Although Ian Song had already agreed with the Monster Race on how to divide the Devil territory before the war began,
now, the Human Race is unstoppable—within half a year, they've conquered a tenth of Devil territory, while the Monster side suffers heavy losses and has only taken a hundredth.
Compared like this, Tiger King is getting anxious. If things keep going this way and the Humans take more than four-fifths of the land, it’ll be hard for Monsters to claim any territory from them. On top of that, he still needs Human help to deal with the flying-beast clan, so it’s even harder to ask.
Fortunately, the Human Race paused their advance and started to rest. So Tiger King once again mobilized eight million troops from Monster territory and launched a reckless assault on the Devils, regardless of casualties.
Because the Humans stopped attacking, the Devils shifted some of their focus to the Monster front.
So for the next half year, the two sides fought fiercely, with casualties skyrocketing.
In the end, Tiger King couldn’t bear the losses anymore and sent Serena Fox, the Seventh Princess, as envoy to the Humans again, hoping for the Emperor’s help.
Once again, it was the Imperial Study Hall—just Ian Song and Serena Fox present.
"Your Majesty, my people have suffered too many losses. I beg you to lend us your aid," Serena Fox pleaded.
"Why should I help you?" Ian Song replied coolly.
Serena Fox didn’t say anything. Her eyes flashed, and she once again knelt beside Ian Song. As the saying goes, the second time is much easier than the first. Nearly half an hour passed before they finished, and Ian Song’s face showed a hint of satisfaction.
"Princess Serena, go back and tell Tiger King that I’m willing to sell him a batch of Thunder Grenades."
Hearing the words 'Thunder Grenade,' Serena Fox’s eyes lit up. According to Monster intelligence, the reason the Human army keeps beating the Devils is mainly thanks to three mysterious weapons: Thunder Grenades, rifles, and cannons.
The Monster Race even sent spies into the Holy Capital to try to steal the secrets of these three weapons, but hundreds of agents vanished without a trace—none ever returned.
Now that the Martial Emperor is willing to sell Thunder Grenades to the Monster Race, it’s like a pie falling from the sky—an incredible stroke of luck.
Thinking of this, Serena Fox asked excitedly, "How many Thunder Grenades do you plan to sell us, Your Majesty? And could you also sell us some rifles and cannons?"
Trying to get rifles and cannons too, huh? Ian Song couldn’t help but sneer. Making rifles and cannons isn’t easy—without the modern knowledge Ian brought, even the best craftsmen couldn’t produce them quickly.
So even if the Monsters or Devils got their hands on rifles or cannons, they’d never be able to copy them. Still, Ian Song wasn’t willing to take that risk.
"Forget about rifles and cannons. As for Thunder Grenades, I can sell you ten million of them—one lower-grade spirit crystal per grenade!"
Thunder Grenades aren’t expensive to make, especially now that they’re mass-produced. Each one costs less than a couple taels of silver, so selling them for a spirit crystal apiece is a thousandfold profit.
Besides, what he planned to sell the Monster Race were just some obsolete Thunder Grenades, which at most could threaten Grandmaster-level warriors.
When she heard that each Thunder Grenade would cost a whole lower-grade spirit crystal, Serena Fox was a bit shocked. "Your Majesty, isn’t that price way too high?"
"Too expensive?"
Ian Song sneered, "If you use a Thunder Grenade properly on the battlefield, it can kill at least a hundred ninth-layer Qi-Refining soldiers and injure over two hundred more. Do you know how much silver and resources it takes to raise a hundred ninth-layer Qi-Refining soldiers? Do you still think it’s expensive?"
After hearing Ian Song’s explanation, Serena Fox realized it was actually a pretty good deal. Still, she couldn’t decide on her own and had to report to Tiger King before making a decision.
"Go ahead, but don’t make me wait too long. Otherwise, I might change my mind!"
Serena Fox didn’t keep Ian Song waiting. That very evening, she came to see him again, saying Tiger King agreed to the terms and wanted to buy as many Thunder Grenades as possible.
So Ian Song summoned the official in charge of Thunder Grenade production from the Heavenworks Institute. He learned that there were over fifteen million obsolete Thunder Grenades in stock, and immediately sold all fifteen million to the Monster Race.
After closing the deal, Ian Song had a new idea—maybe he should sell some Thunder Grenades to the Devil Race too.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it. After all, the Monster Race was his ally; betraying them for profit would be hitting them when they’re down, and that’s something he wouldn’t do.
With Thunder Grenades in hand, the Monster Race’s morale soared. Over the next half year, they kept winning, forcing the Devil Race to retreat again and again, and finally seized a tenth of Devil territory.
Seeing the benefits of Thunder Grenades, Tiger King ordered his people to start trying to copy them.
Unfortunately, the Monster Race’s literacy was so poor—barely anyone could read or write—that copying Thunder Grenades was impossible.
After months of wasted manpower and resources, Tiger King gave up and sent Serena Fox to the Humans again, hoping to buy more Thunder Grenades.
But Ian Song was firm—no matter what Serena Fox tried, he wouldn’t sell the Monster Race even one more Thunder Grenade. She could only leave disappointed. Still, the alliance and the first Thunder Grenade deal had already brought huge benefits.
Serena Fox had made a major contribution to the Monster Race. The Fox Clan’s status among the land-beasts rose sharply, now standing above the Snake Clan.
As for Serena Fox herself, her prestige within the Fox Clan kept climbing. She was starting to show the aura of a future Fox Queen.
Tiger King even promised that if Serena Fox could buy another batch of Thunder Grenades from the Humans, he’d support her becoming Fox Clan Queen.
Determined to become Fox Queen, Serena Fox racked her brains and finally selected ten of the Fox Clan’s most beautiful young women as gifts for Ian Song, hoping to buy another batch of Thunder Grenades.
After seeing the ten Fox beauties, Ian Song was very satisfied. Still, he didn’t keep them all for himself—he kept two, and rewarded the other eight to his meritorious officials.
After that, Ian Song agreed to sell another five million new-style Thunder Grenades to the Monster Race, this time at a price of two lower-grade spirit crystals each.
When Tiger King heard the news, he was overjoyed.
With Tiger King’s backing, Serena Fox finally became the new Fox Clan Queen. Yet as she ascended the throne, she couldn’t help but recall that cold, domineering figure.
In the twenty-first year of the Tianyuan era—
the Human army finished its recovery and launched another campaign against the Devil Race.
Because the Devils had been busy fending off Monster attacks, they’d neglected the Human army. So when the Humans struck, they caught the Devils completely off guard.
Four months later, the Humans seized another tenth of Devil territory and paused to regroup again.
The Monster Race’s attack also slowed. Although they didn’t take another tenth, they did seize one-twentieth of Devil territory in those four months.
Seeing the Human army regroup, the Monster Race got wise and also stopped attacking the Devils.
But just then, two Demon Gods sent a letter to Ian Song, hoping to negotiate. The Devil Race realized that if the war continued, they truly faced extinction.