Seven days later.
As the commander of the ground forces, Lu Cheng came to the edge of the royal city of the Gray Feather Kingdom.
The capital of the Gray Feather Kingdom was built in a deep mountain basin. Lu Cheng didn't know what the original founders were thinking. Building the main city in such a geographical location... If a war really breaks out in the future, they will be surrounded and killed in minutes.
But now, the royal city of the Gray Feather Kingdom has been completely covered by a scarlet and viscous liquid.
This liquid is called blood stains. Any area where blood crystal beasts are active will have more or less of this liquid called blood stains.
China's research on blood stains is still in the speculative stage, because it is impossible to extract samples of blood stains, and if the amount is too small, it will decompose instantly.
"Testing communication channel. City ship received, please reply. Received, please reply."
Lu Cheng sat in an off-road vehicle and tested the temporary communication channel.
"City Ship received, ready to strike ground targets at any time."
The voice of the liaison officer of the Shangcheng ship came over the radio. Lu Cheng confirmed that the communication was smooth and walked out of the off-road vehicle.
"Captain, unknown individuals have appeared at the target location, suspected to be slaves controlled by another country."
The sound of the kite rang out from the radio on Lu Cheng's chest. After a period of recuperation, this elite sniper was finally able to pick up the gun again.
With such an excellent sniper in the camp, Lu Cheng did not let him sit idle in the camp. He directly pulled the iron ring and the kite to participate in this ground communication mission.
"Target location?"
When Lu Cheng heard Feng Kite's radio contact, he quickly walked to the observation position where Feng Kite was and lay down.
The royal city of the Gray Feather Kingdom was located on the other side of the basin. Lu Cheng lay beside Feng Zheng and picked up the tactical telescope, and saw a group of people walking towards the royal city.
This group of people were not nobles of the Gray Feather Kingdom. They were all strong adult men, but they were dressed very simply and some of them had heavy chains on their hands.
"They are indeed slaves from the Far South Empire. Were they sent to the gate of the royal city to be used as food for the Blood Crystal Beast?"
Lu Cheng saw through the tactical telescope that these slaves were still holding weapons, and there were no slave owners around to drive them away.
"Captain, what are your next instructions?"
Feng Zheng was holding a sniper rifle and looking into the distance. The straight-line distance from here to the royal city was more than one kilometer. The sniper rifle in Feng Zheng's hand had been replaced with a "Type 26" sniper rifle. Type 26 was just a nickname... It was rumored on the Internet that the cost of this gun was as high as 260,000.
In Feng Kite's hands, this high-precision sniper rifle can kill all living creatures within a two-kilometer range.
"Wait... we need to upload the target data to the upper city ship."
Lu Cheng continued to observe the royal city of the Gray Feather Kingdom in the distance with a tactical telescope. Soon, the city ship would send out an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to conduct aerial photography.
All data of this operation must be preserved intact, which is equivalent to a military exercise with the nature of weapon testing, except that the target has become a blood crystal beast.
Feng Kite came here this time just to perform a guard mission. The best situation for completing the mission is that no one in the ground force would need to fire a single shot.
"Captain, another group of unknown personnel has been observed on the other high cliff."
Tiehuan's voice sounded in Lu Cheng's radio. After Tiehuan reported the coordinates, Lu Cheng moved the telescope's image to the high cliff opposite.
The audience finally arrived...
The group of people on the high cliff opposite were the sightseeing groups from the seven major clans of the Far South Empire and the Gray Feather Kingdom. When Lu Cheng was looking at a man in black armor in the sightseeing group through a telescope, he suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of Lu Cheng.
… … …
"Helauren, what are you looking at?"
A spellcaster in a black robe and a one-eye mask came up to Helauren and asked.
"No, nothing..." Helauren took a step back. When he stood on the edge of the cliff, he felt uneasy. This feeling was as creepy as being stared at by the god of death.
Helauren has always had full faith in his intuition, and this trust has helped him escape death several times.
But today is a day worth celebrating for the Far South Empire.
"Everyone from the seven clans! Feel honored. Today, you will embark on a path to greater prosperity together with our great motherland."
The spellcaster in a black robe walked up to the elders representing the seven major clans and spoke loudly.
This spellcaster is a master of ceremonies from the Far South Empire's Eye of Conquest Council. The spellcasters serving in this council spend their entire lives trying to figure out how to... make the Far South Empire expand its territory more efficiently.
Today they finally found a way, which is to control the blood crystal beast.
Arjan followed the elders of the Deep Green Clan to the top of the high cliff, and the members of the Far South Empire welcomed his return.
"The blood crystal beasts we raised will begin their first hunt. Please come here and watch." The spellcaster of the Eye of Conquest signaled the elders of the seven major clans to come to the side of the high cliff.
The leader of the Iron Clan was the first to reach the high cliff. After the first one, there was the second one...
"Your Highness Arjan, please accept reality." The elder of the Dark Green Clan, leaning on a cane, followed the elder of the Iron Clan to the high cliff.
Although they had a premonition, everyone present took a deep breath when they saw the royal city covered in scarlet liquid.
"We have sent a team of 300 gladiators to challenge these blood crystal beasts. They will give us a perfect battle." The voice of the host of the Eye of Conquest was filled with excitement.
Deathmatches were so popular in the Far South Empire that countries around the world followed suit. A powerful gladiator had unparalleled popularity among the common people and the nobility.
Arjan stood at the edge of a high cliff and watched the group of death fighters as they carefully entered the royal city of the once prosperous Gray Feather Kingdom, but they didn't even have time to step through the city gate.
Thousands of blood crystal beasts of various shapes suddenly poured out from the royal city. This was not a battle at all. The three hundred gladiators didn't even have time to react before they were dismembered and eaten by the blood crystal beasts like a tide.
"Can this kind of battle really be called an honor?" Argen asked General Helauren in a deep voice.
"For the Far South Empire, there is only one honor, and that is victory, an overwhelming victory."
General Helauren looked at the gladiators who were being completely devoured by the blood crystal beasts below. In less than a month, these blood crystal beasts had multiplied so much... General Helauren did feel threatened.
The brutal posture of the blood crystal beast below also made the patriarchs of the seven major clans feel terrified.
“Stop!”
A scarlet inscription lit up on the back of the hand of the caster of the Eye of Conquest. Under the effect of the inscription, the Blood Crystal Beast, which was previously in a violent state, suddenly stopped its movements.
They looked towards the high cliff like soldiers being reviewed.
"As you can see, the blood crystal beasts we raise are completely controllable. In the near future, they will become a powerful force for the empire to conquer the world." The caster of the Eye of Conquest turned his back to the group of blood crystal beasts and spread his hands to the elders of the seven major clans. "Now you only need to offer your loyalty to enjoy this honor, people of the Far South Empire."
As the spellcaster spoke, the single eye on his mask lit up, and he stretched out his hand to the patriarchs of the seven clans, with symbols of the Far South Empire overflowing from his hand.
The so-called loyalty is to be branded with the Far South Empire and officially become a member of the Far South Empire.
"We...will be loyal to the Far South."
The patriarch of the Iron Clan has been waiting for this moment for a long time. The Far South Empire can control the Blood Crystal Beasts, and there will be no enemies of the Far South in this world.
He walked forward, held the spellcaster's hand, and was about to accept the brand.
"Get down! Your Highness! Danger!"
General Helauren suddenly shouted loudly, and before the spellcaster could react, Helauren rushed forward and knocked the spellcaster to the ground.
The caster of the Eye of Conquest turned out to be a member of the royal family of the Far South Empire. Argen looked at the caster who was knocked down by Helauren. The mask fell off his face and he looked like a woman.
"Hlauren! What are you doing!?"
The distorted sound returned to normal as the mask fell off.
"Lower your head, Your Highness!"
The pores all over Helauren's body were about to explode. This kind of premonition of danger was something he had never encountered even when he was young and faced challenges from hundreds of people in a deathmatch!
When Helauren forcibly pressed down the spellcaster's back and made her lie on the ground for less than three seconds, a sun rose slowly in front of his eyes.
It was not the sun, but an explosion. An explosion as dazzling as the sun spread out from the center of the Gray Feather Kingdom.
The blood crystal beasts were swept away like dust in this horrific explosion, and the surviving blood crystal beasts were placed in the blazing flames.
The patriarchs of the seven surrounding clans all fell to the ground. Valan also fell to the ground, unable to keep his balance due to the impact of the explosion, and stared at the flames rising in the distance with wide eyes.
This scene of heavenly punishment fire was far more terrifying than what Argen had seen at sea. The rising flames almost occupied the entire sky.
"The first, second, and third missiles hit the target."
Lu Cheng's voice was heard in the radio headset worn by Valan, reminding Valan that this missile strike was just the beginning.
“Your Highness!”
The voice of General Helauren sounded beside Argen's ears. The spellcaster who was pinned to the ground by General Helauren broke free from General Helauren's restraints and stumbled all the way to the edge of the high cliff.
"Do you know what those blood crystal beasts represent to Yuannan?"
The spellcaster struggled to push away General Helauren who was trying to stop her, and the next moment a large number of scarlet inscriptions overflowed from her body.
If the Far South Empire wants to expand rapidly in the future, it must rely on the power of these blood crystal beasts. Although she doesn't know where this horrible explosion and fire come from, she must save these... poor blood crystal beasts.
"Get out of there!"
Her voice turned into an inscription and was implanted into the consciousness of the blood crystal beasts living in the royal city. Upon hearing this command, the blood crystal beasts, who followed their instincts, began to want to escape from the royal city like crazy.
The surviving blood crystal beasts in the royal city gradually gathered outside the royal city. According to her perception, the explosion just now almost wiped out nearly 60,000 blood crystal beasts, but there were still 130,000 surviving blood crystal beasts.
She guided these blood crystal beasts away from the royal city shrouded in flames. There were still many surviving blood crystal beasts. As long as there was one, they could multiply infinitely on their own.
Thinking of this... she finally breathed a sigh of relief, then sat down on the ground somewhat exhausted, breathing weakly.
Not everyone can control such a large number of blood crystal beasts, and she has only recently mastered this ability.
Meteorite
Helauren was watching the royal city engulfed in flames. A few seconds before the explosion, he caught a glimpse of an object with a tail flashing across the sky. The sight of a meteorite falling and destroying the world... Helauren had seen it in some books, but everything seemed to be over
"The fourth and fifth missiles are about to hit their targets. Be prepared for impact."
Lu Cheng's voice rang in Valan's ears again, and Valan's first reaction was to hold his head with both hands.
The third sun shone again where the blood crystal beasts gathered. Sensing the danger in advance, Helauren immediately stood in front of the spellcaster who was sitting on the ground.
The impact of the explosion was like being hit hard by a strong man. The sound of the explosion was so loud that it seemed to pierce his eardrums, but Helauren still held on.
But the blood crystal beasts at the center of the explosion were not so lucky. The original 130,000 blood crystal beasts were quickly reduced to less than half. However, these blood crystal beasts seemed to gradually get used to the impact of the flames, and the number of those burned to death by the flames gradually decreased.
Wailing sounds, General Helauren could even hear the painful howls of the blood crystal beasts in the flames.
"Your Highness, let the blood crystal beasts escape in batches!" Helauren shouted to the spellcaster behind him, but the other party had completely fainted. What's worse is that when she fainted, the order she gave to the blood crystal beasts was... 'Come to me'.
The surviving blood crystal beasts below the basin ran towards where Helauren was in fear.
At this moment, Helauren felt cold all over. He looked up at the sky, and the red track representing death appeared again above the sky... It was another new meteorite, and its target was still those blood crystal beasts.
By the time Helauren shouted "Run", it was too late. Flames burst out behind Helauren again. The impact of this explosion was more than just a punch on his chest.
It was a feeling as if his internal organs were being crushed into debris, and blood was pouring out of Helauren's mouth... His brain also fell into a state of chaos, and all the sounds around him faded away. Finally, he fell to the ground and fainted.
"The fourth and fifth hit the target."
Lu Cheng continued to report on the current progress of the mission. Ajan had already hidden in the forest with those clan leaders who were willing to listen to his advice.
"The ground target clearing mission is complete. Wait... the blood crystal beasts are still rapidly multiplying. It's more difficult than I thought. Now, go ask the elder if he has made a decision."