Almond received a composite bow after Pang and climbed to the top of a defense tower. As an archer, being on top of the defense tower meant he didn’t need to use the weapons inside it. This allowed them to exceed the tower's maximum capacity.

Cookie squeezed almost six players into each defense tower.

"They’re going to come out soon," Carrot murmured while squeezing in beside Almond.

She knew why Rome had to advance now.

"Hmm. Nice."

Almond thought this was one of the most boring matches ever as he plucked his bowstring.

Twang~

'I can finally shoot.'

He firmly watched the closed gates of Rome, ready to shoot at whoever came out.

"We’ll win if we can just hold them off here."

As Carrot said, Rome would have no hope if they failed to advance here.

"?"

Suddenly, Almond's eyes turned into question marks.

The chat window did the same.

— ?

— What's this?

— ??

— !?

The Korean team had been waiting for a while, but no one came out.

"They aren't coming out?"

The soldiers began to murmur.

"This is taking a while?"

"Are they preparing something else?"

As was known, most soldiers in Civil Empire possessed decent commanding abilities. Understanding and acting by themselves was not something that could be done with an empty head. Ꞧ

However, too many cooks could spoil the broth when there was a command vacuum like this.

"What's this? Is something wrong?"

"Just wait and see."

"There's no way we're going to the third era like this?"

At that moment, the waiting forces felt the most confused. Of course, it couldn't just be blamed on having too many cooks given the chaotic situation.

'What's going on?'

Far from being a mere soldier, Almond also tilted his head in puzzlement. Clearly, this situation was not normal. He eventually lowered his bow that was aimed toward the gate. He thought the enemy would come out any moment, but no signs of advance appeared.

Then, shortly afterward…

Doom~!

[Rome - 3rd Era]

The news rang out that Rome had advanced to the third era.

"!?"

"What?"

"Earlier than us?"

"No, this means they didn't produce any second era troops at all."

The soldiers became even more confused.

Rome's advancement into the third era meant they had never planned to develop in the second era.

"Do they even have the funds to produce units in the third era, Carrot?" Pang asked and grabbed Carrot.

"… No. It's impossible with just the main base resources."

"Then what's this!?"

"If we speak in your terms..."

Carrot's gaze turned to the back.

"We've been baited."

Her gaze went toward a distant place where Rome had likely built a secret building.

Following some order, a few soldiers and an assistant commander rushed toward that direction.

"We're screwed."

***

The observer revealed the entire field of vision.

OrangeKing nearly wailed, "Ahhhhh!"

An unbelievable reality appeared.

"What is this!? Did they anticipate this and keep it hidden!?"

"No, I can't believe it! That's the only way to interpret it!"

They felt astonished because of what they could clearly see with the total field of vision.

Anto had been sneaking workers out since the initial scouting.

"No, sneaking workers out like this is really rare!"

It was truly unexpected. In national competitions, unlike other RTS games where one started with as many as two hundred soldiers, precious worker resources were never used for scouting.

"

Civil Empire

has specific troops for scouting! There's no reason to scout with workers!"

"This could sometimes be a drag error that happens by chance… Ah, is the replay coming up now?"

The broadcasters were reluctant to believe that Anto had intended this, assuming it could be a coincidence.

"If you look at the replay…"

Upon viewing the replay, it was confirmed to be an intentional play.

"Perfectly extracting workers as one of the five members in a scouting team while protecting them."

"Ah..."

Even the broadcasters were left feeling disillusioned and completely played by Anto.

The fact that workers had slipped away meant that once Rome had enough money, they could build a town hall outside and begin building another base.

In fact, Anto had already secretly completed another base in a different location. The already operational base also had its entrance blocked.

"The base is already operational. Some soldiers couldn't return to the main base, right?"

"Ah! Yes! Some couldn't make it back!"

"Yes, those soldiers are now protecting the other base."

Defensive troops were also stationed there. Given the characteristics of the Ancient Walls map, it would be quite difficult to penetrate.

"Ahah! Now I understand why Rome was unusually slow in the second era!"

The broadcasters recalled their earlier confusion about Rome's delayed progression in the second era.

"A single worker makes a big difference early on!?"

"Correct! But once the base is active and running, what about now!?"

Once the base was activated, resource acquisition improved significantly. Even if resources at the main base were depleted, Rome would continue to gain resources.

"So Rome went to the third era first, but they’re not short on resources!"

"Whereas Cookie prepared for second era combat... and is behind on resources now!"

"In the end, the difference in resource acquisition has equaled out, right? Then blocking Rome’s entrance was all for nothing?"

Indeed, Rome had advanced to the third era first and maintained equal resources to Joseon.

"Just one worker! Because of just one, Korea’s entire strategy has been negated!"

The caster asked incredulously, "Wait, but Cookie's play was also unpredictable and unconventional, wasn't it? And Anto knew about this too!?"

Cookie's play of blocking the enemy's only entrance and exit was also a difficult move to predict, yet Rome had anticipated it.

"Exactly!? It doesn't make sense! They couldn't have known that the Ancient Walls map would come up! Anto's quick thinking is truly admirable!"

It was a case of spontaneously anticipating an impromptu strategy.

— Really

— Speechless

— Bug-level

— No wonder Anto is number one

The anxious caster looked at the minimap and exclaimed, "Cookie is scouting around! Hasn't he found their base yet?"

"Ah... they should soon... but Korea should have noticed in the first era!"

"Why didn't they scout in the first era!?"

— Caster crying LOL

— Really why didn’t they?

— Ah, it’s a pity. They did well

— They couldn’t have known, rookies

— Anto is insane

OrangeKing shook his head disapprovingly.

"It’s impossible."

It became a losing game the moment Anto predicted Korea’s strategy. Even if they ran simulations beforehand, Cookie couldn’t send out scouting troops in the first era.

"They call it a false move, don’t they? Cookie couldn’t send out scouts in the first era."

"Yes!? But why?"

"Because they didn’t think any enemy workers could have escaped. There was no reason to scout. You're saying they could have anticipated that?"

"Yes."

"To properly scout, around thirty troops blocking the entrance would have to be dispersed for scouting. What if those thirty were gone?"

Civil Empire

was a virtual reality RTS. Given the realistic ratio of buildings and players, the map size had to be vast. Proper scouting with just one or two individuals was impossible. At least twenty to thirty players had to be dispersed to make it feasible.

"The main force would be reduced, right? Then, Rome could call their thirty to forty troops outside back to the main base to immediately sandwich and engage the Joseon soldiers."

"Ah...! They would get caught in a pincer attack!?"

Even moving a few troops to scout could have prompted Rome to start fighting.

"Yes. In the worst case, the scouting troops could all die."

What if Joseon's scouting troops encountered the thirty to forty remnants of Rome? They would suffer significant damage.

"Even if some Roman soldiers escaped and survived, blocking their main base should make proper scouting impossible. From Cookie’s perspective, another enemy base wouldn’t even be thinkable. Korea had completely locked down Rome’s main base, except they didn’t."

"That's true..."

"Effectively scouting in the first era had too many variables. Cookie thought they had the upper hand, so there was no reason to create more variables."

In this case, not scouting had fewer variables than scouting. Reducing variables was the only way.

"But it’s safer to ascend to the second era and scout then, right? The remaining first era Roman troops would still be armed."

Cookie only started sending troops to scout various places after arming them in the second era.

"Actually, it might have been okay if they had discovered Rome’s secret right after reaching the second era...!"

"Ah..."

However, that was not easy. Cookie’s troops were still scouting, but didn’t discover anything yet.

"Here! Again! Anto's brilliance is notable, isn't it?"

"That’s right... Even knowing that the enemy has another base, it's hard to find."

The secret base was located at two o'clock. In fact, it was quite far from Rome’s main base positioned at eleven o'clock and closer to Joseon’s side instead. Indeed, it was darkest under the lamp.

"Ah... The scouting troops are heading toward two o'clock!"

Even so, Cookie checked the two o'clock position last. Luck was not on their side.

"This really needs to be seen with one’s own eyes!"

Scouting could not be perfectly conducted otherwise. The Roman troops were waiting for that.

[Heavy Infantry]

[Genoese Crossbowmen]

These were armed third era Roman soldiers.

"Those Romans who just carried clubs are now third era soldiers! This... the Joseon soldiers will all die if they scout too aggressively!"

"But we have to go in! Cookie has no choice!"

Cookie still had to verify the location of Rome’s new base.

"They’ll eventually encounter each other!"

The heavy infantry in stout armor with maces and the third era troops armed with Genoese crossbows met Joseon's second era soldiers.

Thump!

As a bolt struck, a Joseon soldier almost flew backward.

The pikemen joined the fray, but the maces and other weapons quickly subdued them. The archers fired their bows, but second era composite bows were insufficient.

The heavy infantry were essentially as well-armed as knights. They simply took hits as the crossbowmen cleared the Joseon archers.

"Moreover, all troop related buildings have been constructed at the new base! The soldiers outside are stronger! This is also Anto's brilliance, isn’t it!?"

Although the soldiers in Rome's main base had not yet received any weapons, those at the new base had.

"Now, Cookie has noticed that Rome's remnants are armed because they have another base and a worker had escaped!!"

"Cookie has marked a location near two o'clock where the new Rome base is. His expression looks quite bad now."

"Meanwhile, Anto is completely dominating with this strategy!"

— Shocked

— Insane

— So this is what it feels like to be completely taken in by a strategy, damn

— Not the number one for nothing

— What do we do now?

"Of course, it's not over yet!?"

Fanfare resounded as soon as these words were spoken.

[Joseon - 3rd Era]

Doom!

Following Rome, Joseon also advanced to the third era after a slight delay because they had been preparing for a second era battle.

"Joseon has also reached the third era! We still can’t tell what will happen!"

Joseon also had a fully operational base and was a powerful civilization in the third era.

"Right!? Rome also wasted some time and money secretly building another base, didn't they!? Joseon, of course, spent some money and time on second era equipment too!"

The strategy of secretly building another base wasn’t commonly used for a reason. It took too much time to go to a hidden location and too much time for a single worker to build all the buildings.

There were surprisingly many variables. The broadcasters mentioned these variables while trying to inject some hope.

"Ah... Rome now has cavalry for scouting... lighting up the map's field of view one by one."

The swift cavalry made scouting much easier.

Rome, having advanced to the third era first, discovered Joseon's other base at the six o'clock position.

"Now, thirty Roman troops are heading toward Joseon's six o'clock base!"

Despite the infantry's slow speed, dozens of soldiers were crossing the map to attack.

OrangeKing swallowed dryly.

'This is really bad.'

Anto was far more strategic than expected.

It felt like hitting a very big wall. It hurt and bled a lot when one hit such a wall, but the real difficulty wasn’t the physical pain.

'I can't overcome it...'

The fact that one couldn't overcome it despite bleeding. That was the true pain.

"Ah, now! It's not enough that Joseon's base is being raided. They have no defensive troops there! All their troops are currently in front of the enemy's main base at eleven o'clock!"

Joseon's six o'clock base was at risk, but there was no movement to support it.

"It's tricky to send support! If too many forces are pulled back from the main base, they’ll be overrun in an instant!?"

"Right now, the only thing Joseon has going for it is blocking Rome's main base, which could be lost too!"

"Correct! So it's difficult to send much support..."

Perhaps only one thing could turn the tide for Korea.

'It's out.'

That one thing was coming now.

"But!"

OrangeKing exerted his voice at the perfect timing, "What if the crossbow appears now?!!"

Clang!

[Crossbow - 1%]

Finally, the third era's mightiest weapon began production in the armory.

— Wow finally

— This feels like the first time I'm seeing this.

— The crossbow is out

The archers who would receive crossbows were called out by name. Among them was Almond.