fantasy novels Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131: A Clash Between Deputy Commanding Officers
The next day, Li Mu spent the entire day planting fields inside the Blessed Field Art.
He truly could not understand it.
Who the hell was it that said farming was fun!?
Li Mu kept using External Incarnation, so all three of him worked together.
Even then, after a full day, they had managed less than seventy mu of land.
And the current limit of the Blessed Field Art was two hundred mu.
Now that he had an endlessly circulating Spiritual Spring waterway, every patch of land could be filled with medicinal herbs.
He still had more than a hundred mu left unplowed. If nothing came up that night, he would have to hurry and plant all of it, then just wait for the harvest.
Besides sowing all the herb seeds he could find for High-Grade pills, he also filled the remaining land with the herbs needed for Low-Grade Body-Fortifying Pills and Qi-Gathering Pills, as well as enough herbs for more than a dozen Ghost-Axe Destiny Pills.
The seeds for Low-Grade pills did not require sweet rain. Three or four days would already be enough for harvest.
As for the Ghost-Axe Destiny Pills, if he used sweet rain, they would take at most six days.
That was because one of the herbs required a hundred years of maturity. Each round of sweet rain added fifty years, and it could only be used once every three days, so two rounds were needed.
As for the herbs for High-Grade pills, there was no rush. He still had 26 High-Grade Body-Fortifying Pills, 16 High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills, and 12 Earthvein Spirit Blossom Pills left.
Early on the morning of the third day, Li Mu, Zhang Zhiwei, Lu Chenfeng, and Song Chuhe set out first as a four-man team to go take over the Vacuum Zone camp.
After reaching the Teleportation Area, they still had to travel another hundred li or so. There were no Vacuum Zones along that stretch.
Marching in a large formation would attract huge numbers of monsters, so they advanced in staggered squads.
Even the construction teams were moving that way.
There were already temporary garrison troops stationed at the camp.
For every number of troops Li Mu’s side brought in, an equal number of temporary garrison soldiers would return directly to the city.
The temporary barracks had also already been set up.
And the camp already had a name written on the barracks.
Tiger Roar Camp.
Inside Tiger Roar Camp’s temporary command post, a two-meter-wide, full-scale terrain sand table of the Vacuum Zone had already been completed.
The first thing Li Mu did was summon all the responsible personnel in the camp to a meeting.
At around nine in the morning, more than twenty people had already gathered inside headquarters.
Among them were more than a dozen Eighth and Ninth Grade Martial Artists, along with a number of department heads.
When Li Mu entered with Zhang, Lu, and Song, quite a few people were already standing inside.
Li Mu walked straight up to three middle-aged men and nodded slightly, speaking with respectful courtesy.
“Li Mu thanks the three seniors for coming to assist.”
These three were currently the strongest cultivators in Tiger Roar Camp.
They were Duan Yuwen from the Cultivation Art Research Bureau, a Profound Rank Third Grade expert, Qu He, a Profound Rank Second Grade expert, and Zhou Tong, a Profound Rank First Grade expert.
All three of them were in their forties.
Aside from Duan Yuwen, who had been specially dispatched to support the camp, the other two were basically considered “benchwarmers” among peers of the same level in their respective military districts.
They were the sort who had no backing, had rank but no real post.
Coming to the border camp could count as résumé-building, but large military districts also had no shortage of Profound Rank experts, and there were only so many positions with real authority.
Without major merit, it was very difficult to actually secure a position with practical power and get anything done.
Qu He and Zhou Tong had both volunteered to come.
Their rank was Upper Wolf Guard, which was lower than Li Mu’s, so both of them saluted him.
As for Duan Yuwen, his rank was equal to Li Mu’s. He smiled very kindly and said, “I came because of orders from above, Tiger Marquis Li. You are too courteous.”
“You are the overall commander here. The three of us are entirely at your disposal, so there is no need for you to stand on ceremony.”
The other two both nodded.
Relationships like theirs and Li Mu’s—where age and rank twisted against one another—were always the most delicate.
This attitude was their way of showing their obedience to Li Mu.
Li Mu nodded, then turned to introduce the three people beside him.
But Duan Yuwen deliberately pointed out a young man in his twenties standing nearby.
“Tiger Marquis Li, the Cultivation Art Research Bureau applied to Bloodsea Military Academy for a strategic adviser.”
“This is the one recommended by Professor Lu of Bloodsea Military Academy. He is Professor Lu’s student.”
“Professor Lu has participated in directing thousands of battles of every size. His experience is extraordinarily rich.”
After he finished speaking, a rather handsome young man stepped forward.
He saluted and said to Li Mu, “Tiger Marquis Li, my name is Luo Xing. I’m very happy to serve under you.”
Neither servile nor arrogant, perfectly polite.
Li Mu smiled in response, though inwardly he felt an odd sense of awkwardness.
The Cultivation Art Research Bureau was truly treating him too well.
First the Heaven-Shaking Compass, then a Profound Rank Third Grade expert, and now even a strategic adviser.
Li Mu had heard of this Professor Lu. Although participating in command did not necessarily mean directly commanding—he might only have served as an adviser—someone with experience accumulated across thousands of battles was undoubtedly a towering figure. And a student of such a person should not be lacking either.
The awkward part was that Song Chuhe had already completed the camp planning, and Li Mu had even taken him to meet Liang Huajun and Wang Longcheng.
The two of them had also praised Song Chuhe highly.
Li Mu had already been planning to designate Song Chuhe as his acting Deputy Commanding Officer.
Who could have expected the higher-ups to drop another one into his lap from above?
Still, Li Mu had a way of handling it. After greeting Luo Xing, he looked around the room and said, “Today is the first meeting of our camp.”
“It has been three days since the last clash with the Divine Elephant Nation. They are certainly watching us like tigers stalking prey.”
“A new clash could break out at any moment, so I won’t waste time on nonsense.”
“Let’s go straight into the broad deployment and division of responsibilities.”
Then he pointed at Song Chuhe.
“This is the man I’ve tentatively designated as Deputy Commanding Officer, Song Chuhe.”
“He already completed a detailed camp plan yesterday. Everyone can use it for reference.”
“If you have any questions, raise them directly.”
After saying that, Li Mu pushed Song Chuhe forward to the sand table.
Not only did Luo Xing’s brows draw together slightly, even Duan Yuwen looked a little puzzled.
Luo Xing had been recommended by the Cultivation Art Research Bureau and was a student of Professor Lu.
He had come precisely for the Deputy Commanding Officer position.
This was basically a highly targeted résumé-building assignment.
But he had not expected Li Mu to decline to make use of him immediately.
At once, dissatisfaction rose in his heart.
As for Duan Yuwen, he was only puzzled for a moment. He had simply not expected Li Mu to bring his own candidate for Deputy Commanding Officer.
The Cultivation Art Research Bureau had arranged for Luo Xing to come out of good intentions. They were worried that Li Mu, leading troops for the first time while simultaneously commanding an entire camp, might end up overwhelmed, so they had sent an adviser.
But since Li Mu clearly had a plan of his own, Duan Yuwen did not feel there was anything inappropriate about it.
After all, Li Mu had not known someone was being parachuted in from above, and it was not as though he had said he would refuse to use Luo Xing.
Song Chuhe was much more confident today than he had been yesterday.
Although Luo Xing’s sudden appearance had caught him off guard, he still steadied himself and began.
“As the commander has said, the Divine Elephant Nation is watching us like hungry tigers.”
“A new clash could erupt at any time, so everything in our camp must be prepared primarily with the assumption of a surprise attack by the Divine Elephant Nation.”
“Our two most urgent tasks are these: rapidly implement the construction plan of one decoy camp, three real strongholds, and gather intelligence on the enemy.”
After that, Song Chuhe explained the construction plan of one decoy camp, three real strongholds in detail.
Compared to yesterday, he had even added some revisions.
The forward outposts had increased from three to seven, except that the additional four had no underground structures.
There were even more decoys now.
After finishing that, Song Chuhe moved on to other matters.
Camp construction was only the most basic level of planning.
As for how the camp would actually operate, what had to be done first and what could wait, Song Chuhe had already prepared detailed contingency plans for almost all of it yesterday.
“The second most important matter is outward reconnaissance. The primary goal is to determine where the Divine Elephant Nation’s nearest garrison is located.”
“For that, Commander, you’re the main force. You can transform into an eagle and scout from the sky.”
“Your reconnaissance ability alone is worth more than countless ordinary soldiers...”
“Good!”
Li Mu nodded with complete decisiveness.
With his actions, he was clearly showing his support for Song Chuhe.
Li Mu did have ideas about planning, but he truly was not suited to drawing up strategies himself.
He preferred killing monsters and stirring things up.
This kind of brainwork was best handled by someone else.
Now that he had Song Chuhe as an external brain, he could practically become a hands-off boss.
Any ideas he had could simply be communicated to Song Chuhe, and Song Chuhe could handle the rest.
“The three seniors, over the next couple of days while construction is being rushed, I ask one of you to stay in camp and oversee things.”
“The other two can take charge of the three forward outposts, ensuring that all camp construction work proceeds smoothly.”
Song Chuhe continued laying out assignments.
But at that moment, Luo Xing calmly raised a hand.
“My apologies, but I’d like to interrupt for a moment.”
“Go ahead,” Song Chuhe said with a sigh. He had guessed this man would have something to say.
“So your idea is to turn the camp into an empty shell with no real functions?”
“No large warehouse, no Training Arena?”
Song Chuhe nodded.
“That’s right. Neither is needed.”
Luo Xing pressed his lips together, shook his head faintly, and asked coolly in return, “Do you know how much food is needed for 2,500 people? Do you know how much food preparation a single day’s meals require?”
“If we don’t build warehouses, how will the grain and supplies be stored? In personal storage spaces?”
“And without the training equipment from a Training Arena, how are the soldiers supposed to train, improve their strength, or even pass the time?”
“There’s no signal here. Phones can’t connect to the outside world.”
“So what, aside from going out on missions, they’ll come back and do nothing but sleep? How are they supposed to relieve emotional pressure?”
“Have you thought about any of that?”
Luo Xing spoke without the slightest politeness.
It was obvious that he resented the fact that Li Mu had not chosen to make immediate use of him.
At the same time, he wanted to show Li Mu what he was capable of. He might have been sent here for targeted résumé-building, but he was absolutely not some useless pretty boy.
The moment he said all that, everyone in the room felt he had a point.
Song Chuhe’s plan just now had seemed extremely streamlined, but none of them had ever seen anything like it before.
Since no one before had ever used a model like this, there were obviously flaws in it somewhere.
Now that Luo Xing had raised the issue, they immediately understood where those subtle flaws lay.
Even Li Mu could not help looking at Luo Xing in a new light.
It seemed this was not some empty-faced ornament after all.
But Li Mu still laughed inwardly.
Even so, that was all it meant—he was not merely a pretty face.
Compared with Song Chuhe, there was still a gap.
Because back at the Command Headquarters yesterday, Song Chuhe had already considered every single one of these points in advance.
And he had already provided solutions for every one of them.