Making money is really not easy.

The aftermath of the explosion swept across the sky. The searing blast tore a rift through the clouds, while dust and flames intertwined, dyeing more than half the firmament red.

Kaiaolen flew in mid-air, his chest heaving violently, a trace of crimson blood spilling from the corner of his mouth—

Although he wasn't hit directly by the super magic cannon, the explosion's shockwave still pierced his defenses, injuring his internal organs. The edge of his left wing was scorched black by the beam, the scales curled back and faintly oozing blood.

He looked down at the battlefield. Though the human-skin monsters had suffered heavy casualties in the blast, they still threw themselves at the allied soldiers like madmen.

In the distance, on the Royal Army's positions, the barrels of the magic cannons lit up with a faint glow, clearly preparing to lock on and fire again!

Even worse, more and more Royal Army soldiers began to mutate. Dark purple tentacles broke through the soil, churning the entire battlefield into even greater chaos.

"Damn it! They planned this!" Kaiaolen gritted his teeth, forcing down the surging blood in his chest.

The enemy had clearly lured him into close combat on purpose, only to snipe him from afar with the magic cannons. It was a chain of traps meant to heavily wound him, the core combat strength of the allied forces.

At this moment, the allied defense line had collapsed, and morale was low. Forcing a fight to the death would only lead to unnecessary casualties.

He flapped his wings fiercely, flying toward the command camp, shouting orders along the way:

"All forces, shrink the defense line! Retreat to the temporary stronghold immediately! Leave the elite rearguard to cover the retreat, and ensure the wounded are evacuated!"

The allied soldiers had already been pushed to the brink by the relentless waves of monsters and magic cannons. Hearing the order, they quickly tightened their formations, struggling to retreat while fending off the pursuing monsters.

Shieldbearers built a final defense line with their shattered shields, swordsmen fought bloody battles, and mages exhausted their mana to cast defensive spells, all to buy time for their comrades to withdraw.

The roars and wails on the battlefield gradually faded away, leaving behind only a mess of corpses and lingering smoke.

...

Gallon, temporary camp.

A half-elf girl with long silvery-white hair sat by the window.

Irena looked at the scenery outside, her expression full of worry.

The battle reports from the frontline had been delivered. Rumor had it that Kaiaolen was injured, and the soldiers had suffered heavy casualties. It was obvious that the enemy's plan had succeeded.

"Your Highness, are you still not sleeping?" Just then, the sound of rubbing armor rang out as Torres walked over.

"Your Highness?"

"Torres, what is the exact situation on the frontline right now?" Irena quickly stood up, her voice trembling slightly.

"I'm worried about the Count..."

Torres explained, "Princess, we just received a message from the frontline. The Count was ambushed by the enemy's magic cannons on the battlefield and sustained injuries. The allied forces have been forced to retreat, and the battle lines are now at a stalemate."

"The Count is injured..." Irena said.

"Is the situation very bad? Are those monsters... really hard to deal with?"

"War is never smooth sailing," Torres said slowly, trying to soothe Irena's emotions.

"As a Tier 7 Heroic figure, the Count has only suffered some internal injuries and his life is not in danger. It's just that the precise sniping of those magic cannons has made it difficult for the allied forces to break through for now."

"Currently, it seems we can only temporarily shrink the defense line and wait for an opportunity. All we can do now is wait patiently for further news from the frontline."

Neither Irena nor Torres were going to the battlefield, so they could only wait for news.

Irena lowered her eyes. Although she had never experienced the battlefield personally, she knew the cruelty of war.

If it weren't for those human-skin monsters...

How did the Hill Empire fall into a civil war?

And now that something had happened to the Hill Empire, the neighboring countries were beginning to eye them covetously.

"..."

Irena said, "I hope the Count is safe, and I hope the allied forces can return in triumph soon."

She murmured softly, her tone full of prayer.

...

On the other side, after Ye Chuan logged off to refresh, he leisurely logged back into the Aether Continent.

The reason he entered the Aether Continent so frequently was mainly because he had been doing a bit too much lately. Before logging off at home, he had spent some time having fun at the Succubus Brothel, so he chose to log in to refresh his cooldowns.

As soon as Ye Chuan steadied his footing, he saw Irena standing not far away with her head lowered, looking lonely, while Torres beside her also had a solemn expression.

"What's wrong? Why the long faces?" Ye Chuan walked up and asked casually.

Irena looked up and saw Ye Chuan. The worry in her eyes deepened, and she quickly stepped forward and said:

"Lord Xi Xi, something happened on the frontline. The Count... he was hit by the enemy's super magic cannon and got injured. The allied forces have retreated."

She paused, her tone growing heavier:

"Now the battle line is deadlocked. The enemy soldiers are no longer disguising themselves; they've all turned into human-skin monsters with extreme combat power."

"If we keep getting dragged down like this, the variables will only increase. I don't know how many more soldiers will have to be sacrificed..."

Hearing this, Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow, his face showing no emotion at all.

Whether it was human-skin monsters or super magic cannons, in his eyes, they were just insignificant troubles.

However, if the fighting continued like this, wouldn't the allied forces be wiped out? When the time came and there was no one left to use, how could he become the Co-Emperor?

"Since it's a stalemate, I'll go take a trip," Ye Chuan said.

Anyway, the Human Emperor's Banner was still lacking a bit of power, so he could just go over and collect some souls. Ye Chuan originally didn't really want to intervene in the battlefield.

But looking at it now, he still had to put in some effort. Otherwise, when Irena ascended the throne in the future, how could his status convince everyone?

"It's really not easy to make some money," Ye Chuan sighed.

"You're going to the frontline personally?" Irena was stunned for a moment, then immediately said,

"But the frontline is very dangerous. The enemy not only has a large number of monsters, but also super magic cannons that can lock onto targets. Even the Count was injured..."

Ye Chuan suddenly smiled, his eyes carrying a hint of deep affection:

"For Her Highness the Princess (and the quest rewards), even if I die, it doesn't matter."

Anyway, he could resurrect if he died.

These words struck Irena's heart like a thunderclap. She instantly froze in place, her cheeks flushing bright red. Her eyes were filled with astonishment and panic, and she even forgot to breathe.

She had never expected Ye Chuan to say such a thing. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond and could only stand there blankly, looking at Ye Chuan's face, her heart beating so fast it almost burst out of her chest.

Torres, who was standing to the side, was also stunned.

He scratched his head and ultimately said nothing.

Ye Chuan looked at Irena's embarrassed appearance and found it secretly amusing. He stopped teasing her and changed his tone:

"Alright, I'll head to the frontline now and help you deal with those monsters and magic cannons."

As his voice fell, spatial ripples appeared around him, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.

"Lord Xi Xi!" Irena quickly snapped back to reality and reached out to grab him, but only caught empty air. She looked in the direction where Ye Chuan had disappeared and said softly,

"You must come back safely..."