Chapter 573: Chapter 573. The First Step of Conquest
The six Alpha Flying Knives struck the floating discs, causing them to explode. If it were before, the knives would have cracked, but they remained intact after flying out of the explosions. They were shielded by Amon’s Spirit Stage energy. They continued to hit more elemental mines as Amon advanced.
After advancing a certain distance, the nearby discs that hadn’t been hit suddenly moved on their own. They flew toward Amon.
Zhong Yuan, who had also crossed over, shouted at Amon, "Be careful! You have entered an area with a Faxien Radar. They were linked to the elemental mines. Any large unauthorized entities detected by the radar would trigger it to send the nearby elemental mines toward the trespasser!"
Amon wasn’t worried by the incoming elemental mines. He unfurled the ceremonial dagger. Using Infinite Phantom Slash, his dagger destroyed any discs that came near. Chain explosions of various elemental energies covered his surroundings, but none of these elemental energies reached him. His ceremonial dagger and the Xian Cloth controlling the dagger were unspoiled by the explosions. The mines were not strong enough to damage items as high-grade as the dagger and the cloth.
Xin Wuming used Iron Finger to produce continual swords and threw them at the elemental mines, while Wu Di relied on the defensive and healing power of his Saintly Ape to take the mines head-on.
As more soldiers passed through the border wall, they also joined in. While crossing the invisible border wall, they cut the ropes that bound them to each other, so they could move freely.
Yong Baili, Xia Yan, and Yong Huan shone the most since they specialized in ranged attacks. Yong Baili struck the elemental mines using his invisible threads. Xia Yan used a bow, while Yong Huan used a crossbow.
Some soldiers became careless when they advanced too far. They stepped into an area with Faxien Radar. When the elemental mines came for them, they found most of their comrades were still far behind. They were overwhelmed by the number of mines and were killed by the explosions.
Amon yelled for them to maintain their formation and fought as a unit. Only Spirit Stage soldiers may separate from their formation.
As they proceeded further, they encountered another defensive mechanism. Spread across the land were what seemed like perfectly round metal rocks. As they approached, these metal rocks started moving. They broke apart, revealing metallic limbs. A boxy head with two red glowing eyes popped out of the rocks’ upper parts. These were the puppet sentries.
These puppet sentries charged at the intruders, accompanied by the elemental mines. They had thick, outer metal plates for armor that protected them from the mines’ explosions. Hence, they were not troubled by the elemental mines flying around them.
The puppet sentry’s armor was thick enough that Amon’s Alpha Flying Knives couldn’t harm them. All the knives did was knock the puppets and stop their movements.
Amon’s ceremonial dagger was different. Combined with his Spirit Stage power, it sliced through the thick armor like it was nothing. With one wide swing, Amon cut several puppet sentries simultaneously.
Yong Baili was also not troubled by these puppet sentries. His invisible thread slipped in between the thick armor of the puppets. They cut the unprotected joints. In a matter of seconds, all the puppet sentries targeting him fell to the ground in pieces.
The others needed more time to defeat the puppet sentries, especially with the elemental mines flying around. Thankfully, they had been trained to work as a unit. They cooperated with each other. Those using bows and arrows shot the elemental mines, causing them to explode before they could approach. The ones with strong defensive arts engaged the puppet sentries directly and stopped their movements, while their comrades with faster movements dealt a crippling blow by targeting their joints.
The soldiers quickly got used to fighting these automated defenses. They were, after all, programmed devices. Their fighting patterns were monotonous. After learning these patterns, the First Demon Army advanced faster. They also suffered fewer casualties.
After two hours of slow advance, the elemental mines finally thinned. This let the army advance even swifter. They cleared through the mined area around three hours after crossing the border wall. Left behind them was a trail of destroyed puppets and scarred ground.
"Should we send a message back to Echos?" Wu Di asked Amon. "They can use this cleared path to send us supplies or reinforcements. They just need to find a way to get past the illusion created by the border formation on the other side."
"There will be no reinforcement," Amon stated.
"Huh? Come again?" Wu Di asked.
"We are on our own, for now."
"Are you serious? We are in the enemy’s territory. Without continuous supply and reinforcement, we won’t last long here."
"The last I checked, I formulate the war plan, and you punch the things I point at," Amon said.
"Ugh... You are really something, you know that?" Wu Di uttered.
"Hey, back off!" Xin Wuming scolded Wu Di. "Brother is our supreme commander. You will do as you are told! And address Brother with his title!!"
"Bloody hell! You yourself don’t call him by his title!" Wu Di returned.
"QUIEETTT...!!!" Amon shouted. He was not just addressing Wu Di and Xin Wuming. He flew up so everyone could see him. "Some of you might have been told by your superiors. We are not stopping here. We will march in that direction. We will attack Surly Gate Town and make it our first base in this country. The success of our campaign hinges on getting this first foothold. That town will be the first step in our conquest. We can’t fail! Everyone gets into formation. We will march in five minutes!"
Amon landed back down while the soldiers reshuffled themselves into formation. He told Xu Bao, "Xu Bao, you oversee the supplies. I will leave seven thousand soldiers with you. The rest of the army will march to Surly Gate Town at high speed."
"I will protect the supplies with my life," Xu Bao declared. He left and made the arrangement for his regiment to secure the supply carts.
Amon next turned to Ji Zhi and said, "Ji Zhi, look for four or six of the puppet sentries that are still salvageable. We might need them later."
Ji Zhi didn’t know what Amon needed the enemy battle puppet for. It was easier to repair their own damaged battle puppets, but he nodded.
Amon again opened Khode’s map and called Zhong Yuan while the army was getting ready.
"Khode should have known about our invasion by now, shouldn’t they?" Amon asked.
Zhong Yuan nodded. "Anything detected by the Faxien Radars was sent to the border forts, so yes, they should know by now."
Amon looked at the map. There were icons showing forts around the map. The nearest one was named Weylun Fort. From its distance, it was one day away.
"How big is this fort?" Amon asked.
"It is medium-sized," Zhong Yuan answered. "To my knowledge, not many soldiers are stationed there. Khode hasn’t bothered protecting their borders for some time. But considering their recent invasion of Echos, that might not be the case. The army that retreated from Echos might currently stay in that fort."
"Whatever the case, any force inside that fort might be on its way toward us already. We must occupy Surly Gate Town before they arrive."
"Are you sure you can do that in less than a day?" Zhong Yuan asked. "Surly Gate Town might not be large, nor does it have many soldiers defending it to my knowledge, but it has a sophisticated wall barrier. Unlike Echos, most of Khode’s settlements are protected by wall barriers. It won’t be that easy to breach."
"Did I not breach the barrier erected by Khode’s invading force?" Amon asked.
"You did... You still haven’t told me how you did it so fast," Zhong Yuan said.
"I never plan to tell you," Amon replied. He stored the map and looked at his army. They were ready to march. He gave the order then. "To Surly Gate Town!!!"
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"Mayor Won! We just received an urgent transmission from General Xuang Feng!"
A middle-aged man with a slightly obese body was lying leisurely on a lounger while sunbathing on a veranda. Two female maids were fanning him using unusually large leaves. His name was Won Xulao. He was the mayor of Surly Gate Town. He was about to doze off when his assistant came barging in with loud voices.
He turned to the assistant, annoyed. "Horse ass! Why do you come in here shouting like a madman? Don’t you know this is my napping hour?"
"An urgent message! An urgent message from General Xuang Feng!" The assistant repeated. He panted, having run to deliver the message as quickly as he could.
"Xuang Feng? Isn’t that the moron who goes with the insane plan to attack Echos?" Won Xulao asked. He didn’t hide the disdain in his voice.
"He has returned. He is currently at Weylun Fort," his assistant replied. He shoved a piece of paper at Won Xulao. "Urgent message!" He repeated.
Won Xulao was slightly irritated. He didn’t remember his assistant being this pushy.
"What bloody urgent message?" He snatched the paper from his assistant’s hand. As he read the paper, his two eyes turned wide.