Chapter 16: An Opportunity to Get Rich
In the central battlefield, the sandy region was dotted with large military tents arranged in orderly rows.
Su Xiao had just woken up when Kaisa rushed into the tent. The guy looked radiant, walking much lighter, almost floating.
"My dear friend, Kaisa has returned."
Kaisa raised his hand, intending to pull out a metal case with style, but the thing was too heavy and crashed to the ground with a loud clang.
"Oww!!"
Kaisa's miserable shriek echoed far and wide—the metal case had landed on his foot.
Ignoring Kaisa hopping around clutching his foot in pain, Su Xiao opened the metal case on the ground. Inside were neatly arranged Soul Crystals (Complete), forty in total. King Peru had truly compromised.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Layton Redbeard, as the commander of the Broken Horn Unit, was captured alive. King Peru wouldn't easily abandon him; doing so would chill the hearts of other high-ranking officers.
After receiving the Soul Crystals, Su Xiao had Oss release the prisoner. He had to maintain his credibility. If everything went smoothly, this kind of good fortune should happen again, so of course he had to keep his word.
Counting these forty Soul Crystals, Su Xiao's gains from this battle were considerable. Baha and Bubu Wang had found ten chests on the battlefield, all Epic rank. The drop rate was somewhat disappointing, considering the Broken Horn Unit was elite, but since Su Xiao hadn't personally killed the enemies, this harvest was already quite good.
Compared to the rewards that could be taken out of this world, there were far more items not certified by Reincarnation Paradise, such as large amounts of supplies. Among them were food, dried meat, fresh water, etc., enough for his soldiers to use for twenty days. Adding in what Bubu Wang and Kaisa had purchased earlier, food and water would last about a month.
It seemed like a lot, but Su Xiao only had over ten thousand soldiers under his command. The more soldiers, the greater the supply consumption.
Aside from supplies, there were 14,725 weapons, of which 11,590 were usable and had all been distributed. Due to geographical environment and forging techniques, Peru's weapons were much better than Flame Sand's.
As for armor, there were 9,156 sets. Besides selling them to nearby fortress cities, they had no other use. The height and build of the Peruvians meant these armors wouldn't aid the enemy.
The amount of gold coins was small. When fighting wars, people brought supplies, so they naturally didn't carry many gold coins. These coins were picked up as found. Although the patterns and weights differed between the two countries' coins, gold was gold, useful anywhere.
There were still two days left on the deadline. Su Xiao checked the Main Mission: Second Ring. This was the most unique mission he had ever received.
[Main Mission: Divine Lament (Second Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.66
Mission Info: Capture the Prosperity God (Neutral Deity) alive and obtain key intelligence.
Mission Time Limit: 20 natural days.
Mission Reward: Golden Skill Point ×5.
Mission Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
What the Prosperity God was, Su Xiao had no idea. There should only be two neutral deities in this world—one from Flame Sand, one from Peru.
Su Xiao speculated that this was likely the neutral deity on Peru's side. He had plenty of experience killing Ancient Gods, but he hadn't interacted much with neutral deities, and capturing one alive was even more unfamiliar.
If this really was Peru's deity, then for Su Xiao at his current level, the mission difficulty far exceeded Lv.66. Leading soldiers, he couldn't possibly infiltrate the Kingdom of Peru.
Just as Su Xiao was pondering, Bubu Wang sent a message.
"Oss."
"Here, sir."
Oss, who had been waiting outside the tent, strode over quickly.
"Have the soldiers assemble, prepare for battle."
"Yes."
Oss, as the deputy commander, was competent enough. He only followed orders, asked nothing, and offered no personal opinions.
A minute later, Su Xiao's 12,650 soldiers had assembled. The reason it was so fast was because of Su Xiao's previous order: during assembly, there was no need to form ranks, as long as people weren't packed together.
Two minutes later, Su Xiao led the 12,650 soldiers out. Yes, it was that fast. If any other grand commander saw this, they would doubt whether these were real soldiers. The surging crowd running didn't look like soldiers at all.
Su Xiao couldn't achieve perfection in everything. The soldiers' coordination and battle formations required long-term training. He didn't have that time. Even if he spent a few days having the soldiers drill together to form formations, they would just be a facade.
Although Su Xiao's soldiers had no formation, their marching speed was absurdly fast. In less than half an hour, rumbling sounds came from ahead.
Inside a fortress city that was nearly reduced to ruins, Flame Sand soldiers and Peruvian soldiers were locked in battle. A conservative estimate put the total number of both sides at over seventy thousand.
This fortress city had been breached because of internal betrayal. Just as the Dwarf troops arrived, the fortress's metal gate was blown open from the bottom.
Someone had dug tunnels inside the city beforehand and placed large amounts of "Black Oil Barrels" under the gate. In a confined space, with the explosion at the base, not to mention the metal gate, even the tens-of-meters-high city wall in front was cracked open.
Hmm~
A horn sounded from within the fortress, followed by the roar of battle.
Hmm~
Several more horn calls came from the surrounding areas. Reinforcing friendly forces were blocked by the Dwarf troops. These horn signals meant: "Hold the fortress city."
The reason Su Xiao wasn't blocked was both because Bubu Wang cleared the path and because his marching speed was so fast that the enemy hadn't reacted before he was near the fortress city.
Su Xiao didn't immediately lead his men into the battle. He was waiting for the friendly forces to rout. Only then could he implement his annexation.
Meanwhile, fifteen kilometers east of the fortress city, two groups of soldiers were charging at each other. The total number of both sides was at least over a hundred thousand.
Under layers of Flame Sand soldiers' protection, a hawk-nosed man stood on a war chariot, surveying the battlefield. He was one of Flame Sand's grand commanders, Niboso, also the overall commander of this large region.
"Lord Niboso, Rongsha Fortress has been breached and is about to fall."
"What?"
Grand Commander Niboso was startled. From the time he received the distress signal to Rongsha Fortress being breached, at most half an hour had passed. A fortress city falling in half an hour was simply absurd.
If Rongsha Fortress fell, it would cut a gap in their defensive line. They would need three times the usual troops to hold this war zone, and that was without a fortress to defend.
Rongsha Fortress had been attacked an hour ago, but the distress signal was only sent out half an hour later. What happened inside was now unknown.
The current situation was that Rongsha Fortress had been breached, and its fall was only a matter of time. Grand Commander Niboso's army had come to reinforce from the east and west sides of Rongsha Fortress but was blocked midway by the Peruvian army.
At this moment, the fighting inside Rongsha Fortress was extremely brutal. With Rongsha Fortress as the center, several kilometers around, the Peruvian side had formed a circular defensive formation, waiting for Rongsha Fortress to be completely captured. Flame Sand soldiers were charging from all directions, trying to break through the Peruvian circular defensive formation.
Grand Commander Niboso had not only arrived personally, but his nine military commanders were also present. Each military commander was responsible for commanding fifty thousand soldiers, all under the unified command of Grand Commander Niboso.
The troop strength under Grand Commander Niboso's command had clearly exceeded five hundred thousand. He was Uno's man, so no one would question this.
At this moment, Grand Commander Niboso was commanding fewer than a hundred thousand soldiers. He was facing Peru's top elite unit, the Ram Cavalry.
Niboso's troops were also elite. The two sides engaged in a brutal plain battle. Compared to the fighting at Rongsha Fortress, this battlefield was even more intense.
...
Near Rongsha Fortress, behind a low hill covered with bushes and a few thin trees.
Soldiers lay hidden behind the low hill. This was Su Xiao's force of over ten thousand soldiers.
Inside Rongsha Fortress and around its walls, Flame Sand soldiers and Dwarf soldiers were locked in combat, totaling about seventy thousand. Seeing the friendly forces repeatedly routed, Su Xiao felt this was an opportunity to get rich.
There would be many routed troops near Rongsha Fortress. The surrounding battlefields were so intense that there would be no shortage of fleeing soldiers. Now, all he had to do was wait—wait for Rongsha Fortress to be captured.
Helping defend Rongsha Fortress brought no benefit. Even if they won, the fortress and soldiers would belong to another grand commander, Niboso. Niboso would likely offer verbal thanks, at most sending some gold coins or armor.
Worse, Niboso might even take sole credit for defending the fortress. Su Xiao wasn't surprised by this. Niboso was Uno's man. Even if the guy was upright, pressure would force him to act this way, unless he didn't want to keep his position as grand commander.
The opportunity to get rich was right in front of him. Behind the low hill, Su Xiao tossed a Soul Crystal Fragment into his mouth and chewed slowly. If he could get fifty thousand soldiers, he could flatten Segona City.