"The Jieke Group is attacking."
No one knew who shouted, but this chaos instantly turned into a panic, with people scrambling to flee the dock.
The fearsome reputation of the Jieke Group naturally made them scared, anxious about their own safety.
After surfacing, the Devourer-class cruiser did not fire upon Sidan Port, simply because this port had no targets or military facilities of significant value worth attacking.
The Devourer-class cruiser gradually entered, pulling into this dock. The only advantage of Sidan Port was that the water depth here was sufficient to accommodate the berthing of the Devourer-class cruiser.
On the now deserted dock, the Devourer-class cruiser docked and lowered boarding ladders, from which Jieke Group soldiers emerged, including Genetic Warriors wearing Second Generation Life Breeding Equipment.
Though not a transport ship, the Devourer-class cruiser's massive size allowed it to easily transport a battalion-level Marine Corps deployment.
Jieke Group soldiers landed from the dock, first securing all the key areas and high ground, completing their control.
The subsequent transport fleet followed immediately, docking at Sidan Port to offload soldiers and armored vehicles.
With this foothold, Jieke Group's troops could continuously land on Luzon. Island nations feared this most; without a navy, their territories were full of vulnerabilities, defenseless.
Hours later, a heavily armed mixed brigade of Jieke Group departed from Sidan Port, heading straight for the capital of Luzon, Manila.
Luzon, lacking the support of the Beautiful Country, found Jieke Group aiming for a swift victory, attempting to directly seize Luzon's capital, which would utterly crush Luzon's resolve and will to resist.
With Sidan Port occupied, Luzon must have already received the news.
However, what puzzled Jieke Group's heavily armed mixed brigade was that they encountered no organized resistance along the way.
Even if Luzon's response was slow, Manila City was Luzon's capital, and there were still plenty of stationed troops here. Yet, until this Jieke Group brigade reached the outskirts of Manila City, no Luzon soldiers were seen, as if they had all vanished into thin air.
When Jieke Group's soldiers arrived at Manila City, they should have already received the message.
Yet, there was still no resistance; the city had not constructed any defense fortifications or gathered troops for opposition.
Instead, as Jieke Group's armored convoy arrived, a large number of Manila citizens, primarily consisting of professions like police, doctors, and teachers, lined the streets, bringing the elderly and children, holding banners aloft.
"Welcome Jieke Group's king's division."
"Please, for the sake of the children, do not let our city fall into the flames of war."
"From now on, Manila City is an open city, we implore Jieke Group to spare us and not destroy our city."
These people held banners, chanting slogans loudly.
The Jieke Group soldiers, encountering such a situation for the first time, were a bit bewildered. After the situation was reported layer by layer, Jieke Group decided to temporarily halt the shelling of Manila City, instead allowing soldiers to enter the city to take over this capital city of Luzon.
One after another, armored convoys, including the Spider Main Battle Mecha, entered Manila City, where Jieke Group's infantry walked the streets, even receiving flowers and gourmet food, an expression reminiscent of breaking bread and offering wine to welcome conquerors.
Jieke Group soldiers, in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, captured crucial buildings such as the city's TV station, police station, and government building.
Later, it was learned that most of Luzon's important high-ranking individuals had already flown abroad, leaving behind those who couldn't escape.
Disheartened by Luzon's leadership and betrayed by the Beautiful Country's abandonment, the citizens of Manila were unwilling to continue fighting for this country and chose instead to surrender into the embrace of Jieke Group.
Because they all knew, continuing to resist would only lead to unnecessary civilian casualties, and their homes would be leveled by warfare, turning into ruins.
After all, the recent example of Javanese Yagada City was still vivid. Jieke Group had bombarded it for half a month, severely destroying the city; their cost-intensive shelling relentlessly devastated Yagada City.
Ultimately, they chose to follow the example of Paris in the past, turning Manila into an open city. According to custom, Jieke Group soldiers would not destroy this megacity of twelve million people, the lives and properties of its citizens would be safeguarded, and they wouldn't have to become homeless, living as refugees.
Thus, this metropolis of 12 million inhabitants easily fell into the hands of Jieke Group.
Subsequently, the advance of Jieke Group did not pause. Luzon, as an island nation, had its soldiers easily deployed by Jieke Group, mastering naval supremacy. The Marine Corps captured port after port, and the Army followed the Spider Main Battle Mecha, advancing unimpeded.
During this process, Jieke Group encountered very little resistance.
Luzon's military strength was apparent: old and outdated equipment, mainly hand-me-downs from the Beautiful Country, incomplete armament, and a lack of large heavy equipment.
Historically, Luzon has been a Western colony, initially a supplier of raw materials and later a market for products. The country had no manufacturing industry or military industry to speak of.
Moreover, Luzon has long been under the influence of the Beautiful Country, with its military often following their mandates.
Now that even the Beautiful Country has withdrawn and abandoned Luzon, the elites within Luzon have fled, leaving soldiers with little will to fight.
Their official military force of 110,000, along with 150,000 militiamen, almost universally either crumbled at the sight of Jieke Group or surrendered outright.
Many times, Jieke Group simply needed to issue a notice about where they would attack that night.
The Luzon soldiers in those areas would flee overnight to take refuge with the Jieke Group.
When the entire Luzon was under Jieke Group's control, a tally of casualties revealed that Jieke Group, at the cost of 34 deaths and 51 wounded, conquered Luzon in 9 days.
With Luzon conquered, Timor and Brunei, two small Southeast Asian countries with populations around the hundreds of thousands, voluntarily invited Jieke Group to take over, beseeching Jieke Group to station troops, choosing to be ruled by Jieke Group.
However, Jieke Group declined, only setting up an office, as stationing troops in such small countries wouldn't even recoup the costs.
Hence, the entire Southeast Asia, including the Southeast Asia Peninsula, Java Island, Malay Archipelago, Sumatra Island, Kalimantan Island, and Sulawesi Island all became the sphere of influence of the Jieke Group.
Eleven countries in Southeast Asia: Chan Country, Siam, Zhenla, Lancang, An Nan, Johor, Temasek, Jawa, Luzon, Brunei, East Timor, and Assam Country supported by Jieke Group, all became directly or indirectly controlled by Jieke Group, with a population of 600 million living within Jieke Group's sphere of influence.
When the New York Times published a map of Jieke Group's influence, the Siam Bay became Jieke Group's internal lake, with the Malacca Strait and Kra Isthmus Canal at the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, both chokepoints controlled by Jieke Group, and the scattered islands and vast oceans of Southeast Asia marked with Jieke Group's name.
When this map appeared, countries around the world couldn't help but gasp in shock.
A brand new power, with a territory of nearly five million square kilometers and a population of 600 million, mastering advanced genetic and mecha technology, acting dominantly, had sprung up under everyone's noses.
As stated in the sensational headline of the New York Times.
"A giant has appeared in the world, one foot in the Indian Ocean, the other in the Pacific Ocean, with its left hand clutching the Malacca Strait and right hand gripping the Kra Isthmus Canal, gazing aggressively, intending to devour the entire world."
And Su Jie's former title of Southeast Asia's Tsar has now become more fitting, being referred to as the King of Southeast Asia.