Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 540: A Large Game of Chess (Seeking Subscriptions)
Recently, Zhao Hai has been paying close attention to the Versailles Principality, but he certainly hasn't overlooked the Aksu Empire.
A lot of people from the Church of Light have arrived in the Aksu Empire, and Zhao Hai has already seen that the former small king of the Aksu Empire is dead. Currently, Boric is sitting on the throne, and the Church of Light has effectively taken control of the entire Aksu Empire.
While this situation was within Zhao Hai's expectations, it also surprised him. He initially thought that the Church of Light would spare the Aksu Empire's king, allowing him to serve as a puppet, but he didn't anticipate that they would go so far as to kill the king outright.
After observing them for a few days, Zhao Hai realized that the situation in the Versailles Principality was intentionally created by the Church of Light. They wanted the orcs to easily invade the Versailles Principality, and then, with the aid of their main army, eliminate the orcs within the territory.
They aimed to demonstrate to the people of the continent that the Church of Light could also wage war and govern a country effectively.
In addition to establishing authority, they also sought to eliminate the core threat posed by the Versailles Family. They planned to severely injure the orcs, and once their reputation shone brightly, spreading their teachings on the continent would become much easier.
Their ambitions were grand, and the plan was quite good, but they still underestimated Zhao Hai's capabilities. They had no way of knowing that Zhao Hai was aware of their entire plan.
The Roson Empire intended to support the Aksu Empire but did not realize that the Aksu Empire had never considered seeking their assistance. They just wanted to repel the orcs independently to establish their own authority.
Now that Zhao Hai was aware of these facts, he no longer worried about the Roson Empire; however, he did feel a bit concerned for the orc tribe. Since the orcs had not yet attacked, he planned to wait until they did before warning others.
This time, in dealing with the orc tribe, the Church of Light had prepared many methods. Although many people from the Versailles Principality had already fled, the Church of Light still sent some experts to lurk in the area. These individuals were not necessarily there to kill orcs; instead, they carried potions—poisons that could kill or incapacitate individuals, rendering them powerless to resist. This was the Church of Light's secret weapon against the orcs.
From their conversations, Zhao Hai learned that the Church of Light's plan had been in the works for a considerable time, starting from when the old king was still alive. The extermination of the Budah family was just part of the plan. Initially, they did not intend to eliminate the Versailles Family, but Zhao Hai posed too great a threat, and the Versailles Family was too closely associated with him, prompting the Church of Light to adjust their strategy.
The powder used in their potions was developed by human merchants after prolonged observation of the orcs on the Orc Prairie, followed by extensive research from the Church of Light.
Zhao Hai also learned from their discussions that the poison was harmless when taken alone; it needed to be used in conjunction with another specific drug to be effective. To facilitate this plan, the Church of Light had instructed the human merchants they controlled to poison the food sold to the orc tribe over the years. This toxin would react with the poison from the other drug, which was harmless on its own. Only when these two drugs were used together would they be harmful.
The Church of Light had no choice but to resort to this since orc armies always traveled with shamans. When they arrived at any location, they would only drink water after the shamans confirmed it was safe, a habit formed after the humans had previously used poison to inflict significant losses on them in battle.