World Conquest Online

Dom awoke in the morning and put on his armour that had been cleaned over night by some of the camp staff. Sun Shangxiang also had her armour cleaned and the two of them looked a fearsome pair as they left their tent and joined up with the small escort that would travel back with them to Riverside. The travel back would take them most of the day if they travelled with the larger returning group, so they would travel ahead on their Red Hare Horses with their Batavi Guard.

Subutai decided to stay behind and explore the southern coast, before sending his report to Xun You for a wider strategy to be planned. Xun You had agreed to travel to Riverside with the San Leaders and the prisoners, who would be escorted by the Praetorian Guard and a Century of Zhao Yun's riders. He felt it would be a good opportunity to create further bonds and hint and wider collaboration. After he handed them over to Xun Yu and the others, he would return back to strategise with Subutai.

Gan Ning planned to head back to his fleet and patrol the coast for a couple of days, before he and the Bellona headed back to Riverside in time for the Battle Map. They planned for a fleet management meeting between Gan Ning, Artemisia and Zhou Yu to agree some wider strategies and to train the Warriors who may be dispatched.

Tomoe had headed back towards the Cove and complete the exploration with Qin Ming and Centurion Hector and his Titanaconda's. She had expressed frustration and said that once the underground had been cleared of any threats, she would position herself on the San border with Liao Hua.

Zhao Yun had agreed to patrol the entirety of the coast with his Cavalry whilst the Fort's and Watch Towers were build by the Legionaries of Tomoe's forces. He also had the painful task of overseeing the movement of a large number of enemy bodies towards the San lines, where they would look to position the corpses as a warning with the help of the San and Liao Hua.

The San Chieftain had happily agreed to the positioning of the enemies across their coast line, the San weren't natural fishermen and they felt that it was a safe temporary measure for them whilst they continued to prepare themselves for future attacks. Liao Hua had dispatched himself to take control of both the San Forces as well as his own, and would do some temporary alignment across the two of them.

The San Warriors were still mesmerised by the quality of Liao Hua's forces and some of them had been given spare armour and weapons to try out. This was an agreed strategy by Xun You, to show them the benefits of joining Dom's growing Kingdom. The group all had their own tasks to complete in bringing them in to the fold, however they wouldn't force them.

Subutai had however said that if they didn't join the Kingdom of Lazarus, then they would be used as a defensive line to thin enemy numbers. He was kind to his own men, but if they chose to not join his men, then they were disposable to him like everyone else was. Dom agreed with him, knowing that the game was a deadly battlefield and he was learning what his priorities should be.

Dom and Sun Shangxiang departed soon after breakfast, and spent a large amount of time travelling the recently cleared path through the Red Woods to the north of the forest. The two spoke a lot about the Battle and Sun Shangxiang's excitement almost persuaded Dom to give her a force of her own. She also spoke a lot about the future and how much she was enjoying her new life so far, a life much freer than anything she could have expected.

Her own female warrior guard were still training with Huang Zhong in Riverside, and whilst they had been reluctant to leave her, her order had been to remain. She now had more ideas on how to specialise them, and spoke at lengths about how they could become an elite unit, especially if Tomoe could train them in battle and Tomyris could train them in tactics.

By mid afternoon they had left the Red Woods and began the long journey across the Yellow Plains, heading North East towards the bridge that connected the south of the Kingdom to Capital Riverside. The road was more paved now, and Civilians could be seen laying stones on the route that some Legionaries has mapped out weeks earlier. Some houses also appeared at random intervals as Lucius's plan for self growth was taking off.

These outer houses would have less protection, but more freedom to farm and develop. It was a long term plan for growth and Dom now knew that they had taken the wider geography of the land too easily. There were enemies all around them, and they needed a better defence network if they wanted to protect all of the land they had decided to claim.

The North of the Kingdom was much safer. It was both smaller than the south, and much more populated. With the natural border of the Calm River that was heavily patrolled by Ling Tong's Calm River Fleet, as well as the Renatus Fleet that covered the Tongpai Lake down to the River Fork. There was also the Western Wolf Army under Tomyris based at Noctus, the Northern Horse Army under Cheng Pu and Sun Ce, as well as the Home Army under Huang Zhong.

Dom had sent some of his best Generals and a large number of his forces to the south, but he now knew he needed a lot more Warriors to protect it. The upcoming Battle Map wouldn't be an ideal place to expand his ground forces, as there was a lot of competition and only a limited number of people based in that actual battle. There was also a very small chance that people would choose to join, especially Greeks that were very proud people. He did have another Golden Token, which he planned to use after they had a better picture of the wider Geography.

The Sun had began to make it's descent by the time they had crossed the bridge in to Riverside. They received a Heroes welcome, with a guard of honour waiting for them, as well as hundreds of Civilians that chanted Dom's name upon arrival. Messengers had been sent to Riverside throughout the battles and the night prior, explaining the wider situation of the Southern Coast. Reinforcements had already been dispatched by Huang Zhong to support the Military Operation, as well as ships from Artemisia's already small fleet.

Dom's plans for a grand welcome for Andrew and Kai were slowly withering away as he needed his ships to the south. He was actual more grateful for his friends bringing more ships than he was of them coming themselves. He hoped Himilco the Shipwright could improve the pace of the new ships being built, even though he didn't have the crews for them.

Meritamen, Shang Yang, Lucius, Crassus, Zhou Yu and Xun Yu had been waiting for them at the front of the crowd. Dom was surprised when Meritamen headed towards Sun Shangxiang who was dismounting her horse first, giving her fellow wife a large hug in front of the cheering crowd. Dom realised she had done this to show a united front, which would please the Civilians. She them came to Dom and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before Shang Yang and Lucius greeted Dom with the rest.

"You went to capture a Town and defeated an army of four thousand?" Lucius teased in greeting as they all began heading towards the Palace.

"I didn't defeat the army, I was very much capturing the Town." Dom replied with a laugh.

"Which I had to help him finish." Sun Shangxiang said from behind them, as she walked with Meritamen, who now had to hear Sun Shangxiang excitedly recount the battle again. Dom was sure the story changed slightly each time. Shang Yang and Zhou Yu looked to Dom for confirmation, who just laughed in response.

"She did bring some timely reinforcements." Dom agreed, before continuing. "It was either luck or well thought forward planning from Xun You, but we had forces positioned in enough locations to fight. We didn't know of their arrival and our internal communication was a failure. If the enemy had come as one mass of four thousand, we would be having a very different conversation."

"The land to the south is vast, much vaster than we expected. We have enough forces and Towns to have claimed the North alone and been able to defend and expand it slowly." Xun Yu commented, "However, where is the ambition if we had done that. I am sure Xun You is coming up with some plans."

"I am sure he is." Zhou Yu agreed, the man seemingly in good health as he walked amongst them. Dom could see that the project of managing and growing the fleet had excited the young Strategist. "We will need to redistribute some of the fleet, but it will be a great opportunity to try some new tactics."

"I will head north tomorrow with Captain Elon, he was planning to take the Trireme he now Captains to meet with your friends and their fleet. I will go with him and we will see if we can find more Captains like himself with crews that we can hire or persuade to join us." Crassus explained, the former General and Consul of Rome in good spirits. "I heard there was a vault similar to the Ancient Underground City?"

"Gan Ning found it again." Dom laughed in response, "Well Centurion Linos did, but Gan Ning found them. It was still being counted, but it should be a similar amount."

"I will have to up my spending again then." Crassus grinned, whilst the others all shook their heads.

"The main thing is that you are back safe." Shang Yang stated, changing the conversation with a serious voice. "Whilst I understand the precariousness of the situation, I will be having a conversation with General Subutai upon his return. You should not be taking the risks, I do appreciate that you had General Qin Ming with you, but you should have had more men."

"When do the San arrive?" Lucius asked, changing the conversation again quickly before Shang Yang continued his rant. Shang Yang was right, they all knew it, but now wasn't the time to have that conversation. Dom also wouldn't have changed the situation, wanting to enjoy that part of the game the most. He had originally wanted to be a Warrior class player and he continued to want to fight and not become a full time City and Kingdom builder.

"They are with Xun You, the prisoners and their escort. The majority were on foot, so they will either arrive late tonight or camp at one of the small temporary locations that the Legionaries have build across the route." Dom replied, appreciating Lucius's tactful change. The group would have already had the answer, and Huang Zhong had sent reinforcements who would have already set up a camp for them to stay at over night. Most likely the Prisoners would be escorted on by a different group, made up of Forbidden Guard.

They soon arrived at the Palace, with everyone eating a much needed meal and departing throughout the night. Dom bathed in a bath that had been prepared by the Palace staff. He then sat with Meritamen and Sun Shangxiang for an hour, talking about plans and Meritamen's pregnancy. Meritamen had teased Sun Shangxiang that it would be her next, whilst she had laughed and said it wouldn't stop her fighting if it did happen. Eventually he bid his two wives good night and logged out when he lay on his bed.