Chapter 120: Divergence

Since the advent of modern firearms, artillery has always been the most potent weapon—bar none.

Previously, at Rivermouth City, the special forces had struggled so intensely because they were constrained by terrain and distance, leaving their heavy weaponry unable to reach the battlefield. They had been forced to rely solely on small arms and individual rocket launchers to combat an army of tens of thousands. Even if those were tens of thousands of pigs, it would take a long time to slaughter them, let alone an army bolstered by supernatural beings wielding arcane power.

The current invading force was not a complete army—it lacked an air force and standard armored divisions, with a total strength of fewer than three thousand. Even so, it had demonstrated the preliminary might expected of a modern military.

Ultra-long-range strikes and relentless artillery fire blanketed the area, causing the enemy to collapse instantly and annihilating the vast majority of their combat effectiveness. In the face of this kind of conventional warfare, the knights of the New World were nothing more than sitting ducks.

Continuous thunderous booms echoed from outside the tent. Compared to the chaos beyond, the interior was eerily quiet. The usually lively and cheerful Knight of Justice sat with her fists clenched and her head bowed, radiating a sense of silence and suppression.

"Olina, according to intelligence gathered by our forces, the area near the city gates is typically a bustling commercial district, filled with numerous shops and the second-highest concentration of the population." Qin Le, as if unsatisfied with his previous interrogation, twisted the knife deeper into her conscience. "Under the recent barrage, most of the enemy's strength has been wiped out. However, due to inevitable artillery deviation, at least ten shells landed in the residential area behind them. In other words, that order you gave resulted in at least thirty thousand deaths."

Thirty thousand sounds like a massive number, but to Qin Le, it wasn't even a fraction of a large-scale campaign. He had suppressed the death toll to its absolute minimum. Had he prioritized the residential buildings behind the walls and avoided civilian casualties to deliver the final blow, the situation might have evolved into the enemy realizing the danger, retreating from the walls, and hiding within the city. They might have even discovered the weaknesses of a modern army and forced them into urban combat, dragging out the conflict while awaiting reinforcements from other nobles.

Would that have led to the failure of the plan, as he had pressured Olina to believe?

Certainly not. Faced with such a scenario, Xuanlü would have immediately blanketed the entire city with fire, sparing no cost to seize it, even if it meant turning the place into a wasteland of ruins. In that case, the death toll would not have been a mere thirty thousand.

The domestic situation in Xuanlü was dire. A shortage of oil—the lifeblood of industry—had brought industrial development to a standstill. With various raw materials restricted, they possessed technology and countless scientists but lacked the means to utilize them. Worst of all, the new order constructed by the allied nations was allowing them to recover from the Great War, widening the gap between them and Xuanlü. The domestic leadership was acutely aware of this, which was why they were so desperate to launch this war to secure oil from the New World. Faced with life or death, they would stop at nothing.

If this war failed, the Eastern Frontier would face an even more brutal conflict. Xuanlü would spare nothing to strike at the nobles' strength, crushing everything that stood in their way. At that point, the domestic leadership would be met with a barrage of inquiries, demanding the military cease such actions, while the military would simply invoke the principle that a general in the field is not bound by the sovereign's orders.

"Why are you telling me this only now?" Olina asked, her voice trembling.

He could have chosen not to tell her; he could have simply stated that the enemy was annihilated, sparing her this heavy burden, or waited until the war was over. Yet, Qin Le had torn it all open, exposing the cruelty of war right before her eyes.

Qin Le replied with a calm expression, "Olina, you are a very clever person. In fact, you are smarter than most; you know these things yourself."

The slums of the Royal Capital were a different kind of primitive forest; no one who survived in that environment was a fool.

The original Olina Fief was a very poor mountain village, but also a very united one. Everyone in the territory trusted their lord completely and executed her orders actively and without hesitation. From the clearing of wheat fields to the tidying of supplies to accommodate the army, it was evident that not one of the two thousand people had shirked their duty. With Olina as the core, these people had formed a consensus—a sense of belonging. However, with the intervention of Xuanlü, that collective had long since been scattered, completely dissipated under the impact of the influx of outsiders.

Olina remained silent for a long time. Finally, she lifted her head and took a deep breath. "Qin Le, I really hate you right now."

"We agree on something, then. I’m equally tired of your disgusting kindness," Qin Le retorted mercilessly.

Aimeiya, standing between them, blinked in confusion. Why were they suddenly arguing? This seemed to be the first time Qin Le and Olina had clashed; usually, it was she who fought with him. Wait—did Olina just say she hated Qin Le?

A smile tugged at the corners of Aimeiya's mouth, and she felt unexpectedly happy. Qin Le had finally gone too far and was hated by Olina! The elf realized this situation wasn't bad at all; it would be best if they argued even more, so Olina could fully realize the ugly true nature of this man!

Their gazes locked for a dozen seconds before Olina spoke first. "As long as we capture Count Lev, we will have won. We don't need to cause any more deaths."

"So, what do you intend to do?" Qin Le asked with interest. I want to see just how far this girl can go in her first act of defiance against me.

Olina slowly drew the battered iron sword from her waist. A flicker of light shone in her beautiful, sky-blue eyes, and she said firmly, "Stop the artillery barrage. I will take Count Lev’s head myself."

Having received the orthodox "Red" education of Xuanlü, Olina was no longer the lost, confused girl she once was. She understood class conflict; she understood what exploitation meant; she understood seeking peace through struggle; she understood what a republic was; and she understood the great power of the proletariat...

"War brings death, and revolution requires blood, but it can be minimized. I will reduce the burden on the people as much as I can."

"Can you do it?" Qin Le asked.

The spiritual energy in Olina’s eyes surged, and a faint golden light radiated from her body, giving rise to an ethereal aura.

"A Fourth-Tier Knight."

Seventeen years old, a high-ranking supernatural being. She had reached a height in just seven years that others could not reach in a lifetime.

"Very well. Go. Let me see if you're just boasting." Qin Le nodded in agreement.

Olina turned and marched toward the battlefield with grand momentum and a resolute gaze. However, before she could even step out of the tent, a voice came from behind her.

"Deploy the thermobaric bombs."

Olina whipped around, her expression clearly saying, *Are you playing with me?*

"I thought you said I could finish this off? Now you're deploying something that sounds incredibly destructive—aren't you just bullying an honest person?"

Qin Le shrugged. "The artillery barrage can stop, but only a little bit."

He didn't object to Olina finishing the job. With the enemy forces completely crippled, they did indeed need a powerful supernatural being to mop up the remnants. Anyone who could survive that barrage was undoubtedly a powerful entity, and the modern army currently lacked effective countermeasures against such individuals. They couldn't exactly carpet-bomb the entire city for the sake of one person, could they?

They were already guaranteed to take the city; causing further casualties would be a loss for Xuanlü. Those were a large batch of high-quality, free laborers!

"You!" Olina’s cheeks puffed up in anger, her beautiful eyes glaring fiercely at Qin Le. She felt, for the first time, that Qin Le was truly detestable! This man was so wicked!

In the end, the princess couldn't find any curse words, so she could only turn and stomp out of the tent in frustration.

Qin Le looked away and noticed the "trashy" elf beside him covering her mouth, struggling to suppress her laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Qin Le asked.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft! Qin Le, I never thought I'd see the day. Now that you've fallen out with Olina, I'm truly delighted," Aimeiya mocked him mercilessly, wearing the expression of a victor.

"It’s just a difference of opinion." Qin Le reached out, pulled the flag of Lev City from the map on the table, and replaced it with a red flag.

With Lev City captured, the next goal was to deal with the other two cities, establish defensive lines there, and block reinforcements from other nobles. Once everything settled, they would begin building roads and then proceed with oil extraction.

At that moment, Fish-Head walked into the tent, gave a military salute, and leaned in to whisper to Qin Le, "Sir, the domestic authorities have sent an investigator regarding the special forces' use of poison gas. Fireworks has been arrested."

"They move fast." Qin Le tapped the table, beginning to think about how he could protect Fireworks as much as possible. The best-case scenario was a few years in prison; the worst was life imprisonment.

"Sir, given the current situation, things look bad for Fireworks. Should you send a message to the Imperial Capital?" Fish-Head suggested. He didn't know what Fireworks was thinking or how he had obtained chemical weapons, but he knew that the only ones who could save him were those in the capital.

Qin Le shook his head and refused, "No, not for now."

The specifics of the situation were still unclear, and it hadn't yet reached a point of emergency where he needed to trouble his teacher.