182: Chapter 182 Make way, I'm about to start showing off again.

Instant kill!

An absolute, suspense-free instant kill!

Sakura Country's most prideful Heroic Spirit, Sanada Yukimura, and the one empowered by his Heroic Spirit Manifestation, couldn't even last a second before the "Dongfeng Express" from the Dragon Country—which spanned across ancient and modern times—blasted them into dust!

After a brief vacuum, the barrage in the livestream room descended into absolute madness!

Someone frantically commented in the barrage, "The aura of the Dragon Country's wonder, Dongfeng-61, is terrifying. I knew this big guy was strong the moment I saw it. But this is just too strong! A Roleplayer empowered by a Heroic Spirit Manifestation, killed instantly just like that? And that's Sanada Yukimura we're talking about! Sanada Yukimura is arguably the Heroic Spirit with the highest combat power in Sakura Country. A Heroic Spirit with the highest combat power, absorbing the 'Ancient Martial Arts Resources' that match him best! And he was blasted to death in one hit just like that? Not even a scrap left! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it even if you told me ten thousand times!"

After a long period of shock, someone finally offered a rational explanation for why Sanada Yukimura was instantly killed: "Activating Sanada Yukimura using the power from the Ancient Martial Arts Resource Point only activates his Heroic Spirit Manifestation, it doesn't bring Sanada Yukimura himself onto the field as a Heroic Spirit. But the Dragon Country is different. The Dragon Country manifested a wonder first; wonders don't have any concept of 'Manifestation.' A manifested wonder is at the same level as a Heroic Spirit. The Dragon Country used a 'real' wonder to bombard a Sakura Country Roleplayer who only had a Heroic Spirit Manifestation. No matter how much he's empowered by the Manifestation, a Roleplayer is still just a carbon-based lifeform. A ballistic missile sniping a carbon-based lifeform—do you think the Sakura Country Roleplayer wouldn't be blasted to bits?"

Whether intentional or not, the explanation in the livestream channel ignored the inherent power of the wonder Dongfeng-61, but it was a reasonable explanation nonetheless, and the two professional commentators in the studio didn't refute it.

Kayahara Ao, who had been blasted to death by Dongfeng-61, turned into a streak of white light and returned to Saku Kenichi's side.

Bystanders see things clearly, while those involved are confused.

The audience watching the stream had figured out why Kayahara Ao was killed in one hit, but Kayahara Ao himself, having returned to the Sakura Country Strategist in soul form, still hadn't figured out how he died.

"I just felt like something was falling rapidly from the sky towards me. By the time I looked up, a big guy was already right above my head. And then, I was in this soul state appearing here. Damn it, can someone tell me what the hell happened?"

Including Kayahara Ao, all three Sakura Country Roleplayers died in the explosion of Dongfeng-61, and even the two USA Roleplayers that the USA had shoved over for the Sakura people to take care of were dead.

Saku Kenichi really didn't want to explain; it was too stifling.

Seeing this, Fan Ling, who was not far away, naturally wouldn't let this opportunity to mock the Sakura people pass. He vividly recounted how Kayahara Ao died and how miserable his death was.

"So much for 'Sakura's Number One Soldier' and 'The World's Strongest,' Sanada Yukimura. In front of the wonder manifested by my Brother Chen, he was still killed in one hit! How about that? Didn't see that coming, did you? My Brother Chen can actually make an ancient Heroic Spirit mobilize a modern wonder!"

So it wasn't a falling meteorite, but the Dragon Country's wonder that had instantly killed him.

Kayahara Ao's face looked as ugly as it could possibly get. He was about to flare up, but Saku Kenichi reached out and stopped him.

Given Kayahara Ao's intelligence, he would only be capable of impotent rage.

Saku Kenichi raised his hand to stop Kayahara Ao. His face was so gloomy it could drip water, but his voice was forced to remain calm, and he even applauded Chen Aoyun once more.

"Brilliant, truly brilliant. Using historical allusions as a bridge to connect the past and present, and mobilizing a modern wonder... Chen-kun, your unrestrained imagination once again leaves me in awe. My Sakura Country's Sanada Yukimura is no match for a single wonder from the Dragon Country. The Dragon Country is truly terrifying. Now, in this third act, all of my Sakura Country's Roleplayers have exited the stage; there are no longer any forces targeting your Dragon Country."

He changed the subject, his voice rising sharply, carrying a hint of imperceptible incitement:

"Furthermore, there are still areas on the chessboard where the fog has not yet dissipated. Moving forward, who dares to say there won't be a second or third 'wonder resource point'? If your Dragon Country manages to obtain them again, then when ten thousand missiles are launched simultaneously, who can stop it? In my opinion, the Dragon Country taking first place in this act is already within your grasp!"

A setup! This was clearly a setup!

In the Game of National Destiny, wonders and Heroic Spirits can only appear once; this is the fundamental rule of the Game of National Destiny.

In other words, even if there are more 'wonder resource points' in the fog, Dongfeng-61 cannot be used again.

If Dongfeng-61 cannot be manifested again, does the Dragon Country have a 'Dongfeng-71'? A 'Dongfeng-81'? A 'Dongfeng-91'? If there aren't any models more advanced than Dongfeng-61, then there must at least be 'Dongfeng-51', 'Dongfeng-41'... less advanced models, right?

A simultaneous launch of ten thousand arrows is impossible; that was Saku Kenichi's intentional exaggeration.

Saku Kenichi's words were nothing more than a reminder to all the Strategists of every country on the Star Chessboard: Eliminate the Dragon Country early. Take advantage of the fact that the Dragon Country has already exhausted Dongfeng-61 and strike quickly. If you drag it out, waiting until the Calamity Demons at the edge of the fog are completely killed, and waiting until new areas open up, and the Dragon Country people occupy another technology resource point, then it will be too late!

The intention to sow discord was blatantly obvious, but the Strategists of various countries didn't dare to gamble after hearing this.

Who knows if new rules will appear after the new areas open? Who knows if the Dragon Country people can pull out a second 'Dongfeng Express' after new areas appear?

Therefore, Saku Kenichi was right; turning back now to kill the Dragon Country Roleplayer Xiao Zhenghong, who bears the Heroic Spirit Manifestation of Heroic Spirit Zhuge Liang, is the safest choice!

Dongfeng-61 has already been consumed. As long as Xiao Zhenghong is killed, Heroic Spirit Zhuge Liang, who can activate the missile wonder, will disappear!

Thus, as soon as Saku Kenichi's voice fell, Chen Aoyun's side sensed countless malicious gazes shooting toward them.

"Damn, this old guy is really insidious! With one sentence, he's pushed most countries to the opposite side of our Dragon Country," Fan Ling cursed in a low voice.

"Even if Saku Kenichi can't offer any benefits to incite other countries against the Dragon Country now, it looks like the other countries are going to strike at Xiao Zhenghong on their own! Dongfeng-61 has been used up, and the Heroic Spirit Zhuge Liang Manifestation on Xiao Zhenghong has become a blank slate again. What are we going to do if other countries send people to kill him?" Fan Ling said anxiously.

In the first and second acts, especially the first, there were too many surprises, and the promise authorization that Sakura Country had granted to Saku Kenichi had long since been exhausted.

Even if Saku Kenichi were willing to swear by the name of [Strategist] that targeting the Dragon Country would still yield benefits from Sakura Country, Saku Kenichi, whose authorization was exhausted, had not been able to persuade other countries to target the Dragon Country at the beginning of the third act.

You have to realize that Saku Kenichi's status in Sakura Country cannot compare to Chen Aoyun's current status in the Dragon Country.

Sakura Country is not short of Strategists like Saku Kenichi. If Saku Kenichi's promises beyond the scope of his authorization are not recognized by Sakura Country when this Game of National Destiny ends, and they decide it's more cost-effective to abandon Saku Kenichi than to fulfill the promises, then Saku Kenichi would just be abandoned.

In the Game of National Destiny, deception is common, and most oaths made by Strategists that exceed their own value end up like this; it's a frequent occurrence.

This is the reason why countries did not show obvious hostility toward the Dragon Country in the third act.

But after this instance of Saku Kenichi's setup, things became different.

It had nothing to do with whether they were cooperating with Sakura Country to target the Dragon Country.

Purely from the perspective of clearing the third act themselves, Xiao Zhenghong, who bears the Heroic Spirit Zhuge Liang Manifestation and can mobilize the missile wonder, was, no matter how you looked at it, a very terrifying threat!

The first to take action was the USA!

Under the instruction of the USA Strategist, the USA Roleplayer bearing the Tesla Manifestation, after carbonizing a Calamity Demon with a powerful electric current, turned around, headed back, and charged toward the resource point, toward the direction where Xiao Zhenghong was located!

Besides the USA Strategist, the Strategists of other countries were also restless.

Only the Russian Strategist, Toslev, completely ignored Saku Kenichi's words.

Toslev said to Chen Aoyun on the Star Chessboard, "As long as your Dragon Country does not attack my Russia, the previous promise not to target your Dragon Country will remain valid throughout this Game of National Destiny!"

With Chen Aoyun's help, in the second act, Russia was able to use the wonder the motherland calls to defeat the USA's statue of liberty. Toslev's words were sincere, and Chen Aoyun nodded in response.

The France Strategist also spoke up.

In the eyes of the French, whether there are wonder resource points in the later areas, or whether the rules for using resource points are the same as now, is not a problem they need to worry about.

Since Dongfeng-61 is one-time use, even if the Dragon Country pulls out some 'Dongfeng-41' or 'Dongfeng-71' later, wouldn't those also be one-time use?

With so many countries present, France's total score is not a threat to the Dragon Country. If they want to deliver express, the Dragon Country people won't deliver it to France. Since that's the case, Saku Kenichi's setup of the Dragon Country didn't matter to him, so he said, "Consider it returning the favor for telling me the story of the statue of liberty; France will not attack your Dragon Country this time."

Even though Russia and France had expressed their willingness not to attack, Saku Kenichi still wore a cold, confident sneer:

"A USA Roleplayer bearing the Tesla Manifestation is already enough! Chen Aoyun, you went in circles and plotted everything, and yes, you killed my Sakura Country's Sanada Yukimura. But so what? Isn't your Dragon Country's Roleplayer Xiao Zhenghong and the only Heroic Spirit Manifestation available to the Dragon Country on him about to be slaughtered without having killed a single Calamity Demon? After being slaughtered, no matter if there are other wonder resource points in the later areas, it will have nothing to do with your Dragon Country anymore! In this act, your Dragon Country is finished!"

Finished?

Chen Aoyun suddenly laughed, a smile carrying a bit of mockery and a bit of disdain.

He first looked up at the France Strategist not far away and said, "I don't accept you returning the favor in this way! Furthermore, the issue now isn't whether or not you are returning my favor, but whether your France wants to owe my Dragon Country another favor!"

Chen Aoyun turned into a riddle-maker.

The France Strategist could understand why it didn't count as returning the favor; after all, returning a favor in this way was completely unequal. Chen Aoyun had told him the secret of a wonder, while he wasn't actually stopping the USA, just not actively attacking the Dragon Country.

With the USA's Tesla attacking, it was actually impossible for France to actively attack even if they wanted to, otherwise, the two Roleplayers bearing Heroic Spirit Manifestations might end up fighting each other on the way.

What the French couldn't understand was the second half of Chen Aoyun's sentence.

What did 'whether your France wants to owe my Dragon Country another favor' mean?

The French didn't understand what Chen Aoyun was talking about, and Saku Kenichi also squinted at Chen Aoyun. The calmness on Chen Aoyun's face made him feel a sense of unease in his heart.

Chen Aoyun gently pushed aside Fan Ling, who was cursing at Saku Kenichi.

"Move aside, I'm about to start showing off again!"

Showing off, showing off what?

Watching the USA Roleplayer bearing the Tesla Manifestation getting closer and closer to Xiao Zhenghong, Chen Aoyun pointed at Xiao Zhenghong on the chessboard, raising the corner of his mouth that made anyone who saw it angry, and said, "Yes, that's right, a wonder manifested as a ballistic missile is one-time use. But you don't think Dongfeng Express—Dongfeng-61... only has one warhead, right?!"

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Zhenghong on the chessboard slowly raised his hand.

His eyesight wasn't enough to see the USA Tesla Manifestation wielder charging toward him.

But that didn't matter; Chen Aoyun outside the chessboard was a human satellite!

Under Chen Aoyun's guidance, Xiao Zhenghong's raised arm instantly dropped.

Something jaw-dropping happened again: Above the head of the USA Tesla Manifestation possessor, in the invisible 'atmosphere,' a warhead tore through the sky, drilled out of the clouds, and smashed straight toward him.

The USA Tesla Manifestation possessor was stunned.

Where did this big guy come from? Didn't his own Strategist say the Dragon Country's wonder had already been consumed? ... Where was it consumed? This is nonsense! If it was consumed, then what is that thing above his head?

Without needing Construction Power, in this act, the power obtained from resource points could drive the abilities of Heroic Spirit Manifestations.

The moment the USA Roleplayer discovered something strange above his head, he immediately activated the 'Turbo Acceleration' ability, hoping to use speed to avoid the threat above.

He was lucky; he was right at the edge of the chess square. He dove out of this square and dove into the next one.

"Did he shake it off?"

In the interval while the USA Roleplayer crossed the chess square, the audience around the world thought he had shaken off the threat above.

This is a ballistic missile, not a cruise missile; the strike trajectory is inertial movement and doesn't track, so he should be safe now, right? Everyone thought so.

But when the USA Roleplayer crossed the interval of the chess square and instantly entered the next chess square scene, he was dumbfounded.

The global audience was also dumbfounded.

The huge death warhead falling toward him from above, why was it still there!? And it was already close at hand!

Turn back! The USA Roleplayer chose to turn back. But after returning to the previous chess square, he found that the warhead above his head was actually still there!

Without the Raider's vision, the audience in the livestream couldn't see the scene. Seeing this, someone exclaimed, "Oh my god, how can the Dragon Country's ballistic missile wonder track targets?!"