Chapter 26: Sudden Change
In the Lanchuan War Zone, at the Gowafei Canyon.
Bullets whistled past, and gravel flew everywhere.
"What the hell is going on!"
The little assistant lay prone in a stone pit, while beside her, Su Xiao was examining a map.
The heavy machine gun fire had lasted at least five minutes, and the roar of artillery shells was continuous.
"Why are our own people attacking here?"
Just as the little assistant tried to poke her head out of the stone pit, several bullets whizzed by.
Not only was the little assistant puzzled, but Su Xiao was equally confused. He had already penetrated several kilometers into enemy territory and successfully blended into a scattered unit of the Sun Kingdom's forces.
This unit was retreating toward the rear of the Sun Kingdom. If he followed them, getting deep into the Sun Kingdom's main camp wouldn't be too difficult.
But at 10 a.m., this unit, located in the Sun Kingdom's war zone, was suddenly intercepted by forces from the Geya Alliance.
This was extremely bizarre. If a large Geya Alliance force appeared here and was discovered by the Sun Kingdom's troops, they would be completely annihilated.
Under the fierce fire of his own allies, Su Xiao could only take cover in the stone pit. The corrugated steel plate in front of the pit was riddled with dents.
What was even stranger was that the unit Su Xiao had infiltrated seemed to have little will to fight. They tried to retreat multiple times, but being in a canyon made it difficult to withdraw.
"Contact Commander Scarkin."
Su Xiao reinforced the corrugated steel in front of him. He had no intention of dying under friendly fire.
The little assistant hugged the radio to her chest, slapped it a few times, and the green light came on. Her method of operation was uniquely effective—even if the enemy seized it, they wouldn't be able to use it.
Through the little assistant's communication, Su Xiao learned a crucial piece of intelligence: the Sun Kingdom's frontline forces had suffered a massive rout. Nearly two mechanized divisions had been completely annihilated, and the remaining active frontline units were collapsing rapidly.
From midnight last night until now, the Geya Alliance's vanguard had advanced four kilometers.
When the Geya Alliance's Grand President learned of this in the morning, he was dumbfounded. The war had been going on for so long—why had the Sun Kingdom been pushed back in just six hours?
Scarkin was equally baffled. Most of the killing squad members he had dispatched had just infiltrated the enemy camp when they successfully linked up with their own advancing forces.
By 8 a.m., various news channels in the Geya Alliance began reporting: "Sun Kingdom's entire front collapses; Geya Alliance annihilates 600,000 enemies."
The number 600,000 was clearly exaggerated, but the annihilation of two mechanized divisions gave an idea of how devastating the Sun Kingdom's casualties were.
Su Xiao couldn't figure out why this was happening. Previously, the two sides had been locked in a fierce back-and-forth, but overnight, the Sun Kingdom had begun to crumble?
There were only two possible explanations: either the Sun Kingdom's economic system had failed, or its power structure had collapsed.
In reality, both the economy and the power structure of the Sun Kingdom were in trouble. The economic issues weren't too severe—after all, it was a behemoth. The main reason for the one-sided battlefield situation was the collapse of the power structure. As for how that structure fell apart, credit went to the Nuchuan Adventure Group, a large-scale adventuring party.
Since the start of the war world, the leader of the Nuchuan Adventure Group had not shown his face. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he had taken a female contractor deep into the Sun Kingdom's territory. The collapse of the Sun Kingdom's power structure was orchestrated by the Nuchuan Adventure Group's leader, Qing Yan.
How Qing Yan accomplished this was unknown for now. The only known intelligence was that he used a female contractor specializing in charm attributes to pull it off.
The Nuchuan Adventure Group's style was completely different from that of the Divine Emperor or Blood Gate. If there was a ranking of old schemers within the fourth rank, Qing Yan would be second, and no one would dare claim first. The Nuchuan Adventure Group hadn't originally been a large-scale group. Its former leader was a brute who was eventually killed by Qing Yan. After Qing Yan took over, the group rose rapidly, and now it was beginning to threaten the Divine Emperor and Blood Gate.
Through the little assistant's communication, Su Xiao learned an even more explosive piece of news: the Sun Kingdom's Grand Divine Envoy, who controlled military power, had committed suicide by gunshot at 9 a.m. that morning.
The Sun Kingdom's highest military commander had shot himself—this was almost a thunderbolt for the kingdom. Although the Grand Divine Envoy had no combat ability, his command skills were irreplaceable. The Sun Kingdom had many capable fighters, but only this one could control the other Divine Envoys.
The sudden death of the commander-in-chief threw the Sun Kingdom's military upper echelons into turmoil. Before the war began, there had been a peace faction within the Sun Kingdom's military, advocating for negotiations with the Geya Alliance by ceding smaller surrounding countries to ensure enough resources for both major powers.
Everyone knew that a war between the two great nations was inevitable, but some Divine Officials didn't want it to break out during their tenure. The situation was similar on the Geya Alliance's side.
The Geya Alliance's President and the Sun Kingdom's Grand Divine Envoy had overruled all objections, leading to the outbreak of war. Now, with the Grand Divine Envoy inexplicably committing suicide, the unstable factors within the Sun Kingdom erupted. High-ranking Divine Envoys were at odds with each other, factional struggles and power conflicts exploded completely, and the royal family, which didn't interfere with military authority, could only watch helplessly.
The generals within the Sun Kingdom knew this was not the time for infighting, but under the current circumstances, continuing the war with the Geya Alliance was unwise. The best option was to withdraw the troops, hold the border, solve internal problems first, and avoid a power split. At the very least, they needed to elect a new Grand Divine Envoy. If they could have just two days, they could select a candidate from the pool. Whether that candidate could suppress everyone didn't matter—someone had to step up as a figurehead.
Although the Geya Alliance's momentum was unstoppable, breaking through the Sun Kingdom's defenses was still difficult, at least not in a short time.
The contractors of the Sanctuary Paradise were allied with the Sun Kingdom. Upon learning of the Grand Divine Envoy's suicide, they were utterly dumbfounded.
Of course, the Sanctuary Paradise side had already guessed who was responsible, but they still found it hard to believe. According to intelligence provided by the Apocalypse Paradise contractors, weren't the people from Reincarnation Paradise all brutes and madmen? How had they managed to kill their faction's highest military commander just a few days into the war world? Was that something brutes and madmen could do?
Ignoring the bewildered Sanctuary Paradise side and the Apocalypse Paradise side, which was watching the show, the Geya Alliance and the Reincarnation Paradise contractors were now advancing in full force toward the Sun Kingdom.
If the Sun Kingdom were destroyed, the Sanctuary Paradise contractors within its borders would be in deep trouble. When the nest overturns, no egg remains intact.
If they really managed to breach the Sun Kingdom, the joke would be on a whole new level. If that happened, the final chaotic battle among contractors might not even see the Sanctuary Paradise side show up.