A bill! The final straw that broke the camel's back for the White Eagle!

Lin Yuan's figure had already disappeared around the corner of the city gate.

On the spot, only those words remained—light as a feather yet heavy as a mountain—echoing repeatedly in Qin Pojun's ears.

"Send the bill to the White Eagle Country Command Center."

"Make them pay a hundredfold."

Qin Pojun was petrified.

All the Longxiang Army soldiers behind him were also petrified.

The entire area before the city gate fell into an eerie, dead silence once again.

A hundredfold... compensation?

The candle dragon is gone; shouldn't the Dragon Country be suffering a massive loss?

Why does it sound like, according to Your Excellency, White Eagle Country is the one about to bleed out?

This... what kind of divine logic is this?

Qin Pojun's single eye blinked once, then twice.

His brain, which had been somewhat muddled by wild joy, finally began to function again at this moment.

He suddenly recalled the unfathomable strength of His Excellency Lin Yuan.

He remembered that "World-Extinguishing Level" alarm.

He remembered the phrase "better than ever" after he returned from the Guixu.

A thought, one so absurd it made him want to laugh, sprouted wildly in his heart!

The candle dragon being "gone" probably wasn't because it was destroyed by monsters in the Guixu.

Instead... instead, it was used as "firewood" by His Excellency Lin Yuan to be burned?!

And now, after burning it, he wants White Eagle Country to reimburse him, and a hundredfold at that?!

*Gulp.*

Qin Pojun swallowed hard.

The next second.

A hideously ferocious and incredibly delighted grin slowly spread across his weather-beaten face!

"Damn!"

He slapped his thigh hard, letting out a loud crack!

"Brilliant!"

"Absolutely brilliant!"

"This is what you call vision! This is what you call tactics!"

He spun around abruptly, his single eye flashing with an unprecedented, excited, and cruel light, and let out an earth-shattering roar at the adjutant behind him!

"What are you all standing there for?!"

"Didn't you hear His Excellency Lin Yuan's command?!"

"Draft the bill! Right now! Immediately!"

"List the manufacturing cost of the candle dragon, every rare material, every research and development expense—list them all clearly, item by item!"

"Then, take the total price and multiply it by a hundred!"

"No! Multiply it by two hundred!"

"Add another line! Compensation for the mental distress caused to His Excellency Lin Yuan from being startled! For this item, set the price at a hundred million Alliance Credits!"

"Use the highest level of encryption and send it to the Demon Suppressing Pass public channel! Pin it! Bold it! Make sure every single person sees it clearly!"

"For the recipient, write White Eagle Country Command Center, that son of a bitch Mike Jason!"

The adjutant jolted from the roar, his entire face turning red with excitement.

"Yes! General! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

He turned and bolted, running faster than if he were fleeing for his life!

Qin Pojun watched his retreating back, hands on his hips, and laughed wildly toward the sky.

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Mike Jason! You better fucking wait for me!"

"I want to see how you die this time!"

The frustration, anger, and despair suppressed for three days all transformed into the pleasure of revenge at this moment, making him feel refreshed to his very core!

...White Eagle Country Command Center.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like a solid block of iron.

Mike Jason slumped in his Commander's chair, his face ashen and eyes hollow, looking like a puppet whose Soul had been extracted.

Lin Yuan's return and that "World-Extinguishing Level" alarm had completely shattered all his psychological defenses.

He knew he was finished.

But he didn't expect that doomsday would come so quickly and in such a unique way.

*Beep—*

A soft chime sounded.

Inside the Command Center, all public information screens were simultaneously forced on by a top-priority encrypted file from the Dragon Country Command Center.

A document with a title enlarged, bolded, and as blood-red as fresh gore appeared before everyone's eyes.

[Compensation Bill Regarding the Destruction of the 'candle dragon' Class Assault Ship and Related Matters]

Sender: Qin Pojun, Commander-in-Chief of the Dragon Country's Longxiang Army.

Recipient: Mike Jason, Commander-in-Chief of White Eagle Country at Demon Suppressing Pass.

"..."

The entire Command Center was deathly silent.

All White Eagle Country officers, including Mike Jason himself, were like people hit by a freezing spell, staring blankly at the document.

Compensation... bill?

What did this mean?

Before they could even react, the contents of the bill began to unfold item by item.

[Item 1: 'candle dragon' Class Individual Assault Ship (Dragon Country Top Secret) Hull Loss Fee. Materials: Deep Space Dragon Skeleton Gold, Void Zero-Point Crystal... Cost: 7.8 Billion Alliance Credits.]

[Item 2: Research and Development Expenses for the 'candle dragon' Class Assault Ship's Weaponry and Propulsion Systems. Cost: 12.3 Billion Alliance Credits.]

[Item 3: Due to the incompetence and provocation of your Commander, Mr. Mike Jason, our key personnel, His Excellency Lin Yuan, was forced to enter the [Guixu] restricted zone. Mental distress, emotional depletion, and incalculable delays in Cultivation progress during this period... Mental Damage Fee: 100 Million Alliance Credits.]

[...]

[...]

Clause after clause, item after item.

Every single one was written clearly, with rhyme and reason.

Finally, at the very bottom of the bill, was a bloody total amount marked in the largest font size.

[Total: 20.2 Billion Alliance Credits.]

[Note: According to the instructions of His Excellency Lin Yuan, the compensation amount for this instance has been increased tenfold. The final compensation amount is: 202 Billion Alliance Credits.]

[Mr. Mike Jason is requested to deposit this amount into the designated Dragon Country military account within 24 hours. If overdue, bear the consequences yourself.]

"..."

When that final number appeared on the screen.

Mike Jason's pupils violently contracted into dangerous pinpricks!

Two hundred and two billion?!

What kind of concept was that?!

This sum of money was enough to arm three full-strength ace army groups for White Eagle Country!

Even if the entire annual military budget of White Eagle Country was drained, they couldn't even scrape together the change!

This was no longer extortion!

This was robbery!

This was pinning him, and the entire White Eagle Country, to the ground and grinding their faces into the dirt in a frenzy of humiliation!

*Pfft—*

Mike Jason could no longer hold it back; a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, splattering across the entire command console.

"Madmen..."

"They are all madmen!!!"

He let out a hoarse scream that sounded worse than crying.

Anger, humiliation, Fear... all emotions completely detonated at this moment!

He was finished.

He knew it.

From the moment this bill appeared on the public channel.

He was already as dead as could be.

He would become the greatest laughingstock in the history of White Eagle Country, and even the entire Human Alliance!

"Hehe..."

"Hehehehehe..."

Mike Jason let out a neurotic laugh; as he laughed, tears began to flow.

However.

Fate seemed to feel that the punishment for him was not yet enough.

Just as he was on the brink of a total mental breakdown.

*Vroom—*

The private communicator in front of him lit up with a piercing red light.

It was a top-secret communication request from the Alliance High Command, one he never wanted to receive in his life.

Mike Jason's laughter stopped abruptly.

His body froze.

Trembling, he reached out and pressed the connect button.

A cold, emotionless, yet supremely majestic female voice came through the communicator.

Every word was like an icicle, stabbing ruthlessly into his heart.

"General Mike Jason."

"In view of the fact that your stupidity has made the entire White Eagle Country a laughingstock for all of humanity."

"In the name of the Chief Justice of the Alliance Supreme Military Court, I officially notify you."

"You are dismissed from your post."

"The new Commander-in-Chief of Demon Suppressing Pass, Admiral Agatha Romanov, the 'silver wing god of war', will arrive in one standard hour."

"Until then, please remain where you are and do not make any unnecessary movements."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't mind personally coming to take your head."