58: Failed to steal the chicken, but turned the tables!

"How could this be?!"

The Emperor stood dumbfounded, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Shogunate General... sacrificed himself?"

The war hasn't even officially begun, and I've already lost two key generals!

The Shogunate Special Forces led by Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Yasui's Bacterial Unit totaled eighty thousand men!

The Shogunate Special Forces were the elite among the elite of Da He Settlement; every single one of them was a Challenger who had experienced countless battles and possessed extensive experience in Dungeon assaults!

They were capable of excelling in land, air, and sea combat.

It could be said that they represented the pinnacle of combat strength among the one million Challengers in this instance!

As for the Bacterial Unit, it was a hidden card in the Emperor's hand, and also a trump card.

Its purpose was to deliver a fatal blow to Eagle Country at a critical moment.

If used properly, bacterial biochemical weapons could completely neutralize any of Eagle Country's weapons!

Yet, these two elite forces were inexplicably wiped out by a power called Longguo.

What is this supposed to be?!

Minamoto no Yorimitsu was Level 4, a figure in the top thirty of the Sky Curtain Hero Ranking, and the strongest individual in Da He Settlement besides himself.

In fact, when it came to single combat and close-quarters fighting, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was far superior to him.

And just like that, he inexplicably... was gone?!

The enraged Emperor slammed the table twice!

The losses in this wave were undeniably significant for the Challenger Camp.

Ito Hidekazu, who was standing by, was also startled and at a loss, angrily asking the Sky Curtain:

"Sky Curtain, how could such a thing happen?"

"We haven't launched an attack on the enemy forces yet, so why were Challengers inexplicably eliminated?"

"If, in a Dungeon, Challengers are eliminated by something completely unrelated to the mission before engaging the enemy, then this Dungeon must be problematic!"

"This is clearly a Designer's trick!"

"[Sky Curtain notification: The system has detected that some Challengers were eliminated by a force named 'Longguo'. Longguo is a force specially created by Designer Lin Ye on Earth Online, possessing extremely rigorous logical support, and its rationality has passed Sky Curtain's review!]

"[The Dungeon map where the Challengers are located, Earth Online, contains more than just Eagle Country and Dongying Island; there are many other forces similar to Longguo on it.]"

"[Currently, under full-scale war mode, Challengers, while enjoying a high degree of freedom, should also bear the consequences of their various actions.]"

After hearing the Sky Curtain's explanation, the Emperor slowly sat down in his chair, his eyes wide open, and his breathing heavy.

His mind was in utter chaos at this moment.

Lin Ye!

Is this the suppressive power of the Great Xia Dungeon design genius?!

Lin Ye had actually designed other forces within this Dungeon! And these forces had an extremely high degree of completion, just like Eagle Country.

The sheer richness of detail in Eagle Country alone had already struck the Emperor as highly exaggerated.

Now, the Sky Curtain was telling everyone that there were other forces on Earth Online! And these forces might even be stronger than Eagle Country!

Does that mean forces similar to "Longguo" also possess a lot of cutting-edge technology?

If that's the case, the technological and technical content within this Dungeon is simply immeasurable!

The Emperor truly couldn't believe that this was something Lin Ye had created all by himself!

This was not a Dungeon at all, but a world.

"Your Majesty..." Ito Hidekazu asked tremblingly. "What should we do next?"

The Emperor sighed deeply, quickly composing himself.

"The sacrifice of Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Yasui is a great loss for us, but our plan must still be carried out."

"However, this path of external aggression must be temporarily halted."

Previously, the Emperor believed that there were only two major powers on Earth Online, Dongying Island and Eagle Country, which was why he dared to expand externally.

But now it seems, it's clearly enemies on all sides, fraught with danger!

If they were to harbor thoughts of expansion and resource plunder again, and encountered another force similar to "Longguo," it would be a complete waste.

He could accept the sacrifice of the Dahe Clan, but he would never accept such a meaningless sacrifice.

"Although losing the Shogunate General, a supreme combat force, is a huge loss, it's not fatal!"

"Next, all our energy must be focused on dealing with Eagle Country! We must expand our forces with all our might! As for Eagle Country's so-called sanctions against us, we should delay them as much as possible."

"If Group Leader Iga Ryuji can acquire some military intelligence from Eagle Country, our chances of victory are still very high."

Just as the Emperor was contemplating his next strategy, the number of Challengers in the Dungeon's backend decreased once again.

Fortunately, this time the number was not large, only three hundred.

"What's going on now?"

"Why is the number of people suddenly decreasing again?"

Immediately after, the Sky Curtain's notification arrived.

"[Sky Curtain notification: It has been detected that three hundred Challengers have chosen to surrender and submit to Eagle Country. Dungeon Commander, please manage the Challenger Camp properly.

Given that the Challenger Camp has not officially engaged in war with Eagle Country, these surrendering Challengers are considered voluntary acts of submission. 20 points will be deducted, and they will be teleported out of the Dungeon!]

"Surrender?!"

The Emperor immediately jumped up from his seat!

Surrendering to Eagle Country was a personal choice, and even he, as the Dungeon Commander, could not interfere with such an act. The reason he gathered 1 million Dahe Clan members to enter the Dungeon as a group was precisely to prevent such things from happening.

He simply could not understand how some of his own Dahe Clan citizens would choose to surrender before the war even began!

And this was happening openly, abandoning their posts, even with him, the supreme Commander of Da He Settlement, present!

Although three hundred people was not a large number, if left unchecked, it could easily lead to widespread demoralization.

Such acts of desertion and betrayal of the Emperor were absolute major crimes in Da He Settlement.

"Outrageous!"

"Such Traitors have no honor whatsoever; they are a disgrace to my Da He Settlement."

The Emperor gritted his teeth in anger and said coldly:

"Ito-kun, help me find out who these three hundred deserters are? I want to know each of their names!"

"These Traitors will be directly eliminated by the Ninja Unit I arrange later!"

Ito Hidekazu did not dare to delay and immediately checked the Dungeon's backend, comparing names one by one.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

After much deliberation, he stammered:

"Your Majesty... These three hundred who fled are precisely Group Leader Iga Ryuji and the members of his Ninja group."

"Their names are no longer on the backend Challenger list."

"What?!"

The Emperor felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, clearly unable to believe such a result.

In Da He Settlement, Iga Ryuji could be said to be one of his most trusted subordinates; over the years, he had secretly done many unspeakable things for him.

It could be said that Iga Ryuji was a loyal subordinate he had specifically cultivated.

While others deserting could be understood, he absolutely refused to believe that Iga Ryuji would surrender.

"Sky Curtain? Can you tell me what exactly is going on?" the Emperor asked.

"[Sky Curtain notification: Challengers Iga Ryuji and others, upon entering Eagle Country, were influenced by Eagle Country's freedom and democracy, and were also deeply attracted by Eagle Country's high quality of life. Therefore, they chose to voluntarily surrender, change their nationality, and become citizens of Eagle Country...]

"[When Iga Ryuji surrendered, he also revealed all of Dongying Island's troop deployments and military intelligence to Eagle Country...]

"[Sky Curtain reminds the Dungeon Commander not to easily allow your Challenger teammates to enter Eagle Country's territory.]"