Free World War IV: Alliances- Book 0 by James Hunt Page A

small point that was his nose jutting from his face. The man was short but built like an ox, with the tenacity of a bull. Delun had seen the sword master take on a dozen men at a time and win. “My Emperor, we have received word from our fleet south of the Dead Island. Three ships located the fleet; we managed to sink one of them.”
     
    The news wasn’t unexpected. With their assets growing, it was simply a matter of time before they were found out, and with Delun’s fleet finally finished, he wasn’t worried. “The other ships, do we know where they were from?”
     
    “One flew the colors of the Australian Navy, the second was North American.”
     
    “So, the old alliances are still alive.” Delun walked to one of the piles of scrolls and picked one from the top. He unrolled it, reading the marks and symbols of his people’s language. There had only been a handful of scribes left in all of China after the Island Wars. Delun had the privilege of learning from one of them as a child, and so began his thirst for knowledge.
     
    Books and scrolls were of little concern to most people, who were more interested in putting a bowl of food in their bellies every day than worrying about what some piece of paper written by a man long dead hundreds of years ago said.
     
    Delun knew that most books had been lost in the Great War that happened a generation before he was even born, but throughout the years, he’d collected as many books as he could get his hands on. Anywhere he traveled, if he found something that could be read, no matter what it was, he took it. And now, with the power of his people behind him and with the aid of his army and navy, he’d begun the process of offering those works to the people. He didn’t just want to build an empire; he wanted to educate his people, have them learn the value of knowledge, as he did. This was to be the dawn of a new era. But first, there was the matter of war. “Send a message to the American governors. Tell them we wish for no conflict between our two countries.”
     
    “The Russians will be making their move soon,” Hong said.
     
    “Exactly. All we have to do is play coy with the Americans until they realize it’s too late. No doubt the ship’s captain has already sent word to his people, and with one of the American governors in Brazil, they will be too slow to react. The only fallout we have to worry about is with the Australians.” Who Delun knew lacked their full naval strength. Delun would storm the southern islands and retake what should have belonged to the Chinese a decade ago.
     
    “Emperor,” Hong began, struggling to find the words, “there is more news that we received.”
     
    It went against Hong’s nature to be timid, and the fact that the seasoned warrior was apprehensive was concerning. “Tell me.”
     
    “The officer camp at the island where our men were stationed was raided, no doubt scouting to try and obtain information. During the raid, the enemy managed to steal one of our strategic maps.” Hong kept his head bowed the entire story, afraid of looking his emperor in the eye to tell him such news.
     
    Delun kept his immediate thoughts to himself for a moment, shielding Hong from his emotions. Everything Delun experienced, all of his decisions and choices, they trickled down to his people, and he refused to let fear and doubt seep into the roots that held him in power. “How long have they been in possession of the map?”
     
    “Less than a day,” Hong answered, still keeping his eyes on the floor. “The admirals sent word the moment it was taken.”
     
    Still not enough time for the news to reach the American governors. “Contact Rodion, inform him about the Americans’ newfound knowledge, and tell our admirals our home fleet will rendezvous with them at the blade’s edge. The time for war is upon us.”
     
    “As you will, Emperor.” Hong gave another deep bow and swiftly left.
     
    Deceit was only effective as long as