Preparing the Counterattack, Can't Afford to Wait

Blue Star, outer space.

On a meteorite, A Zhui and Angel Yan sat chatting idly, while half-heartedly monitoring the activity on Blue Star.

Looking at A Zhui beside her, Angel Yan stretched lazily and teased, "A Zhui, that war maniac Dukao is causing trouble for your little man again. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

A Zhui shook her head. "Dukao's matter—Her Majesty told us to ask A-Chen for his thoughts. But A-Chen doesn't want me to interfere. He wants to use this war as a chance to train the troops, and Her Majesty agreed. For now, we can only wait. Besides, I trust A-Chen."

Then A Zhui continued, "The Yanhuang Empire has developed too smoothly because of A-Chen and its geographical advantages. It's been plain sailing all the way—not even a single setback. Add in their technology, which is ahead of this era, and they've been unstoppable since the war began. That made a lot of soldiers restless and arrogant inside. But after entering the European Battlefield, Dukao's meddling caused those countries' military equipment to upgrade too fast. Losing most of their weapon advantage all at once, those soldiers performed poorly. Once A-Chen spotted this problem, he made up his mind to use Dukao's interference to train the troops."

Meanwhile.

Angel Nebula, Merlot Heavenly Court.

In the garden, Keisha and He Xi sat at a table, each holding a glass of red wine, drinking leisurely.

"Tomboy, you said that little Ye Chen might grow strong enough to fight the Void someday. Is your deduction reliable or not?"

"Heh, to be honest, I don't know either. I've been calculating with the Sacred Knowledge Treasury for so long, and the result I got in the end was 'unknown.'"

Hearing this, He Xi shook her head in exasperation. She thought Keisha had figured something out, but it turned out she'd gotten nothing at all. Still, precisely because nothing was calculated, it meant Ye Chen's future held infinite possibilities. Well, infinite possibilities meant the ceiling and floor could both be anything—infinitely high or infinitely low.

Two years ago, Angel Yan uploaded the anomalies triggered by Ye Chen's breakthrough on Blue Star, along with a series of subsequent data, to Keisha. After receiving that information, Keisha realized Ye Chen was no ordinary person. She speculated that once he grew up, he would become another god-level figure. But when she used the Sacred Knowledge Treasury to calculate, the result was 'unknown.' Still, that didn't stop Keisha from valuing and investing in Ye Chen.

Blue Star, European Battlefield, Third War Zone.

Cannons roared, smoke billowed everywhere. The once-standing city, after two years of war, had long since fallen into ruin.

Wata City, a small town, was now completely reduced to rubble.

Among the broken walls and debris, figures carefully crawled in and out. These people wore camouflage, carried rifles on their backs, and kept their nerves taut, watching every sound and movement around them. Under the cover of night, they were nearly invisible unless someone looked closely. As time passed, they set up traps throughout the ruined city—clearly, they were laying an ambush.

In a hidden corner.

Lyle held a telescope, using the dim moonlight to observe the distant activity.

Meanwhile.

On the outskirts of the city, a fully armed squad of Yanhuang soldiers rushed swiftly through the darkness. When they reached Wata City, they stopped abruptly. The squad leader glanced at the desolate city before him—utterly silent, not a trace of life. He then waved his hand back, signaling everyone to rest on the spot, while arranging for perimeter guards.

Seeing the leader's gesture, the soldiers behind him breathed a sigh of relief. After marching such a long distance, their legs were nearly worn out. One by one, they sat on the ground without any pretense of dignity, or leaned against something, half-asleep while clutching their weapons. Ever since stepping onto the European Battlefield, they had suffered a heavy blow with severe losses—a harsh strike to their once-arrogant hearts. Fortunately, they quickly snapped out of it and adjusted, launching a counterattack. Now, two years had passed. Through the crucible of the European Battlefield, as comrades fell one by one around them, they had matured, becoming true elite soldiers. Because anyone who wasn't elite was dead—there was no surviving in this furnace.

Inside the city.

Lyle's eyes lit up when he saw this group. These were their targets. Their mission this time was to block these people from reinforcing the main battlefield, because the Alliance was ready to launch a counteroffensive against the Yanhuang Empire. Squads like theirs had been scattered across dozens of positions in this war zone, all to cut off the Yanhuang Empire's supply routes. They had come with the resolve to die—fight to the last man, never retreat. Lyle didn't know what gave the Alliance the confidence to counterattack the Yanhuang Empire, but he was willing to believe, and had no choice but to believe. After all, they had been pushed to the point of no return.

By now, the war had reached such a stage that both sides had suffered heavy losses, and neither could retreat—because whoever retreated now would die. On the European Battlefield, with Dukao stirring things up behind the scenes, the Yanhuang Empire had lost most of its weapon advantage, unable to crush the enemy outright, forcing a war of attrition. And in this war of attrition, the outcome was never really in doubt—because even though the Yanhuang Empire's weapon advantage had been greatly weakened, don't forget they still held air superiority.

Additionally, the Yanhuang Empire had a massive population and thirty years' worth of war reserves, with a military system where every citizen was a soldier, allowing for constant replenishment of troops. In other words, the Yanhuang Empire could afford to drag things out, but the European nations could not.

At the same time, this was also Ye Chen's confidence in using this war to train his troops.

Sitting on a rock, Company Commander Zhou Ning suddenly felt a wave of unease and glanced around. The surroundings were so quiet that not even the chirping of insects could be heard, and his eyelids began to twitch involuntarily.

Sensing this, Zhou Ning immediately woke the soldiers around him. "Stand guard!!"

As a man who had survived since the empire's war began, Zhou Ning's special instinct for danger had saved him countless times. Now, that feeling had returned. He didn't know where the danger was, but he dared not take it lightly.

The startled soldiers snapped their eyes open, their hands smoothly flicking off the safeties on their rifles as they stared coldly into the surroundings.

Elsewhere.

Lyle, who was about to make his move, saw this and his face turned green. He had no idea what was happening, but the arrow was already on the string—he had no choice but to fire.

He pulled the trigger, sending out the first shot.

With that signal, the small city of Wata instantly erupted into chaos.