Chapter 530: Gazed Upon by All, North and South Unveil

Fact proves that sometimes words really shouldn't be said too fully, because just the day after the wolf family father and son swore to unite in heart, the myriad changes arrived.

Indeed, A Xi Bao Ben thought the news that he had completely suppressed it had spread throughout the wilderness in an uproar overnight.

Do you know?

I know.

What do you know?

... I don't know.

Silence.

Then I don't know either!

Er, well, although this 'uproar' form is rather bizarre, it stirred the whole wilderness, making people's hearts flutter, and there was indeed turmoil throughout the city.

As a result, even the two allies who initially helped the Wolf King rise to power—the Fox King of the Nine-Tails Court and the Ox King of the Earth Court—came over to probe indirectly, wanting to know what exactly was going on.

Heh, Your Majesty's position today relies precisely on all of you present, doesn't it? Given our camaraderie, why believe these rumors!

Although the Wolf King spoke with utter confidence, he still feared further trouble and moved up the army's mobilization date by several days.

Moreover, good news stays at home, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

These rumors drifted about, and gradually spread to the wilderness, and with the fervent internet they quickly spread across the whole world.

One-eyed stone person, sword in stone, and the classic fish-belly book...

Although missing a fox's cry, when these things are combined, players hearing them know for sure it was their own doing.

However, unexpectedly, having found new amusement, they eagerly browsed the entire forum, discovering that not a single conspicuous package came forward to claim responsibility.

This...

Now even the wilderness is rife with rumors, and everyone is guessing what exactly is going on.

Could it be... a large-scale hidden mission arranged by the game officials?

At that very moment, a dark-furred monkey-person player finally finished reading the strip, completing his revival in the open space beside the arena.

He looked around, and as soon as he regained control of his body, he strode purposefully toward a clear direction.

Soon he arrived at Dog Dog Town to the north, which had been expanded three times, winding through alleys, and slipped into an inn in the residential area.

After greeting the player elder sitting at the door, the monkey person went up to the second floor of the inn and directly knocked on the door of one of the rooms.

Before he could even enter, a man in a suit approached eagerly and shook his hand.

"Thank you for your hard work, Xingming Agent! You carried out the mission superbly, and this knife has finally been delivered!"

Just as a traveler far from home finally sees his family, the monkey person eagerly returned the handshake.

"I have lain in wait for three months for this very day, to share the burden for my homeland; I bear the responsibility without hesitation!"

Indeed, these things were indeed done by players, but the officials secretly carried them out, keeping everyone—including the players—in the dark.

Moreover, it wasn't just one country doing it; several countries joined forces to bring about this event.

Because although players' attention has been continuously drawn to the Hui Guang Kingdom from south to north, one can say they are attracted by the splendid and varied series of missions.

Until A Xi Bao charged onto the wilderness and caused a fuss, only then did they finally recall that there was a force called the Wolf King's Court in the south.

But the officials of various countries did not fall into such complacent thinking; from the start they have been wary of the nomadic tribes eyeing the south covetously.

After all, history repeatedly tells them that in the wilderness, with conflicting interests, by late autumn at the latest, the two sides are bound to erupt into war.

Therefore, throughout the summer they built guns, cannons, tanks, and even mechs, all in preparation for this war.

Moreover, prioritizing winning hearts and minds, they early on dispatched large numbers of agents and spies to the wilderness, secretly gathering intelligence while quietly waiting for the opportunity.

Then autumn arrived, and the Wolf King thought he was fine, whereupon the officials of various countries joined forces to begin fiercely digging at the foundations of the Wolf King's Court.

For example, the Xingming Agent, thanks to having drawn the innate advantage of a monkey-person opening, early on hid himself in that tribe.

When his superiors issued the order, he met with another secret agent and obtained this magic greatsword, which serves as bait and conceals many mechanisms.

Taking advantage of the night when everyone was asleep, cloaked in an invisibility cloak, he quietly plunged it into the village square's center, and relying on his superb craftsmanship, he engraved the line 'Prophecy'.

As for after he jumped down the well, player deaths normally leave no corpses, yet the werewolf still managed to fish something out—this was a prop he had prepared in advance.

No way, the grasslands are too vast, the beastfolk too many, corpses and such... ha, you don't even need to try to find them; just stuff them into your backpack to keep fresh.

The situation elsewhere in the wilderness is the same: agents or spies fabricate rumors, spread anxiety, in short, they just don't want the Wolf King to have an easy time.

No way, all we can say is that the war tactics devised by terrifying upright apes over thousands of years are truly myriad; even a little leakage is extremely sinister.

Moreover, the Wolf King is arrogant, or rather, to divert his utterly foul reputation, He China must set up a target that everyone will hate.

This is also the fundamental reason why, from beginning to end, it seems no one has heard of any human tribes in the wilderness—they've all been wiped out, bro!

Thus He China instinctively felt that those opposing him on the wilderness were all lowly humans, unaware that the High Tower Community has never been a 'human' high tower.

He also never considered that from start to finish, no human Pioneers ever appeared in the wilderness; his investigative premise was wrong, so it would be strange if he could uncover who the mastermind was.

However, no matter how much they operate on this level, it's merely the secret operations that various countries' officials conduct behind the scenes.

At the High Tower Council's forum, everyone's current main objective remains the distant Beimosi Khanate.

And thanks to the matchmaker Ling Xi's prompting, it is indeed necessary for the two major forces of the other side, from military to commerce, to have signed numerous cooperation agreements.

Moreover, considering that the High Tower is about to face war imminently, the Khan generously waved his hand and actually decided to dispatch three legions to help the High Tower friends withstand pressure.

Understand that while the savage wilderness grows cold, the northern side is nearing summer, and soon it will be the sole warm days of the year on the Gar Ke Grassland, precisely when a large amount of sturdy labor is needed for production.

So even if we set out right now, it would take until late September for this nearly ten-thousand-strong force to reach the battlefield; maybe the war would end quickly, but my Lion Brother truly has the sense of loyalty down pat!

Therefore, as repayment, after discussion the council decided to dispatch a specialist team focused on agriculture and animal husbandry to provide guidance and technical support for the beastfolk brothers' labor production.

As for this specialist team, naturally it's those who have already submitted to the Farm God Gresen, who daily earnestly cultivate large fields, letting the wilderness's agricultural exports keep rising—former Deep Forest believers, you know.

So although players arriving at the location would definitely be blocked by the 'server not open' invisible wall, NPCs lack that restriction—if they ran over, wouldn't they let the local cattle and sheep be literally strained to death?

However, playing agents and infiltration has never been the players' exclusive domain, or rather, in the Yang month, by seniority, the Deep Forest's First Lionheart King Giuseppe is their ancestor in this regard.

Initially, Little Lion was able to develop rapidly all the way, ultimately successfully reaching the pinnacle, thanks to flesh... thanks to personal charm winning over important high-level figures of the Holy Tree Kingdom, which was indispensable.

Although he perhaps died violently in his prime before he could really strut his stuff, this tradition was faithfully inherited by the Deep Forest people, evolving into several quite large and maturely mechanized intelligence agencies.

So, since Deep Forest's secret agents have infiltrated Huiguang Capital to the point of being able to squeeze out a level-70 heavenly regiment near someone's Royal Capital, could the Barbarian Plains and Spirit Tide really be that clean?

So, the information that "the High Tower Community and Beimosi Khanate have formally established relations, with both sides launching a series of cooperation and visits" was quickly sent to Lionheart King's desk.

But misfortunes never come singly; the defeat of Huiguang's western frontier has already become the biggest topic in Deep Forest over the past few days.

The bigwigs of the northern border are all as slippery as a non-stick pan—envoys, family members, even himself—these days they've been wildly blaming each other in front of him, leaving him frazzled.

Ah, people's hearts are in turmoil; being this boss is no easy task.

As a result, while he was feeling depressed, he received a report from scouts saying that the Pioneers who had ruined his plans had actually teamed up with another faction.

Moreover, before it was Huiguang, now it's Beimosi Khanate—what a coincidence, they're all traditional enemies of Deep Forest, with grudges that could fill two books.

—Damn it, I can see you're clearly making things difficult for Lionheart!

Lionheart King doesn't harbor grudges overnight; he immediately summoned his aides and ministers to discuss countermeasures.

The result of the discussion was actually quite simple—damn it, you guys like to fight, right? Fine, I'll pick a proxy to accompany you!

Thus, a few days later, just as Wolf King He China had finished gathering his troops, preparing to launch a northern campaign to avenge past shame.

A gentle breeze blew by, and a mysterious figure exuding the scent of flowers and plants appeared in his royal tent.

From beneath a robe woven of vines extended a slender jade hand, its fingertips holding a strange golden rose.

"Great Wolf King, I am an envoy from Deep Forest. May I ask if you need assistance?"

What the envoy promised is unknown, and what the Wolf King replied is unknown, but the final result was that He China suddenly announced one day that he would personally lead the expedition.

This move, this move is like brothers-in-arms fighting tigers, father and son on the battlefield!

Thus, the Wolf Prince led the vanguard, the Fox King led the left flank, the Ox King led the right flank, the Wolf King and the National Preceptor Wendi Ge held the center, while the logistics and baggage were jointly escorted by the trusted aides of the three tribes.

At this point someone might ask, what about that low-profile great prince, Man Dalatu?

Anyway, it's a very important performance report; we can't not leave a spot for my little tiger, right?

The answer is yes; he leads his own three hundred tribesmen, following beside the Wolf King as guards.

Of course, calling them guards is really just a pack of dogs tied to someone else's door, and moreover they're the kind of hostage-bound whole family bundle.

After duties were assigned, the army set out; finally, on the night before the heavy snow fell on the wilderness, they reached the foot of the slope leading to the Barbarian Plains.

After full mobilization, the Wolf King conscripted a total of 200,000 brave warriors from the tribes and 400,000 laborers for logistics.

With such a huge number, setting up camps and transporting supplies, the night sky naturally became a vast expanse of darkness stretching from earth to heaven.

Especially when the morning of the second day arrived and the year's first snow fell, clothing the grassland in a limited-edition winter skin.

Upon the pure white swaddling cloth, the entire royal court camp resembled an evil giant fetus, relying on a long umbilical cord connecting to the depths of the wilderness.

"Ah, this world has become corrupt again."

With a sigh, a scout atop the mountains turned and left.

However, many people are many people; such large-scale operations are naturally better the more stable they are.

So the cunning Wolf King did not rush to order an attack, but instead notified each tribe to prioritize fortifying their camp defenses and organizing their troops.

At the same time, he let Asixi Bao command his scouts to penetrate the Barbarian Plains to see what "surprises" the High Tower Community had prepared for them in the forest.

Fact proves caution was right; having learned from last time, the Pioneers at each border outpost this time were indeed much more alert.

There were snipers set up on the city walls, grenade-throwers hiding behind cover, and even lucky reconnaissance squads that could counterattack and probe.

Moreover, there were two oddly material strong fortresses; the wolfmen gnawed at them, sacrificing over a hundred brothers each before barely taking them down.

But unfortunately, the great army of the plains was right behind them, and Asixi Bao this time was not a simple probe like last time.

The Wolf Prince's order was extremely firm, dispatching several thousand men to scout the mountains—there's no way such a small ground defense could stop them.

Thus, the reconnaissance team only needed three days to fully map the border of the wild plains.

Yet the result was strange: the High Tower Community had indeed increased its vigilance against the plains people, but this resistance was not as fierce as the Wolf King had imagined.

At the very least, that tortoise cannon that had given Asixi Bao a major loss before never showed up at all this time.

... Uh, these humans probably don't only have those two vehicles, right?

This really left He China at a loss; after all, although he indeed has some talent for commanding troops, he's truly no legendary general of the ages.

Thirty years ago, the campaign against the Cold Forest Tiger Tribe seemed glorious, but in fact it mainly relied on brothers' help and the army encircling and beating them.

Afterward, the wolf troops under his command sparked a wolf disaster... they just looted, it's wolf nature instinct! Moreover, there was hardly any technical skill involved.

So now, to actually fight a sizable force whose strength is certain but whose background is unknown, this is indeed the first time in his career.

Therefore, although his battle plan is very thorough, everything is based on the assumption that the enemy will behave as he expects.

However, humans currently have not deployed heavy troops on the border to fight him in an all-out war, allowing him to use elite forces to pierce the flank and reap like a scythe.

Nor have they sent odd troops for a night raid on the royal court's main camp, to intimidate Man Dalatu beside him into achieving a terrifying record that would decide the world in one battle.

Quite the opposite, these people seem to have a screw loose!

They might have set up defenses here, but setting up defenses here seems a bit impossible?

(End of chapter)