s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto looked at the battlefield ahead quietly.

There were battles near the station of Zhongzhou State. Meanwhile, there were sporadic fights near the headquarter of East Island.

The general trend intertwined with a chaotic situation. Now, the battlefield with an area of hundreds of kilometers in Changdao was like a peaceful h.e.l.l. Any sound almost meant a battle.

Arguing came from a giant and gorgeous tent. The voice became increasingly loud while the tone got sharper and sharper. All the impudent questions seemed to be against s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto went a little further and watched the rainstorm before his eyes leisurely.

He distanced himself from the arguing.

The voice suddenly trailed off.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto looked down at his watch and frowned.

The bickering sounded clear for a while, and then it got m.u.f.fled again.

In the center of the headquarter, the giant and gorgeous tent fly was lifted and then put down.

A slender figure in red walked up behind s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto and looked angry.

The figure appeared to be a 25 or 26 years old girl. She was over 1.6 meters tall and looked pet.i.te. However, she looked attractive and wild.

She wore a vivid red furcal dress. There was a strong wind in the night rain. When it came, her dress was fluttering in the wind, and her snowy-white and slender legs were exposed. In the storm, she stood behind s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto in fiery red, which seemed to bring a touch of lively color and fragrance to the whole night.

“Master, those people are too much.”

The woman looked at the motionless s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto and said as she bit her rosy lip.

She looked beautiful and attractive. Even in anger, she impressed people with her coquettish taste.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto said nothing.

She looked increasingly aggrieved. She bound her slender waist with a piece of long red silk. Both ends of the red silk fell to her thighs. Two tiny folding fans were fastened to the ends and swayed gently with the wind.

She reached out to hold the folding fans along the red silk. With a swish, she unfolded the fans. And then, they tore the rain apart with great impetus. Suddenly, a thermal wave rose from the chilly rain.

“I want to kill those people. They hurt people like mad dogs. Master, can I go in to kill them?”

She smiled sweetly—an evil killing intent generated from her fascinating smile.

“All the dead were theirs, so it’s normal for them to overact.”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto turned back, looked at his most excellent disciple, and said calmly.

“Overaction is quite different from abuse. Do they think they can abuse our special forces because they are generals? What the f**k do they think they are! They appeared to argue with High Priest Tian Yue, but actually, they held against you.”

She said in hatred. Her smiling face showed hidden bitterness.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto laughed without words. He ordered to withdraw into pa.s.sive defense in East Island. Experts removed temporarily, so it was necessary to send a lot of elites for filling a vacancy or consuming the enemies’ strength.

To speak bluntly, those people were cannon fodder.

However, cannon fodder was a term that was limited to this battlefield. After all, it was a dark collision among superpowers or even states. Zhongzhou State now had more than 1,000 people in Changdao, which was few, but all of them reached Four Realms of Martial Arts at least.

How could common cannon fodder inflict heavy losses on them?

All the cannon fodder sent by s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto were the elite squads of East Island.

Here was the home field of East Island.

As long as soldiers took off military uniforms and held no rank, n.o.body could say they were soldiers. Even if everybody knew the truth, n.o.body would say that they broke the rules and gained a home advantage. If s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto said they were combatants of Special Warfare System, they were like that.

In doing so, he would not face any outside pressure, but he subjected himself to internal pressure for the first time.

The cannon fodder roaming the battlefield were the elites of East Island, the armed forces that were temporarily integrated into the Special Warfare System.

However, s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto used them as cannon fodder to drain the enemies’ strength.

As soon as the decision spread, he suffered from an outcry from the military.

He paid little attention to that. He was the commander in chief on the battlefield. And, military orders could not be disobeyed. As he gave the order, almost 6,000 ‘cannon fodder’ were sent to the battlefield.

They were the most costly cannon fodder.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto sent them without hesitation, to consume Zhongzhou State’s strength, put off their attack, and win the fight.

This way was understandable, but not all people could accept it.

Several generals in the military came to the general headquarters at once. The cannon fodder sent by s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto were elites, and most of them came from some elite troops. However, the generals who came were also from elite forces.

To a certain extent, they were the most powerful in the military.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto avoided meeting them. He gave Tian Yue, the High Priest of Ise Grand Shrine, a free hand to handle everything. Meanwhile, he left his most excellent disciple Mai s.h.i.+ranui to take part in the discussion.

Not long after the meeting, Mai s.h.i.+ranui could not stand these generals’ sarcastic remarks and left in anger. Suddenly, the meeting in the tent became more lively.

“That was to be expected.”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto paused for a moment and shook his head, saying calmly, “Look at the rain.”

Mai s.h.i.+ranui wanted to say something, but eventually, she remained silent. She accompanied s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto to watch the night rain.

The arguing became louder again. In the night, it sounded increasingly clear.

Mai s.h.i.+ranui was distressed and agitated. She suddenly asked, “Is it true?”

“What?”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto doubted.

Mai s.h.i.+ranui, who stayed with s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto from childhood, did not hold her master in awe. She only had genuine respect and concern toward him, like a daughter to her father.

“Master, I heard some rumors… about you.”

Mai s.h.i.+ranui murmured in the storm.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto was indifferent.

“Moreover, I saw Crown Prince yesterday… I got peeved at the way he talked, and he was frivolous…”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto turned back and looked at Mai s.h.i.+ranui deeply. His indifferent glance flashed by.

“Master, your status… is no less than Gu Xingyun of Zhongzhou State. You only used some cannon fodder, and you’re not for self-interest. Although the generals have real power, they usually dare not come here to denounce you publicly. They…”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto suddenly interrupted Mai s.h.i.+ranui and said calmly, “They need someone to take responsibility.”

Suddenly, Mai s.h.i.+ranui changed color. She felt panic and mumbled to herself, “So, the rumors are true?”

It had been rumored for a long time.

At the first few days of Changdao Battle, the situation in East Island was difficult. Everyone else was jittery. After the battle, the Special Warfare System of East Island was uncertain. However, it suffered unrecoverable economic losses. And it turned out that even in the final fight, s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto’s performance was not satisfying and inflicted considerable losses.

Under such circ.u.mstances, how could there be no rumors?

In recent days, a lot of people said that East Island suffered such huge losses was because of s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto’s hesitation and incompetence after reaching Changdao. There seemed to be a force behind the scene, blaming all failures in East Island on s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto.

That was why the Crown Prince openly and wantonly suggested to her when Mai s.h.i.+ranui met him yesterday.

That was why the generals, who s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto looked down upon, dared to denounce him publicly.

“Master… What’s the royal family’s att.i.tude?”

Mai s.h.i.+ranui asked abruptly.

“The result is still unknown. What could the imperial family do?”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto shook his head.

Mai s.h.i.+ranui was unconvinced. If the imperial family expressed no opinion now, they might support her master implicitly. If so, why did Crown Prince say those words to her yesterday?

“Crown Prince…”

Mai s.h.i.+ranui began to speak and then hesitated.

“Oh…”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto laughed and said quietly, “He’s insignificant in such matters.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be alright.”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto glanced at Mai s.h.i.+ranui and said slowly, “At the worst, I give up my power in Divine Wind Force.”

He said easily.

However, Mai s.h.i.+ranui saw gloominess from his eyes.

“Is there no other way?”

Mai s.h.i.+ranui asked softly.

When s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto was about to speak, two figures walked through the night rain in a hurry and came up to him.

They were the Mikado’s royal security guards.

Glacier.

Tide.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto looked at them and asked softly, “Is there any news?”

“Yeah.”

Glacier nodded gravely. He had a bright look, with unspeakable excitement. “His Highness Tianhai Wuji just made contact with the imperial family. He’s expected to come to Changdao 15 hours later.”

The bright look in his eyes flashed away, but s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto fixed his eyes on Tide with composure.

“What did they say?”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto asked.

He mentioned the dark forces who illegally occupied Changdao, instead of the people of East Island.

Zhongzhou State, which held the upper hand, had fallen into a dangerous situation.

More than ten hours later, East Island’s power would change substantially and overwhelm that of Zhongzhou State.

At this time, the other dark forces’ att.i.tudes were relevant.

In such a situation, Zhongzhou State sent some people to negotiate with the dark forces.

East Island would naturally send someone to sound out their intention.

The five superpowers cooperated and competed with each other. Under such circ.u.mstances, which choice would they make?

To withdraw from Changdao?

To fight against East Island with Zhongzhou State.

To conspire against Zhongzhou State with East Island.

Everything seemed possible.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto hoped that they made the third choice.

He hoped that the five dark forces would conspire against Zhongzhou State with East Island.

If so, the crisis of East Island would be thoroughly resolved. Moreover, he could calmly deal with his failure of duty after the battle.

East Island was about to receive tremendous support. Thus, it was possible to persuade the five dark forces to deal with Zhongzhou State together.

The key was what price s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto or East Island would pay.

“They agreed to do it.”

Tide said gently, “More than one hour ago, the Polar Ground Alliance and the Heroes’ Club had killed a fraction of elites of Zhongzhou State, to show their sincerity. However, they seem to want too much.”

“What do they want?”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto said gently, and the glow in his eyes grew brighter.

“The Jiang family of South America want Li Tianlan. They only want him.”

Tide thought for a while and said.

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto listened calmly.

Tide continued, “Knights Templars want to establish East Asia parish. It should be the will of the Vatican.”

“The Polar Ground Alliance… King Bear made no requirement. He just said that he was willing to a.s.sist us.”

“Fantasy World and the Heroes’ Club put forward the same condition. They…”

Tide looked at s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto and hesitated.

“Tell me.”

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto said placidly.

Tide gnashed his teeth and kept his eyes off s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto. He turned back and said quickly, “Both of them want Liuhuo Palace.”

Liuhuo Palace!

It was s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto’s foundation, which was quite different from the Divine Wind Force.

A foundation of force that only belonged to him!

s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto was not angry. His eyes lit up once again. He raised the corners of his mouth and gave a mysterious smile.

Mai s.h.i.+ranui was indignant. Before she started to speak, s.h.i.+nichi Miyamoto waved and said firmly, “Give them whatever they want. We won’t wait anymore. Give out my order. Let’s make the first move and spare no effort to attack Zhongzhou State!”

He looked at Mai s.h.i.+ranui, Glacier, and Tide, as he stressed again, “Spare no effort. Everybody, let’s start right away!”