Chapter 706: Lanqi's Battle of Sadness

The second week of September in the solar calendar of 1798 was called the darkest seven days of the Alliance by newspapers printed in various countries.

In just one week, under the purposeful siege of the Twelve Military Gods, nine eighth-level warriors of the Kingdom United Parliament Alliance were killed.

The Krelian Empire did not hesitate to sacrifice its army to cooperate with the God of War in a suicidal attack, forcing the Allies to dispatch reinforcements to important areas. Then, once an eighth-level warrior was left alone on the way of transfer, the God of War would accurately lock on and kill him in a three-on-one or seven-on-two mode.

Facing at least one strong control, one strong attack, and one healing military god at the same time, no eighth-level god can escape.

Even the high priest Loren was reported dead.

As for the Gods of War, they are still in full condition. No eighth-level strongman from the allies can inflict effective fatal injuries on them before they die.

…

In the vast land in the west of the southern continent lies a superpower called Canberra.

It is not only the leader in comprehensive national strength among the many kingdoms in the southern continent, but also well-known for being the center of peace and stability for many years.

The headquarters of the Shadow World Management Association and the Card Creators Association of the Southern Continent both chose to set up their headquarters here. The vastness of its territory is far beyond the comparison of the Kingdom of Hutton in the easternmost part of the Southern Continent.

Slovenia, the capital of Canberra, is the highest meeting place of the United Kingdom Parliament.

The building is so magnificent that it seems to challenge the sky. The pure white walls are decorated with intricate hollow patterns. The sunlight shines through these delicate openings and turns into countless golden lines, interweaving magnificent pictures of the Age of Gods in the space.

Deep within this supreme meeting hall, there is an enclosed space filled with barriers and metal gates.

At this moment, several figures were sitting around a round table with solemn expressions.

In the center of the round table, on the mirror-smooth surface, is a chessboard with a star-studded pattern, reflecting every ray of light in the room.

"The Twelve Military Gods have only one goal, and that is to hunt the Eighth Order."

Someone broke the silence.

Every previous war in which the gods of war participated was just an illusion; conquering cities and territories was not their duty nor their greatest threat.

An eighth-ranked national defender is an irreplaceable top combat force for either side, and only time can slowly repair it.

In other words, the military gods' blatant and precise encirclement and killing of the eighth-level was an open conspiracy.

Who leaked the whereabouts of the Eighth Level?

Anyone can see that there is something wrong with the top leadership of the United Kingdom Parliament.

The Cremorne Empire wants the United Parliamentary Alliance of the Kingdom to know this.

Now everyone in the entire United Parliamentary Alliance is in danger.

The residents of the Confederate States no longer have confidence in the parliamentary center.

The Allied countries will no longer be willing to adopt high-risk strategies, but will inevitably choose the most stable strategy possible to preserve their own country's top combat power. They will no longer obey the dispatch of the United Parliament of the Kingdom and risk falling into a trap to support other countries.

The corresponding result was that after the conservative strategic policy of the alliance was predicted by the Cretan Empire, the support between the kingdoms decreased and the front line began to officially collapse.

There was a heavy atmosphere in the air of the Supreme Council Chamber, and everyone present had serious, focused, and even nervous expressions on their faces.

"Could it be that in addition to the information leaking from our side, the other side also has a super-standard fortune-teller?"

A figure spoke with worry.

The more they investigated internally, the more frightened they became. When they found one, there seemed to be another.

"No matter what, the goal of the Kreihe Empire has been achieved. Once the trust crisis is born, it can never be remedied."

Another figure added.

The congressmen's eyes moved between each other, trying to find each other's positions and ideas in silent communication.

"The Kreihe Empire only attacks and does not defend. They wantonly massacre civilians. In fact, they are threatening civilians and forcing us to strengthen our defense and the frequency of reinforcement dispatch."

Speaker Steven, who was sitting at the head of the assembly, pinched his brows and asked for the opinions of other members. "Once reinforcements are dispatched, we must have top warriors to garrison key fortresses. Otherwise, we can only withdraw the battle line and hand over the land, accompanied by the death of countless civilians, to ensure the safety of the core combat force."

As a single unit with high combat power, the eighth level can move much faster than the legion.

In a full-scale campaign, they are the equivalent of large legion units that can be moved and deployed quickly.

The territory of the United Parliament of the Kingdom is too large, and the whereabouts of the Twelve Gods of War are unknown on the battlefield. People from the Krewe Empire often disguise themselves as fake Gods of War, allowing the real Gods of War to roam and attack.

They are now determined to kill the eighth-level ally at all costs.

If you want to defeat an eighth-level warrior who is close to entering the realm of gods, you can either use the eighth-level to fight against the eighth-level.

Either rely on the army and large-scale military city defense facilities, such as the Phantom Shock Tower, the Magic Sky-Splitting Cannon, and the Sky Shield Array, all of which can cause sufficient and effective damage to the eighth-level strongmen.

Now a choice must be made.

The eighth level is the combat power of the hero unit that cannot be replenished, and also determines the flexibility of tactics.

Once all the eighth-level warriors on the Kingdom United Parliament Alliance side are wiped out, the chances of winning this battle will become extremely slim.

"If we compress it further, it will be safe, but what about the residents who can't escape? Do we have to hand over most of the land to the Kremlin Empire?"

There was silence in the Supreme Council Chamber for a long time, and finally a figure pounded the table angrily and asked.

"What should we do then?"

"Let's just give it a try and gather all our strengths to attack the Krewe Empire!"

"The Crane Empire's fighting style is so pretentious. It seems that they don't care whether we counterattack or not. They seem to be determined to tell us - if you dare to come, they will dare to change their home."

"But you have to be prepared to lose everything. If you play like this, it will be over soon, and if you are double-teamed from front and back, you will be in the worst situation."

The Crane Empire's mad dog style of attacking but not defending clearly shows that they don't care about civilians. Correspondingly, they believe that the United Parliamentary Alliance of the Kingdom cares about civilians.

"Moreover, even if we really want to take a gamble, can we convince other countries to cooperate in this plan?"

Until this question was raised, the Supreme Council Chamber fell silent again.

Trust is gone. There is no way all nations would agree to take such a gamble, and if all kingdoms are not united, such a gamble would be meaningless.

After a long discussion.

at last.

The United Kingdom Parliament could only make a bitter decision.

To be on the safe side.

All countries will take the initiative to shrink their fronts and can no longer disperse their combat forces.

Only by giving up land can the density of the army and defense forces be increased, while preserving the safety of the eighth-level hero units and allowing multiple eighth-level units to fight together as much as possible.

If the land remains but the people are lost, both the people and the land will be lost. If the people remain but the land is lost, both the people and the land will remain.

despite this.

This decision meant that the United Kingdom Parliament would gradually abandon its territory in the coming period, and civilians covering tens of millions of square kilometers began the largest-scale migration in history...

…

A few days later.

The Kingdom of Person.

Area 1, South Bank, Pariel, Huadu.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the Lucerne Park on the banks of the Selina River was in the autumn sun. The afternoon sun shone on the river, creating ripples on the water, as if covered with a layer of golden gauze. The breeze blew away the mist.

Regardless of the external war situation, the capital located in the heart of Persen is still a safe place.

A thin young man sat on a bench by the river.

He seemed to be in a daze, not moving at all.

After an unknown amount of time, another person finally came and sat down next to him, opening the newspaper in his hand.

"Meeting by the Selina River, in good spirits."

Nigel muttered to himself as he read the newspaper.

He found Lanqi, who had changed into casual clothes and dressed like an ordinary resident of Huadu.

Since that day when he decided to help Lanch infiltrate the Kremer Empire, he would never contact Lanch again under the identity of Lieutenant General Nigel.

"It's a rare sunny day."

Lanqi shifted his gaze from the river to Nigel beside him, and said to Nigel with a helpless smile.

"It's either raining or foggy during this period, and I feel like my heart is getting rusty."

Nigel also sighed, his eyes unable to hide his fatigue.

The sound of waves in the Salina River continues.

"It won't always be like this."

Lanqi looked at Selina River again and murmured.

"I have already done it for you. Tomorrow you will go to the Kreihe Empire alone."

Nigel said, flipping through the newspaper.

Lanqi's shadow trembled, and a kitten popped out from it and jumped onto Lanqi's legs curiously.

"So sudden, meow?"

it asked Nigel in surprise.

In theory, Nigel promised to help Lanqi get it done within a month.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

"It's not sudden. I took the initiative to ask to go to Crane faster. I have important things to deal with."

Lanqi stroked the cat's head and replied.

Your identity may be a little more forced, for example, your age and occupation are quite different from what you expected, but you can get to Crane faster.

Even one day earlier can save many lives.

"If you want to come back, you can publish a painting of yours in the Crane Central Daily News. Someone will contact you and try to arrange for you to return to the Kingdom Alliance."

Nigel handed the newspaper in his hand to Lanqi.

Although it was just an ordinary newspaper, it contained the way Lanqi contacted the spies of the Cremorne Empire and the Person Kingdom.

He believed that Lanqi would be able to remember it after reading it once.

"I see."

Lanqi took the newspaper.

“I look forward to the day when we can be comrades again.”

Nigel stood up, put his hat on again, and said to Lankey.

"Take care."

With these instructions, he walked away without looking back.

In this war, every meeting could be the last.

In their line of work, once the need arises, even their lives will no longer belong to them. Facing invaders, death is not scary; what is scary is that death is meaningless.

"Take care of yourself."

Lanqi muttered to himself.

He gradually turned his attention to the newspaper in his hand and flipped through it.

Looking at the photo of Loren's remains in the newspaper, Lanqi suddenly became emotional.

Lanqi finally stood up and stood beside the river bank, next to the stone pillar connected by iron chains.

He recited the code silently, tore the key pages of the newspaper into pieces and threw them into the river.

I closed my eyes and heard the sound of the whistle.

The broadcast on the ship also gradually became clearer -

"On September 17, 1798, at 4:30 p.m., Persian time, the South Asian Quidan Free Broadcasting Emergency Interruption."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just received a report on the battle situation at the front. The 2nd Chris Magic Armored Division encountered an attack by the enemy's 11th Heavy Cavalry Corps in the southeast of Harrisonburg. After a day and a night of fierce fighting, our army suffered heavy casualties, losing about 60% of its soldiers and magic weapons. At present, the front line has been forced to retreat to 30 kilometers west of the Yser River. At the same time, on Blount Heights, our 55th Infantry Division is also being surrounded by the enemy's 7th Mountain Division and the 1st Air Assault Special Forces, and is in danger of being wiped out at any time."

"According to the battle report from the Supreme Command, in the past 24 hours, more than 25,000 members of the Kingdom Federation's allied forces have been killed or missing. The enemy's advance has been unstoppable, from Horsen in the south, and our army has been defeated along the way. In the north, the enemy's 4th Army has also broken through the blockade near Elis Province and is heading straight for Port Austin."

"General Albion, the supreme commander of the South, gave a speech this morning, calling on all soldiers and civilians of Persian to unite as one and fight the invaders to the end. He emphasized that although our situation is difficult at the moment, as long as we persist in resistance, the dawn of victory will eventually come. Let us join hands and greet the final dawn!"

The announcer's voice was choked with sobs, unable to suppress his inner grief and anger.

The radio then began to play the stirring “Gloria”—

"Forward, forward, brave warriors!"

"Hold high the banner of justice and truth."

"Use our blood and lives to compose an immortal heroic hymn."

“It takes courage to die.”

Lanqi stood for a while with his head down and then returned to the dock.

Without saying a word, he sat alone on the bench in silence, facing the morning sun and the sea breeze.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the slowly flowing river, dyeing the water surface golden. The clouds in the sky were dyed crimson by the sunset, like the color of dawn.

Lanqi sat alone on a bench, wearing a simple white shirt. His face was full of sadness and grievance, with tears in his eyes. He looked unwillingly into the distance, as if recalling the time he spent in Ikerit.

The music from the church behind me is gentle and distant, like groping for a way forward alone in the darkness, without speaking a word, just walking forward, not knowing how far away the light is.

The surroundings seemed particularly quiet because of his silence, with only the occasional bird calls and the voices of children in the distance.

On the riverside under the setting sun, on a bench, the breeze blew his hair and clothes, but he did not move.

"Lanqi meow..."

The cat boss raised his paw and patted Lanqi worriedly.

It was the first time it saw Lanqi like this.

However, Lanqi shook his head, indicating to the cat boss that he was fine.

He picked up the kitten and looked into the distance.

"Look at the bright side, Lanqi, meow. Loren may not be dead yet. After all, he is so strong. Maybe he can really escape. And the Krei Empire may have announced the news of Loren's death just to strike a blow to the Allied forces. And, and..."

The cat boss didn’t know how to comfort Lanqi.

He could only take out the [Fake Slate - Wind] and put it into Lanqi's hand, hoping that he could find some comfort.

Although the strong men killed by the Twelve Gods of War will not leave behind any corpses, we cannot insist that there is still hope for Loren to be alive just because we cannot see his body.

If we hold on to this hope, perhaps one day when we see the God of War of the Krelian Empire camp use the [Original Slate-Wind], we will suffer another more desperate blow.

Lanqi looked at the [Fake Slate-Wind], gradually tightened it, and then raised his head.

"I'm going to Crane now, don't worry."

Lanqi's emerald eyes reflected the sunset, the river waves, and the river bank on the other side.

"I will stick with it."

"As long as we are on the same road, we will meet eventually."

"I will come to see you on the day of victory."

He spoke firmly to himself.

"I will inherit Loren's name and carry out his will to the end in the Kremlin Empire."

I don’t know who he was talking to with the last sentence, maybe to himself, maybe to the Kingdom of Hutton, or maybe to the goddess of fate.

“…”

Boss Cat looked at Lanqi.

As we all know, there are two Loren in this world.

When Cousin Loren is gone, Li Loren will go all out.

"Wait for Lanqi, what if he is not dead..."

Boss Cat suddenly felt a little worried.

It was afraid that even if Loren was still alive, he would be treated too harshly by Lanqi in the Kreming Empire under his name, and would not dare to show up at that time.

(End of this chapter)