Chapter 017: Empty City

“Hmm.” Hearing Du Fan’s words, Basha could not help but nod in admiration. The dwarves had spent years refining weapons, and their strength was such that even magical beasts found it hard to match them. But after seeing the Bluebloods, he understood what true strength meant. Clearly, the three leaders were elders of the Bluebloods, and if even they possessed such great power, the leader must be even more terrifying.

In an instant, all the Bluebloods surged toward Odinburg like a tide. In just a few minutes, hundreds of humans disappeared forever from the continent. Suddenly, a scream rang out not far away.

It was only then that the powerful beings present noticed that Ming Wei had already beaten Ivanlu into spitting blood. Witnessing such cruelty, even Basha and Rob were shaken.

“A realm powerhouse…” Du Fan sighed helplessly. It seemed that in the face of absolute strength, these so-called realm powerhouses didn’t even have the energy to fight back.

“Good. Now the south belongs to us.”

Satisfied, Du Fan sat on the main seat, looking at the eight powerful figures beside him, including Ming Wei, the leader of the Bluebloods, and three of his elders.

Hearing Du Fan’s words, everyone present smiled in satisfaction. However, Basha and the others felt uneasy as they glanced at Ming Wei and the three elders of the Bluebloods, forcing awkward laughs.

“Du Fan, Count Wade’s army should be on its way soon,” Ming Wei said, looking at Du Fan strangely. “Since we’re allies now, I’ll be direct—how do you plan to deal with his army?”

Hearing Ming Wei’s question, Du Fan smiled confidently. After a pause, he replied to the puzzled looks around him, “Once, Rob and I entered the enemy’s territory. Even now, that place still fills me with dread.”

“Bang!” Rob stood up excitedly, slamming the table and shouting at everyone, “That’s right! If that illusion were real, even if we sent troops, we wouldn’t dare easily capture their towns.”

Hearing Rob’s words, Naixiu remembered that Du Fan had once entered the Dragon Sacrifice realm with Rob. That place also filled the others with unease.

“What exactly is your plan?” Ming Wei stared at Du Fan and the others, confused. He wasn’t interested in the environment; he wanted to know the outcome.

“Then let’s put on a performance of the Empty City Strategy,” Du Fan said softly with a smile at the people before him.
The Empty City Strategy was certainly unfamiliar to people like Bashaa, but to Du Fan, it was extremely familiar. In the world where Du Fan had lived in his past life, even a three-year-old child would likely know this tactic well.
The Empty City Strategy was used when the enemy outnumbered one’s own forces to scare them away, while hidden troops within the city were ready to attack. If the enemy dared to enter, at least half of their forces would collapse due to the enemy leader’s wrong orders.
After explaining it to the confused people before him, the others nodded excitedly and began to make arrangements.
……
“Hmm, has that old fox Wade been defeated?” Fischer sat in the palace of the Gavin Empire, eyes closed, listening to the reports from his subordinates.
“That’s right. It’s said he was driven away by Du Fan’s army, and now the entire southern province is under Du Fan’s control.” At this point, Fischer’s subordinate asked curiously, “Regent, why don’t we launch an attack now? After all, keeping a tiger as a pet can lead to trouble.”
“Idiot,” Fischer snapped angrily before continuing, “Now the entire southern province is Du Fan’s territory. Even that old fox Fischer has been driven out. Should we fight? What we need to do now is rest our troops and prepare for defense, making sure every element of the city is ready to resist an attack.”
“Issue orders: All men between 16 and 30 years old must be conscripted into the army for training. Those who disobey will be executed!”
After giving the orders through his messenger, Fischer waved for everyone to leave and began to ponder alone. Right now, Du Fan already had three god-tier experts at his side, plus his extraordinary abilities. If a battle really broke out, it would be difficult for him and the Church’s army to win. The Church now had only five cardinals left, but with two more god-tier elders, Qian and Xun, that made three god-tier figures on their side. Even with such experts, Fischer wasn’t confident.
“Report, Regent. Count Wade requests an audience.”
“Let him in.” Only then did Fischer look interestedly at Count Wade as he entered slowly, saying in a calm tone, “I wonder why Count Wade has come to see me. Is there some urgent matter?”

“Regent, Du Fan has now fully taken control of the south. If we don’t send troops, there will be endless troubles ahead.” At that moment, Count Wade knelt on one knee before Fischer, lowering his head slightly before speaking these words.
Hearing Count Wade’s words, Fischer sneered inwardly and thought, “So even you, old fox, have come to this? Back then, when I asked you to send troops to help me, you refused repeatedly. Now it’s you asking me to send troops? Wade, do you really think I’m stupid?”
“Ahem, ahem.” Fischer cleared his throat and said in a very helpless tone, “Count Wade, as you know, our empire’s army hasn’t recovered from the battles with Du Fan. I was thinking about borrowing your troops for support at some point. Why now are you asking the empire for troops? As far as I know, your military strength is probably greater than the empire’s, right?”
Hearing Fischer’s words, Count Wade remained kneeling without lifting his head and slowly said, “How could my military strength possibly exceed that of the empire? Someone must have lied. If you don’t believe me, let the person who gave you the information confront me face to face to prove my innocence.”
“Heh, no need.”
After sneering at Count Wade, Fischer gently touched the armrest of his chair and said indifferently, “Sending troops is out of the question. But if you can take control of the south and eradicate Du Fan’s forces, then the King of the South title will be yours.”
“In that case, I shall take my leave first.”
Count Wade stood up then, bowed slightly to Fischer, and left the palace.
Watching Count Wade leave, Fischer leaned back comfortably on the throne. Five red-clothed archbishops slowly emerged from the back hall, looking at Fischer with great admiration.
“Regent, why didn’t you lend troops to Wade? Why let him fight Du Fan alone?” One of the archbishops asked in confusion.
Hearing the archbishop’s question, Fischer stood up and said calmly, “When two tigers fight, one must perish. Both Wade and Du Fan pose a great threat to me and the Church. Instead of keeping them as potential threats, it’s better to let them fight each other. That way, it will be much easier for us to take control of the south or fully integrate Wade’s army.”

Hearing Fischer’s words, the five cardinals finally nodded in great satisfaction. They might not care much about the Gavin Empire, but when it came to the Holy See, they couldn’t afford to be so indifferent.
…
The next day, Wade, who had just returned to his territory, immediately ordered all his troops—including the night elves and spiderfolk—to prepare and assemble quickly.
Du Fan, upon hearing the news, did not rush to mobilize his own forces. Instead, he sent his soldiers to each household to inform them and prepare them for evacuation in case of war.
In the north, Oscar led the orcs along with troops from the thirteen provinces of the former Frozen Alliance, quickly forming a sizable force. Yet, despite the war having already begun, they remained unusually quiet.
After Fischer issued his orders, over a hundred thousand able-bodied men were incorporated into the army within three days. However, most of them still wanted to flee. To prevent chaos in the troops, the forces of the Holy See played a crucial role—almost every soldier was subjected to the Holy Word spell, turning them into true loyalists of the Holy See and the Empire.
“Report! Wade’s army is now only three days away from the border. If nothing goes wrong, they should arrive by morning the third day.”
“Hmm, go ahead,” Du Fan said with a smile after waving at the scout before him. “How are things with the preparations these past days?”
“Everything is in order,” Nayshu replied. “Almost all the residents have been resettled. Only those who are too old, weak, sick, or disabled refused to leave. We’ve stationed dwarves, elves, bluebloods, and other races in their homes. The humans from the provincial capital near the border have also been evacuated. All human soldiers have disguised themselves as ordinary people. Everything is ready now—we’re just waiting for Count Wade to fall into our trap.”
“Hehe,” Du Fan chuckled lightly, looking at Mingwei, Bashaa, and Nayshu. “What’s the combat strength of the bluebloods, dwarves, and elves now?”

“After capturing Odinburg last time, all the Bluebloods have moved inside Odinburg. At the same time, all the weapons of the dwarf race have been delivered. I can guarantee that the Bluebloods are now even stronger than before. With these superior weapons, even the weakest of them have a strength level of seven,” Mingwei said proudly to Du Fan standing before him.

Hearing Mingwei’s words, all the powerful warriors present instinctively shrank back in fear. More than three thousand warriors at level seven were simply too terrifying. While it might be impossible for them to defeat hundreds of thousands of enemies with just three thousand, using them as a surprise force wouldn’t pose much of a problem either.

“Ahem, ahem.” At that moment, Basha cleared his throat twice to draw everyone’s attention before continuing, “The dwarf race is also fully prepared. Over these past few days, we’ve reached an agreement with the Bluebloods. Thanks to the默契 that has developed through our interactions, if both forces operate together, their strength will be even greater.”

“Hmm.” Hearing Basha’s words, Du Fan frowned and began to think.

The elves, Bluebloods, and dwarves—all three races were now under Du Fan’s control. The dwarves were skilled in crafting armor, the Bluebloods in combat, and the elves in magic and archery. Although these three races were currently working separately, if they coordinated, ten thousand of their troops could rival an army of one hundred thousand humans. With the human army as the main force, even if they faced Wade or Fisher head-on, they likely wouldn’t suffer such a crushing defeat as before.