### Chapter 316: The Princess is Different Today
Yuliya led an army of tens of thousands, marching across the desert straight towards the Golden City.
This time, with a clearer route established, they managed to arrive at their destination in less than five days—saving a whole lot of time compared to last time!
Meanwhile, the Golden City wasn’t just twiddling its thumbs either.
Before heading back to the Emerald City, Yuliya had already arranged for an exploration mission to those underground ruins.
For the players, going on exploratory missions was a necessary part of life.
Even if the Adventurers’ Guild wasn’t handing out missions, they would still venture out.
Whether it was for leveling up or earning points to redeem rewards, exploration was the name of the game.
Even amidst the considerable risks of this current expedition.
Actually, it was precisely because of the risks that it felt so challenging.
Now that there was a mission, the guild had a plan, and naturally, everyone would follow along according to the guild’s arrangements.
The missions proposed by the adventurers primarily focused on gathering information, understanding the structure of the underground ruins, and at least coming up with a rough map.
It was unrealistic to expect them to clear all the monsters out.
However, even so, the players taking on the exploration missions were suffering heavy losses, with nearly half the expedition getting wiped out.
Fortunately, there were mission rewards to help soothe some of those inner wounds.
Now, with Yuliya back with the army, she gathered several important legion leaders, the main adventurer heads, and a few managers from the Golden City to discuss tomorrow’s official operation.
“My plan is for the army to take the lead in the offensive tomorrow, the adventurers to support and loot, while the folks in town handle logistics. I will be the overall commander of the operation.”
“Your Highness will personally command?” questioned a legion leader named Malen.
“What’s wrong? Got a problem?”
“Are you saying you’ll be going to the battlefield yourself?”
“Why not?”
“Absolutely not! Your Highness, the battlefield is dangerous! You’re too precious; what if you get hurt?”
If you get hurt, we’d consider the mission a failure, and then we’d all face severe punishment!
He dared not voice that thought.
The players chimed in as well: “Yeah, Your Highness, how can you go to such a dangerous place?”
“Tsk! My dear sister and dear brother both agreed, so what’s your problem? Do you have major objections to my decision?”
“Uh…”
The military had nothing to say.
They could only advise but not refuse orders.
But the players were still adamant.
A little loli on the battlefield? Goodness, that’s just wrong!
She was an NPC—everyone loved and was familiar with her!
If anything happened to her on the battlefield, she would be toast.
That would make all the players responsible, wouldn’t it?
Yuliya frowned, “Adventurers, if you think this is inappropriate, you can withdraw. I can arrange for someone else.”
“No, no, it’s fine; I have no objections.”
“Me neither.”
The moment they heard Yuliya was going to kick them out, they were just one breath away from saying “if you don’t like it, hit the road,” and suddenly they had no objections.
This was the army doing all the hard work while they lounged around and won by doing nothing—who’d refuse that?
However, a thought popped into the players’ heads.
Wow, today’s little princess is really assertive!
Next, Yuliya began to lay out detailed plans, officially simulating the strategy for the operation.
After she spoke at length, she turned to Malen and asked, “General Malen, you’re an experienced warrior; what do you think of this tactical arrangement?”
“Your Highness’s plan is very reasonable!” Malen praised, but quickly followed with a question, “However, I have one point I’m a bit confused about. May I ask?”
“Please do.”
“Your strategy is to annihilate the monster horde entirely, so why are we breaking it down into segments to tackle piece by piece? That strategy would only result in partial annihilation, and the rest would scatter. In the end, the overall annihilation rate might only be around thirty percent.”
In other words, the ruins were divided into six chunks, and they’d be tackling one each day.
But while they were busy with one chunk, the monsters in the other five won’t just sit around twiddling their thumbs.
They either come to disrupt the operation here or just hightail it outta there.
“Your concerns are very reasonable, and typically, that’s how it is. So to conduct a successful annihilation, we would indeed need a wide encirclement and then restrict their movement. But that’s in general circumstances.”
Yuliya paused and then continued with a light laugh, “This time, the situation of the underground ruins is somewhat special. First of all, the area is vast, and the number of monsters is overwhelming.”
“So, with our current forces, we can’t conduct a full encirclement, and facing that many monsters at once would definitely lead to significant casualties. That’s why we’ve chosen to break it down.”
“As for the concern about the monsters running away, I have a way to handle that. Even if they try to escape, they will all return to the ruins the next day. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Malen looked surprised but nodded with a smile: “In that case, very reasonable indeed! I didn’t expect Your Highness to be so impressive when it comes to military strategy!”
Meanwhile, the players were even more shocked than Malen after hearing Yuliya’s plan and her subsequent explanation.
Holy moly!
Shocked! Our little princess is secretly a tactical genius?!
Some players didn’t quite understand all the military jargon, but that didn’t stop them from thinking it was incredibly cool.
Those who frequently did the coordinating, the ones who understood better, couldn’t help but look at Yuliya in awe.
Who are you?! Where’s that cute, bumbling loli princess we knew?! Did someone borrow her body today?!
Whether it was the “Nuclear Bomb Little Sister” or the “Princess of Radiant Sun,” in the players’ minds, she was just a mascot that brought them goodies.
Even when she was mad, she was just adorably cranky.
But how could she be so wise, brainy, and assertive like today?
In reality, Yuliya had always been like this—serious and cautious when working hard, but carefree and laid-back when fooling around.
But the players had no idea. The only time she had asserted herself back then was when she first arrived in the Golden City and had something to say.
Someone couldn’t resist asking, “Is this still the little princess we know? Something feels off! It’s very off! Did they switch her out…?”
Hearing this, Yuliya frowned.
Before she could respond, Malen and Kane quickly interjected, “Adventurer! Watch your words!”
The two, one a battle-hardened general and the other a long-time bodyguard commander, spoke with an aura of authority.
Kane’s serious demeanor was etched firmly in the players’ minds.
They spoke in unison and exchanged glances, with Kane gesturing for Malen to take the lead.
Malen wasted no time and jumped right in.
“Our princess of the Jade Emperor Kingdom is not someone you outsiders can critique! Mind your place!”
