CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 318: TO REPEL FOREIGN AGGRESSION, ONE MUST FIRST PACIFY THE INTERNAL SITUATION_1

Duke Silvermane mentioned a world catastrophe, which both Yan Xing and Lady Karol had already anticipated.

From the moment Yan Xing decided to sell Beak Eagle planes to the Silvermane Principality, the struggle between Thunderous Swamp and Cloud Tower was no longer limited to Wildwind Highlands.

Only chaos could restrain Cloud Tower, preventing the mages there from focusing solely on dealing with Eternal Domain.

Although Cloud Tower’s alchemy was superior, their reclusive nature meant they had a limited number of mages. These mages, focused on researching longevity, were reluctant to risk their lives.

Yan Xing’s strategy was to stall for time.

The larger the scale of the war, the more dispersed Cloud Tower’s forces would be, exposing the disadvantages of their high-cost alchemy even more.

Eternal Domain needed to use the time gained to perfect its own industrial system, promote the integration of real-world technology and magical alchemy, and rapidly climb the technology tree.

By leveraging the production capacity of industrialization, they aimed to induce a qualitative change through quantitative accumulation.

When Cloud Tower was nearly exhausted by the war, Eternal Domain would then launch a desperate counterattack.

They would give those high-and-mighty mages a taste of falling from their pedestals.

At the same time, only an expanded war could provide Lady Karol with the opportunity to eliminate dissenters and plant her own people among the Royal Court ministers.

When the time was ripe for her to kill Duke Silvermane and take his place, she could then smoothly transition to power. If all the principality’s ministers belonged to Duke Silvermane’s old guard, she probably wouldn’t even have a chance to kill him.

The escalation of the war was beneficial for both Yan Xing and Lady Karol.

Upon returning to Eternal Domain, Yan Xing issued a command to all Werewolf Tribes and Lizardmen Clans within Thunderous Swamp.

He required all Werewolf and Lizardman Clan Leaders to gather in Eternal Domain for the "All Thunderous Swamp Clan Leaders’ Conference" to discuss the necessity of uniting Thunderous Swamp as a single force.

They were to elect a leadership team for Thunderous Swamp to prepare for the impending global change.

Yan Xing, wanting to focus on countering Cloud Tower, decided to clean up his own backyard in advance. Moreover, since they were going to wage war, it was essential to increase his troop strength and have a large labor force for production.

Yan Xing’s call to arms was met with enthusiasm by some Werewolf Tribes and Lizardmen Clans. These groups were very receptive to the civilization of Eternal Domain and had always cooperated with its operations.

However, most Werewolf Tribes and Lizardmen Clans did not give a definitive response.

They had benefited greatly from Eternal Domain but were conservative in their thinking and unwilling to change the current social structure. Since Yan Xing clearly aspired to be the overlord of Thunderous Swamp, this would inevitably weaken the Clan Leaders’ control over their own clans.

They were also waiting to see how the more powerful Clan Leaders would react:

Ironhead, the star Clan Leader of the Werewolves.

Red Eye and Green Tail, self-proclaimed Lizardman kings.

The sole Dragonborn, Long Jaw.

All held high prestige within their respective races and had their own staunch followers.

They were the obstacles to Yan Xing unifying Thunderous Swamp.

The Lizardman situation was somewhat easier to handle. After all, Highland City was built on the southern side of Highland Mountain, and Eternal Domain had purchased many magical gemstones from the two Lizardman kings, fostering some goodwill.

As for Long Jaw, the Dragonborn, he had covertly obtained countless bottles of gasoline to use for Dragon Breath, which meant he was indebted for favors received.

Although these three had all expressed reluctance to attend the meeting, they had each made excuses and were essentially stubbornly waiting for the winds to change direction.

Ironhead, the Werewolf, however, was truly stubborn. He and several other large Werewolf Tribes had gathered together for mutual support due to Eternal Domain’s widespread infiltration of Thunderous Swamp.

They formed the Heize Werewolf Tribe, centralized resources to construct Heize City, and amassed an army of forty thousand Werewolf soldiers.

They had acquired a large amount of resources by working for Eternal Domain in exchange for rewards, extorting and robbing other tribes, stealing construction materials, and employing other such means.

The Werewolf army under their command had also upgraded its equipment. All Great Werewolves were now equipped with armor, special weapons, and slingshots, and the general gear of the Werewolves was also much improved. This, combined with their familiarity with the nearby terrain and the traps scattered throughout Heize, significantly boosted their strength.

The growth in strength had led Ironhead to show increasingly obvious hostility towards Eternal Domain.

Especially after the Elves settled in Thunderous Swamp, Ironhead started spreading the word that Eternal Domain bringing foreigners into the swamp was disrupting its long-standing order. He even declared that Eternal Domain’s people were also outsiders.

There had even been a few incidents recently where unidentified Werewolves attacked lone Elves.

Previously, Yan Xing’s energies were focused on the great battle in Wildwind Highlands. Eternal Domain had to be wary of the threats to its core regions from Humans, Orcs, and Elves.

At that time, Yan Xing had few troops at his disposal, and weapons and equipment were inadequate, with new tactics and battle methods still in the exploratory stage.

During a critical period when it was necessary to project the image that Thunderous Swamp was completely under control, Yan Xing, for the sake of stability, had turned a blind eye to some actions of the Heize Werewolf Tribe, even showing forbearance.

Now, the Elven army was hiding within the swamp under Yan Xing’s protection. The Orcish army was holed up in Highland City and Frostleaf City, worrying about winter supplies, and dared not provoke Eternal Domain, which could provide them with those resources.

The Wildwind Highlands Legion was still receiving alchemical equipment from Cloud Tower, and the Beak Eagle airliners and Gryphon Armor that Yan Xing had revealed in Nuta City had caused Riftfort to shrink back again.

Currently, both Yan Xing, who was unprepared, and Marquis Anderson, who was equally unprepared, were like a man trying to fend off wolves with firebrands at both ends—both afraid.

As long as the eradication of the Heize Werewolf Tribe was swift, Anderson would be unable to react in time.

A war meeting targeting the Heize Werewolf Tribe was called in the Lord’s Mansion of Eternal Domain.

A large number of Werewolf and Human hero commanders gathered, looking infinitely more majestic than the original ragtag group Yan Xing had pulled together in the wilderness.

Olaf, Duan’er, Li Zhua, Iron Teeth...

Eddie, Donna, Harrington, Donald...

All dressed in the uniforms of Eternal Domain officers, each sat upright and focused on Yan Xing, who was in the principal seat.

Behind Yan Xing was a map of Thunderous Swamp, with Heize City located in the northwest region of the swamp.

In the middle of the conference table was a detailed Heize terrain model, the details of which had been carefully surveyed by Chui Chui’s drones and Werewolf scouts.

Yan Xing first addressed his officers: "Ironhead is a very stubborn fellow. I’ve extended goodwill to him multiple times, and he has rudely refused each time.

"But the resources I gave him, he accepted them all without fail.

"Not only did he accept them, but he also robbed and stole, causing immeasurable losses and delays to our construction progress.

"Now, Ironhead is still gathering wolf packs in the Heize region, claiming to have 40,000 Werewolf soldiers, relying on the treacherous terrain for his treacherous plans.

"This time, I am calling for a grand meeting of all Clan Leaders of Thunderous Swamp to address the impending crisis facing the swamp. Ironhead not only directly refused my invitation but also incited other Clan Leaders not to come to Eternal Domain.

"This has had an extremely negative impact.

"If we allow Ironhead to continue this misconduct, it will inevitably lead to even more severe consequences.

"For the sake of the swamp’s unity and to face the greatest crisis in its history,

"I hereby declare the Heize Werewolf Tribe rebels of Thunderous Swamp! Eternal Domain will immediately execute the campaign to eradicate these rebels!"