Mission Knight II

Foreword:

No matter how many reasons you have, you can't let me go hungry!

[Part 1: Overestimating One's Abilities]

"When Xiang Zhaolie, Xiang Zhaoyi, and I heard the sound of gunfire coming from the north of the market, we rushed over immediately."

Axue, leading two members of the clan, moved closer to Gloria.

"--Lord Feather, it seems you are injured?"

Gloria was unwilling to admit it, but she couldn't deny it. Her clothes had been blasted to shreds by the Dragon Cavalry's explosive attacks. She was barely clothed and looked disheveled. She leaned against the ravaged silver jewelry counter, wrapped in a curtain from the accounting office as a winter coat. Her hair had just grown out, only a layer of reddish down, completely different from the beautiful, smooth golden hair she had when they first met.

She snapped, "Get out!"

The two Xiang brothers immediately withdrew, but Axue did not rush to leave. Instead, she carefully examined Master Yu Mao with a playful expression.

"The Patriarch of Judas knows about your affairs; your little schemes cannot be hidden from him."

The lapis lazuli half-wolf, who had already become a follower of the Guiyi Sect, threatened in a low voice.

"Lord Feather, you want to bypass the Unified Holy Church and establish your own sect. How could the High Priest allow such a thing to happen?"

As a mercenary who influences the wars among the Central Plains states and mediates conflicts among various warlords, Axue is more clear-headed than Gloria, understands the situation in Xia Bang better, and is more able to comprehend the current predicament.

"The person who harmed you was a soldier from the Ming De warband. The weapon they used was just a cheap item that could be bought for a little over 1,700 coins in the mortal world, roughly half a month's salary for an ordinary person."

"There is still a vibrant life, and a heart that is fearless in the face of death."

"I think Gloria, are also aware that [Sing For Me] cannot protect you very well. Perhaps a hundred or two hundred years ago, it could still offer you protection from fate."

"You are a brave and valiant general, invulnerable to swords and spears on the battlefield, and a eloquent and favored minister in the imperial cabinet. Luck always seems to favor you. Whenever you encounter troubles, it seems that everything will immediately become clear as soon as you throw the dice."

"But now, these despicable and cunning warbands, with their nonsensical suicide attacks, have managed to harm your noble body."

Axue smiled crookedly—

"--The great god of wine, bringing joy and happiness. Another incarnation of the god of fertility. It seems he no longer exists."

These words of praise were like resounding slaps to Gloria Sebastian's face.

She was not reconciled! She absolutely refused to accept it!

If it weren't for these strange and unusual modern weapons, and without these extraordinary troops from across the ocean, she would still be the ruler of East Horse Port, the deity who controls all destiny.

At first, Judas and the council members recounted the wars in the various administrative regions of the Nine Realms. The sounds, lights, and images, the roar of cannons projected onto the projector, were only partially understood by the primitive people of Shambhala.

--Since the end of World War I, the human flesh trade on the surface has become difficult. The Alliance retreated to the paradise of Shambhala and tried to control the Nine Realms through proxy wars. However, the Nameless Ones, led by the Gunsmith, gradually destroyed all the Zero Platform, and their plan to control the underworld was forced to fail.

In order to reduce management costs, Judas never handed over his most important core assets to the members of the council.

This asset is time itself. Only those at the very top of the power pyramid have the privilege of experiencing the changes of time, and can travel freely across all places to the surface of the earth and the Nine Realms to feel the surging tides of the changing times.

Aside from some entertainment works and some imported goods that traveled across the ocean to East Malaysia—to use a wonderful metaphor, Gloria is just like every ordinary person in Shambhala; she lives in a more ancient era, an era that keeps her forever young and makes her gentle and humble.

The times made her content with the status quo, which, like a lullaby, brought her joy and happiness.

As long as the brothers of the Shabang continue to abide by the ironclad laws of this wild continent and refrain from contacting the civilizations on the other side of the ocean, Judas can control his subordinates with minimal administrative costs.

The gunsmith's knightly combat skills shatter Blood-giving Monster, erasing the power gap between bloodlines.

The electricity, communications, engineering, and firearms of the atomic age could also shatter Judas's power structure, causing this "calm and peaceful" world to change in an instant, and shattering this "steadfast" alliance—and more likely giving the Great Xia emperor hope to request aid from the civilized world on the other side of the Pompeii Sea.

Aside from George Joshua, this audacious distributor, there are actually very few Immortals active in the human world.

Many other members of the alliance, like Wang Damin, were imprisoned in a city by Judas using a simple and brutal method of checks and balances, forced to do hard labor for the alchemy plan of the Dagda's Cauldron.

The same goes for Gloria. Even though she is Judas's protector, once she joins the Immortals Alliance, she must continuously produce value. As for the Church of Dionysus, which started the rebellion in the name of the Goddess Aio, it is utterly ridiculous in Judas's eyes. It is like a performance art that can never escape Judas's grasp.

The modern weaponry brought by the Dragon Cavalry Corps shattered Gloria's arrogance. Even after watching the mercenary leaders' deaths repeatedly on the Zero Platform, no matter how gruesome they were, it was far less satisfying than personally experiencing the devastation of fire and steel, and feeling the pain of bombs and shrapnel.

Using modern international relations as an analogy, Gloria and the other Immortals who remained in Shambhala are like the troops stationed in the Third World of Africa by many developed countries in Eastern Europe.

They use powerful psychic energy as a modern weapon to maintain local order in their primitive society. They are also known by the locals as messengers of civilization and God's messengers—contributing to the cannibals' glorious cause.

However, with Judas as their leader, these garrison troops will never be able to escape and will never be able to return to the true civilized world.

As a resource-rich nation abundant in human flesh, Great Xia, under Judas's control, would have absolutely no chance of contacting modern civilization. Even the Zero Platform in various administrative regions of the Nine Realms face exorbitant management costs and suffer severe backlash from the Vita Imprint's cannibalistic practices. How could Judas dare to replicate that human flesh business model?

The overly conservative management strategy resulted in an unusually stable power structure. These garrison leaders were like blindfolded, hardworking cows. As long as they had a few bites of grass to eat and servants to wait on them, they would never think that there was a chaotic and dangerous grassland outside.

The vanguard of the Madness Butterfly Sect was once active in every corner of the Nine Realms Railway, and Judas dared not venture into this fertile land of civilization, but instead hid behind the scenes to secretly observe—trying to use these mercenaries to find the answer to the new era, seemingly just a hair's breadth away from success.

Just a Ming De hadn't survived the last harvest season, Judas might have been able to move from behind the scenes to the forefront, becoming the victor and taking over the Council of Five Kings to revise the rules of the underworld—using cannibalistic methods to create Universal Elixir and using clan laws to establish a hierarchy of bloodlines to reshape the underground society comprised of 400 million beings.

However, the Nameless One shattered this dream, forcing the leaders of the Immortals' Alliance to retreat to the reserve of Shambhala to recuperate, preserve their strength, and await the next opportunity to attack.

The news of the gunsmith's death eased the tense atmosphere within the council, and Judas, who had been busy traveling around maintaining the church and collecting elixirs, also shifted his focus back to domestic affairs.

"Mr. Fret has been temporarily defeated, and the situation is worse than you imagine. Wood Plark has arrived in East Malaysia with a small squadron and a complete command system." As Axue said this, she gently patted Gloria's shoulder. "The General of Tears has also turned into Lapis Lazuli. You are probably no match for them."

The bone-chilling cold seeped into the curtains and blankets, making Gloria shiver.

"The Patriarch of Judas hopes you'll put aside your playful thoughts. The alliance meeting is the safest place, and he will protect you." Axue took off her outer robe and covered Lord Feather with it. "If nothing unexpected happens, I will take you away from East Horse Port immediately."

[Part ② - Free Fall]

"Leave here?" Gloria's pride wouldn't allow her to run away. "Just like that, you give up? We haven't even started fighting! You're already giving up?"

For Gloria and Axue, they had virtually no intelligence visibility.

Due to the inclement weather, the patrol officers and soldiers of the Governor's Mansion were unable to deliver messages in a timely manner.

The few pieces of information we have so far are that the pregnancy has been aborted, the attempt to nurture the fetus in East Horse Port has failed, and there is no point in keeping her here any longer. It would be better to transfer Gloria elsewhere as soon as possible.

Perhaps for Judas, this celestial embryo is nothing; what matters most is that the life-protecting feather willingly returns to the alliance's management system.

The child is unruly at home, always thinking he's grown up and can fly away, which gives Judas a real headache.

If they experience hardship and understand their parents' difficulties, they will become more filial when they return home after suffering injustices outside.

If you only use corporal punishment and intimidate her with Fret, Gloria will definitely resent it.

Perhaps Gloria will regain her senses after being bombarded with grenades by these Dragon Cavalry Corps.

Seeing that Master Feather was still unwilling to give up, Axue hesitated inwardly—the decision of the Patriarch Judas was indeed correct; Immortals in the alliance who were afraid of death but arrogant and domineering had many character flaws.

This was still an era without firearms or artillery. If they were to witness the power of modern science, they would surely turn their backs on the leader and curse him, causing chaos and upheaval.

"Even the General of Tears is a defeated opponent of mine!" Gloria shouted, "Call him to a duel! I'll definitely beat him!"

Axue had been maintaining her Soul Power superpower all along. The rain and snow outside never stopped, and this burden left her exhausted. Hearing the Gloria, she finally became so angry that her eyebrows and eyes distorted and her features twisted.

"If you're looking for death, I'll stop this snowstorm, and someone will come to take your dog's life."

"There are at least a hundred enemies in the streets and alleys of Huacheng Bay, each capable of harming your body and soul. How could the General of Tears possibly talk to you about chivalry? Or hold a duel? Are you senile Gloria Sebastian!?"

These hundred-plus enemies were just a vague number that Axue had observed with her Inspiration. The scouts of the Dragon Cavalry Corps moved with incredible speed, which gave her this illusion and led her to misjudge the number of troops in the battle group.

Does Gloria still have any usable troops left?

If the Tusi and chieftains of East Horse Port Township recruited militia, mobilized landowners to recruit farmers as temporary fighting forces, and added the Governor's Office and the garrison troops around the port area, there would be at least 30,000 people capable of fighting.

The Church of Dionysus also has a small number of blood-granting units with dozens of attendants, and there are also Animal Pen in the ruins of Magpie Mountain. Even in the absence of sunlight, they would still be a very useful army.

However, the bodyguard in charge of local security in East Malaysia still had to be Fret Caesar, the devil of the Netherworld.

That being said, mobilizing troops requires provisions and recruiting militia takes time; distant water cannot solve an immediate problem. According to Axue, once the snow stops, Gloria might not even be able to leave this room before being surrounded and annihilated by Ming De's warband.

If this were two or three hundred years ago, [Sing For Me] could have led her on horseback through numerous encirclements, leaving a legendary mark on the history of Xia Bang. She could dodge flying arrows and arrows, break through enemy formations, and rely on her strong body to wreak havoc.

The overconfident "cave bird" that had just appeared so arrogant, with its pretentious "eagle" posture and the terrifying look in its eyes as it clutched explosives and contemplated suicide, sent chills down Gloria's spine. Fear rushed to her head, making her tremble and unable to think about it any further.

"You're clearly a nymph! You're a lowly creature that can only crawl on the ground, yet you use these despicable weapons to harm me!?" Gloria roared angrily, "Is there any justice left?! Is this fair?"

Axue, a seasoned and worldly woman, casually replied, "Lord Feather, you like to talk about fairness now, don't you?"

"I laid eggs and nurtured the womb for Judas!" Gloria tightened the drawstring of her cloak, growing increasingly cold. "Why did Ming De come to kill me? Why didn't it go after Judas? Why did it come after me?"

Axue is a werewolf, and when she gets the chance, she even insults her master. "Cats eat bird meat, and you and Dadu birds."

Gloria began to complain, "Why should I?"

"Forget it." Axue tilted her head. "A cat might say, 'We can't go hungry, can we? No matter what reasons you have, I'm going to eat people, just like a cat eats birds.'"

"Just like that, we're leaving?" Gloria didn't want to argue anymore; her will to survive overwhelmed her pride. "What will happen to this city?"

"Fret can hold out for a while longer." Axue had a reliable assessment in her mind. "His entanglement with Wood Plark is not going to be resolved anytime soon, and the Horcruxes scattered throughout the underground sewers, as well as his magic pool, are difficult for the Netherworld mediums to destroy even with firearms. This can buy us time."

As for East Horse Port...

At this point, Axue's face lit up with an innocent smile.

"Let the angels take it away; it must not fall into the hands of Ming De. For the Patriarch Judas, the loss of any port would be an unbearable blow to the Alliance—enemies from the Nine Realms would be continuously sent to this bridgehead."

"Angel?" Gloria savored the word. "The Flash Butterfly has already been killed by General of Tears."

"It's not this angel." Axue shook her head and quickly corrected, "It's not this angel from the Original Seed, but an angel created by humankind itself."

Deep within the Queshan Ruins, amidst winding and rugged tunnels, and within the complex underground water system where two great rivers flow into the sea, lies a burning, passionate heart within this ancient underground burial complex. It is Judas's insurance measure left in East Malaysia—like the golden-faced Flash Butterfly incarnation, a powerful "angel" beyond the reach of mortals.

It comes from the 1968 Thule Air Base accident in the United States.

A B-52 bomber carrying four thermonuclear bombs, en route to the Soviet border for nuclear deterrence, was flying over the Arctic Ocean when a serious fire broke out in the bomber's heating system, forcing the crew to evacuate.

The bomber crashed onto the Arctic ice cap, and the four thermonuclear bombs sank to the seabed along with the scalding fuel. Three of them were later recovered, but the conventional explosives used to detonate the bombs had already exploded along with the bomber. Only the last of the seven safety mechanisms in the nuclear detonation procedure remained.

The missing Mark 28 airburst hydrogen bomb was eventually delivered to East Horse Port by Judas through a fleet of ships organized by a private company after years of icebreaking and excavation.

This was his ultimate insurance policy in the East Malaysia Industrial Port. If Gloria harbored rebellious intentions, or if Ming De occupied this production workshop and turned it into a crucial stronghold for conquering Shambhala —this thermonuclear bomb would explode.

Death God with a yield exceeding two million tons of TNT would disrupt the underground water system of the Copper River and the Nie Dun River in the Magpie Mountains, causing flash floods and mudslides. Even if it were a dirty bomb, it could contaminate the city's industrial water supply, making life unbearable for the city's inhabitants, but it would never become the engine of war for the Ming De.

As for the final detonation safety measure, it is simply that the deceleration parachute of the airburst hydrogen bomb fully deploys, the barometer and altimeter, after adjustment and modification, reach the appropriate readings, and are maintained at the detonation altitude for a period of time to meet all the airburst conditions.

From the vertical shaft at the highest point of the Queshan site's cave passage, slowly open these "angel's wings" and let them fall freely to complete the nuclear explosion procedure.

Whether it's Axue, Gloria, or Judas lurking in the shadows plotting their schemes, these inhuman cannibals care nothing for the lives of the people in East Horse Port.

"My church. Me."

Gloria looked at the brightly lit tower on the hill of Magpie Mountain amidst the wind and snow. Her eyes no longer held any pride or arrogance; all her youthful vigor had vanished, and she seemed to have resigned herself to her fate.

Axue took the prisoner's arm and lifted a "transparent curtain" towards the door. Yu Xue obediently made way for her.

Let's go.