Encircle the Point to Strike the Reinforcements

After killing the three Martial Saints of the Strongarm Bull Devils, Jason Song and the other six felt incredibly excited. At the same time, they couldn't help but deeply admire Ian Song. If not for his careful planning, they might not have been able to wipe out all three Martial Saints—after all, once a Martial Saint tries to escape, it's very hard to keep them from getting away.

"Let's go, let's head back!"

Ian Song walked over with a smile.

"Commander, should we go wipe out that ten-thousand-man camp of the Strongarm Bull Devils? With the six of us, it's no problem at all," Jason Song said, his eyes gleaming fiercely.

"No need. Leaving them alive is better than wiping them out!" Ian Song replied, smiling meaningfully.

"Why's that?"

Jason Song was completely puzzled.

"You'll understand later," Ian Song didn't explain further. Instead, he teleported across the Blood River three times, each time taking two people with him.

"Fiona, you've been around the commander the longest—do you know what he means?" Back in Blood River City, Jason Song still hadn't figured out why Ian Song spared the Strongarm Bull Devil camp.

Fiona Li explained, "Leaving that camp intact keeps drawing Darius Ironhorn to send more experts. Any newcomers will have to stay near the camp. If you destroy it, will the prince still send people? Even if he does, where will the commander find targets? If you can't find anyone, how do you rack up merit?"

If Ian Song explained it himself, he'd sum it up in four words—encircle the point to strike the reinforcements.

Hearing Fiona's explanation, Jason Song suddenly understood and praised, "The commander really is far-sighted. His wisdom is on another level."

Fiona Li smiled. "True strength isn't just about power; real strength is about intelligence."

"Exactly, that's absolutely right!"

Jason Song nodded in deep agreement, feeling total respect for Ian Song—and even a bit more admiration.

After chatting with Jason Song for a while, Ian Song called Fiona Li over.

"Commander, do you have any instructions?"

Ian Song said, "You report this operation to Commander Raymond. I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"You go ahead. I'm heading back to rest."

Leaving those words behind, Ian Song left the Assassin Camp's base and returned to his own courtyard.

Fiona Li, however, was a bit puzzled. Killing three Martial Saints of the Strongarm Bull Devils was a huge achievement—so why didn't the commander want to report it to Raymond himself?

Actually, Ian Song didn't report in because he was worried Raymond Lei would try to scheme against him again.

Half a quarter-hour later, Commander’s Headquarters.

"Why aren't you staying in the Assassin Camp? What are you doing running to me again?" Raymond Lei looked at Fiona Li and scolded her jokingly.

"If the commander doesn't want to see me, I'll just go back!" Fiona Li deliberately put on a dejected look and started to walk out.

"Get back here!" Raymond Lei snapped, annoyed. "If you have something to say, just say it. If you have something to do, just do it. Don't play your little tricks here!"

"Heh heh!"

Fiona Li grinned smugly. "Commander, tonight our Assassin Camp went out for the first time. Guess what kind of results we got?"

"Don't tell me you wiped out the Blood River Camp across the way?"

"Of course not!" Fiona Li looked even more pleased.

"Then what results did you get?" Raymond Lei asked again, deliberately playing along with Fiona Li. He knew she liked to show off; if her results didn't satisfy him, he'd punish her for it.

"Take a guess!" Fiona Li teased.

Bang!

Raymond Lei slammed his palm on the table, glaring. "Fiona, if you keep showing off, I'll personally throw you out!"

Seeing that, Fiona Li realized she'd gone too far and quickly said, "Commander, tonight our Assassin Camp went out in full force and killed three Martial Saints—two mid-stage and one initial-stage!"

"What? You killed three Martial Saints?"

Raymond Lei shot to his feet, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief.

Bang bang bang!

Fiona Li took the corpses of Blood Abyss, Dragonhead, and Oxscent out of her Storage Ring and laid them on the floor.

"Commander, please take a look!"

Raymond Lei stepped forward to examine the bodies and quickly confirmed that these three corpses were indeed Strongarm Bull Devil Martial Saints.

Unable to hold back, he clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Excellent! I never imagined the Assassin Camp would achieve such a huge victory right after being established!"

Fiona Li grinned, "Heh, it's all thanks to our captain's strategy!"

"Oh?" Hearing Fiona mention Ian Song, Raymond Lei looked puzzled. "Why didn't that brat come report to me himself?"

"The captain was a bit tired and went to rest, so he asked me to report instead," Fiona replied.

"Tired?"

Raymond Lei sneered inwardly. That brat clearly saw through my schemes and didn't dare show up, afraid I'd try to rope him in again.

That kid is sharper than a monkey. If I want to keep him at the Blood River front, it's probably impossible. Thinking this, Raymond couldn't help but feel a wave of regret.

After Fiona left, Raymond drafted a confidential, expedited report and sent it to the Military Council.

In less than a month, the Blood River Battlefield has taken down four Devil Martial Saints. With that alone, it stands head and shoulders above the other six warfronts.

On top of that, Ian Song's three formation systems are being rapidly promoted throughout the army. Once all the soldiers master them, the next war with the Devils...

For a moment, Raymond Lei even found himself hoping the Devil Race would send a massive army to attack the Blood River Battlefield soon.

A few days passed in a blur.

The Military Council's rewards for the Assassin Camp arrived.

First, every member of the Assassin Camp received one First-Class Military Merit, plus three million taels of silver, and, on top of that, a ninth-grade spirit armor each.

Since Ian Song isn't officially part of the Blood River front, he couldn't be awarded military merit.

But the Military Council didn't shortchange him—they gave him a Pardon Token.

With this Pardon Token, even if he commits a monstrous crime, the Military Council will intervene to protect him once.

He also received five million taels of silver as an additional reward.

He was also awarded two ninth-grade spirit artifacts and a batch of pills.

Military merit, spirit artifacts, and silver—every one of them was a treasure.

So Fiona Li, Marcus Meng, and the other six were absolutely delighted.

Especially Fiona and Marcus—now that they each held two First-Class Military Merits, one from Morris Shade and one from this triple kill. If they earned one more, they'd qualify for promotion to deputy commander.

When Raymond eventually retired, their accumulated record would make them strong candidates for supreme commander.

Their future in the army was looking incredibly bright.

To celebrate, Fiona and Marcus reserved the best restaurant in Blood River City and hosted a lavish banquet for Ian and all Assassin Camp members.

The dishes were top-tier, the wine the finest.

The meal cost fifty thousand taels, but neither of them cared in the slightest.

During the feast, every member of the Assassin Camp raised a glass to Ian, pledging their loyalty: from now on, they were his soldiers, ready to fight wherever he pointed.

Ian was quietly pleased. He was only at early-stage Grandmaster, yet now commanded six Martial Saints who truly accepted him as their leader. In the whole world, how many Grandmasters could claim the same?

Blood River City was in the midst of celebration.

Meanwhile, the Strongarm Bull Devil Ninth Prince was throwing a fit.

He’d lost four Martial Saints in quick succession. If his royal brothers found out, who knew how much they’d ridicule and suppress him.

He paced back and forth in his palace, racking his brains for a way to break the stalemate. Sending more experts clearly wasn’t working—they might just end up assassinated again. The only way out was to launch a large-scale war and win.