The冥王菇 looked at the intact thousand elites behind him, then raised his right hand.
The thousand men immediately divided into two queues of five hundred each.
As they had traveled, under the冥王菇's control, these thousand men had encountered almost no resistance. They had fought their way through, and their strength had greatly increased.
*Puchi!*
The soldiers in the left square thrust their weapons into the soldiers in the right square, simultaneously absorbing the latter's energy.
Then the冥王菇 divided these five hundred men in half again...
And so it continued.
Eventually, only fifty men remained.
These fifty men had absorbed the full strength of the other 950 men, and their power was extraordinary.
"With fewer people, it will be simpler for me to control..."
"It's a pity the four thousand men from Qing Song City aren't here, otherwise, I could further reduce my burden."
The冥王菇 muttered to himself.
Contributing to the Royal City was inevitable anyway, and it had nothing to do with whether there were many or few people.
Before, the冥王菇 had thought it was livelier with more people. Now, he thought that conquering the Royal City with fifty men should also be quite interesting.
Meanwhile, inside the Empire's Royal City, chaos had already erupted.
A large number of wealthy merchants had fled the Royal City with their families, and the palace was filled with panic.
Lin Zongzheng was surrounded by a group of concubines, his face etched with helplessness and confusion.
"Your Majesty, I heard the True God cult is extremely brutal, causing rivers of blood wherever they go. What shall we do?"
"Yes, will they sacrifice us to some True God? It feels so scary."
"We are Your Majesty's people in life and Your Majesty's ghosts in death; we must never fall into the hands of those cultists."
"Your Majesty, please think of a solution. If all else fails, let the Marshal hold the front line while we retreat. After all, he is old and cannot live for many more years. Moreover, dying on the battlefield is not every general's best outcome, is it? We would be fulfilling his destiny, and at worst, we can treat his descendants a little better."
"That's right, that's right! As the saying goes, 'raise troops for a thousand days, use them for an hour.' Let us retreat to Crystal Valley; it's easy to defend and difficult to attack, and we can wait for the border armies to reinforce us!"
Amidst the noisy chirping of these voices, Lin Zongzheng was indeed somewhat tempted.
"Then... if it's really unavoidable... we should..."
He had only spoken half his sentence when urgent footsteps were suddenly heard from outside the great hall.
*Kaka ka...*
The Marshal, leading dozens of soldiers clad in golden armor, strode in majestically.
These golden-armored soldiers were the Marshal's most formidable elite, the Golden Armored Guard, considered the Empire's strongest army.
At this critical moment of the Empire's survival, this long-dormant army was once again mobilized.
"Marshal, what is it?"
Lin Zongzheng awkwardly shooed the concubines around him aside.
After all, they had just been discussing letting the Marshal lead the troops to their deaths, and now the main character had arrived. He didn't know how much the Marshal had overheard.
This made Lin Zongzheng feel rather uneasy.
"This old subject requests Your Majesty to temporarily avoid the cult's sharp edge. This old subject is willing to shatter like jade with the Royal City!"
"I implore Your Majesty to grant this request!"
The Marshal said, kneeling on one knee.
At the same time, the Golden Armored Guards behind him immediately knelt in unison, demonstrating their excellent training.
"This..."
A hint of surprise flashed in Lin Zongzheng's eyes.
He had been struggling with how to get the Marshal to stay, as staying likely meant death.
Asking someone else to face death was something he found difficult to articulate.
Now that the Marshal had taken on this arduous task himself, it was perfect, saving him the embarrassment.
"Your Majesty need not be troubled. This old subject has already considered it. I only hope Your Majesty will take my only son along to Crystal Valley, for he is my only bloodline..."
The Marshal said with a face full of vicissitudes.
His own death was insignificant, but at least ensuring the continuation of his bloodline was his only hope.
"Yes! Absolutely no problem!"
"I will make arrangements immediately. Your son will be able to inherit your title in the future. Marshal, you have made a great contribution this time; I will treat your descendants kindly, ensuring they have food and clothing for eternity. You can rest assured..."
Lin Zongzheng quickly agreed.
This was something that should be done anyway. Their father was about to sacrifice himself for the country, so taking care of his descendants was only natural.
"Good, then this old subject has no regrets!"
The Marshal nodded, slowly stood up, his expression one of facing death with resolve.
*Pa pa pa...*
At this moment, a round of applause echoed from the ceiling of the great hall.
"Wonderful, truly wonderful! I didn't expect such loyalty from a general when the edifice is crumbling. It's quite surprising!"
"Who?"
The Marshal instantly drew the sword at his waist.
The other Golden Armored Guards also drew their weapons, looking towards the source of the voice.
"Don't be nervous. I am Noda Doi of the Black Tail Swallow Corps, here to help you all through this difficult time!"
*Swish.*
A dark figure instantly appeared in the great hall.
The speed was so great that even the Marshal could not clearly see the figure's form.
"As expected of someone from the Black Tail Swallow Corps, truly powerful!"
The Marshal's pupils constricted, and he said with great admiration.
"You flatter me. I am merely a candidate and have not yet been officially promoted."
"However... for a minor crisis of your country's level, someone of my caliber is sufficient!"
Noda Doi stood elegantly in the center of the hall, naturally exuding a powerful aura.
It made it difficult for the Golden Armored Guards to even maintain their footing.
Lin Zongzheng could still manage, but the concubines beside him were all prostrate on the ground, gasping for breath, already crushed by the pressure.
"Oh my, my apologies. I forgot to restrain my strength!"
As soon as Noda Doi spoke, the immense pressure instantly vanished.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"My apologies, are you alright!"
Noda Doi reached out to support the arm of one of Lin Zongzheng's favorite concubines, her fair and slender arm, while the other hand wrapped around her waist, helping her up.
"I... I'm fine..."
The concubine quickly shook her head, instinctively looking towards Lin Zongzheng.
The latter quickly turned his face away.
Normally, in such a situation, Lin Zongzheng would have erupted in anger, as he was the Emperor and she was an Imperial Concubine.
But now... a touch was a touch... after all, the country was on the verge of destruction, and they had to rely on Noda Doi. Under these circumstances, what more could they demand?
"Rest assured, as long as I am here, no one will die!"
Noda Doi said with a proud smile.
"The Black Tail Swallow Corps has dispatched us here to thoroughly eradicate the remnants of the True God cult."
"It truly surprises me that the True God cult, which was already severely weakened, has managed to make a comeback within your country's borders."
"But it doesn't matter. I can fix this mistake very soon!"