Legion Planning

The rolling waters of the Yangtze River flow eastward.

This line comes from the poem Immortal at the River by Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty, which was famously used as the opening theme for the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms television series.

Chen Xi could even sing the next line:

"The waves wash away all the heroes."

Upon hearing this, Qi Fei smiled slightly.

Chen Xi, however, wore a complex expression.

The strange reactions of the two naturally drew the attention of everyone else present.

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The gazes of the others shifted back and forth between the two, unable to fathom the nature of their relationship for a moment.

"My apologies, Lord Xuande, but could you allow me to speak with Zihong alone?"

Chen Xi requested of Liu Bei.

"Of course."

Seeing the troubled look on Chen Xi's face, Liu Bei naturally could not bring himself to refuse.

"You two talk for a while; I shall go see to the preparations for a banquet to welcome Zihong."

With that, Liu Bei pulled the bewildered Guan, Zhang, and Zhao away.

As soon as the four had left, Chen Xi wanted to start questioning Qi Fei.

But Qi Fei gestured for him to be silent, simultaneously using his mental power to isolate the two from the outside world to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

Only after doing all this did Qi Fei say to Chen Xi:

"Alright, we can talk now."

"Are you also from over there?"

Chen Xi asked impatiently.

"Yes."

Qi Fei nodded.

Upon hearing the answer, Chen Xi opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Now that he had received a definitive answer, he found himself at a loss for what to say next.

"I came over in '14, when did you arrive?"

After a long silence, Chen Xi finally asked.

"I'm from '25."

Qi Fei answered truthfully.

"Then... how are things back home?"

Chen Xi hesitated for a moment before asking.

Qi Fei knew Chen Xi would ask this question.

Looking at the original novel as a whole, what drove Chen Xi's actions was never the grand hegemony of Liu Bei or anyone else.

It was the desire to see the Huaxia nation stand at the pinnacle of the world.

In the original work, he had publicly shared farming methods to increase yields and medicinal formulas to treat plagues with others.

Even though these actions would strengthen rival warlords and introduce more uncertainty into his own future.

Chen Xi did it anyway.

He did it to prevent the tragedy of the late Han to the two Jin dynasties, where the population plummeted by nearly eighty percent.

"Although there are some minor difficulties, the overall situation is stable and improving; meanwhile, our rivals have made quite a few jokes of themselves."

For instance, things like Brexit or the Paris Olympics.

Not to mention the Americans, who are practically tearing themselves apart from within.

"That's good, that's good."

Chen Xi sighed repeatedly.

"Oh, and by my time, the 'Italy' stuff had become a complete joke; there were even video bloggers who would read their articles every day just to roast them."

Qi Fei shared another piece of good news with Chen Xi.

"That stuff was always a joke, wasn't it? Surviving a blade through the heart—where did these superhumans even come from?"

Although Chen Xi was complaining, he couldn't hide the joy in his eyes.

In their time, such nonsensical propaganda was rampant.

Because most people lacked channels to access information from abroad, they were easily deceived by these bizarre magazines.

Knowing now that those who came after had dismantled such tactics truly put him in a pleasant mood.

Afterward, the two of them complained together about the various bizarre articles found on the internet.

For a time, the tent was filled with laughter and joy.

Once the laughter subsided, the two finally began to discuss serious matters.

"Zihong, what is the true purpose of your journey?"

Chen Xi asked earnestly.

"Just as you see it: to join Lord Xuande, or to put it bluntly, to join you."

Qi Fei said candidly.

"Me?"

Chen Xi looked skeptical.

It wasn't that he doubted the truth of Qi Fei's words, but rather that he doubted his own abilities.

His skills had yet to be tested in practice, so he lacked a clear understanding of his own level.

"I actually have some understanding of the capabilities of people like us."

What Qi Fei actually wanted to say wasn't "people like us," but rather Chen Xi's specific talents.

But it wasn't the time to say that yet, so he had to phrase it this way.

"Tell me, if the two of us were to clash, what would be the outcome for the common people of this world?"

Qi Fei stared straight at Chen Xi.

"I fear it would be a hundred times more tragic than it already is."

Chen Xi's expression inevitably turned sorrowful.

Even if he calculated it based solely on his own standards, he could only arrive at a rather desperate conclusion.

Not to mention that the opposing side clearly held an advantage in terms of martial talent.

"I think so too, which is why I came."

Qi Fei spread his hands.

"...Aren't you afraid?"

Chen Xi asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Afraid of what?"

Qi Fei countered.

"That I might strike at you."

Chen Xi replied.

"I'm not afraid, because you wouldn't do that."

Qi Fei's answer was as decisive as iron hitting stone.

"Because I have to consider the reputation of Lord Xuande?"

Perhaps due to his agitation, Chen Xi's voice rose slightly.

"That is indeed part of the reason, but more than that, I am willing to place my trust in you."

If Qi Fei couldn't even trust Chen Xi, then there wouldn't be many protagonists in web novels worth trusting at all.

"If—and I mean if—you eventually find out that you trusted the wrong person?"

Chen Xi asked, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Then I'll just start over from the beginning."

Qi Fei said nonchalantly.

In any case, as long as they didn't kill him right now, Qi Fei would always have a chance to turn the tables.

"..."

Chen Xi fell into silence.

The sheer level of blunt, absolute trust Qi Fei showed truly shocked him.

"Brother, stop thinking about all that messy stuff."

Qi Fei said, patting Chen Xi on the shoulder.

"In your time, most transmigrators in various works liked to be the sole supreme ruler; we are different—cooperation and mutual benefit are the norm."

Even Tang, who was always regarded as being in the gutter, had people trying to pull him back onto the right path.

Not to mention those protagonists who were normal people to begin with.

"It seems the internet environment of later generations is much better than it was in our time."

Chen Xi said with a smile after hearing Qi Fei's words.

"Uh..."

Qi Fei's expression froze as if someone had hit the pause button.

"It didn't get even worse, did it?"

Chen Xi noticed something was wrong the moment he saw Qi Fei's expression.

"Yeah."

Qi Fei silently replied with a single word.

"...Forget it, we won't be able to see it anyway, so let it be worse."

Chen Xi sighed helplessly.

Even if things got worse, it wasn't something they, as transmigrators, could manage.

"Let's talk about business. If you have any thoughts on our future development direction, feel free to tell me."

Chen Xi happened to be feeling melancholy about not finding suitable civil officials to handle administrative affairs.

Having a fellow transmigrator to discuss things with would be perfect.

"Just follow your own train of thought for this; I'm not good at these things."

Qi Fei spoke up immediately.

Are you kidding? Who wants to discuss development issues with you?

You're even more overpowered than someone with a resource cheat; discussing this with you would just be asking for humiliation.

"I was an orthopedic surgeon before I transmigrated, and after arriving here, I only have a slight talent in the field of the Military School. By the way, I also brought you a gift."

Afraid that Chen Xi would find work for him, Qi Fei said this at lightning speed.

"?"

Chen Xi was a bit dazed by this rapid-fire output.

"Does Zichuan know which troop type is most suitable for people like us in this world?"

Qi Fei asked.

"Please enlighten me, Zihong."

Chen Xi had a habit: he let professionals handle professional matters.

As long as he didn't understand an industry, he wouldn't speak rashly.

"I assume Zichuan has noticed that it's impossible to develop firearms in this world."

Qi Fei brought up this issue first.

At the very least, gunpowder weapons were impossible for the time being.

"Huh?"

Chen Xi had only transmigrated recently and hadn't researched such content yet.

So, Qi Fei started from the beginning to explain the reason to him.

This world possessed a unique technology called Nurturing, which used Internal Qi and Cloud Qi to significantly increase the durability of objects.

A full barrel of black powder couldn't even blow up a barrel that had been through Nurturing, let alone armor made of steel.

And Nurturing could not increase the instantaneous energy output of gunpowder.

This meant that early-stage firearms would basically be ineffective.

At the very least, one would need anti-materiel equipment from the World War II era to cause any damage to the weakest cannon fodder.

As for regular troops with talents, one would probably have to bombard them head-on with artillery for a while.

It wasn't that the power of the artillery would kill them, but that prolonged heating could break the structure reinforced by Nurturing.

This would cause them to lose the defense provided by their equipment.

As for those higher-tier legions, one could only bombard them continuously with large-area weapons like fuel-air bombs.

Perhaps one could kill them by relying on prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Of course, the prerequisite for using this equipment was that there had to be Cloud Qi on this side as well.

Without Cloud Qi, there would be no need for a legion to step in; a single martial general could tear this place apart all by himself.

Chen Xi fell into silence after listening to Qi Fei's description.

He felt as if the heavens were targeting him.

The thing transmigrators were best at—using modern equipment to beat up the locals—was off the table.

"Don't worry."

Qi Fei said loudly.

"I have prepared a troop type for you in advance that can convert productivity into combat power."

At this moment, he looked like a divine soldier descending from the heavens.

"Ta-da! The former Huangfu Personal Guards, whose talent is Self-Adaptation, with the effect of adapting to various unfavorable factors."

Qi Fei said in the tone of Doraemon.

"Then how are they supposed to convert productivity into combat power?"

Chen Xi asked, playing along.

"Heh heh, they don't just adapt to all kinds of damage; they can even adapt to their own load-bearing capacity."

Qi Fei explained to Chen Xi.

"Under the Cloud Qi, they can fight while carrying equipment equal to their own body weight."

"One hundred and fifty jin can easily beat up a single-talent soldier, one hundred and eighty jin can go toe-to-toe with a double-talent, and two hundred jin is definitely top-tier Imperial Guard material."

Yet the Huangfu Personal Guards themselves only possess a single talent, and the training difficulty is extremely low.

"Wait a second, what are these single-talent and double-talent things?"

Chen Xi asked, puzzled.

"Do you know about Elite Talent?"

Qi Fei had almost forgotten that the Han Dynasty didn't have this classification system at this point in time.

"I do."

Chen Xi had at least been hanging around Liu Bei for a while now, and he had seen the special powers among the soldiers.

"You don't mean to say that this 'one' or 'two' refers to the number of talents, do you?"

He realized it in an instant.

"That's exactly it. Aside from a few special legions, basically everyone can be classified this way."

Qi Fei nodded.

Some special legions, for example, the Wolf Cavalry.

If they had ten effects for a single talent, would that make them a ten-talent legion?

That would be pure nonsense.

Legions with such special characteristics generally can only be classified according to their combat power level.

"In my view, a single talent is a Regular Soldier, which anyone who understands military affairs can train."

It just depends on whether what is trained meets one's own needs.

"A double talent is an elite, and basically, they have to be Veterans with over ten battles under their belts to potentially promote."

Even someone like Huangfu Song, who is already among the top commanders in the world, can only guide the qualities the soldiers already possess.

To train them directly from scratch, you would at least need to be a figure on the level of the Four Sages of the Military School.

Even Han Xin, if he wanted to train soldiers of this level, would require them to have at least some combat experience.

--Of course, it's not impossible that this old... old guy just couldn't be bothered and was slacking off.

"A triple talent is the Imperial Essence, and it is also the limit of the current environment."

For a long time, even top-tier empires like the Han Dynasty and Rome could not afford to lose soldiers of this level.

They belong to the truly top-tier military units in the literal sense.

In addition to these three titles, there are also Imperial Guard, Army Soul, and Miracle.

The Imperial Guard is clearly stronger than a standard double-talent, but weaker than a triple-talent.

However, because their formation method is somewhat different from directly acquiring talents, they are classified separately.

The average quality of an Army Soul is slightly worse than a triple-talent, but relying on their special abilities, they can easily trade blows with a triple-talent.

Besides their respective special ultimate moves, Army Soul has three major advantages.

The first is resistance to death.

The second is relying on the power of the Army Soul to quickly convert soldiers to replenish their ranks.

The third is relying on the power of the Army Soul to continuously create Imperial Guard units.

The Miracle Legion is the most outrageous of them all.

The strength of other legions is generally below the world's limit, while the Miracle Legion breaks through that limit.

They belong to the strongest combat power among individual legions.

Qi Fei explained all the various legion settings from God Three to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi listened with a look of astonishment on his face.

Damn, I originally thought the generals were already outrageous enough, but it turns out the soldiers have so many tricks up their sleeves too.

"Wait, you said earlier that a one-hundred-and-eighty-jin Huangfu Personal Guard can fight a double-talent; does that refer to a single-talent Huangfu Personal Guard?"

Chen Xi suddenly realized.

Soldiers that others have to die on the battlefield to forge, they can train themselves.

This advantage is not just a little bit significant.

"Otherwise, why do you think I prepared this gift?"

Qi Fei asked in return.

Not only that, the survival rate of the Huangfu Personal Guards is also far higher than that of ordinary soldiers.

If you throw tens of thousands of soldiers onto the battlefield, even without losing a battle, having half of them left after a few years of fighting would be considered excellent emergency work.

But the Huangfu Personal Guards are different; with heavy armor and the Adaptive Talent, this thing only gets tankier over time.

As long as you don't do anything reckless, losing even ten percent would only happen on an imperial-level battlefield.

As Qi Fei explained this advantage, Chen Xi's eyes began to shine.

"Good, good, this suits my heart perfectly."

He just loves this kind of wall-like troop type that can be linked to productivity while having off-the-charts survivability.

"It's just a pity that there is another troop type very suitable for us that I cannot get my hands on."

Qi Fei sighed.

But Chen Xi was exceptionally delighted.

There are actually even better experts?

"Zihong, speak clearly, and I will find a way."

Chen Xi said immediately.

"Does Zichuan know that under Dong Zhuo, there is an Army Soul known as the Flying Bear Army?"

Qi Fei asked.