Lord of War

If the people of Yazhou were filled with despair and fury, the other continents had been scared witless.

The moment they turned sixteen, they would have to enter the battlefield and work for the Huaxia people?

The Huaxia people would take ninety percent of the experience and money, while they themselves got only ten percent?

This was practically capitalism.

No, wait. Capitalists probably exploited people even worse.

Whatever. The point was, this was basically slave labor.

Absolutely unacceptable!

All the nations protested. Some even declared that they would launch a war, but Huaxia had only one response:

“Come on, it’s all being forcibly arranged by the battlefield. I don’t want this either~”

“You want me to treat the people from the defeated nations better? That’s no problem. But defeated nations can’t hold important positions, can’t form parties or camps together, and must send everyone into the battlefield at sixteen. Those are things I can’t control.”

“Even if you wipe me out right now, it won’t affect what happens inside the battlefield. Your people will still have to go in and work for generations to come.”

“Why don’t we all sit down and talk this over? You can safely send your people into the battlefield first. We in Huaxia will take good care of your land, resources, and children.”

“We guarantee that when they turn sixteen, they’ll be healthy and strong enough to enter the battlefield and reunite with you. The whole family can become slave laborers together—no, I mean, fight together as a family.”

The other nations were furious, but they soon realized that there was very little they could do about it.

Did anyone really expect all these people to stand united?

The radicals shouted that they should go all-out against Huaxia, but most people did not want to die.

If you fought them and died, that would be the end of it. But what about those of us who survived? If we lost in the battlefield and became their vassals, would Huaxia retaliate against us?

Ultimately, it was because after this round of Promotion Defense Battles, almost no one believed that anyone would be able to defeat Huaxia in the rounds to come.

That Liu Xuan was simply superhuman.

Thus, every plan was formulated with this as its premise.

“Better to live miserably than die gloriously. Once we get into the battlefield, we can just treat it as a different way of life.”

Some people consoled themselves this way.

Normally, plenty of people wished they could play games for the rest of their lives.

Now they had their chance.

…

Inside the battlefield, Liu Xuan and Zhang Meng were arranging for people to pick up the drops left by the attacking side.

After hearing the announcement, Zhang Meng couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

“That punishment is way too harsh. They’ll never be able to turn things around.”

They had no particular grudge against most of the people from those nations. But that was simply how this battlefield worked. If you didn’t win and someone else did, then Huaxia would be the one reduced to a vassal state.

Put simply, it was survival of the fittest.

Liu Xuan patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be so sentimental. Have you ever read those online novels where everyone awakens a class at sixteen and has to enter dungeons to fight? Their situation is basically the same.”

Then he added meaningfully, “Besides, those of us who won have a heavy burden on our shoulders too.”

Liu Xuan wasn’t bragging. The Promotion Defense Battle looked brutal, but strictly speaking, not a single person had truly sacrificed themselves.

Those who died would simply revive.

Normally, the battlefields of the various nations were separate, so they had never had the opportunity to fight one another.

In other words, although the entire Blue Star was currently made up of opposing forces, they did not actually have to fight each other to the death.

The current purpose of the battlefield was merely to consolidate Blue Star’s strength and determine a victor—or, more accurately, a representative.

But what about after this stage?

In the future, they would have to compete against other planets and other races. Liu Xuan felt that things would not remain this way.

Different battlefields would probably clash directly, and there would likely be no more protection from death.

Who would have to stand at the front then?

Without a doubt, it would be Huaxia, which had absorbed all the resources of Blue Star.

This was both an opportunity and a challenge.

That was why Liu Xuan had said that the victors also carried a heavy burden.

Those in the rear only needed to farm monsters and contribute experience. Those on the front lines had many more things to consider.

After comforting Zhang Meng for a while, Liu Xuan turned his attention to his character panel.

Two new titles had been added to the title section.

One was the Fighter title, which had been awarded to everyone on Battlefield No. 2468.

Title: Fighter (Non-Unique)

Description: Awarded to all warriors who have achieved victory in one Promotion Battle.

Effect: None.

This was probably the lowest-grade military title. It merely proved that the holder had won once and offered no practical reward.

It would only become useful after they continued winning and upgraded it.

Even so, many people were delighted to receive the title and immediately displayed it.

Everywhere one looked, there were people with names like Fighter XX.

The second title, however, was Liu Xuan’s exclusive reward.

Title: War King (Non-Unique)

Description: Awarded to the warrior who performed best in a Promotion Battle and personally killed at least 1,000 enemy soldiers.

Effect: This title will record the number of enemy soldiers you have killed and generate a projection of killing intent that can be seen only by you and enemy soldiers. The more people you kill, the greater the projection’s intimidating effect on the enemy.

Current kill count: 29,994.

Although this title was an exclusive reward, it was not unique.

In simple terms, although Liu Xuan was the only person to receive it this round, if someone else achieved a thousand-kill record and performed the best in the second Promotion Defense Battle, they could also obtain it.

As for the title’s effect, Liu Xuan looked up behind himself and over his head. With a thought, he saw a humanoid phantom standing behind him, its entire body wreathed in black flames. It looked like a man-eating demon, yet also like a god looking down upon all living things.

There was only one word for it: cool!

The phantom had no effect on Liu Xuan himself, but if an enemy saw it, anyone with a weaker nerve would probably be scared out of their wits.

Killing a thousand people gave one a chance to obtain the title. Liu Xuan, however, had killed nearly thirty thousand. It was easy to imagine how terrifying the projection’s intimidation effect would be.

…

After watching the situation at the site for a little while, Liu Xuan left everything in someone else’s hands and headed into the city.

He still had quite a few miscellaneous matters to deal with.

First, he had Old Zhuang make him two more Salamander Backpacks. Once they were finished, he went to look for an alchemist.

This alchemist was not someone they had raised themselves. He was the NPC alchemist from the former Orenburg.

After wandering alone in the wilderness for many years, the man had suffered terribly and lost the precision he once possessed. Whenever he held a potion bottle, half the contents would spill out because his hands shook so badly. Naturally, he could no longer brew potions himself.

As a result, he had begun accepting apprentices, much like Parker. Students paid money to learn his techniques.

Liu Xuan sought him out because he wanted him to examine several materials he had obtained.

One of them was the Strange Mushroom he had gotten from the Horrifying Nether Spider.

Strange Mushroom (Rare Material): A legendary and bizarre material that ordinary people could go their entire lives without seeing. Perhaps some highly skilled alchemists know how to use it.

When he took the faintly glowing mushroom out of his bag, Alchemist Foster’s eyes lit up. He reached out immediately, clearly wanting to take it.

Watching his hand tremble violently, Liu Xuan thought to himself, Are you sure you won’t just fling it away?

Even so, he handed it over.

“Mr. Foster, could you take a look at this?”

Fortunately, Foster seemed to understand that if he accidentally sent the thing flying, he could never afford to compensate Liu Xuan. This time, at least, he held it securely.

As he examined it, he clicked his tongue in amazement. “Where did you get this? The Strange Mushroom isn’t exactly a high-grade material, but when it comes to rarity, even some of the most exceptional materials aren’t necessarily harder to find.”

“I found it up north. What can it be used for?”

Foster reluctantly set the Strange Mushroom down, then smiled. “That depends on what you need, brave warrior. The remarkable thing about the Strange Mushroom is that it can be used to brew a potion known as Wishwater. Of course, don’t let the name fool you—it’s still a mystery whether it actually works.

“According to the books, this potion has only appeared three times. The first person wished for wealth beyond measure, only to end up falling to his death as a thief inside some rich man’s vault. By the time he was discovered many years later, all that remained of him were bones.

“The second person wished for eternal life and was eventually captured and transformed into an undead.

“The last person wished for the greatest power in the world. He made that wish at the age of sixteen, but after suffering defeat time and time again, he finally defeated his rival and became the greatest in the world at the age of one hundred and sixty. Unfortunately, he died from his severe wounds immediately after the duel. He was only the greatest in the world for a few minutes.”

“So there’s no way to know whether Wishwater can truly grant wishes—or, if it can, how long it will take. There’s simply no telling.”