218: Planting a flag?

"Enter!"

A solemn voice echoed from within the hall.

Rumble—!

The hall doors swung open with a heavy thud.

This voice... Lin Yan's expression paused, and a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes.

The youth immediately stepped into the hall, his eyes instantly landing on the middle-aged man smiling at him from the seat of honor.

"General Wei An!"

"You...!"

That was right.

The burly figure in the main seat was none other than the commander of the Li Army's First Elite Regiment who had risked his life to escort Lin Yan through the Yao Race's battle lines—Wei An!

"Your Highness." Wei An said with a smile, "I am very happy to see you again."

Lin Yan's eyes trembled slightly.

"Good... Good..."

He understood in an instant that either Donggong Li, Ou Mo, or some other supreme powerhouse of the Human Race must have intervened at that time.

Seeing his reaction, Wei An's heart couldn't help but tremble as well.

Just as his brother had said, His Highness had been feeling guilty for him all along.

Inexplicably...

The image of a white-clothed figure who would stand alone before the Heroic Spirit Monument for a long time after every major battle surfaced in his mind.

Wei An took a light breath, and his expression instantly became serious.

"One-Star Great General, Lin Yan!"

Lin Yan's expression turned solemn.

"Present!"

Wei An's voice followed.

"Welcome to Sui Xu Ancient City."

"I, Three-Star Great General, Wei An!"

"Hold full responsibility for all affairs of the First Army in the outer perimeter of the ancient city."

At this point, he turned his gaze toward Shao Ping, who was standing to his side below.

Receiving the signal, Shao Ping, who had just slightly calmed his emotions, instantly snapped to attention again and spoke loudly.

"Your Highness, this humble general..."

"Ahem..." Wei An coughed lightly.

Shao Ping's face darkened.

Damn it! Get it together! What are you doing!

He tried his best to make his voice deep and serious.

"I, two-star great general, Shao Ping!"

"Responsible for assisting General Wei An in managing the affairs of the ancient city's outer perimeter."

"I am also Your High... your... your future direct superior!"

A strange look flashed in Lin Yan's eyes.

"Yes!"

The moment he saw Wei An, he already had a suspicion.

Right now, within the Human Race's Ten Armies in Sui Xu Ancient City, whether it was the one to three-star generals in the outer perimeter, the four to six-star generals in the inner perimeter, or the seven to nine-star generals in the core—even some of the ordinary soldiers... most of them were likely members of the Li Army.

It wasn't that there was a problem with the previous people; it was simply more comfortable to use one's own people.

Therefore...

He really wanted to tell Wei An and Shao Ping to stop acting.

And also...

This was what his cheap master meant by 'relying on yourself for everything'?

Wei An naturally noticed Lin Yan's thoughts from his expression.

To this, he could only chuckle bitterly in his heart.

Your Excellency, we've done our best... the flaws are just too obvious.

Thinking of this...

He straightened his expression.

"Next, General Shao Ping will take you to familiarize yourself with the ancient city."

"You must understand your duties immediately and begin your service at once!"

After saying that, he vanished directly from the spot.

Eh? Wait, no!

Shao Ping stared at the empty seat, his lips slightly parted.

He... he just left?

I've never heard of a superior taking a subordinate to familiarize themselves with the ancient city!

"General Shao?" Lin Yan's voice came with a hint of inquiry, "We... now?"

Shao Ping's body jolted, and he immediately stood up and walked a few steps to Lin Yan's side, gesturing with his hand.

"Please."

"Ahem..." Lin Yan, who was nearly given internal injuries by his behavior, coughed, "That... after you."

Damn!

Realizing his mistake, Shao Ping's face stiffened.

Damn it! Get it together! What are you doing!

He immediately straightened his expression and walked ahead with his hands behind his back.

"I'll take you to the First Division under my command to familiarize yourself first."

"You saw the location just..."

Before he could finish...

Lin Yan's voice came first.

"General Shao, I know about that."

"The Human Race's Ten Armies in the ancient city have one hundred and eleven generals in each army's outer perimeter."

"One Three-Star, ten Two-Stars, and a hundred One-Stars."

"Just tell me which regiment of the First Division I'm in, and I'll go there myself when the time comes."

Shao Ping raised an eyebrow.

You know it all? Alright then!

"First Regiment."

First Regiment... Lin Yan nodded slightly.

"Understood."

How could Shao Ping know that Lin Yan was simply too lazy to go through the whole 'establishing dominance' routine at the First Division? It was too cliché and old-fashioned.

He just wanted to get into character immediately, preferably getting into a fight with the foreign races right away.

The two of them walked out of the hall.

"Your Highness!"

A thunderous roar startled Shao Ping, who was just about to say something.

He immediately looked at the hundred personal guards bowing respectfully outside the hall. His gaze instantly landed on Fu Ying at the very front, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Old Fu?"

Hearing the voice, Fu Ying looked up, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Old Shao?"

His gaze shifted between Shao Ping and Lin Yan, who was a step behind, and he understood everything in an instant.

"Long time no see!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and gave a greeting that looked like a chest bump but was actually a 'chest thump'.

Bang—!

A muffled thud rang out.

Shao Ping was forced back two steps, instantly landing a step behind Lin Yan. He sucked in a breath of cold air in his heart.

Fu Ying, screw you!

Do you think I want to walk in front?!

And also!

I was wondering where you'd disappeared to. So you ran off to be His Highness's personal guard, huh?!

Involuntarily, a trace of envy flashed in his eyes, and his tone turned sour.

"It has been a long time. I was afraid someone wouldn't even remember his brothers after a while longer."

Seeing this, a flash of helplessness appeared in Lin Yan's eyes.

"General Shao, what were you going to say just now?"

Hearing this, Shao Ping was about to straighten his expression when his peripheral vision caught a face grinning at him, making the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Since you're already familiar with the setup, let's head straight to the area the First Regiment is responsible for."

Lin Yan's eyes lit up.

"Alright!"

"Inside the city or outside?"

Asking me?

Shao Ping pondered for a moment and spoke cautiously.

"Inside...?"

"Inside the city it is!"

"Alright!"

...Human Race territory in Sui Xu Ancient City, the easternmost edge of the outer perimeter.

On an incredibly wide street, two tall buildings comparable in scale to ordinary city gate towers stood conspicuously.

On the left building, a flag with the word 'Human' fluttered.

On the right building, a flag with the word 'Demon' fluttered.

Atop the buildings were soldiers of the two races, their gazes murderous, as if they wished they could kill each other with looks alone.

On either side of the buildings, Martial Artists of both races moved in a constant flow, the shouting of vendors making it as lively as a marketplace.

Such clearly demarcated places were numerous across the crisscrossing streets of the entire ancient city... and this was the inner-city checkpoint for the First Regiment of the First Division, First Army.

"Vice-General Zhang! Vice-General Zhang!"

An armored man climbed the tower amidst respectful greetings.

Zhang Ling glanced casually at the Demon Race soldiers on the opposite side and spoke.

"Anything happening?"

A reply soon came.

"Nothing."

"Ever since those demon brats failed to plant their flag a few days ago, they've been behaving themselves."

Zhang Ling nodded slightly.

"Good."

"Stay sharp."

"The new Great General will be coming by in a while."

As those words fell, the expressions of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the tower instantly turned solemn.

"Yes!"

(PS: Some friends might feel that the recent chapters are a bit filler-heavy, but it's a normal transition. As you can see from the title of this chapter, battle is imminent! Also, regarding this Starry Sky Ancient City where the protagonist will stay for a while, please use your imagination to picture how large it is. I'm honestly a bit at a loss for words, and I don't want to do too many direct or indirect descriptions later; I'll focus on the plot and the battles.)