Battle Royale of the Sinners

7 AM.

Tong threw everything about the demonic stuff aside and went to the government hall to attend the morning meeting with a paled face. He regretted mimicking Dio.

'It worked. But it wasn't worth it at all.'

<<Your [Pride] has 24.99% chance to take control of your body>>

<<Your [Despair] has 10.99% chance to take control of your body>>

<<Your [Envy] has 2.99% chance to take control of your body>>

<<Your [Corruption] has 1.99% chance to take control of your body>>

Just by activating his skill this way, his sins got stronger yet again.

Meanwhile, Jia Xu, Zhang He, and Ju Shou were already there with all the officials. With Tong's arrival, Ju Shou began the assembly agendas. He put a region map on the strategic table on the middle of the hall and put miniature "Zhang" flag on Ye Commandery zone.

"My lord, we have interrogated the captured soldiers yesterday. We have learned about their invasion plans."

Ju Shou put mini "Liu", "Huangfu", "Zhu", and "Dong" flags on the south-west of Ye region. It was the territory of Henei Commandery.

"From our investigation, Liu Ping plans to separate his force here in Henei. His main troops of 150,000 will move north to Shangdang Commandery next. One of the soldiers confessed that the governor of Henei Commandery, Wang Kuang, will also take all his men and accompany Liu Ping, but he did not know the number of Wang Kuang's troops. Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and Dong Zhuo Army will move alongside the Yellow River eastward to Liyang County and will head north toward our city. The numbers are roughly 240,000 men!"

Tong subconsciously gulped. Liu Ping really meant business this time.

Listening to Ju Shou, Tong noticed the new information.

"Wait, did you say Dong Zhuo? He's coming here, too?"

"Correct, my lord. He is currently leading a 100,000-man army."

Learning that Dong Zhuo was here as well, Tong tapped the table and pondered. He had secretly formed an alliance with Dong Zhuo by accepting a bribe, Dong Bai, as his concubine. But both of them had never communicated yet.

Jia Xu read Tong's mind and stepped forward.

"I have told Ju Shou and everyone about your secret alliance with Dong Zhuo. We have written a letter of cooperation to Dong Zhuo and dispatched our messenger yesterday."

"You did something without my permission again? What did you write to Dong Zhuo?"

"It was a few simple questions to him. First, I've asked if he wants Liu Ping to succeed in this campaign or not. Second, I ask him what he wants in return for a favor if he were to help us in this battle. And lastly, I asked him if he values this alliance more or if he wants to continue playing as Liu Ping's lapdog."

Jia Xu's frankness gave Tong a headache. He massaged his temples and asked.

"Are you trying to piss him off, or are you trying to negotiate?"

"It's to confirm his stance, my lord. The human's mind cannot be predicted. He might have sent you his granddaughter as an alliance token, but he could as well trick you into trusting him. Then, he can ultimately betray you while you let your guard down. In this situation, there is no need for a façade. We'll just be direct with our questions and our stances. If he's sincere, his reply letter will tell us. But if he doesn't, his letter's tone will tell us as well. There's no need to be concerned about our directness, my lord."

"And? What's your plan?"

Ju Shou explained. "We have concluded two policies from our initial discussion. But first, we would like to ask you a few rude questions. We have to apologize to you in advance."

"Ask away. What is it?"

"Are you confident in your military prowess?"

Tong tilted his head to the side in bemusement. What were they trying to accomplish?

"I can say I can survive any battle even if I have to fight a thousand men alone."

<<Ding>>

<<Your [Pride] has 24.98% chance to take control of your body>>

'Dafuq! I was being humble just now! Give me a break, it should have reduced more!'

The system message arrived as if it mocked Tong. He was trying to be modest, however, his tone was still somewhat egotistic.

In reality, Tong was not afraid even if he had to challenge 10,000 soldiers alone. With his current passive buffs and other skills, he had thousands of ways to exploit a group of mobs.

"That's reliable. Then our second question, can you relinquish your army command right to us? Can you follow our instructions without fail? For example, if I ask you to lead ten thousand men to charge into a grand formation of 100,000 men, can you do it?"

Tong glared at Ju Shou and Jia Xu. These two foxes should have planned something, but they did not trust him. The question was an evaluation test for his character.

"I can. But if that were to happen, both of you will be held accountable from it in the case the plan fails."

"Of course, we understand that much. With your words, we can be relieved."

Ju Shou bowed. He meant exactly as he said he would be relieved because he had not known about Tong's combat skills and his leadership abilities yet. Ju Shou wanted to make sure that his advice would be accepted by this new lord and not the same treatment as Han Fu or Xin Ping.

"Any other question?" Tong asked.

"No, that is more than enough. With this, we can choose our next action." Jia Xu continued. "The first plan, we were planning to defend the city. Since my lord is confident in his military prowess, I think this plan is inefficient, so we can forget about it."

Jia Xu walked to the strategic map. He put a token, which represented Tong, at Liyang County. At the same time, he put Zhang He's token at Henei. Jia Xu also moved Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and Dong Zhuo to Liyang County, signifying a battle at Liyang.

"The second plan, My lord, you will take 60,000 men and intercept Huangfu Song and the others at Liyang County. You will have to do whatever necessary to rout those 240,000 men, even if all of your soldiers have to perish in the battle!"

Tong and Zhang He glared at Jia Xu in anger. As military men, they valued the comradeship and the lives of their soldiers more than anything else. Suddenly telling them to sacrifice their men to achieve their goal was the same as telling them to slap their parents.

Jia Xu could see their reaction, but he ignored it and continued.

"While you are fighting at Liyang, Zhang He and Ju Shou will lead a disguised unit of 10,000 men to Henei Commandery to siege the city and cut off their main supply route."

"The true goal in this operation is to isolate Liu Ping in the north. Since he will be moving to Shangdang and Jinyang next, Zhang He and Ju Shou will cut off the connection line between Luo Yang and Shangdang, making their supply line interrupted and they will be at risk of running out of food before they reach Jinyang or Julu."

"If we succeed to this point, Liu Ping will have four choices remaining. One, he has to switch his destination to Ye City in order to lay siege and steal our supplies. Two, he can request Ding Yuan for assistance and move his army to Jinyang. Or three, if he's smart, he can avoid the confrontation and retreat to the Capital. Or four, if he's that stupid, he will plunder the peasants along the way to reach either Ye or Julu City."

"I will prepare a plan after we determine his choice. For now, please get yourself ready and prepare for the battle at Liyang."

"Also, please use your [Create Food] to stock the city provision supplies and clean water because I expect a prolonged campaign. Since you can only use it once a day, I will need you to stay behind in Ye for a few days."

Tong contemplated Jia Xu's strategy with a deep frown. The soldier number odd was four to one, and Tong had to solo this operation without any assistance.

'Wait, without assistance?' Tong realized something was amiss.

"Wenhe, what about you? Are you coming with me in this battle?" Tong asked to make sure if he had someone to consult during the upcoming sortie.

"No, I have to remain here in this city to settle down the citizens. There's a lot of domestic integration we have to do within this city after the occupation. There are many unemployed private soldiers of the dead nobles, so I have to tame those men before they revolt."

Jia Xu truly had his hands full coordinating with the locals. Julu laws could not be applied here, so all nobles and merchants still possessed private mercenaries and troops in this city. If it was not for the upcoming battle, Jia Xu would have dragged Tong around the city to help him pacifying the local merchants and the families of the nobles.

Although Tong had a suspicion, he gave his permission to act as he pleased since he had faith in Jia Xu's insight.

"I'll send a message to my father to dispatch officials from Julu to this city. This should ease you up a bit." Tong touched his clan chat and was about to text to Zhang Jiao.

"If it's that message, I've already sent my men yesterday. You don't have to worry about it."

"Uh, no. I'm not talking about sending a messenger with a fast horse. I can communicate with my father in real time without sending a messenger."

Tong had forgotten to tell Jia Xu about the clan chat, so he excused all the officials to leave, only Zhang He, Ju Shou, and Jia Xu were left in the room. Tong explained the details about the communication system, how it worked, the limitation, and the condition for usage.

Ju Shou and Jia Xu's eyes lit up. They knew how important a long distance communication was. If they could deliver important news in an instant, the trends of warfare and domestic management would change.

Ju Shou had been coaxed by Zhang He for months, so he had to listen about his bragging about Tong being an Immortal King, magical abilities and such. After he surrendered, Tong's soldiers and Jia Xu confirmed the rumor, which forced Ju Shou to believe in Tong's superpower.

Zhang He, on the other hand, felt that it was normal for an immortal to be able to do this much, so he was not surprised. He only thought that if he could use it as well, he could contact his scouts or his scouts could inform him about the latest news. With such a tactic, he would be able to react to the changes in the battlefields.

"Invite me into the Clan."

"Please Invite me, too."

"My lord, me too."

The three did not hesitate and volunteered to be part of his clan.

However, Tong shook his head.

"There's a limit how many people I can invite. So far, I can only bring in four people a year, and I've already used up the quota for this year. You all have to wait for another few months. Moreover, I have to bring you to Julu to get this done."

Disappointed, the three gave up for now, yet their eyes were determined. Such a valuable ability could not be learned or trained. They had to obtain it via supernatural means, and the supernatural being was right in front of them.