Chapter 257: Preparation Before War

Aolake Bridge.

Shengjilesi pointed at the star‑map projection and kept explaining the battle situation.

As the allied forces, Xisi did not let Luojia command directly, but chose Shengjilesi, whom everyone present seemed to respect more.

And because of matters concerning the Second Empire, Shengjilesi worked especially hard, trying to act with a strictly official attitude while carefully mobilizing the army Xisi had cobbled together from east to west.

A group of people were intently watching the star map, while on the outer edge of the crowd a tall, thin figure wearing bat‑shaped blood‑winged headgear, with a head of dry gray tangled hair and a pinched mouth, watched Shengjilesi draft the plan.

No one disarmed Kanglade, nor did anyone keep an eye on him.

Everyone seemed oblivious that among their large loyalist group, a rebel Original Body leader had slipped in.

Kanglade, meanwhile, stood relaxed with his hands behind his back, glancing here and there.

If a Mortal or low‑rank Astat caught a glimpse of Kanglade, Kanglade would even lift his head and stare back.

Only after seeing the other shrink back in fear did he grin and withdraw his gaze.

Of course, during this process Kanglade would meticulously avoid the 101 on duty in the corners.

And with no one supervising Kanglade, even if the main gate opened, he could easily find a moment of privacy when he went to the restroom.

He had absolutely no intention of fleeing, and when he happened to encounter Kiriman at the restroom, Kiriman's question of why he hadn't run made him so angry he almost beat Kiriman up.

Even the others on the Bridge could be left alone; I, Kanglade, would still grab Kiriman by the hand and choke him.

While Kanglade was causing trouble with a street‑wise scoundrel, Shengjilesi's voice kept echoing throughout the Bridge.

"So I need at least fifty Extreme Warrior regiments, plus ten million Green Skin, to specifically encircle the Midnight Lord Legion."

After speaking, with Kanglade looking speechless, Shengjilesi looked up, scanned the room, then turned his gaze to Kanglade.

"Kanglade, is this enough?"

Luojia and the others also looked over, and Xisi, somewhat speechless, stared at Shengjilesi without averting his eyes.

Kanglade, being questioned, froze, then gave Shengjilesi a very serious look.

"You're serious???"

"You ask me how I'm targeting my own army?"

Kanglade's gaze asked Shengjilesi, and seeing Kanglade's reaction, Shengjilesi didn't wait for a real answer and simply withdrew his eyes.

"It looks like it was almost insufficient."

"Add the twenty‑regiment Huaiyaners as well."

Shengjilesi, while speaking, took another breath and tossed twenty regiment flags from the reserve pool.

After thinking it over and feeling it was still unsafe, he surveyed the reserve again and transferred two groups from the Aotelama auxiliary forces.

Seeing this, Kanglade's eyes finally widened a bit; then, looking at his own mere tens of thousands, Shengjilesi without hesitation tossed in seventy thousand Astats, ten million Green Skin, and two million Aotelama auxiliary troops.

Honestly, even if each Midnight Lord is a master of stealth, the prerequisite is that they operate in a complex urban environment.

In the wilderness, with such a massive numerical disparity, the Midnight Lords really can't make a splash!

What?

You ask why the Midnight Lords don't choose to hide in the city?

Probably mainly because the Midnight Lords don't want to fire a single shot and then be taken out in one fell swoop by a Light Spear or Whirlwind Torpedo from above!

After all, our great Empire does not have a doctrine of two armies fighting while sparing civilians.

In fact, in our Empire's unique national condition, two‑army battles are specifically aimed at civilians.

Thus, the Empire's citizens, whether loyal or villainous, in the end can only, before death, try to make their smiles as bright as possible.

And as for preserving one's own face for later corpse‑collectors, there's no excessive hope.

After all, even if you protect yourself as best as possible, the end is just being dumped into a starch pool.

Of course, since no one present has fire lizards, the mourners' group hasn't even formed yet.

So everyone disregards civilians and focuses solely on preparing for the upcoming Terra War.

And Kanglade, who was made to laugh in anger by Shengjilesi, after a few forced chuckles, looked at the projected allied reserve forces, his smile gradually sinking back to a death‑like seriousness.

Then he gave the crowd a serious glance, and finally, with wary, extremely careful peripheral vision, he glanced at Xisi.

From start to finish, Xisi had little interaction with Kanglade.

But Kanglade felt a danger from the smallest‑statured, seemingly mortal Xisi that he had never sensed before.

Even though Xisi now merely stood at the front of the crowd, silently watching Shengjilesi command, Kanglade felt that every move he made was being watched by Xisi.

This feeling was something Kanglade had only experienced before with an Emperor at his peak.

And compared to his simple astonishment at Xisi's power, what truly surprised Kanglade was the massive force marked as Xisi's side on Shengjilesi's command map—dozens of stacks of troops!

Why could Shengjilesi be so 'generous', casually tossing out dozens of Astat regiments?

Because Xisi's patchwork army gave Shengjilesi what could be called an unlimited pool of usable troops!

And even beyond the clearly callable forces under Shengjilesi's eye, there were even more, countless Mortal Legion and Green Skin!

When Kanglade thought of the Green Skin, he was momentarily stunned, though he wanted to call them 'Green Skin'.

But thinking of those Green Skin rushing to Terra, he was steered away by the 'Green Skin' that Kiriman and others had just bitten off.

"So the decisive battle forces are 800,000 versus 1,200,000, with the advantage on the enemy side."

Finally, Kanglade's attention was drawn back by Shengjilesi's summary.

Kanglade was about to look at the map and watch Shengjilesi's deployment.

But Xisi, who had been looking normal, unusually stiffened his expression.

Then he glanced at Shengjilesi, suppressing the unsaid in his heart.

Mainly because, in this context, the figure of 800,000 was not a good omen.

"This omen isn't good."

Xisi muttered under his breath, and then, under everyone's excited gazes, casually scanned the complex strategic deployment on the star map, honestly offering no comment at all.

He simply asked what he could do:

Are the troops enough? Should we prepare more?

Hearing this, Shengjieliesi's originally tense expression relaxed with a sigh, and afterward he even looked at Xisi with considerable approval.

A good commander never interferes with the frontline's detailed command.

And Shengjieliesi then spoke solemnly:

"More would of course be best, but for now, this is all we have."

Xisi, hearing this, didn't continue, merely nodding in approval.

After all, as long as they break into Terra, Xisi can bring the 40K great army over via Longlin Star.

At that point, the forces will not only erase the numerical disparity but can also form an absolute crushing advantage against Helusu!

And after Shengjieliesi finished speaking, Kiriman and Luojia behind him also stepped forward together.

The two exchanged a glance, then respectfully looked at Xisi, letting out a light sigh:

"Sir, the latest news."

"Just a few days ago, Helusu..."

"They have officially marched on Terra!"