Fire Consumes the Enemy

In the pitch-black pine forest, the Allied Southern Army had posted sentries around the perimeter, about five hundred meters from their respective camps.

The dense, towering pines severely obstructed the sentries' view. They had no way of seeing that, about a kilometer away in the depths of the forest, men were nimbly climbing trees and carefully hanging arm-thick metal cylinders that gleamed coldly from the bare branches high above.

When the men jumped down from the trees, the thick layer of pine needles that had accumulated on the ground over the years cushioned their landings perfectly. Not a sound was made.

On the map, the staff marked the locations of these secret deployments one by one, gradually forming a huge circle about three kilometers in diameter. Like a noose, it tightly enclosed the Allied Southern Army's five camps at its center.

At four in the morning, all was silent, and the cold was at its most biting.

An officer hurried over to Stefan and reported in a low voice, "Commander, the first phase of the deployment is complete."

Stefan picked up the half-full bottle of Happy Water beside him, tipped his head back, and drained it in one go.

Then he spoke slowly, in the theatrical tone of an opera dialogue. "The telegraph changed the world and reshaped how society functions."

"But many people seem to have forgotten that it wasn't originally designed to transmit sound..." He paused, his gaze blazing. "It was meant to activate magic nodes remotely."

With that, he opened the lid of the Black Iron Box in his hands, revealing an extremely conspicuous red button.

Without the slightest hesitation, Stefan pressed it with all his strength.

He handed the box to the officer beside him and said casually, "Press it a few more times, just in