King of Creation Chapter 2090 - 2075: A Dead End as Light as a Feather

The deadline for the military order issued by the Military Headquarters of Great Zhou to head to the Human Demon Battlefield is one year.

Before this, Ye Zhen had already spent nearly three months returning from the Taimeng Demon Realm to the Primordial Continent.

Counting fully, Ye Zhen has only nine months left.

The army progresses slowly, even though the Ancient Teleportation Formation is available, it still requires at least half a year to reach the Human Demon Battlefield.

In other words, only less than three months are left for Ye Zhen.

However, the Armory Division mentioned a timeline of four months, which will certainly cause Ye Zhen to miss the deadline.

If the deadline is missed, the consequences will be...

Ye Zhen, having worked in various government offices, offered a storage ring with a smile on his face, "Deputy Director, I ask for a bit of leniency.

After four months, if the military seal, military flag, military tokens, and armory equipment are only then obtainable, my North Sea Heavenly Wave Army will definitely miss the deadline. Missing the deadline is punishable by death."

Upon hearing this, the Deputy Director of the Armory Division raised his head but did not even glance at the storage ring offered by Ye Zhen and said, "Missing the deadline is certainly punishable by death, but there’s nothing our Armory Division can do.

Our Division has only a few personnel, and they are working day and night, and the order of delivering armory equipment is based on the timing of when the military orders are presented.

And unfortunately, this period sees a lot of troop rotations at the Human Demon Battlefield, and your North Sea Heavenly Wave Army was the last to submit the Military Command Number, all those ahead of you are troops rotating at the Human Demon Battlefield.

Even if I wanted to be lenient, there’s nothing I can do."

Seeing the Deputy Director speak this way, Ye Zhen’s expression had already turned cold.

This clearly wasn’t according to the rules; it was causing trouble.

The number for North Sea Heavenly Wave Army was settled over three months ago, and normally, irrespective of Ye Zhen’s presence or absence to submit the order, the Military Headquarters and Armory Division should have prepared the Military Flag Drum Talisman Order for the Human Demon Battlefield as quickly as possible.

In the instant his expression turned cold, Ye Zhen presented another storage ring carrying at least a hundred thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones to the Deputy Director of the Armory Division.

"I still kindly request your leniency. Missing the deadline involves the lives and livelihood of tens of thousands of soldiers in my North Sea Heavenly Wave Army." Ye Zhen patiently requested again.

Unexpectedly, the Deputy Director of the Armory Division still did not even glance at the storage ring offered by Ye Zhen and instead smiled and said, "I understand the urgency and the danger, but there’s really nothing we can do."

"Count Ye, why don’t you return in four months, or when you obtain the Military Flag Drum Talisman Order, you could hurry day and night, perhaps you might reach in time."

The last trace of perfunctory expression on Ye Zhen’s face vanished completely, and he stared grimly at the Deputy Director of the Armory Division before him.

"Is this gentleman purposely aiming to make things difficult for my North Sea Heavenly Wave Army?"

"How could that be?" The Deputy Director of the Armory Division laughed heartily, smiling on the surface but with coldness in his eyes, "I follow the rules strictly. If you’re really anxious, Count Ye, you could set off with your army now, and may collect the Military Flag Drum Talisman Order halfway."

The wrath in Ye Zhen’s eyes was already uncontrollably rising.

Although the Deputy Director seemed to be offering solutions that looked like he cared for the North Sea Heavenly Wave Army, both solutions were fatal traps.

As for traveling day and night mentioned earlier, if Ye Zhen were to proceed that way, he could end up dead without even knowing how.

This obvious obstruction from the Deputy Director of the Armory Division was evidently instigated by someone, a twenty thousand strong army is inherently a complex affair with continuous unexpected incidents.

With day and night progression, a mere glitch on the road could lead Ye Zhen to miss the deadline.

The second solution, suggesting Ye Zhen set off with the army first, and dispatch someone to collect the Military Flag Drum Talisman Order and deliver it to the troops, might appear doable but is even more detrimental.

According to the military regulations of Great Zhou, any army leaving its station without proper order is punishable by death for all officers of fourth rank and below, and regular soldiers are demoted to Sin Slave status.

Local troops from various noble fiefdoms or enfeoffed nations, if they dare step a foot outside their fiefdom or nation, regardless of the number, below a thousand will not be counted, above a thousand, noble fiefdom holders and their officers from sixth rank upward are executed, above fifth rank officials from the enfeoffed nation are executed.

Any troop exceeding a thousand from various fiefdoms exiting the nation, besides valid military orders, must have corresponding military flags, orders, seals, token orders belonging to the regular army of Great Zhou.

In other words, even with military orders, only a regular army belonging to the Military Headquarters of Great Zhou can legally march on the territory of Great Zhou.

Otherwise, they are all dutifully considered rebel forces and are killed without mercy.

Ye Zhen can only march openly within the territory of Great Zhou after obtaining the Military Command Number, the military flag, drums, seal, tokens, and equipping the entire army from the Armory Division.

Without these, Ye Zhen’s army once out of North Sea County, out of his jurisdiction, would instantly be seen as rebel force and become a target for military merits for other nobles of Great Zhou.

Thus, although the Deputy Director of the Armory Division seems to be considering Ye Zhen’s situation, he is actually setting traps everywhere for him.

"Is this gentleman a person of His Highness Prince Huan?" Ye Zhen suddenly asked.

"I, he said, am loyal only to Great Zhou, to the present Holy Emperor." The Deputy Director of the Armory Division gave a slight bow towards the direction of the Imperial Palace.

"Oh...."

Ye Zhen responded with a long tone and suddenly sneered, "Sir, don’t forget my other identity; although Luoyi isn’t under my jurisdiction as the Wind Patrol Envoy, it would be quite easy for me to ask a few colleagues from the Heavenly Patrol Department to handle small matters.

Moreover, sir, when dealing with people, it’s better to leave some leeway. If you drive our North Sea Heavenly Wave Army into a corner, we are capable of doing anything."

"Heavenly Patrol Department, is it?"

The Junior Officer of the Armory Division snickered, "My surname is Ren, full name Ren Xinsu. Whatever methods you, Commander Ye, have, feel free to use. The Heavenly Patrol Department has some means, but this is Luoyi, not your little patch of territory."

Then, the Junior Officer of the Armory Division casually flicked a gust of wind, sending the two storage rings offered by Ye Zhen flying.

"Bribing an official with a seal is also a great crime. Commander Ye, just wait to be impeached!"

Having said that, Ren Xinsu sat back in his official chair, arms crossed, looking coldly at Ye Zhen as if to say, "What can you do about it?"

Ye Zhen’s face darkened, and he casually sent out a Talisman Communication.

This Talisman Communication was sent to the current Central Patrol, Jings Zhan. This place was his territory, so only he could handle this matter.

In less than half a quarter-hour, Jings Zhan sent a Talisman Communication back.

The moment he immersed his Divine Sense into it, Ye Zhen’s face turned grim.

Jings Zhan’s response was subtle and difficult.

This was Luoyi, not the countryside underground regarded by those officials as the four-direction State.

In Luoyi, even each Junior Envoy might possess a stunning background.

As the Emperor’s personal army, the Heavenly Patrol Department could be tyrannical in the four-direction State, but in Luoyi, they had to keep a low profile.

Not to mention that those Imperial Censors, once they got angry, even Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long would have a severe headache.

Moreover, the Junior Officer of the Armory Division, Ren Xinsu, wielded tremendous power, and the people backing him were not to be provoked even by them.

What was even more daunting was that, inherently, the Military Department of Great Zhou held a suppressive and restrictive influence over the Heavenly Patrol Department, being one of the few authorities it dared not provoke, unless there was a direct order from the Emperor.

Finally, Jings Zhan helplessly stated that he could not assist, or else he and his subordinates would face dire consequences.

He advised Ye Zhen to attempt resolving this matter through other avenues.

Lastly, he mentioned that if it really could not be resolved, Ye Zhen could try seeking out the Grand Celestial Official. The Grand Celestial Official still held some face at the Military Department, which might be able to mediate this issue.

Even in regard to having the Grand Celestial Official intervene, Jings Zhan used the term ’mediate’, which means that even the Grand Celestial Official could only mediate between both parties; whether this matter could be resolved would depend on whether the Military Department would grant this face.

But the problem was, from the current attitude of Junior Officer Ren Xinsu of the Armory Division, Ye Zhen could determine that even if he invited Grand Celestial Official Wu Yu to mediate this matter, the chances of success were zero!

Judging from the attitude of this Junior Officer Ren Xinsu, the people behind him were definitely set on taking advantage of this co-defense military order to handle Ye Zhen using military law.

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Ye Zhen’s mind.

Since even Grand Celestial Official Wu Yu’s intervention would be useless, the Chief Eunuch Yu Chao’en’s intervention would also be futile, not only useless but also potentially very troublesome.

Princess Changle would naturally be of no help either.

In other words, the people behind had already anticipated all the forces Ye Zhen could mobilize, thus making such arrangements to block all possible avenues for Ye Zhen to resolve this matter.

If Ye Zhen could not find other methods, then inevitably, four months later, he would receive the military flag drum talisman orders belonging to the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea and could only set out four months later.

Four months after setting off, Ye Zhen predicted that the other party would certainly have subsequent moves, such as delays in using the Ancient Teleportation Formation for a few days or prolonging the passage through checkpoints for a few days.

Anyway, in the current circumstances, the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea under Ye Zhen was bound to miss the deadline.

The consequence of missing the deadline was that all primary officials and sixth-rank and above agents of North Sea County would face military law, while Ye Zhen’s title holders, including County Captain Tang Biao and County Chancellor Qiao Hong, would face confiscation and extermination of their clan.

In this matter, there would be no leniency.

In an instant, it seemed that all of Ye Zhen’s paths of escape were blocked.

A human-demon battlefield’s co-defense military order, as light as a feather, had directly driven Ye Zhen to a desperate situation.

Observing Ye Zhen’s utterly grim expression, the arms-crossed Junior Officer Ren Xinsu of the Armory Division chuckled mockingly.

"What’s wrong, feeling frustrated?"

"I’ve said it before, Commander Ye, whatever moves you have, feel free to use them, I can handle them all! However, regarding the military flag drum talisman orders of the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea, it has to be handled according to regulations, only in four months!"

Despite the sneer on his face, Junior Officer Ren Xinsu looked at Ye Zhen with disdain and ridicule in his eyes.

A country bumpkin from a remote region, relying on some connections, still wants to show off in their Military Department, utterly ignorant of the vastness of the heavens.

Besides, this matter was personally entrusted by that esteemed person, making any intervention useless.

Ye Zhen’s gaze fixed intently on Junior Officer Ren Xinsu, his eyes filled with a sudden frenzy.

"Regulations? Regulations, your mother!"

With a roar, Ye Zhen leaped up fiercely, his massive fist, accompanied by mountain-like Qi Force, smashed towards Junior Officer Ren Xinsu of the Armory Division!