183 Olive Branch (2/2)
Zhou Lu stood behind General Zhou. She seemed to be injured, and her face was pale. But the glint in her eyes, which spoke of her experience having been forged from the crucible of blood and slaughter, had grown sharper. Her eyes paused on Wang Baole's name on the Honor Roll.
Big Beard remained calm under General Zhou's calculating look. He secretly and intentionally exerted force and forced fresh blood to seep through the bandaged wounds on his body. He didn't say a word, but his intentions were loud and clear… I'm not leaving until you agree to the sizable rewards for my men.
”Stop sneaking around and hiding. Just lay everything out.” General Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pointed at Big Beard and scolded.
Big Beard blinked, then pulled out another Honor Roll which looked heavy beyond words. His face was somber. He approached with the Honor Roll in both hands and did not place it on the table but presented it to General Zhou.
General Zhou's eyes fell unblinkingly on the roll. He seemed to have arrived at a certain understanding, and a shadow fell across his face. He stood and received the Honor Roll with both hands, unscrolled it and read through the names belonging to every single person who had died in battle. Silence fell over him.
The leading names placed at the top of that Honor Roll were the names of the Foundation Establishment realm cultivators who had perished!
”General, I understand the difficulties of the army and the Federation's current situation. It's alright even if we cut the number of accolades by half, but the reparations must be given in multiple folds. This battle… was a complete massacre…” Big Beard lowered his head and uttered softly.
General Zhou was silent. After a long while, he looked towards Big Beard and spoke in a low, calm voice, ”How could we reduce the number of accolades by half. All accolades will receive three times the reward. As for reparations… they'll be threefold as well!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Big Beard's body shook. He didn't speak further, and instead cupped his fists and saluted General Zhou. Then, he gave a deep bow and left.
General Zhou watched Big Beard leave. He stood in front of the table and was silent for a long time. Then he spoke softly, ”Zhou Lu, make arrangements. In three days' time, I'll travel personally to all the strongholds and… visit the Armament Soldiers.”
Zhou Lu hurriedly shifted her eyes from Wang Baole's name on the Honor Roll, lowered her head and replied with a ”Yes, Sir”.
Three days passed swiftly. With the Beast Tide ended, the disciples from the four Dao Colleges started to leave and return to their respective Dao College. Wang Baole, Chen Yutong, and their friends, too, bade farewell to the Armament Soldiers and were prepared to depart. Before they could be on their way, Wang Baole received a message from Big Beard.
General Zhou wants to see me? Wang Baole blinked. He had gotten a clear grasp of General Zhou of the seventh primary stronghold. He was the man whom he had caught a glance of in the college, a general in the upper echelons of the army named Zhou Dexi, who had wiped out an entire species of beasts and attained a monumental accomplishment!
When Wang Baole hadn't known of the other man's identity, he hadn't been nervous. Knowing exactly who the man was, though, the thought of Zhou Lu's constant shadow behind General Zhou gave Wang Baole slight pause.
Could it be that Zhou Lu is this General Zhou's concubine? At the thought of that, Wang Baole was struck with a headache.
However, he considered the accomplishments he had made and quietly exhaled a sigh of relief. He remained alert though, as he approached Big Beard's tent. As he arrived outside the tent, he saw Zhou Lu standing outside. Their eyes met, and a hint of perplexity was clear in Zhou Lu's eyes. She cast a glance at Wang Baole, shifted her eyes away, and spoke coolly, ”The general is waiting for you.”
Wang Baole noticed the perplexed look in her eyes, and a glimmer flickered in his eyes. He stared at the tent and marched wordlessly forward, straight inside. He saw General Zhou, dressed in black uniform, standing before a map with his back towards him.
It was a figure that towered like a mountain. When Wang Baole's eyes fell on the general, he was assailed with the sudden feeling akin to standing before a huge Fire God Cannon. His breath quickened, and he lowered his head, cupped his fists, and bowed deeply.
”Greetings, General Zhou. I'm Wang Baole!”
”Wang Baole, come.” General Zhou didn't turn towards him. He stood staring at the map before him and spoke coolly.
Wang Baole raised his head and stared at General Zhou. He deliberated, briefly, before taking a few steps forward. He stood next to the general and gazed at the map. The map had caught his attention earlier; it was the topographic map of the seventh line of defense. Beyond the seventh line of defense was the vast primordial lands. Even further beyond that, was the expansive ocean.
”It might seem like that seventh line of defense was partially breached in this battle, but in reality… we won a great strategic victory!” General Zhou spoke slowly. His right hand rose and pointed at the vast area of sea.
”The four Dao colleges, the senate, and the other political forces staged an ambush on the Sea of Beasts. We suffered great casualties, but also managed to kill nine Beast Kings and secure at least twenty years of stability at the borders!”
”But there are pros and cons to everything… the internal conflicts in the Federation, having been suppressed for more than a decade, will inevitably surface in an explosive clash sometime in the next twenty years. The four Dao Colleges will not escape unscathed from the political storm when it happens. Only the military remains untouchable. So…” General Zhou, having said all that, turned around suddenly, his eyes shining brightly, and looked at Wang Baole.
”Wang Baole, are you willing to join the military?”