Chapter Summaries

Lin Mo and his colleagues finalized a major purchase from the Dwarves and discussed hiring Half-Orcs for security and research. Grom explained that the Merfolk in Half-Orc tribes were a distinct inland branch from the Merfolk wiped out at sea.

• Lin Mo ordered a thousand runes, valuable metals worth nine hundred thousand gold coins, and a Spatial Ring for a total of fifty-one million gold coins, delighting Thorin.
• Grom asked how many Half-Orcs Great Xia planned to hire, and Lin Mo reassured him that they would discuss the list next.
• Zhao Gang proposed hiring one security worker of each rank for a month and one man and one woman from each domestic race for research; Long Zhan agreed.
• Lin Mo noticed the Fox Charm Clan and Merfolk on the domestic employment list and asked Grom about the Merfolk.
• Grom explained that some Merfolk had settled in inland rivers and lakes ten thousand years earlier, joined Half-Orc tribes, and were distinct from the sea Merfolk.

Lin Mo finalized a one-month Half-Orc hiring deal with Grom for twenty million gold coins, including the security deposit, while Thorin negotiated a fifty-one-million-gold-coin trade with Great Xia. As the group prepared to send word through the Portal before it closed, Thorin boasted about his deal to Kael at the officers' mess.

• Lin Mo selected sixteen domestic-service Half-Orcs and security personnel of every rank, totaling a hiring fee of 11,111,310 gold coins.
• Grom set the hiring fee and security deposit together at twenty million gold coins, and Lin Mo agreed to the one-month trial.
• Lin Mo, Zhao Gang, and Long Zhan discussed reporting the trade before the Portal closed and setting out the next morning, with Eagle Country's military exercises twenty days away.
• At the officers' mess, Thorin loudly told Kael that he had just negotiated a fifty-one-million-gold-coin deal with Great Xia, leaving Kael stunned.

Kael pointed out that the Dwarves would struggle to transport their enormous purchase back to the underground Dwarf Mountain City, then Lin Mo faced complaints from Kael and Elder Muyu over Great Xia’s deal with the Dwarves. At dinner, Thorin and Grom invented increasingly bizarre ways to eat Tofu Pudding, leaving Lin Mo convinced that food factions might spark a future war.

• Kael reminded Thorin that the Dwarves would have trouble carrying their equipment back through Demon Clan territory, leaving Thorin stunned.
• Elder Muyu and Kael confronted Lin Mo about Great Xia’s purchase from the Dwarves, citing the Elves’ gifts and the Holy Human Race’s Astral Portal.
• Elder Muyu ate Tofu Pudding with Flower Nectar while Kael advocated eating it with Pickled Long Beans, Dried Radish, and Soy Sauce.
• Thorin poured Erguotou into his Tofu Pudding and praised the liquor-flavored dish, while Grom mixed in Chili Pepper Powder, Cumin, and Mustard.
• Grom enjoyed his spicy Tofu Pudding, while Lin Mo and his companions watched in disbelief.

Lin Mo explained why the Expeditionary Force had made far larger purchases from the Dwarves and Half-Orcs than from the Elves and Holy Human Race, citing strategic needs and the Portal’s limits. As the Portal neared closing, he gave Kael and Elder Muyu digital watches, astonishing them with their precise timekeeping.

• Elder Muyu and Kael confronted Lin Mo about the Expeditionary Force’s small purchases from the Elves and Holy Human Race compared with its orders from the Dwarves and Half-Orcs.
• Lin Mo explained that the Dwarves supplied a strategically valuable Spatial Ring and that the Half-Orcs’ fee mostly hired two powerful warriors to protect the force in the Fief.
• A Holy Human Race mage told Kael that the Portal was almost due to close, and Kael explained that extending it would require costly magic power crystals.
• Lin Mo gave Kael and Elder Muyu digital wristwatches and demonstrated how they displayed the time precisely.

Lin Mo closed the portal to Blue Star as the Great Xia Expeditionary Force prepared to march on its distant fief. He told the dwarf and half-orc representatives that their purchased weapons would be sent directly to the front, leaving Thorin alarmed about the risks to his tanks and cannons.

• Lin Mo received watches from Elder Muyu and Kael’s side, then ordered the portal area cleared and spoke with Elder Zhao, who told him Blue Star’s contact would be suspended.
• Kael chanted and closed the portal, isolating the Great Xia Expeditionary Force on the Terra Continent.
• Zhao Gang and Long Zhan organized the force, leaving three thousand personnel at Firefly Leaf Valley and preparing twenty-seven thousand to march toward the fief.
• Thorin Ironbeard and Grom brought their equipment orders to Lin Mo, worried about transporting the goods through Demon Clan territory.
• Lin Mo told Thorin and Grom that the army would carry their purchased equipment to the fief, prompting Thorin to protest that the tanks and cannons would be exposed to battle.

The Great Xia Expeditionary Force set out from Firefly Leaf Valley to establish a coastal fief, clearing Demon Clan forces along its route toward Emerald Leaf City. Outside the city, the army prepared to meet the hired Half-Orc Unit, whose skills would help protect the advance through the Mist Forest.

• Lin Mo calmed Grom and reassured him that the Expeditionary Force would bring the equipment without wasting it, while Grom promised the hired warriors would rendezvous with them in two days.
• Long Zhan rallied the 27,000 soldiers and led the Expeditionary Force out of Firefly Leaf Valley with tanks, aircraft, armored vehicles, and robotic dogs.
• The army followed its planned route toward Emerald Leaf City, eliminating scattered Demon Clan members and reaching a camp more than ten kilometers outside the city on the third evening.
• A communications soldier reported that a thousand Half-Orcs were approaching, and Zhao Gang and Lin Mo realized that Grom’s hired unit had arrived.
• Grom recognized the Half-Orcs on the drone feed and left to meet them as Lin Mo, Long Zhan, and Zhao Gang discussed how their instincts could cover the army’s technological blind spots in the Mist Forest.

Lin Mo and Zhao Gang welcomed Warwick, Alistar, and Wukong, the half-orc alliance’s formidable force, and learned that Grom had taken the hired Sixth Rank centaur assignment himself. Grom reported that the group had already defeated several Demon Clan scouting units and two Fifth Order commanders on their way, leaving Lin Mo reassured about their strength.

• Grom introduced Warwick, Alistar, and Wukong to Lin Mo and Zhao Gang as the half-orc alliance’s commanders and hired warriors.
• Lin Mo and Zhao Gang hosted the visitors with roast meat and drinks, and the gathering grew friendly.
• Lin Mo asked about the hired centaur warrior, and Grom admitted that he had taken the assignment himself because the alliance was short-handed.
• Warwick offered to send a replacement, but Lin Mo welcomed Grom and said he trusted their existing partnership.
• Warwick said the group had wiped out several Demon Clan scouting units and two Fifth Order commanders with their troops.

Lin Mo agreed to train Warwick’s thousand elite half-orcs to use Great Xia’s weapons, gaining reinforcements for the Expeditionary Force’s journey through the Mist Forest. That night, he found the half-orcs sleeping outdoors and ordered tents brought over, insisting they take shelter as Warwick wondered whether they would have to pay.

• Warwick explained that the Tribal Alliance would use two Spatial Rings and multiple trips to transport its large weapons and other purchases.
• Warwick asked Lin Mo to let his thousand elite half-orcs train with the army so they could learn to operate Great Xia’s weapons and teach their tribes.
• Lin Mo accepted Warwick’s request, and he, Zhao Gang, and Warwick toasted their friendship.
• After the half-orcs left, Zhao Gang noted that transporting the equipment would take many trips and planned to inform General Long about the reinforcements.
• Unable to sleep, Lin Mo visited the half-orcs’ camp and ordered soldiers to set up tents for them.
• Warwick declined the tents at first, but Lin Mo insisted they use them; Warwick then asked whether they had to pay.

Lin Mo saw that Warwick’s Half-Orcs were surviving on foul, hard rations and arranged for Great Xia to feed them during training. As the Half-Orcs enjoyed the festival food, a Bearman warrior mistook a zongzi’s leaves for part of the meal, leaving Lin Mo to explain that they were meant to be discarded.

• Lin Mo visited Warwick’s camp and learned that the Half-Orcs’ rations were made from animal meat, hide, organs, and bones because the Demon Clan’s encroachment had left them short of game.
• Lin Mo sent kitchen trucks and urged Warwick to accept food, arguing that commanders had a duty to keep their soldiers fed and warm.
• Warwick ordered his people to line up, and the Half-Orcs gratefully collected buns, soy milk, and other food from Great Xia.
• Lin Mo learned from Wu Suowei that Elder Zhao had arranged zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival.
• A Bearman warrior ate a zongzi without removing its leaves, and Lin Mo tried to explain that the leaves were not meant to be eaten.

Lin Mo arranged for Warwick’s half-orcs to train and fight alongside the Great Xia Expeditionary Force, while hired guards were assigned to protect its commanders. As the force advanced toward the Mist Forest, Malphite learned that the newcomers had arrived through a portal built by the Holy Human Race.

• Lin Mo assigned Warwick’s half-orcs to train with Great Xia soldiers and serve as a vanguard against Demon Clan scouts and outposts in the Mist Forest.
• Warwick placed more than twenty hired fighters at Lin Mo’s disposal for thirty days, and Zhao Gang assigned Grom to guard the command vehicle and Wukong to protect Lin Mo.
• Wukong took to the sky to keep watch as the Expeditionary Force packed up and advanced toward the Mist Forest.
• A Demon Clan scout reported to Malphite that the army of bipeds was approaching the Mist Forest and had first appeared in the late Commander Wolaz’s defense zone.
• The scout told Malphite that the newcomers had come through a portal built by the Holy Human Race.

Malphite learned that the newcomers were a separate civilization and decided to attack them, hoping to win a major victory. Long Zhan’s forces halted near the Mist Forest and prepared to fight as the Half-Orc troops learned to use their weapons, until a piercing sound interrupted their training.

• Malphite suspected Great Xia was a low-order technological civilization and ordered his army to assemble for an attack.
• A radar operator detected more than a hundred thousand demonic creatures moving toward Long Zhan’s forces inside the Mist Forest.
• Long Zhan halted the Steel Torrent and ordered the troops to execute the “Sweep” contingency plan.
• Commandant Chen explained heavy machine guns to the Half-Orc troops, while Warwick and Alistar listened.
• A piercing shriek from behind the Expeditionary Force’s position interrupted the training and drew the Half-Orcs’ attention upward.

Great Xia devastated the Demon Clan forces in the Mist Forest with rocket artillery, cluster bombs, thermobaric bombs, and armored vehicles, leaving Warwick and the Half-Orcs stunned by the scale of its firepower. Commandant Chen led them onto the battlefield for live combat training, where a Bearman killed a surviving Corroder with a Gatling.

• Warwick and the Half-Orcs watched Great Xia's rocket artillery unleash a barrage that obliterated much of the Mist Forest.
• Commandant Chen explained the cluster bombs and thermobaric bombs as Great Xia launched a second volley.
• Long Zhan ordered the armored vanguard to advance and attack surviving demons with tanks, lasers, and cannons.
• Commandant Chen took Warwick and the Half-Orcs onto the scorched battlefield to clear survivors and finish off any living enemies.
• A Corroder tried to attack, and a nearby Bearman instinctively shredded its head with a Gatling.

After the Half-Orcs tested modern weapons, a Main Battle Tank killed a fifth-order Heavy Armor Demon Soldier with one Cubic Nitrogen round. Commandant Chen then began vehicle-driving lessons, but Alistar got stuck trying to climb into a tank and the larger races were assigned to protect the vehicles instead.

• Half-Orc warriors fired on the battlefield's surviving Demon Clan members, and a Minotaur used a Man-Portable Rocket Launcher to destroy a corpse.
• A fifth-order Heavy Armor Demon Soldier emerged from a shell crater, shrugged off rifle fire, and charged the Half-Orcs.
• A Main Battle Tank killed the Heavy Armor Demon Soldier with a Cubic Nitrogen round, impressing Warwick with the ammunition's power.
• After a day of cleanup, Commandant Chen told the Half-Orcs to learn to drive the combat vehicles.
• Alistar tried to climb into a tank but got wedged in its hatch, and Commandant Chen assigned Minotaurs, Centaurs, and Bearmen to protect the vehicles while smaller races learned to drive.

Half-Orc warriors trained with Great Xia tanks and showed remarkable skill until a powerful Demon Venerable arrived and overwhelmed the expeditionary force with its pressure. Kael identified it as the supreme commander of all demons on the Terra Continent, leaving Lin Mo uncertain whether Warwick and Wukong could defeat it.

• Warwick learned to command a tank and fired a shell that destroyed a distant boulder, while the Half-Orcs trained with vehicles and weapons.
• Warwick demonstrated skill coordinating infantry and tanks as Long Zhan, Zhao Gang, and Lin Mo watched the training.
• A drone detected a fast, heavily defended creature approaching, and an oppressive presence made the Half-Orcs and soldiers struggle to breathe.
• Warwick and Wukong rose to confront the descending figure, which declared that the humans had provoked an enemy they should not have challenged.
• Kael recognized the figure as a Demon Venerable of at least Seventh Order and explained that it was the supreme commander of all demons on the Terra Continent, stronger than fighters of its rank.

Malphite overwhelmed Warwick, Wukong, and the Expeditionary Force’s weapons, revealing his power as he neared the eighth order. Warwick and Wukong fought him again in berserk forms while Long Zhan redirected the force to meet a massive Demon Clan army attacking on the ground.

• Malphite struck at the Expeditionary Force, but Grom intercepted his blow and was badly injured; Warwick and Wukong attacked Malphite and were swiftly beaten back.
• Long Zhan ordered the Expeditionary Force to concentrate its weapons on Malphite, but the barrage failed to harm him.
• Kael warned that Malphite’s pressure domain was transforming and that he was close to advancing to the eighth order.
• Warwick and Wukong entered berserk states and fought Malphite together, matching him in a running battle for the moment.
• A soldier reported that a huge Demon Clan army and two sixth-rank commanders were breaking through the front-line tanks, so Long Zhan ordered the units to target the ground forces instead.

Long Zhan prepared to use the nuclear weapon activation case as a last resort while Lin Mo and the others withdrew from the battle. The Expeditionary Force drove back the demon army with everything it had, but two Sixth-Rank Demon Clan commanders slipped through its first defensive line.

• Long Zhan ordered Lin Mo, Grom, Kael, Elder Muyu, and Thorin to leave, and Lin Mo realized Long Zhan was preparing for a possible nuclear strike.
• Zhao Gang escorted Lin Mo away while Long Zhan opened the nuclear weapon activation case and entered its password.
• Long Zhan discovered that Warwick and Wukong wore translator earpieces and ordered them to draw Malphite away from the Expeditionary Force.
• Warwick and Wukong led Malphite farther from the army as the soldiers unleashed their weapons against the advancing demons.
• The demon army pressed forward under a barrage of rockets, autocannon fire, and tanks, while two Sixth-Rank Demon Clan commanders broke through the first defensive line.

Great Xia’s forces used a hypersonic missile to destroy a sixth-rank Demon Clan commander, revealing a weapon powerful enough to threaten Malphite. Malphite chose to withdraw for now, intending to return after Warwick and Wukong weakened.

• Long Zhan ordered a hypersonic missile strike on the breached left defensive line and told nearby friendly units to withdraw.
• The missile struck the scorpion-shaped sixth-rank Demon Clan commander, vaporizing it and devastating everything within a hundred meters.
• The blast wave hurled Alistar and another sixth-rank commander through the air and interrupted Malphite’s fight with Warwick and Wukong.
• Malphite recognized that Great Xia’s weapon could threaten him and weighed the danger of continuing to fight while his army suffered heavy casualties.
• Malphite decided to withdraw, promising the Expeditionary Force he would return and destroy them.

After the Demon Clan army retreated, Long Zhan ordered a nuclear strike on Malphite, who was withdrawing with his forces. Great Xia’s Dongfeng missile struck and annihilated Malphite and the army below, marking its first arrival on Terra.

• Malphite ordered the Demon Clan army to retreat, ending the battle, while Warwick and Wukong collapsed from exhaustion after their berserk state ended.
• Long Zhan watched Malphite’s retreat on the Tactical Tablet and decided to launch a nuclear strike before the Demon Venerable could return and threaten Great Xia again.
• Long Zhan authorized the strike and pressed the launch button, sending a Dongfeng missile from the silo at Firefly Leaf Valley.
• Malphite sensed imminent danger as the missile descended, but he could not escape its terminal-speed approach.
• The nuclear blast consumed Malphite and the Demon Clan army below, unleashing a devastating shock wave across Terra.

Long Zhan’s forces detonated a two-hundred-kiloton nuclear bomb against the Seventh Order Demon Venerable, leaving the demon’s fate unknown. Lin Mo and his companions reached the Expeditionary Force, where they learned the blast’s electromagnetic pulse and smoke were preventing reconnaissance.

• The Expeditionary Force watched a nuclear blast rise on the horizon and braced against its shock wave.
• Warwick and Wukong witnessed the explosion and were awed by Great Xia’s power.
• Lin Mo and his companions saw the mushroom cloud, while the electromagnetic pulse disrupted their attempt to contact Long Zhan.
• Lin Mo reached the command post and learned the Mist Forest was burning and smoke prevented the satellite from checking whether the demon commander survived.
• Long Zhan explained that the two-hundred-kiloton bomb had been aimed outside the Expeditionary Force’s affected area, and Zhao Gang described its destructive range.

Lin Mo went to the front to check the radiation damage from the nuclear blast and found soldiers suffering from its effects. After healing one wounded soldier, he followed him toward the isolation tent to save the soldier’s squad leader.

• Lin Mo questioned Long Zhan about the blast’s radiation range, then drove to the front with Kael, Elder Muyu, and the others.
• At the ruined frontline, Lin Mo learned that most radiation readings were within safe limits, but some locations and debris were dangerously radioactive.
• Lin Mo healed a wounded soldier, who begged him to save his unconscious squad leader.
• Kael and Elder Muyu sensed that the radiation was erasing the land’s life force, which Elder Muyu identified as Withering.
• Lin Mo ignored the nurse’s warning and headed into the isolation area where the squad leader was being treated.