Hearing the eerie voice suddenly ring out, the sentry whipped around. A black-robed figure stood before him.
Before he could do anything else, his vision plunged downward, and consciousness slipped away.
West of Ming City.
As the direction where the Great Ming Kingdom faced the Gulei Kingdom most directly, this was also the area most heavily surrounded by Gulei's army.
A full hundred and fifty thousand troops had gathered here alone.
On the city wall.
The Holy Spirit Cult deacon who had returned from completing his mission respectfully approached Long Xiaoyao.
"Great Worship, the beheading operation was a complete success."
Buzz—
At that, Long Xiaoyao slowly opened his eyes.
"Plans have changed. Have everyone from the Holy Spirit Cult wait."
After delivering that brief order, Long Xiaoyao closed his eyes again.
At Xu Nian'an's signal, all the residents west of Great Ming City had evacuated. They had also moved a massive mountain to the northwest and southwest of Ming City, sealing off the western city.
All connections between the western city and Ming City had been cut.
Perhaps Long Xiaoyao, a Limit Douluo, along with the many Soul Douluos and Soul Saints of the Holy Spirit Cult, could defeat this two-hundred-thousand-strong army.
But completely wiping them out would be difficult. They had been summoned, and they didn't have any large-caliber Soul Tools.
So Xu Nian'an could use them to drive back the Gulei Kingdom's army.
But having them complete the system's mission would be difficult.
Xu Nian'an would have to use a little ingenuity.
How could he take down these two hundred thousand troops without losing any of his own soldiers?
That might have been difficult elsewhere, but Ming City stood atop a high peak by the East Sea, with only its western side lying slightly lower.
Seeing the terrain and remembering that the Great Ming Kingdom lay along the East Sea, Xu Nian'an instantly came up with a plan.
Fortunately, the terrain also ran from north to south. Otherwise, carrying out his plan would have been difficult.
The front lines.
Before the Gulei army.
"What's going on?"
"Why haven't we received any news from the king for so long? Could something... could something have happened?"
A middle-aged man in yellow heavy armor furrowed his brows. His face was stern.
"General Lei Shun, I've already sent a squad of sentries to request orders. Before long, under your brilliant command, we'll take the Starry Sky Kingdom."
Lei Shun said nothing. In his mind, the Starry Sky Kingdom was already in the bag.
There was no harm in letting his subordinates talk like that.
"Urgent! A royal decree!"
Just then, a figure came sprinting at full speed from the rear of the Gulei army.
Troops along the route hurriedly stepped aside to let him pass.
"The king's verbal order: gather all troops and take Starry Sky City within one day!"
Lei Shun frowned at the messenger.
"A verbal order?"
"Is His Majesty safe and well?"
"Everything is fine. Please complete your mission as soon as possible, General Lei Shun."
Hearing this, Lei Shun relaxed his deeply furrowed brow. Truth be told, he was a little excited.
Once he took the Starry Sky Kingdom, he would become the greatest general in Gulei Kingdom's history.
Well, although the Gulei Kingdom had only recently become independent because of the Heaven Dou Empire, he couldn't help imagining himself as the kingdom's greatest general, unmatched by anyone before or after him.
Lei Shun could hardly wait.
It took two shichen—four hours. By the time the sky began to darken, Lei Shun had gathered all the Gulei Kingdom's troops surrounding Ming City.
"On my command, attack!"
Bang! Rumble!!!
The Gulei army surged into action.
Before long, the city gates fell. They met almost no resistance as they charged into the western part of Ming City.
"G-General, it's empty... This is an empty city!"
Hearing the report from the front, Lei Shun's eyes widened.
"An... an empty city? How is that possible?"
Only after his forces had all entered Mingxi City did Lei Shun finally see what was going on.
"Impossible! Even if they left no troops here to resist us, they would never evacuate all the ordinary civilians!"
It was a trap!
That was Lei Shun's first thought.
As they pushed farther in, they suddenly found a towering wall blocking their way forward.
The massive wall had appeared abruptly, like a stroke of ink slashed across the landscape. It was clearly countless times taller than the other walls.
Above the northwestern city wall...
Xu Nian'an looked down over the Gulei troops inside Mingxi City. A vicious killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Open the floodgates!"
"Drown those damned beasts!"
The Great Ming Kingdom had an exceptionally unusual location. There was only one way to wipe out the Gulei Kingdom without losing a single soldier.
That was the Empty City stratagem, combined with the North Sea Water Diversion Project: drown two hundred thousand troops!
It reminded Xu Nian'an of the God of War, Bai Qi, drowning Yan City.
But Xu Nian'an and Bai Qi were fundamentally different.
Bai Qi had attacked; Xu Nian'an was defending. And these men truly deserved to die.
Crash—
Rumble!!!
The waters of the North Sea surged forth with the force of a collapsing sky, rushing inland.
Rocks, grass, flowers... even trees were swept away and destroyed.
As soon as Xu Nian'an ordered the floodgates opened, every obstacle in the water's path was swept aside.
"Your Majesty, you should retreat farther. The outlet is widening rapidly. I'm afraid the water flow will exceed our estimates and reach you."
The instant they opened the North Sea floodgates, Xu Yi had led his men away and come to Xu Nian'an's side.
Xu Nian'an glanced at how far he was from the floodgate—more than ten kilometers—and couldn't help feeling speechless at Xu Yi's warning.
If he had been standing in the water's path, he would have left without a second thought. But he was standing on a mountain. There was no need to dodge.
Most importantly, the outlet faced directly toward western Ming City.
"No need. This spot is perfect. I want to watch those Gulei Kingdom scum drown with my own eyes."
Rumble~!!
A vast flood, carrying the boulders and trees it had swept up along the way, rushed downward.
Rumble~!
The ground beneath Mingxi City began to tremble.
"It's here."
Feeling the tremors, Long Xiaoyao opened his eyes at once.
He raised a hand, and waves of black light flashed.
Roar~!!!
With a casual sweep of his hand, Long Xiaoyao sent a black dragon soaring out.
Bang! Rumble!!!
The black dragon, condensed from extremely powerful Soul Power, struck true and destroyed the northern wall of Mingxi City.
Rumble~!!!
"W-What's happening?"
Feeling the earth shake beneath him, Lei Shun suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
The Starry Sky Kingdom wouldn't give up its city so easily, especially its capital. This had to be a plot.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Just then, rows of magnificent Sun and Moon Flags appeared atop the towering wall they had seen earlier.
"The Great Ming Kingdom is mighty!"
"The Great Ming Kingdom is mighty!"
"The Great Ming Kingdom is mighty!"
"Those who violate the Great Ming's authority will have their cities razed and their kingdoms destroyed!"
"G-Great Ming?"
What kind of power was this? Was there even a kingdom by that name on the continent?
Rumble~!!!!
No one answered his question, because the next moment, the world before his eyes was swallowed by the image of raging, surging seas.
No!
Something was wrong. Everything was wrong. Why had they been ordered to gather every soldier for the attack? Why had the command come from the king?
When Lei Shun finally realized what had happened and turned to look at the messenger, he saw a mocking smile tugging at the man's lips. The messenger slowly peeled off his human-skin mask.
"Damn it! The heavens mean to destroy my Gulei Kingdom!"
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!