The Emperor's Trump Card: Special Forces!

Standing respectfully beside the Emperor, Itō Hidetaka beamed with delight as he looked at the Challengers's formidable fighting force.

He glanced again at the system display of the Eagle Sauce Country' military strength reserves.

[The Eagle Sauce Country has a total population of 400 million, Army of 1 million, Air Force of 500,000, and a navy of 500,000...]

[Approximately 6,000 air units, approximately 1,000 sea units, and approximately 30,000 land units...]

The Firmament did not provide specific names for the Eagle Sauce Country weapons; they were all referred to using the format "XX unit".

This is a perfectly normal setting; no Instance can reveal the enemy's detailed configuration to the Challengers Faction at the beginning. Challengers need to explore the Instance gradually to obtain more information.

Itō Hidetaka made a rough comparison, then smiled with a relaxed expression.

"Emperor Majesty, it is obvious that our military strength far surpasses that of the Eagle Sauce Country!"

"Aside from having a smaller population and fewer soldiers than the Eagle Sauce, our country's weapons and Military Ordnance are several times, even ten times, greater than the Eagle Sauce's!"

"If we could really conscript nine million soldiers on the Eastern Ocean Islands, our troop numbers would far surpass those of the Eagle Sauce Country. I must say, our chances of winning are extremely high!"

Itō Hidetaka fantasized for a moment.

The Eagle Sauce has a total of about two million troops across its land, sea, and air forces, while Eastern Ocean Island, if what the Emperor says is true, has ten million troops!

With an abundance of weapons and equipment, they could wear down the Eagle Sauce through sheer attrition.

"Now is not the time to let our guard down," the Emperor said in a deep voice.

"Ito-kun, have you forgotten the lessons you learned in the previous Instance?"

"The Firmament only gives us a general idea of the enemy's combat unit numbers. If these units are all aircraft carrier-level, we'll have a hard time gaining an advantage!"

Itō Hidetaka shuddered, unconsciously recalling the terror of being dominated by the Nation-Destroying Fleet.

That massive, dark fleet of ships had become a nightmare he could never shake off.

"Don't forget, the completion rate of 'Raging Waves' is only 2%. We must prepare for the worst, which is that there are still a lot of technologies similar to aircraft carriers in the Instance."

Itō Hidetaka could only nod repeatedly.

But to be honest, I didn't quite agree with it.

For Lin Ye, a previously unknown Newcomer, to possess such world-leading Aircraft Carrier Technology was already quite incredible.

No matter how strong Lin Ye is, he is still a mortal, not a god!

How could anyone possibly possess so much technology?!

Although Itō Hidetaka was now filled with fear of Lin Ye, he felt that he could not, and absolutely did not, believe that Lin Ye's military power alone could withstand the million people of the Dahe Settlement.

"Emperor Majesty, what do you mean?"

"We must wait until our military strength and preparedness are ten times greater than those of the United Eagle Sauce Country before launching an attack!"

"This development process can't take too long, otherwise it will attract the attention of the Eagle Sauce, and could even lead to a preemptive attack by Eagle Sauce forces. In my experience, all preparations must be completed within a month!"

As he spoke, the Emperor picked up the phone on the table and began making a message.

"General Minamoto no Yorimitsu, I hereby order you to lead 50,000 Shogunate samurai to explore several countries surrounding the Eastern Ocean Islands, to make a preliminary assessment of their military strength, to find suitable points of attack, and to plunder as many usable resources as possible."

"Also, bring Doctor Yasui along. If conditions permit, we can use the local NPCs as test subjects for the 100 Special Forces!"

"Yes, Emperor Majesty!"

Upon hearing the Emperor's first order, Itō Hidetaka felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

The Emperor is about to launch a direct invasion, squeezing some resources out of other countries on Earth Online before launching a full-scale attack on the Eagle Sauce Country.

Since Lin Ye designed Earth Online to be so large, there's no harm in not using it.

Moreover, the Shogun is the pinnacle of combat power in the Dahe Settlement, essentially an elite special forces unit, extremely skilled in individual combat!

Sending these people to explore and reclaim the land was indeed the most suitable choice.

However, this Doctor Yasui and the 100 Special Forces were people that Itō Hidetaka had never heard of before.

"Emperor Majesty, who is Doctor Yasui? I don't recall ever seeing that name before on the Hero Ranking."

"Sending a doctor out to pioneer new lands doesn't seem quite right."

The Emperor took a small sip of tea and smiled faintly.

"Doctor Yasui, whose full name is Yasui Shirō, is like you, Ito-kun, a special Instance cultivated by our Dahe Settlement... but he doesn't possess any Instance."

"He remained in the shadows, while Ito-kun was in the open."

"Your task is to act as the facade, while Yasui's task is to become one of my trump cards."

The Emperor had actually kept this trump card hidden for a long time.

However, now that we've reached the point of going all out and making a desperate Battle, there's no need to hold back our trump cards any longer.

Therefore, the Emperor no longer intended to hide anything.

"Doctor Yasui focuses on the research and development of bacteria and viruses, including bacterial bombs made from fleas, ants, and flies used to treat plague, anthrax, and cholera—these are all technologies that Yasui excels at."

"And the 100 Special Forces are our Daiwa's Bacterial Special Forces, skilled in using bacterial weapons to kill silently!"

After the Emperor finished speaking, Itō Hidetaka broke out in a cold sweat.

My whole body was covered in goosebumps.

He had lived in the Dahe Settlement for so long, yet he had never heard of anything like a germ warfare unit.

Or rather, few people would associate such filth with weapons. It is precisely because of this characteristic that this method of warfare is so difficult to defend against.

Clearly, this is a card the Emperor has been hiding for a long time, presumably to target a certain LV4 elite on Azure Star.

But now it's being used on Lin Ye ahead of time!

"Ito-kun, I think you probably don't know the power of the Bacterial Special Forces."

"A few tiny bacterial bombs could render an entire city incapable of fighting within a week."

Whether you're piloting an aircraft carrier or operating a fighter jet, without human control, all weapons are worthless!

I'm using all my trump cards this time, all to take down Lin Ye in one fell swoop!

"However... the development and cultivation of this kind of weapon requires living people as a catalyst, which is why I sent Yasui with Minamoto no Yorimitsu to other countries to find suitable catalysts!"

Itō Hidetaka felt a chill run down his spine and unconsciously began wiping away sweat.

Even he would find such methods far too cruel and ruthless.

It's truly hard to imagine that the mastermind behind these tactics is none other than the highly respected Emperor!