If Heaven hadn't given birth to me, I would be arrogant.

Looking at his soldiers' neat ranks, the entire force of 50,000 men marching without making a sound or disturbance, Zong Ze couldn't help but feel a surge of pride: "This is my army! Think back to the Tiger Legion that the Zong family had hidden away. My father had praised them to the skies. Although the Tiger Legion didn't have a great reputation, that was the Zong family hiding their true strength! According to my father, the Zong family's army was no less powerful than the White Tiger Cavalry!"

But even such a fierce and powerful army would still make all sorts of chaotic noises as it marched. In Zong Ze's opinion, the only thing in the Zong family army that was worth showing off was that magic squadron!

His own troops had reached the level he desired. Although they were known externally as the Imperial Air Force, Zong Ze was confident that even on land, his mere 50,000 men could face any other military force! Of course, Zong Ze wasn't stupid; he wouldn't use his elite troops as cannon fodder! When facing other military forces, he wanted to minimize his own losses if possible!

As for the five battalion commanders under his command, Zong Ze felt that he had not made a mistake in choosing them. Although even the youngest of the five battalion commanders, Shi Mo, was older than him, Zong Ze could see that their respect and obedience to him were from the bottom of their hearts. What pleased Zong Ze the most was that the five battalion commanders' ability to lead troops was indeed superior to others!

Zongze himself didn't actually know how to lead troops. He simply taught the five battalion commanders some things he knew from his previous life. The five battalion commanders were able to apply what they learned to other situations with Zongze's guidance, and after making slight modifications, they used these methods in the soldiers' daily training and study. And as it turned out, these training and study methods were surprisingly effective!

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Zong Ze: "If it weren't for the interference of those cultivators, with just this army of 50,000, I might be able to build a great empire, or even unify the entire continent!"

Thinking of this, Zong Ze shook his head slightly, dispelling these thoughts: "Hehe, it seems that no one can escape the desire for power. It's just that some people just don't have the opportunity. Even an old monster like me, who has lived for hundreds of years and been reincarnated, thought that my inner will was unwavering. Who would have thought that when I saw such an army under my command, I would still have the idea of ​​vying for supremacy!"

He slammed his horse's ribs hard, and the horse neighed loudly, charging forward like an arrow. Zong Ze needed to vent his pent-up desires. His horse galloped alongside the column, and all the soldiers heard Zong Ze's voice: "Brothers, give it your all! We're almost at He Guan Gorge. I've heard there's a level-three magical beast called a 'pig-raccoon' there, and it's incredibly delicious! When we get there, we'll rest, and I'll treat you all to roasted pig-raccoon!"

"Drink!" Upon hearing Zong Ze's voice, the 50,000 soldiers lined up in long rows shouted in unison, and their marching speed increased dramatically! Meanwhile, far behind Zong Ze and his men, in the court of the Rune Empire, a heated argument was taking place!

"Your Majesty, Zong Ze is openly defying your orders!" Grand Duke Lotte, the adopted son of the Prince of the Northern Kingdom and the Deputy Minister of Military Affairs of the Empire, said loudly, "Our purpose in sending Zong Ze to suppress the bandits this time was to observe the actual combat effectiveness of Zong Ze's air force, but he did not bring a single hot air balloon and sent the entire army to suppress the bandits in the form of lightly armored infantry. This is clearly intentional!"

"Nonsense!" Ever since Lotte was kicked out of Zong's mansion by Zong, General Zong Kuang had never given Lotte a kind look. Even when they occasionally met at the Military Affairs Department, Zong Kuang would just snort coldly and walk past Lotte without even glancing at him. This made Lotte feel very embarrassed. So, after thinking for a long time, he proposed a plan to have Zong Ze suppress bandits under the pretext of observing the combat effectiveness of the newly established troops, while on the other hand, he had his adoptive father collude with the bandits!

At that moment, Zong Kuang in the imperial court showed no respect to Lotte and started fighting with him, using nails and chisels. In the end, Lan Qizhan was biased towards his son and also wanted to see the fighting power of Zong Ze's Divine Machine Battalion, so he ordered Zong Ze to suppress the bandits!

But today, Lotte jumped out again to criticize Zong Ze, which enraged Zong Kuang, who was known for protecting his own son: "You little brat!" Zong Kuang strode out, pointed at Lotte's nose and cursed: "What do you know, you little brat? My son is the bandit suppression general. He can fight however he wants. What? You, this ignorant deputy minister of military affairs, want to interfere in how my son fights the war?"

“You…” Lotte had always considered himself a nobleman. Even though he would occasionally swear in the army camp to get along with the soldiers, he would never do something like Zong Kuang cursing in the court. He was speechless for a moment after being cursed by Zong Kuang!

"What do you mean, 'you'?" Zong Kuang hadn't finished speaking when he said, "Damn it, you little brat, don't think that just because you're the Vice Minister of Military Affairs now you can arbitrarily criticize the generals who have already received orders. Don't forget that you're just the Vice Minister in charge of logistics right now. Just do your job as a wet nurse and don't think about pointing fingers at others. My son said, 'A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders.' If you keep making trouble behind my back, see how I beat you up."

"Your Majesty..." After being scolded by Zong Kuang, Lotte looked pitifully at Lan Qizhan. There was nothing he could do. His own father had said when he was angry with him that day that the Zong family was not going to be touched, but the time was not right. If they were to take action against the Zong family now, it would undoubtedly cause the entire imperial army to split. At that time, not to mention the empire, even any duchy would probably dare to go to war with the Rune Empire!

"Hehe, Brother Zong, don't be angry!" Lan Qizhan chuckled, trying to smooth things over. Having grown up with Zong Kuang, Lan Qizhan knew him all too well. This man was absolutely loyal to the Empire, but also fiercely protective of his own. Now that Lotte had openly criticized Zong Ze, if Zong Kuang could find even the slightest fault in Lotte, he would definitely dare to beat Lotte up in public without giving him any face! Therefore, Lan Qizhan's way of addressing Zong Kuang had changed to his usual private address, "Brother Zong!"

“Brother Zong, Lotte is wrong. He has no right to question the soldiers who went to war. But to be honest, I am also very curious. Zong Ze’s Shenji Battalion is clearly an air force, so why did he turn it into a whole light infantry unit for this bandit suppression?”