Chapter 435 : Warlords Vying For Supremacy (2)

Sometime ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍before the rebellion erupted in Guangdong, deep within the heart of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Supreme Eunuch was practically glowing with an unusually cheerful aura.

His ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍good mood was entirely thanks to the latest string of reports.

First, ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍he learned that Yangmuja and Namgung Jin had lost their lives to those Demonic Cult bastards, and the other was that the Supreme Ultimate Sword Immortal had died at the hands of the Divine Monk.

"Hehehe. ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍It seems Eunuch Bang is directing the situation quite well."

Yangmuja ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍and Namgung Jin technically belonged to his own faction, but he couldn't have been happier to hear they were dead.

After ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍all, the sole purpose of this war was to trick the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Central Plains' martial rabble into wiping each other out. 

From the Supreme Eunuch's perspective, Yangmuja and Namgung Jin were people who needed to die eventually.

He had also caught wind that a brute named Jeok Ri-gang had thrown his lot in with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but the Supreme Eunuch couldn’t care less.

That guy was just another piece of trash that needed to be taken out, and as long as the war kept dragging on the way it was, losses would keep piling up on both sides.

Countless innocent civilians and government troops would lose their lives as well in the process, but the Supreme Eunuch also couldn't care less.

The Central Plains was practically bursting at the seams with peasants.

If there was one thing that bothered him, it was that he still hadn't heard anything about Mo Gyu-pil.

But it was only a minor irritation at best, nothing he was losing sleep over.

'Xinjiang has been entirely drained of its martial masters, so it’s impossible for Mo Gyu-pil to get killed. If something had happened to him, the Demonic Cult bastards would've shown some kind of shift in their movements.'

He simply assumed the man was still busy ravaging Xinjiang. Given how long it took just to travel from the Forbidden City to Xinjiang, it made sense that word would be slow to arrive.

But as a few more days passed, that tiny splinter of doubt in his mind turned into a festering annoyance.

'The battle between the Central Military Command and those Demonic Cult bastards has entered a stalemate, yet why hasn't the Demonic Cult sent reinforcements back to Xinjiang?'

Once the war reached a lull, he slowly began to realize that something was wrong.

"That damn idiot. To think he cannot even handle an empty house!”

Anger surged up inside him.

If the Demonic Cult had pulled their forces back to defend Xinjiang and Mo Gyu-pil had died fighting in the process, the Supreme Eunuch would've mourned his death and praised him for it.

But since there wasn't a single trace of the Demonic Cult moving their forces, the Supreme Eunuch couldn't even begin to guess what kind of monumentally stupid stunt Mo Gyu-pil had pulled to get himself killed.

Choking down his fury at the Commander who had seemingly evaporated into thin air alongside a hundred elite masters, the Supreme Eunuch went back to sifting through the intelligence reports coming in from the Central Plains.

Then one day, a horrifying piece of news that he could never have imagined flew into his hands.

"Worms!! Rotten, all of them!”

News of the massive uprising in Guangdong had finally reached all the way to the Forbidden City. And because Guangdong was so far from the capital, the sparks of rebellion had already crossed the border into Guangxi by the time the Supreme Eunuch even read the report.

The enraged Supreme Eunuch gave an order to the eunuch waiting at the entrance of the hall.

"Send a decree to the Eastern Military Commander at once! Tell him to gather troops from the provinces under the Eastern Military Command's jurisdiction and crush every last one of those rebels in Guangdong!"

Jolted by the explosive outburst, the terrified eunuch stammered out a reply and dashed off immediately.

"At once, Your Excellency!”

After giving the order to the eunuch, the Supreme Eunuch looked down at the map of the Central Plains.

His gaze drifted toward the north.

He weighed his options carefully. Should he call down the Northern Military Command to launch an attack on the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as well?

'There's no need to be scared of a bunch of nomad rabble.'

Just as the Supreme Eunuch's mind was leaning toward mobilizing the Northern Military Command, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

"What is it!"

The Supreme Eunuch snapped sharply, and someone outside the hall hurriedly answered. "A m-messenger from the Northern Military Command has arrived! An envoy sent by a northern nomadic tribe has come to the Northern Military Command's headquarters!"

With yet another unexpected piece of news arriving right on the heels of the rebellion in Guangdong, Supreme Eunuch's face went momentarily blank with shock.

***

One day earlier.

Around the time the nomadic tribe's envoy had just arrived at the northeastern frontier, a very different scene was unfolding far away on the northwestern frontier, the border formerly guarded by the Western Military Command.

There, people were in the middle of bustling activity.

Government troops and martial artists hurried back and forth inside the fortress carrying supplies, while some people were hard at work repairing the stone walls.

It wasn't just the fortress.

Spanning the massive gaps between them was the Great Wall itself, built by ancient emperors to keep the nomadic raiders at bay.

Along that wall, soldiers and martial artists moved back and forth, searching out the worn sections and continuing the repair work.

Actually, it wasn't just the soldiers and martial artists.

The local villagers living near the border had rolled up their sleeves, too.

Even the nomads living out in the steppes beyond the wall had crossed over to pitch in on the repairs. You could even spot plenty of local women hauling stones in the crowd.

And nobody was cracking a whip over their heads, either. Every single one of them was a willing volunteer.

Since the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had been spreading its roots through Gansu and the steppes for years, you’d probably think these people were brainwashed fanatics who marched over here purely out of burning religious devotion.

You'd be wrong.

"Just a bit more, hang in there!"

"Only one more hour and we're done! We need to collect our wages and get back to feed the children!"

They were here because they were receiving fair compensation for their labor. It was just like the days when people were paid to copy flyers and posters. And once those flyers and posters had flooded the place, the Divine Cult started paying them to manufacture war supplies instead.

This was an idea Il-mok had come up with, and Jong-ri Chu had adopted the method.

More than anything, Jong-ri Chu, having spent years as the head of a merchant guild, was quite used to this kind of approach.

He knew very well that while faith might be a grand thing, if you let people starve, they'd quickly get a taste of cold-hearted capitalism.

Of course, this approach was only possible because of the money they'd saved up over the years.

They had spent years hoarding vast fortunes through international trade with the Muslims. Combined with the fact that they had mercilessly robbed every corrupt official and fat-cat landlord blind at the start of the war, it resulted in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult still having some breathing room left in its coffers.

"If it's really getting tough, how about we sing a work song together!"

As the people doing the back-breaking work of repairing the walls kept at it, the workers began to raise their voices one by one in song.

Naturally, the work song was a hymn.

"I've got peace~ like a river~!"

"I've got peace~ like a river~!"

And why wouldn't they sing it? After all, it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that was literally putting daily bread on their tables and fighting tooth and nail to secure their peace.

While the work crews sang their hearts out under the sun, Jong-ri Chu was inside the command tent, running his mouth nonstop.

"Give me an update on the temporary barricades going up west of Jiayu Pass!"

"I don't care if you have to haul rocks all the way from the heart of Gansu, just keep building!"

"Arrows! We're still short on arrows! Reroute a shipment from the fletchers in Lanzhou right now! I don't care what it takes, make it happen!"

This was the current plight of a man who had spent the last few years working as a merchant and the Deputy Master of the Missionary Hall. Out of nowhere, he had been handed the defense of the northern border.

Granted, his only job was to set up the defenses.

If the Mierqi tribe actually showed up, he was supposed to immediately send a messenger to Shaanxi to request reinforcements.

But even so, the weight of his responsibility hadn't changed one bit.

Under that kind of pressure, Jong-ri Chu kept his mouth running nonstop, trying to make sure every preparation was perfect.

—Scouts! What's the plan for the scouts?

—You idiot! Didn't Chief Strategist Zhuge tell you to use the northern nomads for that?

Maybe it was the weight of his responsibilities, but the invisible friends that had been fading away after he broke from Extremity were suddenly back in full.

And they were doing it in multiple languages.

A woman with skin as pale as James's and striking blue eyes whispered to him in the language of the Muslims.

—You need to make sure every single fort has its own stockpile of grain.

As if to reassure her, Jong-ri Chu answered her in the language of the Hui Muslims.

"Already on it!"

Right after that, a middle-aged guy dressed like a northern nomad cried out in English to him.

—Y-You're not going to leave us behind, are you? I-If those Mierqi monsters really show up, w-we're all dead meat!

"Our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult doesn't abandon its own! We will open the fortress gates for you. Just step inside and help us fight those Mierqi bastards off!"

After comforting his imaginary nomad in English, Jong-ri Chu spun around and barked his next actual order in nomadic language.

"Pass this message along to the nomads as well! Tell them that if the Mierqi tribe makes any suspicious movements, they are to fall back to our fortresses without delay!"

Watching him babble nonstop in four different languages while having intense debates with thin air was an absolutely unhinged spectacle. But against all odds, the defensive preparations along the northern border were proceeding flawlessly.

And that was entirely thanks to the two men standing right behind him: Ohalak and James.

Having spent years running the Heavenly Light Merchant Guild with him, the duo was completely unfazed by Jong-ri Chu’s schizophrenia.

Whenever Jong-ri Chu took the advice from his imaginary international coalition and screamed it out as an order, Ohalak and James would seamlessly translate it back into Chinese and pass it down to the Divine Cult’s warriors.

And the Divine Cult's martial artists would then ride like the wind from fort to fort and turn those orders into reality.

"Did you hear that, gentlemen?! My good friend Carlson just promised to march an army of fifty thousand men here to back us up!"

By now, Ohalak and James had gotten good at knowing when just to pretend they hadn't heard anything whenever Jong-ri Chu started spouting some crazy batshit nonsense.

"Why aren't you translating that?"

"Ah, don't worry about it. Just a minor issue," Ohalak replied smoothly, waving off the martial artist waiting for orders.

"Deputy Master, didn't I tell you that Carson guy is a liar? You really can't keep falling for his scams," James chimed in, casually talking Jong-ri Chu off his imaginary super army.

Just as the trio was pulling off their perfect routine, someone came rushing into the command post in a hurry.

"U-Urgent report, sirs! An envoy from the Mierqi tribe has arrived!"

Hearing the man's urgent report, James and Ohalak looked at each other.

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

"I think the Deputy Master’s brain rot finally infected us."

"Who knew mental illness could be contagious?"

As the two men muttered in English and the nomadic language respectively, the man who'd come to deliver the report shouted again.

"What the hell are you two doing! I said the envoy from the Mierqi tribe has arrived!"

When the two realized it wasn’t a hallucination, they slapped each other across the face at the same time.

The sharp sting on their cheeks brought a serious look to both their faces.

"Deputy Master!! You need to get a grip!"

"Urgent report! The envoy from the Mierqi has arrived!"

As the two men shouted, one in the Muslim language and the other in the nomadic language, Jong-ri Chu, who had been muttering to thin air with a glazed look until just a moment ago, suddenly came back into focus.

"Bring that envoy in here right away."

At Jong-ri Chu's order, the man who'd come with the report hurried back out of the hall.

A short while later, a nomadic man arrived.

"I am Namguru, a warrior of the Mierqi." The man spoke the language of the Central Plains with an awkward accent.

Jong-ri Chu smiled faintly before answering. "I'm Jong-ri Chu of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. If our language is too clumsy on your tongue, feel free to use your own."

He spoke fluent nomadic language. The only difference was a slightly different accent, since he'd learned it from the nomads of the northwestern region.

Realizing that the man before him was fluent in the nomadic language, Namguru spoke up with a satisfied smile.

'Squeeze them for every last drop we can get, wasn't it?'

He mused inwardly, recalling the order the Khan had given him before he rode south.