Chapter 513: Chapter 230: Next Step, Surrender, Set Out for Yang Lu "What are your thoughts on the next steps?" Xia Chuan sat at the head table, withdrew his gaze from the map, and surveyed the seven seated people in the hall, quietly asking. The seven heard his voice, and their excitement abated slightly, bowing their heads in thought. Chen Yingba did not leave. Though his expression was dazed, he instinctively perked up his ears, wanting to hear about Great Xia’s next moves. After a long silence, Yuan Cheng was the first to stand up, clasping his fists as he spoke. "Master, we’ve captured the Hive without losing a single man. Currently, there are just over two hundred people from the Earth-digging Realm here. With some tactics, we only need to leave a hundred to keep them in check. In my opinion, we should take the momentum and seize Yang Lu next!" Everyone in the hall was slightly shocked upon hearing this. Take Yang Lu next! If accomplished, Great Xia would consecutively annex the territories of two colossal Camps in Longyou. Based on the map Xia Chuan held, this would at least expand the territory by 1500 square kilometers in one go. What concept does 1500 square kilometers represent? The newest territory expanded by Great Xia is around Five Ape Mountain. Even including that area, the current total territory is only 900 square kilometers. Indeed, Yuan Cheng’s proposal made everyone in the room tempted. Even Xia Chuan, looking at the map, couldn’t help but feel swayed. There were two maps on his table at the moment. One was a sketch sent back by Xia Hong through Luo Ming; The other was a complete map of the Hive territory found in the main hall. The Hive is located southeast of Pingxi Plain, south bordering Redwood Ridge, running about thirty-five kilometers east to west; directly north lies Hanqiong Camp, running about twenty kilometers north to south, with the total territory covering about 700 square kilometers. Yang Lu Camp, equivalent in strength to the Hive, also has a territory of roughly 700 square kilometers. Combined, these two areas would be approximately 1500 square kilometers. No, not just this large area, but also... Xia Chuan gazed at the map, his eyes gleaming. "Yang Lu and the Hive are the only two among the twelve families in Longyou that neighbor the northern gateway to Redwood Ridge. This means, if we can capture these two, the western and northern entrances of Redwood Ridge will be ours, Great Xia’s!" Xia Chuan’s gaze grew increasingly fervent. "It’s unwise..." But just then, Yuwen Dao voiced a different opinion. "Master, forgive my candor, but capturing the Hive so smoothly really has little to do with our own strength. No one knows the situation at Yang Lu, where their station is, how many people they have, how many Cold Resistance Level warriors, how many in the Earth-digging Realm. Attacking rashly is unwise!" Xia Chuan was stunned by these words, the fervor in his eyes instantly vanishing. His demeanor sobered considerably, first feeling a twinge of fear before casting a grateful glance at Yuwen Dao. Almost made a foolish mistake! Capturing the Hive without shedding a drop of blood is certainly worth boasting about, but it coincidentally indicates that Great Xia achieved it not through bloody battle but mostly through strategizing—or bluntly speaking, through luck. The intelligence and defense map sent back by his elder brother beforehand; the Hive insider; disguising himself and the four others as Lu Sheng to sneak into the Hive Station in advance; then, a large force infiltrated five days early... In short, all the preparations made by Great Xia could merely serve as groundwork for smoothly capturing the Hive. The actual decisive factor for a bloodless takeover was coincidentally catching the perfect timing when Zhaoyang was attacking the Hive. He, along with Luo Yuan and the four, had infiltrated the Hive Main Zone on April 20th, and even approached Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing during the period. Why didn’t they capture them directly? Because there was no absolute assurance. Both Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing possessed Six-maned Power. After breaking through to the Cold Resistance Level, he had Six-maned Power himself, plus a thirty percent boost from the Great Xia Sacred Pattern, peaking at Eight-maned Power. Seizing one of them was no problem at all. But what about the other? Yuan Cheng and Luo Yuan, after their breakthrough, had Three-maned Power, Zhao Long had two, and Hong Tian had just over one. Even with the Great Xia Sacred Pattern’s boost, the four combined couldn’t possibly defeat a Cold Resistance Level of Six-maned Power, let alone capture alive. Moreover, the five were in the Hive Main Zone. If they couldn’t seize them quickly, awakening the hundreds of Earth-digging Realm warriors in the Hive, it would put them in quite a disadvantage. Seeking caution, Xia Chuan had people first control the nineteenth mining area, then arranged for individuals from Jing Valley to infiltrate the Hive here in batches constantly, even calling Yuwen Dao over. Truth be told, even with this caution, Great Xia couldn’t have fully captured the Hive without bloodshed. Much thanks to the Zhaoyang’s exertion over the previous two days—it was they who depleted most of the Hive’s combat strength. Wu Tianxing’s deception added the finishing touch. If not for that act, the Hive’s turtle shell-like Main Zone Space, even with a thousand troops and their eight Cold Resistance Level warriors, Great Xia would have remained as helpless as Zhaoyang’s forces. "This great victory completely benefited from too many coincidences and fortunate circumstances. I almost let it go to my head, foolishly thinking of also attacking Yang Lu. Thanks to Yuwen Dao’s reminder, if we rashly proceed, we would likely end up suffering greatly!" Xia Chuan slightly shook his head, suppressing the greed in his heart, no longer looking at the map. He then turned to Yuan Cheng and said, "Yuwen Bureau Director is correct; Yang Lu is different from the Hive, we know nothing about them. It’s unwise to attack rashly."