Chapter 186: What Are We Fighting For?
Chapter 186: Chapter 186: What Are We Fighting For?
Zhu Ge did not get angry.
He just quietly watched those "Soldiers" rush into the ruins.
He watched them rummage through the rubble, watched them dig out copper coins, silver coins, and even a few gold coins from the dirt.
Some cheered, some fought over the spoils, and some nearly came to blows over a single copper coin.
Zhu Ge still said nothing.
He sat atop Mazhu’s back, looking down on these men, his gaze as placid as a pool of stagnant water.
After a few minutes, some noticed him, but they paid it no mind and continued to grab the money.
An hour later, some began to trickle back, standing scattered in twos and threes in the open space before Zhu Ge.
An hour and forty minutes later, some returned with their pockets and bags overflowing, covered in money—or rather, travel expenses, given how it was coiled and wrapped all over their bodies.
Zhu Ge remained calm.
Mazhu sensed Zhu Ge’s calmness and also remained silent, as proud as a divine steed.
The same was true for Liu Jianjian, who had taken human form to stand beside Zhu Ge.
With a calm expression, Zhu Ge waited for the troops to reassemble.
But this calmness was more unsettling than any rage.
Zhu Ge suddenly understood the true value of a loyal, personal army.
He also had a sudden realization about the kind of army he wanted.
First and foremost was the will to understand what they were fighting for. Second was the discipline to follow orders without question. And last was individual strength.
Of course, if an individual’s strength was so formidable it surpassed everything else, that was another matter entirely.
But at least for now, Zhu Ge didn’t have time to wait for someone to slowly develop and become stronger than him. He might as well just get stronger himself.
What he needed was the bonus a team could provide him.
Normally, never mind a hundred First Realm cultivators; even tens of thousands of them would be unable to do anything to a Third Realm existence.
But two thousand Soldiers formed into a military array might just have a chance.
The resources needed to train one Third Realm expert were more than enough to train an army of First Realm ones.
This was the power of military arrays and teamwork.
Alone, Zhu Ge wouldn’t dare to venture deep into an ocean-like tide of Demon Beasts.
He could kill one Third Realm beast, and if he went all out, killing ten would be his absolute limit.
After that, he would be swallowed by hundreds or thousands of Second Realm beasts and an uncountable number of First Realm ones.
In that situation, only a disciplined army with conviction could become his true right and left arms.
Furthermore, once a military array was formed, not only would the array itself possess the power to fight above its Realm, but the commander themself would also be significantly strengthened.
Just like the Round Array recorded in the *Eight Armored Arrays*, once formed, it could disperse a concentrated attack, spreading the impact among everyone in the formation.
A punch with the force of one ton could kill an elephant, but what if that force was dispersed a thousand ways?
The equivalent of one ton—one thousand kilograms of force—would become just one kilogram.
It would be like going from being hit by a heavy-duty truck to being lightly tapped on the shoulder.
This is the military array, and this is the Military Dao!
But...
The prerequisite was that they could actually form a military array.
Zhu Ge looked at the men before him, took a deep breath, and asked, "Everyone, what was your purpose for joining the army of my Six Paths Palace?"
’What was our purpose?’
The crowd was stunned, unsure of what Zhu Ge meant.
’Has he gone mad with anger?’
"You," Zhu Ge said, randomly pointing to a farmer.
The man wore leather armor and hadn’t picked up much money. He had just reflexively grabbed a few coins from the ground before returning.
Many of the others, however, had gone into the houses and ransacked them in search of valuables.
"I... I wanted revenge for my ma and pa," the farmer said, scratching his head. "A giant python crushed their bodies. Their lower halves were just... gone. They died right in front of me."
"Then why did you take the money?" Zhu Ge asked softly.
The man froze. "I... I just..."
He couldn’t find the words.
Zhu Ge turned to the next man.
"I want to save up to buy my wife a new mattress," this man said. He had dozens of copper coins in his arms.
"Mm, very good. And what if you die? Is that all right?" Zhu Ge asked calmly. "But in exchange, she gets the mattress."
"Ah, no, that won’t do," the man said, flustered. "I... at the very least, I’d have to get... get a gold coin for that, right?"
Zhu Ge nodded slightly and looked to the next.
Perhaps because none of them had a clear goal, and they were all influencing one another, their answers started to sound the same.
"I want... ah! I just had some meat, I want to have all the meat I can eat!"
"I want to survive."
"I want meat too! And I want to buy new clothes!"
"I want to practice martial arts and live forever!"
"It’d be great if I could have a drink now and then. I heard my grandpa say that when he was a City Guard, his salary was enough to buy alcohol."
The men all spoke at once, sharing their own desires. Two thousand men meant two thousand mouths, and the clamor was deafening.
But Zhu Ge let them speak. By the time they finished, another hour had passed.
Only then did Zhu Ge speak. "Yes. Everyone wants to live a long, good life. And you want the people you care about to live well, too. Isn’t that right?"
As soon as Zhu Ge said this, everyone was stunned into silence.
’Live a long, good life?’
’Want the people you care about to live well too?’
Although Zhu Ge’s words were simple, the men suddenly felt that... what he said made sense!
Wasn’t it just that simple, fundamental reason?
"But, does everyone know *why* we fight? Do you know why we must have absolute discipline?"
Zhu Ge smiled.
The men were confused.
Without waiting for them to react, Zhu Ge continued directly:
"Wanting to eat meat, wear new clothes, drink alcohol, get revenge... none of that is wrong. Who among the living doesn’t want a good life?"
"All of that is right, but... it’s not enough."
He raised his hand and pointed north, toward the Six Paths Valley.
"Think about it. Where are your families right now? They’re in the Six Paths Valley, on our territory. Why can they live there in peace? Because Third Realm Demon Beasts are guarding them."
"But what if I am defeated? What if the Six Paths Palace falls? Will those Demon Beasts spare your families?"
No one answered, but they all knew the answer.
They wouldn’t.
Demon Beasts spare no one.
"When that time comes, the money you looted will still be sitting in your home, unspent, but you’ll be gone. What use is that money then? Can you eat it?"
Zhu Ge smiled. "You went to grab these gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins to buy mattresses, to eat meat, to drink alcohol..."
"But have you ever thought that mattresses are made by people, meat is butchered by people, and alcohol is brewed by people?"
"Without other people, if you’re the only one left holding money, is it useful at all?"
Zhu Ge pointed at the village of Shayi Slope before them.
"If a man lived here for fifty years with nothing—no food or drink, no clothes or bedding, and no other people—but this entire mountain was made of gold coins, would you say that man was living a good life?"
Thinking about the scenario Zhu Ge described, almost everyone subconsciously shook their heads.
’We wouldn’t want that!’
A place like that with nothing to eat or drink... what’s the use of having money?
In fact, quite a few of the farmers had already realized his point.
They spent their days tilling the fields and planting crops, and in their villages, they mostly bartered goods for goods. This was precisely why copper coins and silver coins rarely circulated.
If they had to choose between a house full of copper coins and a house full of grain, most people would choose the grain.
"So, you follow me into battle not just for money, not just for Cultivation Techniques, and not just for revenge."
Zhu Ge’s voice grew louder:
"We must be clear on *why* we fight!"
"Today, we vanquish the Demon Beasts in one city. Tomorrow, the other people in that city will emerge and join us to vanquish the Demon Beasts of another."
"And the day after, our army will have tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions!"
"At that time, even if we are fighting in the oceans of the east, the mountains of the west, the swamps of the south, or the snowfields of the north, we will feel no fear!"
"Because we will know our families are living well in Yunjiang! Because people just like us are in Yunjiang protecting our families, safeguarding the ones we care for!"
"East, west, south, and north, all of us in the Human Race must unite! Only if the Human Race endures can we endure!"
"All for one, and one for all!"
"Drive out the outsiders, and reclaim our lands!"