The fact that power from the game could manifest in reality...
It meant that this had become an era where personal strength ruled above all else!
As long as you were strong enough in the game, you could dominate everything in the real world too.
You could rise to the pinnacle of power, wielding absolute authority in the palm of your hand...
Compared to that, things like political influence, wealth, and social status were meaningless.
Completely irrelevant.
And because everyone understood this simple truth, Ethan had nothing to fear. He remained calm and composed.
That was also why everyone present was so cautious, so respectful—treating Ethan with the utmost deference, not daring to offend or slight him in the slightest.
To put it bluntly, anyone who had made it to their level wasn’t an idiot.
The foolish ones had died long ago. They never would’ve survived to this point.
"Gentlemen, General Grant," Ethan said casually, leaning back in his chair. "To be honest, I’m not really interested in all this formal stuff. So if we can keep it simple, let’s keep it simple."
"For example—when does Global Battlefield start? Where’s the location? Who are the opponents? Just tell me the key points, the things you think actually matter."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment. The people around exchanged glances before turning their eyes toward Nathaniel.
Nathaniel cleared his throat a couple of times, then spoke in a measured tone. "Alright then, I’ll keep it brief."
"First off, the preliminary rounds of Global Battlefield are divided into continental tournaments. That means there are five major regional competitions: North America, Asia, Europe, Russiania, Oceania, South America, Africa, and the Middle East."
"Russiania?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, slightly puzzled.
Nathaniel shook his head. "Russia annexed several neighboring countries and formed a new continental bloc called Russiania. At this point, it’s practically a single unified nation."
Ethan paused for a second, then nodded as he processed the information, recalling the memories of this world’s version of himself.
He hadn’t paid much attention before, so his understanding of global geopolitics was still based on his knowledge from his original world. But this wasn’t the same world anymore—things had changed drastically.
Take Russiania, for example. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan had all been absorbed into Russia. Aside from a few minor nations, what remained was essentially a single entity—The Russian Empire.
So calling it Russiania was just another way of saying The Russian Empire. It wasn’t inaccurate.
This world’s geopolitical landscape was quite different from what Ethan had known. The Middle East had been designated as its own continent, and South America was counted separately from North America.
In this version of Earth, there were only eight continents: Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Russiania, South America, North America, and Africa.
And there weren’t 195 countries like in his previous world—only 47 remained.
Any nation that had been too weak had already been conquered or absorbed, either directly or indirectly, when the Glory Lords X era first arrived—when all nuclear-level high-tech weaponry had suddenly become useless.
The countries that still retained their independence today?
Every single one of them had some real power backing them up.
In the five continental tournaments, the strongest regions were Europe, the Middle East, and Russiania. North America, Asia, Oceania, and South America were considered mid-tier, while Africa was the weakest.
Beyond that, the Oceania-South America group had seven countries, with Australia being the strongest, followed by Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands.
The Middle East-Africa group had eleven countries, with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Israel at the top, followed by Egypt and South Africa. The rest were scattered in strength, mostly mediocre.
Europe had ten countries, with powerhouses like Germany, France, the UK, and Italy.
However, ever since the Glory Lords X era reshaped the world, Germany, France, the UK, and Italy had formed an alliance, effectively functioning as a single nation—Federated Europe.
So, strictly speaking, Europe only had one real powerhouse: Federated Europe.
The rest? Just cannon fodder. Barely worth mentioning.
As for North America and Asia, this was where the competition was the fiercest.
Greater America, Japan, South Korea, China, and India—these were the dominant forces in this group.
In the real world, Greater America and China had been the strongest.
But in the game? South Korea was number one.
Then Greater America, Japan, and India were roughly on the same level, neck and neck.
Nathaniel’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"The elimination round for our North America-Asia group is already over. Five countries made it through: Greater America, India, South Korea, Japan, and China."
He paused for a moment, his expression turning serious.
"In the upcoming continental finals, the top players from these five countries will battle for the three available spots in the Global Battlefield World Finals."
Nathaniel’s voice grew heavier.
"If we make it to the World Finals, that means we’ve achieved our goal. Because if we don’t... we’ll be at the mercy of the victors."
Ethan frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Every Global Battlefield tournament, any country that fails to reach the World Finals is considered a loser—and losers have to pay the price."
"These penalties include in-game resources and real-world assets. The fifteen countries that make it to the World Finals will divide the spoils based on a 10, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1... distribution system."
"..." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noveⅼfire.net
Ethan opened his mouth slightly, stunned. "So it’s basically slow death... like boiling a frog alive?"
Nathaniel let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "The penalties for losing aren’t immediately devastating, but the strong keep getting stronger, and the weak keep getting weaker. If a country keeps losing in Global Battlefield, paying compensation over and over again, it creates a vicious cycle. Eventually... there’s only one outcome—total collapse."
Ethan didn’t say anything this time.
He just shook his head, feeling a mix of emotions.
In his original world, nuclear weapons had acted as a deterrent—no country dared to make reckless moves, knowing the consequences would be mutual destruction.
But here? In this world, nukes were gone.
Now, the real power came from the units and heroes of Glory Lords X. That was the new reality. And without nuclear deterrence, nations had fully embraced their innate thirst for conquest, showing their true colors without restraint.
Just like in Glory Lords X, this world was slowly evolving into a brutal, dog-eat-dog battlefield—where the strong devoured the weak without hesitation.
A world where only the ruthless survived.
But Ethan felt no pressure.
Because there was no way in hell he was going to lose.