Ordered to Form a 'Local Force'

"This mission... it's got some substance to it." Feng Xiao didn't voice an opinion, but Wang Hao said excitedly.

[Military Mission: Lead a conventional military fleet to assist the humans of K180 in defending the Eastern Front. The mission is considered complete once the defensive line is stabilized.

Note: Please operate under the name of the 'Alchemy Alliance' and pose as a local hidden human faction to complete the mission.

Reward: 10 Military Merits (exchangeable for high-quality Star Weapons or rare resources)]

A war commission!

Setting aside the rarity of the mission, the sheer thrill it brought was something the adventurous spirit within Feng Xiao couldn't resist.

An explorer...

What they pursue is endless mystery and the stimulating sensation of adrenaline burning through their veins.

"I accept!" Feng Xiao replied immediately.

His voice was eager to get started.

He quickly entered a focused state, beginning to study the layout of the Eastern Front, and soon, his brows furrowed.

Was the gap between the two sides a bit too large?

The entirety of K180, or rather the Autses Continent, was massive, yet all the races combined occupied only about one percent of its total area.

The remaining regions were endless forests and wastelands occupied by magical beasts, filled with infinite danger.

Within the areas where intelligent races gathered, the territory occupied by the human race as a whole wasn't as vast as one might imagine; the Eastern Front was only one thousand kilometers long...

To be precise, the area where large-scale cold-weapon armies could actually deploy and engage in combat was only about one thousand kilometers wide.

The rest consisted of either extremely steep mountain ranges, bottomless canyons, or terrifying, hazardous zones filled with endless swamps and toxins.

In short, in those other areas, let alone war, both armies would likely lose nearly half their strength before they even made contact.

With ancient technology, aside from rare apothecaries and alchemists, even a bad cold could kill off a pile of people.

However, it was precisely because of this topographical advantage that humans were able to hold onto the resource-rich Central Plains at a relatively low cost.

The Eastern Front spanned a total of one thousand kilometers of Gobi desert, where dozens of enchanted walls and fortresses of varying lengths crisscrossed the landscape.

They blocked the entire Gobi tightly.

There were even over twenty major frontier cities built specifically for the defense line!

War fortresses were scattered across the defense line like stars, and without exception, they were equipped with powerful magic-energy weapons and alchemical creations!

The standing army stationed there year-round numbered ten million!

But now, the Eastern Front—humanity's strongest barrier that had held back the Orc Empire for hundreds of years—was facing its greatest crisis!

Twelve major Orc super-tribes had united with countless large and medium-sized tribes, dispatching a massive Orc army that rode upon countless war beasts, converging endlessly from the boundless grasslands.

Among them were super-beasts as large as mountains—Behemoth War Beasts!

An Orc army of hundreds of millions!

Even the most basic units were Gnolls, and the Orcs' high-end combat forces, such as the Tiger-Lion Men, Elephant Men, and Rhino Men, numbered in the millions.

There was an endless variety of strange and formidable Orc species.

In the sky, the dense swarms of Eagle Men and Bat Men were like dark clouds, obscuring a vast portion of the light.

The energy of infinite lives mingled together, and a thick, murderous aura surged into the sky!

The human defense line was equally formidable; soldiers clad in refined armor stood upon the walls, the bright silver light reflecting off them stretching for hundreds of miles!

Hundreds of knight orders, each with distinct armor but all radiating powerful auras, patrolled the area, killing any creature that didn't belong to humanity along the way.

Furthermore, tens of thousands of linked cannons were positioned at major battle arrays, thousands of floating warships hovered proudly in the sky, and five hundred thousand Griffin Knights circled around the alchemical and magical warships.

Coupled with massive walls reaching a hundred meters in height, enclosed fortresses thousands of meters in diameter, and millions of archers and heavy infantry legions stationed everywhere.

The professional legions were also standing by, energy fluctuations shrouding the surroundings.

The human side's momentum was no less than that of the Orcs!

However, only those involved knew that while humanity's comprehensive military strength was superior to the Orcs, their professional combat power and top-tier strength were far inferior.

If the human professionals were defeated before the army achieved victory, they would then face an Orc professional legion of overwhelming numbers.

The army would have no power to resist!

According to human calculations, the probability of this happening was no less than seventy percent; the professionals were essentially destined to lose!

With a five-fold gap in professionals and an average difference of three minor realms in top-tier combat power...

The humans had no choice but to prepare for the worst.

"Commander Atel, seventeen thousand professionals have gathered. One thousand mages have been arranged at various fortresses to serve as long-range fire support. There are about thirty thousand assassins, priests, and buffers in total, with thirteen thousand capable of direct combat. I must say, compared to the Orcs, we are far inferior..."

At the top of a giant fortress near the front line, a middle-aged general clad in white-gold armor nodded.

"I understand. The Eastern Front currently holds eighty percent of the elite forces from the three great empires, sixty percent of the mid-to-high-level professionals, and all the knight orders! Even facing an Orc race where every citizen is a soldier, we have nothing to fear!"

The Saint-tier mage who had just finished his report, along with Feng Xiao and the others—individuals whose personal might was rated between level 30 and level 40 in their eyes—nodded in quick succession.

He knew that the Commander spoke this way mostly to provide a necessary morale boost to the thousand-man officer corps standing behind them.

In reality, the Commander was more aware of the true situation than anyone else.

"The war will begin soon. All officers, report to your positions immediately. This war is expected to last several years, so prepare your last wills in advance."

The Commander spoke without turning his head, though it was unclear whether the latter half of his sentence was meant for the officers or for himself.

"In addition to the Imperial army and the significant reinforcements from the kingdoms, quite a few hidden factions of professionals have come to support us, and they are still gathering. However, they should only add about five thousand professionals at most; after all, those qualified to participate in a professional war must be at least Tier 6!" the mage reminded him, thinking of the many freelance professionals who had appeared recently.

"It is good that they have come to support us..." Commander Atel had just begun to speak...

A dense radiance pierced through the sky, and an immensely powerful energy erupted without reservation. A formidable pressure blanketed a vast area, causing the expressions of nearly every professional to change drastically.

It was an energy fluctuation far exceeding the Saint-tier!

"Alert! Alert!"

"Anti-air turrets, take note! The energy fluctuation is coming from the sky!"

"..."

Dozens of nearby fortresses and a multitude of strongholds rapidly entered a state of combat readiness, and the human armies in more distant regions also began to stir in agitation.

One by one, the alchemy cannons and magitech heavy cannons raised their thick barrels, aiming toward the sky.

Panic immediately gripped everyone's hearts; even the Commander, whose strength far surpassed the Saint-tier, could not help but tighten his grip on the hilt of his sword.

More than two hundred massive steel constructs, each at least two thousand meters long, descended slowly. Their sleek, streamlined hulls and shimmering surfaces radiated infinite energy.

Among them were terrifying creations five or six thousand, or even ten to twenty thousand meters long, resembling mountain ranges!

They blotted out the sun!

The Commander could feel that every single one of these terrifying constructs posed a lethal threat to him.

Many of them even made him feel powerless.

"Which race could possibly possess so many Alchemy Masters, or even Alchemy Grandmasters..."

The Saint-tier mage said with difficulty.

However, the next moment, a golden stream of light, bright as a scorching sun, flew at high speed from the most unique of these constructs and hovered above the giant fortress.

The dense golden light gradually faded, revealing Feng Xiao, who appeared like a god under the enhancement of his Divine Sense.

His gaze was indifferent, his divinity filling the sky!

"The current Executor of the Alchemy Alliance has arrived to suppress the Orcs!"