Chapter 547.2. Repeated Blows

Huo Yuhao sensed the humid air and was annoyed as he commented, “I still prefer the cold in the north! Over there, my fighting strength is higher by at least thirty percent.”

Tang Wutong covered her mouth and laughed. “Didn’t your journey to the Ice Sea teach you enough lessons?”

Huo Yuhao nodded deeply and replied, “Of course it has. This journey has taught me not to run and fight in someone else’s place. I won’t even stand a chance. While the Princess of the Sea is powerful, we might still have stood a chance of fleeing even if we can’t defeat her on land or at a fairer venue. However, in the depths of the sea, we were really trapped, and had nowhere to run.”

Tang Wutong asked, “Have you chosen a target?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and pointed at the map.

Seajoy City!

A smirk appeared on Huo Yuhao’s lips. It was not his first time visiting this place. When he and the others from the Tang Sect snuck into the Sun Moon Empire by water to save the young talents who were participating in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Soul Dueling Tournament, they passed by this city. They had even rented a boat there.

Huo Yuhao chose to attack this city for two reasons. First, it was an important port in the south of the Sun Moon Empire. Second, it was a way to confuse the Sun Moon Empire. At least, they might be misled that enemies could be trying to invade them from the sea.

After half a day, Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong appeared in Seajoy City.

Huo Yuhao re-exited the city after making one round around it. He opened the spectral door outside the city and summoned the three soul engineer legions.

The city was very small. There was no need to deploy so much manpower. However, the soul engineers had been stuck in the demiplane for too long. Hence, Huo Yuhao wanted to let them out for a breather. Seajoy City was the perfect place to do so.

The defense in the south was much slacker than in the north. This was because the aquatic soul beasts in the south were weaker than those in the north. Furthermore, they were only active in the deep sea. The Sun Moon Empire had specialized fleets to capture oceanic creatures in the southern sea regions. After all, there weren’t any icebergs or other such extreme weather in the south. It made carrying out operations much easier.

There were only two thousand soldiers stationed in Seajoy City. They were only ordinary soldiers, and their abilities were all mixed.

Thirty Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons were fired at the same time. One side of the city walls was immediately destroyed. Next was a simple step – pillage!

The three largest warehouses in Seajoy City were completely cleaned out. Not only were there rations in these three warehouses, but there were also many special products and money that came from several southern coastal cities. Compared to the north, there was much more money, and much fewer rations. After all, the city was by the sea, which meant that food was not in short supply.

After pillaging the entire city, Huo Yuhao didn’t even usher the soul engineers back into the spectral door. Instead, he directly sent them out.

The Tang Sect and Fort Soul Engineer Legions scattered in two different directions, attacking two different nearby cities.

The southern cities were richer than the northern cities, and there were many more of them too. From the situation in Seajoy City, it could be inferred that the defenses in the other nearby cities weren’t going to be very strong either. This was especially so since the two nearby cities that they attacked were even smaller.

In just one day, three cities were completely plundered. As food wasn’t scarce in the south, Huo Yuhao even decided not to rob the food from these cities. He only targeted the money, as well as trying to find rare metals. Although there weren’t many rare metals in these southern cities, there were still some aerial surveillance soul tools in the sky. Taking them down was equivalent to obtaining rare metals!

After the three cities were completely plundered, Huo Yuhao re-opened the spectral door in the wilderness and sent the three soul engineer legions back into his spectral demiplane.

After this one day of activity, they became much more refreshed and energetic. This was especially since a lot of the money that was looted was divided and given to them directly.

These soul engineers were very free inside the demiplane. Under the organization of those from the Tang Sect, the three soul engineer legions even started to explore the boulder houses in the demiplane. Even though this demiplane wasn’t the most aesthetic of places, it had great utility. It was beginning to develop some scale. They could even leave their valuables in the demiplane when they went out to fight. This enabled them to be equipped properly for fights.

After returning to the demiplane, Huo Yuhao checked the map and chose other, more populous cities. These cities were their targets for the next day.

Just like this, Huo Yuhao mysteriously led the three soul engineer legions and overran twelve medium-sized cities in the south of the Sun Moon Empire.

He didn’t choose major cities, as they were likely to be better defended. In addition, the medium-sized cities were lacking in manpower, as the front line needed men. Those twelve cities were plundered completely. The amount of money that was taken could fill countless giant warehouses. Right now, the soul engineers weren’t even tempted by gold soul coins anymore; there was a mountain of them in the demiplane.

From those twelve cities, quite a lot of rare metals were also taken from the private collections of the nobility. Twenty-six various aerial surveillance soul tools were also obtained. Although most of them were directly shot down and were damaged beyond repair, the rare metals used to construct them were still useful! It was all good stuff.

……

“Bang!” Xu Tianran smacked the table beside him, and there was a strong killing intent in his eyes.

Five days ago, good news came from the front lines. The Sun Moon Empire had completely overrun the Heavenly Soul Empire. This also meant that the Heavenly Soul Empire was utterly ruined, and annexed into the Sun Moon Empire.

This good news left Xu Tianran, a person who craved power, in very high spirits.

However, bad news started to pour in only a few days after he heard the good news.

There weren’t any traces of the soul engineer legion that had caused chaos in the north. It was as if they didn’t exist at all. Then the south was subjected to a barrage of attacks. In just a few days, twelve emergency reports were received from twelve different cities in the south. The coastal cities in that area were all in danger, causing a crisis.

It was important to know that those cities were very important to the Sun Moon Empire’s economy. The yearly revenue from a medium-sized city in the south was equivalent to that of a major city in the north.

Although there weren’t many casualties in those twelve cities, fear quickly spread, and the amount of destruction that those cities had been subjected to was also very great. Those living in the south were all terrified, which served to destabilize Xu Tianran’s reign!

Don’t tell me that those people who were still in the north a few weeks ago have mysteriously gone to the south? How is that possible?

“Your Majesty! I believe that those thieves must have travelled by water.” The Chief Minister said.

Xu Tianran looked at him, “By water? They attacked the north previously. How can they reach there by water?”

The Ice Sea was to the north of the north of the Sun Moon Empire. Moreover, the Ice Sea was adjacent to the ice plains of the Extreme North. The conditions in the ice plains were very rigorous. No one knew what a further place would be like. To move across the ice plains through the north was impossible.

The Chief Minister said, “Your Majesty, it’s not impossible. What if they didn’t come from the north right from the start? We have a lot of troops at our borders in the north. We also have many aerial surveillance soul tools. It’s not easy for a fly to enter, much less a soul engineer legion. The only place that our surveillance soul tools can’t reach is the sea. If those thieves moved out from the southern ports of the Star Luo Empire and moved around our southern sea using a ship before proceeding to the north along our western shoreline, they would be able to move around two-thirds of our shoreline and reach the north. Although there are icebergs in the Ice Sea, there are very few of them nearer to land. We also have few aerial surveillance soul tools installed there. It’s possible that Oak City and Eastern Sun City were taken down that way.”

“These fellows are very cunning. After they overran Oak City and Eastern Sun City, they immediately escaped on their ship and returned via their original route. They went all the way to the south. When they reached the south, they attacked once again. The journey from north to south is thousands of kilometers long. It gave us the feeling that we are facing many enemies. Once they finished their attacks, they can immediately escape on their ship again. We wouldn’t be able to find any traces of them. From the south, it’s also possible to return to the Star Luo Empire at any time. It’s a brilliant plan!”

After hearing the Chief Minister’s words, Xu Tianran was shocked. That’s indeed possible! It’s actually very possible. If that was really the case, it could well explain why he was so confused.

“But why are they not attacking our western cities?” Xu Tianran was a little confused.

The Chief Minister answered, “The reason why they are not attacking our western cities is mainly because they’re too far from the Star Luo Empire. Radiant City is also quite close to the west. Once we discover a real-time situation and send a strong soul engineer legion to deal with them, they would be exposed. Furthermore, it’s much easier for us to guess what their purpose is if they move from north to west. If they directly return to the south, they can attack and defend. It’s more advantageous for them.”

Xu Tianran squinted. “Chief Minister, what do you think we should do then?”

A cold look flashed across the Chief Minister’s face and he said, “Your Majesty, we must be decisive. These thieves are very cunning. Their commander must be very intelligent. Our shoreline is so wide. In the depths of the sea, it’s almost impossible to find any traces of them. Since they can move from north to south in just over ten days, it’s likely that they’ve already calculated for the presence of icebergs in the Ice Sea. Thus, their ship must be protected and moved by soul tools. It’s likely that there’s a soul formation on their ship. Since they can’t challenge us directly, they are taking the indirect way. Such an enemy is like a parasite. We must get rid of them quickly. Otherwise, they’ll cause more destruction, and shake the foundation of our economy.”