Yang Yu did not have much to complain about; he could understand the actions of Wansheng Country.

Since becoming a Grand General, Yang Yu had accumulated considerable military achievements, enough to qualify as a General. However, for Wansheng Country, there was a certain risk in appointing him recklessly.

The position of General was already quite high, so if Yang Yu achieved significant success afterward, there would be no further promotions available.

Surely, they couldn't simply pull General Ajiket from his position, right?

The position of National Guardian General was one that Yang Yu could not reach in the short term.

If you and the Emperor switched places, would you feel comfortable giving full command of all the troops to someone whose background was unclear, who also had the suspicion of being a human?

Therefore, Wansheng Country would officially bestow the title of General upon Yang Yu only after this winter offensive.

"I must thank His Majesty for his favor. I will achieve a commendable feat in the winter offensive and hope that after this battle, His Majesty will fulfill his promise.

General Dongmu, let me now state the purpose of my visit.

There's still some time before we leave for the Sailuomen Plain. I want to take this time to find General Duoshi to prepare some things to ensure the smooth progress of the winter offensive."

"No problem. I'll inform him, so you can go ahead without worry! Minister Ming Dalak also looks forward to your performance this winter."

General Dongmu said with a smile and parted ways with Yang Yu.

During the period when Yang Yu went to visit General Duoshi, the Luo Ze Empire was also preparing for the upcoming winter offensive.

However, everything did not proceed as smoothly as the Luo Ze Empire had hoped.

Among the Luoze soldiers who were exchanged back, some war-weary soldiers were muttering some strange things:

"That guy might have the power to manipulate minds."

"He definitely manipulated someone among us, which is why our encirclement plan failed."

"What on earth was that strange thing? And what exactly was that dance?"

"I am already disappointed in this country. Why did I join the army?"

Although those war-weary soldiers were "corrected" with intense training, it was hard to ensure that no issues would arise during the subsequent defense.

The Luo Ze Empire could only temporarily transfer them to the front lines where they wouldn't encounter the Colorful-haired Masked Man.

Another obstacle came from a rumor that popped up from somewhere unknown.

"This war is not as simple as it appears but is, in fact, a huge conspiracy.

The Curse Sect, in order to summon demons, needed a large number of sacrifices and secretly orchestrated this war.

They slandered humans and beastmen wantonly, causing tensions that pitted the two nations against each other to benefit themselves.

More than a decade ago, humans and beastmen lived in peace together, which is solid evidence.

If this continues, it will only allow the Curse Sect, which seeks to use demon power to destroy the entire world, to reap the benefits and put the whole world in deep jeopardy.

It's heard that amongst the Curse Sect, someone has already acquired demon power and can freely change into someone else's form.

The Holy Maiden was deceived by him and was not prepared, losing her life because of it.

Members of the Curse Sect must still be active somewhere in this country; this meaningless war should cease, and the military should concentrate on eradicating the Curse Sect's forces within the country."

The rumor sounded very convincing.

So much so that someone brought out the missing persons list and even obtained credible testimonies from those who had contact with the missing persons.

A high-ranking official vaguely felt his memory was misaligned and spoke about it.

His friend immediately pointed out his strange behavior on certain days, then followed the clues to find out what "good things" he had done recently.

Instantly, panic spread throughout the people.

Some individuals with improper conduct wished to scapegoat their illegal deeds onto the Curse Sect and joined the "testimony" frenzy.

It wasn't long before all sorts of information, both true and false, got mixed together, and the rumors spread ever more widely and convincingly.

Even when the Luo Ze Empire asserted that this entire war was fought for glory, it started to meet with skepticism from a portion of the populace.

If the punishment of the fox woman beastman saving two children was just for a statue, it was indeed out of character for the Luo Ze Empire.

As rumors arose, things that the Luo Ze population had thought were unquestionable previously now seemed to have thousands of questions to validate their beliefs.

There was nothing to be done; the Luo Ze Empire could only try various methods to mitigate the impact of these rumors, but with little success.

Eventually, the Luo Ze Empire had to randomly catch a group of scapegoats, label them as members of the Curse Sect, publicly execute them, and promote this extensively, which only barely suppressed the rumors.

But if rumors could be eradicated so easily, there wouldn't be the saying "it's easy to spread a rumor, but exhausting to dispel it," would there?

— "Were those people who were executed really members of the Curse Sect? If they had demon power, they shouldn't have been so easily executed."

In just a few days, new rumors began to circulate again.

Even though the Luo Ze Empire used some forceful measures, it did not completely quell these rumors.

To many of the people, particularly those who believed in the Goddess Sect in the Luo Ze Empire, as long as this war continued, it was proof that there were members of the Curse Sect mixed in among the military.

Many people started calling for a ceasefire and a restoration of friendly relations between the two nations.

Unfortunately, the main war faction of the Luo Ze Empire decided to persist obstinately.

At the very least, they couldn't let their previous efforts and investments go to waste; maintaining control of the Sailuomen Plain at all costs was essential for the ceasefire.

In preparation for the "final battle," before formally heading to the Sailuomen Plain, each General mobilized their respective units, yet the majority of soldiers showed confusion.

The Empire nurtured them, and they were expected to repay the Empire with their lives. Yet, at this time, they hesitated and felt uneasy.

They were unsure whether the orders from their superiors were truly imperial commands or if a member of the Curse Sect was hoping for their deaths on the battlefield.

These soldiers did not fear death; they feared their deaths would be in vain, that they wouldn't contribute a bit to the glory of the Empire, but instead become the sword of someone with ulterior motives, stabbing into Luo Ze Empire's heart.

General Walshi, who was carrying out the mobilization task, sensed the morale was not as high as it used to be.

Despite using every persuasive tactic at his disposal, the results were still lacking...

Now, the hope was that once the soldiers entered the Sailuomen Plain, a few significant victories would come, alleviating the soldiers' concerns.

"I've said all I wanted to say. I hope you will continue to strive for the whole country. The Empire will remember all of you. Remember, this is a fight against fate, and your opponents will not show you any mercy. Over and out."

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