousand elite cavalries to hurry 300 odd miles in just one night. At Changban, he caught up with Liu Bei's forces, the captured soldiers and the refugees.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Changban was greatly exaggerated. It described how Zhang Fei hollered three times and scared away 100 thousand Cao troops, and Zhao Yun charging solo into the Cao camp and killing as he wished.

During the battle described in the story, Zhang Fei exceeded a god and Zhao Yun was god-like.

However, in history, it naturally was not as exaggerated as that. Only five thousand elite Cao cavalry chased Liu Bei.

In history, Zhao Yun could not be considered a war god; he was more like a high-level body guard.

After the Battle of Changban ended, Liu Bei led tens of people over to the Hanshui crossing and coincidentally met Guan Yu's navy. He did not have time to take up the resources at Jiangling and directly proceeded to Jiangxia to meet up with Liu Qi.

Cao Cao chased him all the way and smoothly occupied Jiangling.

The most crucial turning point of the war appeared at Jiangling. Cao Cao listened to the advice of Advisor Jia Xu, moving into Jiangling. He started to calm the people down and stabilize his rule over Jingzhou.

This stop lasted a full two months.

And in these short two months, Liu Bei successfully formed an alliance with Sun Quan to face off against Cao. This changed the situation at the ending years of the East Han, resulting in there being the Battle of Red Cliff and the formation of the Three Kingdoms.

If Cao Cao had decided to continue chasing, the three kingdoms would not exist. Even if Liu Bei managed to fortunately escape, he would not be able to amass power.

Similarly, if he did not rush it and waited till winter passed, the Cao army would be more prepared; they would not suffer from illnesses, and the east win. They would not have lost at the Battle of Red Cliff either.

Hence, Pei Song wrote as such in the records of the Three Kingdoms: During the Battle of Red Cliff, the loss of the Cao army was fated; it was not something man could change.

10th month of the 13th year of Jian An, the Sun Liu alliance army went up from the Jiangxia River and were ready to fight the Cao Cao army. Both sides engaged near Red Cliff and fought a huge naval battle on the Changjiang.

During the first encounter, the Cao army was defeated.

First, there was an illness spreading in the camp, which affected their fighting strength. Secondly, their troops were mainly northern warriors who were not proficient at naval warfare.

Thirdly, Changjiang had limited space and was unsuited for large scale battle. Cao Cao had a massive army but was unable to use it, resulting in his defeat.

After the defeat, the Cao army just decided to camp at the northern shore of Wulin. At the same time, Zhou Yu's army camped at the south shore of Red Cliff, both sides in a stand-off.

Hence, the true fire engulfing the Red Cliff story happened in Wulin and not Red Cliff.

However, due to the fame of Red Cliff, it continued to spread that way.

The Cao army ships were connected to one another, so the moment one caught fire, it was difficult to stop. The Zhou Yu counter attack followed, with Huang Gai leading his ships to make a fake surrender, getting close to start more fires.

Using the east wind that really should not have appeared during winter, a huge fire burned away at Cao Cao's ambition to rule the world. After the battle, Cao Cao knew that he did not have the strength to occupy the Changjiang region and decided to just destroy his remaining warships to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

From this battle, Cao Cao lost a portion of the forces that went to Jiangling and the navy he took from Liu Biao was basically finished.

After the battle, Cao Cao escaped from the land and headed back to Jiangling, where he left Cao Ren to defend. He himself backed off to the north.

A year after Zhou Yu and Cao Ren fought, Cao Ren was chased away, and they took control of the south prefecture. Hence, Cao Cao lost this portion of the Changjiang waterway.

After which, Cao Cao and his forces stabilized at Xiangyang Fan City and controlled that portion of the Han waterway. Although they lost a battle and lost Jingnan and a portion of the Jianghan plains, he still managed to keep the south of Jingzhou.

During this period of time, Guan Yu led troops to disturb the reinforcements of Cao Cao, causing Cao Cao's army to be unable to contact Cao Ren. As Jingnan was cut off from Cao Cao, Liu Bei took the chance to occupy it.

At this point, the fight for inheritance between Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan had come to an end. As for the conflict between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, it was another matter. All three sides had gained something while the unluckiest one was Liu Biao.

With that, from the 7th month of the 13th year till the 14th year of Jian An, the series of battles caused by the Cao Army heading down south culminated into the Battle of Red Cliff.

Fire engulfing Red Cliff, and this could be called the turning point of the battle. This turning point could split the entire battle into start, middle, and end.

Who knows what Gaia was going to do with this battle map. No matter what, no matter which camp the player chose, it was going to be a fair battle.

This was Gaia's strength.

After the system notification finished, players with the ability to join immediately started to prepare.

Some of them had been looking forward to this battle map for a long time. For example, Di Chen and Chun Shenjun wanted to use this battle to rise to 1st class Marquis and upgrade to Grade 3 Prefecture.

Apart from that, the Battle of the Three Kingdoms had a different feeling to some Lords. Being influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the generals, advisors, and others of this period had many fans.

For example, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Ling were really popular.

Although Ouyang Shuo was not influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and already had the advisors and generals he needed, he still wanted to recruit them. One could foresee that in the following battle, the main battlefield was only one aspect. In the fight to recruit the historical talents, the Lords would have to do all they could to stand out.

The first choice in front of them was the choice of camp, either Cao Cao or Sun Liu camp.

Ouyang Shuo did not hesitate and directly chose Cao Cao's camp.

First, Animal Husbandry Director Xiahou Ying was the ancestor of Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, strictly speaking, he was even the ancestor of Cao Cao.

Why so?

The Cao and Xiahou families were both huge families in the Pei State Qiao County. Ever since Cao Teng, the Cao family had been exceedingly prosperous, and many became officials in the imperial court and the county.

In history, Cao Cao was supposed to be surnamed Xiahou, but since his father became the adopted son of Cao Teng, he followed the surname Cao.

Although the Xiahou Family was powerful, none of them became officials. Their power could not compare to the Cao family.

To develop and progress at a faster rate, the Xiahou Family got close to the Cao Family. Although the Cao family had many officials and grew more and more powerful, they were an arrogant group.

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, these two brothers, paid attention to Cao Cao, who had some reputation. At that time, he had resigned and was at home, so Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun went to befriend him.

Cao Cao had once broken the law and Xiahou Yuan helped him take the blame and went to jail for it. Cao Cao saved him and broke him out of jail. With that, the two families grew closer, and Xiahou Yuan even married Cao Cao's small wife.

Hence, when Cao Cao gathered troops in Chenliu, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were the first to come over.

For them to be able to gain a high position in Cao Cao's camp was not just due to their blood relations. They were also extremely talented.

Xiahou Dun was not only good at war but also ruling. He helped Cao Cao settle the backlines, leading the army to block rivers, build irrigation channels, and help the people. He was also a humble person, and he would reward the soldiers.

To say that he was the most important person in Cao Cao's camp was not an exaggeration. For his whole life, Cao Cao relied on and trusted him.

Xiahou Yuan was an exceptional general; Cao Cao called him a mystical talent.

Xiahou Yuan had joined Cao Cao in many battles and was sent to help settle various rebellions.

The most exceptional battle was when he attacked Han Zuo in the Battle of Xingu. He performed a long-distance assault, attacking the enemy backlines. When Han Zuo came over to defend, Xiahou Yuan made the decision to use the tired and non-advantageous troops to defeat them in one swoop.

Han Zuo lost everything from that battle.

Apart from that, compared to Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan was more violent, and he once wiped out a city.

The two could be considered the pillars of Cao Cao's camp. With that layer of relationship, anyone would know what kind of speaking rights he would have in front of them.

Ouyang Shuo also had another reason - Cao Cao's navy was weaker. If Shanhai City's navy was placed then, they would be basically invincible.

Both of them could assist one another, and they would basically be at an undefeatable position.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 692-The Summoning

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

In this battle map, Ouyang Shuo still reported his choice of camp to his allies. As for how Bai Hua and the others would choose, he did not interfere.

At such a stage, everyone had their own ideas.

Based on the battle map rules, a 1st class Marquis could bring 50 thousand troops. As for the Duke rank, there was no specified limit. However, the maximum number of troops that a Lord could bring into the battle map was 100 thousand.

This was like Gaia drawing a red line.

Even so, compared to the 20 thousand of a 2nd class Marquis, 100 thousand was an absolute advantage. This also meant that after becoming a Duke, Ouyang Shuo did not need any help from his allies.

Since he could bring over 100 thousand troops, the three thousand Divine Martial Guards would definitely be brought over.

Apart from them, there would be the voyage squadron that was still in Jidian City. Based on the battle map teleportation rules, the troops did not need to go through the territory teleportation formation and could just teleport from anywhere.

With that, it was like Ouyang Shuo had made use of the system rules to perform an invincible summon, directly teleporting the voyage squadron that was tens of thousands of miles away.

After the battle map ended, he would send them to Beihai Bay.

The voyage squadron chosen in the end was the 1st division of the Beihai Bay Squadron.

However, based on the battle rules, the troops that the Lord brought was counted by head. This meant that the three thousand sailors of the voyage squadron were listed into the 100 thousand.

With that, the voyage squadron used up 25 thousand spots.

Ouyang Shuo did not think about using only naval troops. After all, who knows which stage the Battle of Red Cliff would start at. The use of an army could not be underestimated.

Ouyang Shuo left the remaining spots for the city protection legion that was still in Stone City.

After blocking off the expansion of Handan City, the situation in Stone City had already stabilized and did not require the city protection legion's interference anymore. Furthermore, the Lianzhou Basin still needed them, and they could not leave for too long.

Till date, although the city protection legion had suffered casualties, they had used war to replenish their troops. For the excess in prisoners, they directly gave them to Stone City.

The current Stone City had already built up a war fighting legion. Apart from that, there was another one being built, and they had half the number of members gathered already.

The current soldier strength of Stone City was even stronger than Consonance City.

In Wufu's words, "They forced my hand!"

Being suppressed by Handan City, Wufu could only focus on his army. The city protection legion acted as a guide and helped them out of their toughest time.

When Ouyang Shuo chose to move the city protection legion, it was because their overall combat strength was good; secondly, he did so to save the teleportation costs.

Based on normal circumstances, to teleport them back to Shanhai City would use up 70 thousand gold.

Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also had another plan. In this half a year, through Wufu, Shanhai City had bought 70 thousand elite Mongol Warhorses from the Mongol Tribe.

Just that had used up 700 thousand gold.

Through this battle map, they could easily transport all the horses back to Shanhai City, saving a lot of effort.

After selecting the 70 thousand city protection legion forces, Ouyang Shuo directly gave up the remaining two thousand. There was no point in moving two thousand troops from elsewhere.

After selecting the camp and the troops to join the battle map, there was not much that Ouyang Shuo needed to prepare for. He only needed to inform Xiahou Ying to follow the troops out.

Amidst all this, something interesting was happening.

Consonance City's Zhang Liao and Black Lion City's Jushou both belonged to the Three Kingdoms Era, so they could not enter the map based on the battle map rules.

This situation gave both Bai Hua and Gong Chengshi a headache.

These two were the pillars of their armies, so being unable to bring them into the battle map was a huge loss.

Hua Xiong from Asura City was also the same case.

Shanhai City's Cai Mao could not join either, but he was in the Yashan Squadron and was not in Ouyang Shuo's plans in the first place.

These generals and advisors would not truly appear in the battle map and would just get random jobs. Of course, Xu Huang who Ouyang Shuo killed in the Battle of Julu would all the more not appear.

In conclusion, the Three Kingdom characters that appeared in the wilderness would have no part to play in this battle map.

Gaia 3rd year, 8th month, 28th day, 9 AM, a system notification sounded out.

"System notification: 208 A.D., 13th year of Jian An, Sun Quan, Liu Bei alliance army broke the Cao Cao army in the Battle of Red Cliff, forming the basis of the formation of the Three Kingdoms. Sun Liu alliance army used fire to destroy their troops, Cao Cao went back north, Sun and Liu each took a portion of Jingzhou - Battle of Red Cliff, officially begins!"

The Three thousand Divine Martial Guards had formed up in the square and were waiting to go.

Checking battle requirements, number of forces, choosing camp...

Ouyang Shuo was familiar with these processes; he only faced some problems when selecting the participating forces.

Since this was the first time Gaia had teleported naval forces into a battle map, they needed to scan the data of the voyage squadron before teleporting them in.

With that, there was a huge amount of work to be done.

Luckily, before the battle, Ouyang Shuo had already sent letters to Zheng He and Er'Lai and informed them about the battle, asking them to get ready in advance.

If not, it would be a total mess.

"System Notification: Teleportation begin!"

After a short while of the sky turning and flipping around them, Ouyang Shuo arrived on the Red Cliff battlefield.

"System Notification: Welcome Player Qiyue Wuyi, landing in Cao Cao's camp - Jiangling City."

"Jiangling?" Ouyang Shuo's face was covered in doubt, "Did we appear at the early stages of the battle?"

Before the battle began, there was a need to introduce the soldier numbers and main generals and strategists.

Cao Cao's overall numbers were at 150 to 160 thousand, Jingzhou Army 70 to 80 thousand, but the Jingzhou Army could not be completely thrown into the frontlines. The Cao Army also needed to be split to defend Xiangyang, and Cao Ren had at least 30 thousand troops in Jiangling. Hence, the frontlines numbered around 170 to 180 thousand.

The Cao Army's main forces were split into two, Cao Cao himself and the Zhao Yan and Cheng Yu army.

Cao Cao split his troops in Wulin, Red Cliff, the navy and army going in together; his troops were mainly navy and had an overall strength of 100 thousand.

Under his charge, the generals included high-level bodyguard Xu Chu, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and Cao Hong, the three leopard cavalry, and the guards army commanders, Le Jing, Man Chong, Cao Cun, and Wen Pin.

The strategists included Jia Xu, Xun You, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Cui Yan, and more.

As for Guo Jia, he had died long ago.

In the other group, Zhao Yan was the Commander in Chief of the protector army, Yu Jin, Zhang He, Zhu Ling, Li Dian, Lu Zhao, Feng Kai, an overall of 70 to 80 thousand troops.

Zhao Yan did not move with the main force and instead proceeded toward where Liu Bei and Guan Yu escaped. Hence, he moved along the Han River, north of Cao Cao's main forces.

In Cao Cao's army, their famous generals were like clouds while they were a little lacking in strategists.

As for the Sun Liu alliance army, they had less troops.

Due to Liu Be's loss in Dangyang, and the addition of Guan Yu's forces, they had around 10 thousand. After Liu Bei and Liu Qi's 10 thousand troops met at Xiakou, they formed the alliance with Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, and Chen Pu; they led the 30 thousand main force to meet up with Liu Bei.

In Liu Bei's army, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhu Geliang were all present. A special aspect to point out was that the current Guan Yu was the navy commander of Liu Bei's army.

The Wu Army had Zhou Yu and Chen Pu as their left and right Commander in Chiefs, their generals included Lu Su, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Lu Meng, Gan Ning, Ling Tong, and Zhou Tai.If it was the starting period of the battle, then it would be simply too advantageous to the Cao Cao camp.

With the reminder from the players, the fire engulfing Red Cliff plan would not work. Along with the Shanhai City Navy, Ouyang Shuo was confident in ending the battle and destroying the Sun Liu alliance army in a week.

The more it was like this, the more he did not believe it.

He did not believe that Gaia would break the balance of the battle map.

"Greetings, Monarch!"

Just as Ouyang Shuo was in doubt, a lightning like shout broke out at his ear. Turning around, he saw the Legion General of the city protection legion, the East Zhonglang General, Er'Lai.

After half a year of not meeting, both of them were filled with emotions.

Behind him, the 70 thousand city protection legion soldiers were lined up neatly.

Seeing Ouyang Shuo come over, they all immediately bowed in unison.

"Greetings, Monarch!"

Their voices were strong and majestic, their auras shocking.

The other player armies that teleported over could not help but feel stunned. Some looked on in fear, others in envy, some were jealous, while some felt happy that they chose the same camp as Shanhai City.

As for the voyage squadron led by Zheng He, they appeared in the Han River. After all, Ouyang Shuo was currently in the camp outside of Jiangling City, so it was not feasible to house a navy here.

After gathering with the city protection legion, Ouyang Shuo suppressed the doubt in his heart and went to register. Along the way, he gathered with the allies that had chosen the Cao Cao camp.

In the end, only Bai Hua, Feng Qiuhuang, and Wufu chose Cao Cao's camp. Xunlong Dianxue and Gong Chengshi both chose Sun Liu's camp.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he sighed in heart. However, his expression remained unchanged.

On the other hand, Bai Hua and the others had ugly expressions.

After registering, what Ouyang Shuo cared about most was which part of the battle they were at. If he did not get this point, he would totally be unable to form a battle plan.

The camp general's reply caused his feelings to fall to the depths, "Our army has lost in Red Cliff and are currently resting in Jiangling."

The moment the general's words finished, the entire camp shook.

"Is this a joke? The Battle of Red Cliff has ended, so why drag us here?"

"That's right; are we here to feed the enemy?"

Unhappiness spread.

The player Lords in Cao Cao's camp felt despair even before the battle started. Even with Shanhai City here, they could not see any bit of hope.

Gaia's arrangement had exceeded all expectation.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 693-Vicious Strategist Jia Xu

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

The longest road in the game was the traps Gaia set for the players.

No one could have expected that right at the start of the battle, the most exciting moment of the Battle of Red Cliff - the fires engulfing Red Cliff – would have already ended.

This matter caught all the Lords in Cao Cao's camp off guard.

After the fires engulfed Red Cliff, what kind of battle situation was there? Let's have a quick recollection.

During the defeat at Red Cliff, Cao Cao ordered the use of fire to burn the resources and warships at Wulin Camp. Following which, they rushed toward Yunmeng Lake in the west and they got lost on the way.

Cao Cao led them back toward Huarong. The road was muddy and there was a strong wind. Cao Cao's tired troops used grass to pave the way so that the cavalry could pass. The weak troops were stepped on by the passing cavalry and were killed in the mud.

One had to say that Cao Cao was truly vicious.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang with genius foresight placed Guan Yu on Huarong Path. However, due to his righteousness, he let Cao Cao and his men pass. Naturally, all of that was fake. Even then, this path was truly difficult for Cao Cao and his army to pass.

At the same time, Zhou Yu and Liu Bei's navy attacked together in a chase for the win.

Zhou Yu's army chased closely after Cao Cao's retreating troops, his navy going against the current to Jiangling.

Liu Bei, Huang Gai's navy entered Dongting Lake, Huang Gai turned into the Yuanjiang to obtain Lin Yuan, which was the governing area of Wuling Prefecture. He was appointed as the Governor of Wuling by Sun Quan.

Liu Bei went against the current on the Xiangjiang to attack Linxiang, the governing area of Changsha. Han Xuan surrendered to Liu Bei without resisting. At the same time, Sun Quan and Zhang Zhao sent troops to the east, one to attack Hefei and the other Dangtu.

After Cao Cao escaped back to Jiangling, he left Cao Ren, Man Cong, and Wen Pin to various areas to order the troops back to return north.

Apart from the troops lost in Red Cliff and Wulin, Cao Cao also decisively abandoned the weak soldiers. They had also rushed to escape, so they did not bring any resources. As a result, a large number of soldiers starved to death. The result was that half of Cao Cao's army was lost.

Of the original 100 thousand, less than 40 thousand made it back to Jiangling.

Xu Jia, Cao Xiu, and Cao Dun led elites who were adaptive and faster at running than everyone else, so they suffered very little loses. The navy lost the most, with nearly everyone falling. Hence, they lost control over Han River and Changjiang.

The other legion of the Cao Army, Zhao Yan's 70 thousand, did not suffer heavy losses as they were not present at Red Cliff. Consequently, they retreated smoothly to Jiangling.

Strictly speaking, the main force of Cao Cao's army did not suffer heavy losses.

However, because they no longer had a navy, the morale was really low; Cao Cao was not in the mood to fight and wanted to retreat north. He allowed Sun Liu to expand, which resulted in the formation of the Three Kingdoms.

Hence, the first mission of the Lords in the camp was to persuade him to not go back and use Jiangling as a base to have a battle with the Sun Liu Army instead.

If not, everything would be useless.Just as the Lords were making noise at the door, the battle report sounded out.

"Battle Report: Battle of Red Cliff, 40 Lords participating, 620 thousand troops. Cao Cao Camp has 15 Lords, 270 thousand troops; Sun Liu Camp 25 Lords, 350 thousand troops."

Out of the 50 Lords that met the requirements, only 40 joined.

The further the game progressed, the more the battle maps became the world of the giants. Normal Lords did not have the strength and ability to fight. If their luck was not good, the battle contribution points they obtained would not even be enough to revive their dead troops.

The entire Yanhuang Alliance had joined the Sun Liu Camp.

First, their intel showed that Ouyang Shuo would join the Cao Cao Camp. Secondly, the temptation of Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and the like was stronger than those in Cao Cao's Camp.

Without the change of Gong Chengshi and Xunlong Dianxue, the numbers on both sides would have been extremely close.

Now, there was a tipping of the scales.

Just thinking about it, the expressions of Bai Hua and the rest grew uglier.

"Battle Report: As Cao Cao camp has less troops, based on battle rules, they will obtain a 25% defense buff.""Battle Report: Based on rank and merit points, Cao Cao camp player representative is Qiyue Wuyi, Duke. Sun Liu Camp representative is Di Chen, 2nd Class Marquis."Be it the Cao Cao Camp or the Sun Liu Camp, the soldier numbers crossed that of the camp troops. Hence, during this battle, the player forces would play a crucial role.

The strength of the player representative was even more evident.

On the side of Cao Cao's Camp, Shanhai City, Consonance City, Fallen Phoenix City, and Stone City had 150 thousand, more than half of the total.

Along with the prestige of Shanhai City, there would not be any problems for him to lead the players.

However, Ouyang Shuo was not so optimistic.

Because in the camp, Ouyang Shuo saw Qin Feng from the Yunnan City-State, Yuan Ping from the Lingnan City-State, and Caiyun Zinan from the Xiangnan City-State.

With the three of them, there would definitely be no peace in Cao Cao's Camp.

Ouyang Shuo could not guess whether it was coincidence they chose this camp or if they did it on purpose. Thinking back to the Nanjiang War that was about to start, this battle map became more and more interesting.

Along with Di Chen and the others each having one province, the number of Lords in China had decreased. The four City-States had become the pillars of the Lord player groups.

During this battle, there were eight Lords from the four City-States. In the player army, they had a certain amount of talking power; they were not people Ouyang Shuo could move and command.

No matter what, the first thing that Ouyang Shuo needed to do was to go meet Cao Cao.

At 10 AM, Ouyang Shuo brought the three thousand Divine Martial Guards and Xiahou Ying into Jiangling City.

It was not that Ouyang Shuo was making a statement, it was just that there were too many people with nefarious intentions in Cao Cao's Camp, so he had to play it safe.

If Ouyang Shuo was assassinated, everything would be over.

In the camp, Er'Lai's city protection legion was one group, while Bai Hua, Feng Qiuhuang, and Wufu's 50 thousand army was the other, led by Fallen Phoenix City's General Zhou Bo.

The two groups started to mesh and coordinate with one another in the barracks. At the same time, they paid attention to Yuan Ping and the others.

Before the battle even began, the players in the Cao Cao camp had seeds of doubt sowed in their minds as they were wary about one another.Jian An 13th year, when Red Cliff was engulfed in flames, Zhuge Kongming was 27, Zhou Yu 33, Liu Xuande was 47, Cao Mengde was 53.

Cao Cao was the oldest, crossing the 50 mark.

With that, it was not hard to imagine how rushed he felt. After crushing Liu Bei, despite unprepared circumstances, he wanted to attack Sun Quan to complete his goal of ruling the world.

"Time does not wait for anyone!"

No wonder Cao Cao would sing such a sad song like Short Song Style at Red Cliff.

I lift my drink and sing a song, for who knows if life is long or short!

Man's life is but the morning dew, past days many, future ones few.

The melancholy my heart begets,

Comes from the care I cannot forget.

What can unravel my woes, I only now one drink Dukang Wine.Bright is the moon's spark, when can I pick it apart?

Thoughts of you from inside, cannot settle, cannot subside.

Friends drop by from the country road, the respects they pay really show.No mountain too steep, no ocean too deep.

Sage pauses when guests call, so the empire at his feet will not fall.At that moment, Cao Cao had a really complicated feeling. He had the ambition to sweep the north; he felt his goal of becoming an overlord was not being fulfilled.

The Cao Cao that Ouyang Shuo saw in the Lord's Manor was exactly that one.

The defeat at Red Cliff, his goal failing, retreating badly, and the morale of his troops had hit rock bottom. After these series of blows, even though he was optimistic, he could not help but feel ashamed and sad.

In the guest room, Cao Cao sat. Below him was an old man dressed like a scholar. Out of his generals, even his bodyguard Xu Chu did not appear here.

After the defeat, the generals were busy organizing the troops.

Seeing the old man, Ouyang Shuo's eyes froze. The images of the historical people in the game were not made up but replicated using photos and modelled after paintings; if they did not have pictures or images, films were used as a reference.

Hence, as long as the Lords tried, they would be able to recognize the prominent historical people.

Ouyang Shuo had spent so much effort on studying history, along with the data from Red Cliff, he was able to ascertain that this was the important general under Cao Cao's camp - Jia Xu.

Jia Xu was a famous strategist from the Wei Country during the Three Kingdoms Era. A famous strategist, people often called him venomous. He came up with many brilliant strategies and calculated and planned many victories. He was intelligent and good at self-preservation.

When he died, he was 77 years old, and he was one of the rare few who died happily or well during the Three Kingdoms Period.

In truth, during that period, Jia Xu could have definitely been considered one of the top three strategists. As for Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Sima Yi, and the like, they could not be considered pure strategists.

In the Wei Country camp, probably only Xun Yi, Xun You, and Guo Jia could be mentioned in the same sentence as him.

Before the Battle of Red Cliff, he had suggested to calm down the people and not chase to Jiangdong. Helplessly, Cao Cao listened for two months but could not hold it in in the end, he sent his troops to Jiangling, resulting in defeat.

With that, Cao Cao trusted Jia Xu all the more.

One had to say that the way that Cao Cao used talents was something that many Lords could learn from.

"Player Qiyue Wuyi greets the prime minister!" Ouyang Shuo bowed.

Xiahou Ying, who followed behind Ouyang Shuo, looked at Cao Cao with a weird expression and did not bow.

"Who are you, how can you be so rude to the prime minister?" Jia Xu chided when he saw that.

When Xiahou Ying heard these words, he smiled and looked at Cao Cao, "Do you recognize me?"

In truth, the moment he walked in, Cao Cao's eyes had frozen, and he was filled with questions. When Xiahou Ying opened his mouth, Cao Cao's guesses were basically ascertained.

"Dare I ask, are you the old ancestor?"

In the Xiahou family temple, Xiahou Ying's painting and portrait was hung.

"That's right." Xiahou Ying nodded.

"Ah!" Jia Xu was astonished.

Cao Cao did not care, directly leaving his seat and hurrying over.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 694-Asking Cao Cao to Fight

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

A meeting that spanned generations was unusually touching.

Luckily, Cao Cao was not a normal person and quickly calmed down. The way he looked at Ouyang Shuo became gentler and closer, not as cold as before.

That was enough to Ouyang Shuo.

"Why are you looking for me?" Cao Cao asked.

Ouyang Shuo bowed, "We would like to request the prime minister to not retreat the troops."

When Cao Cao heard this request, his eyes turned cold and the atmosphere froze. He spat out word by word, "Do you know what you're talking about?"

Red Cliff's engulfment in flames was a sudden defeat at the most arrogant point of his life. The retreat was not glorious, so Cao Cao was naturally not happy when Ouyang Shuo mentioned it.

On the other hand, Jia Xu's eyes lit up.

"Prime minister, please hear me out!" Ouyang Shuo was not fazed. In terms of aura, specifically the aura of an overlord, Ouyang Shuo did not lose to Cao Cao. However, he purposely restrained it.

"Speak!"

"Your worry is undoubtedly because of the navy being crushed and losing control over the Changjiang and Han River. I brought a navy of 20 thousand that can help."

"Just 20 thousand?" Cao Cao mocked.

"Although 20 thousand is not much, their combat strength is special. I dare to say that no matter how strong the Sun Liu Alliance Army is, they cannot break through our defenses; we are not even on the same level."

"Absurd." Cao Cao was furious, he was growing a little impatient.

"I would not dare to lie in front of you, would you go take a look? After you see our navy, I'm pretty sure you'll believe me."

What you hear might be false, what you see would definitely be true.

The voyage squadron was the strongest squadron in the world today. Be it warships or equipment, compared to the Han Dynasty Navy, they were not even on the same level.

Without mentioning other aspects, just the cannons alone were enough to destroy Zhou Yu's navy.

Cao Cao's gloomy expression did not fade, but he decided to give Xiahou Ying some face and chose to compromise in the end, "Sure, if I'm not happy in the end, you will know the consequences."

"Please!"

Ouyang Shuo smiled and led the way.

Cao Cao was a great leader; naturally, he was not happy about such a defeat. Hence, although Ouyang Shuo's words seemed too good to be true, Cao Cao did not reject it.

Hence, a group of men walked out of the city.

When the Lord players saw this scene, many were envious.

"How amazing; he is even able to lead out a boss like Cao Cao!"

"That's right!"

"Stop sucking up to him. Even though he is strong, what can he do in such a situation? He still has to back off."

"That's right, if I knew this would happen, I would have chosen the Sun Liu Camp."

"Sigh, let's stop talking and try to find another historical person recruitment quest. If we can recruit a general, this trip would not be a waste."

The Lords in the Cao Cao Camp had lost all hope, so they turned their attention to the generals and strategists instead.

When Ouyang Shuo heard their words, he did not say anything and just passed by them.After walking out of the city Lord's Manor, Cao Cao's eyes froze when he saw the three thousand Divine Martial Guards. He had spent his life on the battlefield, and his eyes were exceedingly vicious and clear, so he instantly noticed the difference of the Divine Martial Guards.

In comparison, even Xu Wei's guards were not on the same level.

The person who developed such elite troops was definitely not simple.

When he saw Ouyang Shuo's mount, Little Green, Cao Cao and the others were shocked once more. The ferocious and huge Little Green was simply unique and eye-catching.

In just a short while, Cao Cao had stopped underestimating him. He even started to look forward to the navy that he was going to see.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, his heart settled.

Jiangling Crossing.

Zheng He and the voyage squadron had teleported onto the waters of the Han River. Such a weird matter unavoidably caused panic.

The river appeared extremely narrow to the turreted ships, and it only allowed three to four warships to line up side by side. In the squadron, the three special Man O' War type warships stood out.

On board these ships, more than ten English engineers stood on deck, talking about the Jiangling City not far away; this was a new and interesting experience to them.

The squadron spotted the arrival of the Divine Martial Guards on the horizon.

"It's the Monarch!" The soldiers were delighted.

The Divine Martial Capes of the guards were simply too eye-catching.

When Zheng He received the news, he immediately led all the generals to welcome them.

"Greetings, Monarch!"

With a Shua! everyone bowed in unison.

"Greetings, Monarch!"

Following which, every sailor and soldier on the warship bowed.

Hong! Hong! Hong!

Along with their voices, the cannons rang out.

Such a scene was too shocking.

Ouyang Shuo nodded his head, pleased, "Please rise!"

"Thank you, my Monarch!"

Such a scene truly shocked Cao Cao and the others.

Ouyang Shuo acted like he did not see Cao Cao's expression. In terms of rank, he was actually higher than Cao Cao; after all, he was an actual duke.

To be called Monarch was something even Cao Cao could not dream of.

How could he have expected that such a normal-looking player would have such a high rank? Now, in front of the army, he was as stable as a mountain and had an indescribable aura.

Cao Cao needed to treat Ouyang Shuo seriously, but Cao Cao could not see through him. It was like he was covered in a layer of fog, mysterious but making people close to him.

"A young hero!" Cao Cao exclaimed.

Ouyang Shuo smiled but did not say anything. During the battle map, there were naturally battle map rules. Obviously, he did not think about usurping Cao Cao's position, "Prime minister, let's go take a look!"

When Cao Cao and the others saw the five-story high turreted ships and the giant Man O' War battleships, their mouths gaped open. Even the strongest navy troops in Sun Quan's army could not compare to the Mengchong Warship.

They were not even on the same level.

In their eyes, the bigger the warship, the stronger it was.

Hence, Cao Cao had now partially believed Ouyang Shuo's words. However, Cao Cao was Cao Cao after all; he was a person filled with many doubts. If he did not personally witness the strength of the voyage squadron, he would not come to conclusions.When onboard Dragon Head, one would be filled with many different emotions.

Although Cao Cao was an army user, before the Battle of Red Cliff, he had especially learned about the navy. No warship could shock him as much as Dragon Head did.

When he was on deck, Ouyang Shuo smiled and said, "Admiral Zheng He, demonstrate to the prime minister!"

"Yes, Monarch!"

Zheng He nodded and took care of the introduction work.

Cao Cao was a person who loved to learn, dragging Zheng He and asking a lot of questions. He was also someone familiar with the field, so every question he asked hit the spot and made Zheng He and the others look on in awe.

No matter what, the two were many dynasties apart.

Ouyang Shuo stood at the side, smiling but not saying anything. Suddenly, Ouyang Shuo gazed at Jia Xu, walking across and bowing, "Greetings mister!"

Jia Xu looked over. After witnessing Ouyang Shuo's strength, how would someone as smart as Jia Xu use their status and position in front of him?

Ouyang Shuo smiled. Obviously, Jia Xu was wary toward him. His carefulness was not at a normal level. "I've long heard of mister's name. Seeing you is my fortune!"

"You're joking sir!"

Jia Xu's expression became gentler. No one could reject such words. Words of praise from someone like Ouyang Shuo were all the more different and tempting.

"Mister, do you know the difference between this place and the main map?" Ouyang Shuo continued to probe.

"I roughly know a little."

"I'm not being arrogant, but on the main map, I'm the best in the world. I have over a million troops, and I have many generals and officials under me. Baiqi, Han Xin, Huo Qubing, Xiao He, Fan Li, Wei Yang, and more; they are all in my territory." Ouyang Shuo introduced the situation of Shanhai City.

The more Jia Xu heard, the more shocked he felt.

His intuition told him that the player in front of him was not lying.

"Duke is a talent!" Jia Xu still did not budge.

However, this only made Ouyang Shuo more and more interested in him, so he continued to try and tempt, "My territory has many generals, but we lack a super strategist to help us."

"With your name, you would be able to recruit the strategist you want."

Ouyang Shuo shook his head, "So many thousand years, how many strategists could be considered top class?" As he spoke, he could not help but let out an aura like the world was under his feet, shocking Jia Xu.

Changing the topic, Ouyang Shuo said, "Mister, you are a talent. Out of all strategists, you are one of the best."

"Duke, thank you for the complement!"

"Mister really does not want to consider it?" Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to make it clearer.

"Duke, you're joking." Jia Xu avoided the topic.

Ouyang Shuo sighed, wanting to recruit historical people was truly difficult. Even with Ouyang Shuo's current high-grade terms, he still did not manage to convince Jia Xu.

The aura of the king in legends truly could not be trusted.

Ouyang Shuo did not give up, "After the battle map ends, mister can still decide. The doors of Shanhai City will forever be open to you. Even in the main map, this offer still stands."

After he said these words, Ouyang Shuo turned and left.

Looking at his back, Jia Xu felt unsettled.In the simulation room, Zheng He started to display to Cao Cao the strength of the cannons.

Hong Long Long! A round of fire caused the imaginary warships on the river to sink. When Cao Cao witnessed this scene, his eyes widened; he had never seen such godly weapons.

"Good, good, very good!" Cao Cao laughed out.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 695-Navy and Army Moving as One

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Jiangling, City Lord's Manor.

After returning from the port, Cao Cao was in an excited state.

They would definitely fight this war, but the problem was how.

Cao Cao summoned Chen Hao and Jia Xu, these two strategists, for a discussion. As the player representative, Ouyang Shuo was also invited. The special use of the voyage squadron meant that Ouyang Shuo would have a lot of speaking rights.

Seeing Cao Cao so excited, Ouyang Shuo had to calm his spirits, "Prime minister, allow me to introduce to you the player situation of both camps."

"Speak!" Cao Cao did not dare to underestimate the players again.

"During this battle, our player army has 270 thousand. Without the navy, we only have 250 thousand troops. The enemy player camp has 350 thousand troops, and they might have a navy too."

"The difference is so great?" Cao Cao frowned.

Ouyang Shuo nodded.

After the loss of Red Cliff, the remaining Cao troops that escaped numbered around 100 thousand. Along with the 30 thousand troops Cao Ren left at Jiangling City, they had around 130 thousand troops.

At the same time, the Sun Liu Alliance Army had split into three routes.

Liu Bei led 20 thousand troops to go against the current of Xiangjiang to attack Linxiang. Huang Gai's navy was less than 10 thousand. After entering Dongting Lake, they would turn into Yuanjiang.

Hence, only around 20 thousand Zhou Yu forces chased Cao Cao.

According to such a comparison, although Cao Cao had a lack of players, it was not that important as the numbers on both sides were similar.

However, the important problem apart from numbers was morale.

After the Cao army suffered that grievous defeat, their morale had already hit rock bottom. They lacked the mood and the will to fight. Hence, in history, their huge army was chased all the way by Zhou Yu.

In the end, Cao Cao did not spend too long here, leading his troops back north. A year later, the Jiangling that Cao Ren defended was taken down.

With that, it was easy to see that the 130 thousand Cao army was not going to be of use in a short time. On the contrary, the Zhou Yu army possessed high morale and were at their sharpest.

The morale of the native army would also affect the morale of the player army.

The Lords in the Cao Cao Camp had lost all hope in this battle and were deflated. On the contrary, the players in the Sun Liu Camp would want to end this battle in one swoop.

Even with the presence of the voyage squadron, it was not looking good for the Cao army.

Apart from that, there was one more factor that should be considered. After Sun Quan received the new about the victory at Red Cliff, would he lead the army to assist the frontlines?

Even if he would not, Ouyang Shuo believed that Di Chen and the others would find a way to persuade him.

With that, the situation would greatly worsen.

The Battle of Red Cliff was far from a naval battle; the battle of armies was the main component."How does their navy compare to yours?" Cao Cao asked.

Ouyang Shuo thought about this matter; among the enemy, probably only Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and Xunlong Dianxue had decent navies. Their warships were bought from Shanhai City.

As for cannons, only Xunlong Dianxue had obtained 30 from Shanhai City.

Whether or not Xiong Ba or Zhan Lang had their hands on any cannon technology, Ouyang Shuo did not know. Although such technical manuals were not common, they were not unique either.

Strictly speaking, Xiong Ba and the rest had chances to obtain such technology from other avenues.

Gaia also had a rule that when a certain technology was grasped by more than five in a country, it would be opened to all players.

Based on that example, if Ouyang Shuo taught the steam engine technique to Consonance City, Fallen Phoenix City, Stone City, and Black Lion City, the entire region would receive it.

Hence, shortly after Avic Fort developed the steam engine, the entire country entered the industrial revolution.

"Warships are similar, firearms weaker." Ouyang Shuo replied.

When Cao Cao heard this reply, his brows jumped, "Wen He, say your thoughts."

Throughout this entire process, Jia Xu did not make a sound till Cao Cao called him. Only then did he stand up and say, "Lord, I feel that we should attack using the navy and defend using the army."

"Please elaborate."

"The navy can face Zhou Yu's forces and try to crush them at once. It is best if we can regain Red Cliff." As expected from Jia Xu, such a clear path of thinking, "With that, we can use the win to raise the morale and sweep away the problem at hand. Secondly, we can use Red Cliff to crush the Sun Liu Alliance Army."

"Occupying Red Cliff can help to stop any reinforcements and cut off their resources. Only then can our army have a fight to the death with the main force of Zhou Yu."

Jia Xu paused to allow them to digest his words before continuing, "After describing the navy, the army would be easier to understand. Before the navy takes over Red Cliff, our main force should rest in the city to defend it. First, we need to rest and heal up. Secondly, we can bring over the other troops around Jingzhou to assist. Most importantly, we must use this time to stock up on resources."

During the Battle of Red Cliff, the Cao army used Red Cliff as their main camp and had transported all their resources to there. In the end, one massive fire burned it all up.

The end of the East Han could not be compared to the wilderness of the main map.

It was chaos, lives were horrible, and many strong youths joined the army, so there were like no men in the villages. Hence, there were huge plots of empty land with no one to farm.

Consequently, grain became all the more precious to the army.

If they wanted to gather up grain for a war, it would take close to half a year. As a result, the generals such as Xiahou Dun and Zhong Yao on the backlines were extremely important.

Moreover, it was the winter period, so the families were only left with some grain to pass the season, which made it all the more difficult to collect grain.

In history, Cao Cao did have his reasons for choosing to retreat.

Jia Xu's analysis hit the spot and each word made sense. When Ouyang Shuo heard his words, the light in his eyes shone even brighter. Without a doubt, a strategist like Jia Xu was something he lacked the most.

If he really does not want to, I will have to kidnap him.

Cao Cao did not decide right away, turning to Cheng Yu and asking, "Zhong De, what do you think?"

Cheng Yu was one of the five strategists under Cao Cao's Camp. After Guo Jia died, he became the most important one. At the same time, he was the only one out of the five who had the ability to lead the troops to battle.

On this topic, there was also a classic story, 'After the defeat at Red Cliff, if I had Guo Jia, I would not have lost!'

Some people read this as Cao Cao being unhappy with Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, and the rest.

In truth, it was not.

If one carefully read the history books, they would notice that the strategists in his camp did not fail. Jia Xu had advised him to not advance and to calm down the situation in Jingzhou.

In the end, Cao Cao did not listen and rushed to unite the land.

Cheng Yu also predicted the Sun Liu Alliance saying, 'Sun Quan is newly appointed and has never been worried about anything. Cai Cao is invincible, taking down Jingzhou and shocking the land. Although Sun Quan has strategies, he cannot face you alone. Liu Bei has many famous generals, so Sun Quan will definitely seek his help to defend against us."

In hindsight, if Cao Cao had listened to Cheng Yu and prepared early, he would not have been caught off guard by Zhou Yu at Red Cliff.

With that, it was not hard to understand what Cao Cao was doing. At this moment that decided his fate, he sought both their opinions.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he felt truly ashamed. His actions in Shanhai City were more arrogant than even Cao Cao.

Cheng Yu instantly stood up, "Lord, I agree. Only one point, the enemy has Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang. Along with them knowing about our situation, they might plan against the voyage squadron."

"That makes sense, so what should we do?" Cao Cao was not afraid. Since he had decided, he would not change and back off easily.

"We should fight quickly." Cheng Yu explained, "Since they are prepared, they would not expect us to strike out without hesitating and resting. With that, we can totally catch them off guard."

"Great idea!"

Cao Cao rubbed his beard. He smiled, but no one could catch his real thoughts.

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he could only envy Cao Cao.

When could he gather such a group of strategists under his charge?

"Prime minister!" Envy was envy, but Ouyang Shuo was always a spontaneous person, so he asked to fight, "I am willing to lead the voyage squadron to strike and take down Red Cliff!"

Considering that the enemy had some people he could meet with, Ouyang Shuo needed to personally lead. If not, facing the players was not something Zheng He could handle alone.

Ouyang Shuo also wanted to teach the Sun Liu Navy a lesson.

It was time for the voyage squadron to use this battle to grow famous in China.

"Great! Cao Cao laughed, "I hope your squadron can achieve victory for us!"

"Yes!"

Ouyang Shuo solemnly replied.

A discussion of the specific battle plans followed. Apart from that would be to plan for the players. After all, since Ouyang Shuo would not be in Jiangling, he needed to make early arrangements.

The Battle of Red Cliff was going to start once again between naval forces.

The true battle was about to begin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 696-Dark Clouds Hung Over

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Before leaving the City Lord's Manor, Ouyang Shuo was ready to ask for a person from Cao Cao, so he sincerely said, "Prime minister, for this navy mission, we only lack a general. Please fulfil my request."

As he spoke, Ouyang Shuo gave a deep, sincere bow.

Cao Cao rubbed his beard and smiled widely, "Navy general? Who do you want?"

The meaning in his eyes could not be grasped.

This was Cao Cao; his thoughts were hard to grasp, and no one could guess what he was thinking.

"Mister Jia Xu is a talent. If you can fulfil my request, it would be for the best." Ouyang Shuo would not be courteous.

Before Cao Cao even said anything, Jia Xu who stood at the side tensed up; his heart was close to falling apart. He did not expect that Ouyang Shuo would be such a shameless person.

He did not succeed in inviting me, so this time, he actually used his power for his own gain, Jia Xu cursed in his heart.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this reaction, he did not budge. To recruit someone, you had to act shameless and do everything you could.

"Ehhh." when Cao Cao heard this request, he did not say anything and slowly brushed his beard. He looked at Ouyang Shuo and Jia Xu with his eagle-like eyes as if he wanted to deduce whether the two had anything private going on.

Jia Xu smiled awkwardly. He also knew that his Lord was a person filled with doubts. When he boarded the boat, the Lord had probably seen him talking to Ouyang Shuo.

Now that this had happened, it was truly a case of jumping into the yellow river; he could not wash it off.

At this very moment, Cheng Yu stood up to calm the situation; he smiled and said, "Lord, I do feel that player Qiyue Wuyi's request is reasonable. The voyage squadron is the key to victory, so it needs a smart strategist to ensure the win."

As he spoke, Cheng Yu gave Cao Cao a look.

When Cao Cao saw it, he obviously understood.

The meaning behind Cheng Yu's words were obvious; he was asking Cao Cao to use this chance to add a few men into the voyage squadron. As for whether there were other considerations within all this, it was hard to guess.

If there were too many strategists involved, conflicts would unavoidably arise.

It was similar to how Cheng Yu and Jia Xu were both beside Cao Cao, and the number one strategist was still undecided.

Hence, if there was a chance, Cheng Yu did not mind sending Jia Xu away.

This was not a despicable act but an act to gain power.

"If Qiyue Wuyi did not choose him, I would have wanted to follow along." Cheng Yu joked.

"That would not work." Cao Cao laughed too, who knows what balancing act he had done in his heart. In the end he agreed, nodding, "Ok, let Wen He follow you out."

"Thank you, prime minister!" Ouyang Shuo was delighted.

"Wen He, you need to do your best to assist Qiyue Wuyi." Cao Cao personally instructed, his eyes exceedingly sharp.

Jia Xu's face was black, but he had no choice but to accept the situation, "Yes, Lord!"

As the dust settled, Ouyang Shuo faced Jia Xu and sincerely said, "Thank you, sir!"

Jia Xu's was expressionless and nodded his head tensely.

"I hope you all come back with a huge victory!" Cao Cao laughed once more.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he could not help but feel some panic rise in his heart. This fellow was extremely special, regardless if he was happy or angry, he would just smile. If one saw this often, they could not help but feel anxious.

"Yes!"

In the end, Ouyang Shuo bowed together with Jia Xu and left.In the main hall, only Cao Cao and Cheng Yu remained.

"Zhong De, what do you think Wen He and Qiyue Wuyi spoke about on the ship?" This sentence sounded like he was talking to himself but also seemed like a question. The smile on his face had long disappeared.

When Cheng Yu heard this question, his heart jolted, and he chose to remain silent.

"Oh?" Cao Cao was not going to let him off, turning around and asking again.

Cheng Yu's expression was rock solid as he stammered, "Should be some casual conversation!"

In the end, Cheng Yu was a more righteous person and did not use this chance to shoot Jia Xu down.

"Probably!"

Cao Cao's tone contained uncertainty. He got up and left the hall, leaving Cheng Yu alone inside.

The huge main hall instantly fell silent.

After leaving the Lord's Manor, Ouyang Shuo returned to the barracks to meet with Bai Hua and the others to discuss some matters.

"This time, it seems like Caiyun Zinan, Qin Feng, and the others chose this camp for other reasons. After I leave, do not put down your guard against them."

Ouyang Shuo always felt that something was weird about them choosing the Cao Cao Camp.

"Do not worry, we will ensure that they cannot jump up." Feng Qiuhuang was still so confident.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, "That's great, Jiangling will depend on you all."

"You must be careful also!" Feng Qiuhuang demanded.

When Wufu, who was standing at the side, saw this exchange, a weird expression appeared on his face.

"I will."

Ouyang Shuo was really quick. After speaking some details, he left.

Next, he started to move and organize the troops.

During this strike, apart from the voyage squadron, the three thousand Divine Martial Guards would also follow. Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also brought the 1st division of the city protection legion.

He had the feeling that this would not be a smooth journey.

The major general of the 1st division was Zhao Si Hu, a young general that Ouyang Shuo rather liked. He was an old member of the army, going through many battles and growing in maturity.

That afternoon, the army sneakily left Jiangling and headed down the river.

At the same time, other powers acted.

Jiangling City, player's camp.

3 PM, Caiyun Zinan, Qin Feng, and Yuan Ping had gathered together.

"That person has already left Jiangling, is that news reliable?" Caiyun Zinan asked.

Qin Feng nodded, "Absolutely, my men saw it themselves."

"Good, he's courting death." Yuan Ping had a gloomy expression, gritting his teeth.

"Let's not talk about him. We need to quickly settle Jiangling City."

"Do not worry, everything is going smoothly." Yuan Ping could not hide his excitement.

"Do not be happy too early. Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang are not easy to deal with."

"Those two women, can they flip the heavens?" Yuan Ping said with arrogance.

Caiyun Zinan did not say anything more and simply said, "Just follow the plan and be careful."

"Well said!" Qin Feng nodded.

The three of them talked for an hour before leaving.

After Ouyang Shuo left, Jiangling City was destined to not be peaceful.Red Cliff, sea fortress camp.

A week ago, the fire was extinguished, and the Wulin Camp was turned into ruins.

After the battle, Zhou Yu's Army turned this place into their camp.

With that, these two strongholds of Red Cliff and Wulin were taken over by the Sun Liu Alliance Army. One east and one west, locking down on this portion of the Changjiang.

Currently, the Sun Liu Army did not guard these two places, the navies of Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and the other players did.

During this battle, Xiong Ba and Zhan Lang both rolled the dice and decided to each bring 20 thousand navy troops, and they were the greatest elites of their territory.

Even after deducting the sailors, their overall numbers exceeded the voyage squadron. Apart from that, there were some random navies for them to lead. Xiong Ba took the role of main commander, and Zhan Lang took the role of deputy.

The alliance army numbered around 50 to 60 thousand, approaching the numbers of the Sun Liu Alliance.

As a result, Zhou Yu allowed them to defend Red Cliff.

In the water fortress tent, a conversation was taking place.

"You say, will the old fox really come?" Zhan Lang asked.

Xiong Ba smiled, "He definitely will."

"You're so confident?"

"We are the same type of person, I understand him." Xiong Ba explained.

Who knows what Zhan Lang was thinking, but he did not ask any further, "After being the prey for so long, it's time for us to be the hunter for once. This time, we cannot let the old fox escape."

"However cunning a fox, it cannot escape a hunter's trap!"

Haha!

The two looked at each other and laughed, filled with confidence.

Naturally, Ouyang Shuo did not know that so many people were plotting against him.

Onboard Dragon Head, he was discussing the specific battle plans with Zheng He and Jia Xu the.

Jia Xu was introducing the navy situation of Zhou Yu, "The enemy navy has Lu Su as the admiral, under him there's Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Zhou Tai, and Gan Ning. They have around 15 thousand men."

"All elites, ah!"

Ouyang Shuo was awed, Shanhai City had lacked navy generals all along. Acquiring Zheng He, Shi Lang, Yu Dayou, and Alvaro had basically settled the fleet admiral level.

Now, they only lacked chief general level generals. Without a doubt, Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Zhou Tai, and the like were good enough.

Just thinking about this made Ouyang Shuo look forward to it.

"Mister, do you think under such circumstances the Lu Su Army will still go against the current to attack Jiangling City along with Zhou Yu's Army? Or will they retreat to Red Cliff?"

"That might be possible." Jia Xu nodded, "However, after the Battle of Red Cliff, the Lu Su Army has already left. Based on the time, they have crossed half the path. Hence, even if they started to return when they got the news, it'll still take a period of time. If we are fast enough, we can chase up to them before they reach Red Cliff."

Naturally, Jia Xu did not say these words randomly.

It was currently winter, and it was the northwest wind, which was great for the voyage squadron. Jia Xu was perceptive; he noticed that the speed of the voyage squadron was faster than that of Lu Su's Navy.

Especially with the help of the wind, their speed would be even more shocking.

"That's great. Send down the orders, do not rest and chase. We must destroy them before they rush back to Red Cliff."

"Yes, my Monarch!" Zheng He accepted the order.

With that, making use of the night and going along with the northwest wind, the voyage squadron was like a ghost, flowing along the river.

The golden dragon flag fluttered in the night sky.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter