Chapter 503: The Hand Behind It All
On one side was an invincible army, its momentum reaching its peak.
On the other side was a defeated army, with generals fleeing and the city lost.
The outcome of this battle was no longer in doubt. Anyone could see that the victory belonged to the national legions.
These ghost slaves had no thoughts of their own, only knowing how to fight.
If they were thinking soldiers, the army would have collapsed long ago.
Especially...
With the massive spirit beast army in the rear and the non-specialist's precise executions, the ghost slave generals fled in terror, completely losing the courage to fight.
What had been predicted to be a battle lasting at least three days and nights ended in total victory after only half a day!
The tens of millions of ghost slaves were almost completely wiped out under the counterattack of the legions from various nations and races.
"That kid..."
In the center of the camp's safe zone, a middle-aged man in his forties smiled as he looked at the report from the front lines.
This man was one of the main leaders of the Dragon Kingdom's legion and also in charge of the Dragon Kingdom's special forces reserves, Li Huairen.
He was also known as 'General Li.'
In fact, the Ninth Squad's airborne operation had been approved by him, and he had personally named Ling Zhan for this critical siege mission during the high-level meeting.
Everyone knew that in Liuli City, the ghost slaves and ghost generals had established numerous flesh portals, which could endlessly spawn ghost slave soldiers.
Without breaking through Liuli City early, the battle would have dragged on indefinitely.
Moreover...
The Takamagahara Forbidden Zone had played along perfectly—soldiers fought soldiers, generals fought generals. The Sky Ghost General who appeared in the middle of the battlefield didn't interfere below.
Instead, it engaged in a confrontation with a Storm Archmage in the sky.
"I have to say, this kid has made me look good!"
"During the high-level meeting, those bastards from the Free Federation were being all sarcastic and even suggested that Ling Zhan was involved in the annihilation of their squad during a previous mission..."
"But now, look! On the mission to attack Liuli City's north gate, the Free Federation's squad was wiped out again."
"Though it was a relatively weak squad, a loss is a loss."
"Let's see if they have the guts to keep yapping in the meetings now!"
General Li was in an excellent mood.
It seemed that this non-specialist had a promising future!
"General, when they tally the merits tomorrow, these three will probably make it into the top 500 on the merit rankings!"
"Just getting into the top 500 after only arriving here will definitely shock everyone!"
His deputy couldn't help but laugh.
The so-called merit rankings.
Naturally, they were used to track how many merits each individual had earned.
Of course...
This list was also known as the 'Heaven List.'
The top 500 were listed on the Heaven List.
While the bottom 500 were listed on the Earth List.
But don't underestimate those on the Earth List.
Remember...
This wasn't some small place like a school.
This was the Hundred Ghost Fortress!
And it was also the front-line battlefield against the Takamagahara Forbidden Zone!
Here...
Gathered the top experts from nations and races all over the world!
So anyone with a name on the Heaven or Earth List was no simple figure!
"If only other squads could perform half as well as Ling Zhan's..."
General Li couldn't help but sigh.
Despite his appearance as a middle-aged man now.
In this highly advanced era of technology and magic, it wasn't difficult for professionals to achieve longevity.
First-tier professionals typically lived to about 200 years old.
Second-tier professionals could live up to 400 years without issue.
Third-tier professionals could live to six or seven hundred years.
As for fourth-tier experts...
They could live up to 800 years.
With the territory expanding exponentially, overpopulation wasn't much of a concern.
But even so, the global population of all races remained relatively low.
Because while professionals lived long, many didn't know when they would meet their end.
Perhaps they'd die in a secret realm or dungeon.
Or out in the wild.
Or at the hands of an enemy.
And also...
On the front lines of the forbidden lands.
According to incomplete statistics from the Global Professional Association, on the worst day, the number of professionals who died from various causes reached 50 million.
The highest death toll, 200 million, occurred during a world-shattering war.
Unless one chose to return to a civilian life, they could live in peace.
But most people had the desire to grow stronger.
In this context.
General Li, who had lived for 300 years, always held a pessimistic view of the battles in the forbidden lands.
The longer you lived, the more you understood just how terrifying the forbidden lands were.
The national legions had attempted to send their top fourth-tier experts into the secret realms to investigate.
But the result had been heavy casualties.
It was as if the legions of every nation were doomed to play defense, waiting for these mysterious forbidden lands to strike first.
Sooner or later...
The forbidden lands would launch a full-scale war.
Would the national legions be able to resist when that time came?
Especially after fighting for so long, humanity still hadn't even seen the true rulers of the forbidden lands.
Even the legendary Hundred Ghost Lord, who supposedly could destroy a kingdom with a single strike, had never revealed its true form. No one had any clues.
This gave many people the impression...
That perhaps only the gods—if they even existed—could defeat the rulers of the forbidden lands.
Or perhaps...
Was everything happening now being orchestrated by the creator of this job-changing world?
Whenever General Li thought deeply about it, he found it terrifying.
Especially when he considered the possibility that all professionals were living in a conspiracy engineered by some hidden entity, pushing everything behind the scenes, sending a chill down his spine.
Fighting against this invisible fate was the most frightening of all.
With that in mind.
General Li let out a sigh.
......
......
Meanwhile.
On the plains battlefield near Liuli City.
The battle had come to a complete end.
All the ghost slaves had been annihilated. After a life scan device thoroughly scanned the battlefield.
The post-battle statisticians began surveying and tallying the bodies on the blood-soaked battlefield.
"This battle... probably had the lowest casualty rate."
"Countless injuries, but only 10,000 deaths, and among them were mostly the reckless and suicidal."
That was to be expected.
No matter how much you warn people about the horrors of war.
Some never take it to heart.
In those cases, dying on the battlefield was inevitable.
After all, the cleric corps couldn't watch over every single person at all times. There would always be some who slipped through the cracks.