Chapter 578: the war I will bring [1/2]
The Song of the Sirens. A maneuver brought about by sheer desperation. My girls created it to make as much money as possible for my Seeker War. By linking all 28 zones together, we were able to maximize our killing potential.
Instead of going after each zone, we took on entire floors. The gains we made were so great that much of Hellsend decided to ascend to Phantoms right then and there. And while it didn't end up helping as much as the Sirens intended, it was one of the cards we had to play.
The problem with defending such a large area came down to numbers. Numbers would determine how many defenders you had. And the number of invaders you had to defeat. You could supplement that with forts, but the numbers game didn't go away, it just shifted.
If the defensive forts allowed you to boost your numbers, the problem was whether you had enough of them. And with the 24th floor, there were 28 floors to defend. That meant, unless we had 28 really good forts, we would still need a huge ass army.
North America's defensive doctrine believed that the best approach was to cull only half the zones. They did this for several reasons.
First, by leaving the smaller zones, the undead there could be used for training and souls. Second, by clearing only half of the floor, the burden on the Revenant was also greatly reduced.
No one would blame me for just adopting this approach. But as I thought about it, I decided not to. Unlike the other Revenants, I could farm Benevols.
Moreover, I would never have problems with supplies. And I had no reason to keep my men from staying in just my domain.
The problem with the current setup was that while we were getting new Reapers, too many were dying on a daily basis for our numbers to increase significantly.
Part of the reason for this is that as our numbers get smaller, the areas that need to be culled stay the same.
Simply put, by keeping these hunting zones active. The longer they were left unchecked, they would eventually become a problem.
This was what happened from the 6th floor to the 10th floor. Although they were left for training, the sheer difficulty of eliminating them every day turned them into time bombs.
From this realization, NA's logic of maintaining training zones was stupid as shit. How could they even train when the experienced Reapers were dying like flies and the new ones were dumb as fuck. It didn't help that the Reapers had no schools to teach them how to fight.
The vast majority of Reapers, from what I could see, had no military or combat experience. So, like adventurers in manga, you learned with your body.
If you didn't die, you grew and gained experience. While this was a good thing, it had several drawbacks.
Luck became the biggest factor. If a reaper was not lucky enough to survive, his or her life would simply be cut short. People who prepared beforehand would reduce that risk, but the average Reaper lifespan was pitiful.
I had no need for weak Reapers, what I needed were those that would grow and help me purge the malice. This way of thinking led me to two truths that I felt would guide me on how to grow my domain.
First, I needed to reduce the number of reapers dying on a daily basis. And second, I needed the surviving reapers to grow every day, no matter how slowly.
Whether through skills, soulgear, or tactics, they cannot remain stagnant. If they did, they would die when they encountered something stronger.
Even ordinary people like those from the Ten Graves could fight decently with enough training. Unlike swords or bows, which took much longer to get used to, guns required a very short training period.
Of course, one could argue that it took much longer to become proficient, but that was beside the point.
My point was that it didn't matter what my people were shooting at. As long as they were pulling the trigger. Whether it was an Alpha or a Rank F, it was the same. So as long as my people were getting better at using guns, there was no reason to spare any of the undead for training purposes.
There were so many zombies, I couldn't understand why David was deliberately breeding them like cattle. Not when they could kill those on the other floors who needed more defenders. Factors like these made my decision for me.
With the 24th floor as my starting point, I would bring in enough artillery and tanks from Earth to blow everything that moved to kingdom come. My men would all be turned into Death Seekers and would only train on floors easier than floor 10.
Those who gain enough experience will kill everything beyond floor 10 to our home on the 24th floor. The elite Reapers who will grow the fastest will be the ones who will accompany my army as we move forward.
Forget assault teams, who decided that I should advance with only a small party of 8? I was not an adventurer. I was a death seeker. We did not go on quests. Instead, we went to fight in wars.
To ensure that my home would not fall once I left, turning the majority of them into phantoms would be my basic requirement. But that was all for the future; right now, the plan revolved around whether I could claim the 24th floor as my own.
And to do that, I had to kill everything on this floor. And place a Phantom in each zone. We could cleanse the crystal, but leave it undefended. As soon as any undead show up, we will proceed to wipe them out with either newbie reapers or superior firepower.
As I looked at the seven beautiful women in front of me, my heart filled with love and pride. I sent them all my feelings through our {Kindred} link, which made them all blush a little. I sent them a short message as a signal.
'Stay safe and come back to me as soon as possible.'
The girls all stood up with heavenly smiles. Before giving an arrogant farewell.
"Watch me, my love. The way I am now, I will never lose to anything!"
"Fufu, Dearest. Seeing you like this is so intoxicating. Wait for me."
"Prepare my reward, Possum! None of these slaggers can outrun your Sheila."
"Pfft! You are all too funny! Darling has me already! You can all just have tea or something!"
"Well shit, everyone seems to have lost their minds. Honey, please take responsibility."
"Husband, please rest assured. Whatever you desire, I will fulfill to the letter."
"Master, your faithful servant Aki departs!"
I nodded without a word. And they all ran to the edge of the wall and jumped.
"{BLINK}!" x7
Using the most powerful {Fate} of the {Store} family, my girls separated into seven directions. I didn't understand it the first time they did it, but now that I do, I was just in awe of how amazing my girls were.
Those behind me began to ask questions as only our group was left.
"My Lord, did I hear wrong? The ladies left to connect all the zones?" Gareth asked stunned.
Amari and Mia also expressed their doubts.
"Limitless, you can't be serious, right? This is a 20+ floor. Even you wouldn't try to take on that many enemies in one fight?"
"He was probably joking... right? I mean... there is no way he is serious. Haha. Good one!
Ha... Even if he was, how would he take on such a thing?