Disembark and Prepare

Dom didn't have the chance to leave and felt like he had been set up, Elizabeth had left her seat and headed towards her brother with a teasing grin on her face, whilst Alice came and sat next to him. Dom looked around for help, but saw none that was available.

"Have you been avoiding me Dominic Lazarus?" She questioned teasingly, her eyes staring in to his. 

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Dom replied, with the straightest face he could pull. 

"Oh stop it Dom, I'm not an idiot. Thank you for the Halberd, she's called Sky Piercer." Alice laughed, "She is really an ultimate weapon with an amazing weight and sharpness to her tips. I feel this unnecessary amount of Rage when I wield it and almost feel invincible. I have had a lot of fun with it. Now, how and why are you the top Lord Player and one of the top Players on the whole game. That is the question that has been on my mind, and why didn't you tell me us?"

Dom just put his head in his hands and looked at the floor.

"I don't know Alice, I'm just playing the game and I have had some luck." He replied seriously, "I was going to tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise."

"So when I appear in your town, you, Andrew and Kai can all laugh at me for not being in on the joke?" She replied back, patting him on his lowered head. "It's fine, it would have been funny."

"I haven't told them yet." Dom replied honestly.

"They are idiots at times, but I am sure they will have a nice surprise when they get there." She laughed, "It may be a long time for me, but I am definitely aiming to get there quicker now! Am I going to be your mighty general, wielding Lu Bu's Halberd?"

"We'll have to see, I already have some capable generals." Dom replied with a teasing smile as he looked up at her. Her eyes looked furious for a second and then her lips curled in a smile.

"I am taking that as a challenge then." She joked, "Did you hear my Grandmother earlier? I have heard they are planning to get World Conquest Online headsets to all students in the Top Academies as well as roll it out to the Military Commanders and some selected front line units. They could roll it out further if the response is positive."

"That is a huge investment!" Dom exclaimed, "It's a great game, but for it to be pushed out as a training and academy tool feels a bit excessive."

"Do you understand what this means Dom?" Alice said seriously, "You are not just the Top Player Lord on a game, you are one of the Top Players on something that most of the world may end up playing. If you maintain that position, do you understand how many people will want to create relationships with you."

"I will become pretty popular then." Dom replied, however he understood exactly what Alice meant.

"As the game develops, if you maintain your position, you could own a large force and a large piece of land. Many people will be jealous, and many people will want a piece of that." She continued. "This needs to stay quiet. Why on earth did you choose the name Lazarus, there aren't many Lazarus's left in the world."

"It wasn't intentional!" Dom pleaded, "But I understand, we need to keep this quiet and make strong allies." 

"Exactly. If a large corporation finds out, or a member of Royalty, or even worse the Government, they could put a lot of pressure on you to join their camps, and help fund their in game activities." She continued. Dom didn't have the heart to tell her that Elizabeth Medici already knew. "I will make sure to head down to you as soon as I can to help in game, but there isn't much we can do outside of it."

"It's just a game, worst case I'll lower my self down the rankings." Dom replied nonchalantly.

"You can't do that Dom." She exclaimed, "You need to make this succeed. We will have the top Kingdom and I'll be your top General! I won't mention it to my grandmother yet, but if you do get any issues, let me know and I'll see if she can use some of her allies to help." 

Their conversation soon ended, and his joyful mood from earlier had soured slightly. He needed to head back to his room soon and log back in to World Conquest Online, so that he could finish his current challenge at Tongpai Town and return to Riverside and start working towards it's future. 

Before he had chance to leave though, Alice grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor, explaining that he owed her one for keeping the secret and that she wanted a dance as repayment. Andrew soon appeared with the girl from earlier and danced beside them, where as Kai and Horatio had both disappeared in the crowd. Dom noted that Elizabeth was watching him dance from her seat, a light smile on her face, where as her brother glared. 

Claire and Florence were also seen nearby, watching the pair dance intently. The Dean was also watching them both, a complicated look on her face. There were other people watching them both as well, but Dom and Alice were unaware of all of these eyes watching them. The song soon ended, and Dom's uncomfortable feeling of having to dance was now over, Alice smiled at him and gave him a gently kiss on the cheek, before a wicked and evil laugh left her mouth. 

"Enjoy your gaming." She said, before turning and heading in to the crowd around the dance floor to do her own thing.

"That looked awkward." Dom heard Andrew say from beside him. 

"It definitely was." Dom agreed, "Are you heading back?"

"Maybe later." Andrew laughed, his eyes looking towards the girl he had spent the evening with. Dom laughed back at his friend, before making his way to the exit and back to his room.

....

Dom awoke on the Merchants Ship that had been anchored in a safe location near Tongpai Town. The room was comfortable and he could tell the Envoy had enjoyed a high position in his Town. He still needed to question him more, but that would have to wait until his return to Riverside. He climbed out of his bed and put his armour on quickly, before heading out of the cabin and towards the deck.

"Lord approaching!" One of the Sailors shouted as his head appeared up the small stairs, the crest of his helmet bouncing as he steadied himself. 

"About time!" Dom heard in response, as he popped his head up and saw Subutai was sat waiting.

"I thought you would be organising troops?" Dom asked with a laugh at the smiling General.

"You said you would be back around this time, so I made sure to meet you here so I could update you. We don't have long, it will be tonight." He replied. Dom turned and looked at the sky, the sun high, telling him it was mid afternoon.

"Then let's get started!" Dom stated.

....

Dom and Subutai disembarked the merchant vessel at the bare bones structure that was left of the Tongpai Town dock. The building spawn tool had been removed, so any useful perks had disappeared. All excess wood that wasn't being used to keep the wharfs stable had also been removed as additional firewood to be used as part of the trap.

Beside the merchant vessel was the first trireme of Riverside, the Galatea. Two of the Bireme and a handful of merchant vessels were also stationed nearby, all full of crews that had been trained in Riverside, joined when Crassus persuaded them, or were Tongpai residents that had the skills to support.

The ships were laden with Archers from the Forbidden Guard and Balearic Slingers, as well as a a mixture of other Riverside soldiers that had been repurposed, such as the Hittite and Egyptians, or Xun family and Bandits that had Archers skills and hadn't joined the Legionary training or were crewing the Navy that most had.

Gan Ning was waiting at the dock for them, ready to move his ships away and in to position for their role later in the evening, as long as the plan came to fruition.

"Welcome back!" He cheerfully greeted Dom as he walked down the wharf towards where Gan Ning was stood with some of his guards. "Your timing is great, we are ready to leave shortly, do you want to inspect?"

"That should be fine, I don't believe we have much time, I trust everything is ready?" Dom asked as he looked around at the stripped back buildings that faced towards the water, a place that the enemy shouldn't have much visibility on, until it was too late.

"It is, we have gained a rather mismatch of units, but we have practised and worked out our placement based on the different ranges. It's a shame I won't be able to get my sword bloodied, but I am confident." Gan Ning replied with a proud smile.

"Thanks Gan Ning!" Dom replied honestly, "did you have issues when travelling the River back to Riverside and back?"

"Surprisingly not, but our strategists believe that is because the enemy has moved more through the forest and not the rivers edge." Gan Ning concluded, "I believe they have a reluctance to be near light, so may use the forest for cover."

"That would make a lot of sense." Dom agreed. "Hopefully they don't like fire either."

Gan Ning smiled as Dom patted his Commander on the shoulder as he departed and headed south towards the main gate with Subutai and the few guards that accompanied them.

As they left, Dom could hear Gan Ning barking orders to his men as they began moving the ships out of sight, only leaving a couple of quick merchant ships behind as a disguise to show some normality.

"The Town is prepared throughout." Subutai commented as they passed the structures on the south path, it wasn't obvious that traps had been set for an outsider, but for those that had spent time here, you could clearly see the difference between before and now. "Gu Kaizhi's plan has been completed and all of the Commander's are in position, except for us of course, and the last few Warriors that are finishing off little bits here and there."

"Is everyone confident?" Dom asked, a lot was riding on this success. If they completed this successfully, they should be safe to develop south of Tongpai lake, down to the Calm River and across to the Shimmering Sea, a huge area that they wouldn't fill for many years.

"As confident as they can be." Subutai replied, "everyone who needs to be evacuated, has been evacuated. Most of the resources we wanted have been taken. The different units have been training and preparing as well. We'll head south to Tomyris, where she has her Legionaries prepared and I have my Horse Archers. We then just need to wait for the signal from Hua Rong and then we will strike."

"How about the fire starters?" Dom asked as they neared the exit of Tongpai Town. A few Hoplite were running around, their weapons discarded somewhere else.

"Everything is ready, the firepits are hidden, as are the hiding spaces for those that have volunteered for the task. Crassus has offered some pretty good rewards for those that have volunteered." Subutai smiled, "Of course, he did say you were paying the rewards. I think you will be impressed when we launch the counter attack later."

"I can't wait." Dom agreed as they headed south of Tongpai Town towards where the majority of his Army was based.