Before Osaka could react, the kingdom's "broadcast" covered all communication channels.
A cold, emotionless female voice, speaking in an ancient language that they could barely understand, resounded through the sky.
It's Qin Lan's voice.
“Listen up, lost sheep of Osaka.”
"We are the great kingdom of stars, the sole masters of this planet."
"We are your blood-related compatriots, the liberators of the people of Dongjin."
"By the will of our Lord, the Supreme King, His Majesty Lin Feng, we bring you the gospel of new life."
"Your world is already rotten and decadent. Your struggles are meaningless. Your future can only be truly saved under the radiant grace of His Majesty."
"Now, lay down your ridiculous weapons, open your city gates, and welcome your king and ruler."
"Kneel down, surrender, and you will gain the right to live."
"Resist, and you will see what divine punishment is."
“We don’t even bother to give you time to consider. Because God’s will is beyond question.”
"The trial shall now begin."
These words were even more arrogant and unreasonable than the last ultimatum to Dongjin.
It wasn't an ultimatum at all; it was a judgment.
"Damn it!" Ryuji Sakamoto snapped out of his shock, the ruthlessness in this ruthless man's bones being ignited. "What do they take us for? Pigs to be slaughtered!"
"Fire!" he roared into the communicator. "Order all air defense units! Missile units! Shoot down those damned iron coffins in the sky! Let them taste the spirit of the Kansai people!"
The order was conveyed swiftly.
Around Osaka, hidden Patriot-3 missile sites, military Type 87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and even Stinger anti-aircraft missiles privately owned by some yakuza organizations all launched attacks simultaneously on the black fleet in the sky.
In an instant, hundreds of flames rose from the ground, trailing long tails of fire, shooting towards the steel sky.
This is the most tragic counterattack of humanity in the old era.
Faced with this overwhelming attack, the Star Kingdom's fleet didn't even bother to activate its energy shields.
On the bridge of the flagship "Shenwei", Qin Lan looked at the missiles on the holographic screen that seemed to be drawn to the flame like moths to a flame, and a contemptuous sneer appeared on her lips.
"Your Majesty, should we 'purify' the 'Heavenly Punishment' main cannon?" she asked respectfully to the holographic projection of Lin Feng beside her.
"No rush." Lin Feng's voice was filled with the languidness of a cat playing with a mouse. "Let them see clearly what true despair is."
He raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through endless space, landing on the rapidly approaching missiles.
“Let’s use those ‘toys’ we seized from Dongjin last time and play with them.”
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Qin Lan gave the order.
"Skynet" defense system activated. Mode: Electromagnetic pulse interference.
Buzz!
An invisible electromagnetic wave, centered on the three "Heavenly Punishment"-class battleships, instantly spread out in all directions.
The next second, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
All the missiles heading towards the fleet, whether advanced Patriots or rudimentary Stingers, seemed to suddenly lose their souls when they were still tens of kilometers away from the fleet.
The precision electronic components within their guidance systems were instantly burned out by the powerful electromagnetic pulse.
Like drunken men, they flew erratically and erratically through the air, some even turning back towards their own cities. Finally, powerless, they plummeted to the ground and the sea, stirring up feeble splashes and sparks.
A salvo of hundreds of missiles was launched, but not a single one managed to get even a fraction of a distance from the fleet.
Osaka Prefectural Government Office, Command Center.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene, as if they had been petrified.
"How...how could this happen?"
"Our missiles...are all...malfunctioning?"
Ryuji Sakamoto swayed. He knew they were finished.
This is no longer a matter of technological gap.
This is magic.
And this is just the appetizer.
"The game is over." Lin Feng's icy voice rang out on the bridge of the "Divine Might". "Qin Lan, I authorize you to use the 'Heavenly Punishment' main cannon."
"Targets: the military fleet within Osaka Bay; and all detected military resistance signals within the city."
"Let the most magnificent artillery fire announce my arrival."
"Yes, sir!" Qin Lan's eyes gleamed with fervent light. She stood up and gave the order in an aria-like tone.
"'Divine Might,' 'Dauntless,' 'Conqueror,' 'Heavenly Punishment' main gun, charge!"
"Target locked! Osaka Bay!"
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three enormous golden beams of light, each over ten meters in diameter and brighter than the sun, crackling with destructive electric arcs, shot out from the bows of the three "Heavenly Punishment" class battleships!
Their speed surpasses that of light.
Their power surpasses imagination.
Just as the people inside Osaka Castle saw the three golden beams, the pillars of light had already fallen on Osaka Bay.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
There was only one patch of deathly white light.
A white light, powerful enough to devour everything, enveloped the entire Osaka Bay.
The seawater evaporated in an instant.
Dozens of military ships anchored in the harbor, including the Hyuga-class helicopter carriers and Kongo-class destroyers, along with the thousands of soldiers on board, were completely vaporized in the intense heat that could melt anything, leaving not a single intact part.
The light faded.
Osaka Bay has disappeared.
Instead, there was a huge, bottomless pit with glassy, crystalline edges.
Seawater was pouring in from all directions, creating an unprecedentedly huge whirlpool.
One strike, and a harbor is flattened.
One strike, and an entire fleet is vaporized.
This is the power of "divine punishment"!
Osaka Castle fell into a deathly silence.
All the cries, all the screams, all the prayers, were choked by fear at this moment.
Countless people collapsed to the ground, excrement and urine flowing freely. Their spirits were utterly shattered by this monstrous scene.
Ryuji Sakamoto, the powerful figure from Kansai, looked at the empty harbor on the screen, gave a bitter laugh, and plopped back down in his chair.
He picked up a pistol from the table and pointed it at his temple.
"Bushido...?" He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "In the face of such power, it's nothing but a joke."
Bang.
Gunshots rang out, and the tyrant met his end.
And this became the last gunshot in Osaka Castle.
When the landing craft and Imperial soldiers in black power armor descended upon the city like a tidal wave, they encountered no resistance.
Everyone, whether civilians, gangsters, or surviving soldiers, threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed frantically to the black fleet in the sky, as if worshipping a demon descended to earth.
Their backbone has been completely broken.
Their souls have been completely conquered.
Conquering Osaka was easier than conquering Higashitsu.
Lin Feng didn't even need to take action himself; a single salvo from the "Heavenly Punishment" class battleships physically wiped out all resistance, along with the entire Osaka Bay.
Next, it was a matter of practice and familiarity: "following the same method."
Wei Zheng, the tyrannical governor of Dongjin, was directly appointed by Lin Feng as the "Governor-General of Western Japan," with full authority over the "integration and purification" of the newly occupied territories such as Osaka, Kyushu, and Shikoku.
Wei Zheng arrived in the city, still permeated with an atmosphere of fear and despair, aboard his private spaceship. Without the slightest delay, he immediately began to carry out Lin Feng's will.
The first step, as always, is massive plunder.
But this time, it's larger in scale, more efficient, and more systematic.
Countless anti-gravity transport ships, like diligent worker ants, shuttle between the mainland and Osaka.
"Take everything of value and leave me empty!" This was Lin Feng's order.
Wei Zheng carried out this order to the extreme.
Factories, research institutes, banks, museums... these conventional targets were looted in just one week.
But Wei Zheng's ambitions went far beyond that.
“Reporting to the Governor,” an adjutant reported, “all the industrial equipment and scientific research data in Osaka have been inventoried and packed. However, according to our assessment, most of these technologies overlap with those we seized from Higashitsu, and their value to the Empire is no longer significant.”
“Make use of waste.” Wei Zheng’s eyes were as cold as ice. “Classify all the captured industrial machine tools and precision instruments. Send the most advanced parts to the Imperial Academy of Sciences so they can disassemble and study them to see if there is anything worth learning from them.”
"As for those old-fashioned appliances and cars... they should all be destroyed. The citizens of the empire now use more advanced products, and there is no need for these industrial wastes to exist. Leaving them in place will only give these natives unrealistic fantasies."
His order sent a chill down the adjutant's spine. The governor was even more ruthless than he had been in Dongjin. He not only wanted to plunder, but also to utterly destroy any possibility they might have of rebuilding their industrial civilization.
The second step is the "screening" and "classification" of the population.
"In the name of my lord Lin Feng, promulgate the 'Western Japan Population Management Law'!"
Wei Zheng's voice, broadcast throughout the city, reached every corner.
"Article 1: All unmarried women aged sixteen to twenty-five who have been assessed as 'excellent' by the Imperial Physician shall, from this moment forward, become 'Imperial Reserve Citizens'. You will receive the highest food rations and enter the 'Bride School' to learn Imperial etiquette. What awaits you is the supreme glory of becoming the wife of an Imperial hero."
"Article Two: All healthy men between the ages of sixteen and sixty, and women who have not been selected, shall, from this moment forward, become 'Imperial Labor Slaves.' You will be assigned to labor camps to contribute your physical strength to the infrastructure of the Empire. Your value is labor. Those who do not labor will not be fed."
"Article 3: All those under the age of sixteen or over sixty, or those who are disabled and unable to perform heavy physical labor, are classified as 'worthless population.' The Empire does not support useless people."
When the third bill was heard, all the people of Yingzhou felt a chill run down their spines.
Do not employ useless people.
These six words, like a cold, sharp sword, hang over the heads of every elderly, weak, sick, and disabled person.
“Governor…” the adjutant’s voice trembled slightly, “This…this number of ‘worthless people’ is probably over five million. What…how should we deal with them?”
Wei Zheng turned his head and looked at him with an expression as if he were an idiot.
"When did I say I was going to deal with them?" Wei Zheng's lips curled into a cruel smile.
"All we need to do is stop all food rationing on them."
"It was hunger, it was disease, it was their fragile bodies that eliminated them. Not us."
"This is called natural selection. It is the most impartial law of the universe."
The adjutant's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat. He lowered his head, not daring to ask another question.
An unprecedented, silent massacre, armed with "hunger," was about to begin.
The elderly, children, and disabled people, who were classified as "worthless population," were deprived of all food sources. Their families, the young and middle-aged people who were classified as "labor slaves," received only enough food to feed themselves each day, and there was no way to share it with them.
Soon, corpses of the starved appeared on the city streets.
At first, some people secretly saved their rations for the elderly and children in their families. But what awaited them was the merciless whip of the overseers and doubled labor.
Faced with hunger and oppression, humanity was once again ruthlessly crushed.
Cries and pleas echoed in every corner of the city. But the Imperial soldiers paid no heed. They simply drove their trucks indifferently, hauling away the corpses of those who had starved or died of disease like garbage, and then throwing them into the incinerators.
The bloodshed wasn't caused by gunfire.
It is order. It is that precise yet ruthless set of elimination rules formulated by Wei Zheng.
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