Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1651 Unexpected
The production efficiency of small communication cubes is not high. After all, engraving enchantments is always a labor-intensive task that requires a lot of time.

From this perspective, the project of deploying the miniature communication cubes to various cities and even communication relay stations in their Great Zhou Dynasty will take at least several years to complete.

Zhou Xu wasn't in a hurry about this.

As it stands, on this known continent, their Great Zhou has the highest mobility and communication efficiency.

Or to put it more bluntly, they are already the strongest nation on this continent, and no one on this known continent can threaten them.

Therefore, they don't need to feel too much pressure in this area of ​​development; they can just proceed in an orderly and gradual manner.

Over the next period of time, as temperatures continued to rise, after the busy spring planting season, Da Zhou has already ushered in the new summer.

As the new day dawned, news from the front lines reached Black Moon City: Saint Laurent V, the current emperor of the Saint Laurent Empire, announced his surrender!
According to Shi Lei's report, the Saint Laurent Empire chose to amass its forces and engage in battle with them.

They surrendered immediately after losing a single match, which was quite decisive.

Saint Laurent V's surrender saved them a lot of trouble, reducing casualties and equipment losses, and also reducing related financial expenditures.

However, in return, Saint Laurent V demanded that he and his family be safe and secure, and that the Great Zhou Dynasty guarantee them a comfortable life in their later years.

Given the other party's understanding nature, Zhou Xu readily agreed to this reasonable request.

At the end of the report, Shi Lei also mentioned the corpse demon that appeared at the time.

Based on the description and Shi Lei's own judgment, it was no different from the corpse demons they had encountered before.

This made Zhou Xu unconsciously recall the red guy from before.

So, what exactly is this red guy?

Ever since his battle with that monster, Zhou Xu had been pondering this matter quite a bit.

After a while, he had roughly formed two guesses in his mind.

Firstly, it is related to strength.

The person who held the sacrificial ceremony was Saint Laurent I, who was a genuine warrior of the Transcendent Realm. Under this premise, the sacrificial array also devoured a large number of warriors of the Vajra Realm, and even the remains of Blood Hand, who was also of the Transcendent Realm.

From this perspective, it's only natural that the summoned monsters are stronger.

Secondly, it is related to the ceremony itself.

Simply put, the ritual that Saint Laurent I performed was not a ritual to summon the Corpse Demon, but a different kind of ritual specifically designed to summon that red monster, which makes perfect sense.

But at this stage, it's clearly unrealistic for them to expect a definitive answer.

Zhou Xu didn't intend to dwell on this issue any longer; he would just be more careful in similar situations in the future.

During this period, while their Great Zhou's frontline troops occupied the territory of the Saint Laurent Empire, they also successfully made contact with some of the spies planted there and learned a lot of intelligence about the Saint Laurent Empire from them.

Although the Saint Laurent Empire has already surrendered, some intelligence information is still helpful for them to take control of the surrendered Saint Laurent Empire.

Putting everything else aside, if it weren't for the intelligence provided by spies, he wouldn't have known that Saint Laurent I had imprisoned Saint Laurent V before launching his military campaign.

Zhou Xu couldn't help but mutter, "That's fucking amazing!"

During that period, Saint Laurent I truly lost his mind.

Of course, Zhou Xu was aware that Saint Laurent I's situation at that time was probably beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Something is pulling the strings behind the scenes. According to the information we have, it's like a kind of automated program that, while lacking its own consciousness, seeks out targets and then influences their will.

And seize every opportunity to induce negative emotions in the target, and continuously amplify those negative emotions.

Once you are corrupted by that thing, you will be affected invisibly, pushing your goals to extremes time and time again.

This reminded Zhou Xu of a saying: "If you want to destroy someone, first make them crazy!"

At this moment, Saint Laurent I, such a typical example, was right in front of him.

As his thoughts began to unfold, Zhou Xu found himself unconsciously feeling a bit of pressure.

There's no way around it; this thing is really tricky and impossible to guard against.

But at the same time, Zhou Xu also understood why it was best not to know about the existence of this thing.

Because even if you know it, there's nothing you can do about it, and knowing it might even put you under pressure, giving the other party an opportunity to take advantage of you!
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Xu quickly composed himself.

All those years of practicing Tai Chi for health preservation weren't for nothing. I quickly calmed myself down and also discovered that the national religion seemed to have an unexpected effect on this matter.

Religion, in essence, provides a set of ideas and spiritual comfort, while also strengthening one's will. Ironically, this can create a kind of conflict with that very thing.

Without dwelling on the matter, Zhou Xu temporarily set these issues aside and began to ponder the matter of bestowing rewards.

There's not much to reward this time around.

From this perspective alone, annexing the Saint Laurent Empire was indeed a great achievement.

But the problem is that he personally fought the toughest battle.

The subsequent battles posed little pressure for Jie Liancheng and Zhou Chongshan; in fact, they had little to do before the Corpse Demon appeared.

Given this premise, Xie Liancheng and Zhou Chongshan had already been promoted to major general. Considering the difficulty of this battle alone, it would be inappropriate to further promote them.

If he's promoted now, how should he be promoted if he makes even greater contributions later?
In this way, Zhou Xu mainly rewarded Xie Liancheng and Zhou Chongshan with material gifts such as gold, silver, and silk.

However, the ranks of Drogo and Lex, these two centaur warriors, deserve a raise.

Dragoti was promoted to Senior Colonel, and Lexty to Major.

Lex previously held the rank of captain, and after surrendering, he had no opportunity to distinguish himself. Now, he finally got his chance and was promoted to field-grade officer.

Zhou Xu then bestowed upon him a set of school-level armor and that was the end of it.

Compared to these military generals, Shi Lei deserves a generous reward.

It wasn't that Zhou Xu treated them differently, but rather that Shi Lei had first commanded his troops to rescue the dwarves of Copperforge, and then withstood the attack of 30,000 troops led by Saint Laurent I, defending the New North District until his soul body arrived.

The pressure they faced during that period was on a completely different level from that of several military generals.

At the same time, if the New North District falls, it goes without saying how devastating the losses would be for their Great Zhou.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xu immediately picked up his pen and wrote: "General Shi Lei, who commanded the army to resist the powerful enemy and launch a counterattack against the enemy country, has rendered meritorious service and is hereby officially promoted to lieutenant general and awarded 30,000 taels of silver..."

Material rewards will naturally follow as well.

After writing it down, he sealed it with sealing wax and signaled the messenger to go and relay the order.

(End of this chapter)