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Chapter 20: Midnight Fireworks
Rewinding time back to midnight…
System 12345 fell into deep thought.
It’s one thing if my host occasionally fails his mission, but if he keeps failing, is that a signal that something is wrong? Is it because he’s unable to communicate in this foreign world as I failed to properly install his language pack?
Wait, does this mean that my host doesn’t understand what I’m saying too?
No, that’s impossible!
My host has been properly using the resources I gave him! According to the logs, he has been recruiting servants too. This means that everything is normal.
…Should I test it out, just in case?
【Hostie, hostie~ I just thought of an excellent idea!】
【I have been thinking about what can delight a revered ruler in this era sorely lacking in entertainment, and it suddenly occurred to me. Why don’t we put on a fireworks performance?】
【I shall now assign you the mission—Fireworks of Blooming Romance.
【Mission Details: You have to put on a resplendent firework show that lights up the night sky for Momoana! As brilliant fireworks bedazzle the sky, a pair of lovers stand side by side. Amidst the flickering lights, they looked at each other with eyes overflowing with affection—Ehehehe!】
“Oof, I misclicked.”
A spur of carelessness caused Shu Yichao to fast forward too much.
“Phew, it’s not too bad.” He eyed the time and breathed a sigh of relief. “I still have time.”
He began galloping toward the southern area of Constantinope. Furious waves could be heard crashing against the nearly vertical cliff beside him.
There was no one guarding this area for obvious reasons.
If an Ottomain was mad enough to even consider invading Constantinope from its south, they would have to first navigate their way through countless sea stacks and whirlpools, fight against the rapid tides, and finally climb a practically vertical cliff.
A mistake in the process would mean additional snacks for the underwater fishes.
Neither the Romains nor the Ottomains would waste their effort on a place like that.
But it was a different story for gamers.
“Let’s go!”
Horses were usually rendered helpless by the slightest obstacle, but with a tug of its reins, Shu Yichao’s steed leaped forward and landed stably on the almost vertical cliff face.
“Ja!”
Anyone witnessing this sight would have been dumbfounded. How could someone gallop so fast across a cliff face as if it was flat ground?!
The Beacons of the Otherworld lives up to its marketing; it really has the most realistic physical engine. Even pigs will fly for you as long as you’re willing to smash your keyboard!
While Momoana’s army was focused on the west wall, Shu Yichao had discreetly snuck toward their cannons under the cover of the night. Then, he tapped on the recruitment button.
Twenty Grassland Horse Archers appeared beside him.
Summoning troops out of nowhere is a feature of the Beacons of the Otherworld. Quit the game if you find it unfair!
“Charge!” Shu Yichao pointed his Superior Scimitar at the enemy camp and roared.
An Ottomain soldier on sentry duty heard the noises and came over to take a look.
Shoosh!
An arrow plunged into his eye and emerged from the other side of his skull. The Ottomain soldier collapsed onto the dust.
“Ah?”
A soldier beside him thought that he had fallen and extended a helping hand, only to suddenly spot a flash of light amidst the darkness.
Shing.
It was only after the silhouette flashed past him did he finally make sense of the situation.
Ah, it’s an enemy attack.
That flash of light seems to be from a scimitar. What a fast attack. Speaking of which, why does this headless body look so familiar? It looks exactly like me…
Bam!
The commotion jolted many soldiers awake from their sleep. They opened their tents and walked out, only to be horrified when they saw their allies frantically screaming and fleeing for their lives. Flames could be seen all around.
Black figures flitted amidst the shadows of the night, reaping the lives of anyone who stood in their path.
The Ottomain soldiers panicked.
They couldn’t even tell how many enemies there were. They escaped in a fluster, trampling on one another. Their defense lines completely collapsed.
“Woohoo! This is exhilarating!” Shu Yichao howled in enjoyment while torching everything that looked flammable.
He finally arrived before the enemies’ cannon site.
“Come, move all of them over!”
Within seconds, all of the cannoneers either dropped dead or fled.
Shu Yichao found a huge pile of gunpowder, so he ordered his men to move them over to cannons. He first retreated a distance away with his army before grabbing an arrow and lighting it up.
“It’s time for the fireworks show!”
Boom! Boom boom!
It was a massive explosion!
The frantically fleeing Ottomain soldiers felt terrifying tremors beneath their feet before they were abruptly jolted into the air. All kinds of stuff—dust, bricks, and stones—rained with loud patters.
Some of the soldiers raised their heads with great difficulty, only to find that none of their comrades could stand properly. Even those who desperately continued to flee were staggering about like drunkards.
A blinding orange fireball rose into the sky. It first swelled up before bursting apart, with the sheer force immediately ripping apart anyone who was still standing in the vicinity.
Right after the blinding flash of light were devastating shockwaves carrying bits of metal, stones, and dust rippling through the barracks, piercing right through the fleeing, unarmored soldiers.
The cannon site was even blasted into bits.
The Indomitable Cannon that the Ottomains had devoted great manpower and resources only functioned for half a day before being reduced to scrap metal.
“What a grand firework display!” Shu Yichao had to raise his hand to shield himself from the blinding light. “I’d give this a 5-star review!”
“Oh? Why are there so many people here?”
After thoroughly enjoying himself, Shu Yichao was about to return to the city when he noticed a bunch of red dots on his minimap.
“Were they trying to ambush me?” He scratched his head. “This is a bummer.”
He could gallop back via the steep cliff, but his recruited troops didn’t have the ability to exploit bugs like him. They would have to return via the west wall, but the area was filled with enemy troops. There was no way they could barge through them with just this amount of people.
“Hmm, I’ll just make them an independent unit then.”
After some thought, Shu Yichao tapped on his profile and moved these twenty, newly-recruited Grassland Horse Archers to another party.
“You don’t have to return to the city. Your job is to occasionally poke the Ottomains from behind.”
This mod pays a lot of attention to the logistics of warfare. To think that even NPCs need to eat! These troops should be able to cause a fair bit of disturbance to the Ottomain’s supply chain.
With such thoughts, Shu Yichao relinquished his control over his units before stretching his back.
“Time to return.”
…
The sun rose.
Shu Yichao’s night assault only involved twenty men; it couldn’t have been enough to bring down the Ottomains for good. That being said, the Ottomains did suffer heavy losses…
“Our great Sultana, a preliminary assessment of our losses shows that we have lost at least 10,000 men last night. 123 of our 169 cannons have been destroyed, and that includes all of our Indomitable Cannons. We lost four-fifths of our 50,000 pound gunpowder supply. Our cannon site has been destroyed; we will have to rebuild it if we wish to deploy our remaining cannons.
“Livestock losses…
“Tent losses…
“Ration losses…
Terrible news came in one after another. Momoana bit her lips, as her eyes reddened.
“What about the Khitans’ losses?” she asked.
No one replied.
“‘I’m asking you what happened to the Khitans!” Momoana roared, unable to suppress her rage any longer. “You might have been caught by surprise, but don’t tell me that you didn’t kill even a single Khitan!”
Even one would have been great.
“I-I heard that they escaped from behind.”
“Scram! All of you, scram! You good-for-nothings! TRASHHH!!!”
All of the officials scrambled out of the tent, fearing that they would become tribute to allay the sultana’s rage. They could still hear Momoana’s furious roars even from a far distance away.
“Khitans! Those fucking Khitans! ARGHHHHH!!!”
【Woahhhhh! It happened!!!】
【My host, you finally completed one mission!】
Well, the rate of completion is abysmally low—just 5%— but it is still a progress from zero.
System 12345 was overjoyed by this little victory.
【Wuuu! It hasn’t been easy for us to get this far. Hostie, it looks like you can at least hear some of my words!】
【But speaking of the mission, it looks like you veered away from the objective.】
System 12345 inspected the logs.
【Rather than swooning to the fireworks, Momoana was pumped up instead. What did you do? My host, did you… Ehehehe!】