Chapter 371 - - Mad Pei Maer_1

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Having spoken of Duge’s achievements, Luo Shuang then thanked others for their contributions and bestowed upon them official titles and noble ranks.

But compared to Duge’s accomplishments, the others’ were far less significant, so Luo Shuang addressed them with just a few words.

The officials had long seen through Luo Shuang’s intentions and naturally had no objections.

Finally,

the era was renamed Martial Hero to be announced to the world.

Luo Shuang officially ascended to the throne.

The day’s Linyang Daily Newspaper reported in detail the proceedings of Luo Shuang’s coronation ceremony and the records of all the meritorious officials.

It also covered the new policies under Luo Shuang’s rule, such as gender equality, universal education, promotion of constellation culture, and so on.

As the Linyang Daily Newspaper spread throughout Luo Shuang’s jurisdiction, Duge once again experienced the pleasure of his attributes rapidly climbing.

The stepwise increase was perhaps many times faster than regular attribute growth, soaring and leaping upwards. At this rate, Duge anticipated that by the time he unified Chongming Country, his attributes would reach the level he had achieved at the end of the last Alien Battlefield.

Back then, his head was chopped off with a single blow, but the wounds would heal instantly wherever the blade passed, almost equivalent to an immortal body.

It could be said,

that the biggest winner from this coronation ceremony was Duge, followed by Luo Shuang.

Most importantly, in the hearts of many, Luo Shuang would sooner or later belong to Duge.

…

After the coronation ceremony, Duge toyed with his Admonishment Vine.

This was the first time he had obtained a derived item.

It must be said,

the birth process of this thing was indeed difficult.

If anything had gone wrong in the process, such as it being damaged when he was hitting Luo Shuang, or lost during the battle, or if he had not persisted in hitting Luo Shuang and used it for something else, or, say, Luo Shuang had not become emperor, perhaps this thing would not have appeared.

However, loyalty ultimately gave rise to such an item, which was somewhat unexpected to Duge.

Duge smacked his lips twice, looking at the Hit King Whip thoughtfully.

It appears that the principle behind the birth of derived items is indeed different from keywords; it seems to also depend on the object of use. If Luo Shuang had any sense of normalcy and really regarded him as a master, such an odd skill would not have been awakened.

But the attributes of the derived item are quite impressive, nearly akin to a physical cheat.

If he had known derived items were so powerful, he would have worked on them in previous worlds.

With double keywords, creating two derived items would equate to having six skills…

But how to create a derived item from this loyalty with the Hit King Whip, Duge had no clue. Was he supposed to create a Constellation Scepter?

Putting aside derived items, the second derived skill from the trend hasn’t been figured out by Duge yet!

He has basically done everything he could, only lacking in causing “Capital” to cause an economic tide. But if the revolutionary trend couldn’t awaken the second skill, the economic wave probably wouldn’t manage it either.

Moreover, in times of chaos, adopting economic tactics isn’t very realistic.

Regardless, things that need to be done must be done.

The next day,

Duge, leading the Earth Tease Army and the Earth Alien Army, traversed the entire Foggy River and recaptured all the towns along its coast.

Thanks to Pei Maer’s chaotic operations, there was no need for battle this time.

The moment Duge’s royal forces reached the city gates, the local county magistrates and prefects had already killed the city’s tax and supervisory officers, flung open the city gates, and welcomed the royal forces.

Compared with Pei Maer, who caused chaos everywhere, Duge, who only used strange tactics in battle, treated his subjects fairly well.

Of two evils, choose the lesser.

Emperor Chongming had died, and remaining loyal to him was meaningless; the best choice was, of course, to pledge allegiance to Luo Shuang.

Having conquered Foggy River’s coast, and realizing that Pei Maer could no longer mount an effective resistance,

Duge divided his army into three routes, advancing methodically forward, steadily nibbling away at the territory of Chongming Country. Since Pei Maer was eager to disrupt the country, as long as he gradually helped to restore order to Chongming Country,

it would ultimately be Pei Maer who would be in a hurry, not him.

Duge had a feeling that Pei Maer was becoming restless and would certainly take advantage of his momentarily superior attributes to engage in a decisive battle with him or, to put it bluntly, cause chaos behind his lines to continue boosting his attributes.

The former scenario wasn’t alarming.

Equipped with the Admonishment Vine, Duge was not afraid of Pei Maer initiating a challenge.

The real concern lay in the latter, for once Pei Maer resolved to cause trouble.

With his current mobility, there was no stopping him.

Regardless of whether Pei Maer’s attributes were chaotic or not, the upheaval he had caused meant that his cultivation level must have also reached the Grandmaster Realm.

…

Exactly what he feared arrived.

As Duge was gradually consuming the territory of Chongming Country,

A serious unrest erupted in the strategic rear areas of Linyang, Jiangbei, and the three passes protecting the hinterlands.

In the streets, everyone seemed to have lost their minds, attacking people on sight, smashing objects, and what was worse, some even started fires within the cities. Amidst the chaos, half the city was ablaze, counting countless casualties and following the city’s burning, a large-scale plague broke out in places like Linyang.

General Wei Tingjiang, who was responsible for guarding East Ridge Pass, was beheaded, and his head hung on the city gate of East Ridge Pass…

Since Duge’s rise, he had fought many battles, but none had resulted in as many deaths as Pei Maer’s single incident. And Wei Tingjiang was the first of the Sky Gang Star to fall.

When the news reached Xuyang, everyone fell silent.

“What do we do, Duge?” Gao Ming’s face was ashen. “Pei Maer has gone mad. If he continues like this, no matter how much territory we conquer, it won’t be enough to compensate for the destruction he causes.”

“Master, we must get rid of him.” Luo Shuang’s eyes brimmed with tears as she clenched her fists tightly. “It’s unbearable, what he’s doing to those innocent people who didn’t even provoke him.”

The State Preceptor and others kept silent.

At this moment, they finally realized what the ruthlessness of the Heavenly Demon truly meant.

Duge put aside the intelligence report in his hand and asked, “What’s the situation elsewhere?”

Most of the time, Duge’s mood was gentle, but at that moment, his tone was cold as ice.

Pei Maer’s actions against the civilians had severely crossed his bottom line.

Having experienced numerous simulations and Alien Battlefields, keywords like chaos, slaughter, and brutality had not wielded much power against him, mostly suppressed without issue.

Thus, for the first time, Duge truly sensed the madness of chaos.

Pei Maer had to die.

Of course.

Even more detestable was the instigator of all this—Pan-Universe Entertainment.

With the commotion Pei Maer caused, there was no telling how many people were rewarding him with spiritual power!

That company, which profits from human lives for amusement, should not exist in the world…

“The Chu Country’s army is advancing rapidly into Chongming Country. Towns along the way are surrendering without resistance, and if nothing out of the ordinary happens, they’ll capture the capital city of Chongming Country in three days,” reported Cao Lin, glancing at Duge. “But judging by their route, they seem to be heading straight for us. At their pace, they will meet our army at the Lan River in ten days at most. However, it’s unlikely that they will choose to have a decisive battle with us there…”

“Wei Jiuchu, leading an army of four hundred thousand, has already set out for Eastern Mausoleum Pass. This is the last piece of intelligence sent by old General Wei,” said Huangfu Xing, his voice tinged with sorrow.

“Trouble both inside and out!” Duge tapped the armrest of his chair lightly and sighed softly.

“Brother Du, we should divide our troops!” Gao Ming suggested. “Wu Chang, Xiang Li, and I will go to ambush Wei Jiuchu, while you and Ge Zong deal with the army of Chu Country.”

“There’s at least one more Heavenly Demon with Pei Maer, probably related to the diseases and plagues. We don’t know how many are supporting Wei Jiuchu. Thus far, our intelligence is limited to Chongming Country; we know nothing about him,” Duge looked at Gao Ming and said. “And with Pei Maer’s ability to drive people insane, if you split your forces to confront Wei Jiuchu, and Pei Maer attacks by surprise, I fear none of you will survive.”

Gao Ming opened his mouth but then said nothing, realizing the gravity of the situation, as no one wished to die.

“This is tough!” Xiang Li lamented. “It feels like the battlefield is full of lunatics this time; without Brother Du, we would have probably been eliminated by others already.”

“We won’t divide our forces.” Duge stood up and approached the map, pointing at Linyang City. “Pei Maer is in Linyang, and Wei Jiuchu must pass three gates. We will travel light, without troops, to intercept Wei Jiuchu. If Pei Maer shows up, we’ll take him down as well. If Pei Maer doesn’t dare to show himself, after we deal with Wei Jiuchu, we’ll turn back to intercept the Chu Country’s army—in terms of time, that’s entirely feasible.”

“Imperial Master, I haven’t awakened my ability yet. Are you confident in facing chaos?” Guan Feipeng asked.

“If I dare to act, then I naturally have confidence,” Duge looked at the Admonishment Vine in his hand and hummed a response.

“Brother Du, what if Pei Maer never confronts us head-on and keeps hiding and causing disturbances, dragging this out to the end? What will we do?” asked Gao Ming, worriedly.

“The trend of events will not allow him that luxury,” Duge looked around at everyone, “In the next few days, the ‘Linyang Daily Newspaper’ will go all out to change all horoscopes to five stars, maximizing health fortunes to first suppress the plague. If Pei Maer can bear it, then I’ll single out and kill all the Heavenly Demons on the Alien Battlefield except our own people. I want to see just how long he can keep jumping around.”

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