Qian Shougang died, Zhao Xing rushed back to Long Xiao’s location at top speed.
By this time, Long Xiao had also dealt with the remaining Black Dragon Guards on the warship.
"How did it go?" Long Xiao asked.
Long Xiao said, "Then that’s good, should we withdraw now?"
Zhao Xing said, "Even if we retreat, we must take this warship with us. We are now pursuing the enemy army, and it would be inappropriate to leave the spoils of battle behind."
Long Xiao hesitated, "Didn’t you say that reinforcements are about to arrive? My five hundred men can’t fight tens of thousands."
The Black Dragon Guards were not ordinary fodder; Prince Liang’s private army was also a strong force.
They had expended considerable effort to take down Qian Shougang; it could be said that both Long Xiao and Zhao Xing had given it their all.
Although Qian Shougang was a rank six officer, within the Black Dragon Army, he was merely a leader of a thousand men, and there were many stronger than Qian Shougang at rank six.
"They have arrived," Zhao Xing pointed in a certain direction.
To the east, five Black Dragon Warships appeared on the horizon, one of which quickly landed at the spot where Qian Shougang died.
Two of the warships dispatched many Flying Boats that swarmed over Zhao Xing, Long Xiao’s five hundred men, and the warship, surrounding them.
The other two suddenly turned north to stand guard.
"What do we do now?" Long Xiao’s expression was grave.
"Don’t panic," Zhao Xing said, "Our people have also arrived. Signal to them above that the Divine Might Army is exterminating the enemy."
After killing a rank six officer and over a thousand Black Dragon Guards, Long Xiao felt shaky after cooling down, but Zhao Xing remained composed.
Why was he insisting on exterminating them, not just punishing Qian Shougang and calling it a day?
Firstly, if Qian Shougang were alive, even if his current victory over him were secured, Qian Shougang’s rank six strength and command of a strong army would inevitably seek revenge, whether openly or covertly, causing endless trouble.
Zhao Xing’s strategy was to directly cut off this source of trouble, best to resolve it in one fell swoop.
Secondly, the Divine Might Army’s sudden rise, coupled with Zhao Xing’s cultivation of the Earth Fire Lotus, accelerated the Divine Might Army’s rise to power.
As the saying goes, with popularity comes controversy.
If Qian Shougang had succeeded in his "forceful conscription" today, there would be no issues.
Tomorrow, "Li Shougang", "Wang Shougang"... an endless stream would emerge, anyone could come and take advantage of them.
Zhao Xing wouldn’t be able to achieve any military merits if the moment he cultivates Earth Fire Lotus and gains merits, someone else forcefully conscripts them, deducting his merits, like making a wedding dress for others. What would be the point?
Note that Qian Shougang’s conscription was not a standard procedure; it was a forceful conscription that didn’t follow proper protocol, no different from robbery.
A proper procedure requires a ’Divine Contract’ witnessed by the divine, clearly stating the amount borrowed, when it should be returned, and everything else crystal clear.
Qian Shougang only had a verbal command; he didn’t even involve the divine, and the devine temple in City 98 hadn’t been built, indicating he planned on reneging on the deal and had no intention of returning it.
This way, City 98 would lose military merits, and Qian Shougang, with this batch of Earth Fire Lotus, could produce a lot of merits.
Weak leaders can’t argue against Qian Shougang, who came from a strong army.
In the wild warfare, many situations are beyond supervision, and even military merits must be tallied from multiple sources, requiring witnesses and physical evidence, and ultimately the higher-ups combine all considerations, calculated using the Creation Plate.
Incidences like two armies fighting over credit and snatching the spoils of war are all too common during major battles.
Taking down Qian Shougang was also to strike once and avoid a hundred future strikes.
Zhao Xing understood this rationale, and so did Liao Rulong.
That’s why he immediately led a large army and hurried over at high speed.
Since Zhao Xing controlled the clouds in the sky, the Black Dragon Guard reinforcements and Liao Rulong’s Unit almost arrived at the same time.
"Our Black Dragon Army’s leader Qian Shougang has died; this area will soon be sealed off. Please cooperate with the Divine Might Army’s investigation," the commander Zheng Liu from a Black Dragon Warship conveyed to the fleet of warships ahead.
On the warship, Chen Shijie raised an eyebrow upon hearing this news.
Zhao Xing... had already killed a leader from the Black Dragon Army?
On his way over, Liao Rulong had also learned the full story, analyzed by Pu Zhong.
My younger brother moved too quickly, he thought, but still, Liao Rulong reacted swiftly.
"The Divine Might Army is pursuing alien enemy forces; this place is our battle zone, please leave immediately!" he said firmly, sticking to the version that the Divine Might Army was pursuing the alien enemy forces.
Nowadays, these procedures have to be reviewed afterward. Liao Rulong was an experienced military man, and with the likes of Pu Zhong, Chen Shijie beside him, he naturally knew how to proceed.
The two sides exchanged flag signals back and forth.
Liao Rulong reiterated three times, and then the warships started to advance.
Seeing that Liao Rulong had more men, the first batch of five Black Dragon Warships did not dare to act rashly and withdrew from the area above Zhao Xing’s head.
They also didn’t understand why Qian Shougang died there and why the Divine Might Army was using the pretext of combating the enemy.
The commander of the first batch of five warships was Zheng Liu, a man of straightforward character, who was completely unaware of Qian Shougang’s arrival.
Seeing the suspicious situation, he decided to forgo inspecting Qian Shougang’s ship and instead collected Qian Shougang’s body on his flagship, calling his superiors and confronting the Divine Might Army.
Sigh~ a Fifth Order Supreme Dragon Bone Tower Ship landed on the hillside.
Qian Shougang’s Black Dragon Warship was only fifth-rank middle-grade. Compared to Liao Rulong’s significantly superior warship, it was like a hen standing beside an elephant.
"Zhao Xing, Long Xiao." Liao Rulong, Chen Shijie, Yu Ziqi, and Pu Zhong flew down from the ship, with Wen Shaoyang and Jiang Ming staying to hold Fire Dragon Pass.
Liao Rulong had bought five Fifth Order Supreme dragon bone warships, now three were sent directly here, indicating the gravity of the situation.