The Tables Turned on the Schemer!

"How is that possible?!"

The Emperor stood rooted to the spot, speechless, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Shogun... has actually died?"

Before the war has even officially begun, we've already lost two of our key generals!

The combined strength of the Shogunate's special forces led by Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Yasui's germ warfare unit amounted to 80,000 men!

The Shogunate Special Forces are the elite of the elite in the Dahe Settlement. Every single one of them is a battle-hardened Challengers with extensive experience in conquering Instance! They are competent in Land Warfare, Aerial Warfare, and Naval Warfare.

They can be considered the top fighters among this year's million Challengers!

The germ warfare unit was both a hidden card and an ace in the Emperor's hand.

The purpose is to deliver a fatal blow to the Eagle Sauce at a crucial moment.

If used properly, biological weapons can completely dismantle any of Eagle Sauce's weapons systems!

As a result, these two elite combat teams were inexplicably wiped out by a force called the Dragon Country.

What is this?!

Minamoto no Yorimitsu no Yorimitsu is a Level 4, one of the top 30 figures on the Firmament Hero Ranking, and the strongest person in the Dahe Settlement besides himself.

Even in terms of individual combat and close-quarters fighting, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was far superior to him.

And just like that, it vanished without a trace...?!

The enraged Emperor slammed his fist on the table twice!

This wave of losses is considerable for the Challengers Faction.

Itō Hidetaka to the side, was also taken aback and became somewhat flustered, angrily asking the Firmament:

"Firmament, how could such a thing happen?"

"We haven't launched an attack on the enemy forces yet, so why were the Challengers inexplicably eliminated?"

"If Challengers is eliminated in Instance by something completely unrelated to Instance mission before even engaging the enemy forces, then that Instance is definitely problematic!"

"This is clearly Designer's trick!"

[Firmament Notification: The system has detected that some Challengers have been wiped out by a force called "Dragon Country." Dragon Country is a force specially created by Designer. Lin Ye in Earth Online, with very strict logical support, and its rationality has passed Firmament's review!]

[The Challengers's Instance map, Earth Online, contains not only the Eagle Sauce Country and Eastern Ocean Island, but also many other factions similar to Dragon Country.]

[We are now in Total War Mode. While Challengers enjoy a high degree of freedom, they should also bear the consequences of their actions.]

After hearing the explanation from the Firmament, the Emperor slowly sat down in his chair, his eyes wide open, and his breathing became heavy.

His mind was in complete turmoil.

Lin Ye!

Is this the overwhelming power of a genius in designing dungeons in the Great Xia Instance?!

Lin Ye even designed other factions in this Instance! And these factions, like the Eagle Sauce Country, have a very high level of completion.

The sheer amount of detail in just one Eagle Sauce Country was already astounding to the Emperor.

Now, Firmament is telling everyone that there are other forces on Earth Online! And these forces may be even stronger than the Eagle Sauce Country!

Does that mean a power similar to the "Dragon Country" also possesses a lot of cutting-edge technology?

If that's the case, the technology and technical sophistication contained in this Instance are simply immeasurable!

The Emperor simply couldn't believe that Lin Ye had created this all by himself!

This isn't Instance; it's an entire world.

"Your Majesty the Emperor..." Itō Hidetaka asked tremulously, "What should we do next?"

The Emperor sighed deeply and quickly calmed himself down.

"The sacrifices of Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Yasui are a great loss to us, but our plan must continue."

"However, this path of external aggression will have to be temporarily halted."

Previously, the Emperor believed that there were only two major powers on Earth Online: Eastern Ocean Island and the Eagle Sauce Country, which is why he dared to expand outwards.

But now it seems that we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, and danger lurks everywhere!

If they were to harbor such thoughts of expansion and resource plunder again, and were to encounter another power like the "Dragon Country," it would be nothing short of a free gift.

He could accept the sacrifice of the Great He Clan, but he would never accept such a worthless sacrifice.

"While losing the Shogun, a key fighting force, is a significant loss, it's not fatal!"

"Next, we must focus all our efforts on dealing with the Eagle Sauce Country! We must expand our military strength as much as possible! As for the so-called sanctions imposed on us by the Eagle Sauce Country, we should delay them as long as possible."

"If Team Leader Iga Ryūji can obtain some military intelligence about the Eagle Sauce, our chances of winning are still very high."

Just as the Emperor was pondering his next strategy, the number of Challengers in the Instance Backend decreased again.

Fortunately, the number was small this time, only three hundred people.

"What's going on here?"

"Why is the number of people decreasing again?"

Immediately afterwards, a notification came from the Firmament.

[Firmament Notification: Three hundred Challengers have been detected to have surrendered to the Eagle Sauce Country. Instance commanders, please manage the Challengers Faction effectively.]

Since the Challengers Faction has not officially declared war on the Eagle Sauce, these surrendering Challengers are considered to have voluntarily submitted, resulting in a deduction of 20 points and teleportation out of the Instance!

"Surrender?!"

The Emperor jumped up from his seat!

Surrendering to the Eagle Sauce is a personal choice, and even he, as the Instance commander, cannot interfere with such an action. The reason he gathered 1 million Great He Clan people to form a group to enter the raid was to prevent this from happening.

He simply couldn't understand how some of his own Great He Clan members would choose to surrender before the war even began!

And this happened in the presence of the supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Dahe Settlement, who openly abandoned his post!

Although three hundred people is not a large number, if not properly managed, it can easily lead to a loss of morale.

Such desertion and betrayal of the Emperor is an absolute crime in the Dahe Settlement.

"This is outrageous!"

"This kind of traitor has no honor whatsoever; he is a disgrace to our Dahe Settlement."

The Emperor gritted his teeth in anger and said coldly:

"Ito-kun, help me find out who these three hundred deserters are! I need to know each and every one of their names!"

"I will have the Ninja Corps forces eliminate this traitor immediately!"

Itō Hidetaka didn't dare delay and immediately checked the backend of the Instance, comparing names one by one.

Suddenly his eyes widened.

After thinking for a long time, he stammered and said:

"Emperor Majesty... these three hundred escapees are none other than Group Leader Iga Ryūji and his ninja squad members."

Their names are no longer on the current list of Challengers.

"What?!"

The Emperor felt a chill run down his spine, clearly unable to believe the outcome.

In the Dahe Settlement, Iga Ryūji was arguably one of his most trusted subordinates, having secretly done many shady things for him over the years.

It can be said that Iga Ryūji was a suicide soldier he specially trained.

It's understandable for others to desert in the face of battle, but he absolutely refused to believe that Iga Ryūji would surrender.

"The Firmament? Can you tell me what's going on?" the Emperor asked.

[Firmament Notification: After entering the Eagle Sauce Country, Challengers Iga Ryūji were deeply impressed by the freedom and democracy of the Eagle Sauce Country, and also attracted by Eagle Sauce Country high quality of life. Therefore, they chose to surrender, change their nationality, and become citizens of the Eagle Sauce Country...]

When Iga Ryūji surrendered, he also revealed all the troop deployments and military data of Eastern Ocean Island Eagle Sauce...

[The Firmament reminds the Instance commander not to easily allow your Challengers teammates to enter Eagle Sauce Country territory.]