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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Regardless of whether the North-South Army was willing to do it or not, they had to fight a life-or-death battle with the Black Ink Clan Army here where all the traps ended. Whatever the price they had to pay, they had to stop the Black Ink Clan reinforcements from reaching the Royal City in order to ensure that the East-West Army’s plans wouldn’t be thwarted.
If they let the Black Ink Clan break through their blockade and go to the Royal City, the East-West Army’s plans would be foiled. In the worst-case scenario, the East-West Army would be pincered by the enemy, and when that happened, they would be doomed.
There were two Human Race Armies in the Great Evolution Theatre. The East-West Army had their mission, which was to invade the Royal City.
The North-South Army had their own task as well, which was to intercept the Black Ink Clansmen garrisoned at Great Evolution Pass. It was a task they had to accomplish no matter the cost.
The North-South Army wasn’t trying to stall for time in the past month; rather, they were trying to weaken the Black Ink Clan’s power.
After all, 500,000 Black Ink Clansmen was a force to be reckoned with. The North-South Army wasn’t powerful enough to destroy such an Army.
Over the past month, they had made use of the traps they had set up and clashed with the Black Ink Clan on several occasions, but they still hadn’t achieved their goal.
Although there was a decrease of somewhere between 20% and 30% in the number of Black Ink Clansmen, there were still about 400,000 of them. For the North-South Army, it was hard to stop such a force, which was determined to rescue the Royal City.
“This battle is different from those in the past. Many people will lose their lives,” Mi Jing Lun lifted his gaze and looked at Ou Yang Lie.
A nonchalant Ou Yang Lie replied, “Are we Humans even afraid of death? We already expected this outcome when we formed the Great Evolution Army. I’m sure the soldiers are aware of it as well.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “In the end, strength is what it takes to win a war. Strategies are just the icing on the cake.”
An impatient Ou Yang Lie said, “Let’s not belittle ourselves and overestimate the enemies’ power. Just tell us what we should do, and keep it simple. I do not understand complicated strategies anyway.”
Mi Jing Lun put on a helpless smile. After giving it a thought, he said grimly, “There’s only one way to win this battle.”
“What is it?” All of them gazed at him.
With a solemn expression, Mi Jing Lun went on to say, “We must prioritise killing the most powerful Black Ink Masters. It would be best if we could kill several Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples at the outset of the battle so that we can intimidate the Black Ink Clan and make the Territory Lords flustered. That way… we might be able to stop them.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
It wasn’t easy to kill the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. As Eighth-Order Division Commanders, they were certainly more powerful than the Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples; however, in a real fight, while it was easy for them to get the upper hand, it was hard for them to take their opponents’ lives.
In order to accomplish this, they would also have to pay a huge price.
Mi Jing Lun didn’t say it clearly, but everyone present knew what he meant.
This battle would be significantly more dangerous than the ones they’d had fought in the past.
The North-South Army had stopped the Black Ink Clan from heading to the Royal City before; however, at that time, the Royal City wasn’t in a perilous situation, so the Territory Lords were not determined to engage in a life-and-death struggle. Generally, after they suffered a setback, they returned to Great Evolution Pass.
This time was different. The Royal City was at risk of being destroyed, so the Territory Lords wouldn’t give up as long as there was still a chance. In order to crush their hopes, the Humans had to deal a devastating blow to them.
Dealing a crippling blow to the enemy would require significant sacrifices.
Ou Yang Lie guffawed, “Since you already have a plan, why did you look miserable earlier? That’s easy. I’ll take the lead and kill a Territory Lord first.”
Gazing at him, Mi Jing Lun shook his head, “Brother Ou Yang, you’re the Army Commander of Great Evolution Southern Army, so you can’t put yourself at risk.”
Ou Yang Lie refuted him with a smile, “That’s nonsense. Although I’m an Army Commander, I know nothing about strategies and military affairs. All I have is brute strength, so whether I’m around or not makes no difference in the long run. With you in charge of the North-South Army, that will be enough.”
“Brother Ou Yang…”
Before he could finish speaking, Ou Yang Lie interrupted him by lifting his hand, “Brother Mi, stop trying to dissuade me, or you’ll look petty. I’ve just said that we’re not afraid of death. When the time comes, I’ll lead the charge as an Army Commander. Those at the top must set an example for the rest to follow.”
The moment he finished speaking, an old man stepped forward as he ran his fingers through his beard, “I’m an old man who no longer has a future, and I’ve always wanted to end my life in the most splendid way. This is a good opportunity. Count me in for killing a Territory Lord.”
A moved Mi Jing Lun glanced at the old man, “Senior Brother Cheng…”
Senior Brother Cheng had helped him a lot in the past. When Mi Jing Lun arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield as a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master back then, Senior Brother Cheng was the Squad Leader of his Squad. It was Senior Brother Cheng who had repeatedly saved him from life-and-death moments. Without him, Mi Jing Lun wouldn’t even be alive today.
Many years had passed, and Senior Brother Cheng was no longer as energetic as when he was young; however, he never forgot about why he came to the Black Ink Battlefield in the first place, which was to destroy the Black Ink Clan.
Senior Brother Cheng cupped his fist and said, “This Cheng would like to accept the challenge of killing a Territory Lord at the outset of the battle. I’ll not disappoint you, Army Commander!”
Mi Jing Lun clenched his teeth and exerted so much force with his hand that he almost broke the feather fan that had been with him for so many years, but in the end, he said with difficulty, “Good.”
Senior Brother Cheng put on a smile, “Many thanks, Army Commander.”
After he sat back down, another person rose from the chair, “I’ve been practising a certain sword technique for 5,000 years. The moment I unsheath my sword, even a Territory Lord can’t fend it off. I’d like to accept the challenge of killing a Territory Lord!”
“Good!”
Another Division Commander then stood. She was a middle-aged woman who said smilingly, “This Mistress isn’t as powerful as the two Senior Brothers, but I have a Secret Technique that I’ve never used before. This time, I can seize the chance and try it out on a Territory Lord. Please count me in, Army Commander.”
“Good!”
“No one is comparable to Bright King Cave Heaven when it comes to killing enemies at all costs. I’ll make the first move.”
“Good!”
…
For every ‘good’ that Mi Jing Lun spoke, a bit of energy seemed to have left him. It had been 100 years since he took charge of the North-South Army, but he had never felt more heartbroken than this day.
However, he knew that in order to stop the 400,000 Black Ink Clansmen who were determined to reach the Royal City, there was a price to pay.
Hasty footsteps were heard approaching at that moment, and a person soon entered the room and cupped his fist, “Sirs, a scout has returned and reported that the Black Ink Clan Army will arrive in two hours.”
A glint flashed through Mi Jing Lun’s eyes, “They’re really coming this way.”
A while back, they had speculated on which route the Black Ink Clan Army would follow to reach the Royal City. Although Zhe Chong believed that he was constantly changing directions in a random manner, and the Humans would not be able to anticipate his movements, there were still some regular patterns in reality. These regular patterns had something to do with his unconscious habits, and even he was unaware of it. Nevertheless, Humans could make a deduction based on this information.
Mi Jing Lun and the others had drawn out several possible routes, but they eventually concluded that the Black Ink Clansmen would most likely pass by this place. To be safe, the other Purifying Black Ink Battleship was waiting at the next most likely route.
That way, even if the Black Ink Clan went another way, the North-South Army could promptly rush over.
If the Black Ink Clan didn’t head in either direction, the Humans would have no choice but to fight with them head-on.
Now, it seemed that the Humans were in luck.
“Tell those from the other side to return,” Mi Jing Lun ordered.
“Yes.” The person respectfully left to carry out his orders.
Mi Jing Lun glanced at the other Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, “The battle is about to take place, and you know all the arrangements there are. There’s only one thing I’d like to remind you of.”
After sweeping a glance over them, he cupped his fist and said solemnly, “Please take good care of yourself.”
Ou Yang Lie grinned, “Don’t worry about it. Killing some Black Ink Clansmen is no big deal.”
Mi Jing Lun parted his lips, but he didn’t know what else he should say.
Ou Yang Lie patted his shoulder and left the room. Since the battle was only two hours away, he had something to say to his good-for-nothing Disciple.
The other Eighth-Order Division Commanders left one by one, until eventually, Mi Jing Lun was left alone on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
The following two hours were quiet as the scouts at the frontline kept sending information back.
What surprised Mi Jing Lun was that the Black Ink Clan didn’t circumvent the region where the Humans were located, despite it being an area filled with universe fragments; instead, they were coming straight in this direction.
It seemed that the Commander of the Black Ink Clan Army had realised something, which was why such a bold decision was made.
That was actually a wise decision, as in truth, the North-South Army had set up traps all around the periphery of many regions filled with asteroids and universe fragments. Regardless of which way the Black Ink Clan Army passed by, they would inevitably fall into some traps.
Only by directly passing through the asteroids and universe fragments would they avoid them.
However, the North-South Army happened to be hiding in this area of universe fragments. With the help of these universe fragments, the Human soldiers could perfectly conceal themselves, then emerge from their hiding spots and attack the Black Ink Clan soldiers when the time was right. Other than that, they could also make use of the complicated terrain to deal with the enemies.
It could be said that as the Humans had to face the Black Ink Clan, who had significantly more people on their side, this area of universe fragments was the best possible battlefield. Now, the Black Ink Clan soldiers were coming to this place. Although they could avoid the traps that the Humans had set up in advance, they had inadvertently selected a terrible battlefield.
The concealment arrays on the Warships were activated, and with the help of the universe fragments, the Humans hid themselves in preparation.
On the ship’s deck, Mi Jing Lun watched as the Black Ink Clan’s scouts entered the region of universe fragments. Although they were supposedly just scouts, there were close to 100,000 of them. The rest of the Black Ink Clan Army followed closely behind them.
Apparently, the leader of these Black Ink Clansmen knew that if the Humans were really hiding in this place, the scouts would be doomed if there were too few of them. In that case, a large number of them should directly barge into the place to intimidate the enemy.
The formation of several hundred thousand soldiers was very long, so it took them an hour before all of them entered the universe fragment field.
Although the scouts had been looking around, they found nothing.
Mi Jing Lun closed his eyes and waited patiently.
Finally, there came a moment when he suddenly opened his eyes and waved his feather fan.
He didn’t seem to have exerted any force with his hand; however, the moment the feather fan pointed forward, the silent region filled with universe fragments suddenly erupted with noise.
The arrays on the Warships started running, and all kinds of lights started shining as various Secret Techniques and artifact attacks shot towards the Black Ink Clan soldiers.
Zhe Chong, who was leading the Army forward, was stunned. Based on his speculation, an area that was full of asteroids and universe fragments should be safe, so he hadn’t anticipated stepping right into a place where the Humans were hiding.
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