The entire simulation was recorded. The three legion commanders conceded defeat wholeheartedly, and even the messenger who relayed Xiao Xun’s orders, initially met with ridicule due to misunderstanding, now felt genuine admiration.
Even the senior legion commander serving as judge, after reviewing the results, exclaimed, “How did I not notice? That was his intention all along!”
Or, “My heavens! Warfare can be conducted like this? With forces numerically inferior by several times, they annihilated the enemy’s highly mobile wolf cavalry!”
Xiao Xun, facing the praise, remarked, “These head-on encounters where you’re given a bunch of people right from the start are the most boring. If you’d experienced a regular battle where you recruit soldiers one by one, that would be truly vexing.”
Everyone was taken aback. Including Empress Sailerpeis, no one understood what Xiao Xun meant.
This was understandable. Although Sailerpeis had also traversed worlds and lived in that realm, she had never engaged with such games.
Sailerpeis observed the sand table simulation process and nodded with satisfaction, thinking to herself, “I didn’t realize this Xiao Xun was quite talented.”
She immediately had the messenger deliver the tactical simulation to the front lines for Vincent’s reference. Upon seeing the record, Vincent also exclaimed in astonishment, “Anyone who can devise a way to fight like this is simply a military genius! I must get to know him if I have the chance.”
Due to Xiao Xun’s attention-grabbing display, his image in the eyes of others underwent a complete transformation.
From someone ‘living off a woman’s wealth,’ he instantly became the Empire’s military prodigy.
Not only the ministers but also the common folk admired the Empress’s discerning eye for talent. The most frequently spread sentiment was, “I knew this person wasn’t ordinary, otherwise, even the Empress wouldn’t have been conquered by him.”
Thus, Svein transformed from a mere honorary title into a renowned, legitimate noble rank with immense prestige.
This was also something Xiao Xun hadn’t anticipated. Could it be that people here had never studied military strategy?
Moreover, his tactics against the three opponents were all standard operations. If he had unleashed Xiao Xun’s true capabilities, the casualty ratio would have been even lower. He had only employed this strategy to hasten their defeat, disregarding casualties.
Since Xiao Xun didn’t know the location of the enemy’s command camp at the start, which was akin to the base or main structure in a game, destroying it would effectively end the game. Therefore, Xiao Xun resorted to a surprise attack, swiftly and decisively eliminating the enemy’s ‘brain.’
Leaderless flies could be defeated in any manner.
After a day of exhaustion, the two returned to the bedroom. Mu Jiahe lay on the bed, motionless, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, lost in thought.
Xiao Xun, looking at the brand-new bedsheets and pillowcases, recalled the embarrassing incident from earlier that day, and his face flushed again.
Mu Jiahe, mistaking Xiao Xun’s flush for excitement, beckoned him, “My military genius, why are you still shy?”
“Your Majesty, please don’t tease your humble servant. It’s one thing for them to say that, but why do you join in?”
Mu Jiahe smiled and said, “You are truly my lucky star, the military prodigy, the maverick, the genius of Saint Roman.”
Xiao Xun scratched his head, “Please stop teasing me. I just treated the battlefield as a game I play, fighting the way I usually do…”
Mu Jiahe’s expression changed upon hearing this, unsure if it was anger or displeasure. “You actually treat brutal warfare as your playful game. It seems you are the true warmonger.”
Xiao Xun didn’t know how to respond appropriately, his face contorting into a grimace. “I retract my previous statement. After all, I only conducted a sand table simulation, which proves nothing.”
Mu Jiahe leaned back on her pillow. “Then do you know that the record of your simulation today has already been sent to the frontline commander? If nothing unexpected happens, they will win this victory using your tactics.”
Hearing Mu Jiahe’s words, Xiao Xun became anxious. “Your Majesty, that was all ‘armchair strategy.’ It’s meant for observation only, with no reference value. After all, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and one cannot rely on rigid tactics. Moreover, the strength of the opposing sides is not equal.
If the enemy possesses any ‘super weapons,’ then even with the most brilliant plans, our side would be unable to halt their advance. In the face of absolute power, all strategies are mere ostentation.”
Mu Jiahe stated that Xiao Xun was underestimating her country’s commanders. Vincent, known as the foremost warrior and the first holy knight of Saint Roman, was not living up to his reputation in vain.
Seeing Mu Jiahe’s confidence, Xiao Xun naturally couldn’t say anything to dampen her spirits. He also wished for his nation to win, but war, after all, was not a child’s game; it involved real lives.
After these events, Mu Jiahe lost the mood to tell stories, and Xiao Xun lost the interest to listen.
The two lay quietly on the bed, waiting for time to pass by.
Like an old married couple who had lived together for many years, they shared a bed but had no common topics.
Returning to their original world from the other world, Xiao Xun asked Mu Jiahe, “What would you like to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
“Anything!”
There was no phrase more annoying in the world than this.
Mu Jiahe wanted ‘anything,’ but Xiao Xun dared not be casual.
However, with his newfound financial freedom, he felt too lazy to cook.
He didn’t make anything too complicated. After preparing a simple breakfast, he called upstairs.
Then, he opened his computer and looked at the games he had already downloaded. He had to admit that the internet speed was now ten times faster. Before, downloading these few games would take a day, or even fail to complete within a day. The most infuriating part was when it stopped at ninety-nine percent, and wouldn’t budge unless one subscribed to the so-called premium membership of a download tool.
But that era was long gone. Now, games were downloaded directly from game platforms, fast and convenient.
Besides downloading a few old games, he also downloaded a recently popular game, nicknamed ‘Battle Royale.’
Since he enjoyed playing FPS competitive games, he saw this game ranked first and watched the promotional video, recognizing it as his preferred genre. Without hesitation, he clicked download.
He paid the ‘entry fee,’ then entered the game interface and chose a name. Glancing at the time, he exited the game, planning to play it after returning from work that evening. Today, no matter what, he wasn’t going back to that other world.
Driving to the company, he instinctively let Mu Jiahe out of the car, and Xiao Xun prepared to drive away.
Mu Jiahe called him back, “The company has a regular meeting today, where are you going?”
Faced with Mu Jiahe’s inquiry, Xiao Xun finally remembered that yesterday was his last day at Jingji Group, and he felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
He arrived at the temporary office area of the technical department. Not many people were present yet, but those who were greeted him warmly.
He sat at his desk. The two solid-state drives were still sitting there, alone. He wasn’t sure if anyone had touched them, but Xiao Xun didn’t dwell on it, as there was nothing important inside anyway.
He turned on his computer, intending to ask his assistant what had happened at the company in his absence, when he remembered that Lei Wenxiu had already been fired, but her resignation report had yet to arrive.