505: Chapter 485 Advancing the Front and Rescuing Potter

By the time Zhang Mu returned to the rear Command Post, Domit had already occupied the entire territory of Ganno and wiped out the legions of the two empires within its borders. The remnants fleeing into the mountains and forests were no longer a threat and could be dealt with later.

Upon seeing the Marshal, Domit asked for instructions on how to handle the captured generals.

This group of generals had been held in a temporary prison for several months, responding to Domit's interrogations with nothing but cold sneers.

It wasn't that they were so loyal to their dynasties that every single one of them would rather die than submit; they were simply waiting for an Epic to descend from the sky, wipe out the enemy, and save them from their plight.

The two corpses Zhang Mu brought back completely shattered their illusions. During the subsequent interrogation, the group of generals became very submissive, handing over all the intelligence they knew.

Zhang Mu wasn't particularly interested in the specific details regarding the remaining forces of the empires. With their Epics dead, the two empires were like beasts that had lost their fangs and claws; they could still roar to intimidate some, but those people did not include Zhang Mu.

The main purpose of interrogating the prisoners was to find the empires' secret treasuries.

In addition to their public royal treasuries, empires would privately prepare a hidden location unknown to outsiders to store precious treasures.

Usually, these were within "The World," though the possibility of secret chambers carved into remote mountains couldn't be ruled out. This was Zhang Mu's target.

The generals answered every question, and the interrogation progressed rapidly. After obtaining all the desired intelligence, Domit ordered the army to assemble on Ganno's eastern border. Once military supplies and provisions were in place, they immediately launched an offensive against the territories of the two empires.

The two empires had actually long since discovered Lake's raid, which could hardly be called a surprise attack.

If you couldn't see hundreds of thousands of Soldiers gathering at the border, it wasn't just being slow-witted; it was having poor eyesight.

At this time, the kings of the two countries did not know that their Epics had been ambushed and killed by Zhang Mu. They only thought some mishap had occurred on the way that required time to handle—they didn't believe two Epics could be ambushed and killed. They actively mobilized their remaining domestic forces, intending to resist Lake outside their national gates.

The result was naturally not optimistic; they had ultimately underestimated the capabilities of Integrated Air-to-Ground warfare.

Without the cover of High-tier Professionals and Saint-levels, the infantry forming ranks on the ground were like lambs to the slaughter. Facing round after round of aerial bombing and over-the-horizon artillery fire, they were routed before they could even see the enemy's forms.

The two empires had already lost a large number of their main legions and top Professionals in the battle for Ganno. Their Saint-levels were sniped by the Special Operations Squad, the few Gods Blessings were hunted down and killed one by one by Zhang Mu, and their final elites collapsed at the border. From then on, they completely lost the power to resist.

Subsequently, the Lake legion split its forces and attacked from different directions. Six months later, they occupied the entire territory. One of the two kings fled in advance, while the other chose the same end as the King of Ganno, committing suicide in the royal palace.

Among the many empires in the central region of the continent, these three were not considered powerful nations. A truly powerful empire would have at least three Epics.

However, an empire is an empire, not something a kingdom without even a Gods Blessing could hope to match. The fact that Lake destroyed three at once, even with the element of a surprise attack and the fact that the three countries were at war with each other, still drew the eyes of all the empires.

Some empires seemed unable to believe it.

Lake's strongest Professional was only Saint-level. No matter how weak the three empires were, they still had hundreds of Saint-levels and a double-digit number of Gods Blessings. On what basis did Lake defeat or even annihilate them?

In the empires' estimation, any empire could dispatch a single Gods Blessing to suffice in wiping out Lake.

Furthermore, the Epics of various empires had not sensed the aftershocks of an Epic-level battle, meaning the Epics of the three empires hadn't died in their mutual fighting. Where did they go, and why did they sit by and watch their empires fall?

It couldn't be that Lake killed three Epics, could it?

This was the point of greatest confusion for the empires, but fortunately, it was soon resolved.

Through the mouth of the Pope, Zhang Mu learned that the empire holding his teacher Potter under house arrest was not very far from Lake's current territory, with only one empire in between.

Initially, Zhang Mu planned to go alone to rescue him. With the Shadow Technique and his preliminary mastery of Laws, it wouldn't be a problem to bypass the Epics and rescue one person.

After careful consideration, he gave up on that and chose to conquer and destroy that empire instead.

Lake rested and recuperated for a year.

During this period, the First-Tier Legion's roster was fully replenished, and newly formed legions arrived at the border. The now-systematized Medical Squad arrived with the army, the air force expanded threefold, and the navy, under Geoffrey's strenuous promotion, began to take shape as a combat force—referring to three Aircraft Carrier Flotillas.

At the same time, Geoffrey's research on the tear of life achieved a breakthrough, successfully analyzing a method for mass production.

After the first batch of tears left the factory, Geoffrey immediately began developing a new generation of magic guidance sniper rifles, completing it three months later and producing the first batch of finished products. The combat power of the Special Operations Squad received a massive boost; in a life-or-death struggle, they could trade one-for-one with a Gods Blessing. If three squads cornered a single Gods Blessing, they could achieve a kill without losses.

With preparations complete, the land, sea, and air forces advanced together. The Special Operations Squads were dispersed among the main legions to guard against top-tier imperial Professionals who might attack them.

The Lake army assembled outside a border city of the next empire. The other empires did not intervene, only sending Gods Blessings to sneak near the battlefield to spy, wanting to understand Lake's current foundation and actual combat strength.

Zhang Mu was very composed, allowing those Gods Blessings, who thought they were well-hidden, to approach the battlefield and observe Lake. Once they had satisfied their curiosity, he ordered the Special Operations Squad to snipe them down.

What followed was a full-scale offensive against the empire.

Lake's momentum had already been established. The empire's Gods Blessings and Saint-levels could still cause casualties to the Lake legion to some extent, but the price was their own lives.

While Lake held the advantage on the frontal battlefield, the Special Operations Squad chose ambush tactics, lurking around their own main attacking legions.

When the empire's Gods Blessings came to attack, they were greeted by bullets suddenly appearing before their eyes. Of course, they could choose not to come, but the consequence would be their legions being slaughtered by Lake.

In a situation that could be described as a steamroll, imperial cities fell one after another. The agile silhouettes of fighter jets soon filled the empire's skies, and artillery fire covered its entire territory. The empire made a final struggle, sending two Epics to the front lines, only for them to die at Zhang Mu's hands three days later.

The war had not yet concluded, but the outcome was decided. Six months later, the King of the empire fled the capital with his family.

The empire fell completely, and the observing empires finally understood what kind of monster they were facing.

The Professionals in the main legions were clearly no higher than Intermediate at most, yet the enemy's Gods Blessings, Saint-levels, and High-tier Professionals died one by one under their assault. By gathering intelligence, they discovered Lake possessed a special team capable of invisibility, but despite their best efforts, they couldn't find any specific information.

The number of people, the method of attack, the weapons used—they couldn't even determine if they were human.

What terrified the various empires the most was the bizarre disappearance of the Epics.

The Epics of the four empires that had fallen under Lake's fire, without exception, all vanished mysteriously within a few days of being deployed. No one saw them alive, and no bodies were found.

Epics were different from Professionals. A Professional might betray an empire or flee in secret out of fear of a powerful enemy country, but an Epic would never do so. They were bound to the empire, living and dying together.

The high-level officials of each empire discussed this eerie situation and finally reached a unanimous conclusion: they had died at Lake's hands.

Other than that, the empires could think of no other reason why the Epics would allow their empires to be destroyed.

As the empires roughly sorted out their thoughts, they suddenly realized why the God had judged Lake to be a heretic.

Were they not heretics?

Their performance surpassed common sense. In less than ten years, they had wiped out all the kingdoms around their territory and subsequently destroyed four empires, with a total of five Epics falling at their hands.

Their development model defied recognition. Professionals, whom all countries on the continent regarded as their foundation, seemed to have become something Lake greatly disdained. They didn't deliberately resist them, but it was undeniable that Professionals were almost nowhere to be seen within Lake's main legions.

There were some, but compared to the total number of people, the proportion of Professionals was essentially zero.

While the empires regretted ignoring the divine oracle to annihilate Lake earlier, they hesitated over whether to immediately form an alliance to besiege the increasingly powerful Lake.

From the looks of the situation, the empires should not have hesitated. Lake's pace of national progress was always fast and steady. If they continued to dither, it might be too late by the time they decided to join forces; by then, it wasn't impossible for Lake to face the entire continent alone.

However, human hearts are always difficult to trust.

Lake currently occupied part of the area west of the continent's center, far from the Eastern Region. Simply put, it wouldn't pose a threat to the Eastern Region empires for the time being.

The concern of the Eastern Region empires was: if they sent troops now, would their territory be sneak-attacked by an enemy country they had a grudge against?

Since Lake couldn't reach the Eastern Region in the short term anyway, they had plenty of time to deal with each other first and face Lake after consolidating their power.

Coincidentally, the thinking of the Eastern Region empires followed the same path.

Thus, a very strange situation formed in the central region of the continent.

Lake was in the Western Region. If it expanded its territory, the first to be impacted would be the empires in the North and South Regions close to the west.

Having witnessed Lake's terror, they naturally dared not underestimate it again. Internally, they reorganized their armaments and assembled large armies to defend their borders; externally, they sent envoys to the Eastern Region and the empires in the North and South Regions adjacent to the east, requesting support.

In their view, these empires should decisively order their reinforcements to set out. Lake was the enemy of the entire continent; if they were defeated, it would be these empires' turn to fall next.

Regrettably, these empires were full of apprehension, looking at their neighbors with hesitant eyes—you send troops first; if you do, I will. If you don't, then I won't either.

The empires had actually gathered to discuss it, saying they shouldn't suspect each other anymore and should just send troops together.

At the meeting, representatives from all countries nodded in agreement, but after returning home, they thought again: what if the enemy country sneak-attacks as soon as my Professionals and legions set out? By the time they return to help, the capital might have already been breached by the enemy's Epic. Better to wait a bit; I'll go after the enemy country goes first.

And so, things went back to the starting point.

Fortunately, they soon wouldn't have to struggle with it anymore.

During the several years that the Eastern Region empires were pulling at each other, the Western Region empires, which hadn't received the reinforcements they were waiting for, were unable to withstand Lake's fierce assault and fell one after another.

The process matched the previous four empires: High-tier Professionals, Saint-levels, and Gods Blessings were sniped by lurking Special Operations Squads, and Epics were ambushed by Zhang Mu in the wilderness.

By the time the Eastern Region empires received the intelligence, the Lake army—oh no, it was now called Ice and Snow.

Lake had changed its name to Ice and Snow six months ago. Even though no one in the country had advanced to Epic, they still called themselves an empire. None of the empires questioned this; after Lake had successively occupied the territories and cities of more than ten empires, if they still thought Ice and Snow didn't deserve the title of empire, then they truly were beyond hope.

Of course, the Eastern Region empires were no longer in the mood to care about such things.

Three days ago, the Ice and Snow Empire assembled all its main legions and surrounded the empires of the Eastern Region.