Lin Taichu looked at the familiar faces in the water mirror, his fists clenched until they crackled. In the end, he loosened them. He knew there was no point in confronting them head-on now. He could only go along with King Bai Ze's wishes for the time being.
"I agree." Lin Taichu's voice was low, betraying no emotion. "But I have one condition. The Vanguard Camp must be made up of my former subordinates, and I alone will handle their training and deployment."
King Bai Ze raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, but quickly nodded. "Fine. As long as you take Sunset City on schedule, everything will be as you say."
He was counting on exactly that. Lin Taichu's subordinates were already familiar with military affairs; having them serve as the vanguard would improve their odds of victory. Besides, he felt that even if Lin Taichu had other intentions, he only had so few men that he could not cause much trouble.
Early the next morning, Lin Taichu went to the barracks. He had more than two hundred former subordinates, who had been assigned to the right camp of the Protectorate Army. Though they had not been treated badly, none of them had much spirit.
When the soldiers saw Lin Taichu enter, they all froze. Their eyes held both surprise and confusion. Zhao Hu and Qian Ming pushed through the crowd and approached, lowering their voices. "Commander, why are you here? Could it be that you really mean to..."
Lin Taichu patted their shoulders, signaling for them to stay calm. Then he climbed onto the high platform in the middle of the training ground and looked at the soldiers below. "Starting today, you will be organized under me into the Vanguard Camp and prepare to attack Sunset City."
A commotion immediately