Chapter 529 – Gan Ji, the Mad Demon Lord (2)
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Diaochan: "Feihong. I need you in Lujiang and help me ASAP! Stop chasing after Sima Yi!"
While Li Feihong was busy crying and healing Sima Yi, Diaochan sent him an S.O.S. message after she had escorted Liu Yang to Lujiang.
Strangely, she used the public chat channel instead of the private one.
Li Feihong came back to his senses. He returned to the real world and scanned through the Guangling area, where Diaochan and Liu Yang fought against Gan Ji.
When Li Feihong found the ruined city and the undead army, his jaws dropped.
Li Feihong: "What happened!?"
Diaochan: "We went and tested Gan Ji's skills, but Wang Yi has been injured in the process."
Medusa recounted everything including Gan Ji's skills during the fight. She also warned Li Feihong that this old sage could also use necromancy.
Li Feihong: "Then, that army is his?"
Diaochan: "Yes. He killed Guangling civilians to create that undead army."
Li Feihong understood now why Diaochan used the public chat. She utilized this chance to inform all betrayers, Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, and other men, about the atrocity that their colleague had committed.
Diaochan: "@Cao Cao, @Cheng Yu. Do you understand who you are working with!? That genocidal maniac has just killed everyone in Guangling for the sake of creating an army to fight us! Are you this desperate!?"
While she was at it, she reprimanded the two betrayers that they had joined the wrong side.
Zhuge Liang: "Please tell us about the details in private."
Guo Jia: "Take me to General Li's world. I need to know the details."
Zhao Yun: "Bring me too."
Zhang Liao: "@Li Feihong. Can you come and take my army with you? We want to fight!"
Huang Zhong: "I'm new here, so I don't know much. But that sounds troubling. I'm with Zhang He at the moment, so I'm willing to go with them."
Zhang He: "My unit will head east to support you!"
Jia Xu: "@Zhang Liao. @Huang Zhong. @Zhang He. Please refrain from leaking our military movements in the public chat. Keep in mind that there are traitors in this channel. Also, shame on you, @Cao Cao."
Xun Yu: "If Gan Ji is Lilim's subordinate, then @Cao Cao, @Cheng Yu, you've fucked up big time. How could you support a madman?"
The chat was thrown into an uproar as more officers began insulting Cao Cao and Cheng Yu for their betrayal. Everyone had been keeping it quiet about Cao Cao's traitorous action due to their previous life's relationship. However, they couldn't stand genocidal atrocity.
Yet, no response came from Cao Cao and his men.
Diaochan stopped sending public messages, but she invited all ally officers into another group chat.
Then, she began sending new orders without caring if the info might be leaked.
Diaochan: "@Li Feihong, head to Yi Province and Jing Province. Pick up all legions, generals, and necessary supplies from there. Bring them to Jiangling, so they can be pincer units to attack Yan Province from the east. Then, rendezvous with me in Lujiang. We will focus our attack against Gan Ji later."
Diaochan: "@Zhuge Liang, @Guo Jia, you two are now the chief advisors of our armies. Zhuge Liang will monitor the pincer units in Jiangling, and Guo Jia will handle the main forces north of the Yangtze River. All battle policies are now in your care."
Diaochan: "@Sun Quan, @Sun Shangxiang, stop cultivating and concentrate on commanding your army. We need your skills against the undead army at Guangling."
Diaochan: "@Huang Zhong, I know that you're new here and you are still confused about our culture. For now, tag along with Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang from now on, so you can learn things from your friends."
Diaochan: "@Gan Ning, rush your advance and report me your status!"
The arrangement was rushed since Gan Ji had used a wicked art. Medusa needed to go all out against this Lilim's subordinate. Or else, Gan Ji could expand his troops by killing more civilians or their soldiers to turn them into undead monsters.
Things had gotten out of hands!
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= Jianye Port, West of Jianye City =
This port located east of Lujiang City, which was the frontline that blockaded the Immortal Legion and Li Feihong's Crimson Angel Legion.
Currently, Cao Cao's 200,000 soldiers formed barricades along the southern Yangtze's river banks to stop Dong Bai's advance. Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and other generals brought cannons, modern guns, and muskets that they had pillaged from the Xu Province here and distributed them to the troops.
However, beyond the northern river, Dong Bai's 200,000 elites also brought similar weaponry. Moreover, reinforcement from Sun Quan and Huang Gai would arrive soon, which would increase their number by at least 140,000.
The situation in Xu Province was also unknown. Cao Cao was concerned if the outcome of Sima Yi's fate would be unfavorable to him.
If Sima Yi failed to sabotage Xu Huang's troops, Cao Cao would face another unit of 70,000 elites.
If a worst-case scenario came true, all Sima Yi's forces might be absorbed into Xu Huang's unit and the number would increase by another 100,000 to 200,000.
In the end, Cao Cao prepared his heart and brain that he might have to fight against a large army with the size twice of his own. However, those concern was now thrown to the back of his head as Diaochan's messages worried him.
Cao Cao frowned as he reread Diaochan's public messages for the 10th time, confused about what had happened to her and Gan Ji.
While Cao Mengde was still clueless about what was going on, a cultivator flew by and landed before him.
Gan Ji returned to report about his mission.
"Lord Cao. I'm afraid that I have to apologize to you. I couldn't bring Sima Yi here."
Gan Ji's tone was polite, which was the opposite persona that he had displayed when he fought against Liu Yang and Medusa.
"What happened to him, then?"
"I'm afraid that he has already been captured by Li Feihong. I can't find him with my god's sight anymore."
The worst-case scenario that Cao Cao had predicted became reality. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"What about Sima Yi's men? Was there a fight?"
"No. Sima Yi and his siblings left the city by themselves. Right now, Xu Huang Army is entering Xiapi. He's going to reclaim everything soon."
"What is an undead army thingy and what the genocide in Guangling is about, Great Sage?"
Gan Ji revealed a faint smile, "I merely turned non-combatants in Guangling into brave soldiers. There's nothing to worry about."
"By killing the townspeople?" Cao Cao probed this demon lord for information.
"Mortals are born cowards. I simply get rid of their fear and worries. Now, they no longer fear death since they are already dead. They are now reborn as fearless puppets, a perfect army for us, the immortals!"
Without thinking, Cao Cao drew his sword and hacked at Gan Ji.
*CLANK*
The blade hit Gan Ji's wrinkle neck, but it couldn't cut through his skin.
Cao Cao's cultivation was only at 2-wing since he didn't spend his free time practicing martial arts. Thus, he wasn't a threat to a grand demon.
"Kekeke. What was that for?" Gan Ji was amused by Cao Cao's reaction.
"Killing innocent civilians is against my principle," Cao Cao's eyes were burning with anger.
"Oh, please. Cao Hypocrite Mengde. You also killed innocent civilians! Oh, wait. Heck, you even ate human meat to survive against Lu Bu's encirclement, right? At least I didn't sink that low."
"That was my counterpart in the other timeline. I haven't done anything of the sort! You've crossed the line, you lunatic!"
Cao Cao stubbornly attempted to hack at Gan Ji again.
The latter caught Cao Cao's sword with a bare hand and crushed it to pieces.
Gan Ji extended the other hand and seized Cao Cao's neck. He flapped his wings and floated 2 meters above the ground as he was choking Cao Mengde with one hand.
"Listen here, you brat. I'm glad that you've picked the right side, but you can't go around and swing your sword at your superior officer. I AM THE VICE ADMINISTRATOR OF THIS WORLD, SO I AM YOUR GOD!! DRILL THAT INTO YOUR HEAD!!"
Gan Ji threw Cao Cao away before he got suffocated to death.
Cao Cao's body rolled on the ground like a ragdoll. By the time he could regain his senses again, Gan Ji had already left him.
But a voice echoed in his mind.
[Bring all of your forces to Chaisang and leave this place to Sun Ce! Coordinate with Huang Zu in Jiangxia and form a defense line against Zhang He and Zhang Liao at Wulin Port! They are likely to gather in Jiangling first and move east to Chibi City!]
Although Cao Cao wanted to swear at Gan Ji and refuse his order, his brain froze when Gan Ji told Cao Cao to gather his troops at Chibi, aka the Red Cliffs.
Nostalgic feeling hit him as the Battle at Red Cliff was one of Cao Cao's biggest military blunder. In the other timeline, he was the aggressor. But this time, he had to defend the location.
Ironically, the royal faction soldier number overwhelmed Cao Cao Army by two to three folds, which was similar to Cao Cao and Sun Quan in the other world.
Cao Cao's mouth dried as he was lost in thought. He simply lied on the ground for hours, recalling the scene of his ships burning down in the Yangtze River.
'A second chance? A redo? A redemption? Or is this my curse?'
His anger toward Gan Ji subsided as everything in his brain was replaced by various defense plans and tactics.
Cao Cao sat up and staggered toward his cousins' barracks. Upon getting there, he relayed Gan Ji's orders.
…
A week later, Cao Cao and his men left the river defense sites to Sun Ce while his army moved southwest, heading toward Chaisang City to reorganize. Then, he would dispatch his newly reformed armies to Chibi for the decisive battle against his former subordinates and Zhuge Liang's units.
All generals flew to major cities, such as Chaisang, Yuzhang, and Jiangxia to conscript more troops. They drafted every able man to join their army with every gold they had. In the end, they gained 300,000 more untrained militias as their cannon fodders.
200,000 Soldiers from Xu Province and 300,000 conscripted militias would fight at the famous battle site soon.
