Chen Mu and Tie Feng chatted for a while longer before having Tie Feng servant lead them to their guest rooms to rest.
"Treat the three War Emperor well; any neglect will not be tolerated."
"Yes!"
The steward quickly led the three War Emperor to their destination, receiving them with the highest honors.
After the three War Emperor left, Chen Duo was the first to speak.
"Brother, Long Bo is actually willing to let us join the Devil-Expelling Alliance, that's great news! Why didn't you agree to it just now?"
Chen Mu didn't rush to answer Chen Duo. He picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and turned to look at Mingye.
What do you think?
"Their strategy of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones, and using one enemy to devour another, is quite clever."
A cold smile appeared on Mingye's stunningly beautiful face.
Chen Mu nodded, clearly agreeing, "So, what do you think? Should we agree to join them?"
In the short term, joining them is indeed beneficial and harmless.
"It's easy to get in now, but it will be difficult to get out later. If our territory continues to expand, we will inevitably be hampered by the Devil-Expelling Alliance, which will be detrimental to our long-term development."
With just a few words, Mingye analyzed the stakes involved, proving himself to be a top figure in the Chen Kingdom's intelligence department.
Looking at the territory of the Chen Kingdom Chen Kingdom, it is bordered by the boundless sea to the west, and the east and south are Wilderness areas with no value for expansion. If the Chen Kingdom wants to expand, it can only Central Land to the north and the Western Region to the northwest.
Currently, the Chen Kingdom has occupied one-third of Yizhou in the Central Plains and one-tenth of Xigezhou. At present, there are only two neighboring hostile forces: the Abyss Demon Clan in the northwest and King Long Xiang of Jingzhou.
The Chen Kingdom has suffered from the Abyss Devil Race for many years, and the relationship is now extremely bad. The relationship between the Chen Kingdom and Jing Province is also not harmonious. It is only because of the Abyss Devil Race ' covetousness that they have restrained each other and have not started a major war.
Currently, Long Bo only controls three major states: Central Province, Xu Province, and Qing Province. If the Chen Kingdom wants to oppose him, it must either drive back the Abyss Devil Race or defeat the Heavenly Puppet Sect and annex Jing Province.
For Long Bo, both the Abyss Devil Race and Long Xiang of Jing Province were major threats. In fact, he considered Long Xiang to be a greater threat than the Abyss Devil Race.
Royal struggles are far more brutal than people imagine. Defeat in battle against foreign tribes offers the possibility of escape, but failure in internal power struggles is often worse than death.
So no matter who Chen Kingdom fights now, Long Bo applauds and cheers. He even worries that Chen Kingdom is not tenacious enough, so he specially sends someone to help him.
"You're right! I'm finding it hard to decide right now, so I'll just have to stall them for a bit."
Only then did Chen Mu turn his gaze to Chen Duo, his eyes carrying a reprimanding tone.
" Duoduo, it's not so easy to take advantage of Long Bo."
If he helps us today, they'll expect us to help them in the future. This will eventually affect our autonomy. If they stab us in the back one day, it will be far more difficult to deal with than an enemy facing us head-on.
Chen Duo then realized that dealing with those skilled in power struggles in the Haotian Empire required considering so many things, and she could only lower her head in shame and mutter to herself.
"I just think that if we can join the Devil-Expelling Alliance now, we can quickly gain a foothold and no longer have to worry about the threat from the six Demon Emperor."
"The more time we have to develop, the more resources we will have to compete with them."
Chen Mu picked up his teacup and took another sip, without refuting Chen Duo: "Your considerations are not wrong either. With our current rate of development, our overall strength will at least double every year. As long as we live for another ten years or so, even if the Haotian Empire tries its best to destroy us, it will not be easy."
However, all of this is based on the premise that they don't yet know our full strength. If Long Bo finds out everything about us, do you think he will still give us a chance to develop?
"Well... I didn't think that much about it."
Chen Duo shook her head, looking bewildered.
Chen Mu looked at Chen Duo and sighed helplessly.
Perhaps because Chen Duo is his own younger sister, he has been overprotective of her, which has led to her being capricious and lacking rational thinking in many situations.
Similar problems have also occurred among other members of the Chen Clan clan in the Chen Kingdom.
Fortunately, Uncle Chen Hongjie was very strict in disciplining his children. Although some of the Chen Clan family members were not very well-behaved, there were basically none who bullied men and women or committed many evil deeds. Overall, their quality was quite good.
Originally, as Chen Duo's abilities improved, Chen Mu wanted to give her a higher military position, but Chen Duo's abilities were clearly insufficient, so he had to give up on that idea.
"Alright! Let's not talk about the Devil-Expelling Alliance for now."
Duoduo, meeting the people from the War Emperor Palace today also gave me inspiration.
I plan to establish an institution similar to the War Emperor Palace in our Chen Kingdom, specifically to enshrine powerful Emperor Level experts.
If I were to entrust this matter to you, would you have any concerns?
This wasn't the first time Chen Mu had brought up this matter. After Zhou Sen agreed to stay in the Chen Kingdom, Chen Mu had already discussed similar things with the Chen Kingdom's high-ranking officials, but it was delayed due to the recent urgency of the war.
"Great, haha, actually I'm tired of leading troops into battle all the time. I'd rather go find a strong opponent to fight."
Although Chen Duo is straightforward, she is not stupid. Chen Mu clearly wants to reduce her military power, and she understands that perfectly well.
But she had no ambition for military power; if it weren't for her concern about the war situation in the Chen Kingdom, she would have preferred to be a free monk.
"Alright, then I'll leave this to you."
Chen Mu could tell that Chen Duo had no objections, and he immediately felt relieved.
" A Huo has arrived at the front hall, and it's almost time for the military meeting. Let's all assemble in the command hall!"
Chen Mu also received the message from A Huo at this moment, stood up, and headed to the command hall.
Chen Kingdom, Site of Military Base No. 1.
At this point, a day had passed since Military Base No. 1 self-destructed and exploded.
On this vast plain, tens of thousands of tents have been erected next to the ruins of Military Base No. 1. Numerous Abyss Devil Race soldiers are busy coming and going, and screams of agony can be heard from the tents from time to time, one after another, sending chills down one's spine.
Inside the main camp, Ahriman and his three generals, Katelin and Anlagong, were all present. Ahriman looked at the reports submitted by his subordinates, his heart heavy.
"We should go! Ahriman, staying here won't save these soldiers; we'd better go back to Shanghai sooner rather than later."
Anlagong, a powerful Winged Devil with wings on his back, urged Ahriman impatiently.