Chapter 27

The King of Chen and his ministers were all anxiously waiting for reinforcements, unaware that the people they had sent out had already been intercepted by General Yves' men.

General Yves originally had 30,000 troops, and more than 2,000 additional soldiers from Chu had come to support him. A small group of volunteer fighters from Chen even joined his side.

Time was tight, so General Yves launched a rapid offensive.

With his army at the gates, the people of Chen and its aristocrats realized that no help was coming. In desperation, they offered up their wealth in hopes of saving their lives.

General Yves ordered his men to arrest the King of Chen and his ministers. Just as expected, the national treasury of Chen was incredibly rich.

As for the neighboring states of Wu and Zhao, by the time they heard about what had happened, General Yves had already finished inventorying and claiming all of Chen's treasures.

After taking over Chen's territory, General Yves naturally had to deal with the kingdom's affairs.

At the time, Chen was suffering from a severe drought. The situation had improved a little since a drilling machine had arrived, but one machine wasn't enough.

There was a heavy workload. General Yves had no choice but to select capable people from the group of detained ministers to help manage the government.

After all the battles and takeovers, General Yves finally had time to read the letter Sophia had sent him.

After reading the letter, he immediately told Assistant Hanra to list all the materials they needed.

Assistant Hanra took the order and quickly started organizing everything.

As for the prisoners, General Yves told his guards to give each one a sheet of blank paper and asked them to write down their skills or areas of expertise.

Anyone who had real abilities could earn a second chance by proving their value and becoming a government official again.

The next day, their written submissions were placed on General Yves' desk.

The content varied: some people cursed General Yves, some declared loyalty, some tried to flatter him, and a few sincerely explained their past achievements and what they could contribute.

As for the noble families, to protect their lives, they mostly listed out their family assets and said they were willing to donate everything in exchange for mercy.

General Yves read each one carefully. Then came the hearings. In the end, he pardoned 18 people. Three of them had offered the most wealth, while the remaining 12 showed real talent and loyalty.

Those who weren't released either faced execution or continued imprisonment.

While General Yves was handling the old government's affairs, Assistant Hanra finished drafting the supply list.

The most urgent item was another drilling machine. Next came food, and then medicine.

One particular type of medicine—used to stop bleeding—had worked wonders. It saved two generals and several soldiers. If possible, they hoped to get more of that.

The military doctors had already started studying the ingredients and were seeing some early success.

General Yves took the list, scanned it, and put it away.

He began organizing the food and property taken from the noble families. The valuables were stored in the treasury. Half of the grain was sent to the military camp, while the other half was distributed to the people across Chen.

Assistant Hanra asked, "Commander, are we really giving this to the people of Chen?"

General Yves gave her a quick look. "If we were only here to loot, we could've just left after that."

Assistant Hanra immediately realized how foolish her question was. General Yves had told them from the beginning: this southern campaign was never just about Chen or Chu.

And unlike with General Ulric, General Yves wasn't nearly as patient.

She stopped talking and quickly went back to work.

While Sophia waited for a reply from General Yves, she had already prepared an entire warehouse of food.

The main supplies included grain, cooking oil, rice, and flour 5,000 jin (about 2,500 kg) of both rice and flour. While shopping in the supermarket, she had also seen compressed biscuits and grabbed ten boxes to try out, hoping they would store well.

There were also instant noodles this time, but she chose the bagged kind. One cup of instant noodles costs the same as three bags now.

She also bought some packaged meat floss bread, toast bread, braised eggs, and crispy rice snacks. All of them were packaged and could be stored for a long time.

As for water, she bought a whole truckload of large bottled water, enough to fill up half of the first floor. Nearly 3,000 bottles, each 20 liters.

She also got 500 boxes of energy drinks like Scream and Pulse. These drinks contain electrolytes and other nutrients that help the body recover energy quickly.

Sophia prepared everything that could be stored for a long time. She was waiting for General Yves to send over a list of anything else he needed, so she could add to the supplies.

Once everything was ready, Deron contacted her to remind her that there was only one week left before the auction and asked if she needed a ride arranged.

During the two weeks Sophia was waiting, Deron's appraisers came twice. After careful inspection, they confirmed the value of all the antiques she brought.

They created a special collection and planned a big promotional campaign for the fall auction. The contract was already signed, and Deron's team had taken all the antiques away.

So the bank staff and Deron's security team had already left her place.

Three days before she was set to leave for Deron's, Sophia finally received a reply from General Yves.

Along with the letter, he sent a huge shipment of treasures.

This time it wasn't just flashy or empty promises. It was real. Box after box of jewelry was delivered.

Gold, silver, jade, porcelain, hair accessories – everything was so delicate and beautiful it took her breath away. The porcelain in particular amazed her. It was the first time Sophia had seen such stunningly colorful and finely crafted porcelain.

Each piece came in a box that fit it perfectly.

Looking at the third floor that had only just been cleared out, now filled up again, Sophia thought maybe it was time to buy a row of display cabinets just to organize and store the antiques.

But she didn't have time to worry about that now.

General Yves said he needed five drilling machines and a large amount of medicine.

Sophia thought for a moment and called Ronin.

"Ronin, does your offer from last time still stand?"

When Sophia went to the capital city, Ronin had asked her for a job. He told her if she ever needed anything, she should contact him.

After Sophia came home, they had a talk. She found out Ronin had studied logistics in university and had worked in procurement after graduating.

The economy wasn't doing well. His company shut down. The procurement job had worn him out – he had to work overtime all the time. Later, he was just dragging his feet at work until he got laid off with some severance pay, then came back to his hometown to rest for a while.

But his parents and sister-in-law kept nagging him, so now he wanted to find something to do temporarily.

Ronin was lying at home when he got the call. His parents and sister-in-law were staring at him with disapproval.

He sat up right away when he answered. "You've got something for me? Tell me!"

Sophia listed the items she needed – ten drilling machines, and different types of medicine including ones for bleeding, injuries, colds and fevers, inflammation, and disinfecting.

"Ten drilling machines? Sophia, what kind of business are you running?" Ronin asked in surprise.

He was a little unsure, wondering if she was joking with him.

He had heard Sophia rented a warehouse, but no one really knew what she was using it for.

Sophia said, "If you're serious about doing this, I'll send you the full shopping list and transfer some money to get started."

Ronin agreed, partly because he was curious and partly because his mom and sister-in-law were still staring right at him.