The next day, early morning.

I was woken up by the sound of Murong Mingyue knocking on the door and calling out to me, "Wake up, Lu Chen! There’s a new event today!"

"What event? Isn’t there just the follow-up quest for Land of Soul Suppression…"

"No, it’s not. Now get out of your bed, or I’m kicking the door down!"

"Fuck!"

……

After I washed myself, I asked Beiming Xue, "What’s happening? Sis is acting like she’s hiding a ten-year-old pregnancy."

Beiming Xue replied, "It’s nothing big, really. It’s just that the Nation War situation has changed in an expected fashion yet again."

"Oh? What is it?"

Beiming Xue explained while holding her tea cup, "Yesterday, Candlelight Shadow and his men ambushed Eternal Love City again. He didn’t manage to occupy the city, but he did draw the Northern Alliance to station much of their troops at White Horse Plains. There’s a tier 2 city under Hero City at White Horse Plains called White Horse City. It looks like the Northern Alliance is planning to march to Wind City from there!"

I pondered for a moment before asking, "Beiming, if I remember correctly, isn’t there a natural barrier standing between White Horse Plains and Wind City? The Dragonbone Mountain Range?"

"You are correct, big bro…"

Beiming Xue giggled. "There is a reason why they suddenly decided to do this. While someone was grinding at Dragonbone Mountain Range, they discovered a hidden mountain trail that connected White Horse Plains and Wind Forest together just like Windy Trail. It looked like the Northern Alliance was focusing most of their forces at Eternal Love City, but in reality, it was just a distraction. Their real aim was to gather troops at White Horse Plains until they had the manpower to invade our domain through the hidden trail."

I pressed my lips together a little. "We just can’t catch a break, can we?"

Beiming Xue set down her cup before continuing, "The trail is also connected to a place called Poplar Valley. There is an NPC lumberyard that belongs to Black Earth City of the Chaotic 27, and an NPC army belonging to the Chaotic 27 is garrisoned nearby. That is why the situation is somewhat dangerous. Poplar Valley is too small for large-scale warfare, so Hot and Sour Noodles requested every guild that we dispatch our best elites to Poplar Valley and intercept the interlopers who would try to invade our homeland."

I sucked in a deep breath before smiling. "Hot and Sour Noodles is definitely a defensive commander. If it was me, I would’ve charged right through Poplar Valley and taken out the Americans’ White Horse City! What could they possibly do after they lost the one city they were using to rally their troops?"

Beiming Xue chuckled. "It’s your decision. If you really are planning to attack White Horse City, then Beiming will do everything in her power to support you…"

"Okay!"

I clenched my fists before complaining, "Sigh, the old saying, ‘the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks’, is so true. I guess we’ll have to delay Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower’s follow-up quest until we’ve dealt with White Horse City!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh right, where’s Eve?"

"She left for a meeting at Shanghai after she instructed us to participate in the Poplar Valley operation…"

"I see. So I’m the commander today?"

"You have always been the commander, big bro!"

"Hehe!"

……

After the three of us finished our breakfast in a jovial mood, we logged into the game and readied ourselves for yet another small-scale Nation War. This time though, the Chaotic 27 were involved as well. Things were definitely going to get a bit messy.

Chaotic 27 were made up of poorer countries from South Africa, Southwest Asia, and more. Argentina and Guinea’s main cities were located within the borders of the Chaotic 27 as well. Thieves and bandits could be found everywhere, and PKing for wealth was a daily occurrence. Their playstyle was brutish to put it mildly. No one dared to criticize their behavior, however. In fact, not even the three major servers bordering the Barren Lands—the USA, France and we—dared to lay their hands on the Chaotic 27. These people might be embroiled in a never-ending civil war, but they were a force to be reckoned with if they decided to unite in face of a common enemy.

Poplar Valley belonged to the strongest city of the Chaotic 27, Black Earth City, and they were protected by an NPC legion. Long story short, their interference was a huge factor in determining the victor of the upcoming Nation War.

Both sides knew about this, but the war must continue regardless because, like it or not, Eternal Love City was the city everyone wanted to get for their ambitions. The French didn’t want to lose their main city, and Candlelight Shadow wanted to take it to restore Candle Dragon’s reputation. This would be a war where only one side emerged victorious in the end!

Our mission for the day was very simple. If we followed Hot and Sour Noodles’ plan, all we needed to do was to intercept and kill any Northern Alliance player who entered China’s soil. It would be a passive defense where the primary goal was to teach the enemy a lesson and give them a warning.

Swhoosh!

After we appeared at Dark Moon City, Li Chengfeng, and Chaos Moon walked up to us.

"Less than 80% of our members are online. We have 1500+ Dragonlight Cavalrymen and 11000+ Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen at the ready. Should we head over with our current numbers, Lu Chen?" Li Chengfeng asked.

Chaos Moon suggested, "I’ve checked out Poplar Valley earlier, and it’s only big enough to fit a 100000 players at most. I think we can go now."

However, I said, "No, we’re going to wait until more people come online. Not only are we going to involve our mages and archers, we’re going to bring some engineers with us as well. Tell the engineers to ready the ladders and siege engines. We’ll be departing as soon as everything is set. The Dragonlight Cavalry and Cyan Cavalry will open up a path while the backline slowly advances into Poplar Valley. Then, we’ll take a roundabout route and arrive at White Horse Valley."

Chaos Moon’s mouth fell open. "Wait a second, that doesn’t match Zhang Chun’s instructions. What are you planning?"

I smiled. "I’ve read up on some data before I came online. White Horse City is a tier 2 city bordering the Barren Lands, and their walls aren’t nearly as tough as our Dark Moon City, not to mention that it has been in a state of disrepair for a very long time. Its only value is its one teleportation formation that can bring in players from Hero City and Seven Star City from thousands of kilometers away."

Li Chengfeng’s eyes suddenly lit up. "I think I get your meaning now. Hot and Sour Noodles set his sights too low, but not Lu Chen. He understands that defending Poplar Valley is akin to treating the symptom and not the cause. We’re going to invade White Horse City and eliminate this threat completely, am I right Lu Chen?"

I nodded. "That’s right. In siege battles, you get the option to abandon a city upon killing the regent, and that is exactly what we’re going to do. We won’t be able to hold White Horse City after occupying it anyway, so the second best choice is to turn it into an abandoned city. I’d rather give up the city to the Night Creatures than Vienna’s Sorrow!"

Li Chengfeng laughed loudly. "Well said! This is exactly the kind of strategy I expect from a true military commander! I’ll contact Cute Little Naughty right now and tell her to dispatch her assassins. White Horse City is so shabby that it only has one teleportation formation, so once it’s gone, it’ll take Hero City, Seven Star City and Titan City at least seven or eight hours to reach it. There’s no way they’ll be able to save the city in time!"

"Yeah. Now get ready. We’ll be assembling outside Wind City!"

"Yes sir!"

……

I filled my bag with Health Potions, Magic Consumables and food as usual. To be honest, I didn’t need this much supplies. I was carrying them for players such as Murong Mingyue and Beiming Xue, who required a ton of supplies to function at their best but was hampered by their miniscule bagspace. Murong Mingyue especially used so much MP that her consumption rate rivaled that of an entire party. She would kill me if I didn’t carry some supplies for her.

Swhoosh!

After teleporting to Wind City, I summoned the Armored Ice Qilin Horse and the Phantom Wolf King and climbed up the back of my mount. Then, I rode out of the city and arrived at the rally point. Our players swelled in numbers in just a short period of time, and Cute Little Naughty had already taken off with several thousand assassins. Most people were unaware of their goals, but Li Chengfeng, Chaos Moon and I knew exactly what their mission was.

We set off toward our destination immediately after our army was assembled. Our cavalry acted as escorts and ran back and forth between our troops repeatedly. Our siege engines and almost a thousand engineers slowly advanced to the front. They were easily the most important asset of this mission. White Horse City’s walls might be as fragile as Oreos, but they were still insurmountable if we didn’t have catapults to throw rocks at them.

The hooves of the Cyan Tiger and Dragonlight Cavalries rocked the ground. Our cavalry troops had long become the symbol of our guild, and practically every guild we encountered along the way such as Mad Dragon and Flower Room stepped aside immediately after they spotted us. Their total army was less than ten thousand, and that was nowhere near enough numbers to challenge our cavalry head-on.

Not far away, Hot and Sour Noodles rode up to us with a smile. "Hi, Lu Chen. Is Ancient Sword on the move?"

"Yep."

He then looked at our troops for a bit and said, "OMG, did you mobilize your entire guild or something? I count at least a couple hundred thousand of you! What are you planning? We don’t need this many people to intercept the Northern Alliance at Poplar Valley. I’m not sure you can fit even 10% of your troops in there!"

I smiled. "Uncle, our objective is White Horse City, not Poplar Valley. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Oh!"

Hot and Sour Noodles wasn’t a fool, so he figured out my plan right away. He burst into laughter and said approvingly, "I knew you were a special person. If Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls truly has the guts to attack White Horse City, then I’ll be the first person to support your decision! When the battle at Poplar Valley is over, allow me and my 20000 Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen to join you in your siege!"

"That would be much appreciated!" I exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Hot and Sour Noodles’ promise of support meant that our chances of invading White Horse City successfully just went up considerably. After all, the Northern Alliance had stationed around 5 million players in White Horse City. No matter how weak the city was, it wouldn’t be easy for us to defeat it by ourselves.

I also sent a message to Lin Yixin and informed her about our intent to attack White Horse City. The beautiful girl agreed to my plan immediately. She too thought that defending Poplar Valley was a boring, unchallenging strategy, and she agreed to mobilize the entirety of Snowy Cathaya and join in on our siege!

……

It took a really, really long time to travel to Poplar Valley since we were using a roundabout route. After marching for almost two hours, we finally arrived at the edge of Dragonbone Mountain Range and the hidden trail that led straight to our destination.