As soon as Lanling heard this, he looked at the three headed Chimera in slight surprise.
At first, he had killed it and then saved it because he intended to tame it later, after comprehending the Hell Lightning, and make it his mount. He had never expected it to come to him now.
Although it insisted that it would not become a servant and would only become a comrade in battle, the outcome was essentially the same.
Although Lanling had expected something like this, he was still overjoyed.
“It’s a deal!” Lanling said.
The three headed Chimera stretched out a claw to touch Lanling’s hand, then turned around and flew back towards Chimera Volcano.
It had only regained its ability to fly. It still needed to absorb a tremendous amount of volcanic energy and remain submerged in the magma for quite some time.
Not only that, it also intended to accept Naishu’s next living sacrifice. There was no reason to refuse free offerings.
The people of the Flame Demon Tribe had scattered in terror at first because the three headed Chimera had arrived unexpectedly. It had come at dawn instead of its usual afternoon visit, catching everyone completely off guard.
Everyone had already been working and building. There had been no time to hide. If the three headed Chimera had attacked, it would have been an utter catastrophe.
Yet unexpectedly, it simply left.
It seemed as though it had come only to exchange a few words with Chief Lanling. As a result, Lanling became even more mysterious and unfathomable in the eyes of every member of the Flame Demon Tribe.
Looking at the people scattered across the ground, Lanling said calmly, “Continue working.”
Then he returned to his room to continue sleeping.
However, Dina had already gotten up to feed the little ancestor breakfast. After Ali finished preparing the meal, she climbed back into bed to accompany Lanling, this other ancestor, while he slept.
As soon as Lanling slipped back under the blanket, he felt a smooth, naked body.
The next moment, Ali slipped into his arms, rubbing her soft, silky body against him while letting out quiet little hums.
Lanling played with her fox tail. Before long, her body grew hotter and hotter. Finally, unable to resist any longer, she climbed on top of him of her own accord.
“I want to have a baby too!”
…
Sisi departed, returning to Black Demon City to investigate Naishu’s so called trump card force.
Lanling carefully inspected all the Flame Demon Tribe’s defensive works and the progress of the outer city wall.
The result left him deeply disappointed.
First of all, most of the defensive structures had already been destroyed by the three headed Chimera.
As for the planned seventy mile outer wall, only ten miles of rammed earth foundations had been completed.
Three hundred thousand Rakshasa prisoners had worked for more than a month and produced barely more than ten miles of earthworks.
Back then, over thirty thousand members of the Flame Demon Tribe had built seven miles of wall in just two months, complete with thick stone blocks.
In other words, each Rakshasa prisoner had only achieved about one tenth of the productivity of a Flame Demon Tribe citizen.
The people of the Flame Demon Tribe worked almost without rest because they truly regarded it as their home. They ate at the construction site and slept there as well. Naturally, the Rakshasa prisoners could never match such dedication.
Even so, they should at least have managed half the productivity of the tribe’s people. Instead, they had only achieved one tenth.
Their labour was barely worth the food they consumed.
For a moment, Lanling even felt the urge to slaughter the remaining hundred and twenty thousand prisoners.
“Pass down my order. If the remaining hundred and twenty thousand prisoners fail to complete thirty miles of rammed earth wall within the next month, kill them all. Even prisoners have no right to be useless burdens,” Lanling said coldly.
“Yes!” Suomo replied.
“The work inside the Flame Demon Tribe is progressing extremely well, more than twice as fast as expected,” Yin Ji reported. “Our original plan was to complete two thousand houses over the past month. In reality, we finished five thousand three hundred houses. Giant crossbows, giant catapults and fish oil bombs have all exceeded the original targets by more than double, but…”
But many of those achievements had been destroyed by the three headed Chimera.
The giant crossbows and catapults had almost all been burned to ashes.
One warehouse storing fish oil bombs had been struck by the Chimera’s flames, triggering a massive explosion.
Overall, the damage caused by the three headed Chimera to the Flame Demon Tribe was simply impossible to measure.
“In at most another month, the war will begin,” Suomo said. “At our current pace, completing the seventy mile outer wall is absolutely impossible. Giant crossbows and catapults must all be rebuilt, and there simply isn’t enough time. Relying on only seven miles of wall, there is no chance we can stop Naishu’s army of over a million.”
Lanling nodded.
Suomo asked, “Chief, what are your thoughts?”
Lanling raised his head and looked at Khan Xieli and Khan Chiyan.
“The war cannot be fought at the Flame Demon Tribe. We will no longer defend passively. We will take the initiative and strike first.”
The eyes of Khan Xieli and Khan Chiyan immediately lit up.
Lanling continued, “Soon, Khan Chihuo will lead more than twenty thousand Centaur warriors north to join us. We will have a total of thirty thousand Centaur warriors. One thousand will remain behind to guard the tribe. With twenty nine thousand Centaur warriors against Naishu’s one million two hundred thousand troops, can we win?”
Khan Xieli replied, “Master, in a frontal battle we can defeat an enemy twenty times our number. If we launch a surprise attack before they establish themselves, we can defeat enemies thirty or even forty times our size.”
A Centaur warrior weighed roughly thirty to forty times as much as an ordinary Rakshasa.
Suomo added, “The Black Demon Banner still has between two and three thousand Griffin riders. They may even have several hundred Dragon Eagle riders.”
Lanling said, “Leave them to me. As long as the battlefield is not above the Flame Demon Tribe, with the speed of the three headed Chimera and my archery, I can deal with two or three thousand Griffin riders.”
It sounded unbelievable. Lanling intended to face three thousand aerial cavalry by himself.
However, with the Chimera’s incredible speed, it would never be caught. Combined with Lanling’s unparalleled archery and the crystal arrows supplied by Sisi, defeating three thousand enemies alone was entirely possible. Besides, the Chimera could breathe fire, poison and unleash ultrasonic attacks.
It could truly be said that a single three headed Chimera was enough to change the entire course of the war.
Without it, Lanling would have had absolutely no answer to those three thousand Griffin riders and several hundred Dragon Eagle riders.
Once the war began, those aerial forces would deal devastating damage to the Flame Demon Tribe.
Thirty thousand Centaur warriors against the Black Demon Banner’s million strong ground army.
Lanling riding the three headed Chimera against the Black Demon Banner’s three thousand Griffin riders.
The remaining uncertainty was Naishu’s secret trump card force. Sisi had not yet sent back any intelligence.
“Master, if I am not mistaken, Naishu’s secret trump card should be the Mammoth Army,” Mirror Demon King said.
“The Mammoth Army?” Lanling asked. “You mean elephants?”
“Not exactly elephants,” Mirror Demon King replied. “The Mammoth Tribe is one of the original barbarian races of the Southern Wilderness. They are not mounts. Each one is an independent warrior.”
“So we could call them Mammoth Men?” Lanling asked.
“Exactly. They possess their own intelligence,” Mirror Demon King replied. “The Mammoth Tribe keeps to itself. They are honest, stubborn and always repay kindness. Long ago, they owed the Black Demon Banner an enormous favour.”
Lanling asked, “How powerful are these Mammoth warriors?”
“Extremely powerful,” Mirror Demon King replied. “Every Mammoth warrior stands over ten metres tall, is fifteen metres long and weighs over one hundred thousand jin. Because they constantly battle forests, cliffs and the earth itself, their skin is as hard as iron and completely impervious to weapons.”
Lanling asked, “What about their eyes? Couldn’t I shoot through their eyes and into their brains?”
Mirror Demon King replied, “They know their eyes are their only weakness, so every Mammoth warrior has an indestructible crystal protecting each eye socket. Moreover, powerful Mammoth warriors can sense everything around them using their trunks. Master, ask the Centaur warriors and you will understand their strength.”
Lanling immediately asked, “Xieli, Chiyan, do you know about Mammoth warriors?”
Both Khans were visibly shaken.
“Of course,” they answered. “Even we Centaurs deeply admire their strength and nobility.”
The Centaur race looked down on almost everyone. For these two Khans to use the word “admire” spoke volumes.
Lanling asked, “In pure combat ability, how do you compare to Mammoth warriors?”
Khan Xieli remained silent for a moment before replying, “When the Centaur army charges, it is like blazing fire, like an unstoppable sword. But when the Mammoth warriors charge, it is like a raging tidal wave, like the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting apart.”
Hearing that, Lanling immediately understood.
The Mammoth Tribe was peaceful, conservative and avoided conflict.
Yet their combat strength was almost unrivalled.
Lanling asked, “How many Mammoth warriors are there within the Black Demon Banner’s territory?”
Mirror Demon King replied, “They are herbivores. They love giant bananas, all kinds of fruit, sweet potatoes and even tree leaves.”
The moment he heard that, Lanling understood.
A herbivorous race meant a huge population because food was abundant.
Carnivorous beasts like giant sabre toothed tigers were extremely rare because they required meat. An area dozens of miles across might not even sustain one.
Mirror Demon King continued, “By my estimate, there should be over one thousand Mammoth warriors within the Black Demon Banner’s territory.”
Lanling immediately felt his scalp go numb.
One thousand Mammoth warriors?
Each weighing between eighty thousand and one hundred thousand jin, each one was practically a moving fortress.
If his twenty to thirty thousand Centaur warriors fought the Mammoth warriors directly, even if they won, nearly half would perish. Such losses were completely unacceptable.
It seemed Naishu’s secret trump card was even more terrifying than he had imagined.
Lanling asked, “Do these Mammoth warriors have any natural enemies?”
Mirror Demon King thought for a while.
“It seems they do not. Even aerial forces find it difficult to harm them.”
Lanling thought of the dinosaurs from the Jurassic era. Their only real enemy had been changes to the environment itself.
The Mammoths were nowhere near as enormous as dinosaurs, but within the Black Demon Banner’s territory, they had no natural predators.
Khan Chiyan said, “Master, we Centaurs are willing to fight the Mammoths to the death, even if it costs us seven or eight thousand warriors.”
Lanling shook his head. Even if the two Khans were willing to sacrifice so many Centaurs, he was not.
These were his invincible cavalry. Losing so many in a single campaign against the Black Demon Banner was something he absolutely could not bear.
Besides, after suffering such heavy losses, how could they still face Naishu’s million strong army?
Even Mirror Demon King had no solution against the Mammoth Army. This force truly seemed impossible to counter.
At that moment, Yin Ji raised her hand.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Her exquisitely beautiful face flushed slightly.
“I have an idea, but I can’t guarantee it will work.”
Lanling’s eyes lit up.
“Go on.”
Yin Ji said, “When I was in the Human Kingdom, I studied at the Yan Capital Dragon Temple for a long time. The Dragon Temple had a Demon Laboratory dedicated to studying the barbarian and demon races of the Southern Wilderness. My rank wasn’t high enough to access its classified information, but… my fiancé wanted to please me, so he took me inside. I had always been curious about the Southern Wilderness, and by chance I saw some documents about the Mammoth warriors.”
Her fiancé had been the Crown Prince of the Xiliang Kingdom. His status within the Dragon Temple had indeed been comparable to Zhili’s.
“Go on,” Lanling said.
Yin Ji continued, “There’s no need for me to explain how powerful Mammoth warriors are. According to the Demon Laboratory’s research, there is one substance that is fatally effective against them. No matter how powerful a Mammoth warrior is, as soon as its sap touches them, they immediately fall into a deep sleep.”
“What substance?” Lanling asked.
Yin Ji widened her beautiful eyes and stared at him.
“If you want me to tell you, you must first agree to one condition.”
Lanling was speechless.
This was exactly how a simple minded, innocent girl thought.
No experienced politician would ever behave so childishly.
Seeing the situation, Suomo, Khan Chiyan and Khan Xieli all looked awkward.
“Chief, we’ll take our leave first.”
The three of them withdrew, leaving only Lanling and Yin Ji in the room.
Lanling’s face turned cold and gloomy.
He disliked being threatened.
Even worse, Yin Ji was trying to bargain over a matter that concerned the survival of the entire tribe.
Her childish behaviour disappointed him deeply.
Yet Yin Ji showed no fear in the face of Lanling’s cold expression.
She stared straight into his eyes, her exquisite face full of stubborn determination.
“You have to agree to my condition before I’ll tell you what can defeat the mighty Mammoth Army.”
“What condition?” Lanling asked.
“Sit there quietly and listen while I play one piece of music,” Yin Ji said.
Lanling was stunned.
That… was the condition?
A moment later, he understood.
This was Yin Ji forcing the matter. Since Lanling refused to fall in love with her, she would force him to spend time with her instead.
She really was a girl full of personality, full of dreams, and irresistibly adorable.