Chapter 2764: Mercenary Rebellion

Ye Liuyun countered several ambush battles, dealing heavy damage to the Empire's Imperial Guard.

Seeing that their strength had waned, Ye Liuyun directly ordered Mo Ran to reorganize the Mercenary Corps, to rebel outright, to resist the Empire's rule, to plunder the resources of each city, and then to claim the planets for Ye Liuyun.

They switched from gradual encroachment to outright looting. Since the Star Chart Empire could no longer attend to Ye Liuyun's side, even if it sent some Martial Cultivators, Ye Liuyun was not afraid.

The news of the Mercenary rebellion spread quickly, and many nearby Mercenaries came to join, so the Mercenary forces expanded rapidly.

This rebel Mercenary army specialized in robbing the City Lord's residences, merchant guilds, and major factions across the lands, which made it popular among Mercenaries; it quickly gathered over a hundred thousand people and kept growing. Ye Liuyun did not heavily manage these Mercenaries, merely recruiting some strong ones into the Wolf Hunting Legion to replenish manpower.

After the Mercenary army plundered the major powers everywhere, Ye Liuyun collected the planets or the Primordial Power of the planets, then moved on to the next planet. Thus, within his Space World, manpower was abundant.

The Empire also dispatched strong forces to intercept a few times, but only ended up handing over elite spearhead troops to Ye Liuyun as manpower. Moreover, Martial Cultivators of Zhuanzai Sanchong to Fifth Layer realms all became sparring partners for Ye Liuyun's troops to practice on.

When they tried to redeploy troops to encircle, the main army was confronting the Foreign Tribe. The Mercenaries were so powerful that moving a hundred or two hundred thousand troops would probably have little effect.

Soon, the rebel Mercenary corps swept across the southern half of the realm. Ye Liuyun's Space World continued to strengthen.

Taking advantage of the Mercenary army's rest, Pei Yong recruited another hundred thousand troops for the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Corps, expanding it to three hundred thousand. Even so, this rebel Mercenary force still numbered over two hundred thousand.

Indeed, these Mercenaries had been suppressed for so long that no one ever treated them as humans; they harbored no goodwill toward the Star Chart Empire at all.

Now, with the chance to gather, they rob City Lord residences, major powers, and merchant guilds; they all eagerly exert their strength, racing to vent years of oppression.

These Mercenaries require little management; once gathered, they stop robbing their own and act uniformly outward, so their discipline need not be restrained. Yet against those major powers, they strike without mercy, leaving nothing, cutting the weeds at the roots. This also worries that they might later strike back in retaliation.

The Empire is now thoroughly panicked; the Mercenary rebellion is growing faster, not only in the south but also in other directions, with even some Mercenaries imitating it, and it quickly expands in scale.

The pattern everywhere is the same: rob City Lord residences and the major powers within cities, while uniting the vast Mercenaries and Martial Cultivators outside the cities.

Seeing this, the Star Chart Empire could no longer suppress the situation, lest the entire Empire be devoured by Mercenaries. It immediately ordered Liu Haotian to dispatch troops to deal with the rebel Mercenaries and also capture them to replenish manpower.

Thus Liu Haotian could only send a three‑hundred‑thousand army: Meng Wenxiang to the Southern Region, Han Qiao to the Western Region, another Leader to the Eastern Region, while Liu Haotian himself led a force to both resist the Foreign Tribe and eradicate the rebel Mercenaries in the north.

When Meng Wenxiang dispatched troops, he feared encountering Ye Liuyun. Moreover, each of those Leaders only commanded a hundred thousand troops, making it already difficult to use that force to eliminate the Mercenaries. Yet Liu Haotian could only spare three hundred thousand troops, which was already a strain, leaving no capacity to provide them with more.

"If you really encounter Ye Liuyun, just put on a show—fight while retreating!" Liu Haotian instructed Meng Wenxiang before departure, also telling him to contact Ye Liuyun first.

He sent Meng Wenxiang to the Southern Region because he knew Meng was cautious, unlike Han Qiao's recklessness, and his use of troops was stronger than the other Leaders. Liu Haotian also wished to avoid conflict with Ye Liuyun.

Meng Wenxiang also contacted Ye Liuyun in advance, informing him of Liu Haotian's deployment.

Although he did not state it outright, Ye Liuyun understood that Meng Wenxiang also did not wish to fight him.

Consequently, Ye Liuyun ordered the Mercenary army to accelerate plundering and recruitment, aiming to gather more resources before Meng Wenxiang arrived. In the end, before Meng Wenxiang reached, Ye Liuyun had claimed ten more planets.

But afterward, his Mercenary army boarded Warships and left the Southern Region; the Mercenaries cultivated on the Warships. Ye Liuyun let them rest for a while, and after Meng Wenxiang withdrew his forces, they would strike back.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun rushed to the Eastern Region, ordering Pei Yong to release the newly incorporated hundred‑thousand troops, to compete with local Mercenaries for resources while also confronting the Eastern army.

His army was strictly disciplined and fully equipped. So after a local Mercenary clashed with the main army once, Ye Liuyun decisively struck, crippling both sides' forces, and quickly became the largest Mercenary group in the Eastern Region.

Previously, the Eastern Mercenary groups, even after conquering a planet, neither claimed it nor took its Primordial Power. Ye Liuyun, however, was unceremonious, immediately beginning to claim it, even seizing many Martial Cultivators on the planet.

Although he was initially somewhat harsh, in the end, due to his strength, he defeated the army sent to eradicate the Mercenaries and earned the support of many Mercenaries.

The key is that his army is equipped like a regular military, appearing more promising than the earlier Mercenary groups. Thus many Mercenaries joined, and the force quickly expanded.

The force expanded so rapidly that even Pei Yong felt the training couldn't keep up. Therefore, Ye Liuyun consulted Yu Xiaofeng, bringing Meng Qingyin and Xiao Yunfang over to assist Pei Yong in training troops.

Meng Wenxiang, in the Southern Region, never actually met Ye Liuyun; he simply suppressed the local Mercenaries and quelled the southern rebellion. Han Qiao, in the Western Region, fought several major battles against the Mercenaries; using formation advantages, he eventually broke up the large Mercenary corps, captured many prisoners to replenish troops, and thus also succeeded in pacifying the rebellion.

Consequently, the Empire sent them to the Eastern Region to jointly suppress the rebellion.

When Ye Liuyun saw them arrive, he likewise withdrew his troops and rushed to the Western Region. At the same time, the Southern Mercenary army resumed its continued annexation of the Empire's planets.

They seemed to be playing a game of hide‑and‑seek; Ye Liuyun never met the imperial suppression forces, striking east then west to train his troops. Everywhere, the Mercenaries, upon seeing the imperial army arrive, fell obediently; once the army left, they rejoined Ye Liuyun's ranks. The Empire could not suppress the widespread dissent among Martial Cultivators.

Ye Liuyun fought while recruiting, quickly expanding the Wolf Hunting Legion to six hundred thousand. Moreover, all were of Zhuanzai Sanchong or higher realms; for every hundred thousand troops, there was a squad of Martial Cultivators of Zhuanzai Fifth and Sixth Layers as elite guards.

Mercenaries of other realms merely served as part of the rebel Mercenary corps accompanying Ye Liuyun in plundering, and some were taken into the Space World as manpower reserves.

(End of Chapter)