Chapter Forty-Four: Occupation of Dundee

  "Father suddenly asked: "Where is your mother?""

  I was shocked in my heart, would Father also care about Mother's life and death? At the same time, I also found it strange that Father didn't know we were living in the imperial palace, it seemed that the Beast Emperor was afraid of trouble, so he didn't tell him.

  Thinking of Father's usual style, I said coldly: "I have arranged for Mother to be in a very safe place, and I will take good care of her, so you don't need to worry."

  "A cold glint flashed in Father's eyes: 'He is my concubine, does he need you to take care of him?'"

  I let out a cold snort, staring fearlessly at my father, saying: "She is also my mother, I naturally have the right and obligation to take care of her." My father suddenly stood up, a strong killing intent emanating from his body.

  I was on high alert, ready for him to make a move at any moment, although I knew it might not be of much use.

  Suddenly, Father withdrew the murderous aura from his body and sat back down. He looked a bit dispirited, as if he had suddenly aged a lot. He waved his hand and said, "You can go." I was taken aback for a moment, then calmly said, "I will take good care of Mother." After finishing speaking, I turned around and walked out.

  The next day early in the morning, I brought Pan Zong and Jin to the Imperial Study. Before we came here, a fire almost broke out at Mother's residence. Yin thought that her cooking skills had already been mastered yesterday, so she got up very early to try cooking. As a result, the kitchen was messed up by her and Jin with some unknown method, and they almost became roasted wolves themselves. Until now, there is still a smell of burnt food on their bodies.

  When we arrived at the door, I loudly said, "Minister Lei Xiang requests an audience."

  "The Beast King's voice came from inside: 'Come in.' From his tone, I could tell that he was in a terrible mood. I glanced at my two brothers and walked in first."

  The Beast King saw Pan Zong and Jin Yin, forced a smile, and walked over from his seat: "Ah! You are Xiao Er's sworn brothers, come on, please sit inside."

  The Beast Emperor's courtesy to the virtuous and talented people immediately gained the favor of Panzong and Jinyin, and the two men also took the initiative to find a place to sit down. Before sitting down, the two men took the initiative to say: "Minister Panzong (Jinyin) has seen Your Majesty." I asked: "Father Emperor, what happened? You seem to be in a bad mood?"

  The Beast Emperor glared at me and said angrily, "The Demon Clan is simply too presumptuous. Yesterday, after you left, several envoys from the Demon Clan came and demanded war reparations from us. Are they mistaken? Clearly we are allies, yet..." The Beast Emperor was so angry that he couldn't speak.

  I was furious in my heart and said, "Your Majesty, it's time for you to make a decision."

  Jin Dao: "Your Majesty, the Wolf Clan and Snake Clan will fully support this attack. All supplies can be provided by us, Yun Na, without using a single penny from the national treasury."

  Pan Zongdao said, "We all believe that Lei Xiang has the ability to lead us to victory in this battle. Your Majesty, you should give young people a chance and also teach the demon clan a lesson, let them know that we beastmen are not so easy to bully."

  The Beast Emperor took a deep breath and sighed: "It seems that this battle is inevitable."

  "King Leon requests an audience." The voice of the attendant came from outside, Father had arrived. Was he also here about this attack? We had just moved the Beast Emperor, if he opposed it, things might not go well. After all, Father was the representative of the entire beastman's bravery, his decision would have a great impact on the Beast Emperor.

  "Come quickly."

  His tall and majestic figure appeared before us: "Minister Leo pays his respects to Your Majesty." "Worthy brother, you have come at the right time. I have a matter that requires attention, please help me deliberate on it."

  The father looked at Pan Zong and the gold and silver, both of which raised their heads with a disdainful expression. Pan Zong, on the other hand, gave his father a kind smile.

  "Your Majesty, is it about the demon clan's affair? Lei Xiang came to find me yesterday and has already told me." The Beast Emperor nodded: "Yes, the demon clan sent an envoy demanding war reparations and also dispatched fallen angels to assassinate our newly formed Beast God Sect members. What do you think I should do? Lei Xiang suggested sending troops, what about you?"

  Here is the translation:

  He's here. The Beast King will surely ask for Father's opinion, and if Father disagrees like yesterday, I'm afraid my suggestion will be rejected.

  His father looked at him and said in a low voice, "When we were fighting, they hid behind us, letting our sons rush forward. After losing the battle, they came to manage us and demand property from us, are they treating us as fools? Your Majesty, I agree with Lei Xiang's point of view, yesterday he told me about the overall tactics, I think it is feasible."

  The Beast Emperor heard that his father also supported the expedition, and he was immediately invigorated. His father's prestige among the beastmen was extremely high, and with his support, even if someone disobeyed later, it would be much easier to handle. He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Alright, since you all support the expedition, let's do it according to Lei Xiang's plan. Let's obey King Lei Ao."

  His father bowed and said: "I am here."

  "I command you in the name of the Beast Emperor, to lead 1,000 men from the Bimon Army, 10,000 men from the Crazy Lion Army, and, ah, yes, since Mr. Panzong and Mr. Jinyin agree to send troops, I will give your troops a number designation. Mr. Panzong's troops will be called the Viper Snake Army, and Mr. Jinyin's troops will be called the Swift Wolf Army. What do you think?"

  Pan Zong and Jin Yin exchanged a glance, both seeing satisfaction in each other's eyes. The two stood up, and Pan Zong said, "We agree."

  "Alright, Le Xiao, I'm ordering you to lead 1,000 men from the Bimon Legion, 10,000 men from the Crazy Lion Legion, 5,000 men from the Viper Legion, and 3,000 men from the Swift Wolf Legion, a total of 19,000 men, to launch a surprise attack on the Demon Clan's Dundel Province. Appoint Le Xiang as the Chief of Staff to participate in commanding the troops." His father respectfully said: "Your servant has received your orders."

  I also hastened forward, kneeling down on the ground: "Your son obeys your orders."

  The Beast King stepped forward, first helping me up, then said to Father: "Younger brother, this time it's up to you, although the number of troops is not many, but they are all elites of our beast people. Leixiang's brain turns fast, in action, you should listen more to his suggestions."

  The father nodded and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, we will occupy the entire territory of Dundee in the shortest time." The Beast Emperor said, "As for logistics supplies..." He looked at Jin Yin.

  "Your Majesty, rest assured that we will take full responsibility for this matter. I will dispatch the troops led by Yunna to provide us with logistical support. Boss, you can send someone to protect my grain carts at that time."

  Pan Zong burst out laughing and said: "Old Second, at the critical moment, you still have to rely on me. Alright, I'll arrange for the Snake People's tribe leader to send someone to escort you."

  I smiled and said, "Second brother, second sister, you should have your subordinates prepare more. The demon clan has carriages, so when the time comes, we can seize their horses and not need to push them, which will also speed up the supply of materials. Once we break through the first city, my first task is to get more horses for you."

  Yin Dao: "Don't worry, I'll have someone prepare to leave soon and we'll definitely make it on time. As for whether the horse is good or not, our subordinates who are responsible for transporting goods are all skilled in running and endurance, they're definitely not worse than that horse."

  Shou Huang Dao: "When do you plan to set off?"

  "I said: 'The Viper Snake Legion and the Swift Wolf Legion are now on their way, two days later, after they arrive, rest for a day, and set off immediately. These two days are our time to plan and prepare, as for those demonic envoys, Your Majesty, don't show your dissatisfaction with them, keep them in the imperial city, wait until we start attacking Dundee, and then turn against them.'"

  With the final decision made, the Beast Emperor looked much more relaxed, smiling: "I understand this, well, the rise and fall of the Beastman Nation will depend on whether you can reach our predetermined goal. Younger brother, I hope you and your father can work together and complete this operation."

  "Of course, Father understands the deep meaning of Beast Emperor's last words: 'I know what to do, I will ask for everyone's opinions, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first. Lei Xiang, the 10,000 people of the Crazy Lion Army are under your command, quickly prepare for the expedition, don't let me and His Majesty down, understand?'"

  "Yes, King Leo. However, I hope this time we won't see some people."

  "Father frowned and said: 'You are all brothers, how can you end up like this after making things so awkward.'"

  What's the big deal? Can you blame me for that? If you had controlled Lei Hu earlier, would I have ended up like this with him now? Suppressing my anger, I said calmly: "If our relationship isn't good, we can improve it later. This operation is too important, I don't want any mishaps or anyone ruining things for me."

  His father let out an angry hum and turned to leave. The Beast Emperor gave me a helpless smile and said, "Your father is just like that, don't blame him, but he's a man who knows what's important, so don't worry. Kid, since I've already agreed to let you guys go into battle, just go ahead and do it with confidence. Even if you really fail, your father won't blame you."

  The Beast Emperor trusted me so much, and it wasn't in vain that I helped him this time. I was somewhat moved to say: "Your Majesty, thank you, I will definitely not disappoint you. Also, please hurry up and prepare the letters for the tribal leaders, as soon as we set out, send them out immediately, and make all necessary war preparations. Moreover, our Beast God Sect cannot stop acting, can let them start from the Imperial Capital, Yunna, and Sasa three places, gradually expanding to the surrounding areas. Sasa is still a bit short-handed now, please quickly dispatch some people to help with the development of agriculture there."

  The Beast Emperor nodded and smiled: "I am your great rear, these things, I will do well. Your task is to kill the enemy and plunder. Mr. Panzong, Mr. Jinyin, do you have anything else that needs me to do?"

  The two of them shook their heads together. I hastily said: "Your Majesty, then we will take our leave first."

  The Beast Emperor smiled and nodded. After we left, the dark shadow appeared beside him: "Your Majesty, those two people brought by Lei Xiang have very strong energy on their bodies, indeed more powerful than a single Fallen Angel."

  The Beast Emperor looked at the door and said, "I hope my decision is not wrong. Yesterday when our people reported back, you also heard that Lei Xiang is still very loyal to me."

  "The shadowy figure sneered and said: 'This is probably the real reason you decided to let them go on this expedition today.'"

  A cold light flashed in the Beast Emperor's eyes: "Of course, if I couldn't determine whether he was truly loyal to me, how could I entrust such great power to them. You immediately go and notify our people, let him keep a close eye on Lei Xiang, and as soon as there is any unusual movement, report back to me at once."

  "Yes, Your Majesty."

  Returning to his mother's residence, Pan Zong said: "This Beast Emperor is indeed a formidable opponent. Just now we were so rude to him, but he seemed to ignore it completely."

  "Right, he's a monarch of a country, yet he's so polite to us. I have a pretty good impression of him."

  Mother put a plate of fruit on the table and said, "You guys, don't be too credulous about this person. Don't you think that Beast Emperor's mind is very deep? I've seen him twice, although he gives people a very warm feeling on the surface, but there's a kind of quality that makes it hard for people to see through."

  I smiled and said, "Mom, it's okay now. We're all people he can use, we'll be careful. By the way, where did Meng Ke run off to? Why didn't I see him?"

  "Mother said: 'You all left, he said it's inconvenient for one person to be here, so he went out for a walk by himself. This young man is quite honest, you should treat him well.'"

  "I will."

  Jin Dao: "Boss, shouldn't we also send someone to make arrangements? The big talk has been said, we can't end up with a tiger's head and a snake's tail."

  Pan Zong said somewhat unhappily, "What's the meaning of 'tiger head snake tail', why not 'tiger head wolf tail'? Let's go now." Yin was eating fruit on one side while muttering, "I also need to wait until I finish these things."

  Three days later, the four legions of Bimon, Kuangshi, Wenshe and Xunlang, with a total of 19,000 people, quietly set out from the imperial capital. Although Father did not agree to bring Leihu at that time, he showed it in his actions. He only brought one thousand Bimon warriors, and even Leilong didn't come along.

  Five days later, in the dense forest thirty miles outside of Tal City, the closest city to the Beastman Tribe in the Demon Realm's Dundberg Province. The Swift Wolf Army dispatched five hundred men to stand guard around the perimeter, detaining anyone from the Demon Realm they encountered.

  "Second Brother, Second Sister, have your logistics team and follow-up team arrived?" I asked Jin and Yin in a low voice.

  Jin Dao: "It should arrive tomorrow, this time we and the old master have put in a lot of effort, mobilizing 50,000 people from our respective territories, including 30,000 logistics troops, and the remaining are follow-up troops to help us occupy the city. The elite of our two tribes can be said to have been fully deployed, this small city is nothing."

  I smiled and said, "Of course I trust you to handle things. This small city may not be much, but we must quietly take it down without making any noise. There are eleven cities of various sizes in Dunde Province, and we must secretly take them one by one. So let's wait for the follow-up troops to arrive tomorrow before starting the attack, that way it will be more secure."

  Pan Zongdao said: "What Old Fourth said makes sense, let's just do it this way."

  Father was not with us; he was leading a thousand Bimon warriors stationed not far away on the flank.

  Just as we were about to set off, Father almost got into a fight with Jin Yin, but he still attached great importance to the overall situation. Under my and Pan Zong's persuasion, he didn't pay attention to Jin Yin's provocation again. He handed over the command completely to me, gained his trust, and I felt very good.

  In fact, even if Father didn't allow it, the real command power was on our side. Although he is the King of Bamun, the snake people and wolf people would not listen to his commands. With the follow-up troops, the forces that Father could control were less than one-tenth. If we couldn't smoothly command the battle, it would have a great negative impact on the entire raid. Father's approach made me feel sincerely admiring for the first time. When you cut off, you must cut off, and indeed, he was worthy of being a commander for many years. I, along with Jinsil, brought one hundred warriors from the Viper Snake Legion to sneak under Tal City. These one hundred snake people were all elites in the tribe, belonging to the water snake category, with suckers on their hands and feet, allowing them to climb the not-so-high city walls smoothly.

  I gave Jin a signal, jumped lightly, and landed on the middle section of the city wall. With a surge of energy in my palms, I inserted them into the wall, and the solid wall became fragile like tofu under my hands.

  I hung my body down, swung my hand downwards, and Jin leaped to my side, hanging his body in the same posture. "Let's go up and launch a surprise attack first," he whispered.

  A hundred snake-man warriors also began to climb up quietly, their bright scales covered by black cloaks, making them almost invisible under the cover of night.

  I nodded and said, "Remember, try not to kill too many people. Just make them lose their fighting ability." After that, I pushed off the wall with force and sprang upwards, with Jin following closely behind.

  Soldiers on the city wall were scattered in groups of three or five, chatting with each other, some had already dozed off. I was discovered when I continuously knocked down six demon soldiers with my hand knife.

  "Who is it?"

  "Someone who wants your life." A flash of golden light, and the soldier was instantly knocked out. The city wall became as lively as a boiling pot.

  Our Snake People warriors have also boarded, I shouted: "Quickly, kill towards the direction of the city gate." Although they are all good hands, we only have a hundred people after all, and absolutely cannot give the opponent a chance to surround us.

  The crowd gathered together and rushed into the city. I and Jin Yin were like a sharp knife, cutting through everything in our path.

  At this time, we gradually lost control of the strength in our hands, and for a moment, the demon tribe soldiers were slaughtered with blood flying everywhere. Under their unprepared circumstances, we smoothly killed our way to the city gate.

  I flew forward, one punch shattered the door bolt, and with a kick of my feet, the massive city gate slowly creaked open. I shouted to Jin Yin: "Second brother, release the signal."

  Jin Ha Ha smiled and raised his hand to release a fireball technique into the air, which exploded suddenly and turned into a cluster of sparks. Silver Swallow exclaimed: "What a beautiful fireworks!"

  Upon receiving the signal, Father and Mok led the elite soldiers of the four legions in a swift pincer movement. This small city of Tal, with less than 5,000 defenders, was no match for our elite troops. In less than an hour, we had occupied the entire city.

  I ordered: "Quickly, send someone to guard the city gate and don't let a single demon escape. Big brother, go count the casualties." My father walked up to me with big strides, his eyes full of praise: "Lei Xiang, well done! It seems that demons are nothing after all." I said to Jin and Yin: "Second brother, second sister, please take some people to bring in the logistics troops, then immediately start plundering everything valuable and food in the city. Note, don't kill anyone, leave enough for each family to eat. As long as they have food, I think they won't dare to resist at the risk of their lives. Except for food, send back all the looted goods tonight. Let's be bandits for once, hehe." Yin excitedly said: "Plundering? Great! We'll go now!"

  Jin glared at his father with a hint of hostility. I secretly smiled to myself, it's good that I managed to send them away, I didn't want my father to beat them up.

  Due to the successful capture of the city, Father was overjoyed and no longer bothered with gold and silver. I said to Meng Ke: "Third Brother, take people to instruct your subordinates, tell the brothers that not a single person in the city can be let out. Also, after the follow-up troops arrive, you select 2,000 Wolf Tribe soldiers and 3,000 Snake Tribe soldiers to prepare for garrisoning in this city."

  "Okay."

  "Father, our Bimon warriors didn't suffer any casualties, did they?"

  "Even in a small city like this, if we can't protect our teammates from harm, then we're not the bravest team on the continent."

  I smiled slightly and said, "Alright then, please command all of our elite troops. Let's get a good rest tonight and set off early tomorrow morning. The affairs in the city will be handled by the follow-up troops. I hope that by tomorrow night, we can occupy another city."

  His father nodded, his eyes showing approval, and turned to leave. The entire city was in a state of turmoil, with the ordinary demon citizens not daring to confront us regular troops. House after house was being looted by the wolf and snake tribes' armies. Interestingly, many people still wanted to use the Allied Army's flag to stop us, but how could our subordinates be fooled?

  Jin and Yin's subordinates moved the fastest, the Viper Legion led by Silver Arrow had already gone to rest, the follow-up troops were led by Langmao, the chief of the Wolf Tribe, under his command, all the horses in Tal City were concentrated, batch after batch of goods were constantly transported away.

  After our prior discussion, the stolen goods will be directly transported to Yunna Territory first. After all, it's relatively calm there and less likely to cause any trouble. Yunna Territory has a small area that borders the Demon Clan's Dundel Province, and today's target, Tal City, is only tens of miles away from the border line.

  All our marching routes were set after precise calculations, the demonic provinces are generally composed of cities and some villages, we didn't attack those villages at first, choosing desolate small roads to launch a surprise attack without any village getting wind of it.

  The wolf-like people of Yunna led, apart from the necessary farming personnel, basically all invested in this war, not only with more than 50,000 warriors and transport troops on the front lines, but also with a large number of people in charge of receiving transport troops within their territory, while the heavy responsibility of storing these looted goods was fully borne by the first elder of the wolf-like people, Yin Hui.

  In a brief evening, the originally prosperous Tar City was looted by us.

  Early in the morning, I was dreaming on the bed of the original Lord of Tal City. Pan Zong rushed in with a fiery wind, grabbed my shoulders with both hands and shouted: "Old Fourth, get up quickly! We should set off now, didn't we agree to leave early?"

  I rubbed my eyes and asked in a daze: "Big brother, why are you up so early?"

  Pan Zong's eighteen eyes flashed with a sly expression at the same time, and the blue snake head shook slightly. A small water ball suddenly hit my face.

  "Ah, so cool, so cool." I sprang up from the bed with a 'whoosh', slapping the spot where the water balloon had hit me, and complained: "Big brother, what are you doing?"

  Pan Zong chuckled and said, "Who told you not to get up? Don't you know that we're in the midst of battle? And yet you're still so sleepy."

  "This you don't understand, I'm in charge of overall command, so I must keep a clear head, otherwise, once something goes wrong, it's trouble."

  Pan Zong patted me on the head: "You're always talking, we've all been awake, but you slept the most soundly. Alright, let's go, the brothers are all ready. The next target is Kunlun City."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'Haven't you all gone to sleep?'"

  "In the city, because of our rush, it's in a mess. We can't maintain order if we don't do something! By the way, the casualty numbers you asked me to count yesterday are out: the Crazy Lion Army has 16 dead, 24 seriously injured, and 103 lightly injured; the Viper Army has no deaths, 14 seriously injured, and 271 lightly injured. Our scaled armor is a bit better off. The Swift Wolf Army is unscathed. That guy Jin Yin's subordinates are all thieves, hiding in the back during the fight, but their sneak attacks were quite effective. Don't look at them being unscathed, but half of the enemy's casualties were caused by them. As for your father's Bi Meng Army, they didn't even charge in before the battle was already over."

  I frowned and said, "Why is that?"

  "Bimon's speed is too slow, the people of the Crazy Lion Legion and the Swift Wolf Legion are surprisingly fast, my Viper Legion is a bit slower, but not much, don't look at those Bimon warriors with big heads, they're also very stupid, hard to fight them is the most powerful, but when it comes to speed, they're far behind."

  It turns out that's the case, it seems that in the future I need to pay attention to utilizing the advantages of each legion to minimize casualties. The casualties from occupying Tal City are negligible for us, and I'm still very satisfied with this achievement. After dressing up, Pan Zong and I arrived at the West City Gate, where the soldiers of the four major legions were gathered in a neat formation, divided into four squares of varying sizes outside the city wall. Every person's eyes shone with excitement and bloodlust, and the victory of this battle greatly boosted their confidence.

  I stood on the city wall and shouted loudly: "Brothers, you have worked hard, but your hard work has not been in vain. We have won an easy victory, haven't we? The demon tribe's oppression of our beastmen for many years, we must double pay them back. We will occupy the entire Dundel Province, this is just a very easy thing for us, I ask you to listen to the command and fight bravely, can you do it?"

  "Okay." The loud voice startled me.

  I nodded in satisfaction, turned around and said to my father: "Father, please lead the four legions to ambush outside Kwent City first. I will go there before dusk. I need to arrange things here first. I want to secure our retreat route, so that if an unfavorable situation arises at the front, we can withdraw safely."

  "My father nodded and said, 'Let go and do it, from now on it's all up to you young people.' Because there were too many things to deal with, I didn't pay much attention to my father's expression, lightly nodded, and pulled Meng Ke away to make arrangements. My method was actually very simple, after occupying a city, immediately dispatch follow-up troops to surround the surrounding villages, it was nothing but looting, but we neither killed people nor set fires, just stationed one or two hundred people in each village, making it impossible for them to riot and spread news outside, which was enough."

  Under my solid tactics and the powerful attack of the four legions, it took less than a month to occupy all the cities in Dundee Province, including its capital Stanra City. The lord of Stanra City and the governor of Dundee Province, Worten Lucifer, was captured by my father himself. His fallen angel form was like a firefly in front of my father, unable to resist at all. However, since the battle line was too long, I gave up most of the occupied land and only kept a few cities that could maintain supplies from the rear. The elite main force of the four legions was placed in Stanra City. I knew that now it was just the first step, and to truly win this battle, we had to wait and see how the demon clan would react.

  Ten days after we launched the surprise attack, all the tribal leaders of the Beastman Empire received a notice from the Beast Emperor. The reactions of various tribes were different, some supported and some opposed, but in the end, they basically took an attitude of waiting to see how the Beast Emperor would end it.

  Anyway, this battle will not move them one soldier, in order to maintain the peace of their own home, the various tribes of the beastmen had to gather their troops together, especially those bordering the demon tribe, were even more vigilant. All of this, seems to be within our calculations.

  In this raid, we almost swept away all the supplies in Dund Province. The spoils were so numerous that they couldn't be counted at one time. I have already ordered Jin and Yin to tell Silver Hawk Elder to divide the spoils into two halves, with half being submitted to the Imperial Capital, and the rest will be divided equally between us.

  The Beast Emperor was overjoyed upon receiving the news and spoils of war, and separately conferred me as King Ruiqin, Panzong's older brother as King Zhongyong, and Jinyin as King Zhide. Father's official position had already reached its peak, so there was nothing left to confer.