You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

The Allied forces have determined that the New World is unsustainable.

Perhaps they were confident that they could wage guerrilla warfare to wear each other down, but maintaining the existing structure was no longer meaningful. At the very least, they couldn't allow their important people to be exposed to the guns of the Great Qian.

slipped.

"Your Majesty, the enemy will certainly put up a stubborn resistance and launch an offensive to cover your retreat. You will see log reports of fruitful results in a few months."

Feng Tianyin gave her a guarantee, and also guessed that the Heavenly Dao was about to descend upon the world.

She can sense changes in the flow of time.

Xia He smiled and replied, "Okay, I'll definitely keep an eye on it. I estimate this war won't last more than a few years."

The two parted ways.

Observations at the subspace level have ended, but the debate over the material universe continues.

Upon returning to the temple, Feng Tianyin immediately contacted the General Staff and informed the generals that the enemy was preparing to cover their retreat. She left the rest to their judgment and said there was no need for them to interfere.

Direct command is indeed more efficient.

But rear operations are more important. As long as there are enough resources, a sweeping victory can be achieved, just like the army's progress in the central region.

.........

Both sides in the battle on the New World battlefield gradually felt the changes.

The most direct feeling of the weaker coalition forces was not about ammunition, weapons, or troop reinforcements, but about food.

"We've eaten all the canned food."

"Where are the new canned goods? And I don't want colonial food, it's awful."

"Just bear with it, the sea transport route has been cut off."

The Allied army used to mainly eat large quantities of canned food from their home countries, which suited their local tastes. As the saying goes, different regions nurture different people, and more suitable food can bring better morale to soldiers.

It's gone now.

Not to mention domestically produced canned goods, even canned goods produced in the colonies were in dire need and could not be sustained. The few shipments that arrived were all stained with blood.

One can imagine how brutal the war on the supply lines behind it was.

"Have you heard? The Great Qian Fleet on the east coast is constantly increasing in size, and they are very likely to land."

"Huh? So we're going to be surrounded like dumplings?"

"That's right, the worst-case scenario is that we're attacked from both the east and the west."

Upon hearing this intelligence, the Allied soldiers turned ashen-faced. They were barely holding off the Daqian army's attack thanks to their fortifications, but now their navy in the rear was almost wiped out. What were they doing?

waste.

They call themselves noble, but they're a bunch of incompetent fools. It's disheartening to encounter such unreliable teammates.

Are we destined to die without a burial place?

"We're not some hastily recruited thieves; we're a regular army, an elite force. Don't worry, they'll definitely come to our aid."

"Only by persevering can we create opportunities for those behind us."

If it were the small band of rebel troops that the Daqian army encountered in the early stages, they would have collapsed long ago, but the enemy's main force and elite troops are still holding on.

Chapter 106 I Will Always Be By Your Side (9.5k)

"Elvia".

"Um? "

You are very tired.

Elvia paused for a moment, her fingers resting on her temple.

"No."

"That's a lie."

Selene reached out and grasped Elvia's hand that was resting on her shoulder.

The fingers are slender with distinct knuckles and clear outlines of the joints; the nails are trimmed short and neat.

There was a thin layer of calluses on her fingertips, marks left from years of wielding a sword. They felt rough to the touch and didn't match her delicate appearance.

My palms were cool, even cooler than usual, and the temperature of the magic flowing through them seemed to have dropped a bit.

It trembled so slightly that it would have been impossible to notice if we hadn't been so close.

Elvia lowered her head, looking at the hand that Serian was holding, and did not pull it away.

"Can you sense my thoughts?"

Selene made no attempt to hide her feelings and nodded frankly.

"It didn't work before, but it will work after the breakthrough. Don't forget that you are my only companion."

Elvia fell silent.

In the past, when this connection was still vague, she could hide her emotions perfectly. No matter how tired or painful she was, as long as her facial expression remained unchanged, no one could tell.

But now, in front of Selene, it seems there's no longer any way to hide it.

"...So what did you feel?"

"a lot of."

Selene looked up at Elvia's face.

From this angle, her chin has soft lines, and her icy blue eyes are veiled in a thin layer of warmth by the fireplace light.

Although there were no bloodshot eyes, they were far from bright and spirited; they appeared somewhat cloudy and lifeless.

"You're tired, Elvia."

"You feel gratified and happy when you see me break through, but even so, they only occupy less than one-tenth of your emotions."

Elvia looked away, her gaze falling on the snow outside the window, and responded with silence.

Celian gazed at her and continued, "You're always thinking about others, but have you ever thought about yourself?"

“After returning to the North, everything you did was for Augusta, even though many people’s goal was to take it from you.”

"Finding me the Ice Lotus, although you make it sound easy, the process is definitely not as simple as you describe."

"...But what about yourself?"

Elvia did not answer, her gaze remaining fixed on the view outside the window.

Selene wasn't in a hurry; she just leaned against her, holding her hand, and waited quietly.

After a long while, Elvia turned her gaze to the portrait above the fireplace, and Celian looked at it with her.

"It's been over a year..."

Elvia's voice was long and deep, "I still remember the way he handed me the sword before he closed his eyes."

Her eyes were somewhat lost in thought, as she reminisced about the past.

“When I was a child, he would take me to patrol the territory every day. No matter how bad the weather was, even if a blizzard blocked the road, we would ride horses to complete every section. He said that if you want others to trust you, you have to let them see you first.”

“In winter, the Knights’ outposts would run out of supplies, and he personally escorted the supplies there every year, never asking anyone else to do it.”

"Later, he taught me to read people's minds, to do the right thing at the right time, and he taught me so much..."

“He never told me what kind of person I should become, but everything he did told me the answer.”

Elvia's voice lowered again, her speech slowed down, and her gaze remained fixed on the portrait.

Selene listened quietly without interrupting.

“I took his sword, trying to protect the territory he entrusted to me, but it fell apart in my hands.”

“I often stare at his portrait, wondering if I haven’t done enough, if I haven’t met his expectations of me…”

By the end, Elvia's voice was almost inaudible and trembling.

She lowered her head, her long, icy blue hair slipping down her shoulder and obscuring half her face.

Responsibility became a shackle, binding her tightly. To meet her father's expectations, she carried far too much on her shoulders.

Even if these responsibilities were imposed on her.

Selene remained silent for a long time. She released Elvia's hand, adjusted her posture, and then grasped it again, this time with her fingers interlocked and palms touching.

“Elvia, you have done enough. You have met his expectations.”

"From the North to the capital, haven't you done enough?"

Elvia's body trembled slightly, and Selrian freed one hand to tuck the long, icy blue hair that had fallen beside her face behind her ear.

“If your uncle were still alive, if he were watching all that you have done, he would only be pleased, pleased that his daughter has done such a good and wonderful job.”

"But I also feel sorry for you, feeling sorry that you carried all of this alone."

Elvia finally turned her gaze back, her icy blue eyes meeting Selian's crimson.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and her lips pursed slightly before slowly relaxing.

Selene held her hand and gently rubbed her thumb against the back of her hand.

"Don't make things difficult for yourself anymore, your uncle will be heartbroken."

Seeing that Elvia remained silent, Selja sighed softly in her heart. Suddenly, she felt her cheeks burning.

It wasn't because of emotions, but because of the alcohol.

The Northern Spirits they drank at Herman's mansion were quite strong. They had been using magic to suppress the alcohol and prevent it from getting to their heads, but now that they were alone together, their bodies unconsciously relaxed, and the suppression loosened as well.

A warm feeling crept up from my stomach, and my cheeks flushed slightly.

A thought suddenly popped into Celian's mind, and she blinked and asked a question.

Do you have any wine here?

Elvia paused for a moment, then glanced at her, clearly not expecting Celian to say something like that at this moment.

"...in the cabinet, at the very bottom."