Page 527

Of course, the core of the transaction or cooperation between Chen Xuanfeng and the Queen of the Elves ultimately lies at the level of military and state affairs, and these personal-level issues are not the focus.

Not long after Chen Xuanfeng returned to Fengdan Bailu, he unsurprisingly received a mobilization order from the Orc King.

Chen Xuanfeng held the order written on thick animal hide and smiled as he said to his wife Catherine, "It seems our Orc King can no longer hold back. This time, he's mobilized seventy percent of the alliance's military forces, intending to complete the unification of the western continent in one fell swoop."

Catherine, pregnant with a slight baby bump, still managed her daily routine without trouble. She had also reviewed the intelligence on military movements near Saint Spirit Mountain. She nodded slightly and said, "Four armies, advancing separately but converging for a combined strike. Given the current balance of power between us and the enemy, this formation is indeed a decisive move to determine the future. With the loss of southern material support, Saint Spirit Mountain no longer has the capacity to compete with us in a war of attrition. It looks like the war across the western continent will wrap up within the year."

"If Saint Spirit Mountain collapses and is destroyed, I suppose the allied forces from the eastern continent on our side, as well as those from Sacred Dragon Mountain, will retreat in the face of difficulty? That way, we won't have to worry about the Dragon Saint suddenly showing up." Chen Xuanfeng, holding his wife's shoulder, sighed and said, "So it seems we should fully support His Majesty the Orc King Samanda. However, this means he is likely to ascend to the throne as emperor after unifying the west... Although I have already reached an agreement with the Queen of the Elves, and there is still room for maneuver in the future, it will still be quite troublesome."

While looking forward to the orcs' restoration of their kingdom, they also had to plan against Orc King Samanda. This had always been the couple's dilemma. But this time, Catherine closed her azure eyes and said, "There's no need to hesitate over this, my husband. I believe the Orc King has made thorough preparations this time, and even if we wanted to stop his advance, it would be impossible."

"Oh? Why do you think that? Previously, we only used one pawn to completely stall his plans," Chen Xuanfeng asked, somewhat puzzled by his wife's words.

Catherine opened her eyes and shook her head, saying, "Husband, you've never fought alongside Samanda, so you don't understand his style... While his combat style is that of a fierce lion, from a commander's perspective, he can be described as a cunning wolf. Every time he plans a war, he never sets up such a clear attack formation unless he has at least an eighty percent chance of success. Of course, this doesn't mean he doesn't take risks, but when he lacks absolute confidence, he always uses various tactics to weaken his opponents until he can decide the outcome in one battle, even if it means being labeled as sinister or despicable. In fact, when we planned to use the human rebel Enrico to contain Samanda, I never expected that plan to delay him for several months. Even without deploying a large number of experts, Samanda has enough skill to quell the rebellion. I had prepared several backup plans, but none of them were needed."

"Hmm? Are you saying..." Chen Xuanfeng frowned, looking at his wife with confusion, "Could it be that Samanda also didn't want to launch an attack too early and deliberately allowed the rebellion to escalate, using it to buy time to prepare for war?"

"Not exactly," Catherine also hesitated, "Because Samanda's war preparations were already largely in place at that time. Over the past few months, his military strength hasn't significantly increased. If he knew about our plans with the southern elves and was waiting for the situation to change, that wouldn't align with his style. Leaving aside whether he could have known about the elves' strategic plans, which even we weren't fully aware of beforehand, and thus predict the current changes, simply based on his identity as the Orc King, he wouldn't sit back and let us drive the war. He's all about control, doesn't care about his rep or how he gets things done, as long as he's calling the shots. He would never place his hopes of victory on tactics planned by his subordinates, as that would reflect poorly on his leadership abilities. Moreover, given the turbulent situation in the rebel regions, it's not something Samanda would tolerate... How to describe it? It feels as if, over these past few months, the Orc King suddenly disappeared, completely losing control of his territory, with his core experts doing nothing, which gave the rebels room to grow."

Chen Xuanfeng fell silent for a moment, calculating various possibilities in his mind.

Unlike Catherine, as a wolfman of common birth, even though his martial prowess, thanks to memories from a past life and extraordinary encounters in this one, had reached a rare level in the world, his understanding of the true upper echelons of the orcs might even be less than his understanding of the elven leadership. For example, his knowledge of Orc King Samanda, whom he had always regarded as a hypothetical enemy, was quite limited. They had only met two or three times, with no in-depth communication, and due to his status, it was impossible to plant spies. Everything was based on rumors and Catherine's accounts, lacking a three-dimensional understanding, so his estimations of the situation always had some gaps.

For instance, this time, Chen Xuanfeng clearly misjudged the Orc King's capabilities due to his apparent incompetence in dealing with Enrico's rebellion. Upon reflection, how could the king who once orchestrated the grand victory of the orcs' restoration war be helpless against a minor rebellion?

Thinking this, Chen Xuanfeng spoke again, "Catherine, are you saying that Samanda was unable to directly lead military affairs for some reason, which delayed his advance, and now that he has regained full control, he has launched this war?"

"Yes, whether it was due to seclusion for training, external actions, or some other reason, I believe my intuition is correct. And although his actions haven't been reflected in an increase in military strength, based on his current deployment, it must be something that significantly boosts his chances of victory," Catherine affirmed.

"Hmm... In that case, it seems our options are quite limited. This time, the Orc King specifically asked me to bring Jin Luosha, You Lijia, and the three Crystal Dragons to help in the fight, likely to contain several human Saint Masters, allowing him to confidently face the Pope of the Radiant Temple. With the grand shamans keeping the Radiant Temple's priests in check, at least in terms of high-end combat power, we are not at a disadvantage. As for the armies, the human Sword Hero corps, modified with crystal cores, has not yet reached full scale, and even with other modified troops, they cannot withstand our increasingly powerful orc army. If Samanda has additional preparations beyond this, victory is essentially assured, with the only difference being the extent of war losses. But after I leave, will you be safe here? What if the Dragon Saint shows up out of nowhere..."