Chapter 781

"This..."

Caesar reached into his clothes and scratched. When he pulled his hand out, the gaps under his fingernails had turned black. It was unknown how long this guy hadn't taken a bath; he might be the type who would lose three pounds after a scrub.

"It seems that the knowledge I provided earlier is indeed worthless."

The smile on Su Xiao's face disappeared.

【Prompt: Quartermaster Nicholas Caesar's favorability -60. Current favorability: 35 points.】

Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao almost couldn't help but get up and hack this guy to death.

Sensing that Su Xiao's complexion was wrong, Caesar sighed.

【Prompt: Quartermaster Nicholas Caesar's favorability -30. Current favorability: 5 points.】

Su Xiao and Caesar stared at each other.

"My dear friend, how could I not take care of you? That knowledge of yours is a priceless treasure."

As soon as Caesar finished speaking, the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.

【Quartermaster Nicholas Caesar's favorability +90. Current favorability: 95 points.】

The ups and downs were truly too stimulating. From this point alone, Su Xiao had figured out Caesar's personality: stingy, mercenary, greedy yet cowardly, and also somewhat selfish.

This was very interesting. The people Su Xiao didn't like dealing with weren't people like Caesar, but those rigid people who considered themselves righteous, self-righteous; those people were the most difficult to deal with.

The more flaws in personality, the more weaknesses there were. Su Xiao never tried to befriend people without flaws. Even if one befriended such people, they were a ticking time bomb. They would definitely help with small matters and do them beautifully, but if it involved life-and-death matters, those people would be the first to turn against you. Caesar wasn't that type; he belonged to the type with many personality flaws but few weaknesses.

"My friend, rest assured, as long as your merits are sufficient, that thing will definitely be yours."

Caesar gave a lewd smile. Hearing this, Su Xiao calmly checked the battle merit exchange list. When he saw the situation of the 【Holy Oak Branch】, a smile appeared on his face.

【Holy Oak Branch】

Origin: Vis Star, Long Teng Empire

Quality: Gold

Stock: 1

Exchange price: 16000 battle merits

The battle merits required for the Holy Oak Branch not only didn't decrease but increased by 6000 points. However, Su Xiao noticed a line of small print below the exchange price, which one couldn't see at all without looking carefully. It clearly wrote (Holy Oak Branch is a rare substance; this is the current market price), meaning that the Holy Oak Branch was scarce and the price would change according to time.

Caesar winked at Su Xiao. He dipped his finger in saliva on the tip of his tongue and wrote a 9 on the test bench.

The meaning was already very clear: others exchanged for 16000 battle merits, Su Xiao exchanged for 9000 battle merits!

At this moment, on the wall behind Caesar, there were eight sloppy Imperial characters: Impartial and Selfless, Defend the Empire!

"My friend, we were talking about the war situation on the front line earlier, right?"

Caesar was completely talking nonsense; the two hadn't mentioned a single word related to the front line from beginning to end.

"Hmm, the situation on the front line is not optimistic."

Su Xiao wasn't stupid and immediately took the hint.

"Alas, the Empire needs people like us."

Caesar hammered the test bench, looking heartbroken. Su Xiao couldn't help but have a thought in his heart: Long Teng Empire having a quartermaster like you, not being destroyed would be a disservice to your 'upright and unyielding' personality.

"Leaving."

Su Xiao didn't want to continue talking nonsense with Caesar. Heaven knows if the favorability would again have a terrifying fluctuation of over 80 points.

"Leaving already? Don't want to chat about the future of the Empire?"

"No... no."

Su Xiao didn't want to continue dealing with this guy with a titanium-alloy face. If Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang were here, perhaps it could 'clash' with Caesar for hundreds of rounds. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang belonged to the type that, no matter how cunning the other party was, it would maintain its silly nature, fearless of swords and guns, impervious to water and fire. You are strong as you are, and it might even pull the other party's silliness index to the same level as its own.

Just as Su Xiao walked out of the large tent, the helplessness on his face disappeared. Nicholas Caesar was very abnormal. Not only was the speed of favorability change astonishing, but more importantly, the other party could actually regulate the price of items in the battle merit shop. One had to know that those were things certified by Reincarnation Paradise. In the Holy Grail world, the old priest's relationship with Su Xiao was quite good, but because he was a neutral plot character, favorability wasn't opened.

Even so, when the old priest helped Su Xiao with discounts, he used his own assets to fill the gaps in the faction shop and couldn't change the price of items.

Was the old priest's status low? Absolutely not. The other party was the supervisor of the Holy Grail War and the representative of the Holy Church in Fuyuki City.

"Nicholas Caesar, even the name is so abnormal."

Su Xiao found an empty tent in the military camp and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. The war didn't know when it would break out again, so he had to cherish the rest time.

Don't know how long he slept, the sound of a horn woke Su Xiao up.

Woo woo woo~

The horn stopped, and Su Xiao immediately walked out of the tent. Just out of the tent, he found the sky was pitch black, stars filled the sky, and moonlight shone on the military camp. It was at least after 9 PM. Some torches were inserted in the military camp, and soldiers ran past him one after another. The previous horn sound was the assembly horn.

Su Xiao followed the nearby soldiers and ran in one direction. Soon, he was mixed in with countless soldiers.

A full 300,000+ Imperial soldiers assembled, forming more than a dozen phalanxes. The subsequent reinforcements had arrived.

In front of the military formation, Legion Commander Carlos stood upright with his hands behind his back on a wooden chariot. The orange light of the torches shone on his face. An adjutant beside him handed over a pebble-shaped crystal. Carlos waved his hand; that was an amplification stone, and he didn't need this thing.

"Attention!"

Carlos gave a violent shout, and all the soldiers present heard his voice. The soldiers closer to him had buzzing in their ears. Hearing this 'Attention', the soldiers immediately stood straight.

This was the gap between Count Mark and Carlos. This gap would be even more obvious in the pre-battle mobilization in a moment. Compared to Carlos, Count Mark was simply not worthy of commanding soldiers to fight.

"Attacking Black Earth Fortress tonight, are you afraid!"

Carlos slowly drew the long sword at his waist. Carlos, with a serious expression, was full of dignity; where was the appearance of drinking seafood soup with a helmet in front of an iron pot?

"Being afraid is not shameful. When I first attacked the tribal fortress, I was still a second-class soldier, so scared I couldn't sleep all night. The next day, I muddled through and attacked the fortress. That fortress was Simiton Fortress. That's right, it was that fortress that the tribe boasted the Empire would never be able to break."

Knowing fear means you are brave enough. Even if you are afraid in your heart, you will still throw yourself into the battlefield. What is this for? Defending the Empire? Bullshit! This is to provide a stable, happy life for your loved ones in the future.

I won't encourage you. Follow me to kill our way onto Black Earth Fortress. I will lead the charge. Kill them all!"

The night wind blew the torches in the military camp, swaying them incessantly. Legion Commander Carlos did something Count Mark would never be able to do, which was to personally lead the charge. On the battlefield, 'Charge!' and 'Follow me!' were completely different concepts.

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

The deafening shouts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers spread out. As for whether they were discovered by the enemies of Black Earth Fortress, Carlos didn't care at all. Among more than 300,000 soldiers, there must be enemy spies; this was an unavoidable thing, just like there were his spies in the tribe.

Carlos's move was actually very risky. Once he died, the blow to morale would be devastating. But the current situation didn't allow for considering this point, and Carlos had already arranged a backup plan.

The tribal side was continuously blowing up Black Earth Fortress. Once a channel of a certain scale was blown out, enough for the army to pass through, the tribal side would mobilize a large number of troops to drive straight in from this breakthrough. By then, it wouldn't be a defensive battle or a siege battle, but a decisive battle. This was the situation the tribal side most wanted to see.

Carlos's words made the adjutant's face somewhat pale. This adjutant, who had participated in countless battles, clenched his fists.

"Did your mother die?"

Carlos walked off the wooden chariot and kicked the adjutant.

"Legion Commander, think twice. We still have some time..."

"Fart! It's easy to blow up Black Earth Fortress from the inside, but hard to repair. Also, if I die, use that immediately."

"I, this..."

"Luo Na, you are the adjutant I chose. We have been together for more than ten years. With that disguise, it's not difficult for you to impersonate me. Military morale is the most important thing. And this war is commanded by you. First, follow my predetermined strategy. If the situation changes, act according to circumstances. If I really die, you will take the position of Legion Commander. I have handled all the relationships."

Carlos had prepared a backup plan. Once he died in battle while leading the soldiers to charge, his adjutant Luo Na would immediately use an alchemy prop to disguise himself as him, thereby stabilizing military morale behind the battlefield. It had to be said that this was a win-win method. It not only gave the soldiers the courage to move forward but also ensured that military morale would not collapse. This required enough decisiveness, not being afraid of death, and having someone who could be trusted. Carlos's adjutant Luo Na didn't know how many times he had saved Carlos in times of crisis. Even 'brothers' wasn't enough to describe the relationship between the two.

It was conceivable that with a Legion Commander like Carlos leading the charge, the Imperial soldiers would definitely be as brave as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Moreover, many people would die in this battle to attack the fortress. Carlos's strategy was to use corpses + stones to pile up to the same height as the fortress. Only then would there be a possibility of capturing the fortress. Otherwise, under the strangulation of the dwarf tribe's 'City-Protecting Heavy Wheel Crossbow', they wouldn't be able to go up with ladders. Under such cruel circumstances, without Carlos's battlefield command, the soldiers might collapse as soon as the siege battle started, and the casualty rate was truly too high.

Being in the army, Su Xiao woke up with a cigarette in his mouth to refresh himself. Now killing enemies could earn battle merits, so he had to be serious in this battle, unlike before when he started 'slacking off' after hacking the nearby enemies to death, waiting for the enemies to rush up on their own.

If things went smoothly, his kill count this time would definitely not be comparable to the last time. There was a prerequisite for this, which was being able to successfully attack Black Earth Fortress. Given the height of the fortress, if there were no special siege devices, relying on piling up people, the cruelty of this battle would be beyond imagination.