Chapter 829

Chapter 829: Discussing Strategies

Days went by.

As the territorial influence surged, Yi Chen’s talent bonus also increased dramatically.

With his realm continually rising, his training speed advanced rather than retreated.

With the control over time granting him ten times the flow of time, he broke through from level 230 to level 231 in just two months.

When Yi Chen successfully reached level 232, the Great Flame Empire officially launched the Fifth Round of Expansion.

Like the previous four rounds, this expansion saw the targets significantly increased.

There were five large races alone.

The number of medium and small races combined amounted to five or six hundred.

The Great Flame Empire had the qualifications to do this.

After four rounds of expansion, the races conquered by the Great Flame Empire included one large race, six medium-sized races, and over fifty small races.

These races provided the Great Flame Empire with trillions of elite soldiers, enabling the empire to conquer more tribes and occupy more life planets while being capable of managing them.

Differing slightly from the previous four expansions, the Fifth Round of Expansion would not conquer all target races at once.

Due to the large number of targets, the Fifth Round of Expansion was divided into several stages.

The entire expeditionary army split into ten routes and moved outward.

The main reason for this was the insufficient numbers of the assassination team and the eastern human army.

Although the assassination team received a huge reinforcement after the fourth round of expansion, including the temporary assignment of the Cracked Shell Tribe’s level 240 leader to the assassination team,

there were still several dozens of level 230 strong fighters available.

Yet, with five large races as conquest targets in the Fifth Round of Expansion, a massive assembly of strong fighters was needed to successfully attack with overwhelming force.

On the eastern human army’s side, although they had entered a period of rapid expansion and had successfully reached one hundred million soldiers,

this was still too few compared to the five or six hundred races.

One could see a clear pattern in the Great Flame Empire’s expansion.

Therefore, the various tribes surrounding the empire could almost infer the time and method for the Fifth Round of Expansion.

Naturally, they also took countermeasures against this.

Unfortunately, the vast power disparity meant their preparations could not resolve the situation.

Not to mention, in addition to the powerful and terrifying assassination team, the eastern human army, and the long-distance transportation capability,

the Great Flame Empire possessed another terrifying aspect not known to many: its formidable intelligence-gathering ability.

The movements of the various tribes were almost entirely monitored by the Great Flame Empire’s Intelligence Organization.

Regardless of where the tribe leaders and strong fighters hid, the assassination team could always appear right in front of them.

No matter where the elite armies of the tribes lay in ambush, the eastern human army would always descend like celestial forces, launching attacks on them.

Whether they were large races or medium and small races, or even alliances of these races, wherever the Great Flame Empire’s expeditionary army went, within a day, they would helplessly choose to surrender as a whole.

Compared to the previous four expansions, the Fifth Round of Expansion took a bit longer.

However, just half a month later, it all came to an end, and the five large races along with five or six hundred medium and small races were forced to choose collective surrender.

With this round of expansion concluded, one-sixth of the entire Golden Cloud Star Cluster was now under the rule of the Great Flame Empire.

Everyone could guess that in a few months, when the Great Flame Empire launched the Sixth Round of Expansion, the entire Golden Cloud Star Cluster would likely become the empire’s target.

Many medium and small races had completely lost hope.

They were even too exhausted to resist and proactively contacted the Great Flame Empire, expressing their willingness to surrender as a whole.

By doing so, they would become among the first conquered races.

After the Fifth Round of Expansion, Yi Chen recalled the top geniuses of the Great Flame Empire and officially began the fifteenth round of Skill Teaching.

He taught various improved skills for reaching the Tao Immortal Stage.

…

The three dominant races—the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, the Time Tribe, and the Reincarnation Tribe—finally could no longer sit idle.

Inside the immense defensive barriers, the leaders and High-ranking Leaders of the three tribes used equipment from the human federation to create virtual images.

Everyone’s expression was extremely serious.

With the elder team of the three races losing contact and the Great Flame Empire not demanding a ransom, the leaders and High-ranking Leaders of the three tribes found themselves at a loss.

Kind words and attempts to raise the ransom had proved useless.

A hardline attitude threatening to suppress the Great Flame Empire also received no response.

After multiple discussions, the leaders and High-ranking Leaders of the three tribes still could not come up with a desired outcome; in the end, it all boiled down to insufficient strength.

The three tribes no longer dared to send their elder teams to the Golden Cloud Star Cluster.

When news of the Great Flame Empire’s Fifth Round of Expansion arrived, the leaders and High-ranking Leaders of the three tribes had to convene an emergency meeting once again to discuss countermeasures.

If they allowed the Great Flame Empire to advance unchecked, in a few months, the entire Golden Cloud Star Cluster would become its possession.

By the time the Great Flame Empire initiated the Seventh Round of Expansion, the targets could very well be other star clusters.

If the Great Flame Empire continued to expand like this, the three dominant races would have no ability to resist.

“Right now, the only way is to take action while the Great Flame Empire has not grown strong enough to make us despair, and fight them once to determine our fate!”

The Chief of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe’s gaze swept over the leader of the Time Tribe and the leader of the Reincarnation Tribe.

The two leaders, along with their elders, remained silent.

They had been waiting, hoping that the Great Flame Empire would collapse on its own after failing to provide rewards to the conquered races.

But time passed without any good news.

According to various pieces of information provided by undercover agents in the Golden Cloud Star Cluster, they had not noticed any signs of hidden danger.

As the Chief of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe said, they could only take the chance to fight with the Great Flame Empire while it had not developed to an unassailable level.

This was their only opportunity.

However, the stakes were incredibly high.

If they lost, it would result in a complete defeat, and they might even fall to a level lower than those large races following the Great Flame Empire’s sweep of the entire super star cluster.

“Don’t you all know what you are hesitating for? Are you worried that if you fight the Great Flame Empire and lose, it will result in losses for the empire and classify our races as second-class or even third-class conquered races in the future? This would lead to a rapid decline for our whole race?”

The Chief of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe scoffed, “If that’s the case, it would be better to surrender to the Great Flame Empire now. By doing so, we would surely be classified as a first-class conquered race.”

“But is that really stable? Don’t forget that our three races are all dominant races with control over a large star cluster.”

“The number of our tribespeople is countless, and the strong among us are equally numerous. Would the Great Flame Empire allow such colossal races among those it has conquered?”

The leaders and elders of the Time Tribe and Reincarnation Tribe all sharpened their gazes.

The Chief of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe’s words made them realize the gravity of the situation.

At the very least, if they were in the shoes of the strongest member of humanity, once the entire super star cluster was conquered,

the next step would surely involve slowly suppressing those strong races with promising potential.

Even if they signed relevant agreements, it would only mean the suppression would be less obvious and take a little longer.

But the result would be the same and predetermined.