Origin Player.

Chapter 809 Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison (8k, +1 chapter)
The northern part of Anxi Fortress, the Jubei District.

The fortress opera house, the music ended and the audience dispersed.

After the performance, the audience and staff left the venue.

A young man with dazzling blond hair sat on the edge of the stage, his prince costume exquisite and gorgeous. He stroked the sword in his hand, his expression not very good.

"Master, the assassination attempt has failed."

Offstage, Luo Chengying kept his head bowed.

"You've always been more trouble than you're worth. Compared to your elder brother Luo Zhengzong, you have neither backbone nor ability, so this outcome doesn't surprise me. But while Capricorn and Aries died in battle, you returned unscathed."

"Tell me, how am I supposed to explain this to the other zodiac signs?"

Luo Chengying was secretly furious, yet also terrified.

He could swear to God that he had absolutely no intention of framing the two zodiac signs. The spatial blockade, the four forbidden mental artifacts, the Aries who excels at attacking, and the Capricorn who is cunning and unpredictable—the plan was theoretically sound and already extremely targeted.

But no one expected that Dijiang was actually a master alchemist. There were only three such masters in the entire fortress, and the internal files of the Black Night Special Forces Brigade showed that Dijiang was only nineteen years old and should not have accumulated master-level knowledge.

The time doesn't match up.

Even if they matched, it would seem too bizarre.

It's even more baffling that such beings would initially serve as cannon fodder, especially given their complete lack of source power.

"My lord, it truly is not a fault of war."

“That is my sin, I deserve to die.”

"I absolutely did not mean that!"

Seeing that Leo was unwilling to let him go, Luo Chengying gritted his teeth and said, "As long as the leader is willing to continue to support me as the successor, I can hand over control of the Heavenly Generals Army. Whether it is a contract or an oath, I can accept it."

The blond youth narrowed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face.

The Heavenly Generals are the core military force of the Luo family heirs.

Whenever an S-class demigod dies, the Luo clan will fight over the corpse at any cost, and then summon the world's alchemy masters to create a puppet using ancient secret formulas and massive amounts of resources.

Each Heavenly General possesses A-level combat power, retaining their authority while boasting a formidable physique, superhuman speed, and normal intelligence, and is absolutely loyal to the core controller of the matrix.

Over the millennia, the Luo family has accumulated six Heavenly Generals, not counting the losses incurred. These are divided into two groups, one belonging to the family head and the other to the heir. Therefore, among the three great families, the Luo family heir holds the most power compared to others of the same kind.

Of course, other powerful clans also have their own strengths. The Fu clan's aerial fortress and celestial trial are equally impressive, while the Yan clan, thanks to Yan Ning, completed the long-abandoned artificial sun project.

The blond youth chuckled, "You probably want to become the heir first, and then confront Luo Youhun after all your competitors are dead, so you can find a way to break the contract or oath."

Luo Chengying's face turned pale, and he hurriedly said, "This subordinate dares not."

The blond youth waved his hand and said, "It's alright, we'll just have to rely on our own abilities then. The benefits you promised are indeed worth our Star Society increasing our investment. Hehe, if you had known this would happen, you would have been more decisive. If Luo Qingshan hadn't become a vegetable, it would have been a question whether you could have returned to the candidate list. Hesitating is stupid."

Luo Chengying breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just looked up when a figure descended.

The blade flashed so abruptly, its momentum flowing endlessly, yet it was also completely restrained. All its power was concentrated in the blade, making it irresistible without leaking out in the slightest.

Whoosh!
Luo Chengying's flesh and soul were chopped into pieces.

The blond youth suddenly stood up, his longsword thrusting straight forward. He activated his 11th ranked innate talent, Lion King, at full power, unleashing the Resonance Power Secret Technique: Fearless Sword.

By resonating with the enemy and reaching the same frequency, it is a sword that can shatter all defenses.

However, it ended in failure when it encountered the silver insulator.

The golden sword light seemed to freeze in front of Jiang He. His secret technique was both defense and not defense. The key was not in its solidity, but in its distance, a distance so far that it was impossible to reach.

According to estimates, it will take several more months for the Fearless Sword to hit Jiang He. By then, he will no longer be in his original position. Moreover, there are very few secret techniques in the world that can be maintained for such a long time.

Whoosh!
A flash of lightning, a streak of light.

A tentative lightning strike severed the entire opera house from front to back, separating it in the middle.

clang!
The crisp sound of metal striking stone rang out.

The golden-haired youth parried with his sword, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. The secret power technique, Ring of Repulsion, rose before the blade, resembling an indestructible warrior's shield.

"I never expected you to come knocking on my door like this."

Before he finished speaking, ten thousand shadow swords formed a high-explosive sword array and rushed in from all directions. Jiang He suddenly appeared in the sky and watched as the violent explosion engulfed the edge of the stage.

The spatial walls created by the spatial powers surrounded the enemy, causing the explosions to roar back and forth within a radius of several meters, with unparalleled, refined, and concentrated power.

boom!
The entire opera house was blown apart, and flames shot into the sky.

The blond youth, his body charred black, grinned as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His resonance ability transferred most of the damage to the opera house; otherwise, he might have perished.

"Only a demigod can kill me!"

"A lame joke, huh?"

Jiang He snapped his fingers and ignored it, starting the attack.

As he advanced to Grade B, this conceptual gene naturally increased as well, not just by adding one more spot.

Suddenly, the blond youth froze on the spot, his back soaked in cold sweat, unable to recall his powers.

"I'm a Rank A, and Rank A definitely has powers!"

"My power is, my power is..."

"Damn devil!"

It's not just that the name of the power has been forgotten, but that the entire existence of the power is "blind" to it, and one has to ignore it when one wants to instinctively activate it.

Jiang He sighed with emotion. No wonder the Demon Lord was hated by everyone in the Nine Provinces World before. He deserved it. This ability originally belonged to Zongzheng, but the Demon Lord created a new chapter in his mischief.

"That guy is probably a legend now."

As Jiang He landed, he was not yet able to make the enemy forget him, but it was enough.

The first cut severed the sword.

The second cut severed the blond youth's shoulder and right abdomen.

The third cut severed the head and shattered the brain.

Unable to harness the power of resonance, Leo falls in three strikes.

Jiang He beckoned, and the alchemical materials he had gathered from Aries appeared. He first extracted the essence of blood, and then used Leo's body as the main body for alchemy.

[Body Constitution: B-→B]
A quarter of an hour later, the A-level powerhouse, the Demon of Law, was born. He appeared as a blond youth, but was a vicious soldier at heart. This was already the sixth A-level demon, and according to the conversation between Leo and Luo Chengying, he could be compared to the Heavenly General Army accumulated by the Luo Clan over a thousand years.

As a master of puppet alchemy, Jiang He undoubtedly has a precipitous advantage in the field of puppet creation, whether in terms of cost, efficiency, or material requirements.

"Boss, hehehe!"

"I should take some time to clear your heads."

...2 a.m.

Due to the recent series of riots, hospitals are overcrowded. The new Taiko says this is a period of growing pains, and the 24 districts just need to be patient. The reorganized Anzai Fortress City, even if some high-level Source Users die, will be able to unleash even stronger overall strength.

"I want to know Luo Qingshan's ward number."

At the neurology ward nurses' station, due to the heinous and inhumane shift system, the young nurse looked up groggily. Senior nurses and their superiors usually didn't need to work night shifts, so she was clearly a newbie.

"Name, phone number, and relationship to the patient..."

The questioning abruptly stopped, and the nurse blinked.

"Just tell me directly," Jiang He said calmly, enticingly. He had been asking questions all along without any surprises.

"At the end of the corridor, on the right, room forty-two, you'll be there tonight..."

Don't say things that will hurt you.

"Ok."

Jiang He arrived at the end of the corridor.

He ignored himself for a moment, then punched the B-level guard who was smoking by the window, knocking him unconscious.

"well played!"

The patients not far away couldn't help but applaud.

The source energy users of this Yuan family have a serious problem with their behavior. There are signs prohibiting smoking in the stairwells, but if you really can't resist, no one will care. However, smoking is absolutely not allowed in the hospital corridors.

Jiang He entered ward number 42.

In the private hospital room, the boy lay on a white mattress, while the girl, her face full of worry and exhaustion, slept beside him, her head resting on her arm.

The sword suddenly appeared.

Just as it was about to strike, it was grasped by an old, strong hand that ignored the sharpness of the blade.

“You’ve already won,” Luo Youhun laughed.

“Besides Luo Yeli, there are other candidates still alive,” Jiang He said.

“A person in a vegetative state is not competitive and can be considered dead, at least that’s how I see it,” Luo Youhun said. “The elders of the Luo clan rarely reject my decisions, even though they have that right.”

The violence that transcends the rules, or rather, the source and creator of the rules—that is the status of an S-class demigod.

Jiang He realized the Luo family head's inclination. Perhaps it was the influence of fate; the Dark World did not want Luo Qingshan to die, as this tool had an unfinished mission.

"I don't want anything to change after dawn."

Jiang He sheathed his tactical short sword.

He was just a sub-legendary. He had killed at least a few dozen, if not a hundred. Even now, the projected entity had the power to retreat with ease. He was capable of refining one or six living alchemy bodies, but the losses were too heavy.

Luo Youhun chuckled and said, "Your sword is too sharp. It should be properly sheathed. I doubt whether Night Fox can serve as a scabbard."

Jiang He remained noncommittal.

If Luo Yeli were on the opposite side, he would never doubt himself about whether he could kill the girl, after all, if the deceased Shindai Mirai were to be reincarnated, she would be half a year old by now.

Unfortunately, he was annihilated on the spot and did not reincarnate, unless Lilith did something behind his back. As for the fact that Luo Yeli is Lilith's unawakened projection, then he should not stand against him.

Luo Youhun's smile faded, and he said, "It seems the answer doesn't satisfy me."

Life is full of disappointments, nine times out of ten.

"You are the same, but I am the exception."

Luo Youhun calmly gazed at the young man, whose inherent arrogance reeked of decay.

He tossed a matrix core to Jiang He and said, "Half of the Heavenly General's forces will be under your control, with three members, and only members of the Luo family can hold these positions. At dawn, all the major media outlets in the fortress will simultaneously announce the results of the succession war."

"Luo Yeli will be the ultimate winner."

Jiang He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped at the door and turned back to ask, "If Luo Qingshan commits suicide, will you stop him?"

Luo Youhun sneered, his aged face resembling a withered tree.

"So fragile, it would be a blessing to die."

……

Dawn breaks.

The new markers were announced at midnight, but Jiang He didn't have time to hunt them in the vampire-controlled area outside the fortress.

Back at the lakeside villa, Lao Hei was already resting, while Wu He was still directing operations in front of the sand table.

"Boss, the commanders of the Second and Fourth Garrison Armies, one has fallen and the other has resigned. The Taiko's intention is that if we can find two A-level experts to replace them, they are willing to grant them the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Fortress Garrison."

"Let Lei and Yan take over, and you will command them directly. Lv and Gang will protect you and Lao Hei. Kong will continue to scavenge for blood cores. As for the Demon of Nothingness, she usually follows the two of them, so I don't need her."

The war of succession is over.

Taiko extended goodwill to the future head of the Luo family, while simultaneously drawing the Luo family into the war effort. This move was very sincere, as the First Garrison Commander was a member of the royal family, yet his position was below that of the Garrison Commander-in-Chief.

Jiang He met Luo Yueju, who had just left her bedroom, in the corridor. The two took a shower together, and while they were still in the bathroom, the Taiko arrived with the appointment letter.

"The corps commander has been promoted to fortress marshal, which is a demotion in disguise." Luo Yueju commented while wearing a face mask: "Previously, this only general was the true leader of all the armies."

Jiang He soaked in the bathtub, resting with her eyes closed.

The four Class A military groups of the war zones, plus the fortress troops stationed at the Iron Curtain, will be reorganized into the Anxi Fortress Army Group, which is expected to expand to 200,000 men. This will be the main force and elite troops, with Taiko Prime Minister Yizhang personally serving as the commander-in-chief of the army group.

In comparison, the garrison troops were only equivalent to second-line troops.

In addition, 200,000 auxiliary troops from the four war zones were also reorganized to serve as filler and cannon fodder. The commander-in-chief of the auxiliary troops was concurrently held by the Minister of Finance, Chu Tianming. Rumor has it that this Minister Chu was the Empress Dowager's lover and that he must have sold his position to get where he is today.

All three commanders-in-chief held the rank of fortress general.

"How's the Night Special Forces Brigade doing?" Jiang He asked.

“You know perfectly well why I’m asking.” Luo Yueju came to the edge of the bath and said, “The brigade commander went missing last night. The royal family sent people to investigate and discovered his identity as a member of the Zodiac Constellation of the Star Society. Now the Blood Tomb Force and the Night Special Forces Brigade have been merged into the Night Airborne Division, which is directly under the Empress Dowager. Yan Lu and I have become deputy division commanders.”

The words ended without a conclusion.

Jiang He asked in confusion, "Does Commander Black Night have anything to do with me?"

Luo Yueju shrugged and replied, "Principal Yilong took over. Vice Principal Fu died in the restaurant, so he became the head of the department. His strength is a bit lacking, only B-level, but there's nothing we can do about it. It's normal that the higher-ups are worried because the brigade commander is a traitor."

Jiang He suddenly remembered that the royal family should owe her a forbidden item.

[Hint: Main quest ② has been completed]
[Hint: You have obtained 1 Sub-Mythical Skill Enhancement Scroll / 1 Sub-Mythical Item / 12 Medium Soul Crystals]
"Sister, are you in there?"

Jiang He's eyes flickered.

Luo Yueju sighed, bent down at the door, and whispered back, "Come on, Chief of Staff Lao Hei said yesterday that you like this kind of thing."

(End of this chapter)