Chapter 377

Expedition.

It sounds imposing, but for the nations of the Yangyue World, it's practically everyday.

First, as the Yangyue Xiao Bai Eagle, the Deep Forest Wang Guo's external wars have almost never stopped, emphasizing abundant martial virtue, and after every autumn harvest they must unflinchingly raid the western Hui Guang Kingdom for grain, nearly forming a noble culture.

And as the Beimosi Khanate, capable of forming an otherworldly Anglo‑French coalition with it and waging a massive Hundred‑Year War, it often seeks opportunities to unleash its huge iron hooves on the Deep Forest's small border defenses, letting them taste what being attacked feels like.

The Wolf King Court needs no introduction; their joint production with the Shadow Church, "Extinguish the Lamb and Destroy the Great Wolf Across the Plains," has been streaming hot for a winter, and the barbaric tribes of the Wild Plains all said it was great, happily dashing north.

And the Lingxi Kingdom, isolated overseas and alone occupying a continent to play single‑player games, though it has enjoyed long peace, as a sea‑power civilization its ingrained commercial talent and adventurous spirit make them set out on ships for voyages whenever they can, which is also an expedition.

Therefore, in this vast Yangyue World, only the Hui Guang Kingdom…

Slumped onto a chair, holding a birdcage, with a cup of tea hanging nearby.

"What are you making a fuss about? Everyone's just enjoying a good life, why keep doing these flashy things every day?"

"Learn from the lord—going from the north to the south to visit a club is like taking a trip, it's a grand adventure!"

Thus, the nobles present, upon hearing the word "expedition," were even somewhat unfamiliar, and the first thing that sprang to mind was the great war from more than ten years ago.

…No, no, that battle was clearly fought on our own ground; Lord Changge didn't cross any borders, so what kind of expedition is that?

He pondered carefully for a while, nearly exhausting the historical knowledge in his mind.

He only then recalled that over a hundred years ago, when Deep Forest first descended the mountain to loot, there was a duke—seemingly leading people onto a plateau—who had a fierce exchange of words with them inside Deep Forest's realm.

Although the affair concluded rather quickly, and the duke only fought one battle before being utterly defeated and collapsing there, tens of thousands of troops surrendered en masse like a swarm of offspring; at least he died within another country's borders.

At least compared with other eccentric figures, it can barely be considered an expedition, right?

…

So this is our second one a hundred years later—how magnificent!

One must admit that the repeatedly defeated Hui Guang nobles have at least maxed out their talent for arranging funerals and celebrations.

Thus they fell silent for a moment, then surprisingly became excited on their own.

"That's right, we are on an expedition!"

"Haha, actually I've long wanted to sample a prairie girl… no, I meant I've long wanted to promote the family's glory!"

"Alright, not to hide from everyone, I have General Pan Feng En, who can cut off the Wolf King's head!"

Ji Ming, seated at the head, couldn't help but close his eyes, sighing inwardly.

—Whoa, they're opening a collective market champagne!?

Moreover, not everyone present can go decades without war, allowing them to comfortably devote all their skills to exploiting the common folk.

Thus the priests of each church, upon seeing the Hui Guang nobles laughing and chatting about how to divide pork after a successful expedition, were each left bewildered.

While shocked, they also wondered, aren't we supposed to go to the Wild Plains? That area is a more rugged and complex mountainous region than ours, not a plain to go die on!

But they aren't anyone's parents or teachers, so they have no responsibility to correct the children's misguided thoughts.

So they all watched with eyes and noses, decided to pretend they hadn't heard, leaving them a beautiful sky, so that when they become cannon fodder later it will be more convenient.

But the Count of Yan Shan, feeling his face utterly disgraced, could no longer stand it; he tapped the table with the golden ring on his thumb and scolded.

"Silence! This expedition is no trivial matter; the Divine Selection Lord clearly has important matters to discuss, and you rush to speak like this—what decorum!"

Damn, you old guy are more servile than us!

Facing the Count's suppression, the minor nobles, though thinking MMP inside, quickly restrained their smug demeanor and apologized to the Divine Selection Lord.

"Divine Selection Lord, please forgive our sins; it is truly an honor to cooperate with your sect, we are excited!"

Ji Ming: I have no objection, I didn't even speak; actually I love watching the fool open champagne halfway through.

The Divine Selection is magnanimous; he waved his hand to express his mercy, enlarged the map of the Wild Plains, and then said.

"No problem, since everyone finds my suggestion feasible, I will elaborate further."

Ji Ming's full plan is actually simple: have them diligently recruit and gather troops, then band together to go to the Wild Plains to deliver supplies to players.

There are three benefits to this.

First, they want the expedition to succeed; the current forces are certainly insufficient, so they must spend heavily to hire various armed groups wandering in the southern kingdom and even farther.

They could be blood‑licking mercenaries, or silently lurking weirdos, or even noble‑raised mountain bandits, like the fake hemp bandits of Lord Huang's household, used specifically for black‑on‑black cooperation.

But regardless, this scum is definitely a stumbling block that disrupts players' fun, and in Double Moon Struggle that constitutes a violation of the heavenly law.

So rather than letting them continue to litter the kingdom's land, it's better to have the diligent nobles become dung beetles, roll them into a ball, and send them directly to the Wild Plains for expedited incineration.

As for these nobles and even the churches, if they act in desperation, forcibly coerce the populace, conscript militia as cannon fodder…

"A word of advice: an expedition is a difficult large‑scale event; letting unranked ordinary people participate only drags you down, so you must bring the most reliable, strongest personnel, elite troops only!"

Second, the player headquarters on the Wild Plains still faces a labor shortage; almost every guild is continuously expanding recruitment, and the official side is even crazier, with no cap on hiring numbers.

Because of real‑world constraints, players are indeed reliable and can handle important positions.

But the corresponding salaries are high, and many key positions have strict requirements for education and experience, making talent truly scarce.

While many local natives are hired and are willing to do heavy labor for money.

But this expense adds up to an astronomical sum and still can't fill all labor gaps.

Thus, besides continuing to raise conditions and make allies, legally acquiring war prisoners through various means is their simplest and highest‑priority option to boost capacity.

But the wasteland is the Wolf King Court's territory, they dare not go; on the kingdom side… mainly blocked by passes, can't exploit.

Thus relying only on these noobs in the Wild Plains truly results in many wolves and little meat, so major guilds can only force themselves to open cross‑level dungeons, using blood and sacrifice to win—this has become the norm.

LaoZhao's remark in the meeting was: "Raw melons and eggs aren't tasty, but if you don't eat them, you get nothing."

Thus, as a gentle and kind game developer, although it's difficult for Ji Ming to help players cut costs, opening a source is still doable.

—Here you go, dear, the freshest Hui Guang dung ball combo, enjoy.

Third, lately the players have been a bit too much; in less than a month they've managed to unite half of the southern kingdom, and if this continues, what will become of us?

Although the plan is titled "The Fourth Day Disaster," Ji Ming's hundred‑day struggle is to be a savior, not to launch a world war, so let's quickly step on the brakes.

And the simplest way to brake is to divert attention, for example letting players who are stealing others' enjoyment feel what it's like to have their home stolen.

Anyway, when the time comes we have our own command; even if the Dung Ball Alliance is weak, we can first knead a few soft persimmons on the players' side to adjust the flavor before serving!

Besides these three points, there is actually another half reason, which comes from the news Ji Ming received from the Wasteland.

— The Wolf King Court finally ended its spring offensive, began to withdraw its forces, and switched from attack to defense.

In the short term, this is good; at least there will be no war for the next quarter, so everyone can develop in peace and enjoy a peaceful summer.

It sounds good, but you're developing while they are too, and they originally had greater strength, and now their territory is even larger than yours.

And according to martial arts knowledge, when a person withdraws their fist, it is usually to unleash a charged critical hit, a heavy punch that maximizes damage.

Then, with the players' strength, can they withstand the Wolf King Court's autumn offensive that will surely be launched after the autumn harvest ends?

That's very hard.

Moreover, their attention is now entirely focused on the Hui Guang Kingdom, this flashy world, and the speed of their genuine strength's increase truly worries Ji Ming.

Then, before the real tough challenge arrives, we might as well give them a small boost to immunity, so they can redirect their fervent gaze back to their own homeland.

That way, when the Wolf King finally brings Lao Yang Tou running over to climb the slope, and sees that the slope is entirely lined with optical prism towers, magnetic storm coils, and Gatling machine guns, he will surely be very surprised.

「This……」

After hearing the Divine Chosen's plan, the Divine Official and the nobles exchanged glances, realizing they could only describe it as thorough.

First, regardless of battlefield intelligence or main pressure, all these difficulties will be borne by the Shadow Church.

Moreover, they promised that while providing a complete map of the Black Forest Territory and the Barbarian Wasteland, when the Allied Army launches a north-to-south surprise attack, they will dispatch a main force from south to north to conduct a pincer attack in response.

As for the Allied Army, there is only one thing they must do: prepare for war as quickly as possible, strike as quickly as possible, at the fastest speed possible, and destroy the Pioneers' production bases as much as possible.

As for that, they are experienced enough—destroying anything is no problem; fighting, smashing, then packing up and leaving in a sack is nothing difficult.

So now the only problem is this 'as quickly as possible'—just how fast can they actually manage?

「Uh……」

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then murmured among themselves for a while, and finally seemed to have made some particularly major decision.

「One month! 」

One month?

Ji Ming, sensing something amiss, quickly tallied up another sum.

First, the Allied Army's total numbers are at least in the thousands, so they must be counted in thousands; the only place that can accommodate their orderly gathering is the Yan Shan Territory of Earl Yan Shan.

Moreover, the distance from the Yan Shan Territory to Sunlight City is not much shorter than setting out from the Wind Shadow Territory, and many places along the way have undergone changes due to recent chaos, which will surely cause trouble.

Then, considering the various difficulties inherent in a march of tens of thousands, by the time they reach Sunlight City, it will take at least a week or more.

If we are conservative, it could even be two weeks, and that only gets them to the transfer station outside Sunlight City.

To enter the Barbarian Wasteland, avoid detection, find a suitable valuable target, set up, surround, and attack…… they don't even dare to calculate further, and it will take another week to get in.

In other words, even if we discard the time spent resting outside Sunlight City, secretly moving within the Barbarian Wasteland, and handling various unexpected incidents on the road, the Allied Army still needs a full three weeks after departure to achieve its first victory.

Even so, this is only achievable under the assumption that Ji Ming has added the implication that 'all problems can be smoothly resolved,' and only in an ideal situation.

But as everyone knows, plans can't keep up with changes, and who knows what outrageous thing might happen then.

At the very least, the players won't sit and wait for death, waiting to be scooped up into an encirclement by others.

By then, the Allied Army will have expended a month and a half of effort, yet they haven't even entered the dungeon, having just reached the outdoor town map when a famished boss bursts out of the final gate, tearing them apart like a roasted whole sheep at the item shop's door?

That won't do; at that point it will inevitably produce a reverse effect, sending the players' mentality soaring on the spot.

So Ji Ming certainly cannot allow them to prepare for a month, but he also cannot press too hard, lest this dung ball be sent to the crematorium before it's even been pushed to its maximum.

Therefore he made an agreement with the nobles and the church, setting a one-month deadline as the baseline: for each day they set out earlier, the Shadow Church will contribute an additional thousand elite troops.

「Good! Let's do that! 」

Seeing that the Divine Chosen dared to make such a big gamble, Earl Yan Shan immediately agreed in an unyielding manner, fearing the other side might back out.

Ji Ming also cooperated by expressing a hint of regret, fell silent for three seconds, and let out a soft sigh.

「No problem, as long as we can deal with this damned bunch of Pioneers, my church will fully cooperate with your actions; please rest assured. 」

「For the righteousness of the Divine Chosen! 」

Those gathered around the long table, under the Earl's leadership, also made promises, declaring they would certainly give their all, fighting for the benefit and dignity of everyone.

While Ji Ming nodded in acknowledgment, he silently cursed——'Yeah right, no one believes what the nobles say!】

But no matter what, on that day, the brave people decided to embark on the journey.

Of course, is this 'steam' the steam of our business thriving and rising, or the steam of being stuffed like steamed buns in a basket by the enemy……

That's hard to say.