I had to hide to my surprise. The world was ruled by the law of natural selection, and Lin Yixin, the Fruit Knife Goddess, knew this better than most people. That was why she did everything she could to develop a new unit for her guild. She knew that continuous innovation was the only real way to solidify and maintain Snowy Cathaya’s position in the Center.

A short while later, we arrived at the ruins of White Rose Fortress. It was currently jam-packed with players. The place was a pile of broken rubble right now, but at least we had retaken it from the enemy.

I spurred my mount forward and declared loudly with a smile, "Friends of Sky City, can you please move out of the way for a bit? Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ cavalry would like to go to the front and meet up with their main guild. Thank you!"

The nearest crowd turned around and saw me, Li Chengfeng, Chaos Moon, Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue and many more famous players trotting toward them. Following right behind us were elite Dragonlight Cavalry and Dragonlight Archers.

Not all of the players crowding the canyon were first-rate players. In fact, this was the first time the majority of them met us inside the game. A loud commotion broke out as a result—

An uncle tamer commented with a smile, "Look, it’s Lu Chen! It’s really him!"

Standing next to him was a star-struck 17-year-old girl. "Yeah, and he looks pretty handsome too, heehee! Ooh, Legendary Brave is pretty handsome too, Gui Guzi is so cute, High Fighting Spirits… is too muscular for me. No, no, he won’t do... Amazing Expert is worse though. His gaze is so lecherous. Disgusting…"

While the girl was salivating at the boys, the boy next to him was salivating at Beiming Xue. "Wa, it’s Beiming Xue, the number one archer, no, mounted archer, of the entire China server! Tsk tsk, the leather mini skirt beneath her cloak is so beautiful, and her legs are so long and white…"

"Pooh, shameless boy!" A brawny warrior slapped him in the face. "Beiming Xue looks way too young for my liking. Chaos Moon though, her waist is thin, her hips are wide, and her breasts are huge! She’s the perfect model of the big sister type! That smile especially, ah, I think I’m going to fall in love..."

"You say that and you call me shameless!?"

……

We passed through the players without pause and galloped at full speed for almost 5 minutes. As we entered the domain of Purple Grape City, I noted that wherever one looked at the plains, there were signs of trampling. More than half of the grass was dead. Heaven only knew how many cavalry battles it had taken for the once-green plains to become like this.

Moreover, the field was covered in bodies and small potions that no one picked up because they obviously belonged to players between Level 120 to Level 150. The system hadn’t despawned them yet. I also noticed that there wasn’t a single Wildfire Rider to be found among the corpses, meaning that the 200000 enemies Candle Dragon defeated were really just cannon fodder, second-rate players, and their victory wasn’t really as epic as was described in the forums. That being said, the strength of the Qiu Beast Cavalry was unquestionable. They were one of this Nation War’s key armies for sure.

Another short while later, we saw a group of players riding toward us. Their leader was none other than the sweet and beautiful He Yi. Clad in cyan armor and riding the Dragonscale Beast, she shot me a smile and said, "Welcome home, Lu Chen, everyone. Good job on taking out Ice River Canton! Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits, you guys did amazing as well, hehe…"

The grunts immediately replied embarrassedly, "Nah, we didn’t really do that much, it’s all thanks to our brothers and sisters giving it their all!"

I praised Eve, "You did well too, Eve, and that Godslaying Blade you just picked up is the proof of that! Now that you can use Great Earth Transformation, you are without a doubt one of the super core players of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls! You’ll be able to lead a cavalry of your own just like me and Li Chengfeng from now on!"

He Yi beamed like sweet honey, and her eyes curled like crescent moons at my praise. She said cheerfully, "Mn mn, I look forward to it. With Great Earth Transformation and Godslaying Blade, I’m sure I won’t be a burden to anyone anymore!"

While saying this, He Yi raised her Seven Star Veluriyam Spear and injected her energy into it. A blade of golden energy about 20 yards long immediately appeared from the spearhead. It really looked like she was wielding some sort of legendary weapon or something, one with a super long attack range too, tsk tsk!

"Very cool…"

I asked, "So, what is the current battle situation, Eve?"

"Oh, I don’t think I can answer that properly. Follow me, I’ll lead the way to command."

"Mn."

The command camp was set on a 200-meter-tall hill surrounded by low-lying flat grounds on Dragonbone Mountain Range. Sky City’s elite players including Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ 100000 Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen were standing by at this location. Although the Cyan Tiger Cavalry was far weaker than the Dragonlight Cavalry, their numbers were great enough to pose a sizable threat to the enemy.

After I, Gui Guzi, Li Chengfeng, He Yi, Beiming Xue, Chaos Moon and more climbed to the peak of the hill, we saw a couple hundred players gathered together and speaking to one another. All the leaders and vice leaders of the noteworthy guilds in Sky City, Wind City and Vanished God City were here.

"Ah, you’re back, Lu Chen!" Hot and Sour Noodles walked up to us with a smile. "Thank you for your hard work!"

I nodded. "It’s fine. How is the battle situation, uncle?"

Zhang Chun pointed a finger at the giant plains in front of us before saying, "Around 9 million of our players have entered this section of the plains and formed a cone-shaped attack surface. They are currently fighting against Purple Grape City’s players right now. Candle Dragon’s Qiu Beast Cavalry have mounted a couple of charges before you arrived, and they’re currently in the middle of resting. Finally, we’re planning to harass the enemy and disrupt their rhythm by focusing our strength on one point of the enemy’s defense line at a time.

Candlelight Shadow added, "Purple Grape City’s elites haven’t appeared yet, and both sides are still testing the waters for now. That being said, we’ve pushed into the hinterlands."

"Hinterlands? I wonder…" I said.

Candlelight Shadow’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

I slowly walked to the cliff facing toward the plains before unraveling the giant map that was Purple Grape City’s domain in the air. After putting the map of the plains and the map of Purple Grape City’s domain together, I tapped on a couple of marked points of interest and explained, "These plains are a huge map enveloping several different maps. One such example is the Lost Forest that lies in the north. That map is incredibly complex, impossible to overcome in a short time, and an easy location to set up ambushes, so I would advise that we avoid it completely. Sunset Basin, the map bordering Lost Forest is not a good choice either. The land there is lower than normal and can turn into a lake whenever there’s a downpour. If we try to march through there, it is entirely possible that the enemy will try to flood us. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the reason we were able to enter the plains with barely any resistance was because our enemies wanted us to! They’re trying to lead us into a death trap!"

The declaration caused a shiver among the group. While Warsky, Luo River God of the Capital and Stranger of Three Lifetimes looked thoughtful, Candlelight Shadow questioned me, "Are you trying to scare us, Lu Chen? We’ll soon invade Purple Grape City’s domain with tens of millions of players, or even a hundred million players. How can they possibly entrap us?"

I smiled placatingly. "Allow me to finish. Yes, we have superior numbers, but the terrain we’re at isn’t exactly conducive to that advantage. Have you guys scouted the mountains next to White Rose Fortress for hidden armies? White Rose Fortress is a tiny entrance, so it won’t take much effort to seal it and cut off our forward army’s path of retreat. Our numbers advantage will be useless because we’ll be limited by the bottleneck."

Candlelight Shadow looked astonished. Hot and Sour Noodles immediately ordered, "Four, send all our assassins into the forests next to White Rose Fortress right now! And find out what the Top 50 guilds of Purple Grape City are doing!"

I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I knew that there was a chance they would grow lax after the huge victory Candle Dragon won with the Qiu Beast Cavalry, and I was right. Even the usually cautious Zhang Chun was underestimating the enemy. Thankfully, I had scouted both mountains with Dark Pupils when I was making my way over. As far as I was aware, only a small number of Japanese players were hiding in those mountains.

Next, I pointed at the red mass of enemies on the plains and said, "See this? Purple Grape City’s players look like they’re losing, but their formation is solid, and they’re locking down our entire frontline. We need to solve this as soon as possible, or I guarantee you that they’ll move their long-range war machines over—even something as basic as a ballistae will be enough—and give us hell. Remember, they don’t need to beat our whole army. All they need to do is to hold out for 72 hours, and they’ll win this Nation War."

Hot and Sour Noodles nodded deeply. "Mn. You are as sharp as always, Lu Chen."

The jealous Sword Lord of Jianghu had a different opinion, however. Their vice leader, Now and Forever, said with a sneer, "This is just armchair strategizing. Also, we can solve this ‘impenetrable defense’ easily just by sending out our cavalry. He’s making it look oh-so-complicated to make himself look good."

Hegemon Palace’s Wang Dongliang nodded in agreement. "I agree. So what if their defense is solid? In a few hours, we will have enough men to blow it aside like wet tissue. Breaking through was never an issue."

I curled my lips. "I’m just trying to minimize our casualties. Did you conveniently forget that we still have Cyan Earth City and Elephant City to worry about? It so happens that these two main cities are exactly to the left and right side of this plains too. Can you say we can absolutely win even if we’re attacked from three sides?"

This time, it was Blue Sky Scar who sneered, "Why are you even in this business if you’re scared of everything?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes erupted, "Are you listening to yourself? Can you even imagine what would happen if we lost all our main forces to a reckless charge? At the very least, I know you can’t bear the responsibility! Pooh!"

Roaming Dragon interrupted, "If we can’t arrive at an agreement, we might as well split up and do whatever the hell we want!"

……

Li Chengfeng suddenly laughed out loud before swearing, "This is a fucking joke. I don’t know about the others, but I know you people will never be able to conquer Purple Grape City at least!"

Wang Dongliang glared at him. "What the hell did you say, Legendary Brave?"

Li Chengfeng glared right back as he replied, "Your ugliness reminds me of the campaign against Dong Zhuo. The eighteen warlords had joined hands not because they wanted to rid the scourge that was Dong Zhuo, but because they wanted to serve their own interests in some way. That coalition had ended in unhappy dissolution, and I’m not seeing a future for this coalition either. All I have to say is this: Can you hopeless idiots come up with one proper justification to refute Lu Chen’s sound logic? Just one! If yes, feel free to share it with us right now. If not then shut the hell up, you fucking idiots!"