The World Online

Chapter 1170: Gamble

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Chapter 1170 – Gamble

The organizational plan that Ouyang Shuo tossed out was something that Blood Romance and the others found it hard to accept.

“There is no need to rush, go back and think about it!” Ouyang Shuo did not force them. If he truly wanted to convince these elites, he had to have a suitable amount of patience.

“We will consider it seriously.”

After Blood Romance and the others made their declaration, they said their goodbyes and left.

...

23rd day, Wuying Hall.

Ouyang Shuo held an emergency military meeting to discuss the country war strategy.

After everyone was present, Ouyang Shuo said, “The stance of the players is not clear, so we have to prepare for the worse for this country war. There is a chance that we might have to fight one against three.”

Hearing those words, the generals present all frowned.

“As such, we will not have a specific target and will focus on defense.” Based on the situation, this country war month was definitely not the best time for Great Xia to expand. Hence, Ouyang Shuo compromised.

Disappointment flashed in the eyes of Baiqi and the others.

On the contrary, Du Ruhui was really supportive of it and nodded, “The Imperial Court has just fought four tough wars, and the army has not totally recovered. They are currently trying to replenish the lack of logistical resources. The new army organizational work is still far from complete. It is not good for us to start a new war now in case the army exceeds its capacity.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded in agreement.

After settling on the basic direction, they started to discuss the strategic battle plans.

The Beijiang legion corps in north would be in charge of the Romanov Dynasty. If they truly went all out, they would still need to traverse thousands of miles to attack Great Xia. At that point, the Great Jin Dynasty would naturally aid the Beijiang legion corps.

Java in the south would be monitored by both the Nanjiang legion corps and the Heluo legion corps in the southwest warzone.

The Dragon Legion Corps, Hanoi legion corps, and Guards Legion Corps would be in charge of defending against Peacock Dynasty in the west. On the basis of defending, the would monitor the battle situation and flexibly decide whether they would invade India or not.

After the military meeting, the various forces started to act.

A day ago, the Guards Legion Corps had teleported from Somalia Province over to Hetao Province to prepare for battle there. The Dragon Legion Corps and the Hanoi legion corps did not retreat from the battlefield, and they could participate in the battle at any time.

...

Shanhai City, Blood Evil Mercenary Group headquarters.

Just as Ouyang Shuo was holding the military meeting, Blood Romance was also holding a discussion with the higher ups of the guild to discuss the recruitment suggestion that Ouyang Shuo had raised up yesterday.

The moment Blood Romance finished his words, it raised up a flurry of unhappiness.

“Great Xia is strong, but is this not a little too arrogant? They actually want to swallow us up? That’s a joke.” Adventure gamemode players loved to be free and unrestrained, much less the Blood Evil Mercenary Group.

They had their own pride.

“He still dares to talk about training us in the military, is he not trying to say that we adventure gamemode players are like scattered sand on the battlefield, an organization with no discipline? That is just about normal guilds. I do not believe that we cannot compare to a proper army.” The one who spoke was one of the leaders of the elite group.

“That’s right!”

Blood Romance had an idea, “Why not have a competition with them?” He also felt that the elite forces would not be weaker than a proper army and looked at them in disdain, which made him feel really unhappy.

“We have to compete!”

“Fight! Let them see how strong our elite force is.”

When Blood Romance heard that, he smacked the table and made up his mind, “Then that is decided. I will go speak to Ouyang Shuo to choose a time for the elite force to have a competition against the proper army.”

“Great, good job guild leader!”

The matter was settled just like that.

...

24th day, Xia Palace.

Within the Imperial Reading Room, Ouyang Shuo looked toward Blood Romance weirdly, “So you’re saying that you want to send an elite force to have a competition with the Great Xia proper army?”

“That’s right.” Blood Romance was really pumped up, “If we win, please do not mention the recruitment matter.” Blood Romance would be really satisfied if he could end the talks in such a matter.

No matter what, Ouyang Shuo was the Xia King, and he needed to give him enough face.

Ouyang Shuo seemed expressionless, but deep down inside, he was delighted. He realized that this was perhaps a great chance to make the guilds yield.

“And what if the Great Xia Army wins?” Ouyang Shuo asked.

“If we lose, there is not much to be said. We will be willing to accept your proposal.”

Ouyang Shuo was still worried, “You can make that decision on behalf of your guild?”

Blood Romance understood what Ouyang Shuo was getting at and nodded, “Do not worry, this is a decision made by the entire guild. We will not go back our word!”

“Great!”

Ouyang Shuo stood up. He arrived before Blood Romance and stretched out his right hand.

Blood Romance was stunned before he followed suit.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, “So that’s decided. We will set the date to the 28th day. I will not send out the Divine Martial Guards, just a unit from the City Protection Legion Corps.”

“Okay!”

Blood Romance was once again impressed by Ouyang Shuo’s magnanimity.

If Great Xia had sent out the Divine Martial Guards, the Blood Evil Mercenary Group would have no chances of winning. Blood Romance was thinking about the matter, but who would have expected Ouyang Shuo to directly remove such a possibility? It was obvious that he did not want to take advantage of Blood Romance.

Ouyang Shuo was not even going to send out his trump card, the Guards Legion Corps. Instead, he chose the City Protection Legion Corps.

Such magnanimity of a ruler was something that normal people could not compare to.

To pay him back, Blood Romance would not send out his strongest elite force, as he had his pride too.

“Should we choose the arena or the drill field?” Ouyang Shuo asked.

After the update, Gaia did not remove the arena. Players could still PK there and train up their skills. Even if they died there, they could revive without penalty.

However, even if the City Protection Legion Corps went to the arena, they still would not be able to revive.

Although that was the case, Ouyang Shuo was still leaning toward the arena. If the Blood Evil Mercenary Group suffered heavy casualties, they might be annoyed with Great Xia, which would totally go against what Ouyang Shuo actually wanted.

Who knew that Blood Romance would be so insistent. He did not want to take advantage of Ouyang Shuo and smiled, “Since it’s a faceoff, we cannot have any chance mentality, and they need to take out all their courage. Let’s choose the drill field.”

Ouyang Shuo looked deeply at Blood Romance, and only said after a long while, “Then let’s choose the imperial city drill field.”

“Okay!”

Blood Romance was really satisfied. He knew that the imperial city drill field was the Guards Legion Corps drill field, and it was the drill field with the best facilities. It was also rare for Ouyang Shuo to give such great treatment.

...

The guild circle looked to be really huge, but it could not hide such news.

Furthermore, of the headquarters of the guilds that had moved to Great Xia, a large part of them were in Peacock Dragon Street. In less than half a day, the news of Blood Evil Mercenary Group challenging Great Xia’s army spread out.

There were some who paid a lot of attention to it, and some who were just there for the bustle.

On the streets, in the inns, in the guild headquarters, all sorts of discussions took place. This battle became a hot topic where if one did not talk about it, one would fall off from the group.

“Who do you think will win?”

This was the thing that most players were concerned with.

For this, many underground casinos took bets. From the odds, the majority of the players felt that the Blood Evil Mercenary Group were going to win. Some players were not sure about the strength of the Great Xia City Protection Legion Corps but had a deep understanding of the terrifying strength of the elite forces.

To the adventure gamemode players, to enter the elite force was their greatest honor.

Furthermore, they were the elite force of Blood Evil Mercenary Group. In terms of strength, not just the entire China region, but even in the entire world, no one could compare to the Blood Evil Mercenary Group.

Due to such considerations, the players naturally had higher hopes for the elite force.

Players could not understand why Ouyang Shuo had agreed to the battle. If they lost, would it not be a huge hit to morale? Would it not be a bad thing for the upcoming country war?

The guild leaders, on the other hand, were naturally happy to see this happen.

With the Blood Evil Mercenary Group charging at the front to split the pressure, they could hide at the back and observe the changes. If the elite force won, they would have a reason to reject Ouyang Shuo’s proposition.

But if they lost....

“They cannot possibly lose; Ouyang Shuo is too overconfident this time!” Some guild leaders shook their heads.

There were already some people who viewed this battle as the adventure gamemode players’ battle for honor. They needed to use this battle to defend the honor of the players and to prove that they were not pawns.

“They want to recruit us into the army? In their dreams!”

...

Xia Palace, Wuji Hall.

After the warm afternoon, within the hall, Yu’er and Luo’er, who had both just become a year old, used their unstable footsteps to chase one another around. These two fellows were like little devils, turning the entire Wuji Hall on its head. They were curious about everything, and they wanted to touch and play with anything that they saw.

Losing interest, they either threw whatever they were holding on the floor or tore it up.

Ouyang Shuo sat at the side. Looking at the pair, he felt a headache. These two young kids were at their most curious time, and their energies were at their maximum. They did not know when to stop.

“They are getting more and more mischievous!” Ouyang Shuo muttered.

When Song Jia saw that, she grumbled, “It’s because you spoilt them. If this continues, I think they will tear down the entire palace.”

Ouyang Shuo had always placed importance on the nature of the children and did not want their childhood to be too restrained. He also did not want to learn from ancient royal families who followed cold royal family education.

Let the king be a king, the minister be a minister, the father be a father and the son be a son. This was something that Ouyang Shuo did not understand.

Ouyang Shuo smiled toward Song Jia, not saying anything.

When she saw that, she shook her head helplessly. This was not the first time she said these words, but Ouyang Shuo always reacted in the same manner. He did not retort, nor did he admit his mistakes, “I give up!”

When Li Jing looked at the family, envy flashed in her eyes. Her relationship with Xie Siyun was filled with joy, but it was certainly lacking in some areas.

“If I could have a kid, that would be great!” Li Jing sighed.

While they spoke, Luo’er was walking toward a white famous painting. When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he finally stepped up and hugged the little fellow.

“Ouyang Luo, do not touch this.” Ouyang Shuo pinched her cheeks.

Ouyang Shuo directly called out their full names. He treated them as little adults, letting them exist at an equal status.

Rather than using the name of love to use his power to educate them.

Facing Ouyang Shuo’s ‘fierceness’, Ouyang Luo was not afraid at all, turning her head and pointing at the wall, “Dad, what is that?”

“That’s a painting grandpa Qi Baishi gave your brother and you. Do not tear it up.”

Qi Baishi came over to Great Xia in the 3rd month and was currently the dean of the painting college in Xinan University. When the two kids reached a year old, Ouyang Shuo especially asked him for a painting.

On the white paper, Yu’er and Luo’er were painted in ink, looking like two elves playing happily. When one looked at the painting, one could not help but be awed.

This painting was brimming with youth while also having a distant artistic mood, as expected from the work of a master.

“That is brother and I!” Luo’er recognized herself. She scratched her head with her little hand and said in doubt, “But how did we appear on the painting?”

“Grandpa Qi Baishi drew the painting based on your looks.”

Who knows whether it was because the two were hugely talented or because they were well educated, they could call dad and mom at seven months of age. Now, they could speak quite fluently.

When the kids asked him questions, Ouyang Shuo would naturally answer them all.

“Oh.”

Luo’er did not ask anymore and nodded her head like she understood.

“Go and play!”

Ouyang Shuo placed her down.

Returning to his seat, he saw that Lin Jing wanted to say something but ended up stopping. Ouyang Shuo smiled and asked, “Little aunt, you have something on your mind?”

“Do you have confidence regarding the battle?” Lin Jing asked.

Lin Jing did not have much of an opinion toward the recruitment, and the only thing was that Snow-War Rose was not in agreement internally, placing Lin Jing on the spot. Who knew that there would suddenly be such an occurrence.

Ouyang Shuo raised his tea cup and took a sip, “It’s a battle, so many accidents can happen. Before the battle occurs, I obviously do not have hundred percent confidence.”

“Then you still agreed with them?” Lin Jing became even more worried.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, “This is a good chance that’s worth a try. I have confidence in the City Protection Legion Corps. As long as I can suppress the Blood Evil Mercenary Group, recruiting the others would be much easier.”

Lin Jing sighed, not knowing what she should say.

...

In the blink of an eye, the 5th month was coming to an end.

On the battlefield, there was such a sentence, “The situation would often be as bad as you expect it to be.”

Ouyang Shuo’s predictions came through.

On the 25th day, India, Java, and Russia all declared war on China. Great Zhou did not send any help, Great Jin Dynasty had limited ability, and the players were not that eager. Hence, Great Xia bore 90% of the pressure.

The situation was really severe.

It was under such a backdrop that Ouyang Shuo still took the time out to focus on the weather of the various lands. As they entered the 5th month, some slight changes occurred.

The most obvious one was the rain was obviously decreasing, and there were even some places that had not rained in a month. This was a fatal blow to the crops that were just planted.

The yield being affected was a foregone conclusion.

At the same time, the beast caves welcomed a new explosive period, putting the various defensive forces under a lot of pressure. There were often many beasts who escaped and caused huge damage in the wilderness.

The moment things like tyrannosauruses appeared in the wilderness, crops would fall prey, making people feel like crying, but they had no tears.

Although Ouyang Shuo had predicted such a situation, looking at memorial after memorial, he could not help but be astonished. If things continued to worsen, the wilderness would be in big trouble.

A huge crisis was drawing close to the wilderness.

Even then, the footsteps of the country war month showed no signs of stopping. However, before the country war month began, Shanhai City had a battle that people paid attention to even more than the country war month.