Chapter 544 - The Fight Begins
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "He became the Beast King, how could he be so simple? Beast Kings are different from Human Monarchs. Beast Kings aren't permanent, if the Beast King becomes unqualified, he would immediately get dethroned."
Laura nodded, and then said, "I think this is a great method. This way, they would gain a good leader that will benefit the entire Beastman Race.
Zhao Hai faintly smiled, "This is in line to the nature of the Beastmen. They need a strong leader, but that leader must also gain their recognition."
Megan then said, "Big Brother Hai, since the Beastmen changed their point of attack to the Iksa Family, will the Purcell Family be more relaxed?"
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. The Beastmen would still be doing an attack to Iron Wall Fortress as a diversion. But don't expect that this diversion would be any weak. Moreover, once they pierce through the Iksa Domain, the attack on Iron Wall Fortress would certainly turn more violent. The Beastmen wanted to advance in two directions since this would derail the Radiant Church's preparations."
Megan sighed and said, "So you're saying, that there's only a small chance for the Purcell Duchy to be spared?"
Zhao Hai sighed, he already thought about this situation. It was already on his mind when he asked Evan to leave. No matter which way the Beastmen move, the Purcell Family would still suffer bad luck.
The position of the Purcell Family determined their fate. Their territory was too close to the Beastman Prairie. Because of this, once the Beastmen decided to attack, they would be the first ones to experience it.
Fortunately for them, the relationship between the Beastmen and the Humans were going peacefully in the past few years. Because of this, the Purcell Family has been living good lives. And as a result they had increased their grain trade towards the Prairie. This would not only bring them profits, it would also provide the Beastmen some food, making them refrain from attacking the Duchy.
The Beastman Prairie is too big, but there were still Beastmen who couldn't have their own land there. Therefore, once the Beastmen go to war with the Humans, the latter would definitely have a hard time. So the Humans weren't willing to act unreasonably and spite the Beastmen's rage.
Laura also sighed, then she turned her attention to the screen and said, "Who knows how many people are going to die in the Aksu Empire."
Zhao Hai sighed as well, "We can only accept this outcome. Don't forget, if it weren't for us, not only would there be deaths in the Aksu Empire, a lot of Beastmen would die as well. The Radiant Church are planning genocide, they're religious maniacs, that's what they do."
Laura felt helpless, she knew that what Zhao Hai said wasn't nonsense. The people of the Radiant Church had clear intentions. They always regarded all of those who didn't believe in the Radiant God as heretics. And for the Church, the Beastmen were the greatest heretics out there. If the Radiant Church managed to deal with all of the Beastmen Elite at this time, then the other Beastmen wouldn't be able to fare very well.
Lizzy looked at the monitor and said, "We shall see what the Radiant Church would do in the next few days. But in my opinion, they are going to fail this time. However, this shouldn't be affect them in a big way. After all, they only sent in a Red-robed Archbishop this time. Also, the bulk of their manpower was still from the Aksu Empire. They didn't use much of their own strength."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "But with this failure, their reputation should suffer quite a blow. And with their occupation of the Aksu Empire, those other countries that they had been friends with would become more vigilant. They would be afraid of falling into the same state."
Lizzy nodded, "That would be better. The Radiant Church's present influence had gone too big. This is a bad thing for the stability of the Continent."
Zhao Hai nodded, then he looked at the Beastmen on the monitor. They didn't make a move immediately, and were still in the middle of preparation. Since there was nothing else to look at, Zhao Hai looked at the others and said, "Alright, let's take a break. I think the Beastmen will move tonight. Let's wait until then and watch."
Laura nodded, then she looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Now that the entire continent knows the bad things that had happened to the Iksa Family as well as the current situation of the Purcell Duchy, they would surely start to pay attention towards the Radiant Church. The Radiant Church should be attaching great importance to this war, otherwise, they would be placed in a disadvantage once they get defeated."
Zhao Hai agreed, "I think that the Radiant Church already understood this point. However, they are too convinced of their flawless preparations. But they didn't expect us to have the scissors that would cut a hole in their plans."
As soon as Laura and the others heard Zhao Hai, they smiled. After looking at the time and chatting for a few moments, all of them took a rest. Zhao Hai believed that the Beastmen would take action in this evening. He wanted to see how they plan to move.
It was not only Zhao Hai who thought about this, the entire continent was also paying attention. They wanted to know how the Beastmen would start the war. Although they didn't know about the Radiant Church's poison, they knew about the arrangements that the church has made. They wanted to know how the Beastmen would get cornered.
The night after Zhao Hai's visit to the camp, the Beastmen made their move. By the Beast King's orders, the assigned races left the camp in batches. They didn't immediately go towards the Iksa Family's territory. Instead, they turned around and headed back to the Prairie.
With regards to understanding the Prairie, the Humans cannot compete with the Beastmen. Therefore, what they decided to do right now was to head back to the Prairie and the circle around towards the Iksa Family domain, this way they cannot be seen by Humans.
The Prairie was too large that it would be impossible for the Humans to send their assassins and observe the movements of the Beastmen.
Zhao Hai sat in the Space and calmly looked at the movements of the Beastmen. He knew that the war was starting. But in this war, his contribution was only the information that he gave, he will not be involved firsthand. At the very best he can be described as a bystander.
Laura also observed the Beastmen's movement. After looking at the monitor for a while, Laura turned her head to Zhao Hai and smiled, "Brother Hai, if another person tells me that the Beastmen are dumb, I would scold them like child."
Megan and the other ladies were observing as well. The movement of the Beastmen were done discreetly. They didn't move a lot of troops nor did they take them all. They left some in order to act as decoys, confusing the enemy. This actions were very remarkable, one that deserved merit.
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, "The Beastmen aren't really dumb, they are just seen like that because of their temperament and the way some of them easily trust people. Right, no need to talk about that. It seems like there's nothing else to see right now. Damn, we miscalculated, I slept too much during the day. Now I cannot sleep anymore. My wives, should we do something else?"
When they heard Zhao Hai, they stared for a moment before they understood. All of their faces couldn't help but get red, then Laura snorted and said, "All of us are here. Can you handle it? Are you going to be okay?"
Zhao Hai seemed offended as he said, "I will prove it today!" Then he threw himself towards Laura and the others as a squeal was heard in the villa.
The next morning, the Beastmen started their attack on Iron Mountain Fort. Their attacks were loud like thunder but was weak like raindrop. Although they looked aggressive, their contact with the enemy was not really a lot.
This made Evan and the others surprised. They understood that this wasn't how the Beastmen were supposed to fight. Did the Beastmen change their ways?
Zhao Hai knew that the Beastmen didn't change, they just didn't want too many casualties in this deceptive attack. Although Zhao Hai can just tell these matters to Evan, he chose to refrain from doing so. There were times where a person cannot be too selfless.
If he tells Evan about the Radiant Church's poison and Evan connects it to the response of the Beastmen, Evan would find out that he leaked the information to the Beastmen. If Evan knows, then it wouldn't take a long time before everyone in the continent knows. When this spreads, Zhao Hai would become a traitor to the eyes of the other humans. And this wasn't something that Zhao Hai wanted to see.
Although in the mind of Zhao Hai, the Humans and the Beastmen were no different. But in the Ark Continent, the two of them were distinct. This sentiment wasn't something that Zhao Hai can change alone.
If he makes the Humans know that he helped the Beastmen deal with other Humans, then he would certainly become the Human race's number one enemy. He will turn into a traitor, this was not a wonderful outcome.
Because of this, Zhao Hai didn't tell Evan about the situation of both the Radiant Church and the Beastman Race. After all, Evan and the others were already convinced that they'd die, and Zhao Hai also needed to consider the entire Buda Clan.
The Beastmen weren't fools, they knew that if their deceptive attacks were done halfheartedly, people would start to doubt. Therefore, when evening came, they also made a night assault. This made Evan prepare for battles at night in addition to the battles at day.
Naturally, the night assault didn't succeed, but this also dispersed some of the doubts that Evan had. But at the same time as the assault on Iron Wall Fortress, the relocated Beastman army proceeded to head towards the Iksa Family's territory. The Hawk Tribe then sent this information over to the Beast King at the soonest possible time.
Now, the Radiant Church was playing a game with the Beastmen. The Radiant Church had opened a poisonous bag for the Beastmen to crawl into. But the Beastmen actually put out an act while at the same time, sending a knife to cut the bag at the side. If the Beastmen succeed, then the Radiant Church would have to take a long time before they can recover.
The Radiant Church wasn't aware that the Beastmen had already found out about their poison plan. They had always thought that the Beastmen would obediently go enter their trap. The Radiant Church's understanding about the recent encounter was that the Beastmen had come from afar and still hasn't adapted to the environment, which explains the weakness of their initial attack.
Chapter 545 - The Radiant Church's Hope
The next day, the Beastman attack on the Wall had suddenly become violent. The Beast King understood that if the Beastmen were to continue on with its half-hearted attack, the Humans would start to look down on them. Therefore, he made the army increase the intensity of their assault. This motion can also shield the other group much more effectively.
Sure enough, the continent began to focus their attention towards Iron Wall Fortress. The Humans were very familiar with the Beastman Race, they knew that the Beastmen had combat capabilities not lower compared to the Humans. At the same time, the Beastmen weren't mindless fighters as well. Then can also do advanced movements such as carrying out reconnaissance missions, especially the Hawk Tribe. With their flying abilities, their scouts were vastly better than the Humans.
Because of this, the Radiant Church had placed a large amount of their army in the Iksa Territory while leaving the Purcell Family to face the Beastmen alone. This way, when the Beastmen see the heavily armored soldiers in the Iksa Territory, they would think twice in attacking there and would instead opt to attack the Purcell Duchy. This was the script that the Radiant Church had written for the Beastmen.
And so, the Beastmen were fully cooperating in this play. They launched a frantic attack at Iron Wall Fortress, making the Purcell Family suffer huge losses. The Beastmen's losses weren't small either, but they were used to it, this was the Beastmen's way of attack, frantic, and without a shred of holding back.
This crazy attacking method of the Beastmen was something that only few humans can withstand. Therefore, ordinary human armies wouldn't go to field battles with the Beastmen. This was because they were aware that the Beastmen Cavalry would have its greatest strength in the field.
Although the Heavy Armored Infantry of the continent can cope with the Beastman Cavalry, that consideration was only made against general Beastman Cavalry. When it comes to the Big Warring Races, those Heavy Armored Infantry would become totally powerless.
Naturally, the Humans also had a way of dealing with these Beastman Cavalries. Most Beastmen didn't have any armor, but Humans have Heavy Armor Cavalry. The charge of these Heavy Armor Cavalry can be lethal against the Beastmen. However, creating Heavy Armor Cavalry was extremely expensive. Even a powerful empire such as the Aksu Empire only had a few of these cavalries on hand.
Also, Beastmen weren't very good at siege warfare. Beastman wars generally happen on the flat fields of the Prairie, with both cavalries going head to head with each other. Because of this, the Beastmen didn't have much experience when it came to attacking a city.
On the other hand, Humans were experts in siege warfare. In the entire human history, most of its battles were siege battles. So they were knowledgeable about attacking and defending a city. Therefore, in a war between Beastmen and Humans, the most important thing that Humans could do was barricade a city and establish a line of defense. Stacking them layer by layer in order to stop the Beastman attacks.
The people wanted to see when the Beastmen can break through Iron Wall Fortress. One must know that Iron Wall Fortress was very famous in the Continent. This was because the Fortress was able to block a Beastman attack in the past. Now, the people want to see if the Purcell Family can make a miracle this time.
The Beastmen attacked Iron Wall Fortress for seven days. Although these these seven days weren't long, they weren't short either. One must know that the Beastmen had sent an army that exceeded 1 million soldiers. While at the same time, the defenders were numbering less than 100 thousand.
And these 100 thousand people were all the soldiers that the Purcell Family can send out. All of them were already convinced of their deaths, this made the battle even more fierce.
In seven days, the Purcell Family had lost nearly 50 thousand people, but the Beastmen had lost close to 100 thousand. The battle loss ratio numbered 1 to 2. This was something rare for a battle between Humans and Beastmen. Because of the innate disadvantage in strength by the Humans, their losses should be higher than that of the Beastmen. For the Beastmen to lose more than the Humans was something that was very abnormal.
However, only the Purcell troops knew that the army that was attacking the Fortress wasn't the main force of the Beastman race. With their main force not participating, it was natural that the battle loss ratio would be like this. If the Main force of the Beastmen would attack right now, then they're afraid that they would not be able to defend.
Evan and the others knew about the Beastmen from their past battles. In the past, the Beastmen would send their Main Force 2 or 3 days after the initial skirmish. But this time, 7 days had already passed, but the Warring Tribes were still not in sight. What was happening?
And at this moment, a shocking news spread out to the Continent. On the seventh evening after the attack on the Purcell Duchy, the Iksa Family was suddenly attacked by a large group of Warriors from Big Beastman Warring Tribes. Although the Radiant Church had stationed a large army in the Iksa Domain, they were still caught off guard by the Beastman assault. The Beastmen Cavalry quickly pierced through their defense line and ravaged through their formation. This led to the three hundred thousand army inside the Iksa Domain to throw their helmets down and abandon their armor in order to escape, they were completely routed!
The force that attacked the Iksa Family was the Main Force of the Beastmen army. They were the elite of the elites, and they were highly experienced in battles. With them numbering 100 hundred thousand, they were able to swiftly deal with 300 thousand human soldiers. The battle can only be described as a textbook victory.
Both the Human forces and the Radiant Church didn't expect the Beastmen to attack like this. The continent immediately went into an uproar. They didn't think that all of these crazy Beastman attacks towards the Iron Wall Fortress were only a cover for their surprise attack on the Iksa Domain.
Even if they lost 100 thousand in attacking the Fortress, it was definitely worth it. They had managed to rout a 300 thousand Human army as well as occupy a very large Domain in the Human Territory.
One should know that even if the commoners of the Purcell Family withdrew, the commoners in the Iksa Domain didn't. This was because there was an army stationed here, and they have gathered a lot of supplies. But now, all of these supplies fell into the hands of the Beastmen, aiding them in overcoming their food crisis.
The Radiant Church clearly didn't expect the Beastman attack, they had been caught off-guard. All of their previous plans were starting to form cracks. Fortunately, they still had room for movement. The Church immediately withdrew some of their troops in the Purcell Duchy and prepared to lead them to encircle the Iksa Domain.
But just as the Radiant Church troops were being mobilized, the beastmen began to attack Iron Wall Fortress non-stop from day to night. Although the Purcell Family were doing their best to block the Beastmen offensive, they couldn't block it in the end. At the last moment, Evan was forcibly carried away by some loyal subjects of the Purcell Family. The direction that they were retreating to was Stony Mountain.
This was a hidden move orchestrated by Zhao Hai. After he left Ruyen and the others at Golden Island, the requested Origin Sword Saint to act. Origin Sword Saint convened with some of the Purcell Family's loyal 8th ranks secretly. Origin Sword Saint asked them that no matter what happens, they should protect some important members of the Purcell Duchy and had them retreat towards Stony Mountain. Once they retreat to Stony Mountain, their lives would certainly be protected.
Origin Sword Saint's words were much more powerful compared to Evan, therefore, those 8th ranks didn't disagree. So they immediately grabbed Evan and then rode some Magic Beasts that they prepared before. Carrying food and water with them, they immediately headed straight to Stony Mountain.
The Purcell Family members who escaped this time numbered less than 200 altogether. Majority of these people were Foreign Elders of the Family, in fact, most of them were 8th rank experts.
The Beastmen didn't pursue them this time. They didn't pay any attention to measly 200 people. What they were eyeing right now were those soldiers that were heading towards the Iksa Domain to encircle the 100 thousand Beastmen.
Once again, the Radiant Church didn't expect that just as they transferred the troops, the Beastmen would suddenly break through Iron Wall Fortress. Now, the troops that the Radiant Church had sent over were in fear of being sandwiched by two Beastmen armies.
The Radiant Church expected the Beastmen army in Iron Wall Fortress to be just a normal decoy, their fighting strength shouldn't be that strong. The Main Force should be the 100 thousand that just attacked the Iksa Domain. They didn't expect that the decoy would become another attacking force and had broken through Iron Wall Fortress in one stroke, becoming a threat to the Church's armies.
Passive! The Radiant Church had turned passive. One must know that the force that was currently occupying the Iksa Domain were the collective forces of various Warring Tribes, and were numbering 100 thousand. At the same time, the 1 million Beastman army that had just broken through Iron Wall Fortress were at their back. This made the Radiant Church army feel a sense of crisis.
But the Radiant Church didn't give up, they were still hoping that their trump card would have some use. They still have the poison that they had prepared. Even if the Iron Wall Fortress was broken through, the experts sent to the Purcell Domain were still there, lying in ambush.
These people were waiting in the Purcell Duchy for the time when the Fortress falls. As long as the Beastmen enter the Duchy, they would immediately be poisoned, then the Radiant Church can deal with the Beastmen Army easily.
In the mind of the Radiant Church, even if their plans were somewhat derailed, they were still heading towards the right direction. The losses that they incurred in the Iksa Domain was nothing remarkable. Having a victory in the Iksa Domain might even make the Beastmen complacent, making the Radiant Church's plan much easier to implement.
At the same time, the two-pronged attack by the Beastmen still gave some losses to the Radiant Church. But this was what they exactly need, they wanted the Beastmen to enter the Aksu Empire before they start to clean them up in one swoop. That way, the Beastmen would have no opportunity to escape.
Chapter 546 - Negotiations
The ideal situation is good, but reality is different! This might have been the current mindset of the Radiant Church. They wanted to deal with the Beastman Race alone in order to gain prestige. They had rejected the help of the Rosen Empire and several nations in order to show their own strength.
One should know that if Zhao Hai didn't help, then the Beastmen might possibly suffer a huge loss. But that and right now were two completely different matters.
The people from the Radiant Church thinks that their poison can deal with the Beastmen. But they haven't thought that the Beastmen were already aware of this, and had also drank the antidote.
Since the Beast King knew about this plan of the Radiant Church, therefore, he decided to cooperate with the Radiant Church. This way, he would reverse the situation and make the Beastmen the ones who would sweep the Church's troops in one blow. And when the Aksu Empire is devoid of its defenders, then the Beastmen can do whatever they wanted to do.
Information was truly important, having and not having information can change everything. And it was evident that the Radiant Church had lost in this aspect.
After the Beastmen entered the Purcell Duchy, they didn't destroy anything and just started to loot. Everything that they find useful was carried off.
This was also the goal of the Beastmen for this war. However, they also did it deliberately. They wanted to slow down their offensive and give the Radiant Church some time to make their move.
The Beastmen gave the Radiant Church some time because they wanted them to think that things are all going according to their plan. This way, the Radiant Church would drop their vigilance. And then the Beastmen can use this opportunity to thoroughly deal with the Radiant Church.
The time for all of this to pass might be very long, but in fact, it only happened for a short time. Upon entering the Purcell Duchy, the Beastmen directly became a threat to the left wing of the Church's army. But they didn't go and attack the army immediately, instead they went to occupy the Duchy first. Although the Purcell Duchy people had left, it was impossible for them to carry everything that they had. Moreover, the Purcell Family didn't burn the granaries of the Duchy. Therefore, the Beastmen had gained a lot in pillaging the Duchy.
The Radiant Church wanted the Beastmen to do exactly this. If the Beastmen immediately attacked the Radiant Church, then it would be very troublesome, the Church's losses would surely be big. But since the Beastmen stopped for now, this gave the Church the opportunity to lay their ambush.
Although the Radiant Church had prepared to use poison to deal with the Beastmen, the poison would need to be administered through either food or water. But it was difficult to poison the food right now. After all, the grains were under the care of the Purcell Family in the past, it wasn't easy to lace them at that time. Therefore, the only choice they had right now was the water.
But everyone shouldn't forget that water does flow. Even if it was well water, it was still running water. If one places poison in it, then it would be purified after several days. Therefore, one needed to find an opportune moment to administer the poison.
If the Beastmen continued to attack the troops of the Radiant Church, then the Radiant Church wouldn't have found an opportunity. But since the Beastmen stopped, then the opportunity for them to deliver the poison has come.
The Radiant Church couldn't help but thank the Beastmen secretly. But what they didn't expect was that they were spied on by the Black Panther Tribe.
The Black Panthers were dark attributed Beastmen. Their innate talents were quite formidable, they were the Beastmen version of Human assassins. Therefore, they were the ones who were responsible for facing the Human assassins. After the Beast King knew about the Radiant Church's plan, he had some 8th rank Black Panthers check the water sources near their camps. When a Human was spotted, the Black Panthers didn't stop them, their movements were just reported over to the Beast King.
Just on the third day after the Beastmen entered the Purcell Duchy, the Black Panthers had seen people from the Radiant Church poison their water source. So they immediately passed this information to the Beast King. Once the Beast King heard about this, he knew that the time for action was drawing close. Therefore he immediately sent Hawks towards the Iksa Domain and coordinated their actions with the Beastman army there.
At this time, the Purcell Family people had already reached Stony Mountain. Upon arriving, Zhao Hai was already there waiting for them.
When Evan saw Zhao Hai, his eyes couldn't help but turn red. Then with a sincere voice, he said, "Little Hai, thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have already died."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Uncle, you can't blame me for being good. Right, come with me to the courtyard. Then we'll head to Golden Island." Evan and the others already understood what Zhao Hai meant. So they didn't say anything else and just nodded, then they went to the courtyard together.
After arriving, Zhao Hai didn't take Evan to Golden Island using the Space. He wanted to use a Blood Hawk to send Evan and the others to the shore and had them take a boat to Golden Island.
This time, most of the people who came with Evan weren't from the Purcell Family. The majority of them were Foreign Elders. Although they are loyal to the Purcell Family, and haven't left Evan after all this time, Zhao Hai still cannot be assured that information about Space would not be spread around.
The reason why he revealed his secret to Origin Sword Saint was because Zhao Hai knew how attractive the Space was towards the 9th rank expert.
The energy in the Space was very active, moreover, it was very rich. For 9th rank experts, it was the best place to cultivate in. Such a place can may allow them to break through the last barrier and get more powerful. For a 9th rank expert, this was a very big deal. Therefore, Zhao Hai was not afraid that Origin Sword would tell others about the Space.
After resting at Bluestone Villa for some time, Zhao Hai made them board the Blood Hawks. Zhao Hai rode a Blood Hawk as well. Then he delivered the group to the shore and had them board a ship towards Golden Island. He didn't go with them since he still had to watch a play.
After the Radiant Church delivered the poison towards the water sources of the Beastmen. They stayed at the water source and waited for the Beastmen to fetch some water.
What worried the people of the Radiant Church was that the Beastmen might have fetched some water the day before. If they will not get water, then the poison would not be delivered.
But when the Beastmen started to continually fetch water, moreover, it was a lot, the people of the Radiant Church immediately got excited.
After eating their meal, the noise Beastman camp surprisingly became quite. The people from the Radiant Church wanted to confirm and entered the Beastman camp to take a look. Presently, there were a lot of Beastmen who were on the ground and can't get up. When the people were about to kill some, they immediately heard a Hawk's cry. This frightened the people from the Radiant Church. They were finally reminded about the Hawk Tribe. Therefore, they immediately left the camp and notified the Radiant Church.
After confirming that those people had left, the Beastmen immediately got up and livened up. But this time, it wasn't for leisure, it was instead to prepare to receive the attack of the Radiant Church.
They knew that once the Radiant Church heard succeeded in poisoning them, the Church would definitely send people to attack. Once they arrive expecting to kill the Beastmen, the Beastman army would then strike them immediately and then extinguish the remaining Radiant Church army.
When Lundi Becker received the word, he immediately issued an order for an all-out attack. But little did they know, the Beastmen were already preparing an encirclement and were only waiting for the Radiant Church's army to come forward.
The next events can be clearly predicted. When the Radiant Church's army entered the Beastman's encirclement, they were immediately eliminated. Then the Beastmen proceeded to push through deeper into the Aksu Empire. The two armies looked like two unstoppable arrows as it pieced the empire. They were rarely met by any resistance, this was because most of their soldiers were already killed off by the Beastmen.
The entire continent was shocked, the Radiant Church was shocked, and most importantly, the Aksu Empire was shocked. At this point, the Aksu Empire had already lost all forms of resistance.
The Beastman army had already eliminated about 2 million Aksu Empire soldiers, this was almost equal to the Empire's entire national defense. One must also consider that fact that they had lost a lot of people at Golden Island. The Aksu Empire was now very weak.
The Beastmen didn't go too far this time. Instead of dealing with the commoners, they directly pillaged the Nobles, especially those who had connections with the Radiant Church.
Additionally, every time they take over a city of the empire, they would wantonly shout that the reason for their assault towards the Aksu Empire was the Radiant Church's involvement in their food shortage.
Originally, this news had already spread on the continent, but it was only hearsay and wasn't confirmed. But now that the Beastmen were saying it, how could it be wrong? This immediately made the Radiant Church the most despised people in the Aksu Empire.
The Beastman attack was also peculiar this time. They didn't go and take some humans to be their slaves. They just came and grabbed some food, they didn't rob the commoners and only pillaged the storehouses of the Nobles as well as the national granaries of the Aksu Empire.
Actually, the Beastmen were still harming the commoners with this action. Because the national granaries were robbed, the grain market of the Aksu Empire would surely be affected. The prices of food would rise and the commoners would suffer. But the commoners weren't thinking about this, the Beastmen not robbing them was already a blessing.Their minds were on something else.
The Aksu Empire cannot fall right now. So they had to seek aid from the Rosen Empire. The Rosen Empire also complied and negotiated with the Beastmen.
Naturally, the Rosen Empire didn't want to wipe the Radiant Church's buttocks. Therefore, they didn't go and resist the Beastman army. Instead, the directly went and negotiated with the Beastmen.
Although the Beastmen hasn't overrun the entire Aksu Empire, one might as well consider it as so. But when the Rosen Empire sent people to negotiate, they immediately stopped. After all, the strength of the Rosen Empire was something that they needed to consider. If they involved the Rosen Empire in this war, the Beastmen would suffer a lot more losses.
The Beast King was also a very astute person. Their attack against the Humans had gone smoothly. Although they had lost some men, compared to their previous wars, this time was the one they had lost the least while having the biggest harvest. And at this time, if the Humans were to agree to trade them grain at a fair price, they would immediately retreat.
Just as what Zhao Hai has thought before, the Beastmen didn't want to occupy the Human Domain. They weren't interested in Human lands. In their view, the Prairie was their home, it was where their root was. If they settle inside Human territory, then a time would certainly come when they would become as weak as the Human race.
In the minds of the Beastmen, the Humans were very weak, this was their belief. Therefore, they preferred to drink and sing on the Prairie.
The Beast King making the decision to stop was also largely because of Zhao Hai. When Zhao Hai left the Beastman camp, the Beast King sent someone to go and fetch Wales. Naturally, the Beast King asked Wales about Zhao Hai's strength. And when Wales told him, this made the Beast King look at Zhao Hai in another light.
Although the Beast King appreciated Zhao Hai before, he didn't care too much about him. But when he heard Wales say that Zhao Hai had a 1 million Undead army, he immediately took Zhao Hai seriously.
One could say that the most annoying thing for the Beastmen to face were the Undead. This was because one cannot obtain any advantages against the Undead, If one doesn't have the means to deal with the Dark Mage, then one shouldn't dare go and offend them. For the Beastmen, doing so would only bring them losses. Zhao Hai can just attack the Prairie and make some undead along the way, this was truly something terrible to think about.
The Beast King also understood that they were now in Human Territory. If they offend the Rosen Empire as well as Zhao Hai, the terrifying Dark Mage, it certainly wouldn't be a good thing for the Beastmen. And this time, the reason for their attack on the Aksu Empire was to get some food. As long as the problem of food is solved, then they would return to the Beastman Prairie. After all, they had already acquired a lot of things.
The purpose of the negotiation of the Rosen Empire was to let the Beastmen retreat. Additionally, the Rosen Emperor believed in Zhao Hai's words and hoarded a lot of food in advance. Now that they had the stockpile they can go and talk with the Beastmen. They would have the Beastmen retreat, and later on, they would provide a food supply to the Beastmen at a fair price.
No country liked to go to war, especially a war that the Radiant Church had started. This would only result in them cleaning up after the Radiant Church's mess. This made the other monarchs unhappy, if they were to send people to help, how many of them would have to die? They don't want this outcome.
Chapter 547 - Damaged Vitality
Benefit! Everything was for benefit! The Beastmen went to war because of benefits, the Radiant Church plotted war with the Beastmen for benefit, the Rosen Empire stepped in for benefit as well.
Speaking about sentiment to these big influences was a behaviour of a complete idiot. Even the stern and straightforward Beastmen move according to benefits. If they cannot get any benefits, they they wouldn't hesitate to continue on with this war. The reason why the Beastmen went to war was because they knew that they can get benefits out of it. But the Humans didn't like war, it was because they cannot gain anything about it. It was this simple.
The negotiations were conducted very smoothly. The Beast King wanted a result where they can get grain at a fair price. This way, the Beastmen can get more benefits.
Naturally, they also knew that if they conquer the Humans, the Humans can continue to plant some grains for them. But at the same time, they also knew that it was impossible for them to rule over the Humans. They can gain benefits in this war, but it was impossible to conquer the Humans because of the vastly different cultures. Since the Beastmen cannot rule the Humans for too long, they'd rather settle for an agreement on selling food at a fair price.
However, after bargaining for the price of food, the Beastmen made a request. They demanded that the Radiant Church should be severely punished. This war was after all caused by the Radiant Church.
Regarding this request of the Beastmen, the negotiators from the other nations had differing thoughts. Some of them had relationships with the Radiant Church, while some of them did not.
However, if they don't comply, the Beastmen might decide to stay and attack again. Even if they repel the Beastmen, what did they obtain? Nothing. This was an outcome that the various nations didn't want to see.
In the end of the day, the representatives from the other nations decided that they would comply with the Beastmen's demands first. In any case, after the Beastmen left, the judgement would still depend on their respective countries.
After obtaining a satisfactory result, the Beastmen finally returned to the Prairie with a large amount of food that were compensated to them by the Aksu Empire. However, things among the Humans weren't finished yet.
The Aksu Empire's vitality has been severely damaged. But the Rosen Empire cannot just let the Aksu Empire go. You had made your own trouble, and we helped you solve it, and you want to place that in the past? How could that be possible?
Therefore, the Rosen Empire and the others made demands towards the Aksu Empire. Among those demands were money while some had others. The Rosen Empire didn't ask for monetary compensation, they only had one request. And that request was to give the Purcell Duchy to the Buda Clan as a fief.
The Buda Clan being a Noble of the Aksu Empire wasn't false. But, there was an ongoing resentment between the two. Even children in the continent knew about the enmity between the two. Therefore, it was a non spoken decision that the Buda Clan was no longer a part of Aksu Empire.
But even so, the Buda Clan was still a Marquis in the Aksu Empire, and they also had their own fief. They were also people of the Aksu Empire.
However, the Rosen Empire's request placed the Aksu Empire in a very awkward position, so the agreement was still put on hold. The Aksu Empire was in its weakest state, while the Rosen Empire's condition was still as smooth as silk, left completely unharmed. The Rosen Empire can definitely demand for a piece of territory. If the Rosen Empire would occupy the lifeline canyon, the Aksu Empire would be in trouble.
But if they comply to the Rosen Empire, it would be equivalent to placing a thorn on the side of the Aksu Empire. Under this circumstance, the Aksu Empire's future wouldn't be so good.
Like the Rosen Empire, the other three countries also put forward their own demands. They didn't ask for land, after all, they were too far away from the Aksu Empire. Getting land would be useless. Instead, they demanded a huge amount of money as compensation. This made the Aksu Empire not know what to do.
This time, it wasn't one Empire that were making things difficult for them, but instead four Empires working simultaneously. The Aksu Empire cannot even think of what to do next. Most importantly, most of their forces were already gone. Which made their power of negotiation very weak.
The reason why the Rosen Empire didn't conquer the Aksu Empire was because the latter had just suffered defeat under the Beastmen. If they invade the Aksu Empire, they would be looked down by everyone on the continent.
But even if the Rosen Empire cannot invade the Aksu Empire, they can still make an outrageous demand, enough to economically cripple the Aksu Empire.
If the Aksu Empire were still in its most flourishing time, they might decline to the Rosen Empire's demands. But it was unfortunate for them that they were currently in their lowest point. This weakness was not only in terms of military power, this also included their damaged economy.
Although the Beastmen didn't take anything away from the commoners, they still emptied the national granaries of the Aksu Empire. Moreover, they also killed some Nobles of several cities and then snatched their belongings, especially the grain. Because of this, one can consider that the economy of the Aksu Empire had been held back for at least 20 years. In this case, if they don't agree to the demands of the Rosen Empire as well as the other countries, then the four countries would definitely choke their economy. When that happens, it would be impossible for the Aksu Empire to return to its original state.
Most importantly, the two northern strategic places of the Aksu Empire, the Purcel Duchy and the Iksa Domain, has been completely destroyed. The two families had ran to Golden Island, this was something that the continent already knew. Moreover, the vitality of these two families were damaged severely as well. They simply don't have the ability to continue managing their former territories. This was also the reason why the Rosen Empire proposed that the Aksu Empire would give the Purcell Duchy over to Zhao Hai.
However, the Aksu Empire understood that no matter what happens, they cannot hand that territory over to Zhao Hai. If they gave it to the Buda Clan, the Aksu Empire would get pincered once the Rosen Empire decides to attack in the future. Therefore, they had a difficult negotiation with the Rosen Empire.
There is only one thing in the Aksu Empire's mind, as long as their territory wasn't divided, they wouldn't counter any demands from the Rosen Empire.
In fact, everybody had already seen it, the Rosen Empire didn't really want the Purcell Duchy. They only wanted to get better benefits.
After an arduous conversation between the two sides, the Aksu Empire agreed to compensate the Rosen Empire with a huge amount of money. At the same time, they also removed all of the tariffs given to Rosen Empire's traded commodities.
But what made people feel strange was the unusual disappearance of Zhao Hai. One must know that the Rosen Empire had used his name in negotiating with the Aksu Empire. However, he still didn't appear even at the very end. This was really not like Zhao Hai's action.
In reality, Zhao Hai was also very busy in the past few days. He was currently collecting war corpses. The war had produced a lot of corpses, moreover, the majority of them were strong soldiers. They corpses were incredibly useful to Zhao Hai.
This war between the Beastmen and the Humans had made more than 1 million corpses. Some of these bodies were buried by the Beastmen, but some were not. After all, Zhao Hai also knew that if corpses were left out for too long, diseases would start to take form and might even start an epidemic. Therefore, he decided to take those corpses and make them into undead.
Even so, Zhao Hai was still aware about the negotiations. But he didn't think too much about it. He knew from the very beginning that it would be impossible for the Aksu Empire to agree. Although the Aksu Empire was currently weak, the Rosen Empire still wouldn't go too far in causing them trouble.
On the other hand, Zhao Hai despised the people of the Radiant Church. Everyone was now aware that Boris had become the emperor, but by then, the Radiant Church had already left the Aksu Empire.
Zhao Hai hated the action of the Radiant Church, this was just like the Church had just left behind their ally and ran away.
Currently, Boris didn't have the best appearance in the world. Dealing with the Purcell Duchy and the Iksa Domain was his idea. But now that they had failed, the Empire had been placed in a very bad situation. If the Aksu Empire wasn't given 20 years, then it would be impossible for them to recover.
Even if they recover 20 years later, their strength wouldn't be the same as before. Not only would they compensate the Beastmen, they would also give some compensations to the four other Empires. This truly damaged the Aksu Empire's core foundation.
After the negotiations were settled, the Aksu Empire started to officially recover. But this time, the Radiant Church had already become the most hated people in the Aksu Empire. Nobody inside the Aksu Empire had any good feelings towards the Church. One could say that if the Radiant Church wanted to preach here again, it would be more difficult than in the Rosen Empire.
Now that the restoration of the Aksu Empire had started, what they most needed was nothing else other than food. They needed large quantities of them in order to stabilize the market prices. And they need large quantities of them to resume production. After the negotiations with the other empires, the other empires agreed to sell a large amount of food to them at a low price. This had greatly eased the food problem of the Aksu Empire.
Among them, the most famous one was Zhao Hai, who brought a large amount of grain to the Purcell Duchy. This played a very important role in the reconstruction of the Duchy.
The Purcell Duchy and the Iksa Domain now has new lords. The nobles in these two places were the most loyal men of Boris. They hated Zhao Hai before, but they had no choice but to welcome him at this time. This was because whether it be the Purcell Duchy or the Iksa Domain, both needed large amounts of grain in order to settle the residents down.
The grain that Zhao Hai brought, wasn't the Bread Fruit, but instead the ordinary Bamboo Rice. Zhao Hai believed that the Bread Fruit was more popular among the Beastmen.
Chapter 548 - Cooperation
While the Aksu Empire was reconstructing, an upsurge of Anti-Radiant Church sentiment had unknowingly spread out on the continent. This time, it wasn't only the Rosen Empire, but all countries were starting to do so.
However, the Radiant Church still had their 9th ranks. It wouldn't be good for the nations to go too far. However, the Radiant Church's momentum has evidently slowed down.
The reason why the Radiant Church was rapidly growing before was because they had recruited a large number of Nobles into their fold. And this was because they had brought a lot of benefits for these Nobles.
However, in recent times, the Radiant Church had suddenly left their allies, which was maybe good in their opinion. However, it wasn't for their subordinates, therefore, the church had been pushed into becoming passive.
The Radiant Church had already behaved. Besides the Rosen Empire and the Aksu Empire, the others had now started to fully suppress the church. Their followers were now decreasing massively. It was now very difficult for them to regain their original momentum.
Besides all of these, it was still impossible for the Empires to extinguish the Radiant Church. The church had 9th ranks, for the Great Nobles, these experts were effective deterrents.
Under the suppression of the big Empires, the only thing that the church can do was to best maintain their strength. But a lot of Nobles still decided to withdraw from the organization
One the other hand, Zhao Hai didn't care much about all of these. He was currently on Golden Island, discussing the future development of the Buda Clan to Evan and Robert.
Zhao Hai had already told the secret of the Space to Evan and Ruyen, but for the other members of the Purcell Family, they were still on observation. Those people weren't the same as the Iksa Family which hadn't been infiltrated by the Radiant Church. In truth, Zhao Hai still wasn't comfortable with those from the Purcell Family.
Although the Buda Clan's territory didn't increase, their reputation in the continent did. This was because the Rosen Empire had used the clan's name as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Aksu Empire. The Buda Clan was now famous in the entire continent.
The future of the Buda Clan is mainly based on the Black Wastelands, where it was possible to create a country, Now that the Iksa and Purcell Family were already rootless and floating refugees, if they don't side with the Buda Clan, they it would be difficult for them to appear on the continent in the future.
In the end, what Zhao Hai and the two others decided on was that the Iksa Family would send a team lead by Fernand to Golden Island in order to do business. At the same time, Ruyen would be sent back to the Purcell Duchy. A large amount of grain was brought by Zhao Hai to the Duchy, which helped establish their business there. Now, Zhao Hai wanted to use this opportunity to make a trade network starting from the Purcell family's previous territory.
If it was before, then there would be some difficulties. But now that the Purcell Family had joined, it doesn't matter. The family was very familiar with the Duchy, and along with the managers of the Markey Family, the Buda Clan can definitely build a distribution center in the Duchy, seizing the entire grain market.
Zhao Hai contacted Bell again through the Calci Family, having him come back to Iksa Domain and establish another distribution center there. This center would be a collaboration between the Buda Clan and the Calci Family, so the latter didn't oppose.
By having these two sales networks, Zhao Hai's sales would definitely increase in the future. This was very important to the Buda Clan.
The reason why Zhao Hai didn't go to the Prairie after the war was because he knew that the Beastmen were busy as well.
The Beastmen had snatched a lot of things from the humans, and those items needed to be distributed. And because of these things, the Beastmen shouldn't need anything at this time. So Zhao Hai decided to postpone his trip to the Prairie to the future.
At the same time, the situation of the Continent was a good opportunity for the Buda Clan. The Continent was now suppressing the Radiant Church, which was also the biggest enemy of Zhao Hai. In the past, the Radiant Church had suppressed them before, but now the situations had been reversed. The Radiant Church was now being suppressed, and the Buda Clan can't just let this opportunity go.
Although the Buda Clan was still lacking in people, but with the Purcell Family, Markey Family, and Iksa Family joining them, the Buda Clan's management was now enough. Although some of these people cannot be trusted with the Black Wasteland, managing the Clan's businesses wouldn't be an issue.
Zhao Hai was planning to show his business to the Continent in the following days. It was important to know that the if the Buda Clan's business were to be expanded, it would immediately take a superior position. A reason for this was the Haven products, these products' quality were already quite well-known in the continent. Moreover, one shouldn't forget that Zhao Hai still had seafood and Prairie products in his hands.
Products from the Prairie cannot possibly be unique to Zhao Hai. This was because a lot of Human Merchants were also doing business with the Beastmen. Therefore, there were a lot of places in the continent that sold these items.
However, marine products were incredibly rare in the continent. Because of this, these items were in high demand. As long as nobody suppresses them, the Buda Clan would surely be able to quickly expand on the Continent.
Moreover, Zhao Hai wasn't planning on doing this business alone. He was prepared to cooperate with the Calci Family, Crook Family, Charlie, Rosen Empire, and the Shelley Family.
Working with these people would not only make the Buda Clan's products spread in the continent at the shortest time, the Buda Clan can also draw its relationship closer with these people.
With this plan in mind, Zhao Hai immediately returned to Wild Dragon Castle outside Carson City after he handled the matters with the Iksa and Purcell Families. Then he prepared himself to fetch Lizzy from the Imperial Palace.
Although Lizzy had been spending the majority of her time inside the Space, if Zhao Hai didn't meet Lizzy officially, the Emperor might suspect something. Therefore, Zhao Hai must show his face from time to time.
When Zhao Hai returned to Wild Dragon Castle, a servant informed him that Jason had visited several times. Moreover, he had left word that if Zhao Hai comes back, he must immediately go to the Crook Family's castle.
Zhao Hai stared for a moment before he nodded. Then he immediately rode his carriage and headed towards the Crook Family. It wasn't the first time that the Crook Family's servants had seen Zhao Hai, so they immediately removed the road block and had Zhao Hai directly enter the mountain.
Outside the castle, Jason was already waiting for him. When Zhao Hai got down from his carriage, he went towards Jason and laughed, "Brother Jason, I heard that you had come over for a few times. What made you so anxious? But this is also good, even if you didn't go and find me, I'll still come and look for you."
Jason walked forward and then hugged Zhao Hai, "Brother, what took you so long? Come quickly, Grandfather is waiting for you."
Then the two entered the castle using a carriage. And then they quickly went towards Jesse's study. Seeing Zhao Hai arrive, Jesse smiled and said, "Kid, it's been a long time before you've come to see this old man. What are you afraid of? You're a Patriarch of a Great Family, you should have some subordinates to keep your schedule free."
Zhao Hai couldn't help but smile helplessly and said, "Grandfather, you really are living comfortably. How can our Buda Clan compare with your Crook Family? If our Buda Clan had a few tricks of yours, then I would be able to sleep at home all the time."
Jesse laughed and then said, "Sleeping all the time? Kid, you're going to turn into a pig. Come sit down, I have a matter to speak with you."
Zhao Hai nodded, then he and Jason sat down. After a servant sent some drinks in, Jesse looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Little Hai, your current spotlight was not small. I really didn't expect the Rosen Empire to make you into a bargaining chip. But that's good, the Aksu Empire yielded because you you."
Zhao Hai forced a smile, "What's good about that, I didn't gain anything. Right, Grandfather, why did you ask me to come immediately? Is something wrong?"
Then Jesse smiled and said, "You had been busy since after God's Grace day, so I didn't have any opportunity to ask you to come. I just wanted to ask you if you have any business that you wanted to do with us?"
When Zhao Hai heard Jesse, he couldn't help but smile, he also came today because of this matter. Zhao Hai immediately nodded and said, "You don't need to look for me, I'm actually planning to come here soon. I have some business that i'd like your help with. Now that the Radiant Church has been suppressed, there's nobody blocking us from expanding anymore. Therefore, I wan you and father-in-law to cooperate and sell our products in your stores. But I want the prices of our Buda Clan's products to be uniform in all the stores."
Jesse stared, then his eyes turned bright. He knew that Zhao Hai has a lot of good things in his hand. If he works with them, then it would be greatly benefiting the Crook Family .
He immediately nodded and said, "Alright, this is not a problem. As for the price? You go can just go and tell us."
Zhao Hai nodded, then he expressed that their cooperation would include Haven products as well as some Prairie products. He didn't have a lot of seafood right now, so they had to mainly sell the other two.
But even so, Jesse was still very happy. Haven products and Prairie products were very popular in the continent. Especially the Haven products since they were almost considered to be a unique business. Although they had similar products in the continent, the Buda Clan's Haven products were the best in terms of quality and price.