66: The collapsed emperor!

The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was already a risky move by the Emperor; if this step went wrong, it would essentially mean total defeat.

Even the Emperor, even this top-tier expert ranked in the Hero Ranking’s TOP20, could not see any hope at this moment.

Because this was completely not a battle of the same magnitude.

The Emperor had dominated Azure Star for decades, and this was the only time he had felt such deep despair, a feeling that suppressed him to his very bones.

“Damn it!”

“Why is this?!”

The Emperor muttered to himself, somewhat hysterically.

“One Lin Ye… just one person, how could he possess such powerful military strength?!”

“His strength and technology alone actually crushed the entire Great Harmony Settlement?!”

Only now did the Emperor truly understand.

It wasn’t that his strategy was flawed, nor was his troop deployment problematic; they were defeated simply because of the disparity in strength.

But why was Lin Ye so strong?!

All the Challengers who entered this instance were elites, almost gathering all the naval and Air Force elites of the entire Great Harmony Settlement.

Everyone here, if not battle-hardened, had at least undergone multiple training sessions in various instances.

They had gathered all the strength of the entire Dahe Gathering Ground, yet they couldn’t even touch a single hair of the Eagle Country.

How could this instance be played out?!

Just as the Emperor was racking his brain for a last-ditch countermeasure, the Sky Curtain notification sound followed.

“Sky Curtain Notification: In view of the Challenger’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Eagle Country has declared full-scale war on Eastern Island! And has already dispatched the Eagle Country Expeditionary Force to fully attack Eastern Island!”

“One day later, the Eagle Country’s army will land on Eastern Island. Challengers can now choose to surrender or fight a final battle. Challenger Commander, please choose carefully.”

The Emperor took a deep breath, his brows furrowing even deeper.

-------------------------------------

At the same time, in the Great Xia Settlement, at the Tenglong Central City Instance Research Center.

At this moment, a burst of cheers erupted in the report hall.

“Well done, Lin Ye!”

“Lin Ye is indeed a genius of our Great Xia; it’s clear he considered all of the Emperor’s combat strategies!”

“He’s truly amazing; with just one fleet, he caused the people of the Great Harmony Settlement to lose half their forces!”

“Looking at it this way, the probability of these Great Harmony people clearing the instance is already very low; it can almost be confirmed that Lin Ye can defend the instance!”

Over the years, the people of the Great Harmony Settlement had always been making small moves behind the scenes.

Under the conditions allowed by the Sky Curtain, and while maintaining external peace, they used various despicable means to sneak attack and persecute the Great Xia people.

The despicable Great Harmony people, under the guise of challenging instances, had eliminated many young instance Designers from Great Xia.

This kind of thing was especially common among Great Harmony elite Designers like Iga Ryuji and Yamamoto Thirty-eight.

The Great Xia people naturally wouldn’t sit idly by and had more than once retaliated against the Great Harmony Settlement.

Over time, the two Settlements had become irreconcilable.

Now, seeing these people from the Great Harmony Settlement blown to pieces by the “Extinguish Country Fleet,” and seeing Yamamoto Thirty-eight and Tominaga sink to the bottom of the sea, everyone in the report hall felt extraordinarily satisfied.

However, after the brief exhilaration, what shocked everyone even more was the almost abnormal naval strength in Raging Sea.

But after all, laymen watch the excitement, while experts watch the technique. Some people who were not in naval research could not fully grasp the value of the Extinguish Country Fleet.

Anyway, they were all instantly destroyed, so it was difficult to accurately quantify how strong this power actually was.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Dean Ding Chang of the First Research Institute.

“Dean Ding, could you explain Lin Ye’s technology to us?”

“Only you here can understand it.”

“Now that the Emperor has temporarily lost, he should be resting for a while, so everyone can discuss it.”

Because the research direction of the First Research Institute happened to be in naval aspects, and the most core research weapon was the Aircraft Carrier.

Regarding the strength assessment of the Extinguish Country Fleet in Raging Sea, Dean Ding indeed had the most authority to speak among those present.

At this moment, Dean Ding, compared to his shock when he first saw an Aircraft Carrier, was significantly calmer this time.

He quietly said to Zhao Jianyu next to him, “Sword Rain, you come and explain the technology of the Extinguish Country Fleet to everyone.”

“Teacher… me? I can’t fully understand the things in Lin Ye’s instance…” Zhao Jianyu hesitated a little.

Because the naval unit technology inside Lin Ye’s instance was too advanced; let alone herself, even the entire research institute together, probably no one would dare say they understood it.

“Just say as much as you understand. Among us, you have the deepest research on Lin Ye.”

“Okay…”

Zhao Jianyu composed herself, then stood up and slowly began to speak.

“First, setting aside the Aircraft Carriers in this instance, even those ordinary cruisers and destroyers, the technology contained within them far surpasses that of our research institute, by a great deal.”

“Everyone should have seen it just now… the assembly speed of these warships, and the firing speed of their shells, are not comparable to the weapons commonly seen in other instances.”

“In this aspect alone, I think Lin Ye is at least decades, or even a century, ahead of our research institute!”

A century?!

In an instant, the hall fell silent, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on Zhao Jianyu.

People’s mouths hung open, looking incredulous, and even began to suspect whether Zhao Jianyu was exaggerating.

One hundred years, that’s a century!

Technology a century ahead, it sounded unbelievable.

Most of the people present were elites of the Great Xia Settlement, and some could even be called geniuses.

But even a genius has a certain limit to how far ahead they can be.

To be able to surpass the highest technology of the current era by five years could be called a peerless genius.

If Lin Ye’s technology truly led the First Research Institute by a hundred years, then he could hardly be called a genius; he should be called the God of Instances!

“Furthermore, speaking of this Aircraft Carrier, the technological lead within it is even greater.”

Zhao Jianyu ignored the questioning looks in the hall and continued to speak.

“First, Lin Ye is the first person in this world to master Aircraft Carrier technology. Many people must have seen the Aircraft Carrier displayed during Raging Sea’s first appearance in the live broadcast.”

“The ability to operate an Aircraft Carrier in an instance, this technology alone means Lin Ye is already ahead of this world.”

“But this time’s Aircraft Carrier is completely different from before!” Zhao Jianyu’s eyes also held a hint of incomprehensible shock at this moment.

“Clearly, the previous Aircraft Carrier could only be considered a semi-finished product; the current Aircraft Carrier is the true embodiment of Lin Ye’s technology!”

“I always thought that an Aircraft Carrier was just a mobile airfield, and while powerful, it didn’t possess much combat power itself… but seeing those new Aircraft Carriers in the instance just now, I realized I had completely misunderstood.”

“But unfortunately, I truly don’t understand any of the technology inside the Aircraft Carrier right now… including its power supply system, and the Aircraft Carrier’s travel speed, etc., all far exceed my comprehension.”

“So… I can’t explain anything to everyone.”

The hall fell silent once again.

At this moment, Deng Xian, the Dean of the Instance Energy and Power Research Institute, who was sitting to Dean Ding’s left, coughed twice and quietly said:

“If my guess is correct, Lin Ye’s Aircraft Carrier should be using a power supply technology we are currently attempting to research: nuclear energy…”

At this, the audience present was completely dumbfounded.

Because Zhao Jianyu was just a junior, people might think she was biased, but the person speaking now was the Dean of the Energy and Power Research Institute.

This Deng Xian, like Dean Ding, was an old veteran in Great Xia instance design, so he naturally wouldn’t speak carelessly.

Just now, Deng Xian said that the technology Lin Ye used was a technology the Energy Research Institute was currently attempting to research.

Typically, the research of a result takes at least ten years, and often up to a hundred years!

Wouldn’t that mean that the energy technology in Lin Ye’s instance was also at least decades ahead of Great Xia’s energy field?!

Is this Lin Ye really human?

-------------------------------------

In the instance, the Emperor was still deep in thought, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had gone through all possible counterattack methods in his mind, only to find that none of them would work.

Just then, Ito Hidekazu suddenly rushed in.

“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!”

“The Eagle Country has already implemented full sanctions against us. Our various economic indicators are plummeting, and Eastern Island… Eastern Island is in complete chaos.”

The situation at this moment was almost identical to when Ito Hidekazu challenged the economic war for the second time.

But the difference was, the last time was an economic instance, where only various economic indicators needed to be considered, without other factors.

But this time was an open-mode instance of full-scale war, and these sanctions would also affect the military, which meant they were closely related to everything that followed.

The Eagle Country’s sanctions would cause Eastern Island’s various resources to be depleted, naturally making it impossible to manufacture military supplies like guns, cannons, and ammunition.

This was equivalent to directly cutting off the supply for the Challenger Camp, making it impossible to fight a protracted war.

“Also… the news of our complete defeat at Pearl Harbor has been exposed domestically. The Eagle Country has once again infiltrated our media, so this matter is rapidly escalating.”

“The loyalty of the populace is also plummeting rapidly! Countless citizens have already gathered in the streets to protest.”

“Sir, please see.”

Saying this, Ito Hidekazu displayed the scene of Edo streets on the Songzhi Pavilion’s light screen.

In the image, countless citizens held up signs with prominent slogans like “Takakawa Step Down!”, “Takakawa Emperor, Lackey!”, “Takakawa Lackey, Eagle Country’s Spy!”

The citizens shouted accusations against the Emperor.

“Why did you sneak attack Pearl Harbor? Why provoke the Eagle Country?”

“Takakawa, you lackey! You massively conscripted soldiers, only to treat the lives of Eastern Island’s people as child’s play!”

“Takakawa is a militaristic demon, unfit to rule Eastern Island!”

“You are no match for the Eagle Country, why launch such an overconfident attack? What right does such an incompetent person have to be our leader!”

“Quickly surrender to the Eagle Country!”

“…”

The Emperor waved his hand, directly closing the image on the light screen.

His face had turned ashen with rage.

“Wretches!”

“They are truly a bunch of wretches!”

He had ruled the Great Harmony Settlement in reality for over a decade, always revered, and had never heard such insulting words directed at him.

Yet these NPCs in the instance dared to speak to him like this!

In an instant, veins bulged on his neck, and his finger bones cracked audibly as he clenched his fists.

He took a long breath, then coldly looked at Ito Hidekazu and asked:

“Ito-kun, I think you are also aware that the defeat at Pearl Harbor has halved our combat power… The upcoming confrontation with the Eagle Country will be even more difficult.”

“If it were you, what would you do next?”

The Emperor’s words made Ito Hidekazu feel as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He truly didn’t understand what meaning there was in the Emperor asking for his opinion at this moment.

But in the end, he stammered:

“Your Majesty, perhaps we can consider the opinions of these Eastern Island citizens and surrender to the Eagle Country…”