Departure and the Empty City Strategy

Chapter 137 Departure and the Empty City Strategy

Regardless of what Luo Xuan thought, on the battlefield of Falling Moon Canyon, as reinforcements from the Tianyu Empire arrived one after another, the Tianyu Empire's garrison finally overtook the undead forces.

On the battlefield, this means the overall situation shifts from defense to offense.

Compared to the previous defensive stance, Luo Xuan undoubtedly prefers offense, as the offensive side always has the advantage and initiative.

On the battlefield, there are so many enemies that there is no need to spend time slowly searching for monsters, so Lilith's leveling efficiency is very high.

On the fifth day after joining the battle, Lilith successfully leveled up to level nine.

Meanwhile, the Tianyu garrison successfully pushed the undead forces back into the territory of the Kingdom of Saint Loen.

Logically speaking, at this point, all that's needed now is to stay put and hold our ground.

However, Commander General Wang ordered his troops to continue the pursuit.

This might seem normal to other lords, since the undead army hasn't been wiped out yet, so of course they should press their advantage.

What if they don't come out completely this time and come back in a few days?

Therefore, most lords did not respond much to their commanders' orders.

Some of the more astute lords sensed something was amiss, but with everyone else attacking, they were drawn into the conflict.

Only Luo Xuan remained calm from the very beginning.

Luo Xuan had made this speculation long before Zhou Fa gave his hint.

When the speculation was verified, it also proved that Luo Xuan's guess was correct—the Tianyu Empire wanted to start a war again!

Luo Xuan didn't want to judge right or wrong; he just didn't want to get involved.

Therefore, when the battle line was pushed to the border, Luo Xuan had the idea of ​​withdrawing.

However, before leaving, Luo Xuan went to the quartermaster to exchange the battle merits he had accumulated over the past few days.

Luo Xuan looked at the Radiant Sun Fruit on the exchange list with envy, but he didn't have enough battle merits.

If given another three to five days, Luo Xuan would definitely be able to accumulate enough battle merits.

However, if he stayed for another three to five days, he would be swept into the territory of the Kingdom of Saint Loen by the army, and then Luo Xuan would not be able to retreat even if he wanted to.

Therefore, Luo Xuan chose to stop while he was ahead, exchanged for a mutated Cold Moon Fruit, and then exchanged all the remaining battle merits for gold coins.

Compared to equipment, supplies, and rare items, gold coins seemed rather "cheap." Luo Xuan exchanged his remaining battle merits for nearly 20,000 gold coins.

This perfectly compensated for Luo Xuan's lack of gold coins, and now he lacks nothing.

After eating the mutated Cold Moon Fruit on the spot, Luo Xuan's leadership value reached 75 points, of which 40 points were equipment bonuses.

Currently, Luo Xuan has consumed three Moonlight Corals and a total of six Cold Moon Fruits: four mutated Cold Moon Fruits and two ordinary Cold Moon Fruits. He still has four Cold Moon Fruits to go before reaching the maximum limit.

"If I go back now to upgrade my territory, the 40 points of leadership bonus from my equipment will become invalid," Luo Xuan thought to himself.

"Although the leadership value will double when you advance to the second-tier lord, 35 points doubling only amounts to 70 points, which is not as many as it is now."

Therefore, although Luo Xuan had gathered all the resources for the upgrade, he did not intend to upgrade immediately, but instead planned to continue to work on it.

After thinking it over, Luo Xuan submitted his application to withdraw from the position to He Qianzhang, who had been in charge of them all.

The Tianyu Empire's mandatory conscription order required these lords to help defend the Falling Moon Canyon defense line.

Now that the undead forces have been pushed back into the Kingdom of Saint Loen, it is clear that this has exceeded the scope of defense and is therefore no longer within the scope of the mandatory conscription order.

Therefore, He Qianchang was somewhat reluctant to accept Luo Xuan's application.

After all, although Luo Xuanmo's troops were few in number, they were extremely powerful, and in just a few days they had already made a name for themselves on the nearby battlefields.

However, He Qianchang had no reasonable reason to refuse, and after trying to persuade him to no avail, he had no choice but to agree.

After his application to leave was approved, Luo Xuan did not delay any longer and immediately prepared to leave.

Although I wanted to thank Zhou Fa in person, it was extremely difficult to find someone on the battlefield amidst the chaos of war.

Therefore, after trying it briefly, Luo Xuan gave up.

Returning from the front lines, Luo Xuan walked back along the way and saw a continuous stream of supplies being transported to the front lines.

"Leaving was the right thing to do; the battlefield ahead is a giant meat grinder."

Luo Xuan glanced back at the battlefield. Although the rewards for exchanging battle merits were tempting, he knew he had to be alive to claim them.

Judging from the command of the wave of flesh-and-blood golem attacks encountered on the first night, Luo Xuan knew that the commander of the undead army was definitely not an ordinary person.

Although the Tianyu army pushed back the battle lines, it was only because the Tianyu Empire's reinforcements arrived and their military strength far exceeded that of the undead.

Even so, the enemy commander was still able to sacrifice pawns to save the king, leading the vast majority of the main force and elite troops in a retreat.

If they continue to stay and fight to the death, the undead army will be wiped out, but the Tianyu Empire's forces will probably also lose 70-80% of their strength.

Once the battlefield devolves into a war of attrition, the troops of minor lords like Luo Xuan will undoubtedly be the first to be wiped out.

Next come the medium-sized lords, then the large lords, and finally the elite troops of the Tianyu Empire.

Luo Xuan understood this very well; he couldn't possibly leave Azathoth and Lilith behind as cannon fodder.

Moreover, Luo Xuan has also gained something these past few days. He completed Lilith's upgrade goal, obtained enough gold coins to upgrade his territory, and also got a mutated Cold Moon Fruit.

All things considered, Luo Xuan had gained quite a few benefits, and he was already quite satisfied.

Gradually, Luo Xuan left the area of ​​Falling Moon Canyon. After checking the direction, Luo Xuan led Azathoth and Lilith towards the valley.

Fenrir is only a blue unit and its level is not high. Luo Xuan was still a little worried after being away for a few days.

Therefore, after leaving the battlefield, Luo Xuan's first choice was not to return to his territory, but to go and see Fenrir.

Upon arriving at the valley, Fenrir greeted Luo Xuan at the entrance as usual.

Seeing this, Luo Xuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. Judging from the other party's condition, there was at least no great danger for the time being.

As Luo Xuan had guessed, the facts proved correct.

The valley has been very quiet these past few days, and there hasn't even been a single wild monster.

Although it was a bit strange, Luo Xuan thought it might be related to the war in Luoyue Canyon, so he didn't think much of it.

After surveying the surrounding area and resource points, and picking the Stone Pattern Grass he had been saving up, Luo Xuan prepared to leave.

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days, Fenrir. I'll head back now."

Before leaving, Luo Xuan patted Fenrir's huge head.

Fenrir affectionately rubbed against Luo Xuan's palm and then licked it with its tongue.

"Alright, alright, it's a little itchy. I'll come to see you as often as possible. Once I've collected enough materials, I'll let you evolve again."

Upon hearing this, Fenrir stood still, watching Luo Xuan leave, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Compared to his gray wolf days, Fenrir, now with enhanced intelligence, is able to understand the meaning of "simple".

After leaving the valley, we also took the opportunity to inspect the timber resource points in the forest.

It carries the scents left by Azathoth and Lilith, so normally no monsters will appear nearby.

However, despite this situation, Luo Xuan still felt uneasy without seeing it for himself, so he would come to check on it every now and then.

Currently, Luo Xuan only has three level-three resource points, and the amount of resources produced is not very large. The main source of income is what Luo Xuan previously plundered from the two fishman tribes.

Otherwise, basic resources would be really scarce.

Thinking of this, Luo Xuan felt an urgent need to develop seabed resources.

However, there is still one Lobster Man tribe and one Coral Crab that have not been resolved.

The coral crabs were alright, since they weren't making any noise and were in relatively distant coral reefs, not in coastal areas.

However, the location of the Lobster People's tribe meant that Luo Xuan could not ignore them when developing seabed resources.

Therefore, eliminating the Lobster People tribe became Luo Xuan's next development focus.

Fortunately, Luo Xuan has now recruited the fishmen of the Shattered Reef tribe. Although they are not at their peak strength, with the addition of Azathoth and Nereia, dealing with the lobster people should not be a problem.

Luo Xuan still needs to plan this out, and also listen to Nereia's report.

During the past few days, Luo Xuan left and arranged for Nereia to stay near the sea. In addition to protecting the territory from attacks by marine life, this also served to monitor the movements of the lobster people.

After returning to his territory, Luo Xuan sent Azathoth to inform Nereia, while he himself logged off to have a meal.

Not long after, Luo Xuan met Nereia within his territory.

Luo Xuan listened as Nereia reported on the recent situation in the near sea.

First of all, the coral crabs are hibernating as always, and it looks like they can stay dormant for a long time as long as no one disturbs them.

There is no direct conflict of interest between Luo Xuan and the Coral Crab for the time being, so he does not want to provoke them.

Secondly, there's the Lobster Man tribe. After being attacked at their doorstep by two Fishman tribes, the Lobster Man tribe began to hold their ground and refuse to come out.

Lobster people were seen on the edge of the battlefield during the internal conflict between the two lobster-man tribes, as well as the battle between the coral crabs and the remnants of the sea spirits.

However, only small groups of reconnaissance teams appeared.

As soon as anyone gets close, the lobster people disappear in an instant.

Luo Xuan originally wanted to capture a few lobster people to see if he could get some information.

However, the lobster people were very cautious and always stayed on the edge. Even when Luo Xuan sent Azathoth and Nereia, they failed to catch them.

Gradually, Luo Xuan, who had initially focused on the two fishman tribes and the remnants of the sea spirits, stopped paying attention to them for the time being.

At this moment, after listening to Nereia's report, Luo Xuan was slightly puzzled. What exactly were the lobster people doing?

Even if they desperately defend, once Luo Xuan has fully controlled the Reef Fishmen, he can easily break through the Lobster Man's defenses with some time and effort, so there's no point in doing so.

"Neria, have you been scouting the Lobster People's tribe during this time?" Luo Xuan asked.

Since he hadn't found anything by searching among the scattered lobster people, Luo Xuan decided to try his luck at the lobster people's tribe to see if he could get any information.

"I've been there a few times, but the lobster people are very cautious and never come out," Nereia replied.

"Once I watched for a long time, but I only saw two groups of lobster people going in and out, and there was no other movement."

Upon hearing Nereia's reply, Luo Xuan sensed that something was amiss.

Although the Lobster People suffered heavy losses before, the tribe's skeleton is still intact, and there are still quite a few Lobster People within the tribe.

However, no lobster people have gone out to gather food for so long.

Either the tribe has a large food reserve, or there is a secret route that Luo Xuan and the others are unaware of.

Regardless of which scenario applies, it's not good news for Luo Xuan, who wants to eliminate the lobster people and unify the coastal areas.

Moreover, Luo Xuan had a vague suspicion in his mind, but he had no evidence to support it.

Instead of just daydreaming here, let's go and see for ourselves.

With this in mind, Luo Xuan decided to take Azathoth and Nereia with him tomorrow to investigate the area near the Lobster Man tribe and see what the Lobster Man was really up to.

After settling his territory, Luo Xuan logged off to rest. The intense battles of the past few days had left him feeling somewhat exhausted.

Young people are great; they can fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. After a high-quality night's sleep, the fatigue of the previous few days was swept away, and Luo Xuan became energetic again.

Early in the morning, Luo Xuan led Azathoth and Nereia to dive into the sea.

This was Luo Xuan's first time going into the sea; before, he had only waited for news on the shore.

First, follow Azathoth and Nereia to the Broken Reef tribe. Then, after Azathoth gives them a brief training session, take a dozen or so murlocs with you.

In case of danger, at least some people can take the fall.

Luo Xuan valued his own safety very much.

Although there shouldn't be any danger in the nearshore waters except for lobsters, who knows?

Who knows, the mysterious ocean might surprise you sometime, just like the coral crab summoned by the leader of the Sea Spirits.

No one knew that such a war behemoth slumbered beneath the seabed, not even the leader of the Sea Spirit Remnant, the spellcaster himself.

Arriving cautiously near the Lobster Man tribe, Luo Xuan observed the surrounding traces and found only scattered footprints, indicating that it had indeed been a long time since a large number of Lobster Men had entered or left.

"As soon as you get close, you'll be attacked by projectiles. There should be a lot of lobster people inside," Neria said, stating her assessment.

Luo Xuan remained noncommittal, instructing Azathoth to divide the merfolk into four groups, each approaching the lobster-man tribe from one of the four directions.

Although he was unsure of his lord's intentions, Azathoth faithfully carried out his orders.

The fishmen divided into four groups, each with three to five people, and began to slowly approach the lobster people's tribe.

Soon, when a group of lobster-men approached Luo Xuan and his group, they were met with a barrage of projectiles, indicating that a large number of lobster-men within the tribe were launching an attack.

Strangely, the other three directions were completely silent and without any movement.