351: Chapter 343 Mysterious Weapon? Nothing special.

The eastern border of Lake.

As the Little Cat Girl's True Word Spell was about to expire, the border that had been peaceful for an entire year surged with waves once more.

Lead-colored dark clouds drifted across the clear sky, obscuring the sunlight. The ground, which had been bright just a moment ago, suddenly fell into gloom as the gale howled and trees bent low.

The coalition Soldiers marched in neat formations, slowly pressing toward the border from the distance. The attacking gale did not affect their soaring morale in the slightest.

Lake was strong; in the surrounding area, only the Kingdom of Lagu could contend with it, while the various nations forming the coalition had only ever been on the receiving end of a beating. But this time was different. Under the divine will of the gods, the nations set aside their feuds and divisions to form a powerful coalition.

Even a power as great as Lake would surely fall by their hands.

At the main camp, Novak flew into the sky to observe the state of the vanguard. Seeing the Soldiers' high spirits, he nodded in satisfaction and landed back on the ground.

“Lord Brando,” he said with hands on his hips, turning to his side. “What do you think of my arrangements?”

Brando replied with a smile, “I cannot find a single flaw.”

This praise was not mere hypocritical politeness, but sincere.

Yesterday, after he revealed half-true intelligence, Novak had seemed indifferent but actually took it very seriously, implementing a series of targeted preventive measures.

First, Novak modified the established battle plan.

According to the original plan of a quick battle to prevent distant Kingdoms from intervening, the coalition was to deploy seventy percent of its legions, led by High-tier Professionals, to steamroll Lake directly.

Now, having heard that Zhang Mu was hiding a secret weapon, he decided to play it safe, sending a vanguard of ten thousand men to invade Lake and gather intelligence.

Once the specific details of the secret weapon were uncovered, they could launch a general offensive, leaving Lake no room for a comeback.

This also aligned with Brando's expectations.

The reason he only revealed half the intelligence was that he hoped to put some pressure on Zhang Mu without crushing him. Then, based on Zhang Mu's responses during the war, he would extract the information he wanted.

To put it simply, Brando wanted to know where Zhang Mu's limit was.

Novak was quite satisfied with the praise and puffed out his chest. “Lord Brando, the True Word Spell will be lifted in three days. By then, my Soldiers will bring back the weapon that was used to ambush you last time.”

“I am very much looking forward to it.”

“Also...” Novak seemed to remember something and tapped the back of his head. “Since you are here, Lord Brando, I wanted to ask—is Lagu really not planning to join the coalition?"

“With the Church's prohibition lifted, the Saul Continent will surely be engulfed in the flames of war again. I don't deny that Lagu is the strongest in the Western Corner, but you also understand that the Saul Continent is more than just the Western Corner."

“Not to mention those empires occupying the most fertile lands, just the Master of the West alone... he surely has plans to unify the West."

“If Lagu doesn't want to be annexed, then with the coalition...”

Brando shook his head and interrupted him. “It is the King's decision. I cannot disobey it, nor can I change it."

“However, I will convey Marshal Novak's words verbatim.”

“Then... I hope your country's King can see the situation clearly.”

“I share that same hope.”

The two stopped talking and quietly gazed at the vanguard legion pressing toward the border.

...

Lake Royal Capital.

Zhang Mu sat in the study the King had specially prepared for him, listening to Domit report on the coalition's movements.

“That is the general situation.” After the report, Domit closed the file. “Legion Commander, what do we do next?”

“Hmm... strange,” Zhang Mu muttered to himself, resting his chin on his right hand. “According to the intelligence gathered six months ago, the coalition should have deployed its entire army. Why have they only sent a vanguard of ten thousand men?”

Domit mused, “To test our troop deployment?”

Lake's military strength was limited, and it was unrealistic to station enough Soldiers in every city. They could only choose to defend key cities with strategic locations. Domit guessed the coalition's vanguard was there to find out which cities were being heavily defended.

Zhang Mu tapped his cheek with his index finger. “It's possible, but unnecessary."

“The coalition's forces far outnumber ours. Even if they split their troops to attack all of Lake's important cities simultaneously, they would still have overwhelming numbers.”

“Then why?” Domit was puzzled.

“Vanguard... vanguard... usually a vanguard collects intelligence for the main force and scouts the path ahead. What does Lake have that's worth their while... a magic-conducting weapon?”

Zhang Mu suddenly sat up straight. “Did Lagu reveal the magic-conducting weapon to the coalition?”

“Probably not.” Domit opened the file and scanned it. “That vanguard's formation is very dense, a standard ground army assembly formation."

“Besides... if Lagu really told the coalition, they wouldn't need to scout for information, would they?”

Zhang Mu leaned back in his chair. “Theoretically, that's correct, but... I feel like there's something strange everywhere... What do you think?”

Domit pondered for a moment. “I think we can test them first.”

“Tell me the details.”

“Just like how you misled Lagu before, Legion Commander, send a small unit equipped with weakened versions of our firearms to engage the vanguard.”

“And then?”

“Once they capture the weakened firearms, they will definitely test their power. Based on the enemy's reaction, we can judge whether they have received word of the magic-conducting weapon.”

Zhang Mu nodded; this coincided with his own strategy.

After testing the weakened weapons, if the coalition's main force continued to march in large-scale concentrated formations, it would mean they knew nothing about the magic-conducting weapon and even had limited knowledge of the original firearms.

In the battle against Lagu in the Silent Forest, Zhang Mu had used mortars.

If the coalition had truly learned something from Lagu, they would definitely disperse their legions.

“Go ahead and do it.”

As Domit rose to leave, Zhang Mu raised his hand to stop him. “How is the Gun Array coming along?”

“There are three squads ready for external missions.”

“Their limits?”

“With an active ambush, they can snipe and kill anyone below a High-tier Professional without casualties. As long as nothing unexpected happens, they can also safely deal with a Magister."

“As for a Magister, the squad members cannot make a single mistake, or they will be wiped out.”

“What about Saint-level?”

“If the three squads work together, there is hope to trade their lives for one Saint-level.”

“Meaning, as long as they fire at a Saint-level, they are certain to die regardless of whether the kill is successful?”

“Yes.”

“I see...” Zhang Mu narrowed his eyes.

The cost of training a sniper squad was not cheap. Although it was certainly cheaper than the value of a Saint-level, still...

Zhang Mu felt that the lives of his Soldiers were more valuable than the coalition's Saint-levels.

“Disperse the squads. Once the war begins, let them decide their own targets. Remember to tell them not to strike at Saint-levels for the time being.”

“Understood.”

“Also, are the legions in various regions in position?”

“They were all in position as of yesterday.”

The legions trained in the Royal Capital had all been sent to key cities across the land. Thanks to the top-grade item in Zhang Mu's hands that could enter the “World” of living beings, the march was completed in just one day.

Though it was called a day, the Soldiers actually only spent a few minutes traveling. The vast majority of the time was spent by Zhang Mu himself traveling to various locations to set up the “World” light gates.

Soldiers entered the “World” through the light gate in the Royal Capital and immediately stepped out from the light gate at their destination; even calling it a few minutes was considered slow.

“Alright, nothing else. Go arrange the bait squad.”

“Yes!” Domit straightened his back in a salute and walked out of the study.

...

Three days later.

As the strange, oppressive sensation in their hearts vanished, the Legion Commander of the vanguard waved his horsewhip, commanding the Soldiers to boldly cross the border.

These ten thousand Soldiers were all infantry.

Holding single-edged halberds with both hands and with longswords hanging at their waists, they marched in neat ranks toward the nearest city.

The Legion Commander of the vanguard had been promoted temporarily. Logically, a promotion to a position with military power was worth celebrating for three days and nights with a bottle of rum.

However, as he rode his horse at the very front of the column, his expression was exceptionally grim.

The coalition's original battle plan had been issued months ago. A sudden change just before the start of the war clearly meant something unexpected had happened.

Combining the facts, he felt the intention behind sending him with ten thousand infantry into Lake was obvious: scouting.

This was not a good job.

Whether it was an engagement between regular legions or a duel between Professionals, intelligence was the most important factor.

What was intelligence?

It was one's understanding of the enemy. The clearer the understanding, the greater the chance of victory.

Before a battle, Professionals would cast routine spells to test the opponent's depth. In a large-scale campaign, this meant sending out reconnaissance squads.

And throughout a campaign, the highest casualty numbers always belonged to the reconnaissance squads.

Unfortunately, the vanguard was currently performing the task of a reconnaissance squad.

Novak... that narrow-minded bastard!

The Legion Commander grit his teeth. My uncle once defeated him in battle; it must be because of that that he sent me to lead the vanguard!

Cursing in his heart couldn't change the facts. He took a deep breath to soothe his anger and shifted his attention to the plains ahead.

Now, returning alive was the most important thing.

“How far is it to Keton City?” he asked the adjutant beside him.

“At our current speed, we will arrive in three hours.”

After thinking for a moment, he instructed, “Our mission is to capture some Lake Soldiers for interrogation. We do not need to attack Keton City.”

The adjutant was stunned. “Then...”

“Pass down the order: stop when we are twenty kilometers from Keton City. Send out several squads of about a hundred men to search the surrounding area for any stray Lake Soldiers.”

The adjutant was a bit dumbfounded.

At a time like this, how could there possibly be stray Soldiers?

He had infinite doubts he wanted to ask, but this was the Legion Commander's order, so the adjutant could only turn to relay it.

The Legion Commander pulled the reins, his body swaying slightly with the horse's gait.

Heh, trying to set me up? Keep dreaming.

Everything proceeded according to his expectations.

The coalition forces held an absolute advantage, so Lake would surely hold their cities and would not engage in a meeting engagement in the open field.

Thus, the vanguard met no resistance along the way and arrived smoothly at the foot of a mountain twenty kilometers from Keton City, where they camped with their backs to the mountain.

As soon as the temporary camp was set up, eight hundred-man squads were sent out.

Before they left, the Legion Commander called the eight captains together. He first explained the fact that they were being used as cannon fodder, then earnestly told them to just find some deserted gully to wander around and stay away from the city.

The eight men were quite moved. They saluted and led their troops out.

The Legion Commander ordered the adjutant to maintain a sharp lookout and then rested comfortably in his tent.

He figured the City Lord of Keton City probably wouldn't take the initiative to leave the city and attack him. So, as long as he stayed for a few days and grabbed a few random people to take back, he could fulfill his duty.

But he didn't expect that a squad would return the very next day, and they had even caught a big fish for him.

After leaving the camp, this squad had followed the Legion Commander's advice and ducked into the mountains, intending to hunt a nest of wild boars and start a leisurely picnic life.

Unexpectedly, while looking for wild boars, the captain accidentally discovered more than ten Lake Soldiers using strange weapons.

The captain quietly went back to get his men and ambushed this group of Lake Soldiers.

As it turned out, the combat power of these Lake Soldiers was extremely formidable, and the lethality and method of killing of the strange weapons were incredibly bizarre.

They seemed like crossbows that could attack from a distance, yet he hadn't seen the Lake Soldiers load any bolts.

In the end, the squad paid a heavy price of more than twenty lives to capture one Soldier alive; all the others escaped.

Fearing the Lake Soldiers would call for reinforcements, the squad returned to the camp without stopping to report to the Legion Commander.

After hearing all this, the Legion Commander understood what Novak had sent him here to do.

“Assemble! Retreat immediately!”

If the squad's report wasn't fabricated, then his vanguard of ten thousand was truly not enough to fill the gaps in Lake's teeth. The Legion Commander felt a surge of fear and roared his orders.

Stepping out of his tent and seeing the Soldiers hurriedly packing supplies, he shouted, “Take only enough rations to return to the main camp! Throw everything else away!”

The Soldiers' execution was decent enough; they quickly grabbed food and formed up to march.

The vanguard thus fled back to the main camp in a pathetic state.

The coalition main camp.

Novak looked down at the pitch-black weapon lying on the table. “Hmm... a very strange shape.”

Brando glanced at it. “Test its power.”

“Right.”

The squad had glimpsed how the Lake Soldiers used the strange weapon, and the Legion Commander had reported it without concealment. So Novak didn't spend much time studying it before pulling the trigger with his index finger.

“Da da da—”

Fire flashed from the round opening at the front of the tube, and several copper-colored, strange things—rounded at the bottom and pointed at the top—shot out like lightning, piercing the tent ahead.

Gazing at the round holes in the tent, Novak raised a Magic Shield, turned the barrel to aim at himself, and pulled the trigger again.

The strange things flattened into discs against the shield. Novak knowingly placed the gun back on the table. “If Lake equips this weapon in large quantities, non-Professional Soldiers will be in big trouble."

“However, that is all there is to it.”

Brando also raised a Magic Shield and picked up the weapon to fire a few shots at himself.

Sensing the impact force transmitted through the shield, the corners of his mouth curled slightly. “Marshal Novak, you are right. This bit of power poses no threat to Professionals. It can't even... penetrate thicker armor."

“Thinking back, when we counted the casualties after the ambush last year, we indeed found no injured Professionals.”

Novak laughed heartily several times and then said, “Encountering a mysterious weapon and retreating immediately was a wise choice.”

Brando shook his head. “Compared to the Marshal, my military ability is far too poor.”

As he spoke, he wore an expression of regret. “If I had sent a vanguard to scout like you... perhaps Lake would have already fallen under Lagu's iron hooves.”

“There is no need to dwell on the past.” Novak stood up. “And the day Lake falls will not be far off. Someone, come here!”

“Marshal!” An aide lifted the door curtain and stepped in.

“Order the Mad Lion, Rose, and Raging Bear legions to march tomorrow morning. The target is Keton City!”

“Yes!” The aide saluted and left.

Brando watched Novak's retreating back with interest.

Three hundred thousand men?

He says he doesn't care, yet his actions are so cautious... Heh, this is going to be a good show.