Chapter 810: Catalyst
Ji Chen’s proposal to support and hire the Lords of Glory to participate in the South Continent campaign was endorsed by the Elven Queen, Laphia, the High Priestess of the Elves, Herli, a large number of elven nobles, and all other members of the Orderly Fraction in the Northern Continent.
Now that the situation had changed dramatically, mobilizing a large number of Lords of Glory had become an unavoidable choice.
Various kingdoms and forces began to mobilize troop ships, offering rewards to transport the Lords of Glory and their armies across the sea to the South Continent.
During this process, transit points such as King Kong Island, Starshine Islands, and New Moon Islands were used. The Lords of Glory from the Northern Continent only entered the frontline battlefield of the South Continent after regrouping and rearming.
This was also one of Ji Chen’s proposals. The New Moon Islands couldn’t accommodate such a large number of troops, so they would be diverted to other islands to enjoy the benefits brought by the massive influx of people.
Except for the New Moon Islands, both the Starshine Islands and King Kong Island had some relationship with Ji Chen. The former was his economic dependency, almost completely under his control.
King Kong Island was part of the King Kong Island Guild, which had a close friendship with Ji Chen and could be considered almost like his loyal player guild. They also offered significant assistance in the initial battle against the Dreadlord in the Crown of the Ocean, so it was only fair that they received a share of the rewards.
It was believed that with the addition of this new force, the declining situation in the South Continent should have been somewhat reversed.
However, along with the response to this proposal came another shocking piece of news.
The White Tower Kingdom, the Ferdinand Principality, and the Gaul Kingdom had betrayed the Orderly Fraction and thrown themselves into the arms of demons, mobilizing their domestic armies overnight to attack the Elven Empire!
These three kingdoms were all vassal states of the Elven Empire!
Now, among the seven vassal states of the Elven Empire, they were initially independent kingdoms. However, over time and for various historical reasons, they began to align themselves with the elves, eventually becoming vassals in terms of economy, politics, and other aspects.
Take, for example, the Halfling Kingdom of Raman. While not initially formidable, it excelled in advanced forging technology and made significant strides in runic machinery. However, a thousand years ago, with the rise of the Elven Empire, it suffered territorial losses and the depletion of crucial super-giant ore veins, hindering its advancement due to resource scarcity.
Over the following hundred years, due to trade imbalances and cultural sway wielded by the Elven Empire, it steadily asserted control over the nation’s economy, ultimately succumbing to vassalage under the elves.
Likewise, other kingdoms and principalities eventually fell under the sway of the elves at different junctures in history, often due to particular events, and started paying homage to the Elven Empire.
This truth was widely acknowledged among the other nations of the Northern Continent. The more the Elven Empire expanded its power, the more wary they became. Although they covertly opposed elven advances in different areas, they encountered oppression across multiple fronts, especially in the cultural arena, where they were noticeably disadvantaged.
The vassal states were further exploited by the Elven Empire in numerous ways, leading to significant grievances.
Possibly due to this, demons targeted several vassal states, prompting the White Tower Kingdom, the Ferdinand Principality, and the Gaul Kingdom to raise the banner of resistance against elven oppression and initiate rebellion.
From this, it could be seen that the demons had obviously also conducted a lot of research on various countries and forces of the Orderly Camp, knowing where to break through.
Nevertheless, the sudden betrayal of the three affiliated countries adjacent to the Elven Empire was sure to bring great trouble to the elves, thereby affecting the war in the East and West Continents.
This had also been bad news for the Orderly Camp.
For the demons, this had been good news, as it would have allowed them to relieve pressure from the elven armies and advance the front lines more quickly, gaining greater advantages.
However, things hadn’t gone as the demons expected. The sudden entry of players into the battlefield had swiftly filled the gaps created by the appearance of the rebellious affiliated countries, catching both demons and the Orderly Camp off guard.
Surprisingly, on the Southern Continent, the performance of these usually carefree foreigners had not only surprised the demons but had also stunned the Orderly Fraction.
When players encountered fierce demons, their first reaction wasn’t fear or retreat but excitement.
In their eyes, this was all about merits and money!
Although the elves tended to look down on others, they were really generous when it came to rewards.
Just for being willing to come to the Southern Continent, players received a hefty amount of resources for free. Each demon squad eliminated earned a small objective reward. If they killed higher-tier demons or demon heroes, they could receive even more generous bounties.
Single-horned demons, the lowest-level grunts, were the least valuable. From these grunts to mid-tier demons like Rock Demons, to high-level demons or flying demons like War Demons and Winged Demons, each level and type of demon had a different bounty ladder.
Some players had roughly calculated that if Ji Chen could claim the bounty for killing demon kings, it would amount to an astronomical figure, enough to buy the land of five kingdoms.
Initially, when the demons witnessed the Lords of Glory army approaching them without fear but rather with excitement to engage in battle, they were all stunned, pondering, “Are these humans truly this brave?”
After systematically defeating wave after wave of their troops of different ranks, the demons couldn’t help but sneer. These human armies were far too feeble. The fact that they had previously been intimidated by them was quite laughable..