Hero Side Quest!

The Han Empire the nose ring spoke passionately, but it was all for naught; Bai Xiaowen didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

Ramses raised his hand, and the murmurs among the crowd ceased abruptly. He looked at Bai Xiaowen and asked, "Where did you get that Hittites head?"

"It's about thirty miles south of Bela Valley," Bai Xiaowen said.

These words drew another gasp. The Hittites had secretly come to a place only thirty miles from the Pharaoh? They were practically within reach, and the Pharaoh was in constant danger.

"I believe your intelligence," Ramses said in a deep voice. "It seems that the two Bedouins nomads who surrendered to us were Hittites assassins; they came to us willingly to provide false information. Samp! Go and tie those two up."

Samp, the Han Empire with the golden nose ring, acknowledged the request, bowed, and withdrew.

"All of you, step back two hundred paces." Ramses looked around at the Egypt nobles and generals.

"But what about your safety...?"

"These two men alone cannot kill me. I am the earthly Incarnation of Amun-Ra!" Ramses' words brimmed with confidence. "Moreover, with my personal guards present, my safety is assured. You may all step back; I want to have a proper talk with these two."

After a series of footsteps, only Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and the Pharaoh remained face to face. As for the Pharaoh's personal guards, they were absolutely loyal to him and would not leak secrets, so they could be treated as non-existent.

"Your performance has surprised me greatly— Samp told me that the Hittites was of high status, at least the commander of a thousand-man unit! How did the two of you manage to kill him?" Ramses asked. "Just who are you? Ordinary soldiers could never have done this."

Bai Xiaowen had done her homework before matching the Ancient Egypt Plane.

"We come from the Memphis Temple, are followers of the great Serapis, and have enlisted as hunters."

"The Divine Bull Serapis?" Ramses glanced at Bai Xiaowen and his companion again. When did the followers of the Memphis Temple acquire such formidable fighting power?

However, Bai Xiaowen had explained his origins. The Pharaoh continued, "..."

"Why did High Priest Sammet declare you traitors through a temple decree?"

That gets to the point.

Bai Xiaowen: "Because Commander Sammet doesn't want us to inform you of the Hittites ' plot."

Seeing Ramses's furrowed brow, Bai Xiaowen continued to embellish the story, "After I captured the two Hittites scouts and learned of Hittites plot, I immediately reported it to Lord Sammet. His reaction, however, was not to send a messenger to warn you, but to suppress the news and take the two Hittites prisoners away. Not long after, the great Serapis told me that the two Hittites prisoners had been secretly executed by Lord Sammet..."

"My companions and I, worried about the Pharaoh's safety, chose to voluntarily leave the army and cross the river. But before we could cross the Orontes River, we were ambushed by a mysterious and powerful assassin."

Bai Xiaowen was telling the truth, but he subtly used some words that did not show any clear bias.

In fact, Ramses quickly assessed the situation without Bai Xiaowen's prompting.

"What a restless little brother... Luckily, I didn't trust him completely. What's your name?"

"My name is Dio, the great Pharaoh."

Bai Xiaowen found it both unexpected and yet perfectly logical that Sammet was Ramses's brother. There was a reason why Sammet had risen to such a high position at such a young age.

"Dio, I admire your bravery and wisdom. I was too gullible this time. You have corrected my mistake and done a great service," Ramses said. "Swear allegiance to me, and I will give you everything you desire."

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Thanks to Ramses II's acceptance, you have returned to the Ancient Egypt camp, and the hostile relationship has been dissolved."

"Your reputation with the Ancient Egypt faction has increased significantly; your current reputation level is: Honored."

"You have received an additional 1500 merit points."

"The Ancient Egypt Pharaoh Ramses II's Affection Level towards you has increased; current Affection Level level: Acquaintance."

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi exchanged a quick glance, both feeling exhilarated. This time, they had broken through a Hittites camp and killed a Hittites general commanding 1,500 men, and the rewards they had received were quite substantial.

The extra rewards of esteemed reputation and Merit Points are secondary; Ramses, as the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, is truly invaluable in terms of his Affection Level.

Therefore, it can be seen that sometimes, even without generating Spirit Realm quest, awakened individuals who take initiative and make corresponding contributions to their faction will eventually receive something similar to a quest reward.

Of course, if possible, it's better to accept and complete the mission, as it rewards both personal combat experience and squad experience.

"What do you think we should do now?"

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment and said, "Great Pharaoh, please forgive my bluntness, but Lord Sammet is no longer trustworthy, and we must also guard against the defection of the Ptah Legion. You should now send messengers to inform the other two legions to join you. You can lead the Amun Legion to retreat. Once the three legions are united, we can fight a direct battle with the Hittites."

Ramses said, "Sammet dares not openly point his spear at me, and the soldiers of the Ptah Legion will not follow him in rebellion to kill the Pharaoh. I know this brother very well; his plan is to use the Hittites to kill me, and then return home in the name of revenge to rightfully inherit my throne."

"If Sammet openly betrays Egypt, he will be condemned for all time, my prime minister and ministers will avenge me, and he will have no chance of becoming pharaoh."

"If I were defeated and fled, Sammet might secretly kill me with his trusted guards, but the defection of the entire Ptah Legion is absolutely impossible."

At this point, Ramses said, "I have no intention of retreating. The other two Hittites legions have not yet arrived. I want to launch a preemptive attack on the Halab Legion to open up the north-south road! Dio, I hope you and your companions can urgently send messages to the Ra Legion and Set Legion respectively, urging them to march north and join us. I want to have a decisive battle with the Hittites at the Kadesh City!"

The Ra Legion and the Set Legion are two other Egypt legions. Egypt liked to use the names of gods as legion names, believing that this would bring them divine protection and ensure victory in every battle.

Bai Xiaowen received a notification for Elite Tier side quest: The Messenger. The difficulty level of the messenger quest is C-Tier.

"A C-Tier Elite Tier mission..."

Bai Xiaowen shook her head.

"Great Pharaoh, please allow me to refuse this mission. My companions and I will remain by your side until you are safe!" Bai Xiaowen said righteously.

Ramses frowned and said, "If you truly intend to help me win this war, you should obey my orders!"

"No, the outcome of this war is not important to me; what matters is the Pharaoh's safety. The decree I received from the Memphis Temple is to protect the Pharaoh at all costs," Bai Xiaowen said calmly. "Even the Pharaoh's brother is disloyal, and I cannot trust the Pharaoh's guards... Please allow us to stay by your side and protect you until the end of this war."

Ramses pondered for a moment.

"You don't want to deliver messages and want to stay by my side, that's good. However, in the upcoming war, I will assign you even more dangerous missions, and when necessary, you will even be needed to charge into battle and break through the enemy's defenses! Can you do that and obey orders?"

Sending these two warriors to deliver a message... seems a bit of a waste of their talents. After all, these are two Hero Tier who can single-handedly storm a camp and kill Hittites general. They should be able to play a greater role on the front lines of battle. This was Ramses II's thought.

Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "Of course."

The Spirit Realm Rules notification message came again:

"Hero Side Quest: The Return of the Pharaoh, now open."

"[Mission Objective: Protect Ramses II until he returns to Amurru Fortress or captures Kadesh City.]"

"[Mission Deadline: None (equivalent to your remaining time in this plane).]"

[Task Difficulty: C]

"[Task Reward: Unknown.]"

Upon hearing this task notification, Bai Xiaowen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, you've just been through a fierce battle, go and rest now. The attack on the Hittites will begin at dawn." After Ramses II finished speaking, he gestured for the Egypt nobles and officers of the Amun Legion, who were two hundred paces away, to come over for a pre-battle meeting.

Li Shuyi and Bai Xiaowen walked side by side to a secluded corner of the valley and sat down cross-legged to rest.

Li Shuyi asked in the Team Channel, "Why did you decide to refuse that courier quest? It's strange that a Heroic Tier quest suddenly popped up afterward. Was all of this part of your plan?"

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't refuse a mission from a faction's final boss like Ramses. The reason I didn't accept the messenger mission is because I don't want to be far from the main battlefield. I have a concern... if we leave, Ramses II might very well be killed in battle!"

Once Ramses II is killed in battle, all of Bai Xiaowen's efforts to cultivate Affection Level will be in vain, and his plan to investigate the Silent Tongue by leveraging Ramses II's power will also be aborted.

Therefore, Pharaoh absolutely cannot die, and at least Bai Xiaowen cannot die before investigating the Silent Tongue.

"Why this concern? You said it yourself, Ramses II was a great ruler who lived to be over ninety years old..."

"That's just history, this is the Spirit Realm Plane. Putting aside all the unexpected events, just that Zhalun... is enough for us to take seriously. Think about it, there are more than one powerful Awakened One trying to use this opportunity to kill Ramses and reap huge profits... How dangerous is that? If we leave him alone, he really will die."

Li Shuyi nodded.

Looking at Ramses and the others holding a pre-battle meeting beside the huge campfire, Li Shuyi said softly, "They actually excluded you... it's a real shame. If you were in command of this battle, I think the Egypt army's chances of winning would increase by at least 30%."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "After all, we're newcomers who have just been cleared of being labeled traitors. It's understandable that the other side wouldn't let us participate in such military secrets. Besides, I actually don't want the Egypt army to win a great victory and capture Kadesh City. That would be very detrimental to my subsequent plans..."

In the latter half of the night, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi followed the Amun Legion and quietly set off, making their way towards the southern road, to the ambush position of the Hittite Kingdom's Halab Legion.

In fact, this was not a successful Ambush —after Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's assault, the Halab Legion realized that the Egypt army might attack at any time and set up more thorough reconnaissance posts.

At dawn, the sentries of the Halab Legion spotted the Egypt forces ahead of time. Although the sentries were shot dead Yi-Yi, they still blew the Magic Stone Whistle, and the piercing alarm sounded throughout the dark wilderness.

The Hittites quickly regrouped, and squadrons of Hittites cavalry charged out of their camp, clashing head-on with the Egypt army on the open plains of West Asia. A cacophony of battle cries erupted, blood splattered, adding a heavy, bloody hue to the night.

Although Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's Life Value and Divine Might had been fully restored, they were not in their best condition. Half of Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures were dead, and several of Li Shuyi's ultimate skills equipped by her gear were on cooldown.

In this situation, the two chose to keep a low profile—of course, this low profile was relative; they simply avoided causing trouble for the Boss Tier and instead targeted the Hittites Elite Tier officers, catching them one by one.

In particular, Bai Xiaowen took advantage of his ranged attacks. When he saw a Hittites Elite Tier officer with low health, he would finish him off with a shot. Whether he could kill him or not, the Soul Essence would still be credited to his account. If he could also get one or two treasure chests, he would be even happier.

Looking at the battlefield where 20,000 people were fighting, Bai Xiaowen sighed inwardly. On a battlefield of this size, even an individual with top-tier Awakened strength wouldn't dare to act recklessly. This was the difficulty of large-scale warfare. If the Ancient Egypt Plane was already like this, then one could only imagine how terrifying the Ancient China Plane, which was even more widely known, must be.

Although Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi killed many Hittites Elite Tier officers, their impact on the outcome of a battle involving tens of thousands of people was still too small. The two sides fought fiercely from dawn until morning without a clear victor.

The Amun Legion, personally led by the Pharaoh, was undoubtedly superior in manpower and combat strength, but the Hittites held the advantage of superior equipment. Although the Halab Legion was gradually Suppression, the slave soldiers' desperate counterattacks inflicted heavy losses on the Amun Legion.

Bai Xiaowen glanced discreetly at Ramses on the Golden Chariot not far away. The pharaoh didn't even blink, calmly watching the battlefield strewn with corpses, watching his warriors fall like grass. Perhaps this was the true nature of a Master Tier, whose achievements were forged from bones.

Waaah--

Suddenly, a horn sounded from the northern Kadesh City.