362: Chapter 354 Recent Developments in Various Countries of Blue Star, and the Imminent Bloody Showdown

Recently, apart from contacting Domit every day to ask if there was any movement from the Coalition, Zhang Mu spent the rest of his time in "The World," supervising the training of the Special Squad and occasionally visiting Geoffrey.

Geoffrey was very annoyed by Zhang Mu's frequent interruptions; every time he saw him, his face would be dark with irritation.

Zhang Mu rubbed his head, thinking that he was indeed a bit annoying, but there was nothing else to do outside.

Avril was busy scouting candidates for the Medical Squad, the three Saint-levels had been assigned tasks, and Domit was focused on the front line, so none of them had time for him.

Zhang Mu pondered whether to go back to Blue Star for a few days.

But if he really went back to Blue Star for a few days, he couldn't leave the Saul Continent for too long.

Right now, both sides seemed calm, but the Coalition could launch an attack at any time. If Zhang Mu came back from his "vacation" to find that Lake was gone, that would be a disaster.

Zhang Mu opened the light gate and arrived at the palace. Standing at the main gate, he lowered his head in thought for a moment before running off to find Domit.

The two of them chatted for a bit; the topics were nothing more than the effectiveness of the snipers' training and whether the Coalition was showing signs of movement.

After receiving a negative answer, Zhang Mu decided to return to Blue Star for a trip—not for long, just a few hours—to see what the various countries had been busy with lately.

He summoned a Portal and stepped through, arriving in China.

To avoid retracing his steps, Zhang Mu first went to the Mountain Cave Base, only to find that the Director wasn't there.

He transformed into Immortal Xu and asked around, only to learn that construction on the second spaceship hadn't started yet. Since there was no need for the Director's supervision, he simply returned to the Sū City Base to keep the rambunctious Luo Xiling in check.

Seeing that everything was fine here, Zhang Mu made successive trips to America and Ying Country.

Neo was already in his twilight years and craved a rejuvenation potion more than anything. Therefore, he was very dedicated to matters regarding the transcendent, hoping that his excellent performance would earn him the favor of a transcendent being and a bottle of the potion.

He not only poured all his resources into the spaceship project, but the construction of the school hadn't lagged behind at all. Through his efforts, progress on both fronts was advancing at a tremendous pace.

Zhang Mu thought that once the war in Lake came to an end, America's transcendent school could open.

Next, he headed to Ying Country.

Although the Queen was already young again, she had a similar desire in her heart: to remain young forever.

Thus, she carried out Dumbledore's instructions with great diligence.

After visiting the three countries, Zhang Mu didn't stop and immediately flew to Russia.

The situation in Russia was more complex.

Because the construction of Seventeen would still take a long time, Zhang Mu had intentionally increased the difficulty of the candidate selection process before he left last time.

The magic beasts he chose weren't very strong, and since he had severely injured them, Russia could have eliminated them if they really wanted to by using their army.

However, Zhang Mu had set a rule: only if a candidate killed a magic beast alone would they pass.

This had caused quite a bit of trouble for Russia.

Especially for the President, whose hair was nearly turning white from worry lately.

As for the source of his distress, it naturally came from the recruitment of students for Seventeen.

When the muscular man first appeared, the President, to prevent the slots from falling into the hands of outsiders, ordered the closure of the airspace and land borders, forbidding anyone from entering.

If the Russian assessment had ended quickly like the other three countries, this order naturally wouldn't have caused much trouble.

However, the opposite was true; not only could they not resolve the assessment quickly, but it was foreseeable that it would inevitably be a long process.

The assessment was divided into two stages: the first stage was to obtain all the wolf bones, and the second stage was for the holders to defeat the calamity guarding their wolf bone.

Zhang Mu had been on the Saul Continent for several months, yet in Russia, only Farid and the Young Woman had obtained wolf bones. In other words, there had been no progress for several months, and the completion of the first stage was nowhere in sight.

Seventeen hadn't set a time limit for the assessment, so they could take their time making plans, but the major cities in the country couldn't wait.

With the land and airspace locked down, countless tourists, foreign trade cargo ships, and investors were blocked outside the borders.

A few days might have been fine; everyone could wait patiently and enter once the lockdown was lifted.

But when the lockdown lasted for months, everyone could no longer wait.

Was this a joke?

Tourist cities were desperate for visitors to spend money, and non-tourist cities also needed merchant investment and development, not to mention the cargo ships carrying goods blocked outside the ports.

One had to know that most of what they carried were daily necessities. If they couldn't be brought in now, wouldn't domestic prices skyrocket?

Thus, mayors from various cities flocked to Moscow to complain to the President, saying the lockdown must be lifted; otherwise, there was no need to look forward to the day the transcendent helped Russia take off, because they would have starved to death before then.

Initially, the President intended to grit his teeth and hold out.

He felt the wolf bones would be obtained soon, and then the second stage of the exam would begin. By then, he wouldn't have to worry about the wolf bones being stolen by outsiders and could lift the lockdown.

But after several months of effort, not even one of the remaining three wolf bones could be obtained. In desperation, the President had no choice but to order the borders and airspace opened.

Hah, it was one thing when they were closed, but once they opened, Russia suddenly became very lively.

The news of Seventeen's recruitment was known worldwide; after all, it was currently the only way to step into the realm of the transcendent.

Originally, Russia had been strictly guarded, and no one could get in, so they could only satisfy their cravings by reading related news every day.

Now that you can't withstand the negative effects of the lockdown and have allowed us to enter, what are we waiting for?

Anyone from any country capable of an international trip scrambled for plane tickets like crazy, including people sent by Ying Country and America.

Looking at the international flights and trains filled to capacity every day, the President knew very well there were foreign spies among them. He wanted to investigate, but there were too many people, making it completely unfeasible.

He nearly worried himself bald.

But after these people actually entered, he was shocked to find that he had been completely overthinking it.

As soon as they got off the planes and trains, they immediately rented cars locally and rushed to the locations of the wolf bones, only to die completely.

Truly completely; even their bones were swallowed by the calamities as a midnight snack.

The President slapped his forehead. Right, even domestic citizens with heavy weapons he provided couldn't take down the calamities. What could these outsiders do, coming empty-handed or at most carrying rifles bought from the local black market?

So he stopped worrying, waved his hand, and ordered the mayors gathered in Moscow to hurry back and seize the opportunity to develop the tourism industry. He himself happily ran near a calamity, holding binoculars to watch the outsiders lining up to die every day.

Once Zhang Mu understood the situation in Russia, he felt a bit helpless regarding those stubborn people who went to find calamities with just handguns.

"Alright then, everything is very stable. I'll come back after the war is over."

Muttering to himself, he summoned a Portal to the Saul Continent.

Just as he arrived at the palace, the King received a report from a guard and came running in a hurry, telling Zhang Mu that Domit was anxious to find him.

Zhang Mu was somewhat confused. He had just met with him a few hours ago; what could be so urgent in such a short time?

He asked the King, who didn't know either, so he immediately flew to Domit's Command Post.

Once inside the cave, before Zhang Mu could even ask, Domit grabbed a piece of paper and said, "It's very strange. Today, our sniper squads performing guerrilla missions on the edge of the plains suddenly suffered heavy casualties."

"How many people?"

Domit looked down at the paper: "I formed a total of 60 two-man squads, divided equally into two groups, to rotate and snipe small units of the Coalition. "},{

There were casualties before, but at most two or three squads a day. But today... today, 18 squads have lost contact."

"More than half were sacrificed?" Zhang Mu was somewhat surprised. He took the paper, reading it while asking, "Do we know the reason?"

"According to the reports from the returning squads, the missing squads didn't send out any distress signals."

"Instant kills?"

Zhang Mu placed the paper on the nearby table, his brow furrowing. "The sniper squads communicate via wireless headsets, right?"

"Yes."

Using wireless headsets, a distress signal could be sent almost simultaneously upon encountering an overwhelming attack, yet not a single one of the 18 squads had sent one.

"High-tier Professionals?"

"No," Domit denied. "The Saint-level by the King's side has been observing the ground from the sky. If any High-tier Professionals appeared, he would definitely have sensed them."

"Interesting." Zhang Mu laughed, pulling over a wooden chair to sit down. "Then it can only be large-scale deployments of low-level Professionals?"

"I think... that's unlikely."

"Oh? Why?"

"The Coalition sent out patrol squads composed entirely of High-level Knights and High-level Magicians. I asked Mr. Blova to eliminate a few, and the Coalition hasn't sent them out since."

Domit's purpose in sending sniper squads for guerrilla warfare was to train troops. Having a few High-level Professionals in a patrol squad was barely acceptable, but if they all were, how could he train his troops?

So he had asked Blova to "remind" the Coalition not to have too many High-level Professionals in their patrol squads.

Novak was also very sensible; after that, no more than three High-level Professionals appeared in a single squad.

After all, only the squads composed entirely of Professionals were wiped out that day, while those mixed with ordinary people and Professionals returned safely. If he couldn't guess Domit's intention from that, he wouldn't be fit to serve as the Coalition's Marshal.

Novak had also considered having his Saint-levels teach the sniper squads a lesson.

Unfortunately, all five of them refused.

Their chances of winning a direct battle against Lake's three Saint-levels were very high, but being ambushed in the open... they might lose members instantly.

In the eyes of the five, it didn't matter how many ordinary Soldiers and Professionals below the Saint-level died; after all, the various countries had plenty of them. Taking the risk of being ambushed for that was not worth it.

Zhang Mu waved his hand. "You've misunderstood. I'm not talking about High-level Knights and High-level Magicians. In fact... I suspect the people the Coalition sent aren't even Middle-level Professionals."

"Ah?" Domit was stunned for a long time before saying, "High-level Knights and High-level Magicians can't even withstand sniper bullets. What's the use of sending even lower-level ones?"

"Then what's the use of you sending snipers who pose no threat to High-tier Professionals?"

"I'm training troops."

"Exactly, they are training troops too."

Zhang Mu patted the chair next to him, signaling Domit to sit as well.

Once he sat down with a look of confusion, Zhang Mu spoke: "Your sniper squads harass the Coalition all day. It looks like the results are brilliant, but in reality, the losses caused to the Coalition aren't that great, right?"

"The lethality limit of ordinary snipers can only be High-level Professionals, and the Coalition has too many High-tier Professionals. But we aren't aiming to kill the enemy either, are we?"

"Yes, our purpose is to train troops, and the Coalition must have guessed that." Zhang Mu crossed his arms, his gaze fixed on the cave wall. "The Coalition's Saint-levels are overall stronger than ours, but only by a limited margin.

They won't deploy Saint-levels for the sake of harmless sniper squads to avoid losing members to an ambush.

We've already captured one of their six Saint-levels. If another dies, they'll lose even their superficial strength, so they can only endure the harassment of the sniper squads.

But enduring it all the time is also very uncomfortable. Moreover, watching us train our troops and seeing the snipers' marksmanship become more and more skilled and precise—it would be a lie to say they aren't anxious.

So what can they do?"

Zhang Mu stepped into the role of a Coalition commander: "You train troops, so I'll train them too.

You train snipers, and I'll train low-level Professionals to adapt to snipers. Along the way, I can even capture your weapons for research. Even if we can't replicate them, we can use them to familiarize the Soldiers so they know how to deal with your weapons."

Zhang Mu had basically deduced Novak's intentions.

You want to train troops? And you think the training effect of High-level Professionals is poor?"

Fine, then I'll send low-level Professionals on patrol. You won't have the Saint-levels step in again, will you?"

Actually, it wasn't surprising to figure it out. Novak was practically playing with his cards on the table, waiting to see if Zhang Mu could catch on.

Obviously, Zhang Mu had caught on.

Domit understood: "Marshal, the Coalition... intends to spar with us?"

"Mm. Not only can they cultivate a group of Professionals familiar with firearms, but they can also solve the annoyance of the sniper squads' harassment. Why wouldn't they?"

"Our 18 missing squads were eliminated by the Coalition's low-level Professional squads?"

"The individual strength of low-level Professionals is indeed far inferior to High-level Professionals, but when their numbers increase, a two-man sniper squad certainly can't handle them.

I suspect the enemy probably disguised themselves as ordinary people and suddenly revealed their strength after getting close. Combined with their large numbers, the sniper squads were caught off guard, which is why they couldn't even send out a distress signal."

"Marshal, I understand." Domit smiled. "Since the Coalition has an understanding, we will certainly cooperate."

Seeing that he knew what to do, Zhang Mu didn't say much more and got up to return to the capital.

...

The Coalition camp.

The Commander-in-Chief's tent.

Novak stood by the table, looking at the table full of sniper rifles, binoculars, wireless headsets, and other equipment, his lips curling into a grin.

"Mr. Brando, your strategy is truly brilliant!"

"It was the Marshal's proper arrangements." Brando didn't take the credit.

"Hahaha..." Novak accepted the praise with pleasure and then was not stingy with his own admiration. "It's all thanks to you seeing through the enemy's schemes that we could have such a harvest.

Speaking of which, your insight is indeed sharp. Following your plan, I sent out patrol squads composed of Junior Knights and Beginner Magicians, and Lake's Saint-levels indeed stopped taking action."

Brando smiled slightly. "Knowing they couldn't cause actual losses, yet still sending out teams despite the loss of weapons and Soldiers—I couldn't think of any other intention besides training troops."

Novak stroked a sniper rifle placed on the table. "Finally, those annoying mosquitoes have been taught a lesson.

Hmm... Someone, come here!"

An adjutant pulled back the curtain and entered. "Marshal."

"Send one of each of these items to the craftsmen. As for the rest... clear out a tent and display them on racks so our Soldiers can go see them every day."

"Yes!"

"By the way." Novak called out to the adjutant as he turned to leave. "Give the order to send more patrol squads of Primary-level Professionals to the edge of the mountains and forests."

"Yes!"

Watching the adjutant's back as he walked out of the tent, Brando smiled inexplicably and lowered his head to flip through his magic book.