Chapter 372: Chapter 372

"It’s not entirely useless, after we return, these merits will elevate our status, useful for the next step in our plan."

"What’s the next plan?" Du You asked curiously.

But Xi Qianxue did not tell Du You directly: "Rest for a day first. We can’t fight in the coming day. I’ll tell you when the time comes." Hearing this, Du You refrained from questioning further.

He understood that Xi Qianxue was worried he would secretly complete the next step of the plan. Although he was antisocial, Du You had not stooped to that level yet.

However, he felt such precautions were necessary, another lesson learned for the day.

They returned to Border City. As they approached, they saw the City Lord rushing out to greet them.

"Your Lordship, we are not deserving of such a grand welcome," Du You said, a bit bewildered. Although they looked down on the inhabitants of this world, it was quite extraordinary for the City Lord to personally greet them.

The City Lord burst into laughter: "Ha ha ha ha, how could I not come out for our heroes’ return? This is not a place to hold conversation. Come to the City Lord’s Mansion, I have ordered a banquet to be prepared."

The group followed the City Lord to his mansion. It was Xi Qianxue’s second return there. Unlike the skepticism of their first return, they were now filled with anticipation.

They had been belittled by Wood Shield City and longed for revenge.

Upon arriving at the City Lord’s Mansion, the Lord promptly inquired: "Ha ha, how did the Red Copper Mine operation go?"

Xi Qianxue glanced at Du You before speaking up: "It’s been decimated. Totally. It won’t be easy for them to recover. Also, we found Wood Shield City’s reinforcement troops."

"Reinforcement troops? Logistics, you mean? You didn’t take down their logistics along the way?"

Xi Qianxue casually recounted the events, but upon hearing this, the joy slowly faded from their faces. This operation seemed to have escalated things significantly.

"Good, well done! They’d attacked Border City last time, so it’s about time they got a taste of their own medicine. Did you bring back their supplies? It can offset our previous losses."

The four generals were overjoyed with their achievements, but the others had different sentiments.

"That’s too much. You are being too audacious. Destroying their supplies will incur Wood Shield City’s deep hatred. How are we supposed to cooperate in the future? Once the powerful Beastmen recover, we’ll barely be able to hold them back."

"Hmph, the Beastmen have already allied themselves with Wood Shield City. A few years ago, Wood Shield City even helped them wreak havoc here. Have you all forgotten that?" A disagreement was brewing among them.

The City Lord intervened: "Alright, alright. What’s done is done. There’s no use arguing about it. However, Wood Shield City crossed the line last time, a bit of retaliation now won’t hurt."

"So what’s the next step? Continue to escalate the conflict? That won’t do either side any good."

The City Lord pondered, "Given the current situation, I believe Wood Shield City will want to avoid a larger scale war and will likely seek negotiations."

After a pause, he spoke to Du You, "The supplies you’ve brought back should be stored in our warehouse. It’s a significant bargaining chip for the negotiations. Perhaps, if we wish to maintain relations with Wood Shield City, these supplies may prove essential."

Du You was confused. Shouldn’t they press their advantage? Why this odd behaviour?

Truth be told, Du You had little understanding of political matters. But Xi Qianxue seemed to find it normal, so he refrained from asking further to avoid appearing ignorant.

He disliked these complexities, preferring a direct fight to the finish.

As a result, the atmosphere of the banquet shifted from cheerful to somewhat awkward.

The captured goods were quickly sent to the warehouse. Those in Border City had no intention of touching them, even after the negotiations concluded, these supplies would likely be returned to Wood Shield City, leading to frustration.

Not Du You and the others, but the soldiers of Border City. The news quickly spread throughout the city. The soldiers were delighted, but the policy left them rather bewildered.

However, Du You and his team were unaffected, as their rewards for the operation soon arrived. Du You and Xi Qianxue, already of high rank, were promoted directly due to their contribution.

And it wasn’t a trivial promotion. Both Du You and Xi Qianxue now held the rank of Deputy Commander. Their new positions were only one step away from the four generals, making them pretty high-ranking military officials.

Now, in the army, except for the four generals and the City Lord, the highest ranking officers were these Deputy Commanders. If Du You wished, he could now command thousands of troops and form his own force.

Together with Xi Qianxue, the strength of their combined forces could pose a challenge to a general. A general, in theory, commands a greater army, but lacking enough supplies to maintain full troop strength is their biggest problem. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥

However, the quantity of common soldiers didn’t matter much to Du You and Xi Qianxue.

Instead of gathering troops to form their own army, Du You and Xi Qianxue focused on recovering their Magic Power.

His Spiritual Perception had already risen to level 9 after the recent battles and upgrades. After this recovery, his basic Magic Power and Magic Power Boiling also rose to level 9.

With faster Magic Power recovery and an increasing amount of it, Du You felt more like a fortress. In previous battles, the number of soldiers he had killed far exceeded that of Xi Qianxue.

No wonder Xi Qianxue was cautious around him, which was perfectly reasonable.

After Du You had recovered his Magic Power, he began to open the orbs. This time around, he had harvested a lot more due to the heavy combat. However, the spoils were mostly Crystal Coins and other useless items. After a quick sorting, Du You couldn’t be bothered with them anymore.

At the moment, Du You didn’t have any scrolls to further upgrade himself. In hindsight, he should have bought suitable skills to improve upon his abilities before coming in.

One day quickly passed. Early the next morning, Du You received a message from Xi Qianxue to gather together again.