FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Master, consistent with the intelligence, the Western Army has split into three directions—north, south, and central—and has begun advancing eastward. The latest feedback from the front lines is that the northern and southern routes of the Western Army have already reached the center of the continent."

At the Eastern Army headquarters in Washington, Zhang Jiao was reporting to a man with slicked-back hair, dressed in a suit, and around thirty years old.

"Which direction is the Western Army primarily attacking this time?"

If Xia Yan were here now, he would recognize this man as the extremely cautious one he had met when he first entered the Master Trial Space.

This man, named Li Zhuang, was originally a senior executive at a listed company. He always adhered to the principle of prioritizing ability and possessed a pride unique to the elite class.

"Chester is in charge of the northern front. According to intelligence, they have serious disagreements on strategic deployment, so the three Masters are fighting according to their own ideas without any coordination. Chester, who advocates an offensive, has successfully persuaded Edison and Helena to go to the front lines. As for the southern front, Lan Muyan advocates advancing to the middle of the continent to confront us, and there seems to be no sign of further advance. The new Master named Xia Yan is even more outlandish, actually coming out alone as a guerrilla squad to cross the continent from the middle, ostensibly to support either the northern or southern front at any time."

"A bunch of rabble. Very well, I'm tired of this trial anyway. Concentrate all our forces on the northern front, and I'll make sure the western army never returns."

Li Zhuang closed his eyes, looking like an old monk in deep meditation.

Zhang Jiao stroked his beard and asked, "Master, are we no longer going to probe the last Master's background?"

"No need. When he was tied to the carriage by Medb, he only used a Command Spell to summon Musashi, which means he only has three Servants. At this stage, apart from our leader, no one in the entire group has four Servants. I was just testing him again as a precaution. Besides, he doesn't have any outstanding strategic abilities either. He's just a mediocre guy who got lucky. Now that we know his background, we can close the net."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, right."

Li Zhuang stopped Zhang Jiao and instructed him, "Tell Chester that after this battle, I will follow the regiment's regulations."

"Yes."

-----------------

Chester led his troops across the central part of the continent, heading towards Chicago.

They encountered almost no enemies along the way, and everything went very smoothly.

"Your Excellency President, the Eastern Army is not invincible. They will be afraid when they see our troops. I estimate they will deploy defenses in Chicago, and then..."

Just as Chester was speaking eloquently, von Hohenheim reported, "Master, several small groups of Eastern Army troops have been spotted ahead, seemingly retreating. Should we pursue them?"

Chester pondered for a moment, then said to Edison beside him, "Mr. President, I suggest we accelerate the pursuit and crush the Eastern Army before they can fully assemble."

"Good. As long as we win this battle decisively, Chester, you will be a great hero of the Western Army, and I will appoint you as Vice President."

Edison showed complete trust in Chester.

"It would be my great honor."

With Edison's permission, Chester ordered his troops to speed up their advance and soon caught up with the Eastern Army ahead.

None of these Eastern armies had any followers, and the moment the Western army caught up with them would be the moment of their annihilation.

Before they knew it, the Western Army had arrived outside the gates of Chicago. Before Chester could even begin to give orders, a whooshing sound came rushing in.

boom!

boom!

Just as the metal arrow was about to hit Chester and the others, Arjuna fired an arrow in time, deflecting the trajectory of the metal arrow and blasting away more than a dozen mechanical soldiers to the left of Chester and the others.

Along with Minamoto no Tameyoshi's attack, countless Yellow Turban puppet soldiers also attacked from all directions of the Western Army. Mad King Cú Chulainn, Zhang Jiao, Li Shuwen, Fergus, and Finn also appeared at the same time. It was clear that the small groups of troops just now were bait to lure the Western Army here. This was a trap designed by the Eastern Army for the Western Army.

"Arjuna, you deal with Minamoto no Michizane. Beowulf, you restrain the Mad King. Hohenheim, you deal with Finn. Mephisto, find a way to restrain Li Shuwen. President King and Mrs. Blavatsky, I'd like you two to deal with Fergus and Zhang Jiao. I will immediately notify Xia Yan to come and provide support!"

Chester immediately gave instructions.

"Xia Yan, we have encountered the main force of the Eastern Army on the northern front. All of the Eastern Army's Servants have been deployed to Chicago, and we are surrounded."

Upon hearing Chester's distress call, Xia Yan said he would be there immediately and then hung up.

Seeing Xia Yan's unhurried demeanor, Lan Muyan, who had come from the southern front, asked, "Aren't you going?"

"No rush. The later I go, the better the results."

"Aren't you afraid Edison will get killed?"

Faced with Lan Muyan's question, Xia Yan replied irrelevantly, "I want to experience the effects of the King of No Appearance."

"ha?"

Lan Muyan was clearly not keeping up with Xia Yan's leaps in thought.

"Let's check out the situation on the northern front before making a decision. That's where Robin Hood's Faceless King comes in, isn't it?"

"oh."

After Xia Yan and his group had all been affected by Robin Hood's Faceless King effect, Xia Yan returned to Lan Muyan's previous question.

"Although Chester acted too hastily at yesterday's meeting, at this stage, whether he, as the mole, still needs to hide himself is no longer so important. Yesterday's meeting already achieved his goal of getting Edison to go with him. As long as Edison is in danger, no matter what you and I plan to do, we must go to save him, unless we don't want to pass this trial. This is an open strategy. But on the other hand, as long as we haven't revealed ourselves, Edison still has value and won't be easily eliminated by the Eastern Army."

"And then what happens after you show yourself?"

"If we show ourselves, we will inevitably be besieged by the Eastern Army followers, and he might even defect in the face of battle."

"Then isn't there a solution?" Lan Muyan asked.

"No, all strategies are based on a relatively small difference in strength. Once the difference in strength becomes too great, no strategy will be effective. I have great confidence in our strength. Besides, I need to know whether Chester is the traitor or not. The answer to this question will affect our judgment in the Master Trial later. It's okay if you don't understand now; you will soon."

Lan Muyan didn't know where Xia Yan's confidence came from, but now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to cooperate with Xia Yan to find a way out.