707 The Crux of the Issue

Amidst the roar, the cable suddenly tightened and the air let out a low hum, like the sound made by chords, as it was being lashed. Under the hot searchlights, the gigantic armor was being lifted gradually. With every signal made by the commander, the armor inched closer to the huge object, until iron had made contact with the bloody flesh.

Shortly after, screws that were as huge as spears were inserted into the sockets of the armor, thereby piercing through the bloody flesh. The body underneath the armor trembled and fresh blood spurted out. Nevertheless, the screw continued to drill deep into the flesh until it was inserted into the bones. Then, the welding musicians stepped forward and wielded their flames to weld the armor and rivets together. It was as if the giant was wearing a coat of metal now.

"Higher, higher!" Captain Egor was shouting at the top of his lungs to direct everyone else in the hot and humid environment. In the gigantic workshop, pieces of armor were being pasted onto the flesh and blood of the Mountain of Nomadism. This was the final step.

The last time the Mountain of Nomadism had undergone debugging was four days ago. After being dismantled and assembled again and again, the Mountain of Nomadism had already expanded by more than half of its original size. The bloody flesh wrapped around bone plates that acted as internal armors. Artificial muscles, that were the size of a human, wrapped around alchemy formations and were devouring aether and were pounding like blood vessels.

Until now, the hidden power that had originally been left behind by the Mountain of Nomadism had been fully developed. Besides, it was infused with new power by the queen, which was Firebird.

After the gigantic sea monster, with the blood of Leviathan, had been modified by the Chapter of the Golden Victory, its bestiality had finally been awakened and it had transcended into a hundred-percent dragon. It was as if the red dragon had transformed into metal before destroying itself and turning into a warship. Beneath the skull-shaped bow of the ship, a pair of gigantic eyes opened slowly. Red-colored eyeballs stared straight ahead as it tried desperately to put up with its pain and suffering. Its heartbeat was as loud as a drum, echoing throughout the hot and steaming workshop, leaving everyone swaying with fear and admiration.

"Bad news has just come in." Shi Dong's voice sounded very thick through the gas mask. "Asgard and Burgundy have formed an alliance. The rights to develop four black gold mines in exchange for Burgundy opening up its borders and seas."

"At least we can confirm their objectives now." Ye Qingxuan nodded and gestured for Shi Dong to catch up. The both of them left the upper-level deck and returned to Ye Qingxuan's office. Ye Qingxuan picked up the plan that had been delivered to him by the military and threw it over to Shi Dong. Shi Dong flipped through it before putting it back down. He was silent for some time before breathing out heavily.

"Any thoughts?"

"This is tough…" Shi Dong touched his chin and his voice was hoarse. "If my guess is correct, Asgard's next course of action will most likely be a sudden attack on both fronts."

Although Anglo was a country by the sea, its lands were split up into four zones with a total of 27 counties, and more than half of them were on land. Now that Burgundy had opened up its borders, Asgard would be able to pass through the Blanc Mountains directly, thereby posing a threat to industrial cities and agricultural lands of Anglo. By then, Anglo would have to face the Scarlet Bird clan, which had been named by Asgard as one of the three pillars of the empire.

After going through the battle of Nebucha, personally forcing the heavy-armored knights off the altar and kickstarting the generation of automated armors, the Scarlet Bird clan managed to climb up to the top of the empire. It was under the leadership of that Emperor that Asgard became so deeply passionate about developing automated armors. A century later, an armored army that bore the totem of scarlet birds would become the nightmare of all armies. Even till this day, the Scarlet Bird army was still the biggest armored army of Asgard. No, of the entire world. Amongst the 160,000 members, 100,000 of them were soldiers that specialized in other areas while the remaining 60,000 would surround the automated armors.

In order to maintain the operation of the army, heavy industrial cities and more than 14,000 mechanical engineers worked for the military. This figure would probably increase drastically in times of war.

There were 20,000 automated armors that would be on alert, of which at least 4,000 automated armors were famously known as Asgard's 'frost giants.' Incredible amounts of effort and money were invested in the development of frost giant knights but even so, there was still less than 4,000 of them now in total. They had been said to be capable of fighting against enemies of the same level, even if they might be outnumbered by three times.

Once the army of the Scarlet Bird clan reached the borders, Anglo would have no choice but to gather all their military forces and prepare them to defend the country. Even the queen's Knights of the Round Table would have to be activated. This would be the only way they could leverage the unique terrain of Blanc Mountains and keep Asgard at bay. If they were to lose Blanc Stronghold and the Scarlet Bird armies were able to break through, the thousands of miles of plains behind them would be destroyed in a matter of three days. By then, Anglo would be completely mired down in the mud.

"Worse still, the Asgardian fleet will be able to pass through Burgundy seas and enter Anglo seas directly." Ye Qingxuan looked at the map and drew an arc. The end of this arc passed through the seas of Anglo and reached the location of Avalon.

"If we don't do something about it, in one and a half days' time, Asgard's Stronghold on Sea will be at the doors of Avalon. In other words, once they enter our seas, we won't have any other strategies to throw at them." Shi Dong shook his head. "Anglo is still in the early stages of regaining its power. It will be extremely tough fighting against an experienced Empire."

"That's why I must be there personally." Ye Qingxuan looked at the map. "The outcome of this battle will be decided on the seas."

It did not matter if the Asgardian army outnumbered Anglo by a ratio of three to one. That alone would not be enough to take down Blanc Stronghold. It was common knowledge that it was much easier to defend than to attack.

Ye Qingxuan felt extremely confident about this. As long as the Anglo army could hang in there and not perish completely, they would have won.

Ye Qingxuan had already made up his mind. The moment he discovered that the Sacred City was involved in this battle, he would have all the reasons in the world to send the Witch Hammer to the frontline, even though he knew that the majority in the Sacred City would never allow him such a convenient excuse. He would do whatever he could to ensure that the Asgardians would fight for as long as possible. It would be even better if the Blanc Stronghold was to turn into a quagmire and drag down the other small countries surrounding it!

As long as the Asgardians did not go crazy and decide to unleash the giant, Hercules, Anglo would stand a chance. In any case, the place was too small for the number of soldiers to matter. What was most important was the combat endurance of both parties, or, in other words, spending money.

When he considered this point, Ye Qingxuan began to suspect that Burgundy must be hiding some malicious intents for them to have agreed so readily to an alliance with Asgard. They had only opened up the corridor of their borders, thereby restricting the scale of battle. By doing so, Burgundy had lengthened Asgard's supply line and could even take the opportunity to exploit Asgard's military needs. It was as if to say, Whatever you need urgently right now, I have it. I will sell you at 10 times the original price, surely that's not too expensive for you?

As for Anglo, with the Sterling internal combustion engine jumpstarting the industrial revolution, national productivity has increased by more than five times. As long as they retained control over the seas, then the hundreds of naval routes would be equivalent to a black gold mine with endless supplies. The entire ocean would be Anglo's bank, where they could withdraw as much money as they wished.

Food would not be a problem either. In fact, they had consumed less than one-third of the amount of food that they had conserved in order to fight against Leviathan. At this stage, Anglo was full of reserves and was not afraid of battles. But all this was only possible on one condition—the navy must hang in there. They had to.

The purpose of the Royal Fleet was to ensure that Anglo had a stable rear that could protect the ocean. Just as Ye Qingxuan said, the outcome of this battle would not be decided by the battle at Blanc Stronghold, no matter how intense it might be. It would be decided on the sea…

…

Similarly, in Asgard, the same topic continued in the naval headquarters beneath the Golden Palace. There was only an elderly and a youth in the huge but empty meeting room. The old musician has regained his original form and no longer needed to hug the wedge-shaped stone plate every day in order to keep his life going. He might still be weak and fragile but at least he could now move around freely.

Sat opposite him was a quiet young man. His appearance suggested that he was between 20 to 30 years old but his hair was white and his back was hunched. His eyes were blurry and he looked very sickly. His eyes looked tired but even as he seemed to be in a state of being half asleep and half awake, there was a shocking instance of chill in the air that flashed across.

There was an aura of chill that surrounded this young man, as if it was a murderous aura that had been exchanged with countless lives. It was like a sharp knife that was covered with rust. Only after removing the layer of rust and dried blood stains would the cool and chilling blade be revealed.

He was wearing an Asgardian military uniform but for some reason, his attire just did not seem to suit him. It was as if there was a more appropriate attire that this young man should be wearing; something more sacred and solemn, and also more terrifying at the same time.

The old musician could not help but sigh. "My apologies. The Asgard military uniform is probably not as comfortable as the uniform of Silence Governance. But for the sake of long-term plans, we have no choice but to ask of you to put up with it for a while longer."

"Don't worry. To me, an attire has never been the problem." The young man sat on the chair and fiddled with the silver cane at his knee. His expression was calm. "I can fully understand the Sacred City's arrangement. After all, the person in charge of the Silence Governance cannot be seen on the battlefield of Asgard."

"It is a good thing that you understand, Rommel." The old musician nodded and felt more relieved, but it was still a headache dealing with this young man. This was the new generation of Hendel after the previous generation; the new generation of the person in charge of Silence Governance after the previous generation. Three years ago, the Sacred City had already designated this young musician, by the name of Rommel, to be the successor of the saint. He was also a disciple of Hendel of the previous generation. His future has been guaranteed by the protector of the Pope and the Holy Caldron.

Since the age of 14, he had joined the Silence Governance and had been able to thrive in this secret service that was feared by every country. When he was 19, he had already climbed up to an important position and was comparable to the Wolf Flute. He was known as 'Knife' and 'Mad Dog.'

Originally, everyone had predicted that he would break through distortion level and enter the zone of Master before needing another 15 years to become a scepter and succeed a holy name. 15 years have passed and a 37-year-old saint was definitely considered young. No one expected him to advance this quickly.