CHAPTER 344: THE PLANNING PHASE (2/2)
That potato, No. 6, first sent over ten male Devils, but his attempt at bootlicking ended up with him licking way above the boots. Instead of being rewarded, he got a warning instead. In all likelihood, he took that warning as me saying that I disliked male Devils, and that I preferred females instead? Even though the scent of my soul gave off the impression of a female, it wasn’t like a little female on female action wasn’t plausible. And that was where the problem laid, I didn’t like both the groups he sent over…male or female…
‘No.6…I swear…’
‘So what should I do this time? Warn him again? I wonder who will he send over next time then? Maybe a Devil that’s neither female or male? Fine, I give up.’
“Tell No.6 to focus on the recruitment zone, stop sending over Devils for now. Once I’m done assembling the golems, I plan to leave immediately. That array you saw has to be fixed right away, and that requires my personal attention. I need you to guard the capital, got it?”
Hearing that he was about to be left behind again, Big 4 immediately gave me a wronged look. “Master, you’re leaving again? Without me?”
“There’s no choice, I don’t have enough people who I can depend on. Besides, No.3 isn’t following me either. Both of you have an important task to complete. I don’t feel safe leaving it to another Devil.”
I knew Big 4 wouldn’t be happy with my decision, but the current situation left little room for error. I didn’t have enough time to familiarise myself with the new captive Devils. Even if I could ensure their loyalty with a soul pact, I couldn’t be sure if they were actually capable enough for the job. And I couldn’t hand over control of the golems to another either, even if we were bound by a soul pact.
I dumped the female Devils onto Big 4 then stepped into the weapons factory with Mo Na and the Hellhound family.
“That’s…a lot of golems…”
This was the first time Sinmosa saw my stored golems. All lined up in neat rows, the majestic sight must have been quite a shock for her doggy heart. Even Sasani was stunned by the awe inspiring sight.
“I remember you handed five hundred golems over No.3 and that newcomer No.6, and over here you have another…” Sinmosa briefly scanned the area. “There can’t be less than five hundred units here…”
“To be exact, there are over one thousand Abyssal Golems…”
“Over a thousand Six-stars?!”
“Is that a lot?” Thinking about the battle to come, I couldn’t help but feel a little insecure. I knew my forces were strong, but I didn’t know how strong the other side was.
The Art of War had a saying: know yourself, know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, you will lose a battle for every won. Know neither yourself nor your enemy, and you will lose every battle. If even a book knew how important intelligence was, there was no way I wouldn’t. Yet the problem now was that I had no way of gaining intelligence about our enemy.
For this conquest, my goal was to conquer Sable Radiance while collecting the materials required for the array, that was why our numbers must be sufficient. However, I wasn’t going to empty out the capital either. Real life wasn’t some kind of game after all. One couldn’t just put all their eggs in one basket even if there was no imminent threat.
‘Time for some quick math. Up till now, I have 1325 Abyssal golems, excluding those battered ones I just brought back. In terms of Winged Abyssal Golems, I have 127 units. Those will be my greatest tools in the upcoming war.’
‘I gave away 500 Abyssal Golems to No.3 and No. 6 for the safe zone and recruitment zone construction- I’ll recall 100 of them from No.6. Both of them have ten of my Winged Abyssal Golems too, those I probably won’t recall.’
‘Defending the capital should be relatively easy so I’ll leave behind 15 Winged Abyssal Golems and 300 Abyssal Golems, including the ones from No.6. That should be enough for the war.’
Now that I had planned out the allocation, the amount of golems I could muster for my conquest was 102 Winged Abyssal golems and 625 Abyssal golems.
‘Since war is basically guaranteed at this point, the best course to take would be to retrace our steps. Southwards from the capital is Warhorse territory first, from there I will say hi to Meisian and Anmi. The Fire Elementals can be found at the point where I teleported in. That leaves the heart of a Eight-stars Flame Devouring Fish…that one’s gonna be troublesome…I can probably get the salamanders to help me with it so it shouldn’t end up being a big problem.’
Strictly speaking, we were in the honeymoon period in terms of our relationship with the Demon Fire Salamanders. After all, the ones who would benefit the most from the construction of the safe zone would be them. I’m sure they won’t deny an ally’s tiny request, right?