Blessed by Abundance, A Scourge of Terra

"Let's forget it. It's not too late to talk tomorrow."

Teresis quietly left, his footsteps so light under the moonlight that they made no sound.

Just like that, Huang Cao avoided a true man's conversation.

Of course, with Lamian and Huang Cao's terrifying perception, Teresis's actions were no different from acting right in front of them.

"He's a troublesome man. I almost got roped into working for him. Talented people are treasures everywhere, after all."

Huang Cao sighed with feigned distress, making Lamian opposite him chuckle repeatedly.

"It seems our Young Master Huang has made a name for himself. How is your territory developing? Do you need any help?"

"Not for now, thank you, Sister Lamian. However, I'll be leading the sisters to prosperity soon. But please keep our secret for now."

"I know, of course. So I can only apologize to Little T. After all, we have to make a living."

Lamian had no intention of letting her people become a drain on this brother and sister.

It wasn't that the Banshee Royal Court Lord didn't love Kazdel, but even she had to consider her own people.

So she could only apologize to Theresia. At the very least, she needed to ensure the Banshees had enough resources to last until the next war ended.

Meanwhile, in Eden.

Night was the best time for Warfarin to handle official business. Perhaps it was the nourishment of love, but she had been particularly energetic lately.

It was almost enough to drive a certain cat crazy.

Kal'tsit: "If you don't sleep, I need to sleep too. I've never seen you this diligent before. Does getting 'plowed' change a person's personality?"

As one of the only two maids in the castle capable of handling official duties, she had to stand by whenever Warfarin was dealing with the territory's affairs.

"This letter seems to be from Yan Country, and this person appears to have a cooperative relationship with Huang Cao..."

Warfarin opened the envelope and saw a large Chinese character written on it.

Ji.

This person seemed to be the one who sold us the printing press last time. But didn't we already pay him? Is there something else?

Unlike Warfarin's confusion, Kal'tsit next to her had a peculiar look in her eyes upon seeing the character.

She seemed to know this man named Ji as well, but unfortunately, Warfarin didn't notice this look.

After carefully examining the contents of the envelope, it turned out there was nothing important, just a simple greeting.

And a small gift from Yan Country.

"To give without expecting anything in return is not proper etiquette. Huang Cao seemed to ask me to pay special attention to this Ji person. Is there something special about him?"

"Now that Acao isn't here, what should I send as a return gift?"

"Kal'tsit, you've lived a long time and are experienced. You must understand social etiquette better than I do."

"Theoretically, you should call me Kaitian Cat, not my real name. But fine, whatever my mistress wants to call me, so be it."

So she's not pretending anymore, huh? It seems there's no point in staying here any longer.

If I can't find the secret of this land in a few years, I'll find an opportunity to slip away...

If I stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll have my underwear stripped off.

Kaitian Cat took a deep breath and said, "People from Yan Country like subtlety. They value the thought behind the gift over its monetary worth. Anything too valuable runs the risk of getting lost on the way."

"Are we sending tea? All our tea is imported from Yan Country."

"No, I remember Master Huang saying a long time ago that if this merchant named Ji sends a letter and we need to send a return gift, we should pluck the leaves from the small tea tree planted in the flowerpot and send them to him."

Kal'tsit had a very good memory, and from these words, she could infer that Huang Cao definitely knew Ji's true identity. But what was so special about these tea leaves? They were just a bit greener than ordinary plants.

"It seems he did say that. In that case, let's send some leaves. They're not worth much anyway."

Although she didn't know why Acao wanted to send leaves, perhaps the understanding between men didn't require many words.

Warfarin had Kal'tsit package the leaves into an iron can and, the very next morning, had a Calamity Messenger passing through the territory deliver the can of tea to Yan Country.

Of course, Huang Cao had his own reasons for doing this. He wanted to test whether his Power of Abundance had any effect on Fiends.

After all, Fiends were a major plot point that had been left open. If Abundance proved ineffective, he would have to reconsider his future actions.

He just didn't know if Ji would bring these unprocessed tea leaves to the person who should receive them.

To ensure the effectiveness of the experiment, Huang Cao had said long ago when mentioning Ji:

"If we have the chance to send this man a letter in the future, try to include a bunch of wheat ears produced in our territory."

At this moment, Huang Cao, who was enjoying his breakfast, had already received the news that his tea had been sent out.

However, sending tea to Ji was not part of his physical being; it was just that the leaves carried the power of Abundance.

There will be another update this afternoon. 2

Chapter 53: Nizere: So this is how you fight a war?

The meeting the next day was much more normal.

Teresis presided over the meeting today. After yesterday's conversation, he felt that Huang Cao definitely had the talent to change the current situation.

So, he called on Huang Cao repeatedly during the meeting, bringing him up for every issue.

It was almost enough to make Huang Cao numb.

Remaining silent was not an option, and pretending to be crazy or foolish was too embarrassing.

Teresis: "Facing the invasion from Leithanian, how should we, as the weaker party, respond?"

Huang Cao: "...You, the one in charge of the military, are asking me? Who exactly is the commander-in-chief."

Teresis: "There's an idiom in Yan Country called 'gathering the wisdom of the masses.' I just want everyone to offer suggestions. Feel free to speak."

At the same time, Teacher T gave Nizere a look, signaling the ancient god of war not to display his brilliant intellect at this moment.

The latter understood and remained silent.

"Wars are, without exception, for profit. Leithanian doesn't have a prejudice against the Sarkaz; it simply covets the land of Kazdel."

"So, can you tell me if there have been any changes in the frequency of Leithanian's attacks recently?"

After much thought, someone decided to show off a little. After all, these people had probably already thought of this...

Probably...

Huang Cao certainly knew the frequency of Leithanian's recent attacks. This inquiry was merely to avoid suspicion.

Since there were no tables or anything of that sort available, Teresis directly recited the number of Leithanian attacks each month over several months.

From his words, everyone could tell that the number of Leithanian attacks was decreasing each month, while their offensives were becoming stronger.

Fortunately, the battlefields had always been on Sarkaz's homeland. Big T, Small T, and the assembled Lords of the Royal Court were all on the front lines holding the line, so they hadn't suffered any defeats until now.

However, the fighting had been extremely difficult. After all, fighting on one's own territory meant the greatest losses were always borne by the defenders, while the attackers suffered no substantial damage.

"Nizere, do you know why Kazdel's economic situation is so dire right now?"

"Because of the war, we have no time for development. All resources must be supplied to the front lines," Nizere replied, his voice deep and authoritative, tinged with anger.

"Do you have a map?" Huang Cao asked.

Huang Cao didn't believe his military talent could compare to Nizere's, but sometimes even the Lords of the Royal Court could get stuck in a rut.

Being strong in offense didn't necessarily mean being strong in defense.

Leithanian's every attack was a war of attrition, depleting Kazdel's resource reserves.

Theoretically, both sides were depleting resources, but Leithanian consistently consumed less than Kazdel.

Therefore, Leithanian intended to drag Kazdel down through this method.

"Those goats do have that plan, but this is ultimately our land, and we have no room to retreat."

How could Nizere not know?

Throughout the endless years, this old man had fought countless arduous battles. He could naturally see that Leithanian was fighting a war of attrition.

But currently, the only method the Royal Courts had was to fight head-on. They couldn't just hand over their land.

"Fighting head-on is the most foolish choice! And this is the main point I'm about to discuss."

Huang Cao pulled over the map and circled Kazdel with a pen.

"Nizere, the wars of attrition you fought before were when there was no room to retreat. But in this war of attrition, we have a lot of room for maneuver."

"In my opinion, Kazdel itself is the best barrier. If Leithanian wants land, we'll give them land that has absolutely no value."

"The tactic I'm about to introduce to you all is guerrilla warfare. Listen carefully as I explain."

"Leithanian troops advance quickly. This is a disadvantage for us, but it can also be turned into an advantage."

"The essence of this tactic is to let the enemy win while gaining no supplies. Before the battle, move all resources that can be obtained near the battlefield inland."

"At the same time, create an appearance of imminent defeat. Once you see Leithanian getting overconfident, immediately retreat and lure their elite troops deep into Kazdel. Due to their rapid advance..."

Nizere's eyes widened in realization: "If their main force advances too quickly, Leithanian's supply lines will be stretched thin... We can take this opportunity to..."

"As expected of the God of War, your thoughts are swift. This is the essence of guerrilla warfare."

"Without supplies, the army has only two options: advance or retreat."

Nizere: "Moreover, since the main battlefield is in Kazdel, we are more familiar with the terrain than the enemy.

Even their every move can be exposed to us. As long as they are within our territory, we can seize the advantage before Leithanian does anything."

Huang Cao nodded, "Facing a powerful enemy, one of the necessary conditions for victory is to make them pay a terrible price for every step they take forward!"

"The essence of this tactic can be summarized in a few words: when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we harass."

"However, this tactic requires a very high caliber of soldiers. Whether it succeeds will depend on Nizere's command. I am merely providing a method."

Why didn't I think of this before?

Warfare can be fought like this!

Nizere looked at the young man with eyes full of admiration.

Could he not have thought of this method? Not at all. He certainly could have, but he had simply never tried it before.

The Sarkaz, driven by hatred, couldn't accept such a shameful fighting style in their hearts, only thinking of striking the enemy head-on, blow by blow.

As they fought, they got carried away, all their strategies revolving around offense.

Retreat? What was retreat?

The word "retreat" simply didn't exist in Nizere's dictionary.

Due to the Sarkaz's ever-shrinking territory throughout history, even down to just the capital during Kal'tsit's invasion, they had virtually no strategic depth.

But now, things were different.

While Kazdel hadn't reclaimed all its land, its current territory was thousands of times larger than its worst period.

This was precisely why Leithanian had been coveting it for so long.

Such a vast territory, coupled with the periodically erupting natural disasters, was enough to create crisscrossing terrain.

This terrain served as natural strategic depth; if the Leithanian army dared to invade, they would be annihilated under this fighting style.

However, at this point, Dukare voiced a concern: "But what if the Leithanian commander sees through our plan, what then?"

Huang Cao replied without hesitation, "That's why we need to create the illusion that we're about to collapse and are preparing for one last desperate push."

"Once we lure the Leithanian army deeper into our territory, their forces will observe the lack of resources near the border and will surely assume we're already depleted."

"Our sudden, fierce counterattack will undoubtedly cause the Leithanian commander to mobilize a large number of elite troops, soldiers who crave honor and military achievements more than anyone else."

"If we deliberately expose a weakness, these individuals will be met with the opportunity to capture the capital. How could they possibly pass up a chance to make history?"

"Moreover, judging by the frequency and intensity of Leithanian's attacks, their commander is likely on the verge of breaking, eager only for a swift victory. No one can resist the temptation of honor and wealth."

Leithania's current commander, facing a Kazdel that refused to fall, had likely been under immense pressure from the nobles above them these past few days.

Therefore, this was a game of strategy.

War was not merely a contest of strength between two sides, but also a gamble on guessing the opponent's psychology.