Chapter 820 - 99 Lightning War (1)

The human desire for a safe haven is absolute—

A safe haven should have ample food, clothing...

A secure and prosperous place, from which other human needs begin to grow: the need for creation, dignity, respect...

A mobile giant fortress that can meet all the above needs!

The Red House, as a massive espionage organization entrenched in northeastern Europe, offers intelligence, assassination, and coup services to all clients, yet no information about them has circulated worldwide in the past decades!

If Hydra has successfully surfaced with a glamorous new image through covert control methods, without any large-scale exposure yet, then the Red House has fully implemented covert operations:

The Red House collects orphans, primarily female orphans, through rigorous physical training and psychological manipulation, erasing their personal thoughts, even initiating primary biological enhancements—

Finally, these orphans, those without any background, become invisible assassins, top-notch spies, turning into Drakov’s sharp tools for agitation.

Everything starts from here, from this fortress...

Drakov excitedly watches the ground quickly move beneath his feet. He can’t see the details on the land, what people are there; he sees village after village, city after city, country after country crawling on the ground!

As a fellow conspirator, Drakov has long been aware of Hydra’s activities, and only when President Ellis split the entire Mei Country with the support of Rox and the United Nations, did he realize:

This is the ultimate goal of the Red House!

The Red House threatens politicians with secret and covert violence, controls Eastern Europe, lives in chaos, but how does that compare with Hydra now?

For so many years, covert control has long made Drakov weary. Only at this moment, with his army truly trampling the world underfoot, he feels a sense of accomplishment never felt before!

The massive floating fortress descends from the clouds, gradually approaching Sokovia—

This is an equally backward country, but the only difference is that local politics are greatly controlled by Hydra, serving as an important fortress for Hydra in Eastern Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of people are concentrated in the only city here, where poverty and hunger are common. Under the joint intervention of the Red House and Hydra, today’s government is royal, tomorrow it’s warlord, peace, and stability have never been heard!

The nearly five hundred-meter-high super fortress descends from the clouds, blocking out the sun, akin to a miracle!

Some timid locals even kneel on the street, trembling in fear...

Drakov sits in the control room, selecting these scenes for enjoyment—

This is his favorite scene.

A message flashes through the communication room.

[Communicator: Baron Strucker]

[Baron Strucker: You shouldn’t disable the optical stealth system, the locals shouldn’t see your fortress.]

[Drakov: It doesn’t matter, we’ll leave after maintenance.]

[Baron Strucker: You’re too flashy, if Doctor Doom sees the fortress, you might be shot down.]

[Drakov: He won’t see it, do we have anyone better at intelligence than us? No information leakage, relax.]

[Baron Strucker: Don’t blame me for saying it upfront: if this mission fails, you’re doomed.]

[Drakov: I’ve arrived, prepare for delivery.]

...

"Mom, what’s that?"

"Shh... don’t look, staring at a miracle will bring repercussions..."

The woman in the room closes the door, pulling her bewildered daughter back, her heart full of unease.

Some think it’s a miracle, like this woman, but most of the time, the "miracles" here come accompanied by war.

The soldiers here might be hit with gunstocks just for a glance, and if dragged away, they might disappear forever.

Sokovia is no better than Latovia ever was, even worse because surrounding wars have gathered population into the "relatively" survivable capital, becoming even more chaotic than Latovia.

At this moment, 344 reserve Iron Riders and Lille have already arrived at the city’s outskirts, using tactical helmets for long-distance observation.

The Steel Bone Warhorses pant nearby, the grouped reserve Iron Riders supply their partners with coolant and feed...

This is a 15-minute break period.

Not only Steel Bone Warhorses replace coolant and other injectable fluids, these reserve Iron Riders’ prosthetics also rapidly adjust internal environments—

During these full three days of rush, their only rest is on horseback, fortunately, the prosthetics allow them forced sleep, while the exoskeleton on the Steel Bone Warhorses keeps them fixed, though it’s uncomfortable.

But no one complains about discomfort, it’s a matter of life and death.

Lille’s eyes scan the giant object appearing on the lake: though it seems to land slowly, such a massive thing lands on the water, still stirring huge waves!

The waves howled towards lakeside residents, those fetching water, living nearby, and children playing on the beach flee in terror but can’t escape the waves!

The waves flood the shore like a monster, "flood beast" becomes tangible at this moment, locals scatter under the chase of water...

These waves can’t drown the Sokovia capital, but definitely, many will be injured in the flood, and when the waves recede, some might get swept into the lake.

However, no one cares about them, as people here struggle just for self-preservation.

Helicopters fly out from ancient castles in the forest, roaring in the air, those in the water call for help towards the sky and surroundings, but no response comes.

Christopher sees this scene with a slight frown: "That’s the local nobles... Baron Strucker’s troops, this place is more... prosperous than us, mainly in military equipment.

Your Majesty, I have a question, if we destroy the local nobles’ and warlords’ facilities, these locals..."

[Johnny: He mentions a question, the refugee issue is always difficult to judge, even though these people’s poverty has little connection to us.]

[Johnny: People here are too primitive, they can’t even assemble a logical leader.]

[Johnny: If you leave it, I guess another enemy representative will pop up soon, after all, dogs have dog food.]

[Johnny: But if you take this place, you might become one of the world’s most brutal warlords.]

Without hesitation, Lille directly says: "Riflemen will take over these lands subsequently, integrating them into our control."

There’s no need to hesitate, there’s no choice here.

As for infamy... Lille hasn’t borne enough yet?

"Prepare to attack!"

The Octopus Arm behind Lille immediately transforms and merges, finally becoming a communication device akin to a communication tower—

This set of equipment will transmit a signal through nearby public radio bands:

[Launch the offense!]