Emperor of Steel

Chapter 664: Pirate Kingdom’s Taunt 5

To the west of the Symphonia Kingdom was a vast wasteland.

In the days of Rakan estate’s development, Luke had initiated mines by brainwashing the monsters and increased farming lands by bringing in water.

During those days, there was a shortage of labor and funds.

After that, as the number of residents increased, the estates’ finances stabilized, and monsters were sent to the western wastelands.

Rather than making use of the lands, the idea was to create a buffer zone by letting the monsters live peacefully until needed.

The monsters which migrated to the wasteland took their places in the tribes and began to increase in number.

The monsters were later mobilized for a while during the Milton Kingdom’s war, and once their role was done, they were sent back to the western wasteland.

After that, Luke had almost neglected them, and recently they increased to over tens of thousands, turning into a monster force in the western wasteland.

Kuak! Kuak!

Kikki!

Dozens of orcs were on their way after hunting.

The other monsters they hunted were placed on the wooden sticks and were being carried away on their shoulders, they shouted with joy at the thought of feeding their females and children with the food.

Du Du Du Du!

Then, at one point, the earth shook, and dust began to rise from the ground.

Seeing that, the Orcs were puzzled.

It was because there were no more swarms or animals moving in large groups in the western wasteland.

But, within a while, they knew.

The Orcs jumped up and started to run away.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

A huge monster army appeared from the dirt and was running towards him.

Thud!

Some were humans mixed with the monster legion of various types of monsters—such as giant Orcs, ogres, trolls, and so on.

Men with very dull robes began to memorize a certain spell towards the Orcs, and as the spell continued, their eyes changed and began to look dazed.

‘Kukk! This is around 100,000. With 100,000 monsters hitting the west side of Symphonia, will they be able to stop this?’

Lenuk, a former Veritas Magic Tower Meister, smiled recalling the upcoming invasion.

From the perspective of the Symphonia Kingdom, the monster army which would appear from the west would cause a huge disaster.

It was because it would end up being an act which the army would have never thought of.

As such, the defense wouldn’t be adequate, and invading the kingdom would be easy.

For the operation, the warlocks struggled to lead the monster’s legion from the Libiya Kingdom.

‘It wasn’t just that. From the south too, sooner or later, the Grenada fleet will appear, right? If the warlocks who secretly infiltrated the Symphonia will cause a riot, the confusion will reach an extreme point.’

What was regrettable was that the Baroque Empire couldn’t be used.

The Baroque Empire was currently at war with the Volga Republic and couldn’t afford to send forces to the south.

If it weren’t for that war, Rudolf surely would have led the army to punish Luke right away.

Not just Lenuk, but Arsene felt very bad about it.

‘Well, even with the current power, Symphonia can be stirred enough.’

Lenuk, who gazed at the monster army he brainwashed with dark magic, uttered another spell.

Kuakkkk!

Kuak!

Kiiiiiik!

Whenever the spell spread, the monsters which stood still, ran towards Symphonia.

Pop! Pop!

Kwang!

People who were working on the hills of Lamer city turned their gaze towards the sea upon the firing of the Navy battleships.

These Navy battleships were training in artillery with floating targets in the middle of the sea, almost looking like a real battle.

“Is it training day?”

“No way. The Grenada pirates might be coming back soon.”

“Wasn’t the new king the one we captured last time?”

“Right, that time we should have just hanged him by the neck...”

The people who were talking about it, hurriedly shoved piles of stones when the head appeared.

The dwarf squad leader dispatched the engineer unit, which was known to be meticulous.

“Faster, faster! Move it! When will you start working seriously?! Do you want to die in the hands of the pirates? The more we sweat right now, the less blood will spill!”

Those who were moving slowly worked faster upon hearing such words.

It may seem that they were dissatisfied with the sudden change in roles, but rather, they were helping and encouraging each other.

“Kay then, let’s work hard!”

“Of course. Didn’t His Majesty always give us a happy life? So this time we will help him!”

Luke who was on the scene, went for inspection, looked at the scene, and gave instructions to attendants.

“Since they are hard-working, make sure to get them beer at night.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After the death of King Drake of Grenada Kingdom, Luke had spent the entire last month preparing for war.

After receiving the information that Fernando had ordered the mobilization of the navy fleet and the pirate lords too, Luke began to look for defense and coast fort construction.

In that way, the Navy’s artillery training was increased, and the port defense facilities were built, and the reinforcements were requested in advance.

It was just the Holy Arthenia Empire that came to assistance.

“The Song Empire and the Yemaek fleet, will they arrive within a week?”

After moving to the office in the city hall of Lamer, he looked at the young official who was reading the text sent in by the Foreign Minister and asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty. It was said that 50 from the Song Empire and 130 from Yemaek and a total of 180, in terms of the number of battleships, it is said that the Yemaek army has actually sent their main ironclad ships.”

“The ironclad ships... even a single ship of that would be enough to create great destruction.”

According to the intelligence report, there are around 1,300 ships that Grenada mobilized for the war.

It was more than 10 times for the current Symphonia navy.

No, it was even worse after considering the Symphonia Navy, the transport ships, and even the main fleet.

Luke tried to make up the odds with the quality of the ships and the advanced magic engineering.

And so, he prepared several weapons, including the new iron armor.

Even so, the armor couldn’t completely provide defense, so the help of the allies was requested.

“And the Holy Empire said they wouldn’t be able to send us their fleet.”

“What? What is that supposed to mean?”

Luke was in shock.

He felt like he had been hit on his foot with a sharp axe, took the report from the man’s hands, and read the contents by himself.

‘The sailors are on vacation, so when they arrive back, they will send, and will be late? And so...’

At first, Luke frowned at what he saw, but then nodded.

It was because the operation proposed by the Holy Empire seemed valid.

‘Just to be sure, if we want to get rid of those pirates, we need to follow this plan. Then the Grenada fleet must deal with the allied forces of Song and Yemaek.’

Since they had already set up the operations for the navy battles, they had to wait for the Yemaek and Song fleet to arrive.

‘Those pirates, they will never enter our waters!’

It was the time when Luke was looking at the map and was planning some strategy.

A messenger hurriedly entered and delivered a report.

“Your Majesty, a large number of monsters have appeared from the west of the kingdom!”

The face of Luke and the retainers went pale at the news.

While all their efforts were directed towards stopping the Grenada army, an unexpected enemy appeared from the west!

If the western border got breached, the Kingdom would be dominated by monsters running wild.

“Your Majesty, we need to dispatch the central army right away.”

“It is necessary to increase the number of Gigant troops, even the eastern army.”

While the retainers were giving their thoughts, an unexpected smile caught on Luke’s lips.

‘Huh, is he using that thing again?’

He looked at the messenger and said with a very confident expression as if he knew something.

“Speak to Marquis Rogers, Chief Commander of the Royal Army. Tell him to start the Operation Storm Break right away.”

An operation prepared in advance after discussing with just the senior officials in the military.

When the order was given, once the peace was broken, he drew out a card which he had prepared beforehand.