Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1378 - 1371: Guessing the Invasion

Chapter 1378: Chapter 1371: Guessing the Invasion

In this battle, the Kyushu line infantry demonstrated immense combat prowess, outperforming the Dongsheng defenders in both shooting and bayonet fighting by far.

Thanks to a well-established logistical and medical system, many injured were timely treated and saved from deaths due to severe bleeding or infections. As such, a somewhat awkward situation arose during the siege of Big South East Peace City—among the dead soldiers, a large proportion were executed by their comrades.

These men entered the city like bandits, looting, burning, and killing everywhere, despite explicit orders against such actions before entering. For those who disobeyed, Yunji showed no mercy; regardless of whether they were from the Demon Clan or Kyushu citizens, anyone in violation was summarily executed.

Under Yunji’s iron-fisted deterrence, the soldiers finally behaved, and the residents of Big South East Peace City were spared from harm by the marauding troops.

The news of the victory over Big South East Peace City reached Ziye Ning, and Linglan was overjoyed. She immediately ordered Luo’er and his party to head to Big South East Peace City to carry out propaganda efforts and persuasions, convincing the city’s Kyushu residents to pledge allegiance to the Demon Clan.

In fact, capturing Big South East Peace City was not a difficult task. If the Demon Clan’s army had not been completely wiped out by the Dongsheng forces a year ago, they could have taken the city.

Clearly, the Dongsheng forces had become even more decrepit a year later, failing to repel two consecutive attacks, leading to the city’s eventual fall. This was likely also a result of the strategic contraction by the Dongsheng military.

On the way to Big South East Peace City, Luo’er kept wondering why the Dongsheng Empire had invaded West Outer Heaven. Even players with only a cursory knowledge of strategy games knew the trouble of controlling an exclave.

Although the Dongsheng Empire possessed a massive aerial fleet, their cities and farmlands were on the ground, making them vulnerable to ground assaults; no matter how high they flew, it would be futile.

Moreover, the ongoing wars have shown that the Dongsheng Empire is very cautious with the use of their Kunzhou fleet. Having suffered a setback in West Outer Heaven over a year ago, Luo’er had since not seen any Kunzhou from the Dongsheng Empire, nor were they mentioned in any Demon Clan reconnaissance reports. It seemed that, starting from that day, the Dongsheng Empire’s Kunzhou fleet had completely withdrawn from West Outer Heaven.

After much thought, Luo’er could only hazard a guess that it was to alleviate domestic population and land pressure.

From the information obtained, Luo’er understood that the Dongsheng Empire was a typical state ruled by aristocratic families. However, unlike Earth, the Dongsheng Empire’s aristocracy was a military aristocracy, maintaining its rule through Cultivators.

This was somewhat similar to the situation during the late Han and early Jin dynasties when Emperor Wu of Jin’s crown prince was constantly described as naive by the ministers. Despite his anger, the prince was powerless to do anything but dismiss and then reinstate them; this was a classic form of aristocratic family rule.

The most typical characteristic of the aristocratic families was the consolidation of lands, turning original landowners into tenant farmers. Thus, a bizarre scenario arose: Kyushu had vast and fertile lands, but not a single acre belonged to the farmers.

If the population continued to grow in such conditions, the tension between the people and the land would become extremely acute, and even slight mismanagement could lead to rebellion.

However, given the environment of Otherworld, it was unlikely that a rebellion could cause much of an upset, for the aristocratic families had absolute military dominance. It was like militia armed with crossbows fighting against a Gundam—there was no comparison in military power.

But just because rebellions couldn’t cause much trouble didn’t mean they could be ignored; otherwise, the Imperial Court would lose its legitimacy. As far as the aristocratic families were concerned, it didn’t matter who ruled the court; but the Emperor might not see it that way.

If all the above assumptions were correct, then the motive for the Dongsheng Empire’s invasion of West Outer Heaven became understandable.

In summary, there were a few possible motives for the invasion: first, the Dongsheng Imperial Court needed to resolve the contradiction of overpopulation and insufficient land to maintain its legitimacy. Without infringing on the interests of the aristocratic families, the only apparent solution was to undertake colonial expansion, treating West Outer Heaven as the Empire’s exclave.

Also, constant war with the Demon Clan would deplete some of the population. Historically, whenever the Dongsheng military strategically retreated, it abandoned many government-recruited farmers, in effect, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Secondly, to maintain court operations, it was necessary to appease these aristocratic families. The best way was to help them seize the Magic Crystal Mines in West Outer Heaven, enabling them to control these resources and continuously supply their families with more Magic Crystals, supporting the Cultivation of higher-level practitioners.

The Dongsheng Empire might not have openly admitted it, but this is precisely what they were doing. Presently, three major Kyushu aristocratic families had occupied South West Outer Heaven. The Dongsheng troops were their vanguard, expanding their territories; had the battle of Lingyuan City not ended in defeat more than a year ago, the power of the Kyushu aristocracy might have extended to Ziye Ning and even Wufeng City.

"""Although this was just Luo’er’s speculation, it explained why the Dongsheng military had abandoned so many Kyushu people and fled in disarray. This was a hassle for the Demon Clan, yet it was also an opportunity.

These Kyushu people had no status or land in Kyushu, so treating them with small kindnesses could easily make them happily join the Demon Clan, thereby consolidating the Clan’s power.

The Demon Clan never feared the integration of the Kyushu people, for their dominant genes could ensure the Demon Clan always remained the core ethnicity, preventing any loss of authority due to the integration of new bloodlines.

It took the group almost half a month to travel from Ziye Ning to Big South East Peace, and what Luo’er regretted was that Cheng Ziang and his companions had set out with the vanguard a few days ago; they hadn’t managed to meet them.

Upon arriving at Big South East Peace City, Luo’er immediately began his methodical work. For this operation, Zisu was assigned to accompany him, facilitating his various initiatives.

After a week of propaganda, the city’s Kyushu population gradually became willing to accept the rule of the Demon Clan. Tangmo and Baiyue energetically promoted the magic that the Demon Clan could use as well, attracting crowds of onlookers; their performance stage was always packed with people.

"Phew..." Walking on the wide street and watching the passersby hurrying by, Luo’er felt as if he had lifted a weight from his shoulders and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"You’ve worked hard," Zisu said with a smile beside him.

"Hmm, you too. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have managed to handle many things," Luo’er said earnestly, waving his hand.

"Why say that? You’re also struggling for the Demon Clan, aren’t you? So we should be the ones thanking you," Zisu sincerely responded.

"I feel quite ashamed; I’ve only done a bit of trivial work," Luo’er shook his head.

Zisu squinted her eyes, looking at Luo’er with a smile brimming on her face. The more she interacted with him, the more she found herself attracted to this man who was as beautiful as a dream.

If love at first sight was the quiver of the soul, then familiarity breeding affection must be the trembling of the soul.

The first time Zisu met Luo’er, she was deeply shocked by his beauty. She had never thought that a man could be so beautiful that it could make a woman envious.

As she spent more time with him, Zisu was pleasantly surprised to find that Luo’er’s temperament and personality were even more delightful. Luo’er had a calm and elegant aura, and his character was like a warm spring, which could easily draw people in.

Especially those dark green pupils of his seemed to have a magnetic charm that made one intoxicated; just one look, and it was hard to divert one’s gaze away.

After interacting with Luo’er, Zisu finally understood why the girls around him were so devoted to him; because in their eyes, Luo’er was the perfect Prince Charming.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Noticing Zisu’s enamored gaze, Luo’er turned back and asked.

"No, no, it’s nothing. I just feel those two girls are so lucky," Zisu averted her eyes and said with a hint of sourness.

"Yes," Luo’er couldn’t help but smile when Tangmo and Baiyue were mentioned, "they’ve indeed come a long way to get to where they are today."

"Luo’er, can I ask you a question?" Zisu took a deep breath, summoned her courage again, and looked up at Luo’er.

"Go ahead," Luo’er looked at her and nodded lightly."""