Chapter 36: The Northern Expedition!
Humiliation!
This was nothing less than a lifelong disgrace for him and the Star Luo Empire!
As the emperor of a defeated nation, Dai Haochen had not only signed a humiliating treaty ceding territory and paying reparations.
Paying a vast sum in war reparations was bad enough, but he had also been forced to sign a military restriction treaty and cede the Huwei Mountain Range, a hundred miles from Star Luo City, to the Great Ming Empire as a residence for the Ming Army stationed in Star Luo.
In modern terms, it was a military base—a base where Great Ming would station troops within the Star Luo Empire.
Great Ming had chosen the site only after careful consideration.
In fact, the Huwei Mountain Range and the Great God Lake Defense Line lay on the same point, along a straight line.
Just like the Great God Lake Defense Line, it was only a little over a hundred kilometers from the Star Luo Empire's capital, Star Luo City.
That was why Xu Nian'an had chosen this location.
Of course, if Xu Nian'an hadn't dropped a nuclear bomb on the Great God Lake Defense Line and contaminated the area, building a military base there would have been even better, and it would have been easy to keep the Star Luo Empire in check.
But what was done was done. Although the Huwei Mountain Range had the drawback of being close to Moers Province in the east of the Star Luo Empire, it was still more than capable of keeping the empire in check.
Bang!!!
"Damn it, you bastards! You've made me suffer the deepest humiliation. This is a disgrace to the empire!!!!!"
Inside the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
After Xu Nian'an and the Daming Army withdrew from the palace, the Star Luo Empire's emperor, Dai Haochen, flew into a rage.
They had lost.
The war the Star Luo Empire had started had ended in defeat.
What Dai Haochen found hardest to endure was that he had lost to a country that had been a mere kingdom just a year ago—and had been an empire for less than three months.
That it had been an empire for less than three months was bad enough. The worst part was that the Star Luo Empire hadn't been the only empire fighting Great Ming.
The Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire had joined forces to attack Great Ming. The Star Luo Empire had led the assault, only to be defeated in less than a month.
One billion in war reparations!!!
What did that even mean?
It would take the Star Luo Empire centuries to pay off one billion.
At the thought of the wealth the Star Luo Empire had accumulated over the years—150 million of which Great Ming had just plundered—Dai Haochen felt a pang of heartache after another.
"Send word... Go... Go to the Great God Lake and bring Zhu Ya back to me."
"Damn that bastard! How did he defend the Great God Lake Defense Line? How could he... how could he let the Ming Army surround Star Luo City?"
"Tell him to get his ass back here!!!"
Dai Haochen was furious.
One hundred and fifty million was no small sum.
That much money was practically ninety-nine percent of the Star Luo Empire's entire fortune.
With so much money suddenly taken away by Great Ming, the Star Luo Empire's economy would take at least ten years to recover, if not longer.
Not long after Dai Haochen's order was passed down,
a flurry of hurried footsteps suddenly rang through the great hall of the palace.
"Report!!! Report!!! Urgent dispatch from a hundred miles away!"
A short while later, a guard in black armor came running in, his face deathly pale.
"B-Bad news, Your Majesty!"
Seeing the man's panicked state, Dai Haochen's gaze sharpened.
For some reason, unease welled up inside him.
Wasn't this the man he'd sent out last night to investigate the strange goings-on at the Great God Lake Defense Line?
What had...
"Your Majesty, it's gone. It's all gone! The seven hundred thousand troops at the Great God Lake Defense Line, the entire defense line, and even the whole Great God Lake... they've all been... leveled!"
The moment he finished speaking, the guard's eyes bulged and blood poured from his orifices. He dropped to his knees.
In an instant, he lost control of his body and collapsed unconscious.
"Physician!!!"
"Physician!!!"
Buzz, buzz!!!
Dai Haochen's head was ringing.
He had been somewhat prepared for the possibility that Great Ming's elite troops could slip past the Great God Lake Defense Line without a sound and surround Star Luo City.
For instance, Great Ming might have split its forces in two, with one half holding the front line while the other took a detour to launch a surprise attack.
But he had never imagined that Great Ming had wiped out all eight hundred thousand of his troops.
Wiping them out was bad enough, but they had also leveled the front line—and an enormous reservoir, the lake itself.
Even now, Dai Haochen still clung to a faint, unrealistic hope.
The situation was stacked against him, so he had thought that he could sign the humiliating treaty, gather his forces again later, join the Heaven Dou Army, and launch a counteroffensive.
Deep down, he had still been praying that the northern battlefield would go well and yield a favorable result.
After all, only if the Great Ming Empire lost could he reclaim his territory.
Only then could he get his Gold Soul Coins back—and avoid paying those ten billion in war reparations.
But it was all just a fantasy of his own!
A defeated nation was, in the end, still a defeated nation.
[ Ding, congratulations, host, you have completed the main quest...! ] [ Congratulations, host. You have received: Level 9 Soul Tool Peacemaker Little Girl blueprints. Patriot missile, North Wind! First-Class Faction Summoning Card. (Limited to this world) Eight-hundred-thousand-year adaptive Soul Ring!]
On the other side, inside a luxurious carriage escorted by the Ming Army, Xu Nian'an took a moment to claim the rewards for the system's main quest.
"Holy crap, system, did you pocket some of my rewards?"
Looking at the rewards, Xu Nian'an was honestly a little speechless.
Why did the rewards keep getting worse?
Xu Nian'an couldn't make sense of it.
[ Ding... The difficulty of a quest determines the value of its rewards. The system believes that protecting one's own territory is a ruler's responsibility. ]
Seeing the system's explanation, Xu Nian'an blushed.
All right, that did make sense.
When he had founded the empire, the rewards had included special items befitting an empire.
It was only natural that the rewards had been more generous then.
Besides, this time's rewards weren't actually bad. They just paled in comparison to what he'd gotten before.
All right, all right. After half a month of hard work, he'd finally gotten his fourth Soul Ring.
As soon as he returned to Xingyao City, Xu Nian'an wanted to absorb the newly acquired eight-hundred-thousand-year adaptive Soul Ring.
But before he could do anything, a young officer in red armor hurried over to deliver a report.
"Report, Your Majesty!"
"The Heaven Dou Empire is advancing with an army of five hundred thousand! They've invaded the border!"
Before Xu Nian'an could react to the news, the system's cold notification rang out in his mind once more.
[ Ding, main quest triggered: Defeat the Heaven Dou allied army and become the most powerful nation on the continent! ] [ Main quest: The First Empire of the Continent! ]
Listening to the red-armored officer's report and looking at the system notification panel that had appeared before him, Xu Nian'an let out a faint sigh and slowly turned around, facing away from everyone.
"My whole life, I've been walking on thin ice."
"Rally the troops. We march north!!!"
Xu Nian'an's voice rang out with steely force, like a shot of adrenaline for all the soldiers present.
"Soldiers, the revolution is not yet complete. You still... have work to do."
"This battle must be fought—for the empire, and for the homes you'll have in the future."
"One punch opens the way; fight a hundred battles and keep them at bay!"