The Reason I Follow You

In fact, according to the custom of Cathay, there is a ceremony required to recruit retainers.

Contracts, oaths, and pledges signify a two-way agreement, with vassals and lords bearing corresponding responsibilities to each other. In this simple yet trustworthy era, rituals held supreme power.

But this meant nothing to Kang De and Hong San.

Kang De didn't understand any of this, and Hong San didn't care. The so-called ritual was already embodied in the simple question and answer, and no longer needed any superfluous formalities.

Thus, Hong San pledged his loyalty to Kang De.

In this world, Kang De had his first true follower.

If we were to describe it using a trope from ancient online novels, it would be, "The wheel of fate has begun to turn."

No, if we have to put it that way, fate began when the Penguin arrived in Glittering Sand Town, Hong San, who was still working for Samuel, knelt down before Kang De without hesitation.

Upon regaining consciousness Hong San immediately began to work and fulfill his duties.

The reason he was unconscious for two days was mainly due to physical and mental exhaustion and fainting. After all, he had been working hard to defend the city for several days, worrying all day long. He had also experienced the emotional ups and downs before and after the final battle, and fought to the last. When the reinforcements arrived, he completely relaxed and then fell into a deep sleep.

As for the injuries, they were not serious. Although he had some cuts and bruises, none of them were fatal. Rather than saying he was lucky, it was more accurate to say that in the final battle he disregarded life and death, his mind was pure, and he brought his fighting instincts and lifelong martial arts skills to the extreme, which is why he did not suffer any serious injuries.

That's why I refused the suggestion to focus on recovering first.

He quickly found his place, in his own words, as "temporarily acting as a staff officer."

"After this battle, Your Highness will surely become famous throughout the land, and establishing your own government and military headquarters will be a given. This is just the beginning. As you continue to build your merits and spread your fame, more heroes and talents will flock to your banner. Their talents surpass mine by a hundred times, and they are capable of great responsibilities. Now, it is a matter of choosing the best among the worst, and only I can devise a plan for Your Highness."

After he finished speaking, Hong San got kicked. "Speak properly, get down to business."

"Yes... then let's talk about the aftermath of the war first."

Kang De had already told Hong San everything that happened after he fell into a coma. Even with Hong San's current understanding of life and death and his rebirth, he was still shocked. This showed how terrible what Kang De had done was. He was even more disappointed to learn that Kang De had not filmed the scene.

What else could Kang De say?

Given the circumstances at the time, how could he have had time to film? What would he be filming that stuff for? To livestream? To point the camera at himself, filming while laughing and saying things like, "Thanks to my old friend Newton for the hundreds of Super Rockets, everyone remember to double-tap to like and give 666"? How disgusting.

All he could say was to be more careful next time.

Hong San also went to the impact site in person, observed it carefully, and took some more photos of the scene. No amount of description could compare to the shock of seeing it with his own eyes. After returning, he looked at Kang De with more awe, but his tone and attitude remained the same as always, which made Kang De quite gratified.

Kang De, of course, didn't go. He didn't want to go there; in his words, "What for? To see the peanut butter I've made?"

In fact, most of the people who went to observe either knelt on the ground in fear and prayed to the gods repeatedly, or vomited so badly they couldn't stand up straight.

Five legions, over 60,000 elite soldiers, plus even more war beasts and pack animals—some were torn apart by the shockwave, some were buried by the collapsing earth, some were killed by the metal jets after the impact, and some were burned to death by the intense heat. The solidified metal, broken limbs, and the rivers of blood that flowed out, along with the countless elves and livestock that formed the ruined mountains of corpses and seas of blood, made that place one of the most terrifying places in the world.

Even after two days, scavengers dared not approach.

Then Hong San suggested that A Xing's mercenary group select a group of the most carefree gladiators, who were used to bloodshed, to form a scavenging team. Together with the greenskins who took the scene lightly, they would carry all kinds of tools into the battlefield to search for possible survivors, as well as undamaged magical items, and finally collect all kinds of broken weapons and armor.

These are all valuable things.

The interim municipality of Valentan paid for it.

Another task was patrolling and keeping watch to prevent anyone from getting too close or stealing anything—theoretically speaking, Kang De had indisputable legal ownership of both the large and small lumps of peanut butter; they were his spoils, and no one could or dared to take them.

Well... just imagine this scenario: mercenary groups don't have uniform equipment, scavengers wear all sorts of makeshift protective gear, carry bizarre civilian weapons, and sometimes team up with incredibly strong, tall, and terrifying green-skinned men to collect junk together.

It's practically Fallout game dungeon in terms of art style.

"But this work is necessary, and it must be completed as soon as possible. We cannot allow these bloody seas of corpses to accumulate for too long; they easily become a breeding ground for evil and attract dark creatures."

Hong San said, "We need a large number of priests to cleanse those corpses, and we also need to quickly salvage any valuable materials from them. The fragments of broken armor and weapons are extremely precious metal materials, and the equipment that remained intact after that attack is priceless magical item. These must belong to us... Your Highness, we must prepare to recruit more workers."

Kang De remembered the two piles of peanut butter and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The American pilot who dropped the atomic bomb on Japan never regretted his actions until his death, not only because his mind and actions were as clear as a mirror, but also because he did not witness the horrific scene of the hundreds of thousands of people who died then and later. Kang De, however, did see it.

As the giant eagle swooped down from the low sky, it unleashed a torrential rain of Flame, rapidly devouring countless lives. Screams of agony and agony filled the air as it wailed and howled, all happening right before its eyes. A few powerful elves who took to the air in grief and rage to retaliate were also struck head-on by the violent impact and crushed to death. The scene was like hell.

If given the chance again, Kang De would still launch an attack without hesitation, but that doesn't mean he would be indifferent to the deaths of tens of thousands of elves... These two feelings are not contradictory.

He sighed, deciding to put those thoughts aside for the time being, and picked up the cup beside him, asking, "Anything is fine, the key question is what to do with those bodies? Bury them on the spot?"

"Of course not. Landfilling is a massive undertaking, and it also carries the risk of attracting the attention of dark creatures. Those were elves who died in battle; why should we waste our resources and manpower on this?"

Hong San replied matter-of-factly, "Of course, we'll search for them and then sell them back to the elves. They'll have to pay extra for services like the harmless disposal, safekeeping, patrolling, and driving away of dark creatures. We'll take advantage of this to make a fortune and bleed the Dusk Moon Dynasty dry."

"The money we've acquired will become one of the assets Your Highness will have to achieve your grand ambitions in the future."

Kang De spat out the water in his mouth with a "pfft".

I feel like Hong San has changed a bit.

He said with a cryptic expression, "This is blatant extortion... Will it even work?"

Hong San nodded and said, "It will work. If our enemy is the Empire, and if the ones who died there were many elite human legions, then this method won't work. Not only will it not work, but we'll also have to burn the corpses as soon as possible. Otherwise, given the Empire's character, they won't agree to our deal... I mean, they'll secretly plot a scheme to lure dark creatures into the battlefield to devour flesh and blood and revive the undead, so as to gather a dark army to threaten Valentan and deplete Your Highness's Meteor Shower offensive."

"But the elves won't do that."

"The traditions of the elves are similar to those of our Cathay, both having a tradition of returning to one's roots. They value this even more, believing that only those buried in the great forest can be accepted by the moon goddess and re-enter the great cycle of reincarnation."

Hong San stated with certainty, "After all, there were a total of six pure-blooded Dragon Banner Legion, including not only a large number of pure-blooded elf soldiers but also many officers from upper-class backgrounds. The complete annihilation of these legions is already a grave crime and responsibility. To leave these fallen soldiers to rot in the Goth Wilderness, to be used and desecrated by dark creatures, to be devoured by carrion, to be wantonly humiliated by despicable humans, to be unable to be buried, unable to Homecoming..."

"--Especially since we took the initiative to offer the return of the corpses, and if the elves don't agree, it will inevitably cause a huge uproar in the country."

"If this kind of thing blows up, even the Elf Queen won't be able to control it. Every single one of the high-ranking officers in the Elf Expeditionary Force will be banned from working in the country from now on."

Kang De nodded repeatedly, praising, "You're truly remarkable."

Hong San smiled modestly, "Your Highness flatters me. I am ashamed."

After a moment's Kang De suddenly said, "So, after we release this news, the Elf Expeditionary Force will probably have no choice but to agree, and might even... temporarily cease hostilities?"

When this was mentioned, Hong San's expression became solemn.

Ultimately, the root of everything comes down to the word "war."

"I don't know... Your subject doesn't know enough about the Elven people. The course of the war involves the struggle between the pro-war and pro-peace factions within the Elven country. The instantaneous annihilation of the six Dragon Banner Legion and the strategic deterrence brought by Your Highness will become important bargaining chips for the pro-peace faction, but whether they are enough, I don't know."

Hong San sighed, "I'm afraid only the intelligence agencies of various countries can make relatively accurate judgments. We know nothing about the power distribution within the Elf Council, so we have no way to deduce anything."

Kang De nodded. "Then, in your opinion, what should we do next?"

The voice was calm, yet as hard as steel.

He will perform a second Mass Projection if necessary.

Hong San understood Kang De's implied meaning and glanced at Kang De with some concern.

Then, with a sincere expression, he said, "Not for now, Your Highness. The arrow already on the bowstring is the most threatening. In the days to come, you will become the most dazzling star on this continent. You should continue to display a deterrent posture, but you should not act rashly."

"The Dusk Moon Dynasty is an unimaginably massive behemoth, so it needs time to react. Rashly launching an attack on another elven army, while potentially securing another great victory, could also push the Dusk Moon Dynasty's response to extremes."

"After all..."

He said softly, "In this war, Goth is undeniably the weaker party. For Goth now, the greatest victory is nothing more than the elves admitting defeat and withdrawing their troops. That's all they can do now. If they were to annihilate several more large elven legions, although it would be exhilarating, it would also create an even greater blood feud. After all, you must know that it's not just the elves who covet Goth, but also the empire to the east."

Kang De nodded silently.

"Therefore, my suggestion is to wait," Hong San said. "Make contact with Princess Tina and even the Goth court to gain their support, spread the news, and then wait for the Elf Expeditionary Force to come and negotiate. In the meantime, we also have many things to do; dealing with the corpses of the elven army is just one of them."

Kang De asked curiously, "Many things? What are they?"

"Actually, to be honest, there's only one."

Hong San stood up solemnly, took a step back, and bowed, saying, "I have laid the foundation for Your Highness's great undertaking."

"Huh?" Kang De asked, puzzled. "What?"

Hong San straightened up and said, "Your Highness, whether you like it or not, whether you want it or not, the endless stream of people coming every day to inquire, visit, and seek refuge has already shown this point—sooner or later, a vast military government will gradually be established around you."

"You alone are enough to pose a strategic deterrent to the world's major powers. Your absolute power will continue to attract ambitious and fanatical followers. This is an undeniable fact. As long as you exist in this world, you will forever change many things, even affecting a country's defense strategy."

"I can assure you that no matter what actions the Dusk Moon Dynasty takes next, they will also be plotting how to eliminate you, as will the Empire. Goth will do everything he can to win you over and protect you now, but he may have other ideas in the future. As for Cathay... once they confirm it, I'm afraid an imperial edict and countless rewards will cross the blockaded seas and reach the mainland, requesting you to return to serve your country."

"Even for the sake of self-preservation, you need to establish your own military government."

Hong San's words were earnest and sincere.

If anyone else had said such a thing, Kang De would have assumed they were ambitious and wanted to take advantage of the situation... but the speaker was Hong San.

The original Hong San was a good-for-nothing who was content with his lot, and the current Hong San would not become an ambitious person blinded by greed. The other party's eyes were clear and bright, without any hint of evasion or guilt.

Kang De paused for a moment, then said calmly, "I don't really care much about power, status, or enjoyment. As for safety, if I wanted to hide, even the elves and the empire couldn't find me."

"Of course I believe you have no interest in power, status, or beauty, and I also believe that the Empire and the Elves cannot harm you in the slightest. But Your Hong San, let me ask you one more question."

Hong San looked at Kang De as if he could see right through his soul.

Then he calmly said, "Your Highness, is your purpose in coming to Goth only to repel the elves and restore peace to Goth? Don't you have any other plans?"

Kang De's expression froze.

Don't let them be treated like cattle or sheep anymore.

Those despicable and pathetic people that night.

Every single word in Nick's letter.

Those lives born foolish, dying tragically, lives that could have been peaceful and joyful.

The brave people of Valentan who sacrificed their lives.

No one's life should be like this.

That day, he finally gained Akatum's approval and was able to use the Dragon God Power.

Mercy.

Hong San looked at him and bowed deeply. "This is why I follow you."

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PS1: Ah, after sorting things out, I've clarified many of my thoughts and confirmed the next ritual... Hmm, I didn't say anything.

PS2: Actually, the title of these two chapters should be "Valentan's Pair." After talking with Hong San, Kang De confirmed the next strategic policy and the macro-level strategic vision, laying the foundation for the establishment of [beep--], [beep--], and [beep--], which will be included in the textbook in the future. (winking)

PS3: Two updates tomorrow, I'm just happy.