Chapter 1511 Three Emperors
The Underworld Office’s current operation mobilized three Emperors, twenty Guardians, and tens of thousands of capable Emissaries of Death, creating an immense display of power.
Aside from the great upheaval in the Underworld all those years ago, the Underworld Office had never before deployed such a massive force at one time. This clearly demonstrated the Underworld Office's strong determination to win this battle, and how resolute they were in their desire to eliminate Yang Haoran.
As for the Underworld Office’s hatred for Yang Haoran, that was actually secondary. The primary reason was that Yang Haoran’s actions had utterly disgraced the Underworld Office. If Yang Haoran wasn’t eliminated and the Great Night Empire wasn’t destroyed, the Underworld Office would never regain its lost face. This was why the Underworld Office dispatched such an enormous force to deal with the Great Night Empire.
As for why the Underworld Office hadn’t deployed all its forces, one reason was, of course, their doubts about the Great Night Empire’s strength. Most of the Underworld Office’s high-ranking officials simply didn’t believe that the Great Night Empire had grown as powerful as the scouts’ reports indicated. They felt the authenticity of these reports needed further verification, believing it highly probable that the Great Night Empire wasn’t that strong, and that Yang Haoran had likely used some sort of trickery to deceive their scouts into overestimating the Great Night Empire’s power, thereby hoping to deter the Underworld Office from easily dispatching troops.
Another reason was that the Great Night Empire wasn’t the Underworld Office’s only adversary. There were Spirit Mediums lurking in the shadows, along with the Talisman Order—another major power possessing True Gods—and other factions allied with these two major powers. All these forces had been watching the Underworld Office covetously. If the Underworld Office deployed all its forces to deal with the Great Night Empire, their home base could very likely be wiped out in one swoop by these hostile forces. If seeking retaliation against the Great Night Empire for the sake of face resulted in their own stronghold being destroyed, the losses would far outweigh the gains.
It was precisely because of these two points that the Underworld Office did not deploy all its forces for this operation. Furthermore, given the power currently dispatched by the Underworld Office, many of its high-ranking officials already felt they were "using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. " Three Emperors, twenty Guardians, and tens of thousands of Emissaries of Death—they believed that the Great Night Empire established by Yang Haoran simply wasn't worthy of such importance from the Underworld Office.
Because the Underworld Office controlled the Reincarnation Platform, it had always been superior and exceedingly domineering compared to other factions. Over time, many Underworld Officials had developed a habit of arrogance, and this was particularly evident among the high-ranking officials of the Underworld Office.
Of course, not all Underworld Officials were equally arrogant. There were also humble individuals among the Underworld Office’s high-ranking officials, and it was precisely because of the insistence of these non-arrogant officials that the Underworld Office dispatched such a large force for this operation. Otherwise, the Underworld Office’s strength in this operation would have been reduced even further.
If even some high-ranking Underworld Office officials reacted this way, let alone the Emissaries of Death, who were below the Guardians.
For this operation, the three Emperors dispatched by the Underworld Office were the Jingling Continent Great Emperor, the Jun Prefecture Great Emperor, and the newly appointed Tong Continent Great Emperor—Huo Laoban.
Of the twenty Guardians, only a very small number came from under the command of these three Emperors. The vast majority of the Guardians were drawn from the territories of the other two Emperors who were not participating in this operation.
This situation did not arise because the two Emperors not participating in this operation voluntarily offered their Guardians, but rather because the three participating Emperors requested it. The reason was simple: if the three Emperors involved in this operation had all their Guardians participate, or even a majority, the likelihood of their Guardians dying in battle would be much higher. This was a loss the three Emperors wished to avoid. Therefore, among the twenty Guardians, only a very small portion came from under the command of the three participating Emperors, while the rest were from under the command of the other two Emperors.
As for why the other two Emperors agreed to this arrangement, it was because they were not fighting and did not have to bear any risks. Conversely, since the other three Emperors were personally participating in this operation, it was only natural for fewer Guardians from their command to be dispatched.
Among these twenty Guardians, Xu Meijing’s figure was prominently present. Xu Meijing was as aloof as ever, her gaze indifferent, her entire demeanor calm. It was impossible to discern her thoughts from her facial expression.
Compared to Xu Meijing’s composure, the Jingling Continent Great Emperor Luo Yao’s expression at this moment was far from pleasant. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his face was grim. Anyone could tell that he was in quite a displeased mood.
Luo Yao was indeed very unhappy at this moment. He had already been displeased about having to participate in this operation, but he couldn't refuse it. This was because the target of the operation was Yang Haoran, who had once been a Guardian under his command, right up until Yang Haoran's betrayal. Someone he, Luo Yao, had personally nurtured had become a traitor to the Underworld Office, and it was only right that he, Luo Yao, personally resolve this matter. Hence, he was utterly unable to refuse this operation.
Being unable to refuse didn't stop him from being unhappy about it. This feeling of being forced to do something left him quite disgruntled.
And now, seeing that the force dispatched by the Great Night Empire actually exceeded the power the Underworld Office had sent this time, he became even more displeased. Unlike Yang Haoran, who was skilled at disguising his emotions, Luo Yao would show his inner feelings on his face when extremely unhappy.
Huo Laoban was also very displeased at this moment. Having successfully ascended to the throne of the Tong Continent Great Emperor, he should have been overjoyed, but being made to participate in this operation made him quite unhappy. The reason he participated was, like Luo Yao, because he had an undeniable obligation: he had just become the new Tong Continent Great Emperor and needed to achieve some results to show the other four Emperors, as well as the Guardians under his command who were dissatisfied with him.
Therefore, even if he was unwilling to participate in this operation, he could only bite the bullet and do so.
Besides this, Huo Laoban had another point in common with Luo Yao: seeing that the force deployed by the Great Night Empire was actually stronger than what the Underworld Office had dispatched this time, his displeasure grew even more intense.
But there was one point where Huo Laoban differed completely from Luo Yao. Luo Yao displayed all his displeasure on his face, but Huo Laoban was different. Although Huo Laoban was quite displeased internally, he showed not a hint of it on his face. Instead, he wore a faint smile, appearing calm and unruffled.
Whether it was Luo Yao or the newly appointed Tong Continent Great Emperor Huo Laoban, they were both Emperors of the Underworld Office, holding high positions and immense power. If they didn't want to participate in this operation, Guardians certainly wouldn't be qualified to speak up, nor would they have the ability to sway their decisions. However, other Emperors could do exactly that. Therefore, their participation in this operation, against their will, was entirely due to the influence of other Emperors. In this process, Luo Yao influenced Huo Laoban, and Huo Laoban similarly influenced Luo Yao.
However, the Jun Prefecture Great Emperor, who also participated in this operation, was different from the two. The Jun Prefecture Great Emperor was not influenced by other Emperors; he had voluntarily requested to join this operation. As for why he made such a decision, there was naturally a reason behind it.
Although the Jun Prefecture Great Emperor's participation in this operation was not swayed by other Emperors, his expression at this moment was equally grim. The reason for his grim look was, naturally, the formidable strength displayed by the Great Night Empire.
The Jun Prefecture Great Emperor initially did not believe that the Great Night Empire's strength had grown as terrifying as the reports suggested. He thought the intelligence was erroneous, believing that the scouts must have been deceived by Yang Haoran's trickery, leading to a misjudgment and an overestimation of the Great Night Empire's power.
He voluntarily requested to participate in this operation for two reasons: one was to use this battle to boost his merits within the Underworld Office and elevate his standing among the Five Emperors of the Underworld Office.
The other reason was to verify if the intelligence was true. Because he didn't believe it internally, he wanted to personally confirm it. After all, the reports were too unbelievable; he would absolutely not believe them unless he witnessed them firsthand.
Besides these two reasons, there was another very important one: he wanted to supervise Luo Yao. Yang Haoran had once been a Guardian under Luo Yao, and also a trusted subordinate personally promoted by Luo Yao. He was worried that Luo Yao might "go easy on" Yang Haoran out of old ties, which was why he came to supervise Luo Yao!
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