Chapter 1062: Chapter 548: The Battle of Ash Lake
"Oh, it has such a feature?"
"Hahaha, this will make things much more convenient in the future!"
"I need to hurry and expand the team. If I could have more Dream Envoys, would I still face a shortage of Divinity?"
"Uh, I wonder if there are any other features unlocked?"
Rod wandered a few circles in the Dream Realm, regretfully finding that aside from the Tombstone, there seemed to be no new changes.
While scratching his head, he suddenly heard someone calling him from outside.
"Rod! Wake up, Rod!"
With a thought, Rod instantly left the Dream Realm and returned to his bed.
Opening his eyes, the first sight was the energetic Anna and the pretty Kashan standing behind her.
"Get up now!"
Anna put her hands on her waist and said.
"There’s not much time left! Lazybones!"
Rod glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that the Morning had already passed a clock hour.
There was not much time left until the gathering time.
Rod instantly leaped up, grabbed his robe, and put it on.
"Let’s go!"
A flash of purple light, and a robust, heavily armored Centaur charged out.
"Hahaha! Rod, did you see my new form?"
Anna’s tinkling laughter echoed in the training ground.
"I’ve finally advanced my Characteristic level, I’ve reached seven!"
"This is my new Awakened State, I feel almost invincible!"
Rod leapt onto the horse and dragged Kashan up: "Stop bragging and give it a try."
"Alright!"
Anna stamped down, and her entire body glowed with purple light, a faint purple mist swirling around her. The Centaur seemed to gallop on clouds, carrying Rod and Kashan, swiftly flying from the Inner City District to the Outer City District.
The speed was astonishing, even Rod couldn’t keep up with Anna at this point.
Moreover, Anna was currently just a Fourth Level Combatant, yet she could already perform Spiritual Power Floating.
"I can fly!"
Anna laughed joyfully.
"Rod, the Star Source is truly amazing, can I drink it again?"
Rod laughed: "As long as I’m here, yes you can."
In front, Kashan hesitated several times but finally bit her lip and softly asked, "What about me?"
Rod patted her little head and gently said: "Of course, my lady, how could you not?"
Kashan sighed with relief, but quickly came to her senses, slapped Rod’s hand away: "Don’t pat my head! I won’t grow taller!"
"Nonsense, my Kashan is so tall, why worry about height?"
Kashan’s face turned red, but from her burning cheeks, Rod sensed anger. He wisely stopped teasing and sat honestly on the horseback, no longer fidgeting.
The Centaur quickly arrived at the big square in front of the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground, where all the high-rank combat personnel who were about to set off had gathered.
This time, the combat lineup was even more luxurious than during the Starry Sky City battle.
Olivia, Alan, Luo Weiya, Jelaba, Misha, the Dark Moon Princess, Alehon, seven Special Level Combatants.
Rod, Ye Feng, Chucher, and over twenty Guardians, more than a hundred First Level Combatants or equivalent, along with over three hundred Second Level and Third Level Combatants.
This was the complete force for this expedition.
The reason the Royal City was able to mobilize such a huge force, aside from the peaceful defenses and astrological stability, was also because the new Spiritual Power Cannon had been mass-produced.
This was developed by the great scholar Amides and his disciple Mina, improved upon using the knowledge acquired in Starry Sky City.
Its power was not stronger than the old Spiritual Power Cannon, and its range was half as short.
However, its production cost was only one-thirtieth of the old Spiritual Power Cannon, and the firing cost was only one-tenth, yet the damage caused was not much different.
This means that for the same cost, the Royal City could gain at least ten times the firepower with the Spiritual Power Cannon.
If it could be deployed on a large scale at each major base, especially the castles and fortresses on the outermost defense circle, it would greatly reduce the need for high-level combat personnel.
The King keenly noticed its significance and value and overruled opposition to order the Mechanical Research Institute to fully research its mass production methods.
Master Light Flash did not let him down, crafting an extremely sophisticated mass production plant for it.
When the new style of Spiritual Power Cannon began mass production, it first equipped the outermost castles and fortresses of the defense circle.
Its effect did not disappoint; when hundreds of cannons fired simultaneously, the Spiritual Power Wave was earth-shattering, with strong-level monsters below super rank having no way to approach unless they were Fourth Tier super rank and above.
This significantly reduced the pressure on defenses, allowing the Royal City to deploy more forces to complete a campaign.
Just like this.
Floating carriages descended one by one, and combat personnel cheered as they boarded, flying towards Courage Fortress.
This represented another important characteristic of Trolian’s strengthening, as the previously limited number of long-range floating spiritual power carriages had increased by dozens of times.
However, there were still not enough floating carriages for so many high-level combat personnel.
Archbishop Horus stepped out and shouted: "Some combat personnel, please prepare to walk."
Groans spread through the crowd; no one wanted to trek long distances in the dark, consuming both energy and stamina.
Horus said gravely: "Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no choice..."
At this moment, Rod suddenly shouted: "Your Eminence, Archbishop, how many are short?"
Horus paused and replied: "About fifty or more."
Rod grinned slightly: "No problem, Anna."
Anna immediately understood, soared into the air, and with both hands lifted a large flat carriage from the corner, which was originally used for transporting supplies.
Rod jumped up, waved his hand, and Kashan and Mephit also jumped on.
"Fifty people, plenty of space!"
Exclamations of astonishment rose from the crowd.
Horus looked up at the temporary floating carriage with a shocked expression on his withered face.
"Anna? Has she really grown up?"
Horus’s expression became complex, but he still waved his hand.
"Go ahead."
Before he finished speaking, many had already climbed aboard, and the flat carriage quickly filled up.
"Set off!"
Rod shouted spiritedly.
Anna neighed, stepping into the void, heading straight for Courage Fortress.
——
Courage Fortress was the stronghold for this campaign, located at the southwestern corner of the Trolian Defense Circle’s outermost edge.
Heading further southwest was Ash Lake and the Old Fort.
The Royal City’s objective was to clear and occupy these two areas, thereby securing the colossal Sun Crystal Vein behind them.
At the battle conference, Olivia was the one speaking.
She spoke eloquently, analyzing the pros and cons of each maneuver clearly.
The crowd, with serious expressions, listened quietly to her words.
The force they had marshaled this time was strong, yet different from the battle of Starry Sky City.
The key objective of the Starry Sky City battle was to kill the Starry Queen and reclaim the Holy Fire Seed, without needing to clear the entire city, only to kill specific monsters.
But this time, they needed to completely clear Ash Lake and the Old Fort to use them as new strongholds.
The combat tasks were quite heavy.
However, Rod was not worried at all, as it was a chance for him to practice his new combat skills and harvest souls along the way.