Chapter 1172: Chapter 1172

1172: Chapter 1158: Conquest 1172: Chapter 1158: Conquest Against the backdrop of the burning warship, Lu Ping’an had completed his harvesting.

From the woven bag in his hand, clanking “coins” were heard.

One after another, as the conqueror completed his campaign, Lu Ping’an also completed his harvesting of life.

[Lu Ping’an’s Conquest Declaration (Upper Silver Rank): As a commander on the battlefield, when you declare war against a specific organization or individual, killing or conquering them will grant you ‘Life Coins’ and ‘additional life spoils of war’.]

[Note 1: If there’s already a ‘coin’ relationship between the two parties, and if there was a prior ‘life debt,’ ‘blood feud,’ or ‘survival conflict,’ the chance to obtain additional coins significantly increases.]

[Note 2: Accompanying the manner and degree of defeat and conquest, the additional spoils of war will also see a rise in quality.]

But what Lu Ping’an harvested was not merely “Life Coins.”

[Congratulations Host, you have obtained ‘Fire control module (Lower Brass),’ ‘Sculpture module (Lower Brass)’…]

On Lu Ping’an’s panel, notifications were flooding in like a screen refresh, these were all the “Life gifts (spoils of war)” he had obtained.

Within Lu Ping’an’s professional system, his Life system naturally ranked first, and undoubtedly second was his negative Life system known as the Death Path (Soldier Path).

Owing to its coexistence with the Life system, its strength was far superior to his peers, whether it was the fourth-tier Conqueror or the third-tier Black Holy Grail Holder, both were “strategic weapons.”

This essentially meant they were meaningless in a personal duel, but if positioned as the leader of a team under a commander, and once a causal connection with the entire team and its opponents was established, it became a superweapon capable of overturning the battlefield.

Domain Body Martyrdom (Silver Lower Professional Ability): Consume a large quantity of Black Holy Water to cause a mass explosion in the origin corpses (with causal connections).]

This was the ability Lu Ping’an had just used, turning his Holy Fire slain targets into “bombs” inside the ship.

Yet, more deadly was the fact that those killed by these bombs also met the criteria for using this ability…

“boom!” As a result, a chain of explosions occurred.

The horror of Corpse Explosion was not merely due to its stealth and suddenness but the series of trap ambushes it triggered once activated, especially in indoor environments where it was utterly despairing.

In fact, if one obtained intelligence in advance, prevention was not impossible.

However, you would then have to leave behind each fallen comrade, effectively dividing your war formation, and thus its purpose would already be achieved.

The Conqueror is a strategic level (logistics/tactics) existence, while the subordinate Black Holy Grail holder is a bona fide battlefield controller.

This isn’t even the ultimate skill of the Black Holy Grail, but now, that ‘Group zombification’ big move, within a confined and burning ship, might not be as effective as this simple and direct series of Corpse Explosions, after all, overcrowding is a common problem on ships.

“…Go and harvest the heads of my spoils of war.”

Lu Ping’an paused, giving an even more ruthless order.

Of course, this was not because he had any particularly morbid hobbies but because he intended to further push the wheel of war.

At Lu Ping’an’s command, a great number of grey skulls were stacked on the deck; atop this small “mountain,” Lu Ping’an planted a chess piece.

[Conqueror’s War Flag (Lower Silver Rank): Place the ‘skull’ of a valuable opponent on your flagpole, making a war flag representing the conqueror.

Once the war flag is erected on the battlefield, you will gain enhancements in might, Qi Yun, and fear (aura) according to the ‘War Flag Trophy’s’ quality.]

The next moment, the Redemption was shrouded in a faint red glow, emitting a terrifying aura of a slaughterer.

This time, it was not Lu Ping’an himself who bore the war flag…

[Conqueror’s Battle Fate (Silver Mid-position): Plant the ‘War Flag’ at your camp or on your mount, challenging all your enemies, conquer or die.

In this process, your victories will add to your ‘Path of Conquest,’ increasing the intimidation and damage you and your warriors inflict on your enemies, boosting the Qi Yun with each encounter in war, your failure will…

there is no failure for the Conqueror, only destruction.]

[ps: From one victory to another, or toward destruction…]

The skeletal war flag, simple and crude, yet it emitted a sinister and ferocious energy.

Lu Ping’an initially took the initiative to “declare war,” selecting three major targets for declaration, which enabled the activation of this prerequisite trait.

“The Abyssal Insect Race, the Lava Clan, and the Fishmen under the Octopus forces…”

This kind of battle declaration couldn’t be stopped as long as Lu Ping’an and his rivals were still on the same battlefield.

There was a little episode where the scattered Fishmen who worshipped the Octopus actually couldn’t be considered part of the Octopus forces, so they couldn’t trigger Lu Ping’an’s harvesting trait.

Therefore, it was also because Lu Ping’an finally received a sufficiently trusty sacrificial offering that he successfully activated this war trait.

At this moment, the warriors of the Rebirth Business Group and the Javelineers of the Long Hand Clan—all who recognized Lu Ping’an as their leader—were shrouded in a faint red glow.

It could slightly increase the lethality against specific targets (the three races), and it could make them subconsciously feel fear and unease.

Most importantly, it could very slightly increase their Qi Yun…

this elusive thing, perhaps, was the key factor that decided the outcomes of life forms on the battlefield.

At this moment, Lu Ping’an also possessed traits that broadly weakened (killed) his opponents and broadly enhanced his allies—this was the path of his fourth-tier War Messenger.

This is the Soldier Path or, shall we say, the Path of War, and what Lu Ping’an took was the “Warlord route” that could decide the outcome of a war.

In this world, there was also a War God; however, he followed the “individual combat power” route of a battlefield meat grinder.

Lu Ping’an personally disdained it and looked down upon it… but from another perspective, there can be only one supreme battlefield commander, only one Warlord can exert full power.

Thus, conveniently produced multiple battlefield meat grinders could perhaps be more useful than just one War Messenger.

And when Lu Ping’an raised this “War Flag,” he was also challenging the three races—it would be a fight to the death upon any encounter…

“…It’s as if by not raising the War Flag and challenging them, peace and coexistence might be possible.”

Laughing lightly, Lu Ping’an ignored it all.

Since he had already taken this step and come this far, Lu Ping’an was naturally a ready to face anything.

However, Big Cat, the “Black Holy Grail Holder” Creator, had not expected to encounter such a monster…

“He effortlessly overcame the two major shortcomings of the Black Knight System, a perfect war machine…”

The Black Knight System (Black Holy Grail) is very strong as a warlord, but there is no perfect profession in this world.

Its inherent shortcomings made it quite the outlier and a minority within the warlord’s fold.

“Those who toy with life are hard-pressed to earn respect and trust for life…”

The Black Knights typically dabble in “life” by playing with bloodsucking, Corpse Explosion, and mass Curses as their traits.

However, the fact that they use their subordinates’ bodies as bombs, healing potions, and strategic materials makes it hard to earn the true trust of their warriors.

The more he treats his warriors as “ammunition,” the more they fear and distance themselves from him.

What good is a commander who has lost the heart of the army and the trust of his soldiers, no matter how strong he is?

Body Martyrdom (Brass upper professional ability): Upon drinking from the Black Holy Water (diluted), and upon the command of the Black Holy Grail Holder after their death, the user’s flesh will be forced to undergo a Martyrdom Explosion.]

Is this ability strong?

A first-tier Battle-profession might easily drag a third-tier opponent to mutual destruction.

But if a Black Holy Grail Holder forces his subordinates to utilize it before a battle, morale would collapse, it’s just a matter of time.

The prerequisite for the “warlord system” traits is the ability to earn the trust and recognition of warriors…

The Black Warlord (Black Knight) has always been the minority, mostly because these shortcomings are nearly impossible to hide and almost unsolvable.

Even if one only uses life ammunition like “Corpse Explosion,” “Resurrection of the Dead,” and “Corpse Plague,” it doesn’t just hurt the enemy; these abilities tend to be indiscriminate, causing endless problems after the battle leaves both sides’ lower ranks dead and clean.

Use life ammunition, and you are feared and kept at a distance by subordinates.

then what’s the point of being a battlefield commander if not for the war traits expected of a Black Knight?

But now, looking at the warriors happily harvesting spoils of war, Lu Ping’an clearly transcended these natural limits.

Does he not need to toy with life?

Are his men not worried about becoming ammunition…?

If others fail to understand, then those companions from the guilds certainly know his abilities.

“It’s not about trusting his abilities, but trusting his bottom line, trusting that he will not do certain things…”

This time, watching Lu Ping’an and the busy people around him, Big Cat inexplicably felt a bit bitter, envious, and helpless.