The adjutant quickly led the logistics soldiers forward to take inventory. A sharp dagger sliced open a woven rice bag, and plump grains of rice poured out. The grains were uniform, completely free of impurities, and carried a faint fragrance of rice.
They opened the pork packaging. The meat was firm and tender, with a rosy hue. It showed absolutely no signs of staleness from long-distance transport, looking as if it had just been brought from the slaughterhouse.
The logistics soldiers exchanged glances, all feeling a sense of disbelief.
This...
"Lord Count! The inventory is complete!"
The adjutant jogged over to Kaiaolen, his tone carrying unconcealed astonishment.
"The supplies are sufficient, and... the quality far exceeds our expectations! Especially the rice and meat; their freshness is incredibly high. They don't seem like products of the Aether Continent at all!"
Hearing this, Kaiaolen walked up to the pile of supplies to inspect them himself. He pinched a few grains of rice between his fingertips and felt the texture of the pork, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
He turned to look at Ye Chuan, only to see the latter looking completely nonchalant, evidently having known this all along.
"Good! Excellent quality!" Kaiaolen laughed heartily.
"With food like this, the soldiers' combat prowess will definitely increase by another notch!"
"Value for money, isn't it?" Ye Chuan said.
Kaiaolen patted Ye Chuan on the shoulder. "Thanks for your hard work, Xi Xi!"
Look, he's even thanking us.
...
Night gradually fell, and a bright moon hung in the night sky, shedding a cold, clear radiance.
Campfires lit up one after another in the camp. The orange-red firelight reflected on the soldiers' faces. Many sat around the fires, eating piping hot meals while conversing in low voices. The air was filled with the aroma of food and a faint scent of smoke.
It had been a long time since Miral had dispatched troops on such a large scale; many soldiers were even making the long trek to the royal capital for the first time.
Meanwhile, the sentries held their weapons, vigilantly watching the darkness surrounding the camp to ensure its safety.
Ye Chuan sat alone on a secluded hillside, gazing at the brightly lit camp below and feeling the night breeze of the Aether Continent.
It was just a pity that he didn't know teleportation magic, otherwise couldn't he just drop everyone straight into the royal capital?
War and all that.
Ye Chuan didn't really care about it; it was just that the process of war was very beneficial to him.
He could earn money and gain fame.
Ye Chuan had actually considered entering the royal capital alone to slaughter the monsters, but if those disguised monsters couldn't be uprooted completely, they would just keep spreading like a zombie virus.
Moreover, Ye Chuan couldn't guarantee that there wasn't some incredibly overpowered existence within the empire.
Directly occupying all the territories and promoting the Detection Skill was the best choice.
"Teacher, what are you thinking about?" beside him, Elara asked curiously.
"Nothing much. How does it feel to go to war for the first time?"
"I'm not sure yet," Elara said. The march today had been exhausting, but apart from that, she didn't feel anything special.
"Hehe," Ye Chuan chuckled. "Do you know that war is a dangerous thing?"
"I know! I will protect myself well when I go to the battlefield!" Elara said.
"No, you don't." Ye Chuan suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Danger doesn't just exist on the battlefield, you know."
Right at that moment, several obscure magical fluctuations suddenly came from the west side of the camp—
Immediately after, several pitch-black magical beams shot toward the camp's tents like venomous snakes.
"Boom! Boom!" Two loud explosions rang out. Two tents were instantly destroyed, erupting into roaring flames.
"Enemy attack! Mages are launching a sneak attack!"
The sentries' warning cries instantly pierced the night sky. The camp was immediately thrown into chaos as soldiers grabbed their weapons, rallied together, and looked toward the direction the magical attacks came from.
Kaiaolen walked out of the camp. Seeing those magical beams, he shouted loudly:
"Hold your ground! Do not panic!"
Then, he looked at his attendants nearby.
"Mages, go scout the enemy's position!"
"Scout the enemy's position!"
The accompanying military mages immediately released detection magic, but as soon as the mana spread out, it was blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Lord Count! There's a barrier!"
The military mages wore solemn expressions.
"The enemy has set up a special barrier. Not only does it hide their figures, but it also locks away their auras. My detection magic cannot penetrate it at all!"
Kaiaolen pondered. The ambushing mages were hiding in the dark and could even use a barrier to shield themselves from detection. If they weren't found as soon as possible, the camp could suffer another attack at any moment.
To think they were attacked so soon after leaving their territory; it seemed the royal capital had already caught wind of their movements.
This wasn't surprising. Kaiaolen had rallied the military forces of various major territories. With so many disguised monsters lurking about, it was completely impossible for the news not to leak!
"Dragon Eyes!" Kaiaolen's eyes lit up with a golden glow. From his perspective, everything around him seemed to slow down.
He looked in the direction of the magic, directly soaring into the air as dragon wings unfurled behind his back!
"You shadowy rats, get out here!"
With that said, Kaiaolen turned into a crimson meteor and crashed toward that spot. In an instant, the valley was pulverized, and flames rose up like a mushroom cloud!
"Oh, there's even a fireworks show." Seeing the little dragon-man blast that entire valley to pieces like a human bomb, Ye Chuan couldn't help but comment.
Could those mages still be alive?
Absolutely dead.
At this time, Torres and Irena also came to Ye Chuan's side.
"What were those guys thinking? Lord Kaiaolen is the bane of magic. Even Lord Xi Xi was chased and beaten by him," Torres said.
The next second, he met Ye Chuan's gaze and hurriedly corrected himself, "Lord Xi Xi, I didn't mean that you aren't strong."
"Since it's a logic that even Torres understands, then why did those mages do this?" Ye Chuan said.
"What do you mean?"
"Could it be that those mages did it intentionally to lure Lord Kaiaolen away?" Princess Irena paused for a moment, seemingly realizing something.
"Correct. Luring away the strongest, Kaiaolen, means their goal from the very beginning wasn't to attack the camp." Ye Chuan raised a finger.
"So—"
The next second, the air around Irena began to ripple. Three or four dark figures appeared out of thin air and grabbed directly toward Irena!
"Assassins?!"
Torres reacted immediately, grabbing his door-sized greatsword and blocking in front of Irena. "Protect Her Highness the Princess!"
Seeing the greatsword sweeping toward them, the dark figures brought out their daggers, scraping sparks against the blade. It seemed that because the blade was simply too massive, it managed to shield Irena the moment they clashed!
The dark figures appeared before everyone. Seeing this, the soldiers were just about to step forward when their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground one after another.
At this moment, a thick, toxic mist surged up, filling this area of the camp and completely obscuring their vision!
"It's a poisonous mist. Don't breathe it in." Torres covered his nose and mouth while keeping one hand firmly protective over the princess.
However, because Irena had given her purification necklace to Ye Chuan earlier, her face was now pale and greenish, and her body was swaying unsteadily.
"Your Highness, you can't fall asleep!"
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
