116: Chapter 116 There is more than one

Two chess pieces, fifty thousand troops!

When the Angkor Country Strategist reported the desperate scene on the battlefield to Saku Kenichi, the expression on this Sakura Country Strategist's face instantly became incredibly colorful.

A mix of green and red, with shock, anger, and disbelief flickering within.

"In the last Game of National Destiny, seizing items was the most important thing, and the Dragon Country produced a Zhao Yun capable of 'Seven In, Seven Out'.

In this Game of National Destiny, 'soldiers have the highest weight', and the Dragon Country has placed another Heroic Spirit capable of changing the initial troop count.

Why is it that the Dragon Country can always find a Heroic Spirit that perfectly fits the rules?"

Saku Kenichi felt helpless; this maneuver by Chen Aoyun had caught him off guard. Even if his previous plans weren't completely ruined, they had been thrown into disarray by this move.

Forcing down the irritation in his heart, he first habitually ordered Angkor Country to launch a Divine Judgment against the Dragon Country.

The Judgment failed again; it seemed the Dragon Country's Construction Power never left any loopholes for Judgment.

Having not found the rules regarding Divine Judgment and not knowing how many times it could be initiated, Saku Kenichi did not lose heart. Since it wasn't a Judgment initiated by Sakura Country anyway, failing didn't matter.

Not long after the Judgment failed, the two chess pieces of Angkor Country were also annihilated in their clash with the Dragon Country.

Eliminated!

On the Star Chessboard, another faction sadly exited the stage.

Saku Kenichi's face was so dark it could drip water. He stared fixedly at the Star Chessboard, observing the Dragon Country's movements after annihilating Angkor Country with a grim expression.

Saku Kenichi was worthy of being a regular in the Game of National Destiny; he quickly discerned the Dragon Country's intentions.

"Fifty thousand troops... The Dragon Country is now the strongest entity in this area! They aren't escaping the encirclement; the Dragon Country intends to hunt down our chess pieces!"

Saku Kenichi immediately ordered in a rasping voice, "Quick! All vassal state chess pieces, move toward the Togaya Atsuto Legion and assemble! We must not give him the chance to defeat us one by one!"

At his command, the situation on the Star Chessboard changed drastically.

Mengjia, Nalan, Wanxiang, Langbo... the eight chess pieces from the four countries, like hyenas smelling danger, frantically gathered under the banner of Sakura Country.

Even though one of Mengjia Country's chess pieces was "eaten" by the Dragon Country while assembling, the total strength of the coalition in this area still reached forty thousand!

Coalition 40,000 vs. Dragon Country's 50,000.

"The Dragon Country has fought three consecutive battles; it is impossible for them to be unscathed!" Saku Kenichi calculated the combat power of both sides rapidly in his mind. "More importantly, the Dragon Country's Construction Power is exhausted! And we have five countries, five exclusive skills! The advantage is still with me; the Dragon Country will inevitably choose to avoid battle!"

Saku Kenichi calculated correctly. As he expected, Chen Aoyun did not actively seek a decisive battle. Instead, he controlled the two chess pieces to move in parallel, occupying board squares while attempting to move away from the coalition.

"My goal is to win the Game of National Destiny, not to fight to the death with these vassal states. Since Sakura Country has cleared the way, we should just do what we need to do!"

Abandoning the decisive battle with the Sakura coalition, Chen Aoyun headed north, and the Sakura coalition followed north, like maggots on a bone, biting tightly onto the Dragon Country's flank.

During the process, Chen Aoyun discovered a new rule:

[Rule 7: When 80% of the colorless squares on the Star Chessboard remain, there is a probability of demons appearing on the squares; when 40% of the colorless squares remain, the probability of demons appearing increases, and the strength of the demons also increases; when 5% of the colorless squares remain, all colorless squares disappear. The order of elimination determines the ranking, and the country that remains on the board until the end is the winner of this Game of National Destiny.]

Only by occupying and governing the board squares can one replenish troops and increase the troop limit.

And as the ownerless "colorless squares" decrease due to occupation, the dormant "demons" will descend into the world.

This perfectly interprets the theme of this Game of National Destiny—War and Governance!

War is against enemy countries and demons; governance is the cornerstone for the continuation of war.

Chen Aoyun glanced at the coalition that was haunting him like a ghost, his brows locked in a frown.

"I am currently only occupying squares and have not placed a Heroic Spirit to govern. It is not that I am ignoring governance; it is that I cannot! According to Rule 1, placed Heroic Spirits will be diluted by quantity! General Han Xin's "The More The Better" increased the Dragon Country's initial troop count from 10,000 to 50,000. Once a new Heroic Spirit is placed, the skill effect of General Han Xin will be weakened, the existing troop count will decrease, and the coalition behind will surely pounce! In other words, I am trapped!"

Chen Aoyun encountered a dilemma, but fortunately, problems also appeared on the Sakura Country coalition's side.

If a chess piece disappears, it will be eliminated. Before, they didn't know the rules, so the vassal states dared not disobey Saku Kenichi's orders. Now that the coalition has also found Rule 7, many vassal states do not want to fight to the death with the Dragon Country too early.

Being eliminated too early means death!

Even if they had to fight the Dragon Country to the death, Saku Kenichi would have to wait and hold off. Only after more countries were eliminated from the board and the vassal states were no longer among the bottom-ranked batch would these countries be willing to attack the Dragon Country.

Thus, a magical scene unfolded:

The Dragon Country just moved its chess pieces, coloring and occupying squares without placing any Heroic Spirits to govern.

And the coalition side just bit onto the back of the Dragon Country's two chess pieces, occupying squares on another path, never engaging the Dragon Country in a decisive battle.

This scene lasted for ten days.

Ten days later, the Togaya Atsuto Legion of Sakura Country suddenly broke away from the coalition and turned to leave!

"Two special plot points have appeared on the Star Chessboard! The power prophesied by [Kyoto] is within them!" Saku Kenichi's voice carried unquestionable determination. "The Dragon Country can be spared, the ranking can be abandoned! But this power, the Empire must obtain!"

Sakura Country's withdrawal caused the coalition's total troop strength to drop to 35,000, but they still clung tightly to the Dragon Country.

The ten days allowed Chen Aoyun to collect quite a bit of Construction Power on the map; the acquisition of Construction Power in this Game of National Destiny was ten times the normal amount.

He had the Construction Power, but Chen Aoyun still did not place a Heroic Spirit to govern.

Until a golden resource point appeared on a nearby square!

The golden resource point contained the 'reduction of debuffs' item mentioned in Rule 5.

One item could reduce the debuff on a single Heroic Spirit by 10%. As long as there were enough of these items, other Heroic Spirits could be revitalized!

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Aoyun immediately moved toward the golden resource point.

However, the moment the Dragon Country's army stepped into the resource point, a sudden change occurred!

A trap!

Two chess pieces from Nalan Country had long been lying in ambush here!

The chess pieces collided on the same square and boldly lined up in the scene map!

The Dragon Country's total troop strength was 47,500.

And Nalan Country actually possessed over 40,000 troops!

The Nalan Country Strategist said to Chen Aoyun's true self on the Star Chessboard,

"Before, we let you, the Dragon Country, run around because the bottom-ranked slots weren't full yet. Now that the bottom-ranked countries are full, I don't worry about being killed by the rules upon elimination. It is time to execute Sakura Country's order and take care of you, this mouse!"

"Curious why my troop count is as high as yours? Is that hard to understand? You, this mouse, must maintain a single Heroic Spirit count, but I, Nalan Country, do not have to! Following on the flank of your Dragon Country, the coalition let me, Nalan Country, occupy all the squares on the path. I, Nalan Country, have long placed a Heroic Spirit capable of governing squares. Running behind you for more than ten days, I have occupied over a thousand squares in total! A single square, with a governance level reaching 30, can replenish a troop limit of 30. These troops are all generated from governing the squares! Are you stunned? The theme of this Game of National Destiny is: War and Governance. Without governance, isn't it inevitable that the troop advantage you gained using a Heroic Spirit would be caught up to and even surpassed?"

Chen Aoyun narrowed his eyes and stared at the other party,

"Your Nalan Country, with a troop count just over 40,000, is still less than my Dragon Country's total troop strength. How can you show such an expression as if you have me figured out?"

The other party laughed, "Causing you to lose troops and weakening you to the maximum extent is enough. As long as the Dragon Country dies at the hands of us vassal states, Sakura Country will give rewards. Which country delivers the final blow doesn't matter, as long as I can survive to get the rewards."

The look in Chen Aoyun's eyes toward the other party became increasingly disdainful.

"Is being a dog for Sakura Country so appealing? Even if you aren't at the bottom, there is still a price to pay for being eliminated now. You, as a Strategist, will be fine, but if the Nalan Country Roleplayer dies in the confrontation between the two armies..."

Before Chen Aoyun could finish his sentence, the Nalan Country Strategist laughed,

"Why should I care about the lives of those Roleplayers? They are all people I promoted; at critical moments, they should die for me, unless they don't care about their families! As for how to weaken you, Dragon Country, it's simple. With similar troop counts, I have Heroic Spirit skills to use. But you don't! That is my advantage!"

On the battlefield, the Nalan Country army was already charging over.

General Han Xin had already released the exclusive skill "The More The Better"; the same skill cannot be used repeatedly.

The Nalan Country Strategist had used too many trash Heroic Spirits authorized by other countries and thought that the Dragon Country's Heroic Spirits were the same as those trash Heroic Spirits, with each Heroic Spirit having only one exclusive skill.

Little did he know, Chinese Heroic Spirits, especially the Heroic Spirits placed by Chen Aoyun, had numerous historical allusions; a single Heroic Spirit could construct more than one exclusive skill!