CHAPTER 463: CHAPTER 463: I SMELL A PLOT

Even if it was to save others, such blatant destruction of the Luoze ancestral statues was seen as a defilement of the Luoze Empire’s glory.

After the incident, the Luoze Empire demanded that Wansheng Country hand over the Fox Beastman Swordsman for punishment by their methods.

Wansheng Country believed the Fox Beastman Swordsman only destroyed the sculpture in order to protect the children playing beneath it, a necessary act of defense, and that to punish someone who should be hailed as a hero for the sake of a statue did not align with morality.

The Luoze Empire retorted, stating the Fox Beastman Swordsman could have simply carried the child away from the statue and that there was no need to damage it. By blatantly destroying the statue of Luoze’s ancestor, she was merely seizing an opportunity to vent her discontent with the Empire; such a person must be strictly punished to deter others who may wish to tarnish the Empire’s honor.

Wansheng Country must hand over the Fox Beastman, otherwise, they would be deemed as enemies of the Empire.

Wansheng Country considered the Luoze Empire’s actions to be making a mountain out of a molehill and being unreasonable. They stood firm in defending their previous decision, insisting that the Fox Beastman Swordsman’s actions were just and she should not face any punishment.

Thus, the war began.

At first glance, the reasons for the conflict seem absurd, but that’s only because the deeper causes were overlooked.

Take for example the King of France, Louis, who shaved his beard, and his wife complained he looked as ugly as a chamber pot and threatened to run off with the King of England, along with two provinces as her dowry, prompting a war between England and France.

Surely no one believes that a King shaving his beard would actually drive his wife away.

Who knows if during his time on the Crusades, his crown became a lush green meadow.

Yang Yu had long sensed the aroma of conspiracy.

War often needs just a pretext, anything that can stir up conflict between both sides will do.

Yang Yu had played a war simulation game where one controls a tribe, can farm, develop technology, and expand territory through conquest.

Whenever Yang Yu played online, others would use "My little cow is missing, did it wander into your pasture?" as a reason to attack his stronghold.

Calm and collected, Yang Yu would advance his technology and skillfully employ militiamen to send the invading troops back home, even managing to counter-push with a surge of gunmen.

Turns out... what missing cow? They don’t even have a pasture. Maybe their little cow had a rocket strapped to it and zoomed into the sky!

At the All Things Library, Yang Yu had also checked the progress of the war between the Luoze Empire and the Wansheng Empire; the content was exactly what he had heard from Qing Shi.

Yang Yu could even accurately recall the Fox Beastman Swordsman’s name and that of the saved child.

By analyzing the details of the war seen in the Library, one could see the deeper reasons for the conflict between the two countries.

Once the declaration of war was announced, the Luoze Empire swiftly occupied a fertile plain called Selovomen with thunderous might.

Selovomen, not far from the border between the two countries, wasn’t large, covering only 5% of Wansheng Country’s territory, yet it produced over 20% of the nation’s food.

Such an important plain, so close to the border, should have been heavily guarded by Wansheng Country, and it seems impossible that the Luoze Empire could have taken it so easily.

Yet, from the declaration of war to seizing Selovomen, the Luoze Empire took less than twenty-four hours.

It is clear, then, that this was a war with long-established plans.

Requesting the Wansheng Country to hand over the Fox Beastman in the name of imperial glory was merely a pretext to launch a war.

Listening quietly to Qing Shi’s recount, Yang Yu didn’t gain much substantive intelligence. Staring out at the endless desert, he activated the task panel and looked at the task displayed—[Medal of Peace].

Task Requirements: End the war between the Luoze Empire and the Wansheng Empire and reconcile the two nations.

Task Reward: Experience ???, Gold Coin 100,000~1,000,000, Lottery Draw 0~99 times (depending on your contribution to peace), Chilom Chain Cake Shop 30% Discount Coupon.

Based on performance in the war, one could obtain a corresponding title.

If one wanted to complete this task, they must intervene in the war between the two countries and lead them toward peace.

However, intervening in the war between the two countries, possessing enough authority to act as a mediator, was quite difficult.

If one started with the Luo Ze Empire, the hope was slim.

The Main War Faction held an absolute advantage in the Luo Ze Empire, and peace advocates like Chilom were truly a minority.

In the war between the two countries, the Luo Ze Empire had the upper hand. Advocating for peace in that country was like snatching food from the mouth of vested interests.

From Chilom’s concealment of his identity as a peace advocate, it was not hard to imagine the difficulty for peace advocates like him to survive under the political pressure of the Luo Ze Empire.

If one really wanted to start from within the Luo Ze Empire, it was possible, but that would mostly involve cunning and not much enhancement of strength, in which Yang Yu naturally had little interest.

Conversely, starting from Wansheng Country was far simpler.

Looking at the current situation, it was unlikely that Wansheng Empire would simply submit to the Luo Ze Empire.

The fact that this war had lasted eight years demonstrated their determination to reclaim their lost land.

They would stand at the negotiating table only if they were utterly defeated, or if the Luo Ze Empire suddenly developed a conscience and decided to sound the retreat, returning all the lost land to Wansheng Country.

However, such a twinge of conscience was like a dream—one best left as just that. Otherwise, why would the opposition exhaust their people and deplete their resources in a war, just for nothing?

In times of utter chaos, Wansheng Country urgently needed a hero to reverse the tide of battle and recapture the lost territories.

Clearly, it was an excellent opportunity for leveling.

Moreover, if he could help Wansheng Country gain the right to speak in peace negotiations, then nabbing Racial Essence till his hands were full would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?

Therefore, Yang Yu firmly sided with Wansheng Country.

However, the current military forces leading the fight consisted only of several common Beastmen races, many special races had not participated in the battle at all.

If the situation truly became dire, the nominal King of the country might resort to mobilizing everything available to rally other races.

Perhaps within this year, the nominal King had already begun mobilizing other races.

He had to hurry up, find one or two Racial Essences to increase his Level cap, and then immediately figure out a way to intervene in the war. He couldn’t let others get ahead of him.

Looking out over the vast desert, the scorching heat hadn’t yet faded, Yang Yu yawned while listening to Qing Shi continue talking about the war between the two countries.

Suddenly, Qing Shi’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

He stood up hastily, looking out over the endless desert, mumbling in disbelief:

"This, this is impossible. How could it possibly appear here?"

"What’s wrong?"

Yang Yu looked at Qing Shi, puzzled, only to see Qing Shi picking up a staff and stirring the sand, trying to draw everyone’s attention.

"We can talk about the reason later! If we don’t want to die, we need to get out of here right now!"