Titan King: Ascension of the Giant - Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Support the war with war
After three days of battle, the Stoneheart Horde had gathered a large quantity of life essence.

Only at this moment did Orion fully realize why Arthas had been urging him to quickly cultivate a Legendary-level broodmother.

During these three days of fighting, although many small scorpions had fallen in battle, their losses were soon converted to an advantage because of lich Vexis. Any small scorpion that died would be turned into an undead shortly thereafter.

In other words, no matter how many cannon fodder Orion lost, his army would continue to grow like a rolling snowball.

That day, Orion finally tasted the first wave of benefits from his Legendary-level broodmother.

“Ms. Vexis, do you know why the slime molds broodmother hasn’t sent over any Legendary-level slime molds mutants to our side?”

The reason Orion asked this was because he knew Vexis could definitely contact Arthas’s main force and obtain firsthand intel.

“Lord Orion, I’m sorry, but I don’t know.”

“From the information I received, Legendary-level slime molds mutants appear very frequently on other fronts. As for why one hasn’t shown up here, I’m guessing the slime molds broodmother simply doesn’t want to risk losing any more Legendary-level subordinates on our battlefield.”

In fact, this was not merely Vexis’s guess, but a theory from Arthas’s team of strategists.

Based on the recent battles and their outcomes, the slime molds broodmother would need to send at least three peak Legendary-level slime molds mutants if she wanted to secure a sure victory against Orion. However, such a lineup would definitely draw the attention of Arch Lord Arthas.

In that event, Arthas would dispatch reinforcements, turning what would have been a minor conflict into a full-scale war. That is something the slime molds broodmother, still recovering from a heavy blow, simply could not afford.

Hence, under these delicate circumstances, Orion’s Stoneheart Horde found itself in an almost stress-free plundering phase.

One day later, in Soraya City.

Seated upon the throne, Orion waved his hand and distributed the captured life essence among the Armies and Soraya. Apart from the guards on city wall rotation, everyone else immediately plunged into intense training.

These cycles of three days of battle and seven days of practice allowed Orion’s subordinates to steadily grow stronger.

Among the major armies Orion had brought, the bloodline warriors’ quality also advanced rapidly. After Orion finished reflecting on his experiences, he focused his mind on the Survivor’s Platform.

On the Survivor’s Platform, Orion went directly to the trading channel to confirm more than a dozen delayed grain transactions. These trades all came from Horn of Harvest grain merchants.

Over the past several days, those who could maintain stable deals with Orion were genuine business-minded merchants. As for the unscrupulous merchants, Orion declined every single one.

Orion glanced at the scrolling content in the Horn of Harvest public channel. A few profit-driven scammers were stirring up trouble, inciting others to raise grain prices. Everyone who was singled out chimed in. Of course, there were also some sharper merchants who would verbally agree while continuing to trade with regular customers on the sly.

It was just a small public channel, yet Orion saw some survivors trying to control the market by uniting to monopolize the grain supply on the Survivor’s Platform. Clearly, Horn of Harvest wasn’t the only party doing this. There might be countless other unscrupulous merchants out there in unknown channels, attempting the same shady strategies.

With a quick glance at the grain listings, Orion noticed that most of the prices were around three times higher than normal—totally outrageous.

“Looks like buying grain through the Survivor’s Platform and dealing with those merchant-type survivors isn’t a long-term solution.”

Orion sighed, feeling a sense of urgency. Although Soraya’s advancement to Legendary level and the rise of the scorpion tribe appeared glorious, Orion knew too well it was because Arthas and Edward were providing virtually limitless supplies behind the scenes.

Once the war in Valkorath Realm ended, those small scorpions Soraya hatched would become a burden if Orion failed to find them a viable path forward. The Stoneheart Horde’s grain crisis would hit immediately. All the advantages the Stoneheart Horde had built would be lost in a flash.

“Stopping the war isn’t an option!”

That was the conclusion Orion reached based on the Stoneheart Horde’s situation. Centered around Soraya, this giant snowball had to keep rolling and growing. As it did so, it needed to seize extensive resources for the Stoneheart Horde while also gaining more time for further development.

“In other words, we have to support the war with war itself!”

That was Orion’s plan. For the giant snowball to keep rolling, the war simply couldn’t end.

“If the war in Valkorath Realm wraps up, I’ll bring the flames of war to the Emerald Dream Realm.”

At that moment, Orion made up his mind. He wouldn’t just invade the Emerald Dream Realm on his own; he planned to bring his allies from the Champions Alliance along. That, in essence, would be Orion’s way of providing a benefit to those allies, in return for all that they had done so far.

However, before that could happen, Orion would have to help his allies in the Champions Alliance drive the fungal creatures out of Valkorath Realm. After all, Valkorath Realm was now as good as Orion’s own territory.

Collecting his thoughts, Orion shifted his attention to the Champions Alliance public channel.

Leonidas: “Damn it, I just lost two valuable subordinates again!”

Leonidas: “Arthas, Alexander, watch yourselves. Some powerful parasitic creatures have appeared on the front lines—slime molds mutants we’ve never seen before.”

Arthas: “You mean those bear-like parasitic creatures?”

Leonidas: “Yes. Those slime molds parasites are fast, strong, and their attacks are terrifyingly sudden.”

Arthas: “A few days ago, Hulk slaughtered two of them!”

Edward: “Hulk is doing great!”

Alexander: “Hulk’s getting more interesting by the day!”

Kraken: “Unbelievable!”

Leonidas: “Holy fuck, is Hulk really that strong? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Arthas: “Are you implying I’m lying, Leonidas?”

Leonidas: “I’m just suspicious. So, Arthas, what can you do about it?”

Arthas: “I could always reduce reinforcements to the southern front. No problem letting you handle more fungal creatures on your own, right?”

Leonidas: “Arthas, we’re all good friends. We can talk smack, but don’t joke around like that.”

Edward: “…”

Alexander: “What a coward!”

Reading this, Orion couldn’t help but let out a slight laugh.

Hulk: “Honestly, Rending Explosive Bears really are strong. They lurk in the slime molds layer and launch surprise attacks. Without some serious tricks up your sleeve, even a peak Legendary-level fighter can barely keep up.”

Hulk: “Arthas sent a lich with upper Legendary power to help me. Under my watch, that lich was killed in less than three rounds.”

Hulk: “If it weren’t for the lich distracting a Rending Explosive Bear, I doubt I would’ve escaped unscathed.”

Orion wasn’t exaggerating. In that previous battle, he relied on the sheer might granted by his Titan Form and the close-combat skill Instant Impact to stand toe-to-toe with a Rending Explosive Bear.

In the end, he only managed to take down those two Rending Explosive Bears because he had the dragon-scale armor from Commander Thresh, which allowed him to emerge unharmed.