World Conquest Online

After Sun Quan finished speaking, Dom received a sudden notification. Part of him expected it, but he felt that he had understood the mechanics enough now to be able to control the timings of the mission. If he could delay certain aspects, such as how he had on this one, he could extend his time in the quest maps slightly giving him time to gather more rewards and opportunities. For now, Dom had stayed within the area of the mission, but now he wondered what would happen if he dispatched some of his forces outside of that area on the next one.

[Special Quest Map Complete]

"Subutai, it’s happened." Dom announced, with much of the room looking on in confusion. They had ran through what to do in this scenario before, with the notice signifying the Battle of Jiangxia was complete now appearing. Subutai nodded in response as another notification appeared in front of Dom.

[Player has fifteen minutes to complete any outstanding tasks before being transported back to the departure point. Please be aware that any followers or items taken with you or collected during your journey will also be transported immediately.]

"Fifteen minutes again!" Dom exclaimed, wondering if that was enough time, however Subutai didn’t waste a second and instantly began to push out orders, surprising Sun Quan and those with him.

"Sorry to interrupt, Sun Ce please say farewell to your family and head straight for the Louchuan, Zhou Yu please stay by his side in case of issues. I expect you both onboard within the next fifteen minutes to reduce any risk" Subutai ordered. Sun Ce nodded, he had been briefed before the mission and a look of nervousness passed over him. Zhou Yu looked slightly confused, especially taking orders from someone else. Subutai then turned to Actumerus who was stood guarding near the door, "You know the plan, please head to the camp and let our Generals know, the original Generals all have a brief and the new ones have been warned."

"I’ll go with Actumerus, the navy is too large compared to what we brought and I am not sure if it will all go to plan." Gan Ning stated in a serious tone, this was the largest haul from a mission yet, with only the Battle of Kadesh rivalling it with the large number of Hittite prisoners, but even that was a minor in comparison. "The doors will have to be much larger than when we arrived or the Louchuan won’t fit. They also need to be wider so that we can get all of the forces through them. I’ll go and prepare to at lead the Navy through, it’s going to be stressful."

"I’m also apprehensive as we don’t want anyone being left behind, but let’s hope for the best." Dom agreed, as Actumerus knocked for the door to be unlocked, before running out with Gan Ning who had his mask back on. They both left at full sprint, as Xun You took control of the situation.

"It’s been a pleasure meeting you all, I hope we can meet again in the future." Xun You explained, "We will leave you with time to say goodbye to Sun Ce."

Dom agreed, as he and Subutai said goodbye to those in the room and headed outside quickly, speed walking back to their camp past the large number of Sun forces that had seen Gan Ning and Actumerus run past just seconds earlier. The location of the Riverside side of the camp was in chaos as people quickly boarded ships or loaded additional items. Dom could see the thirty horses from Li Shang being loaded, whilst the others that had been captured in the battle had already been placed onboard.

"The need to board ships is probably unnecessary, the Warriors will most likely take a land portal anyway." Dom explained to Subutai and Xun You as they approached. "The carts will travel through that way at least."

"Whilst that may be true, but it will be much easier to manage the new populations arrival if they are on ships. If we arrive outside Riverside with close to eleven thousand new residents, it will cause chaos. At least this way we can manage them as they disembark, it will also make it easier for the civilian registration."

"This will almost double our population." Subutai stated as they stepped through the camp doors, "Whilst half of them are military related, it is still over six thousand civilians to our civilian numbers, if the town does arrive. This is going to cause a cultural shift due to the amount of people from the same area."

"We will need to let Shang Yang deal with this, as it will have a lot of impacts. We will need to spread them across our five or six towns." Dom agreed as he arrived in front of the location where his headquarters had been located, now packed away and back on the Enyo it had arrived on.

"We should push for Crassus, Meritamen and Umako to push on their recruitment. We will need to expand the Civilian population, just so we aren’t outnumbered by those from this part of the world." Xun You agreed, he was grateful that there was more people from his own culture joining, but as when Banas’s tribe joined, followed by the Hittites and even the Tongpai Residents, each time had impacts to the culture of the young growing Kingdom.

"At least we won’t have empty towns!" Dom replied with a laugh, loosening the conversation as he saw Gan Ning on top of the dock wharf, shouting at some of the nearby Marines to hurry up. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[Five Minutes Remaining]

Dom looked over and saw that Tomoe and Liao Hua now had a column arranged, with the original Riverside Warriors at the front, followed by Zhao Yun’s Cavalry, Huang Zhong’s Forces and then Cheng Pu’s Warriors. Behind them were the Carriages of the Qiao and Sun families, as well as the families of the officers that were joining them. Cheng Zi stood at the back of the procession with the young scholar Lu Ji and Civilians that hadn’t had chance to board the ships. Sun Shangxiang was surprisingly on a Red Hare, wearing a stunning long red dress that matched the colour of the horse, she was stood beside Tomoe who didn’t seem to mind her presence. Sun Shangxiang’s guards were stood with the Military, whilst her personal belongings and carriage were with the Civilians.

Tomyris stood at the prow of the Calypso, with Xiao Qiao and the children of Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu, as well as another lady and a young boy that was with her. Dom assumed that was Sun Ce’s dead brother Sun Yi’s wife Lady Xu and her son Sun Song, that Sun Ce had promised to take with them.

One of Dom’s Batavi Guards appeared with Dom’s Red Hare, whilst another held Subutai’s and another held Xun You’s. The three of them mounted their horses and rode to the front where Tomoe waited for them. As they walked forwards, Dom looked over and saw that Gan Ning was finally boarding the Enyo. Behind the two Trireme were around forty Mengchong that were a third of the size of the Trireme, and the forty Doujian that were even smaller than that. In the middle of them was the Louchuan where Su Fei and Ling Tong currently stood, overseeing the forty Transport ships that were packed with Civilians and their belongings.

[One Minute Remaining]

They watched as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu finally arrived, running towards them out of breath, whist the Generals from Riverside laughed at the sight of them sweating. Behind them Dom could see Sun Quan, Lady Wu, Zhang Zhao and a large number of Sun Quan’s forces gather to see what was happening. Sun Quan had expected them to begin marching out of the fort, and the ships to begin setting sail, however surprise hit his face as large golden rings of light began to appear in front of them.

Dom pulled his horse up beside Sun Shangxiang, Dom could see that there was some slight nervousness on her face with expectation, however in his opinion she looked perfect. He grabbed her hand in reassurance, knowing that what was to come would be a strange experience. Dom, who was now at the front of the procession beside Tomoe, Subutai and Xun You. As he held her hand, a extremely large golden ring appeared.

As soon as the ring appeared, Tomoe shouted the order to march forwards as she headed straight through it without pause, followed by the confident Riverside Warriors. Fear or surprise appeared on the faces of those behind them, but seeing that Tomoe had travelled through the ring, to what seemed like a green landscape on the other side, they began to follow at the orders of their commanders. Sun Shangxiang squeezed Dom’s hand tightly in anticipation, grateful that he had put his hand there for her to release her tension as she kept a straight face, not betraying the emotions currently running inside her.

An even larger ring appeared in the River, splitting it in half so that the sight beyond couldn’t be seen. Tomyris directed the Calypso through first, followed by some confident Mengchong captains. Soon the whole Navy began moving with the sound of drums echoing across the water from the Louchuan under the control of Su Fei. Gan Ning brought his Enyo beside the ring and began shouting for the transport ships to hurry up, the Calm River beyond and welcoming him home, the sight of Riverside’s docks looming in the distance.

"Is this real?" Zhou Yu asked as he appeared beside Dom with Sun Ce, both being handed reigns to horses, Sun Ce his Red Hare, whilst Zhou Yu had a smaller brown horse that was given to them by Li Shang amongst the small token compensation he had given them.

"Very real." Subutai laughed, whilst Sun Ce was still trying to get his head around them himself, having appeared through one on the brink of death. "I think it’s time we head through and see the other side."

Zhou Yu nodded his head in response, excitement on his face at this new adventure. He turned and looked back fondly at the Sun Family Generals who all watched form afar, surprise and shock on all of their faces. Especially Dong Xi’s who had wanted to join them, but had promised to stay behind. Sun Quan however looked on in excitement, the thoughts in his mind only known to him.

"Time to visit our new home then?" Sun Shangxiang stated, her voice portraying confidence that she didn’t really have in this moment. Zhou Yu looked across at her and smiled, nodding his head as he rode through with Sun Ce.

When the forces of Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong had passed, Dom decided it was time he also travelled through, leaving Subutai and Xun You to watch the rest of them go through. Dom was worried about how long the portals would be open, and asked them to hurry up and not wait to the end just in case.

Dom and Sun Shangxiang headed through the giant ring, the bright sun in the sky above Riverside greeting them as they appeared in the farmlands to the east of the town wall. Dom looked to his south, where the navy began to appear ship by ship. The majority had already travelled through and Dom could see ahead of the arriving Navy with the Calypso at the front that two Trireme had turned sideways in the Calm River to block their approach to the docks of Riverside, as Tomyris and the Calypso approached them.

The walls of Riverside were also full of the Forbidden Guard, whilst around four hundred Legionaries and three hundred Hoplite stood in a small formation beneath the walls, with Xun Yan on his horse beside them. There was also a small group of Lancers and Horse Archers, leaving Dom impressed by the quick reaction.

Dom could see that Tomoe was having all those arriving step to the side and in neat formation, whilst the new Generals began to shout orders so that their forces looked presentable in front of their new home. Liao Hua was also riding up and down the arriving column, shouting orders loudly and pointing in directions for those arriving to go towards.

"I hadn’t seen your Generals perform, but I heard they were exceptional." Sun Shangxiang commented, "The way these warriors listen to them, even after not being under their command for long is impressive."

"When you get to know Tomoe, you’ll understand why everyone does what she says." Dom laughed, nervousness now hitting him as he saw the gates open behind Xun Yan’s forces. Dom could see that Sun Shangxiang was looking at the many Warriors Halls, Bathhouse and other buildings in front of them, with the lush growing farmlands behind them.

"Looks like Lucius and Shang Yang are on the way." Subutai said, his voicing catching Dom off-guard as he appeared through the portal.

"Are we nearly all across?" Dom asked him, seeing that there were more people in the procession with Lucius and Shang Yang.

"Pretty much all here now." Subutai replied, as some carriages began to come through the portal and move behind the Warriors, as Civilians also began to appear, fear and shock on their faces. Where as in the River, the Louchuan and Gan Ning’s Enyo also appeared, with multiple transport ships.

"We really did it!" Xun You exclaimed as he also appeared with Cheng Zi and Lu Ji heading through with the last Civilians. "I didn’t think we would, but we have."

"This is a monumental day for our growing Kingdom." Subutai agreed, before an evil grin appeared on his face. "Pullo is going to be so excited with all of these new people to train!"

"I feel for all of our new Swordsmen!" Dom said suddenly, a look of worry on his face, as no doubt Pullo would attempt to train them all in to more Legionaries. Dom wondered how Pullo the grizzled Centurion and Huang Zhong would get along, he was sure that it would be great for them, but terrible for all the new recruits.