’I’ll have to wait until I get to the Empire’s Eastern Territory and attack the cities guarded by Heavy Armor Knights to make use of these plans again...’

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a report was presented by an Imperial Soldier who had sworn allegiance to Qin Feng. It stated that the Duke of the Eastern Territory and the Duke of the Western Territory had issued a joint statement announcing their surrender to the Holy Empire. Furthermore, they expressed their willingness to obey all of His Majesty the Emperor’s commands and jointly resist the resurfacing Evil God’s Influence and Void Creatures.

"Huh?"

"They all surrendered?"

’Doesn’t this mean I’ve just wiped out the Gulad Empire?’

Qin Feng didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he opened his Village Management Talent panel and conscripted Void Empire Soldiers from all the cities in the Eastern and Western Territories.

While he was at it, he also conscripted all the exclusive Soldier Types from these two regions—the Holy Knights and Heavy Armor Knights—and incorporated them into his army.

After purchasing all the Void Empire Soldiers, Qin Feng led the Holy Empire’s grand army south.

However, he left behind a large contingent of native Imperial Soldiers and Amilia to garrison the Gulad Empire’s capital, ensuring the core city would not be captured by other enemies.

Additionally, once Amilia and the others had secured the city’s defenses, they were to venture out and clear the surrounding area of Void Creatures, preventing them from becoming too concentrated within the Death Zone.

Once the Divine Chosen Farmers brought by Qin Feng finished building a Gate of War in the imperial capital, it would allow him to return with his Divine Chosen Team at any time to provide support. Only then could Amilia and the others rest.

All newly conscripted Void Empire Soldiers were to assemble in a designated city in the Northern Territory, where they would be handed over to the Military God, Baludopa—whom Qin Feng had stationed there in advance—for further deployment.

Their core mission was to systematically sweep the Death Zone of Void Creatures while also supporting certain Lord Players in returning to their territories and helping them reseal the Void Gates.

It didn’t matter if they couldn’t completely conquer the Death Zone for the time being.

Once Qin Feng dealt with the Flame Emperor Galukasa, he would return with his main army to launch a large-scale cleanup operation and reseal the Void Gates that continuously summoned Void Creatures.

...

Meanwhile, upon meeting Pride and the others, Nesia immediately and urgently asked for news about Su Mumu.

However, the response he received was that Pride and his followers had never paid any attention to the woman and thus couldn’t provide any useful information.

So, Nesia had to settle for second best and instead requested military support from Pride’s faction of Evil God Believers.

Most crucially, he wanted the Ancient Giant Dragons that Pride’s group had swayed to go to Lunes and help him defend the city.

These Ancient Giant Dragons were an upgraded version of the Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry.

Their attack, defense, and speed were off the charts.

They could fight at range and in close combat.

They possessed both single-target and AoE capabilities.

They could effectively tie down the Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry recruited by Tingfeng.

However, Pride and his followers were currently busy trying to conquer the isolated Dragon Realm and simply couldn’t spare the forces to aid Nesia.

Besides, in their eyes, this Native Creature was nothing more than a "cannon fodder NPC."

Thus, faced with Nesia’s request, Pride and his followers flatly refused without a moment’s hesitation.

With things as they were, Nesia had no choice but to return empty-handed.

He had failed to uncover any details about the Su Mumu who had defeated him in an instant, and he had failed to secure any allies willing to lend a hand, ultimately leaving with nothing to show for his efforts.

But not long after he began his return journey, Nesia discovered something even worse.

The several Teleportation Towers he had previously built within the Gulad Empire had all been destroyed.

As a result, not only was his direct teleportation route to the Gulad Empire completely severed, but he also realized the Rune Capital, which Abby and the others were defending, had most likely fallen to the Holy Empire’s army, led by Tingfeng.

"This-!?"

"How could this be!?"

’How could Tingfeng take Lunes so quickly!?’

’The No-Fly Magic Array, the City Defense Magic Cannons, the Mage Corps... Even if over a hundred thousand Extraordinary Soldiers charged all at once, they would’ve been wiped out in the blink of an eye!’

Nesia was completely baffled.

He didn’t know that Amilia possessed a way to shut down the No-Fly Magic Array.

Nor could he have imagined that Tingfeng could use a small elite force to completely wipe out the centuries-old Evil God Mages led by Abby.

Most importantly, he didn’t know that Amilia possessed a Wing Connection skill comparable to a nuclear explosion.

And that Qin Feng’s Divine Chosen Army possessed the raw power to conquer Lunes in a frontal assault.

At this point, Nesia finally understood just how terrifying the Divine Chosen Lords were.

They weren’t the harmless "trash" Pride had claimed they were; on the contrary, they were an existence even more terrifying than the Flame Emperor Galukasa.

’I should have found a way to let the Flame Emperor Galukasa kill these Divine Chosen Lords first and then dealt with the Kingdom of Ventecenia at my leisure.’

But at this point, regrets were useless.

Nesia knew his only way out was to first join Pride’s faction. He would have to take advantage of the Dragon Realm’s unique isolation from the world’s conflicts, lie low for the time being, and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback.

Yet, he did not sink into despair.

The experience he had accumulated over centuries had allowed him to master a series of top-tier skills with powerful mechanics, including Clone, Teleportation, Flash, Disguise, and Invisibility. In terms of personal combat power, he already possessed the strength to single-handedly destroy a city.

Given enough time, he could once again raise a new legion of Envious Mages at the Extraordinary Realm.

...

At the same time, the Flame Emperor Galukasa received two crucial pieces of news: the imperial capital, Lunes, had been occupied by the enemy, and the Dukes of the Eastern, Western, and Southern Territories had collectively surrendered.

But his face showed no sign of panic.

This was because the force he had brought to the battlefields of the Kingdom of Ventecenia was the Gulad Empire’s main army—a force that comprised 95% of the entire empire’s military strength.

More importantly, all the commanders in the army were "companions" who were absolutely loyal to him, and they all shared a common faith.

As long as these commanders kept the news of the capital’s fall from the rank-and-file soldiers, the troops would not desert on the battlefield.

And regardless of the final outcome—whether these Imperial Soldiers killed the soldiers of the Kingdom of Ventecenia or were killed by them—the Life Power within their bodies would ultimately be converted into Food for Jinli.

It didn’t even stop there. In any battle that broke out across the Lord World, the residual Life Power from any creature that died in combat would ultimately be completely absorbed by Jinli, without exception.

The reason behind this was actually very simple.

Jinli was the Divine Chosen One selected by this world’s true Deities and wielded what was, in the truest sense, Divine Power.

According to Jinli’s memories, the Lord World was originally an independent plane. All creatures within it lived and procreated according to their own laws of survival, piously worshipping the great Deities that had been naturally born of their world.

However, when the Pseudo-Gods discovered this world’s existence, disaster struck.

First, they sealed the Primordial Deities who were the foundation of the world. Then, they brutally transformed the world into a cold, indifferent game.

Afterward, they would periodically select and release "Divine Chosen Lords" into it, forcing these individuals to play one meaningless "war game" after another according to a set of predetermined rules.

The so-called "Void Evil Gods" that the Lord Players spoke of were actually part of this same Pseudo-God faction—a splinter group of Pseudo-Gods simply playing a role.

This much was obvious just from the common term used among Lord Players: "Phase Two: Evil God Invasion."

An "event" with such clearly defined phases was, in essence, a scripted part of the game designed by the Pseudo-Gods.

Think about it: if the Evil God’s Influence truly aimed to destroy the world, a "world invasion" would be sudden and chaotic. It would be impossible for it to be timed so precisely as to begin only after the players’ so-called "King’s War Event" had concluded.

Therefore, this deliberate timing was what exposed its true nature as a "game mechanic."

However, none of this mattered to the Flame Emperor Galukasa.

His goal had been clear from the very beginning: to do everything in his power to assist Jinli—a Divine Chosen One who had endured multiple "Pseudo-God games"—in the resurrection of the Primordial Deities backing them.

And what he sought in return, after all was said and done, was to receive Divine Power equal to Jinli’s from that Primordial Deity.

Infinite Resurrection.

Divine Chosen Talent.

And so on.