44: More than forty countries declared war

Shen Xiaochuan stood on the high platform, five thousand soldiers lined up neatly and silently below him. He was about to order "prepare for a surprise attack" when a System prompt suddenly rang in his ears.

[Server-wide Announcement: Trump of the US has announced the deployment of troops against the Huaxia Divine Domain, citing the "removal of a Puppet regime."]

His brows furrowed slightly as he quickly returned to the main hall's command room and accessed the global communications. Messages from the Blue Star Channel popped up one after another; before he could finish reading them, another announcement leaped into view.

[Server-wide Announcement: The British Empire has responded to the US by forming a "Multinational Peacekeeping Force" and immediately activating cross-regional teleportation arrays.]

Shen Xiaochuan pulled up the data panel, his fingertips sliding rapidly. Dongying, Kimchi Country, the Seven Nordic Countries, the South American Federation... one country after another issued declarations of war. Seventeen announcements flashed across the screen, with the total number of declaring countries reaching forty-two.

He stared at the screen, his gaze gradually turning cold.

The opponent's goal wasn't just him. They wanted to destroy the entire Huaxia Divine Domain.

Idle gossip had already begun to circulate quietly within Skydome City. Some Believers whispered, "Did we follow the wrong person?"

Others silently packed their bags, preparing to leave.

Shen Xiaochuan ignored them. He walked over to the strategic map, his gaze falling on the marker for the Dongying underground base, his pen hovering in mid-air. Just then, an encrypted communication rang.

It was White Snow Princess.

"There is something you must know."

Her voice was urgent. "The Pillars of Divine Power are the core of Blue Star's faith. There are seven in total worldwide, five of which are already controlled by the South Alliance. If the remaining two are lost, all Huaxia Deities will lose their faith points growth bonus."

Shen Xiaochuan's finger paused.

Without the faith points growth bonus, his +1 per second would become meaningless. The divine kingdom couldn't be built, technology couldn't be upgraded, and Heroic Spirits couldn't be summoned.

Even more seriously, once the Divine Domain weakened, the real world would also collapse—mountains would crumble, rivers would stop flowing, and cities would sink. This was no longer just a war, but the danger of national extinction.

He immediately pulled up the world architecture map, and the System verified the information was true. The only two remaining Pillars of Divine Power were located in the Northern Wilderness and the Southwestern Border, and both were currently under siege by the enemy.

He finally saw through the opponent's layout.

First, use a video to slander him as a Puppet to shake the people's morale; then, unite more than forty countries to apply pressure, creating the illusion of an all-out war;

And finally, quietly seize the Pillars of Divine Power to cut off the source of Huaxia's faith.

Each step was linked to the next, ruthless, precise, and lethal.

But he couldn't retreat.

He closed the internal communications and switched to the server-wide public channel, pushing a text announcement directly to the interfaces of all deities:

"I, Shen Xiaochuan, possess an S-rank passive talent—+1 faith point per second."

He then attached a real-time data log: over the past seventy-two hours, faith points had continued to grow steadily, with a cumulative increase of over 2.5 million.

At the end, he wrote only one sentence: "I do not plunder others, nor do I exploit my Believers; I rely solely on the accumulation of every single second. What you call 'luck' is the result of me never wasting a single moment."

As soon as the message was released, the entire server was in an uproar.

"+1 per second? Who would believe such nonsense!"

"An upstart deserves to be called a God King?"

"When we are at your city gates, let's see how many more seconds you can last!"

Insults flooded in like a tide. But some new players began to reconsider. Someone sent a private message asking: "If what you say is true, then your resource accumulation speed far exceeds anyone else's."

Shen Xiaochuan didn't reply again. He knew that a single message couldn't turn the tide. He had to act.

He ordered the activation of the "Grandmist Heavenly Eye" prediction System of Mechanical Core X-07, and combined with the intelligence provided by White Snow Princess, he locked onto the three most threatening divine domains:

Joseph Black of the US, whose divine domain was covered in legal barriers that could tamper with local rules;

Zhang Benyifeng of Dongying, who had set up a Blood-Colored Sakura Array specializing in attacking the mind;

Alicia of the UK, who controlled the power of time and space, capable of freezing the battlefield for ten minutes.

The three positions were marked, forming a triangular formation with a clear intention—to cut off Huaxia's north-south passage and divide and annihilate them.

With a pen in hand, Shen Xiaochuan sketched a counterattack route on the map.

Strike the strongest first, then break their formation.

He ordered: "Find the specific coordinates of the core deities of these three divine domains. I will take action personally."

Just as the order was given, Anna pushed open the door and entered.

"Report: the medical team is fully prepared with sufficient supplies to support a major battle. Lolia has forged 327 new sky-rending blades. Chen Yan reports that the soldiers are in good condition and ready to set out at any time."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded.

"Notify logistics to raise the meal standards by one level tonight. Have Lilith and Lilia prepare special meals to ensure everyone's combat effectiveness is at full capacity."

After a pause, he added: "Call Zhao Wuwei here."

Anna turned to leave but was called back by him again.

"You've heard those words outside, too."

She stopped, turned back, and looked at him with a firm gaze: "I know who you are, but they don't."

Shen Xiaochuan watched her leave, saying no more.

He returned to the map, staring intently at the three enemy domains. The enemy troops were still gathering, and it was estimated they would complete the encirclement within seventy-two hours.

Defending stubbornly would surely lead to defeat.

Only by taking the initiative to attack could they seize the upper hand.

He opened the Faith Mall. Controllable Nuclear Fusion still required 380,000 faith points and another twenty hours to unlock.

He was unwilling to wait.

He had to counterattack now.

As long as he crushed one core target, he could disrupt the opponent's rhythm.

He drew his thunder blade and thrust it into the ground. The blade vibrated slightly before falling silent.

In the distance, the hammering from the Blacksmith Shop was incessant. Lolia led her Disciples to work through the night, the furnace fire turning half the night sky red.

Steam rose from the kitchen as Lilith was distributing meals made with new wheat flour.

The progress of the city wall construction had reached sixty-nine percent, and the foundation of the faith energy concentration tower was already stable.

Everything was progressing in an orderly fashion.

He walked to the communication console and checked the status of various commands again.

The "Grandmist Heavenly Eye" was running, though the coordinate search speed was somewhat slow.

The conditions for the "Pangu Creation Plan" had not yet been met, but they were close.

The Heroic Spirit Scroll of Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng was still stored in the vault, ready to be summoned at any time.

He stood up and walked to the window.

The first light of day appeared. The morning sun spilled onto the city walls, casting a metallic luster. A flag hung high in the wind, bearing eight characters:

"Those who offend my Huaxia shall be punished, no matter how far away they are."

He gazed at the flag, motionless.

Just then, a System prompt sounded.

[Encrypted message from White Snow Princess has arrived]

He clicked it open.

Only one line: "Coordinates locked. Sending locations in three minutes."

He stared at the screen, his finger resting on the confirmation key.

Three seconds later, three red dots suddenly lit up on the map.

US Headquarters, ninth basement level.

Dongying Yasukuni Ruins, deep-level altar.

the UK Buckingham Palace site, time-space rift entrance.

The three locations appeared simultaneously.

Shen Xiaochuan gripped the pen in his hand, determination burning in his eyes. He circled the first target on the map, his voice low but as firm as iron:

"I'll start with you."