40: Chapter 40 World War

Suddenly, she encountered an old acquaintance in the crowd whom she had met once thirty years ago. In her astonishment, she couldn't help but blurt out: "Wei Wei, are you here for the Star Games too?"

As the past resurfaced, Yu Lan, who prided herself on being incredibly strong, ultimately could not hold back the tears in her eyes.

Wei Wei stepped forward to comfort her: "The god has long since stopped living in the Xingyang Temple; he might not even be on our Blue Planet anymore."

The two women walked together, sharing their longing for the god and recounting their recent lives.

By the end of the conversation, Yu Lan made no effort to hide her jealousy, saying with difficulty: "So you came to study human kinesiology. Xingyang God arranges things for you but doesn't care whether I live or die. The god is indeed biased; he loves you more!"

"No! The god loves all people!" Wei Wei said with a determined look: "That is because the god knows you are stronger than me."

She looked at the blue sky: "The god hasn't appeared for so many years; perhaps he is researching the impending alien spacecraft for the sake of all humanity."

Yu Lan lowered her head, knowing that she was already far happier than all other humans. She shouldn't ask for too much.

Thus, she buried herself in her work, making the first "Star Games" an immense success.

Telegrams flew like snowflakes to all parts of the globe, and everyone was concerned with the honors won by the athletes representing their own countries.

After the successful conclusion of the games, Yu Lan scheduled the "Star Games" to be held every five years.

At the time, immersed in joy, no one expected that such an inspiring event would be suspended after only three editions due to a great war that swept across all countries in the world.

In the year 241 of the Xingyang Calendar, after many years of continuous searching and testing, scientists of the Starfire Empire finally found suitable materials to manufacture lightbulbs that could shine continuously for 1200 hours.

The Emperor of the Empire generously shared this achievement with the other four continents and attached a letter: "We are all faithful believers of the Xingyang God and should share in the fruits of this technology together. I think in the near future, our Blue Planet will be brightly lit, as bright as day, even at night!"

But to his surprise.

Soon, the Dongyang Dynasty of the Eastern Continent and the Rising Sun Alliance of the Central Continent sent a joint letter of reprimand.

"The body of the great and only Xingyang God is the sun in the sky; only the god can bring lasting light to humanity. The electric lamps created by your nation are truly an act of usurpation and an evil, blasphemous object; they should be abandoned and destroyed immediately."

The Star Fire Nation, having received such a response, felt that the kings of those two countries were either stubborn old fools or crazy, and they didn't take the letter to heart at all.

After all, the Great Deity Xingyang had taught humanity to develop technology and live a fulfilling life. He even allowed humanity to test and measure the speed of light freely.

Therefore, very quickly, the kerosene lamps and gas lamps along the streets and alleys within the Starfire Empire were replaced with electric lightbulbs.

Two years later, electric lights were gradually installed in every household, and the whole country gradually had the scene of thousands of lights at night, a flourishing and prosperous sight.

Several countries in the Southern Continent, led by the Fish People nation, also followed in the footsteps of the Star Fire Nation, ushering in a new era of illumination.

This greatly angered the high-level officials of the Central and Eastern Continents, who, after much lobbying, pulled the Western Continent into their camp. Together, they denounced the other two continents as blasphemous heretics.

This move left the Starfire Empire completely stunned; "Spread the Divine Light, Slay the heretics" was a slogan they had been shouting for hundreds of years, and now they had become the "heretics" in the mouths of others.

This feeling was truly hard to bear.

The new Emperor of the Empire, Tang Hao, was young and vigorous; he recalled the sacrificial methods of the Cat People in ancient times.

Thus, he summoned the envoys of various countries and, in front of them, took a knife and severed three of his own fingers to demonstrate his incomparable piety and loyalty to the Xingyang God. He also denounced the three continents as an evil alliance that bewitched people's hearts and spread malicious rumors.

This act infuriated the Three-Continent Alliance of the Western, Central, and Eastern Continents, and they ordered the other two continents to destroy all electric lights within their borders within two months.

Two months later, seeing that the "heretics" they spoke of had not taken any action, the Three-Continent Alliance began to assemble a massive army.

Then, they split their forces into two routes, one heading south and one heading north.

Seeing the heavy troops approaching, the two Southern and Northern Continents also hurriedly integrated their own armies.

The Gospel Army of the Northern Continent and the Allied Army led by the Fish People of the Southern Continent both dispatched troops to confront the Three-Continent Alliance army at sea.

In the year 245 of the Xingyang Calendar, the World War broke out.

In the first ten years or so, because everyone in the world was a faithful believer of the Xingyang God, the battles between the two camps were relatively restrained, focusing primarily on destroying the enemy's warships and heavy weaponry, and capturing prisoners.

The condition of the Three-Continent Alliance was for the North and South to abandon electric lights.

And the demand of the Northern and Southern Continents was for the opposing camp to retract the slander of calling them "heretics."

Both sides believed that the other would soon make concessions for the sake of world peace regarding their small requests.

Who knew that after fighting for more than ten years, neither side had any intention of giving in, so the war raced all the way toward a white-hot intensity.

It began to become intense and cruel.

Under the dense fire net composed of machine guns and artillery, the high-altitude combat advantage of the Winged People in the Three-Continent Alliance was no more.

But they could still perform reconnaissance; even though the Northern and Southern Continents were also using gliders and hot air balloons to scout the battlefield, the Winged People, being smaller and more agile targets, could always discover enemy intelligence faster.

The enemy was exposed while they remained hidden, allowing them to formulate the fastest and most foolproof battle plans.

As for the Shu People of the Central Continent in the Alliance, although their ability to control elements had remained weak for so many years, and not a single person capable of wind-riding flight had appeared.

However, a combat squad composed of twenty Shu People could still join forces to detonate the ammunition depot on a warship that had already been breached.

In the year 261 of the Xingyang Calendar, relying on the abilities of these two races, the Three-Continent Alliance defeated the navy of the Gospel Army and landed in the Starfire Empire of the Northern Continent.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Alliance, You Yangrong, was extremely excited and immediately sent a telegram to the troops heading south: "I am aware that the Fish People's submarines have caused great destruction to your warships, making it impossible for our army to land on the Southern Continent for the time being. The northern troops have now landed and are expected to take the Star Fire Nation soon, after which they will go to support you."

The landed Three-Continent Alliance soon brought out their secret weapon: huge humanoid mechs powered by steam engines!

There were three models: the Tiger type, which most soldiers could operate, and the Fire type, which was operated by the Shu People; both of these were three meters tall.

And the Giant race piloted the Mountain type, which stood six meters tall.

There were four hundred of each of these three models of mechs.

More than a thousand humanoid mechs, each weighing over ten tons, rampaged through the streets and alleys of the Star Fire Nation, emitting earth-shaking footsteps, as if entering an empty land.

Under their terrifying deterrence, the people of the Star Fire Nation one after another took down the electric lights in their homes and smashed them.

A shadow covered everyone's faces, and they thought to themselves, are we really going to return to the days of using kerosene lamps and candles?