Chapter 52: Strategic Thought and Weapon Upgrades!

"Bullshit!"

Su Mu flew into a rage, slamming his hand down on the tabletop. "I'd rather live standing up than die on my knees! As for this so-called Queen Catherine, once my strength is sufficient, I'll definitely level her palace and make her my concubine. And she wants me to be her kept man? Bah!"

"Hey now, young man, don't get so worked up. I think you got that quote backward; it's 'better to die standing than live on your knees.' What you just said completely lacks any sense of tragic grandeur," Old Mo reminded him.

"I did it on purpose. In my understanding of warfare, only by daring to die can one survive. If you focus solely on staying alive, you'll die all the faster. This is called dialectical materialism," Su Mu explained with a completely serious expression.

"That's right. You've certainly got what it takes to earn a living in this field. You're a born lord."

Old Mo gave Su Mu high praise, then pulled out a control panel and began tapping furiously while muttering under his breath,

"I'll do my best to gather the supplies you requested, but don't blame me if I come up short. After all, with the tide upon us now, everyone from Level 11 lords down to newcomers like you...

Shortages are everywhere, and the sheer volume of supplies you're asking for is honestly massive."

"10 War Magic Cannons."

"200 Platinum-tier Soldier Cards."

"10,000 Gold-tier Soldier Cards."

"6,000 Platinum Upgrade Cards."

"3,000 Eagle-Eye Archers."

"3,000 Gold-tier Magic Divine Bows (comes with 10 million arrows)."

"2 Reincarnation Pool Cards."

"Epic-tier Sovereign Divine Weapon Card: None (Such items are never put up for sale)."

"That's all I can provide for you at the moment."

"A total of 1 billion Tier-1 spirit stones, amounting to 10 billion Dragon Coins. Do you want them?"

Old Mo quickly tallied up the supplies Su Mu needed and provided the quotation.

As for whether Su Mu had the money, that wasn't something he needed to worry about. The exchange center was a military institution, and he had never heard of any lord bold enough to rob it.

"I'll take them!"

Su Mu bought the lot without a second thought, casually sweeping out 100 million units of Tier-10 spirit stones from a spatial ring, which converted precisely to 1 billion Tier-1 spirit stones.

"Oho, where did you strike it rich, young man? So generous with your spending," Old Mo said, his eyes lighting up as he offered a compliment.

"Just wiped out the territory of the Fallen Knight Wang Yu. All these spirit stones were scavenged from him," Su Mu said indifferently, stashing the pile of miscellaneous cards into his storage ring and preparing to leave.

With war looming, he still had plenty to do—such as upgrading his War Divine Tree and reinforcing his defensive fortifications.

"Treat a dead horse as a living one, I suppose. War... damned war. Only the living have the right to speak."

Before the battle had even begun, Su Mu already felt a profound wave of exhaustion.

"Young man, wait a moment."

"Something the matter?"

With that question and answer, Su Mu turned back.

Old Mo produced a purple-gold card, placed it on the counter, and gently stroked it. A hint of reluctance flashed across his eyes as he spoke in a low voice, "I fought for the empire my whole life, yet I didn't accumulate much wealth by the time I died. This purple-gold divine weapon card is all I have left. I had planned to wait until I reached Level 11 before opening this divine artifact to shock the world, but to think I'd be murdered back at Level 10. How pathetic."

"I feel a bond with you, kid. Take it as a gift. I hope it helps you get through this crisis."

A purple-gold divine artifact card?

Su Mu's body trembled violently. Such items were practically impossible to find, and their value was easily upwards of ten billion. Why was Old Mo suddenly giving him something so precious out of nowhere?

Yet Su Mu never accepted handouts without reason.

After a moment of thought, Su Mu looked at Old Mo with a solemn expression. "Senior Old Mo, I was disrespectful to you before, and I have no way to repay a gift as heavy as this."

"Just tell me: who murdered you? Whether they're from within the empire or the dark world, I, Su Mu, swear I will avenge you."

"Hahahaha!" Old Mo burst out laughing. "Who asked you to avenge me? I'm just giving this divine weapon to you because you still have a bit of the spine I had when I was young. I died in battle; if you really want payback, just slaughter a few more barbarian kings for me. I recall I spent quite a while fighting the dark barbarians."

"Barbarians!" A murderous glint flashed in Su Mu's eyes. *When I cross paths with the barbarians in the future, I'll wipe out their entire clan to avenge you, old man.*

"Thanks!"

When Su Mu emerged from the exchange center, he had regained absolute composure and felt a sense of shame for his earlier panic.

He began to carefully ponder how this war should be fought.

"According to the strategic analysis doctrines taught by the empire, this is an asymmetrical war where we are weak and the enemy is strong. To secure victory, we must strike the enemy's weak points with a fatal blow while preserving our strength. We cannot commit all our forces right from the start."

"However, the dark creatures' troop composition is far too well-rounded. They have combat units in both the skies and on the ground, all-magic classes, all-offensive classes, and even the blood moon granting a 30% combat boost. They seem utterly flawless. Where on earth are the fatal flaws of these dark creatures?"

Harboring this question, Su Mu returned to his small stone cabin.

An antique-looking chest sat upon the table—the epic-grade treasure chest rewarded by the system when Su Mu first advanced to a Level 1 Lord.

Su Mu had never been willing to open it until now. Now was the time.

Tap, tap, tap!

A rhythmic knock suddenly sounded at the door, followed immediately by Li Mei's voice: "Su Mu, are you in? I need to talk to you."

Creak!

The front door swung open.

...

A cup of hot tea.

Two stone stools.

As they usually did, the two chatted for a while before Li Mei asked with mild curiosity, "Your complexion doesn't look too good today. Did something happen?"

Su Mu didn't hide it and told Li Mei the truth of the situation.

"The Dark Tide is about to arrive. My territory is already surrounded by monsters on all sides. Right now, we're essentially fish on someone else's cutting board, waiting for these dark creatures to bring down the blade."

Li Mei wasn't as panicked as Su Mu had imagined. She merely smiled faintly. "Give me specifics: the enemy's troop deployment, and an overview of our own forces."

Su Mu continued, "From the current situation, the dark world has dispatched 12 War Ents, 1,000 Dark Elf Mages—there might even be forbidden-spell mages—along with a fully organized Hell Demon Legion, various powerful dark races like Flame Giants, Vampires, and Undead Knights, and an endless tide of dark beasts."

"As for me, I have 6,000 Panda Warriors, two Gold-tier War Trees, plus the 3,000 archers I just bought, 200 Platinum soldiers, and 10 magic cannons. That pretty much sums up my strength."

"An asymmetrical warfare model."

Li Mei uttered a highly professional military term, then began her analysis:

"If we go toe-to-toe against the enemy with our current strength, a single enemy charge will wipe out all our forces. You bought the wrong things. You should have spared no expense buying a defensive magic array, preferably one capable of withstanding Sovereign-tier forces. The Dark Tide generally lasts only seven days; if we outlast seven days, we win without fighting."

"Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility of our array being breached. In that case, we must activate our second operational mode. You've studied troop counter-strategies, haven't you? Archers counter mages, mages counter warriors, and warriors counter the enemy's giant combat units. As long as the counter-strategies are properly applied, we might just snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

"Lastly, in the worst-case scenario where all our troops are sacrificed—I don't want you imitating the ancient Hegemon of Chu and committing suicide by Wujiang. I hope you prepare a portal in advance. As long as you are still alive, wherever your people are, your territory goes with them. Do you understand what I mean?"