Volume 4 – Perpetual Conflict, Chapter 25: Inexorable Restraints
Qianye calmly admitted, “My mind is indeed a mess these days. That’s why I came to see you, General, and ask you about future war ns.”
Wei Bainian was somewhat surprised. He smiled faintly and said, “This doesn’t sound like you at all. What’s the matter? Are you anxious to fight? Quite a few people havee to visit me already, some from the expeditionary army headquarters and others from among the hot-blooded youths of the city.”
The situation outside was changing as time went on. Wei Bainian’s withdrawal tactic was once again being questioned both from outside and within. There were quite a number of hot-blooded youngsters in ckflow City who wanted to fight to the death against the dark races.
However, Wei Bainian’s administration was extremely strict. Neither regr nor conscripted warriors of the 7th division were allowed to move out alone. Themotion became so big that a number of them had to be handled on the spot before the opposing voices died down.
Wei Bainian gave it some thought and said, “I don’t mind telling you some things since it’s you asking me about this.” He stood up, pulled out a map from the bookshelf, and spread it out upon the table.
Qianye saw a small seal at the corner of this map—it was the ancient character for “Wei”. He had seen this seal on many of Wei Bainian and Wei Potian’s equipment. Apparently, this map didn’te from the expeditionary army but through the Wei n’s channels.
Wei Bainian lightly patted the map and said, “This is the true situation of the war on Evernight Continent. Ites from the imperial military, given only to the ns and upper-ss nobility taking part in this war. Even in the expeditionary army headquarters, only a few have seen this.”
Qianye walked over to the table and looked over attentively. There were, indeed, much more details here than the one on the wall. Apart from the distribution of the dark race army, there were also various numbers and predictions of enemy troop movement. On the empire’s side, there were several additional symbols on the current locations of the expeditionary army and the various reinforcement units. Apparently, there were important characters among them.
Looking further, all the dark race armies were tagged as mechanized corps. [1] This signified that the strength of each unit wasparable to an imperial regr mechanized corps—this was absolutely shocking news. One had to know that each army normally had only two regr mechanized corps.
There were over 20 such dark race units!
Qianye couldn’t help being startled. “How is the expeditionary army going to block all this?”
Wei Bainian nodded and said, “In truth, the expeditionary army has already lost over a third of its military strength and half the territories. However, the current situation can still be maintained, albeit barely. Currently, two regr armies from the empire have arrived in Evernight Continent and more reinforcements are on the way. Arge number of experts from both Bai and Zhao ns have also been mobilized and are arriving in session.”
Qianye studied the map in front of him and suddenly said, “The movements of the dark race army are a bit odd. Why are these armies moving toward this direction?”
Qianye’s fingers traced along the several troop movement prediction lines. The direction of these dark race armies was inconceivable. They deviated from the cities and headed toward the wilderness whereupon they stationed themselves without further movement. It was as if they were waiting for the imperial army to attack them.
Wei Bainian also said, “This area is indeed quite odd. I can’t make heads or tails of it, either. From their movements, it seems that the dark races have chosen those areas for the final confrontation. But, most of them are indefensible.”
When two sides engaged in a great battle, the party choosing the location would normally gain a significant initial advantage, provided they could use various methods to force the other side to enter. However, those with the initiative would usually choose strategic locations. Here in these t ins, the two parties could only engage in a head-on battle. What benefits would it give to either party?
Qianye suddenly recalled what Nighteye told himst night, that this battle wasn’t what the humans thought it was.
Wei Bainian patted several points on the map and said, “Currently, the imperial army has reached an initial consensus. They will meet the dark race army inbat at these locations. As for troop strength, they will only dispatch enough troops to gain a small advantage.”
Qianye felt even more suspicious. “It sounds very much like one of those knight duels greatly revered by the vampires. When did those great characters be so honorable?” Humans and dark races had fought countless battles over thousands of years. Humans had always held the advantage in tactics, while the dark races were superior in military power. If the two were to meet in a head-on sh like so, it was almost certain that the casualties on the empire’s side would be greater.
Wei Bainianughed wryly and said, “You misunderstood. It’s not that they don’t want to raid and take out a number of enemy units first, but it’s just that they simply don’t dare.”
“Don’t dare?”
“The dark race military power currently amassed in Evernight Continent is far superior to the empire’s side. Since they’ve already taken such an obvious stance, the military is concerned that the situation will deteriorate rapidly if we don’t y by their rules. The dark race army has been fully assembled. If they were tounch an all-out attack immediately, almost all territories apart from the major cities in the interior would be lost.” This also meant that it was only a matter of time before isted cities were taken down.
Qianye immediately understood Wei Bainian’s intention. Since the empire and the dark races were about to meet in an open battle, it made little difference to the general situation whether or not ckflow City would go to battle. Entrenchment wasn’t without its merits—their location at the rear was like a chokepoint—they could easily block off the enemy path of retreat once their frontlines had taken too much damage.
“So, we just have to wait for the battles to end?”
“Correct,” Wei Bainian said with a nod, “but we can’t rx our city defenses in the slightest. Otherwise, the dark races certainly won’t mind uprooting us in passing.”
Qianye deliberated in silence before saying, “Since that’s the case, I want to go out and look for some opportunities. Maybe I can kill some of those dark-blooded bastards.”
Wei Bainian gazed deeply at Qianye and said, “Qianye, you’re a dear friend of Young Master Huyang, so let me give you a veteran’s advice. How can hunting solopare to leading soldiers into battle? Just look at ck y Town. How many aplishments did you amass? This isn’t something you can do alone. The young should learn patience and restraint. You have to look at the bigger picture.”
Qianye nodded and replied sincerely, “Thank you, general, for the advice. However, my individual strength needs more tempering. That’s why I hope to fight and practice more.”
Wei Bainian exhaled deeply and waved his hands. “Nurture strength in battle. Another one of Zhang Baqian’s theories. You, youngsters, are all the same! Sigh, why does no one stop to think how many people are just overflowing with innate gift like Marshal Zhang? There’s only one Zhang Baqian in the empire.”
However, Wei Bainian didn’t stop Qianye. He only asked thetter a few questions about certain arrangements regarding the Dark me Mercenary Corps and about his representativemander.
Qianye began to collect his equipment after returning to his residence. Without further dy, he directly left ckflow City by motorcycle and headed into the vast wilderness.
Subconsciously, he wanted to leave this war zone as quickly as possible. The excuse he kept giving himself was that there shouldn’t be any battles around ckflow City for the time being and that he wanted to find enemies in order to nurture strength through battle. However, he didn’t realize in the depths of his mind just what he was running from. If he met Nighteye once again, what reason would he have to avoid fighting her?
The wilderness was still shrouded in unchanging twilight. The time had yet to arrive for sunlight to fall upon Evernight Continent, and even then, seeing the sun wasn’t a certainty due to the recent gloomy weather. ncing as far as the eye could see, the greatnd extending toward the distant horizon was seemingly nketed by a faintyer of mist.
The cold and moist wind was blowing from the front. The crossover between the light and dark seasons would soon fall upon Evernight Continent. As such, even the wilderness was filled with a rare aura of such intense vitality.
Qianye lowered his body until he was almost leaning over the motorcycle and pushed the power output to the maximum. The motorcycle engine let out a rumble like rolling thunder as mes burst out from its fourrge exhaust pipes. The bike shook violently like a horse freed of its reins, sped up rapidly, and flew off into the vast wilderness.
The iing winds were as sharp as des and would produce a stabbing pain as it struck Qianye’s face. The surrounding scenery became somewhat blurry, and the sensation of extreme speed made the blood in his body boil. He was beginning to fall in love with this kind of stimtion.
Many existences were rmed as Qianye rumbled past through the hazy mist. Their eyes fell on the brilliant mes emerging from the rear.
“A reckless little brat…”
“Shall we catch up and kill him?”
“Let it be. It’s too troublesome.”
Such conversations took ce repeatedly. The wilderness was full of danger, but it was currently a period where both humans and the dark races were minimizing scattered outdoor activities. This tranquility was just an illusion.
Qianye naturally sensed these malicious gazes and was actually hoping for enemies to appear. As long as the other party wasn’t a champion, the oue could be managed. There was a certain me burning in Qianye’s heart, and it was being fanned violently by the fierce winds he faced at his current speed.
What made him disappointed was that not a single dark race warrior had caught up to him despite having traveled hundreds of kilometers. Even vampires, known for their speed, hadn’t appeared.
A mountainous regiony before him. Qianye found a cave, hid his motorcycle there, and camouged the opening before dashing into the continuous mountain range. His target was the closest dark race war zone. He still couldn’t direct the general situation of the battle with his current strength, but he nned to go around the vicinity and see if there were any opportunities he could exploit. He could still cause the dark race army to suffer some minor losses.
This part of the journey was extremely peaceful. He met no enemy whatsoever except some wild beasts. Apparently, the dark races have truly entered a totalbat-ready status and had ced restrictions upon their subordinate warriors. This was a rare circumstance for the rtively undisciplined dark race soldiers.
A level valley appeared before Qianye’s eyes as evening arrived. The valley was very wide and filled with luminous grass. This kind of wild grass wasmon in the predominantly dark Evernight Continent. They would absorb the sunlight during the few hours of daytime and emit a faint luminescent glow as they swayed in the night breeze.
However, luminous grass usually grew sporadically and rarely appeared in such arge patch. What Qianye witnessed was like a sea of luminescence wherein ripples would appear one after another in the wind. This kind of beautiful scenery was quite rare. And on Evernight Continent, an abnormal phenomenon usually signified a special reason. For instance, there might be certain mineral resources under this valley.
At this moment, there were two groups engaging in a desperate battle. One sideprised an alliance of vampires and arachne, while the other was made up of human warriors. Judging from their uniforms, thetter seemed to be private soldiers from an aristocratic family.
Qianye stealthily approached the battlefield without hesitation. Both sides were engaged in a battle of great momentum, and it seemed the bitter struggle had gone on for quite some time. There were few scouts in the vicinity, allowing Qianye to easily arrive at a distance of a few hundred meters.
Qianye propped up the Eagleshot and observed the battlefield through its scope. The dark races were led by two vampire barons and the highest ranked on the human side was a rank nine fighter.
But this private army, as a whole, wasn’t weaker than the dark race warriors. Judging from the way they fought, it was evident that they were well trained, adept at group assaults, and well-versed in regr army tactics despite being a private army. As such, they were slowly regaining the upper hand.
Qianye observed for a while before making his move. His crosshairs firmly locked onto a certain vampire. This blood esquire was the leader of a section of the battlefield and a perfect target for the firepower of the Eagleshot.
He calmly began to charge the gun and add special effects one after another. What Qianye wanted was to kill in a single shot.
Just as the origin power bullet took shape within the gun chamber, the figure of a certain girl leapt into his sights. Her movements were somewhat shaky and wild in nature. It was evident that she had received formalbat training only recently, and as such, arge part of her instinctive fighting habits still remained.
[1] The PLA works with Group Armies as a unit which is roughly equal to a US corps. I think I’ll go with corps so as not to confuse everyone.