Chapter 552: Decisions Before the The War

After the battle at the City of Apollo, people gave the mysterious Einherjar an ancient and powerful title—God Of War.

It was a title reserved for the best soldier regardless of which creation story one believed in.

Wang Tong didn’t overthink his new title; but truth be told, he was shocked by the bravery of Jan Si and his warriors. In his guilt for being unable to save more selfless warriors, he finally conceded that he alone wouldn’t be able to eliminate the scourge of the Zergs. If he were lucky, he might be able to do away with Moye and Patroclus. But, what about the rest of the millions of Zergs and dark ones?

Tragedies such as what had happened to Jan Si and Lao Dao were occurring everywhere, and Wang Tong couldn’t cast a healing spell on all of them. Therefore, he realized that the only solution was to unify the human factions and make the leaders realize the pain which the ordinary people were suffering because of their decisions.

Many high-level decision-makers tended to use the so-called “greater good” to mask the devastating implication their decision had on the average person. But, was it absolutely necessary to sacrifice a small group of innocent people in order to save humanity? The answer should be no.

Jan Si used his blood to prove his unswerving faith in humanity, and this world needed more of his kind.

Wang Tong might not be able to save the world, but he would try anything to preserve the life of a true warrior.

Lao Dao’s spine was snapped into two sections, and Wang Tong was not only able to bring him back to life, but also to reconnect his spine; it was a miracle that the public had never seen before.

After the Einherjar had left, Jan Si became the representative of the God of War, a person whom the people could turn to during difficult times. Out of jealousy, Si Ke attempted to throw Jan Si into the jail for the crime of mutiny. The decision had angered the public and spurred the believers of the war god to storm into the jail and release Jan Si. Neither the police nor the soldiers stopped the civilians, since most of them used to serve under the veteran general. Some of them even threw away their uniforms and joined the rebels. No soldier would like to have a coward as the leader, so they naturally favored Jan Si, the gallant knight, over the fat and selfish warlord.

It was only a matter of time before Jan Si became the new ruler of the city. Although he could not guarantee the safety of everyone inside the city, he could make sure that the people of Apollo would live with their back straight and chins up.

The reappearance of the mysterious Einherjar quickly became viral news, and the story inspired many young warriors to fight against the Zergs and protect their loved ones.

“Shifu, what kind of bullcrap is this? It’s a conspicuous PR stun!”

“Touché! Shifu, this is not fair!”

“Dad, you can execute many powerful moves that this dude can’t. Why do people only pay attention to him and ignore how much you have done for our people?”

An athletic girl with firm curvy thighs pouted her lips and complained. Her tight gym shirt was wrapped around her figure, accentuating her tendentious body shape. Many toady admirers of this beautiful girl hurried to agree with her remark.

An Einherjar sat languidly in his chair and cracked a warm smile. “If you have the time to complain, why don’t you spend it on training?”

“Daddy! The ban on Einherjars working alone came at the cost of too many lives; we should all follow it. He has broken the rule many times, and it is outright disrespectful to other Einherjars such as yourself.”

“Touché, touché! The Zergs do not even dare approach our territory as long as Shifu is here.”

The Einherjar was Zambrotta, and his war band was one of the few surviving major factions on Mars. Due to their relatively secluded location, Zambrotta never needed to deal with full-scale Zerg invasions. Although his faction was smaller than House Lie and the Sect, he lived a much more peaceful life.

“Don’t find trouble for yourself! Especially you, and you! I will pay particular attention to your monthly evaluations and see if you have improved your cultivation.”

“Oh… come on, Shifu.”

Sensing the promise of punishment, the youngsters’ faces crumpled as their eyes darted timidly left and right.

Zambrotta knew how his soldiers had felt; however, he no longer cared. After the fight with Einherjar Wannabe, he had decided to relent his pursuit for fame, money, and other worldly possessions, and replace it with the search for the divine path.

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Seeing his daughter’s young and energetic face, Zambrotta lamented how old he had gotten. “Alright, now. Don’t pout…You look ugly when you do that. I don’t want you to stay with me forever, you know?”

“Aw, shut up, old man. I don’t want to get married yet, not until all the Zergs are gone!” Belinda kept her chin up as she protested.

Zambrotta burst out laughing. “Stop poking your nose into other people’s business and focus on your own job. He had fought hard for the innocent people of Apollo, so he deserves the popularity. You are not an insolent teenage girl any longer, so think before you open your mouth.”

“Fine, fine! You are preaching to me again! I’m out.”

As soon as Zambrotta started to preach, Belinda dashed out of the room quicker than a jackrabbit. Like father like daughter, her temperament was the exact same as that of Zambrotta before he had that life-changing fight with Einherjar Wannabe. Although the match had significantly improved his cultivation, it somehow transformed him from a vicious tiger to a mellow house cat. However, Belinda knew that her father had become much stronger inside after the fight, and it was the newfound strength that had rendered him appearing to be mellow.

That being said, having known that the real strength came from inside but not the outside did not prevent Belinda from doing things in her own way. What kind of youth would it be if she had to constantly watch out for her actions anyway?

…

Contrary to the uplifting atmosphere in the Apollo city, the air in the Maersa City was filled with disappointment and despair as more as more citizens left the city. The reason for such turn of event was simple: the Zergs were coming.

There had been more and more Zerg activities spotted just outside the city. Based on the initial estimates of the size of the Zerg army, it seemed like the Zergs were planning to raze the city to the ground.

Truth be told, such a large number of Zergs would be overwhelming if Maersa City didn’t get any reinforcement from the outside. Not only the defense infrastructure was still damaged from the last attack, but the manpower inside the city was also severely lacking. Most of the defense troupes came from the Thunder Fire and the Blizzard. But, even if the two factions joined forces, the Zergs should still be able to overrun the city with ease.

Two of the closest cities to Maersa was the Jade City and the Bay City. Aamir had decided to ask for help from these two cities.

“Hamir, where the heck is Wang Tong? He is one that wanted the city at the first place, so where is he now?”

“We need a plan! The Zergs are closing in on us. We need someone to make a decision!”

Leaders of the various factions questioned Hamir furiously. The situation had been nerve-wracking ever since the Zerg party was found outside the wall, and the missing Battle Wolf warriors exacerbated the leaders’ stresses.

“Please be patient, everyone. I swear that Wang Tong will be back for us.” Hamir announced in a confident voice.

“We want to believe you, but all the elite Battle Wolf soldiers have disappeared, and that is the reality we live in. We are not afraid of dying. We just want to know what the heck is going on!”

“That’s right! we need to see Wang Tong!”

“Wang Tong, come out!”

Inside Hamir’s head, part of him agreed with the leaders, and the other part believed that Wang Tong and the other warriors would be back in time to save the day.

“I think I have been very clear. Battle Wolf will defend the city until the last soldier drops to the ground.”Hamir said, doubting that his words would help to ease the crowd’s nerves.

After some time, a messenger carrying the reply from the Jade City and the Bay city arrived at the meeting room. After the messenger announced the other two cities’ decisions, it seemed to everyone that all hope was lost.

Both cities had refused the request on the ground of self-preservation. No one knew what the Zergs were up to yet; the encirclement around the Maersa city could be a ruse, and their real target could be any of the nearby cities.

Although the two cities had refused to reinforce the defender, they stated that their gates would be open to refugees from the Maersa City.

What should they do and where should they go? No one had an answer. At last, they gave up on Battle Wolf and looked to three other leaders in the room for answers: Marcos, Aamir, and Pamir.