Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1697: Strike first to gain the upper hand

"Ye'er, your identity is kept secret from the outside world. In the Northeast Army, only Li Ce knows your identity. In the army, you are just a soldier. You must abide by military discipline, learn well from Li Ce, and you can also communicate more with Wei Qing."

After talking about his son, Zhou Xu turned to look at his daughter.

"Your mother must have told you about the trial. What I want to say is that with your current abilities, as long as you relax and perform well, you will definitely pass. There is no need to feel pressured. It's not a big deal anyway."

After giving his instructions, Zhou Xu watched his children's departing figures and felt a pang of melancholy.

But it'll only last for a moment. Putting Zhou Ye aside, Sigurd should be back soon.

According to Yarvit's original plan, the first trial would take place after Sigriun came of age.

However, an unexpected incident occurred, and Zhou Xu made appropriate repairs to the energy-gathering array in their female warrior race's trial hall.

This was something Jarvitt hadn't anticipated at first.

The restored Trial Hall now has a much higher energy efficiency than before.

With the Trial Hall already prepared, there's no need for Sigrun to wait until she reaches adulthood to undergo the trials.

In fact, Sigrun could have started the trials a year ago.

However, at the time, Yarvit felt that Sigrun was not ready, so she personally trained her for a year. Only after Sigrun successfully broke through and reached the Bronze One Star of the Hundred Refinements Realm was she allowed to go back to accept the trial.

After seeing his son and daughter off, Zhou Xu let out a long breath. Yarvit still had to lead her Pegasus Knights in training, while he, of course, changed his clothes and went to work at the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Meanwhile, in the Saint Laurent region, at the Void Frontier...

The life of the stationed troops is, to some extent, comfortable.

After all, the Saint Laurent Empire had already discovered this place long ago.

Under this premise, they built fortresses and fortresses in suitable locations early on to prepare for the impact from the new world.

After their Great Zhou army took over, they naturally made some related upgrades.

For example, the city's defense equipment has been fully upgraded. Furthermore, in conjunction with the updates and iterations of their Great Zhou weapons and troop tactics, they have also dug trenches outside the fortress in advance.

Their next task is to continue their daily training while waiting.

Of course, facing the ever-approaching fragments of the world, they could also have the Green Lizard Priests create an energy channel to allow them to enter the other world ahead of time.

But there's no need for that.

As the old saying goes, their Great Zhou is too busy developing its own internal affairs to need any rush to explore new worlds.

Even as the commander-in-chief of this fortress, according to the instructions Shi Lei received, their core strategy at this stage is to wait and see and ensure their own safety.

"The distance is getting closer and closer; it seems like we can already see the surroundings clearly."

On the border, Xie Liancheng rode his horse, Prince Ma, and squinted as he looked at the world fragment that was getting closer and closer to them, as if he wanted to see it more clearly.

After a few seconds of this state, Jie Liancheng's expression suddenly changed.

"Goodness, this looks like a desert?"

"desert?"

Upon hearing this unfamiliar term, Zhou Chongshan, who was patrolling the border alongside him, instinctively asked a question.

"Simply put, a place that is basically all sand is called a desert."

Jie Liancheng offered a casual explanation, but his brows were already furrowed. In his view, the desert was not a good environment.

According to known information, once the fragments of the world are pieced together, the climate and environment of each world will affect the others.

The Void Frontier is just an ordinary temperate climate; how could it withstand the erosion of a desert environment?

Jie Liancheng was genuinely afraid that if the other side managed to take over, their side would also be affected by the desertification, which would not be a good thing.

Unfortunately, they were powerless to stop the piecing together of the world's fragments.

Realizing this, Jie Liancheng hurriedly went back to report the situation to Shi Lei and wrote a report, which was sent to Black Moon City as quickly as possible.

"It's a desert environment..."

Upon receiving the report, Zhou Xu naturally understood what Jie Liancheng was worried about.

It must be said that desertification and the destruction of our environment are indeed troublesome issues.

As for the extreme environment of the desert, Zhou Xu obviously had no experience in managing it. The only solution he could think of at the moment was to plant trees and create forests to combat the desert.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Xu quickly walked to a sand table.

This sand table shows the entire region, including the Void Frontier.

That area is currently a key focus for their Great Zhou. To facilitate Zhou Xuping's daily research, the relevant departments also prepared a sand table model in advance and presented it to him.

Staring at the sand table in front of him, Zhou Xu quickly gave the order...

"Go and notify the Greening and Environmental Protection Bureau to send a greening team to the Void Border to carry out greening work."

Obviously, they couldn't wait until a large desert area was actually pieced together before starting to plant trees; that would be too late. They had to act first.

I possess the mantra to 'control clouds and rain,' so if I go there and it rains...

No, firstly, I can't keep bringing rain there indefinitely; secondly, in an extreme desert environment, any rainwater that falls will evaporate very quickly.

I need to create a larger body of water there!

[Dig an artificial lake? And then bring in fresh water from outside?!]

As thoughts raced through his mind, Zhou Xu's gaze fell upon a large river displayed on the sand table.

Yes, it's not too far from the Void Frontier; there's a large river right here.

But this would obviously be a huge project, yet it couldn't be left undone.

The artificial lake will be located in the center of the green area to provide a water source for the entire green space.

Standing in front of the sand table, Zhou Xu's thoughts became clearer and clearer, and he quickly arranged one thing after another.

The desert environment is indeed a problem, but since things have come to this, they are powerless to change anything. They can only do their best to make preparations and reduce the impact of the desert environment on them.

Given this premise, and faced with an unchangeable reality, it's better to think about it from a different perspective.

While extreme environments like deserts may have an impact on them, could they also serve as a protective shield?
After all, how could ordinary troops possibly cross the desert to attack their border?
Even if there really is one, as long as their border defenses can hold out, how many days can the enemy troops hold out in the desert?

Following this line of thought, Zhou Xu suddenly realized that the desert was actually quite nice.

Although it brought them some extra work that they didn't have before, if you look at it from another angle, it seems that they can use the desert as a barrier and focus on development inside!

(End of this chapter)