Chapter 604

Chapter 605: Stalemate

The Arab player’s army couldn’t push through.

But Luo Ji’s side couldn’t just turn around and leave either.

The situation had devolved into a deadlock—one side shouting “If you’ve got guts, come over!” while the other retorted “If you’ve got guts, come out!” There was really no helping it.

Picking up a roadside stone and using it as a makeshift stool, Luo Ji sat down, chewing on dried meat he carried with him while taking a few swigs of water.

That last battle had clearly taken a toll on him as well.

Seeing this, Huo Qiguang sat down on a nearby stone and asked,

“So, how do you see it?”

“How do I see what?”

Luo Ji shot back casually, still chewing on the meat.

Huo Qiguang didn’t beat around the bush.

“I mean the outcome of this war. If we keep fighting, how good do you think our chances are?”

At the blunt question, Luo Ji’s chewing slowed noticeably.

After a few seconds of silence, he calmly spoke three words.

“Hard to say.”

Hearing that answer, Huo Qiguang let out a sigh.

Yeah—hard to say.

After fighting to this point, it really wasn’t clear who would win and who would lose.

The camel cavalry was troublesome enough, but the real headache lay with the war elephants.

Including the reinforcements that arrived later, the Arab army now had over thirty war elephants.

On a cold-weapons battlefield, giant units were notoriously difficult to deal with.

That was a simple, brutal truth.

With numbers like that, Luo Ji’s four Elephantmen simply couldn’t hold them all down.

And on top of that, the enemy still had two to three thousand camel cavalry.

With everything added together, the final result of this war really did come with a big question mark.

Silence fell over the two of them.

About a minute later, Huo Qiguang suddenly took a deep breath.

“Brother Luo… I have a reluctant request.”

Luo Ji glanced at him indifferently.

“If it’s a reluctant request, then it’s better not to say it at all.”

Running straight into a soft refusal, Huo Qiguang looked a little awkward.

But after decades in this other world, his skin was already thick enough.

Even after being indirectly turned down, he still forced himself to speak.

“Brother Luo, given the current situation, a frontal clash isn’t wise. Why don’t we take advantage of the night and launch a surprise attack on the city…”

Before he could finish, Huo Qiguang noticed Luo Ji sitting there with a half-smile on his face.

Some races within Luo Ji’s beastman army possessed night vision and could fight in the dark—of course Luo Ji knew that perfectly well.

He just hadn’t said it.

A night raid on an enemy field camp and a night assault on a city were two completely different things.

To put it simply, the latter was several levels harder.

At present, the only races under Luo Ji’s command with excellent night vision were the Tigerfolk, Kobolds, Foxkin, and Wolfmen.

That lineup clearly lacked sufficient frontline units.

In other words, the composition was unbalanced and hard to execute properly.

With limited forces and an unsuitable formation, attacking a city filled with well-organized Arab troops—whose numbers were several times his own—would be walking straight into a trap.

One wrong step, and his troops would be sealed inside the city.

If the enemy played the “catch the turtle in a jar” tactic, his night assault force might not even get the chance to escape.

If things reached that point, the losses would be catastrophic for Luo Ji.

Huo Qiguang’s reward was tempting, and Luo Ji truly wanted the Azure Cauldron design blueprint.

But it wasn’t worth taking such an enormous risk.

From Luo Ji’s perspective, a daytime frontal fight was actually the safer option.

Seemingly reading his thoughts from his expression, Huo Qiguang spoke again.

“Brother Luo Ji, I know this night assault is risky for you, but I can increase the reward.”

“What—can you take out another gold-tier item?”

Luo Ji continued to look at him with that same faint smile.

The meaning was obvious.

Unless you’ve got another gold-tier item, don’t even bring it up.

At the end of the day, Luo Ji was here as reinforcements for profit.

In the worst-case scenario, he could still preserve Huo Qiguang’s life and prevent his civilization from being wiped out entirely by the Arab player.

On that basis, Luo Ji would help him as much as possible—so long as it didn’t seriously damage his own interests.

That was the limit of his responsibility as an ally.

Anything beyond that, or anything that risked heavy losses on his side, was out of the question.

Of course, Luo Ji understood Huo Qiguang’s mindset.

Wanting to win was only natural.

If they managed a massive comeback, there was a high chance of earning a gold treasure chest.

They could reclaim resources, capture enemy soldiers, and even seize war elephants and camels.

The benefits were enormous.

But those benefits came with equally enormous risks.

Whether they could truly secure them was still uncertain.

For Luo Ji, risking everything for gains that weren’t guaranteed simply didn’t make sense.

Reading Luo Ji’s stance clearly, Huo Qiguang felt his heart tighten.

After forcing out an awkward laugh, he said nothing more.

Luo Ji didn’t mind.

It was just business—no hard feelings involved.

If they wanted long-term cooperation, this level of understanding was necessary.

While the two were talking, the enemy wasn’t idle either.

During this time, the Arab player sent men to check the depth of the river.

The result proved that it was more than deep enough to drown anyone who couldn’t swim.

They couldn’t cross the river.

They couldn’t fight.

Staying locked in this stalemate wasn’t a solution.

After a moment of indecision, the Arab player finally gave the order to retreat—though not without shouting a few threats no one could understand.

Watching the enemy army slowly withdraw, Huo Qiguang spoke calmly, as if he’d already forgotten the earlier discussion.

“Should we send someone to follow them and keep an eye out?”

“No need.”

As he spoke, Luo Ji waved his hand.

A goblin immediately understood, ran over, climbed into an Elephantman’s palm, and was lifted onto its head.

Just like that, a simple “watchtower” was formed.

From that height, combined with a spyglass, they could see far into the distance.

Sure enough, the Arab player—who turned back with his troops after pulling away—found Luo Ji and the others still guarding the far end of the bridge, staring at him as if he were an idiot.

To be honest, that Arab player was impressively persistent.

He tried this trick three separate times.

And after being stared at like an idiot three times in a row, he finally led his army away for good.

Even then, Luo Ji’s group didn’t let their guard down.

They held their position for another half hour before finally retreating.