Lu Ding’s divine body charged at the very front of the formation.
His towering figure was the banner leading the charge forward.
Every move he made was filled with overwhelming momentum, black mist swirling fiercely.
The slaughter was underway.
Behind him, the Great Han Qi Refiners were running desperately, as if they wished for two extra legs.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to snatch any kills!!
This was Lu Ding’s shining moment, but he was not the only one basking in the glory.
The wanderer swinging a large saber, the instructor whose spear flashed like a dragon, the general brandishing a steel fork, the attendant child with white feathers, Wang Qingge who waved flags that stained the sky with ink, the old man beating drums to stir up morale.
The vanguard troops’ charge marked the first decisive victory for Great Han’s frontline engagement.
Inside the command room.
Dou Tingyu laughed out loud: “Hahaha... cannot be killed, such an unkillable one, but isn’t this killing it right now?”
“Ah, what a pity, the Heavenly Perception battle will have to wait a bit longer.”
Others might show their true colors, but what’s different about us?
Dou Tingyu tilted her head.
Her hairline sharp as if cut by a blade, eyebrows like ink paintings.
On her bare face, no makeup, a heroic charm.
Her chin lifted slightly, her voice domineering: “You all seem pretty upset. How about... now? Shall we start fighting right now?”
As soon as she said this,
The screens in the command room instantly went black.
Disdain shone clearly in Dou Tingyu’s eyes.
“Fight all you want, still acting high and mighty. Now you dare to be angry but not speak out. The young ones are useless, the old ones are cowards, huh...”
She ended with a cold snort.
Dou Tingyu raised her teacup.
Her words were finished.
Qiu Fu then spoke: “National announcement, Great Han wins the first battle. Arrange personnel rotation, count casualties, and register all details.”
Qiu Fu brought up a map of Great Han’s maritime territories.
Looking beyond Wu City, a protruding area appeared.
This was the battlefield taken today.
Colored squares of various sizes wrapped around Great Han. These areas were maritime territories occupied by other countries.
Anyone unfamiliar with the background
would definitely be confused at the sight of this map.
Why are so many countries stacked up at Great Han’s doorstep?!
Just from the map, Great Han’s situation seemed perilous, surrounded by enemies and outnumbered.
this was the result of negotiations.
Great Han, relying on confidence, sacrificed early mobility and advantageous timing and location.
if Great Han could break out and push through from Wu City,
Tai Island, Wei Gao, Zhenla, Hetu, Zhubo, and other countries would have to cede land to Great Han on top of compensation.
If Great Han lost, it would only pay compensation, no land would be ceded, because it had already sacrificed mobility and timing/location advantages.
This was a huge deal.
When Great Han first proposed this, those countries were stunned.
Each one doubted if they had heard correctly.
Isn’t this colonialism?
Are you crazy, Great Han? What era is this nonsense from?
Great Han representatives shook their heads in denial.
This is a special economic zone.
I’m just making it convenient. Our citizens can travel easily. One shipping route directly to the economic zone.
Once documents are processed, just take a taxi and you can go abroad.
Great Han negotiator clapped his hands: “Isn’t that great!”
Others cast skeptical looks, basically saying: I don’t buy it.
But then they thought of Great Han sacrificing mobility and timing/location advantages.
If it could really break through like that,
then we might as well give up on life.
They nodded in agreement.
They just didn’t believe Great Han was that powerful.
What are you pretending?
I have the timing/location advantage and more people; how could I lose to you?
Then they started discussing the size of the land.
Great Han held up two fingers: If I win, I want two thousand square kilometers, location chosen by me.
What kind of demand is this?
Other countries absolutely couldn’t accept this.
Great Han was so bold, asking for two thousand square kilometers of land.
Though they also didn’t believe Great Han could really break through.
But Great Han was extremely confident.
It made the other countries uneasy and suspicious.
There had to be a catch.
Besides, these surrounding countries were all small. Giving you two thousand square kilometers would hurt.
At most five hundred square kilometers. Location we choose.”
Great Han rolled up his sleeves: “Screw you, I already won, why do I need you to choose for me?
Do you want to spar with me now?
I’ve already given you face, right?
Believe it or not, I’ll make your face flush like a peach blossom right now.”
After one last ‘friendly’ negotiation,
the result was: If Great Han breaks through, the location can be freely chosen but cannot include the main city, and the size is two thousand square kilometers.
Both sides finally agreed.
One side didn’t believe Great Han could break through.
The other didn’t believe they could stop it.
This was why White Eagle could never persuade Tai Island and Wei Gao.
Each of them said, “We hold the timing and location advantage, don’t worry, Great Han won’t break through, plus we have your support.”
White Eagle was naturally suspicious.
Its original intention to persuade was because it thought that since Great Han dared to make such claims, it must have confidence, but what that confidence was...
Don’t ask... White Eagle didn’t know either.
Anyway, just do the opposite of Great Han.
If Great Han agrees, White Eagle opposes. If Great Han opposes, White Eagle agrees.
As for why it eventually agreed,
that was because White Eagle thought from Great Han’s perspective.
If it were Great Han, blocking itself at the national gates by these countries, it might fight to a stalemate or a protracted war, but definitely couldn’t break through.
Damn, four ancient kingdoms, three have fallen, leaving only one phoenix unbroken—is it really that arrogant??
In the Three Circles online, Great Han was supposed to be the Great Wall Watch, so how come it’s pushing outward?
a sudden inspiration flashed.
Why am I so worried? Even if it loses, it’s not me ceding land.
Just let it try. Doesn’t Great Han have an old saying, “Dead comrades don’t die, poor monks don’t die”?
Just to see what fun things Great Han is hiding that gave it so much confidence.
Because of geography, White Eagle was too far away and didn’t say if it would concede or not, but even if it did, Great Han wouldn’t want it.
Something with no benefits but only drawbacks.
So the negotiations between Great Han and White Eagle were done secretly, and no one knew.
By contrast, the surrounding countries were within reach, so ceding land had benefits.
Just like that, the hardheadedness met disbelief head-on, and it exploded.
After the first battle, White Eagle realized things were bad.
It frantically analyzed Lu Ding’s battle footage and intelligence.
The secret research lab’s red warning lights flashed everywhere.
“If it’s based on spiritual energy, then its manifestation should be like Great Han’s Si Ming’s true form, so why does it have flesh and blood?”
“According to our current intelligence, the blood and flesh shown by Sato Takashi’s onmyoji secret techniques are basically symbolic representations.”
“All the data shows it looks good but is useless in practice. Although it can increase combat power, the cost and benefit are disproportionate, which is evident in the fight between Sato Takashi and Lu Ding.”
“In spiritual energy usage, it’s even inferior to Si Ming’s true form.”
“The physical body is a barely acceptable advantage but requires the cooperation of powerful monsters, and this advantage became a complete disadvantage after Lu Ding appeared.”
“Lu Ding’s performance is a dual fusion of Si Ming’s true form and physical body, combining the advantages of both without their shortcomings, and even refining the advantages further.”
“In functionality, it’s a version upgrade; in hardware, it’s a technical breakthrough. But this version is too advanced. What about the intermediate iteration upgrades?”
A man in a white lab coat scratched his head wildly: “Ah!!! How did our intelligence work fail so badly!?”