Chapter 408: Xu Tianran, Jumping with Rage Like Thunder

Pa—!

With the sound of a cup being smashed, Xu Tianran angrily roared: 'What are you saying? The Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group has been wiped out?! Not a single person survived, not even Wang Yiheng and Xia Xuanchen——?!'

'Yes, yes... This subject does not dare to deceive Your Majesty!'

An official trembled all over as he knelt before Xu Tianran, his expression and voice filled with fear.

'...' Xu Tianran's eyes turned red, he panted heavily, clenched his fists, and finally let out a roar: 'Get out of my sight! Don't let me see you again!'

'Yes, yes! Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty!'

This official, overwhelmed with gratitude, kowtowed twice on the ground, then scrambled away from Xu Tianran's chamber.

Juzi came to Xu Tianran's side, lightly placing her hand on his, saying nothing, merely soothing his agitation with her action.

Xu Tianran remained silent for a long while, finally speaking hoarsely:

'Juzi, do you really mean this?'

Juzi said softly:

'Your Majesty, you're being obtuse; at this moment you shouldn't be asking me whether this is true, but what we should do next—that's your usual style.'

'... Also.'

Xu Tianran couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

The loss of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group's annihilation was truly too painful for him.

The overall strength of the Ri Yue Di Guo's Soul Engineers is not strong; it is only through centuries of accumulation that it has its present national power, so the loss of each Soul Engineer corps is a huge blow, let alone the annihilation of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group, one of the Five Guardians of the State.

The annihilation of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group meant that the two top ninth-rank Soul Engineers, Wang Yiheng and Xia Xuanchen, the group's overbearing Soul Engineer devices, and the vast resources it had inherited were all gone.

This incident dealt a fundamental blow to the Ri Yue Di Guo; even if a new Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group were created later, its strength would hardly reach the former level of the State Guardians.

To recover would take at least several decades.

And this is only the visible loss; besides that, there are countless invisible harms.

For example, at the outbreak of war, the Ri Yue Di Guo as a whole was still united against a common enemy, and even the three original Douluo countries, technologically backward in Soul Engineer tech, were full of fighting spirit; but now such a change has occurred—not to mention, under such massive loss, how long would the Ri Yue Di Guo need to recover? Just speaking of domestic anti-war voices, they would increase greatly, which for Xu Tianran, eager to unify the world, is absolutely something he does not want to see.

Furthermore, regarding the cooperation with the Holy Spirit Sect, although the cooperation is a unified opinion of the Ri Yue Di Guo's high leadership, they never fully regarded the Holy Spirit Sect as their own allies; those Evil Soul Masters are like insatiable hyenas, and a little carelessness could see them stabbing them in the back. Now they see that the Ri Yue Di Guo's State Guardians have lost a unit. Such a huge loss, they will certainly not remain idle; just thinking about it gives Xu Tianran a headache.

Besides that, there are many, many more effects, so many that Xu Tianran doesn't even want to think about them in detail; just a little thought already gives him a terrible headache.

He stroked Juzi's soft little hand, let out a long sigh, and asked:

'Juzi, who do you think did this?'

Juzi's eyes flashed with light.

'Your Majesty, if I recall correctly, these past few days the borders have been troubled by people from Shileke and the Body Sect, right?'

Just yesterday, Xu Tianran had complained to her, saying that the actions of those super Douluo had brought huge losses to the Ri Yue Di Guo, making him quite vexed.

But he hadn't expected that after just one day, the so-called 'huge losses' that had vexed Xu Tianran would already seem trivial; compared to the loss of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group, yesterday's losses were nothing at all.

'Correct.'

Xu Tianran nodded lightly, also recalling this matter, his eyes showing a thoughtful expression.

'You mean we've fallen for the 'feigning a path while secretly crossing' stratagem, and those super Douluo are merely bait?'

'Correct, Your Majesty is indeed wise.' Xu Tianran waved his hand helplessly.

'Don't flatter me; if I were really that wise, those petty thieves wouldn't have found an opening.'

He took a deep breath, finally calming down a little.

That is to say, the attackers of Sunrise City were from Shileke and the Body Sect, and their purpose was to rescue hostages?

'Hmm.' Juzi nodded lightly, 'I think even they didn't expect to clash with the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group; given their backward understanding, they certainly didn't anticipate the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group arriving so quickly, and battling it was beyond their expectations.'

'An unexpected event leading to the annihilation of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group? That's hardly funny.'

Xu Tianran let out a long breath, asking the question Juzi had just raised.

'So Juzi, what do you think we should do next?'

Juzi smiled faintly.

'Your Majesty, you need not be overly anxious; if I recall correctly, the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group has always been on good terms with the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Corps, and the current commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Corps seems not to be very supportive of Your Majesty.'

Xu Tianran's eyes lit up.

'You mean...'

Before he could finish, Juzi lightly placed her finger on his lips.

'Your Majesty, this must not be spoken aloud.'

'Haha, indeed.'

Xu Tianran laughed again, but unlike his earlier bitter laugh, his smile now was noticeably more relieved.

He sighed emotionally:

'Having such a wife, what more could a husband ask for! Juzi, thank you for helping me calm down.'

Juzi smiled gently.

'Being able to help Your Majesty is the greatest happiness for me.'

Xu Tianran failed to notice the cold glint flashing in the depths of Juzi's eyes as she spoke.

According to intelligence, among this battle's enemies there is an extraordinarily beautiful white-haired girl who wields ice and snow power, reminding her of that familiar opponent.

In her view, the correct choice would be to launch an immediate counterattack, using the Ri Yue Di Guo's stockpiled fixed-shell Soul Engineer artillery shells to strike the three original Douluo countries, formally declaring war under the banner of the Xie Jun Soul Mentor Group's annihilation.

But doing so would be tantamount to pushing Huo Yutong into the spotlight, which is something she does not want to see.

Moreover, the internal strife between Xu Tianran and other imperial family members also works to her advantage, so she deliberately proposed this strategy.

She let out a long sigh in her heart and quietly began to pray.

She hopes Huo Yutong will not be captured by the Ri Yue Di Guo Royal Soul Engineer Corps.

By the way, I mainly outlined the second side story (Snow Girl chapter) today, so I didn't write much.

Tomorrow I'll try to catch up.

(End of chapter)