Chapter 1225: Chapter 1225

"Enough already, I know, jeez, you’re so naggy," Elsa said impatiently.

Then the next day, Elsa watched with tearful eyes as Du You, Lin Yucha, and Lin Yushi left, not at all the imposing figure she had been the day before. In the end, she’s still just a child, Du You thought to himself.

This time, going back meant he couldn’t return in a day or two to keep Elsa company.

After returning to the Shenghai Kingdom, Shaliya’s preparations were already complete. In fact, they had long been preparing this plan, the essence of which was to reveal military strength—or rather, to reveal part of their military strength.

They needed to exert enormous pressure and threat on the Divine Flame Empire, yet make the empire believe they could annihilate the Shenghai Kingdom, without scaring them off too easily. That was their goal, to maintain a delicate balance.

Previously, before they cornered the Sea King Turtle, they didn’t have a clear understanding of Tier 6 powerhouses. Their plan would have been lacking, but now it was different. They had come to understand the true strength of Tier 6 powerhouses.

A thousand Tier 5s, unless they belonged to a special branch of the armed forces, couldn’t possibly surround and kill a Tier 6 powerhouse. To ensure the death of a Tier 6, they needed more than three thousand Tier 5s, primarily in the later stages of that tier, to be able to kill the opponent. Even then, their losses would be incredibly heavy.

Officially, the empire had two Tier 6 individuals, and the Shenghai Kingdom publicly boasted a thousand Tier 5 Flame Giants, whose combat power was far from simple. However, the Flame Giants could only defend; they couldn’t leave their posts.

Thus, while the Divine Flame Empire had always been wary, they hadn’t taken Shenghai Kingdom too seriously.

Recently, due to the covert suppression from the Divine Flame Empire and behind-the-scenes provocation from the Shenghai Kingdom, frictions at the borders of the two nations had escalated, though on the surface, they still maintained a cordial relationship.

With the Quicksand Empire’s pressure gone, the Divine Flame Empire finally bared its fangs at the Shenghai Kingdom.

After Du You’s return, Shaliya immediately sent out invitations to various forces to attend a ceremony.

Even the royal family of the Divine Flame Empire received an invitation. At that moment, Emperor Tru sat on his throne with a frown, looking at the invitation in his hand.

"What do you think about this? Shenghai Kingdom invites us to a ceremony, saying there will be a military parade. What does this mean?"

"Looking at it literally, it seems to be a review of military strength, but such things are usually internal affairs within one’s own country or territory and rarely made public. Many of us even take precautions in advance to conceal our power, avoiding exposure. But for Shenghai Kingdom to do this is rather strange."

It was then that the Minister of Military Affairs opened his eyes: "It’s a show of force, they are making a show of force."

"What do you mean?" Emperor Tru seemed to have thought of something too.

The Minister of Military Affairs continued, "Due to the previous battles, we lost quite a few strong fighters from Tier 5. And now, with the northern Fox People setting up their kingdom, our forces are tied up. Shenghai Kingdom is showing off its strength as a show of force, so they can squeeze more benefits from us."

"Taking advantage of our weakness, how insidious," another minister spoke.

"So, what should we do?" Emperor Tru asked.

"Let’s send someone to take a look first; knowing how strong they are will help us devise countermeasures. They probably don’t realize just how deep the true foundations of an empire can be, thinking we only have what’s visible on the surface. We aren’t like the Sandpeople, whose upper class is all out in the open." In their minds, the Divine Flame Empire was the strongest nation in the east of the continent.

Even with the Quicksand Empire, if not for certain special reasons, they wouldn’t have given it any thought; they could have conquered it long ago. But what worth was there in occupying that desert?

"So your suggestion is to send someone to take a look. Then, who should we send?" Official source ıs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱

"It’s best to send the First Prince, he is sufficiently representative of the empire’s power."

"No, sending the First Prince would be giving them too much face. Besides, doesn’t the First Prince have other duties?"

Previously, they had received a call for help, so although their forces were not completely integrated yet, there were already vanguard troops on the move. Leading these was the First Prince, and he needed military achievements to stabilize his position.

He couldn’t give up on this mission no matter what. And with the troublesome matters in the southern Shenghai Kingdom, they needed someone of sufficient weight to keep them in check, lest they be humiliated.

"Then let’s send the Third Prince. The Third Prince currently isn’t engaged with any particular matters, and as for diplomacy..."

Emperor Tru nodded, "That’s decided, then. Let Lao San go on my behalf to take a look. Also, bring along a squad of Tier 5 experts. Our empire cannot be without its own prestige."

According to the line of succession, the Second Prince should have been the one to go, but just thinking of the Second Prince gave Emperor Tru a headache. Every family has its embarrassing members, and the royal Second Prince was just such a prince.

In the following days, the Third Prince of the empire, along with a group of others, arrived at the Shenghai Kingdom. Many nobles from the empire also made their journey to the region. Additionally, representatives from the Fox People Clan set sail from the sea, heading this way.

Many smaller forces, having received the news, came as well. In fact, even Du You had sent out invitations to the Quicksand Empire, but they had always looked down upon them, so no one from there had shown up.

As for whether someone had been sent in secret, that was unknown.

The preparations took a full half month. Du You also kept in touch with Elsa from time to time. During this half month, no battles occurred up north; the allied forces remained stationed on their turf.

But as time passed, some people couldn’t handle it anymore and left the alliance. The number of allied forces had decreased significantly.

Meanwhile, the Divine Flame Empire’s armies marched north. The First Prince led the troops, and the number of experts and soldiers he brought was substantial; it looked like they intended to annihilate the Holy Fox Kingdom in one fell swoop.

According to covert investigations, the Holy Fox Kingdom had openly shown that they had more than a thousand Tier 5 combatants, but the First Prince had brought over two thousand Tier 5 fighters. To be able to bring out so many Tier 5 fighters so easily was a testament to the empire’s depth. If it weren’t for the increasing number of Tier 5s under Elsa, they would have no way to defeat these invaders.

Moreover, after half a month of staying, the Third Prince had also explored the capital of the Shenghai Kingdom quite thoroughly. For some reason, he always felt there was something odd about this capital—it didn’t seem like the true center of a nation.