Luo He barely acknowledged the gesture with a small movement of his hand before walking directly toward the large strategic map in the center of the tent.
Only after several moments of silence did he finally speak. "What a talented commander you are," Luo He said calmly while studying the battlefield markers.
His tone remained quiet. Cold. Controlled. "You only lost a quarter of my largest army." He said cold as ever.
The entire tent immediately became tense.
Xu Mun lowered his head further. "My failures deserve punishment," he admitted firmly. "The islands resistance was underestimated. The terrain..."
Luo He raised one hand slightly.
Xu Mun stopped talking instantly. The silence afterward became even heavier.
Luo He still did not turn around. "Dead men remain dead," he finally said calmly.
"Explaining their deaths changes nothing." He said calmly. Xu Mun remained kneeling silently. The surrounding generals looked deeply uncomfortable, yet none dared interrupt.
Meanwhile Su Kim behaved as though the atmosphere inside the tent did not exist at all. She remained unusually affectionate toward Luo He from the moment they entered.
Constantly staying near him while carrying herself far more boldly than normal.
At one point she even moved close enough to straighten part of Luo He's outer robe casually while smiling faintly.
The three generals immediately looked away afterward pretending tremendous interest in the nearby walls.
Unfortunately the army had been campaigning without proper civilian contact for far too long.
The presence of a beautiful woman inside the command tent alone already created enough distraction. And Su Kim was making absolutely no effort to reduce that problem.
Xu Mun however remained impressively disciplined, despite noticing everything.
He stayed perfectly calm while kneeling before Luo He awaiting further orders.
Meanwhile the child wandered curiously around the edges of the command tent under careful watch from nearby guards.
Eventually Luo He finally looked toward Xu Mun properly.
"Stand up," he said calmly. Xu Mun obeyed immediately. Then Luo He finally focused completely on the battlefield map spread before them.
"Forget apologizing for the dead," he said quietly. His eyes moved slowly across the marked islands, supply routes, and battle positions. "Let's start explain how we win." He said boldly.
That single sentence immediately changed the atmosphere inside the tent.
The generals straightened slightly.
Xu Mun stepped forward toward the map. And for the first time since Luo He arrived the war council truly began.
Xu Mun's expression remained calm while explaining the campaign losses, though the exhaustion beneath his eyes was impossible to hide.
The man had clearly not slept properly in a very long time. Luo He studied him silently for several moments before suddenly stepping closer and lightly pulling him nearer by the shoulder.
"Your daughter seems to have taken a liking to her new home," Luo He whispered quietly near his ear. Xu Mun's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Only for a moment.
Then he lowered his head respectfully once again. "My Lord's generosity toward my family is something this subordinate will never forget," he answered carefully.
Behind the polite words however both men understood the true meaning perfectly. After the disastrous initial losses, Luo He had naturally become suspicious.
Xu Mun commanded the largest remaining military force under him. A man with fifty thousand soldiers could not simply be trusted blindly.
Especially not after suffering catastrophic casualties during his first campaign.
Because of that, Luo He had quietly arranged for Xu Mun's daughter to be moved to the Pirate Isle under Jin Sang's protection shortly after the first reports arrived.
Officially, it had been described as protection. In reality it was a hostage wrapped in silk. A precaution. A political chain hidden beneath kindness.
If Xu Mun ever betrayed him, Luo He would already possess leverage powerful enough to destroy his resolve before rebellion could even begin.
Yet surprisingly the girl herself seemed to enjoy her new life immensely. The Pirate Island was unlike the harsh military camps of the Northern Iles.
Wealth flowed endlessly through the ports there. Merchant ships arrived daily carrying silk, gems, spices, wine, exotic animals, rare woods, and fortunes from distant waters.
And Xu Mun's daughter being protected personally by Jin Sang quickly became someone, that no one dared to offend.
Rich merchants practically threw themselves at her feet trying to gain favor. Traders gifted her jewelry worth fortunes merely for a smile.
Marriage proposals arrived constantly from wealthy merchant heirs and lesser island nobles hoping to attach themselves to Luo He's rising faction through her.
Still despite enjoying the attention she had not completely abandoned her original ambitions. In her eyes, Luo He remained the ultimate prize. The only heir of the Luo Family.
A family whose true wealth and influence even she could barely comprehend fully.
The deeper one looked into Luo He's background, the more terrifying it became.
Hidden connections to the ancient civilization. Private trade routes. Secret alliances. Military contacts. Ancient wealth accumulated over generations.
Compared to ordinary nobles the Luo Family resembled a sleeping beast pretending to be civilized. Still, for now, Xu Mun's daughter seemed content enough enjoying her luxurious life.
While wealthy fools competed desperately for her attention. And no one dared pressure her too aggressively.
Because Jin Sang's name alone terrified the sea routes.
The current Jin Sang was no longer merely a merchant. He commanded both the sailors of trade and the pirates. The two sides of power, both lead their roots to him.
He had become a genuine maritime power. Entire merchant fleets altered routes to avoid offending him. Coastal officials preferred bribing him over fighting him.
Smugglers, pirates, and traders alike treated his words almost like law throughout large portions of the sea.
Yet despite his rise Jin Sang still feared Luo He above everyone else.
Whether out of genuine loyalty, fear, profit, or maybe all three combined he never once disobeyed Luo He's commands.
Not regarding taxes. Not regarding military support. Not regarding Xu Mun's daughter. And certainly not regarding betrayal.
Luo He finally released Xu Mun's shoulder afterward before turning toward the massive campaign map spread across the center table.
"Explain everything from the beginning," he said calmly. Xu Mun nodded immediately. "The initial campaign proceeded almost exactly as My Lord predicted," he began seriously.
"The outer islands fell quickly." That part had been relatively easy. The Northern Isles consisted of countless scattered islands.
They spread neatly across dangerous waters. Most of the outer territories possessed little centralized resistance due to isolation.
Once Xu Mun's fleet established naval superiority with support from Jin Sang's forces, the outer island settlements collapsed one after another beneath coordinated assaults.
At present, nearly seventy percent of the island chain remained under Xu Mun's control. Supply ports. Settlements for fishing. Smaller military outposts. Trade crossings. All secured successfully.
The navy itself became the deciding factor. The islanders possessed courage and terrain familiarity, but against organized ships and siege weapons they struggled heavily.
Whenever forced into open conflict near the coastlines, their small tree trunk boats were no match for the fire power the heavy war galleies carry.
But then everything changed deeper inland. Xu Mun pointed toward the center of the map. Five massive islands stood clustered closely together near the heart of the archipelago.
"These," Xu Mun said quietly. "Are the real problem." Unlike the outer territories, the inner islands could not be approached properly by large military vessels.
The waters there were shallow, narrow, and filled with hidden stone formations capable of destroying heavier ships.
Only small boats could pass safely.
And even then movement between islands often relied on primitive rope bridges, hidden pathways, and narrow crossings known only to locals.
The enemy had intentionally abandoned many outer islands and concentrated almost their entire remaining population around these central territories.
Though the five major islands occupied only roughly thirty percent of the total landmass they contained the overwhelming majority of the native population.
And those natives were monsters to fight in their own homeland. "Primitive," one of the lesser generals muttered bitterly.
"But terrifying." Another added grimly.
Most possessed poor equipment. Crude weapons. Bronze spears. Axes. Hunting bows. Fur armor at best. Yet none of that mattered. Because they moved through the terrain like ghosts.
They knew every swamp path. Every hidden crossing. Every poisonous marsh. Every water route. Every ambush point.
And worse the islands themselves were killing Xu Mun's men faster than the enemy blades. Xu Mun eventually explained the disaster directly.
During the first major offensive, he had personally ordered a deep strike toward the largest central settlement. And initially it worked.
The city was captured successfully. But holding it became impossible. Disease spread rapidly through the humid island environment.
Food supplies rotted faster than expected. Fresh water became contaminated repeatedly. Soldiers disappeared nightly during patrols only to be found mutilated later hanging from trees or floating in river mouths.
Entire units began dying without ever seeing a proper battlefield. "More men died from disease and starvation than combat." Xu Mun admitted coldly.
Even worse the general leading the occupation force never returned. Out of nearly twelve thousand men sent into the inner islands barely seventy escaped alive.