136. High-level planning

"Watch out! It's an occupation!"

Luo Xuan reacted immediately, but the lords ahead reacted even faster and had already shouted a warning.

Luo Xuan immediately ordered Azathoth to retreat. Although Azathoth was not captured immediately, Luo Xuan dared not gamble.

Sure enough, not long after Azathoth retreated, the second wave of dotted lines representing the occupation came again, but this time there were far fewer of them, only a few.

It's also possible that only a few targets remain within the effective range that can be occupied.

At this moment, the lords whose troops were not occupied were relieved, while the lords whose troops were occupied were scrambling to find a solution.

Now that we're on the battlefield, most of the lords there will be wary of taking over.

For example, after accumulating enough battle merits, the first thing Luo Xuan did was exchange for anti-magic potions.

There were quite a few lords like Luo Xuan, and soon most of the dotted lines they occupied disappeared.

However, the remaining lords may have just arrived, or they may have run out of protective measures, or they may simply be unlucky enough to have several troop types occupied and be unable to distribute them evenly.

In short, during the duration of the occupation, a total of four or five units were unable to be rescued, and their lords could only watch helplessly as they were manipulated into turning against them.

"Everyone, please maintain the distance you were just at, and don't cross that area for now!"

A lord shouted a reminder.

This method is normally feasible, and it should work well if the battle lines are evenly matched.

However, this was the time when the enemy launched a major offensive, and the battle line was advancing towards our side.

"Don't stay where you are, slowly back away." One of the lords realized the problem.

"We can't retreat! Everyone, hold on!" one of the lords retorted.

In an instant, the joy of defeating the flesh golem vanished. The lords each had their own thoughts and began to argue, but none of them could convince the others.

Because of his small force, Luo Xuan had the capacity to focus on the battle after ensuring the safety of Azathoth and Lilith.

Originally, after eliminating the flesh puppets, the morale of Luo Xuan's garrison soared, and they even showed signs of launching a counterattack.

However, the attack caused chaos on this side, allowing the undead forces to advance further.

"The opposing team's commander is a pro!"

After figuring it out, Luo Xuan sighed to himself.

Regardless of the circumstances, the fact that the opponent was able to time things so precisely and disrupt Luo Xuan's rhythm shows that they are no ordinary person.

"It's probably some famous commander of a large army who was resurrected by the undead," Luo Xuan guessed.

Otherwise, if it were just those bone fragments, they would probably just swarm and scatter even as they rot.

However, this would put a lot more pressure on Luo Xuan and his group.

Not only do you have to face the enemy head-on, but you also have to be careful of the enemy commander's unexpected underhanded tactics.

Especially when the other side includes a particularly disgusting female demon.

Even if they can't occupy it, it's still good to deplete the magic power of the items or troops of the lords on Luo Xuan's side.

Time passed slowly, and after a night of fierce fighting, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

Its daybreak.

At this moment, the undead troops at the front began to retreat, leaving behind a pile of bones.

"Alright, the enemy has retreated! Everyone, take a break!"

"Great, you made it!"

"I'll need to get a few more anti-magic potions this time; I used up all my potions last night."

. . .

After the battle ended, everyone immediately relaxed, sat down to rest, and some even chatted in small groups.

Luo Xuan also rushed to the quartermaster and quickly exchanged two anti-magic potions, fearing he wouldn't be able to get them if he waited any longer.

Last night, not only Luo Xuan's position was attacked, but almost every place was attacked by the Banshee, which greatly increased the lords' demand for anti-magic potions.

After securing two anti-magic potions, Luo Xuan squeezed through the crowd and returned Azathoth and Lilith to his lord's space before logging off to rest.

This place is not like the area near his own territory. The battlefield is still too dangerous. If something unexpected happens, Luo Xuan will have nowhere to cry. It is safer to return to his own lord space.

After logging off, Luo Xuan forced himself to eat something to fill his stomach, and then went straight to sleep.

By the time the alarm clock woke Luo Xuan up, it was already dark outside.

After a quick wash and some food, Luo Xuan went online immediately. He was on the night shift tonight, and it would be his turn to change shifts soon.

After last night's great battle, tonight is quite quiet. The undead did not launch any more large-scale attacks, but only sent out some low-level skeleton soldiers and skeleton archers to harass the area as usual.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Luo Xuan inquired around and obtained a lot of useful information.

First of all, the reinforcements from the Tianyu Empire will arrive tomorrow, so lords like Luo Xuan won't have to work so hard afterward.

Secondly, there's the overall war situation.

Overall, Luo Xuan and his side have the advantage. As long as the undead army is prevented from entering Falling Moon Canyon, they will not be able to obtain a large number of reinforcements.

Once reinforcements arrive, a counterattack can be launched to push the undead forces back into the Kingdom of Saint Loen.

. . . . . .

"General Wang, a personal letter from His Majesty the Emperor."

Meanwhile, a messenger hurriedly ran into the camp and handed an envelope with gold-embossed cloud patterns to the highest commander of this battlefield.

Upon hearing this, General Wang dared not delay. He took the envelope from the messenger and opened it only after confirming that everything was correct.

General Wang took out the letter and quickly began to read it. However, the more he read, the more his brows furrowed, eventually forming a knot.

"General, what's wrong? What did His Majesty say?" Inside the tent, the captains, centurions, and others sitting around asked hurriedly.

"His Majesty has ordered us to push the undead forces back to the Kingdom of Saint Lorne and to advance as far as possible into the enemy's territory!"

General Wang spoke first.

Upon hearing this, the tent fell silent. Everyone exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

"What a great opportunity, General Wang!"

"That's right!"

Many high-ranking officers raised their voices in protest.

Since ancient times, soldiers have risen through the ranks by contributing military achievements.

However, since the peace talks with the Kingdom of Saint Loen, the continent has been at peace for a long time.

Only the army in the eastern part of the empire can fight the orcs a few times a year, while the troops stationed in the northwest are truly worn out.

But judging from His Majesty's words, it seems that war is on the horizon again.

The people here are all soldiers; there aren't many complicated rules. As long as they can fight, they're satisfied.

"Don't be too happy yet. This is no joke, it's war!" General Wang sneered.

"It's a war that will involve bloodshed and death!"

Under General Wang's reprimand, everyone calmed down.

"Besides, do you think things are that simple? There are so many undead troops; driving them back to the Kingdom of Saint Lorne is no easy task."

"Without an excuse to attack the undead, how will we smoothly enter the territory of the Kingdom of Saint Lorne?"

At this point, General Wang's tone softened:

"I know everyone wants to fight, everyone wants to achieve great things, but you have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time!"

"Don't worry about what happens next. The first thing we need to do is defeat the undead army. Otherwise, everything else is just empty talk."

The restless atmosphere inside the tent immediately subsided, and everyone began to discuss how to defeat the undead army.

Luo Xuan was unaware of the higher-ups' intentions. While gathering intelligence, he was also searching for Zhou Fa.

As his only acquaintance in the area, Luo Xuan hadn't been able to run into Zhou Fa these past few days. Since he finally had some free time tonight, he decided to try and find him.

After making numerous inquiries, Luo Xuan finally learned about Zhou Fa, only to find out that Zhou Fa was in a meeting.

Although somewhat helpless, Luo Xuan had no choice but to go back and wait for another opportunity.

Luo Xuan didn't waste the time that followed.

Since the undead aren't attacking, it gives him the perfect opportunity to train his troops.

Azathoth had already reached level nine, but Lilith was still a bit short.

In the previous ocean strategy guide, the main focus was on Azathoth and Nereia, and Lilith didn't gain much experience.

Previously, during the clearing of the valley and subsequent garrisoning, I killed some wild monsters and gained some experience.

It was only through her previous efforts that Lilith reached level eight.

Therefore, Luo Xuan planned to use Lilith as the main force to clear out the low-level skeleton soldiers left on the battlefield.

While leveling up and gaining experience, you can also get some materials.

Under the cover of night, Falling Moon Canyon was quiet and desolate, with only the occasional crunching sound of bones from the nearby skeleton soldiers moving around.

By the moonlight, Luo Xuan could see groups of skeleton soldiers moving slowly in the distance.

They wandered aimlessly among the rubble and debris. Occasionally, a skeleton would stop when it passed a piece of wreckage, and then instinctively remove a bone from the wreckage to replace one of its own bones.

"Lilith, prioritize killing the nearby skeleton archers, then deal with the skeleton soldiers."

Luo Xuan hid in an abandoned fortification and gave instructions in a low voice.

"Azathoth, your role is simply to hold them back and let Lilith kill them as much as possible."

After he finished speaking, Azathoth and Lilith both nodded, indicating that they understood.

Subsequently, under Luo Xuan's watchful eye, the two began hunting skeletons around them.

Lilith was the main one making the moves, while Azathoth stood by Luo Xuan's side, watching from a distance. Occasionally, when there were skeleton archers that were too far away for Lilith to deal with in time, Azathoth would intervene slightly to buy Lilith some time.

And so, thanks to Lilith's efficient hunting, a large number of skeleton soldiers and skeleton archers perished.

However, the experience gained by Lilith was negligible.

Luo Xuan didn't mind; even a mosquito's leg is still meat, and he didn't dislike it.

With gradual accumulation, one day I will be able to level up Lilith to level nine.

The next morning, after the sun rose, Luo Xuan handed over the duties and went to find Zhou Fa.

This time, Luo Xuan finally found it.

"Hey, Luo Xuan! Long time no see!"

Zhou Fa was slightly surprised when he saw Luo Xuan.

"Long time no see, Zhou Fa!" Luo Xuan replied with a smile.

"You've come to help too!"

"Isn't this a summons from the Empire? I have no choice but to come!"

Luo Xuan replied.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fa nodded. "What brings you here today?"

"It's nothing, I just haven't seen you in a long time, so I thought I'd drop by to see you while I was here."

"What? You think you're just casually checking me out?"

Zhou Fa pretended to be very hurt.

"By the way, the battle in Houxu should be very intense, so be prepared."

Before Luo Xuan left, Zhou Fa patted Luo Xuan on the shoulder and said something meaningful.

Upon hearing Zhou Fa's reminder, Luo Xuan nodded, indicating that he had made a mental note of it.

Immediately after logging off, Luo Xuan opened the forum to see if anything major had happened recently.

The forum was as lively as ever, with all sorts of posts appearing one after another, but the most frequent topic was the recent defeat of the Holy Kingdom's garrison by the undead forces.

In addition, the Tianyu Empire and the Orc Empire also began fighting against the undead, quickly gaining popularity.

Another highlight is the bickering and verbal battles among the three players.

You called me despicable, saying I harmed my neighbors.

I told you you're a noob, utterly useless.

Many people returned to the land-based fairyland overnight.

Luo Xuan looked for a while, but did not find any important information related to the Tianyu Empire.

"What could it be?" Luo Xuan frowned and pondered.

Since Zhou Fa didn't say it explicitly, there must be some reason, which most likely involves high-level decisions and secrets.

Luo Xuan looked down at a topographical map of Falling Moon Canyon displayed on the screen.

The post is simulating your attack on the flesh golem at night, and it's very popular.

Luo Xuan was randomly pushed this post, glanced at it a few times and lost interest, after all, he was also a participant.

Watching others simulate and deduce is not as effective as Luo Xuan imagining it himself.

However, after clicking in, Luo Xuan didn't immediately start thinking about Zhou Fa's words.

After thinking for a long time, Luo Xuan still came up with nothing.

When Luo Xuan came to his senses and saw the map on the screen, he suddenly shuddered, as if he had grasped some inspiration.

"No way? That's impossible!"

Luo Xuan looked at the map and muttered to himself.

Luo Xuan had been deep in thought, but suddenly snapped out of it as his gaze turned toward the Kingdom of Saint Loen to the north of the canyon.

Luo Xuan felt his idea was very bold, but recalling Zhou Fa's meaningful look, he also felt it was very possible.

"Does the Tianyu Empire want to take this opportunity to start another war?" Luo Xuan wondered to himself.

The war between the Tianyu Empire and the Kingdom of Saint Loen many years ago, although mediated by the Elven race, clearly showed that both sides were confident of winning the war.

"If that's the case, the war will undoubtedly be prolonged indefinitely," Luo Xuan muttered to himself. This was not good news for him.

The longer Luo Xuan is away from the territory, the more likely something will happen on the other side of the sea.

Let's not even talk about the lobster man; if the coral crab makes any move, Luo Xuan won't have time to get back.