Chapter 591: When War Begins

Indeed there was meat to eat, because Ji Ming was overjoyed, and decided to establish his own church, immediately launching a massive bestowal of titles.

Archangel Sylvia, through hard work and great merit, was appointed Left Guardian; this is the full bloodline inheritance of angelic beings, and from now on you are the Holy Archangel Chief, spicy.

The God of Crops Ge Rui Sen, for his outstanding contributions, was appointed Right Guardian; you may select from these plant genes, and from now on you are the First Sub‑God, second only to me, spicy.

Bu Long Fei Er De… slacking off hard, was appointed Guardian Sect Spirit Beast! Openly give her nothing, secretly give her nothing, just roll away.

A certain lazy dog dragon: "Uh, isn't this a bit …"

"That also means you can sleep whenever you like."

"Oh, fine, I have no objection!"

Because Lao Yang Tou's bizarre council had already finished, Ji Ming's Soul Spirit Council, created to match it, was instantly restructured on the spot into the Soul Spirit Hall.

The original six senior members were all ennobled as kings, and their subordinates, the mysterious Shen Shen Gui Gui, were reorganized into a total of twenty… a regular army, tasked with external combat.

Cloi, inexplicably now a senior, said: "So I've always been telling you, compared to hard work, clinging to a strong leg is more important!"

The other five prisoners whose paths had widened replied: "Yes, yes, the legendary tales of the Six Soul Spirit Kings are never enough to hear."

Meanwhile, Ge Rui Sen's Crop Church kept its original structure unchanged; Ge Rui Sen remains the chief deity, but everyone's rank was uniformly raised by one level.

At the same time, we can't just farm; we must also strive to expand animal husbandry, forestry, even fisheries and many other affairs, ensuring internal logistics.

Ge Rui Sen: "Animal husbandry and fisheries? Supreme Deity, but I'm just a tree, this …"

Ji Ming: "Broaden your thinking; you could try to coax Tiger King Mandula, and also some fish‑catching Orcish Faith followers."

The remaining old staff and new members were each rewarded, granted titles and ranks, and rose to the heavens together with the Supreme Deity.

The previously scattered small‑team structures were all regularized and systematized; while enjoying the good life, we must also shoulder other internal duties.

Toolman A, B, C, D: "Oh awesome, I thought we'd already logged off, now there's good fruit to eat, haha, exaggerated!"

The Supreme Deity is fine, but the distance is too far, lacking a grounded feeling; still, Thus we will have Cultivation: Zhen Shen, the pinnacle of Yangyue tradition, is more reassuring.

Thus, amid the stormy turmoil, those who realized they truly had a big dad as a backing all sighed in relief, and cheerfully dispersed.

【Wait a moment!】

But the Production Team staff can close their eyes and ignore it; the little boss must be asked.

【Savior, what exactly did you do over at Xieyue!】

Ji Ming then relayed to Yangyue what Xieyue had told him, without embellishment or refined wording, just a plain recount.

The little boss remained silent for a long while, then said, "So what do you think?"

"Regardless of the reason, since Xieyue proactively provoked you, it is a bona‑fide war criminal and must be held fully accountable for its aggression."

"But if it were just an ordinary person, the planet's gone anyway, so pick an auspicious day, publicly execute and behead him."

"Yet Yangyue is a magical civilization, where the strong prey on the weak, and transcendent beings must be superior to mortals; Xieyue is even more exaggerated—it is itself a planet, and without it nothing can revolve."

"Therefore, provided we can guarantee absolute control over it, simply killing it would undeniably waste its advanced productive capacity."

This has been Ji Ming's practiced approach since his arrival at Yangyue; aside from An De Lu's big beast, prisoners and the like have basically been sent to dungeons for mining.

Thus, under the current circumstances, sparing Xieyue's life, uniting him, and restoring Yangyue's peace early is certainly more worthwhile than launching an extra Earth‑Moon war.

【Alas!】

The little boss naturally understood this, so after a moment of hesitation, could only sigh.

【Then that's it, as long as he scrams, I'm fine; I don't want to see him again!】

Meanwhile, when Ji Ming was forced to glitch and defeat the final boss early, new developments emerged at the border between Deep Forest and Hui Guang.

Since the Dark Flame Remnant operates with a hive mind, its lowest‑level worker ants and soldier ants need no communication; a single mental signal lets them effortlessly obey orders.

Thus, when several messenger cavalry units arrived at the two nations' border like a black, oppressive cloud, their formations were uniformly synchronized, as if stepped out of an RTS game.

This made the reinforcements and logistics troops sent by other Deep Forest nobles look like a chaotic bunch of thugs; no matter how well‑trained they were, they couldn't make galloping hooves sound as one.

Precisely because of this, although everyone followed the royal decree to depart and, in theory, should band together as comrades to achieve glory, the nobles' armies always kept a certain distance from the royal army.

One east, one west, like two strangers forced to sit side‑by‑side on hard seats, looking rather comical.

"Heh!"

Probably because there had been no good news for days, standing on the city wall looking at the distant enemy, Xiguang Duke let out a cold laugh lacking much joy.

Unlike the new king who, in just seven days, subdued the Deep Forest noble herd with force and Yangyue scheming, even commanding the four seas and launching a grand expedition.

Although Fiya's coronation aligns better with Yangyue's existing succession system, the crown should be legitimate, she lacks a handy sword, and her governing ability falls far short of others.

In concrete terms, Deep Forest forces have reached the doorstep, yet the wild nobles of the Eastern and Northern Frontiers still openly challenge the Royal Capital, finding all sorts of excuses to refuse deployment.

"They're nothing but traitors!"

Now, when the whole nation once struggled to match Deep Forest, resisting a direct invasion can only muster half a nation, which is utterly despairing.

So Xiguang Duke, upon hearing this, was so angry he flipped the table, yearning to rush northeast, seize the two old clods Xia Guang and Li Guang, and forcefully stuff pineapples into their oo!

But there's no choice; as Hui Guang Kingdom's last famed general, his only option now is to gather as many troops as possible and rush to Hui Guang's Western Frontier to defend the nation's gate.

Fortunately, as Ji Ming expected, the wild faction's insects showed no interest in the Western Front war, merely watching from the sidelines, waiting to mock the Royal Capital's troops.

However, the Pioneers and their backing High Tower Community, along with the Lingxi Kingdom—long‑time trade partners of Hui Guang—and even Bei Mos, another arch‑enemy of Shen Lin Wang Guo, have all expressed serious concern over the war.

Among them, the Orc Khan is the most bold; now the temperature has risen, spring blossoms, a perfect time to stretch their muscles.

Even following the usual routine, this season calls for a southern push; now with food and supplies from the High Tower Community, it's impossible not to charge, spicy!

When the time comes, if Deep Forest dares to attack Hui Guang, they will march south, stuffing pineapples that the wild insects couldn't swallow into Deep Forest's oo on behalf of Lord Xijue!

As for the steadfast ally High Tower Community, needless to say, together with Lingxi they pour billions of subsidies into Hui Guang; war loans are issued in large parcels.

Of course, it looks like a huge low‑or zero‑interest loan, but in fact all of it is converted into weapons and equipment, shipped directly to the Western Frontier defenses.

The benefit is no middlemen profiteering, preventing opportunistic giant rats from skimming off the top, and an even greater benefit is that Hui Guang's armor rate reached a historic high.

It may not be almost all iron, but at least everyone has a brand‑new set of iron armor, enough to move conscripts to write a train‑length gratitude essay to Her Majesty the Queen.

As for other aspects, theoretically, whether High Tower or Lingxi, due to geopolitical considerations, they do not intend to directly join the fight.

But!

Since the High Tower Community has not issued any laws prohibiting it, Pioneers are allowed to act as mercenaries, accepting employment from Hui Guang nobility and participating in this war.

Well, anyway we subjectively love peace, so everyone is very united in having fighting enthusiasm against aggression and humanitarian concern; we can't stop eager youths from going, can we?

But unexpectedly, although their prepared statements and press releases sounded better than singing, the High Tower Community actually didn't use this set of talking points.

Because Deep Forest never sent anyone to question why they allowed their citizens to participate in the war under personal names, they were being overly sentimental.

"... Grandma's, you look down on me, huh? Anyway, already eliminated, just give Hui Guang a loan of three planes!"

Or rather, whether friendly or full of gunpowder smell, since the incident Deep Forest's power core has never responded to any information from other forces.

Silence, silence is tonight's Chang'an.

Even the formal start of the war is silent.

No bugle, no drum music; the messenger cavalry, as if a switch had been pressed, suddenly charged toward the pass ahead.

But after the brief urgent and hurried orders, as commander Xiguang Duke, the emotion rising in his heart was actually astonishment.

Because no matter which world, since the target is a fixed fortification, the general procedure is the same.

If possible, use long-range; if possible, stack shields; if possible, avoid; if possible, besiege.

As much as possible reduce losses during assault; as quickly as possible deploy one's soldiers near the enemy's cover, even inside it.

Under such war rules, siege warfare, including the Yang Yue specialty troop mages, is entirely infantry's affair, almost unrelated to cavalry.

However, the ones now actively charging the city wall are tens of thousands of cavalry, as if they couldn't see anything ahead, without hesitation rushing toward the Hui Guang people's fortifications.

Thus, Xiguang Duke's heart even rose a somewhat ridiculous thought—could they all be iron-headed babies, intending to use their flesh to crash my city wall?

Not to mention the archers and crossbowmen on the wall, the mage corps, the artillery teams trained by Pioneers, and the various artillery borrowed from the High Tower Community forming a fire net—just how dense it is.

A year ago, Hui Guang Kingdom's situation wasn't yet as dire as now, but they had already proposed the "Return to Western Border" strategy, aiming to restore all authority including western border defenses.

So dozens of military forts and strongholds of various sizes on the border were all outsourced to Pioneer engineering teams; these new constructions were only recently built in the past year, even the wall plaster is still clean.

Especially the pass where Xiguang Duke is located—not to mention traditional protective shields, even the building materials are the best, far sturdier than ordinary fortifications.

Thus, the messenger cavalry who relied on formation shields to narrowly escape death, after high-speed impact with the wall, cannot move it at all; instead they will be smashed into a pile of meat paste.

Pfft-pat!

"Ah this."

This might be the moment when people of the world can understand each other the most.

Whether Deep Forest noble troops, Hui Guang guard army, player mercenaries, barbaric retinue, or the Lingxi envoy serving as wartime observer, and later the Bei Mo Si Ke Han who will receive the battle report.

All non-Dark Flame forces on this planet, after seeing this scene, all reached the same conclusion—maybe they've blocked sand and avoided wind!

Dark Flame is certainly crazy, but they definitely aren't doing this to increase their own combat casualties; rather, it's for...

"Huh?"

From just now until now, Xiguang Duke, who had been frowning continuously, suddenly smelled a strong odor that made him want to vomit.

It's a stench, a smell that if Ji Ming were here, he could immediately identify what it is.

Poison gas bomb!

Or rather, it's the intermediate product of the Rejuvenation Liquid that boiled over halfway through refinement!

So this is when vitality becomes concentrated to a certain degree, that sweet aroma is forcibly piled up into a strong, pungent stench.

But how could such vigorous vitality appear on this battlefield littered with corpses, extremely tragic?

The answer, in everyone's shocked gaze, is that on the corpses of those messenger cavalry, they actually took root and sprouted, piercing flesh, emerging as a bunch of lush, dripping saplings.

Moreover, their growth speed is visibly fast; in the blink of an eye they connected into a vast, extremely lush forest, so green it looks like it was photoshopped.

This forest that sprang up out of nowhere thus turned the originally boundless plain before the pass into a natural barrier capable of concealing tens of thousands of troops as they stealthily approach.

Upon noticing this, Xiguang Duke turned pale with shock, immediately ordering his subordinates to activate the protective shield, while commanding the mage corps from afar to quickly burn this forest with fire magic, the faster the better.

However, this still isn't the strategic purpose of Dark Flame's move, because just a moment later, everyone on this wall felt the earth shake and mountains tremble.