Chapter 2309: Choice (1)
Chapter 2309: Choice (1)
A nervous atmosphere shrouded both floating islands.
After Human Emperor was heavily injured, they had fought very few major battles. This way, they could prevent the real status of Human Emperor from being exposed. In comparison, the myriad races were a lot more passive. Despite the advantage they held, they rarely took the initiative to attack. At most, they would trigger some minor skirmishes.
But now, the atmosphere was growing nervous. Everyone was wondering if something had really happened to humanity back home.
***
Even further away.
Su Yu was in the middle of a conversation with Xing Yue. Her help was required for the coming battle.
"Can you pull the influence of my world here?"
Su Yu was still unsure about that. His world had a massive range, but not enough to reach this far. He couldn't really lure the myriad races too far away as they might grow suspicious when that happened.
He would have a lot more flexibility if the range of his world could extend all the way out here. But that might only be possible with Xing Yue as an intermediary. After all, she still controlled the life dao of the River of Time. Thus, she might be able to do so.
Xing Yue frowned, "So far away?"
She wasn't too optimistic about it. She knew that with the influence of Su Yu's world, those on their side would grow in strength while their opponents would decline in strength. That would be very helpful, but it was also very difficult to accomplish.
After some thought, Xing Yue said, "I'll try, but I can't promise anything."
She frowned and added, "Are you starting a battle so soon after arriving?"
Sure enough, Su Yu was a warlike madman.
Su Yu smiled and said, "I'm doing all this to make you proud, Lord. We're all your subordinates. Since we're here, we must accomplish something big to not embarrass you, right?"
"..."
Xing Yue understood what Su Yu was doing, so she resisted the urge to spit on his face. A liar through and through! Making her proud? That was utter nonsense.
Su Yu laughed and said, "Try pulling the influence of my world over. I'll be doing something else for now."
Xing Yue nodded.
Then, Su Yu waved at the nearby Heavenbridge Marquis, who ran over the moment he was called.
***
Before long, Su Yu moved further backward with Heavenbridge Marquis.
Heavenbridge Marquis looked confused. Why was he being called over alone?
The first thing Su Yu said gave him a fright, "You are the key to our victory in the coming battle."
Heavenbridge gasped. That was excessive overestimation, Your Majesty!
"You will decide whether we will lose nobody or lose many people."
Heavenbridge Marquis couldn't resist saying, "Your Majesty, I'm only a tier-five. I'm the weakest in our group."
"Yet you're a gate." Su Yu said, "You're a unique existence. You are capable of teleportation even within the River of Time.
"I have not allowed you to fuse with my world thus far. Why? Because I don't understand gates well enough. I don't know your dao.
"The River of Time is suppressing many abilities within it, including the daos related to teleportation. But such suppression does not exist for you. Isn't that so?"
Heavenbridge thought about it and nodded.
After a short pause, Su Yu said, "I'll try to lure some of Heaven Gate's power over. You can devour it and try to enter the fourth tier."
The difficulty would be great. But Heavenbridge was still happy hearing that he could eat some power of the Heaven Gate.
Noticing that Heavenbridge was in thought, Su Yu hesitated slightly and added, "Heavenbridge, the Heaven, Earth, and Human Gates are incomparably powerful. I have faith that you will become a similar existence in the future."
At that, Heavenbridge laughed dryly. That wasn't a thought he dared to entertain. In fact, Su Yu's praise felt exceptionally dangerous. That was something Heavenbridge had learned. Praise from Su Yu signified that Su Yu wanted him to do something extremely dangerous.
He was terrified.
"Your Majesty...what...do you want me to do?"
Ultimately, he decided to ask about it. He had to know. Otherwise, he would keep imagining the worst.
Su Yu said, "I have many things for you to do."
Many?
"First, mask our presence. The myriad races aren't fools. And they have been fooled by humanity many times before. Thus, they will definitely consider the possibility of this being another scheme from Human Emperor. And over thirty Masters of Laws aren't exactly easy to hide.
"Therefore, I need someone to conceal our presence. You are perfect for this job. Open yourself and let us hide inside. I don't know the situation inside you. I can't even sense anything. Gates are too unique."
Heavenbridge hesitated. Hiding inside him? That was the same as telling Su Yu to open his sea of willpower to hide some people inside. Thus, this wasn't an easy task for Heavenbridge to accept. He sank into silence.
After a while, he said, "Your Majesty, there are too many powerhouses. I might end up bursting apart."
Su Yu said, "You won't. I'll first suppress everyone's dao. Keep your gate unlocked and it shouldn't burst. If it really gets dangerous, I can stay outside."
With him excluded, the burden on Heavenbridge would lighten significantly.
After a long while, Heavenbridge answered helplessly, "Fine."
This was hard to accept, but he still needed Su Yu's help to keep growing.
Su Yu was calling this a discussion, but Heavenbridge was smart enough to understand that refusal wasn't really an option. If he refused to help, he would be useless to Su Yu. In that case, he would either be abandoned or removed.
Su Yu was quite a realistic person. This so-called discussion was merely a show of goodwill from him.
Su Yu smiled and said, "In that case, I'll be relying on you. Heavenbridge Marquis is different from the others. Not only are you capable of concealing the others, but you can even hide under the river without much issue. With this, nobody will pay you much attention even if you're exposed. A single Master of Law who isn't even a tier-two or tier-three won't be a big deal here."
Heavenbridge nodded. Fine, fine. Since he couldn't refuse, he might as well try to get as much as he could from this.
Thus, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you said first. What else do you need me to do?"
"Second, you will be in charge of managing the overall situation during the battle."
Heavenbridge hurriedly said, "You must be joking, Your Majesty."
"Not at all." Su Yu declared solemnly, "This is a task only for you. I will fight as well, so I might not have the attention to spare. Even if I have the attention to spare, I might not be able to do better than you. Therefore, you, Heavenly Fate, and Fateless will abstain from the battle."
The three wouldn't be fighting.
That piqued Heavenbridge's attention. Su Yu continued, "The three of you will be managing the overall situation, moving our people around as necessary, and acting as emergency backup for the active combatants. The moment someone is in danger, teleport them away."
"Either we don't fight, or we fight and do it beautifully. Can you leave your mark on all combatants? One that can ensure their escape at any time, even when their opponents are self-detonating."
Heavenbridge inhaled deeply. What a difficult task. He finally understood.
Su Yu wanted to fight beautifully. Thus, he intended to win with zero casualties. Not even self-detonations would be allowed to harm his people. Heavenly Fate and Fateless would be in charge of observing the flow of fortune, divine any potential threats, and react accordingly.
Su Yu said, "Your mission is very important. You will be doing more than saving people. You will read the battlefield and deploy our people accordingly. For example, you need to notice true powerhouses who are hiding their strength and deploy a corresponding force to deal with them.
"You need to make sure that any movement of our people will not result in a weakness that can create losses among our people..."
The more Heavenbridge listened, the more alarmed he was. This was too difficult. In short, he would be controlling the progress of the entire battle.
The moment he made a lapse in judgment, the entire battle might be lost. It might even result in the annihilation of their forces. If he were disloyal, this was the perfect opportunity to remove some of the powerhouses in Su Yu's camp.
In short, this was an extremely risky endeavor for Su Yu. In the past, Su Yu would always keep the commanding power during a battle for himself. But now, he was handing it over to Heavenbridge.
At that thought, Heavenbridge felt a massive pressure descending on him. He said pitifully, "Your Majesty...I...I...am...pressured...I'm bad at...such large-scale battles. I don't even know what Masters of Laws are capable of. I might make a lapse of judgment...I can't...bear this responsibility."
Over thirty Masters of Laws. No, this would involve even those on Human Emperor's side. After all, the annihilation of Su Yu's side might also result in disastrous losses for Human Emperor's camp.
In short, Heavenbridge would be controlling the fate of over eighty Masters of Laws. This pressure was too much for him to bear.
Su Yu solemnly said, "You are a gate. The Heaven, Earth, and Human Gates each sealed an entire era. But you're only faced with the fate of about two hundred Masters of Laws. If you can't even handle this, how are you supposed to surpass the three gates?"
Heavenbridge felt like crying, "Your Majesty...I'm very bad at making tactical decisions. I might not be able to make the correct judgments. Also, are Heavenly Fate and Fateless even reliable? What if they give terrible commands? This responsibility is too much for me."
How could Su Yu give him such an important role? Heavenbridge was losing his mind.
Su Yu said, "I want everyone under me to have the ability to stand alone. I have been acting as everyone's nanny for so long. Am I supposed to keep doing everything myself? What are all of you good for, then?"
Su Yu solemnly said, "You are a part of the gate race. Are you so inferior compared to the other three gates?"
Heavenbridge breathed heavily. After a while, he said, "Your Majesty...what if...the myriad races try to target me..."
"You are allowed to move some people around to protect yourself. You already have the protection of Heavenly Fate and Fateless. If that's not enough, I can add one more combatant to your side. You can even have Martial Emperor guard you.
"You will be playing the key role in this battle. Therefore, all that is acceptable. With Martial Emperor protecting you, not even a tier-one can instantly kill you. That will be enough for you to pull back more combatants to protect yourself."
Heavenbridge's desire to cry intensified.
How terrifying!
Please stop!
Using a tier-two like Martial Emperor as his bodyguard? Heavenbridge felt like the pressure was about to crush him.
Su Yu smiled and offered, "If even that isn't enough, I can be your bodyguard as well. Is that acceptable?"
"...Forget that."
Heavenbridge laughed dryly. No way. Good heavens. His pressure would only increase with Su Yu's constant presence around him.
After giving it some thought, Heavenbridge said, "Your Majesty, what if...we're no match after trying our best?"
Su Yu grinned, "When necessary, we withdraw."
"Withdraw?"
Running? Heavenbridge was stunned. That would be so bad for Human Emperor.
Su Yu laughed and clarified, "We're not running. Instead, we'll withdraw to Human Emperor's side. You'll be in charge of teleporting us over to kill the other myriad race combatants over there. Of course, you will need to grasp the timing."
Heavenbridge grimaced. Him again!
Su Yu patted his shoulder, "You can do it. Heavenbridge, I am handing the lives of over thirty...no, over eighty Masters of Laws to you. There are also over a hundred Venerables and heavenly kings relying on you."
Heavenbridge smiled bitterly. This was an extreme overestimation of his ability. But at this point, he had no choice. Su Yu was not one to change his mind once he decided on something.