Chapter 707.3: The Ceasefire Line 100 Kilometers Away

The port artillery positions laid down a round of smoke on the captured frontline, covering the staged withdrawal of the third and fourth companies of the Burning Corps and the militia led by Laxi, who had pushed deep into enemy territory.

And what greeted them was cheering from the local survivors.

“Holy crap... are we fighting in Dawn City or Port Gallon?!” Lost Newbie looked stunned, especially when a girl in a long dress handed him a bouquet. He almost instinctively reached for money to pay her.

Most survivors living in the outskirts were poor people without clothes. Having even a single clean outfit meant at least they had middle-class status. In other words, the survivors cheering their return weren’t just the paid poor from the outskirts. City residents had come of their own accord as well.

Normally, they would never casually leave their neighborhoods.

Beyond bouquets, there were flower crowns and garlands, even more intense embraces and surprise kisses, leaving the players flustered.

People of different classes here seemed to have entirely different notions of propriety. Seeing that the iron men looked embarrassed to refuse, some of the bold, enthusiastic girls became even more daring, some even whispered their addresses into their ears during those brief moments of offering flowers and hugs.

Toward the militia with white bandages wrapped around their arms, however, they appeared far more reserved. Perhaps out of familiarity, perhaps faith, or perhaps unpleasant rumors. They were warm, but only scattered petals around their feet.

Laxi, marching among the militia, paid no attention to the differential treatment.

If there was such a thing as a religion to worship the men in iron, none of the cheering survivors could compare to him. He knew better than anyone how this victory had been won, and who had granted him his power.

The others in the militia were the same. Some who had long lived as slaves were instead overwhelmed by the petals thrown their way.

They remembered clearly how those people had once looked down on them, and now the eyes turned toward them were filled with fear and reverence.

That spiritual pleasure surpassed any other enjoyment.

Many hadn’t even finished walking the road ahead, yet were already looking forward to the next battle...

To savor the adulation and cheers a little longer, and to share the joy of victory with his men, Laxi deliberately ordered the march to slow.

For the nearly 10,000 prisoners herded within the columns, however, the slowed march only prolonged their torment.

What rained down on them were not petals, but spit, mud, and even sharp stones.

Their hands and feet were bound with rope. They couldn’t dodge and couldn’t even raise their arms to shield themselves. All they could do was endure the filth smashing into their faces and chests.

Some fell, dragging down nine others in their group, then were roughly yanked back to their feet by those escorting them.

Numbness, humiliation, and despair were etched onto every face.

Especially when stones and mud struck them, their hearts held not just anger, but confusion and bewilderment.

Why were the people treating them like this? They had clearly come under His Majesty’s orders to save them...

Why be dogs of the New Alliance when you can be honored members of the Xilande Empire?

...

Inside the port’s temporary command post.

Watching the cheering comrades through drone feeds, most veteran players wore expressions of envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Damn it!

They had coordinated and commanded for half a day, only to have all the glory taken by those bastards who ran out first.

If they had known the enemy was so weak, they would have gone in fully geared themselves!

After staring at the screen in silence for a long while, Old White finally spoke. “Don’t these people have any sense of shame at all?”

Ample Time chuckled, “They don’t have a concept of the nation. Like most wasteland survivor settlements, many ideas here, far beyond equality, are simply too advanced for them. This so-called empire is more like a slightly larger Brown Farm with more people.”

Technically, the wasteland had long passed the age of civilization. Applying real-world logic to analyze it was like saying, “Watermelons are round, bananas are fruits, therefore bananas are round.”

According to the official forum’s public lore, traditional borders had vanished on the planet long before the Prosperity Era, and civilization had already unified.

Rather than an empire imitating the Army and pushing for their race to be the strongest, it was closer to a theocracy that borrowed an outdated textbook from the Prosperity Era as scripture, then sprinkled in some theory from the Wislanders.

Clearly, the rulers in the Poro Province were shrewd. They collected the original Animal World, polished and repackaged it, and produced the mongrel doctrine of the Thousand Races and Thousand Gods.

Nominally, the thousand gods protected the Poro Province, but in reality the totem pillars were all bound with iron chains. What had truly protected the province for 200 years was never Animal World, but a naturally existing mountain range and a stretch of war-scarred wasteland, perhaps along with some odd trinkets left behind by the first survivors.

According to Researcher Han, the Ox God of the Sun was not always the chief of the gods. Before that, it seemed to have been a moon god akin to the Silvermoon Goddess of the Sunset Province. That was also the most direct reason the Moonfolk suddenly fell from the top of the pyramid to become the lowest of the low.

Under such circumstances, expecting Port Gallon’s survivors to offer loyalty to an emperor like the survivors of Dawn City was unrealistic. They were already a herd of well-trained sheep. From the first moment he saw Laxi, Ample Time knew those people wagged their tails at those who looked stronger and bared their teeth at those who looked weaker.

Not to mention the Gray Wolf Army’s artillery shelling the city to cover friendly withdrawals, an act that completely pushed local survivors to the opposite side.

Now that the captured drowning dogs had been stripped of their gear, expecting locals to treat them kindly would take a miracle from the Great Stag God.

Old White shook his head. Unwilling to dwell on such complexities, he cut to the point. “Reinforcements from the Heavenly City have been beaten back. All three phases of the operation are complete. What’s next?”

This war had been genuinely dull, especially when he saw via their drone, two companies chasing down an entire division and capturing them.

In the River Valley Province, even marauders fought better than them.

Ample Time muttered, “One accident isn’t enough, but three consecutive surprises should be enough to wake that arrogant little emperor... if he doesn’t want to lose all his elite troops in a gamble he can’t possibly win.”

The victory had been exhilarating. In fact, it went way beyond expectations.

Aside from the 1,241 killed in battle, nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Gray Wolf Army had surrendered. The Gray Wolf Army’s First Division had basically been fully captured!

Some had even been captured twice in one day, once at Kalaba Market inside the settlement, and again at the positions outside.

Beyond the prisoners, all the weapons, ammunition, and supplies left in the positions were hauled back by the New Alliance First Avengers Corps.

Anything they couldn’t carry, they burned.

After the battle, the Gray Wolf Army had completely lost the ability to continue its offensive against Port Gallon. And the lifeline of that Wutuo Xilande, was firmly in their grasp.

As for that idiot, Dilip, he was merely a bonus.

“Don’t let there be another accident,” Old White joked lightly. “Those guys have never played by the book.”

Ample Time laughed with confidence, “Impossible. You can tell that their emperor is an amateur in every field except one, and now, this defeat is no longer a military or diplomatic crisis for him, but a political crisis concerning imperial authority.”

Perhaps riding the momentum upstream along the Everflowing River and striking straight into the Heavenly City would be a good idea. The Xilande Empire might even collapse because of it.

But he had to seriously consider the administrator’s warning to not escalate the situation proactively.

If the Xilande Empire fell apart and Poro Province devolved into tribal warfare, not only would the Army seize the chance to expand its influence, but other unsavory forces would slip in as well. And if the mess couldn’t be cleaned up in the end, the New Alliance would lose goodwill among neutral powers.

That would be a net loss.

The emperor could afford to be reckless, but the administrator, could not.

Moreover, even if they had the strength to smash the Xilande Empire, they still had to consider the Army who was watching their every move like a hawk, the Mutant Slime Mold Research Committee, and the Torch Church brewing a world-level threat.

As the casual chatter drifted from the battle itself to the reconstruction and whether to start a Survivor’s Daily in Port Gallon, the command post’s radio suddenly received an unfamiliar telegram.

Ample Time took it, scanned it quickly, then smiled and handed it to Old White. “See what I said?”

Old White quickly took the telegram. Before even reading the content, he caught sight of the title and nearly burst out laughing.

[Imperial Notice to the New Alliance Regarding a Ceasefire]

“Wutuo Xilande really is obsessed with his reputation.” Ample Time took the telegram back and snorted casually. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. The ceasefire is the priority. Port Gallon and its surrounding areas are already under our effective control.”

“As for apologies and reparations, those can be negotiated slowly. Even if we don’t reach an agreement, it’s fine, it just makes it easier for us to cultivate local forces and rebuild.”

With that, he turned to the NPC courier who had delivered the message and issued instructions.

“Give them our reply. A withdrawal of 100 kilometers is the minimum condition for a ceasefire.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.