Chapter 113: Counter-measures and Counter-counter-measures

"Planetary-scale Wonder: Magic Domain Rift"

"Amidst the obsessions of countless people, products of conspiracy always exist in places rarely visited by humans. Whether the Magic Domain Rift is praised because it truly exists, or whether it appeared because it was praised, is no longer verifiable. Deep in the Antarctica of the Old World, the Magic Domain Rift is a void in the Subspace.

Countless powers spread across this land; demons can roam the world in swarms, never even worrying about their own death or survival.

However, what they do not know, or rather, do not care about, is that in reality, all these powers exist because of a single component..."

"Effect: The continent where this Wonder is located is treated as a Subspace-polluted area. Demons and faith-based units can cast miracles and Magic without restriction and will not be affected by the local Winds of Magic.

Furthermore, the individual or faction that controls this Wonder can decide that a certain unit or faction's spells cannot be successfully cast in this region. All spell costs are increased by 100%, the probability of spell failure is increased by 500%, and after a spell failure, one to three squads of demons will be randomly summoned to attack the caster. This effect is a field effect, cannot be broken, and cannot be countered; it cannot be influenced unless the Wonder is seized or the field is completely isolated.

Currently, this Wonder has been controlled by the Chaos Faction.

Chaos Faction designated defense target: Star-Bearer Faction, Li Ang."

"..."

Upon seeing the detailed introduction of the Wonder, Li Ang's smile froze on his face.

He could even see the hallucination of four bastards covering their faces and laughing wildly.

Damn it, a counter-measure.

No, is it really necessary to print a counter-card like this?

Does your Chaos Faction have some kind of serious illness? Why not target the Order Faction instead of targeting me?

No wonder I always felt restricted upon arriving in Antarctica; so this is where they were waiting for me? If I hadn't brought a Slaanesh God-Chosen along to shatter the barrier first, wouldn't I have had to fight a positional war for years? It's fortunate that those demons aren't very bright, and that I made the prompt decision to place a Mind Spire. If I hadn't paid attention and just thought it was a distance issue, I'm afraid it wouldn't have taken long before demons started popping up everywhere in my territory. His own power naturally has no issues, but he can't help that the people under him aren't up to the task.

Li Ang can ensure that every one of his own spells is flawless; to put it bluntly, these restrictions are basically useless to him, but the Star-Bearer psychic units under his command are going to suffer a huge loss.

As it turns out, because of the construction of the Psychic Tower, it happened to hit the mark by accident, managing to create a safe zone.

But now that the safe zone has been set up, the next problem is, how is he going to win? He can't really count on those physically weak players to fight a war of attrition with demons, right? It's hard to say who would wear whom out. Players also lack tools that can harm the Soul, and it's hard for demons below the Great Demon level to do so either.

And once the two sides reach a stalemate, or the demons start fighting in legions, the players' failure will be visible to the naked eye. Because the players' frail physiques simply cannot stop the demons' advance.

The success of the raid on the coast relied entirely on the power of a certain God-Chosen and the relics Li Ang shattered; it only worked because the demons were standing still.

If one were to actually fight a positional war or a legion war, in plain terms, the quality of the players' legions is probably around thirty points, while a demon legion, even in a civil war, could probably reach two thousand points; it would truly shatter upon impact. And honestly, there are very few ordinary positions that can be effective against demons.

Trenches or some relatively simple defensive facilities cannot break through the supernatural skin of demons at all. Generally, Li Ang uses his Pale Army and the power of destruction to directly smash the demons.

But now that he is being countered, facing a whole continent of demons, defense is fine, but offense is really asking for too much.

What to do? Should he use some large-scale spells that might alert the whole world? But he always feels like that is exactly the effect the opponent wants...

At the end of the day, how did they know he wanted the treasure inside? Looking at the Magic Domain Rift slowly rotating on the map, Li Ang fell into deep thought. Then he glanced at the progress of other expeditions on his world map, and consequently, it was no surprise to find that almost every place was being countered.

Chaos does not know what Li Ang actually wants, nor do they know what technology and capabilities Li Ang possesses. They simply rely on having more people and greater power, purely using their factional advantage to block all of Li Ang's teams outside. Even in the ocean, some sea beasts have started to invade.

"... Completely, blocked."

Edward, whose Soul had been cleansed, felt the information coming from the Psychic Network and gave a very sharp evaluation of Li Ang's current situation.

"Fourteen... front lines... all, stagnant. The total number of Chaos armies... has reached, six digits. We currently... have no way. What to do...?"

"How can you call this me being stagnant? It is clearly us who have the major advantage; they have no choice but to use this method to delay their own deaths."

"Really... stubborn."

"You don't understand at all, Edward. Just like your current existence. Didn't I say? The Soul is just a self-perceived illusion. As long as you see this clearly, you will know why we have the advantage."

Looking at the scene on the map where various data and armies were layered and deadlocked, Li Ang revealed an indifferent expression, casually waving his grand ambitions.

In reality, Li Ang is quite an eloquent person. For instance, right now, even though the two Elf maids in his room and Edward all revealed somewhat subtle expressions in unison, Li Ang still stood in his room, fists clenched, expressing the demeanor a mature leader should have.

Which is to make his image and claims appear completely correct and lofty.

"I don't have a Soul, so how can they hurt me? I am a phenomenon, I am reality, I am light and shadow, and more importantly, I am the leader of this faction. I must also overcome this small unpleasantness to reach a higher position. They are just four abstractionists, what use can they be?"

"But you... are stuck."

"I said it already, Edward. This is not being stuck, it is just a slight pause. Their deaths will provide me with a steady stream of supplies; I need them to die, I'm happy about it."

"But, the goal, not achieved." "What is my goal? My goal has always been progress, always been evolution. As long as this task is completed, anything can be accepted. So it is they who are sending us things, not us who are being blocked by them. With over a hundred thousand players and the current safe zone, what else can they do?"

"Then, the item, will be moved away."

"..."

Looking at Edward, whose expression remained firm, Li Ang opened his mouth and found that he still had no way to refute this simplest of truths.

The Ancient Ones' observation component is the root of that Magic Domain Rift, and it is also stuck within the Magic Domain Rift, being used almost crudely by the demons. If the demons really realized Li Ang's true intentions, then in a short period of time, this item would be directly thrown into the Subspace and disappear completely.

Li Ang did not doubt that those four bastards would definitely do that; they are just such bastards. Even if they lost a gate through which they could exert influence in reality, these Subspace products would instinctively realize which problem is bigger.

But he still cannot directly mobilize combat power from headquarters. Once the opponent realizes that his main body has arrived at this place and even forcefully mobilized an army, it would definitely expose his goal.

Although on the surface Li Ang is just out for a casual walk, once he uses an army, that is another matter entirely.

Li Ang's essence is a player; he is an extra-dimensional lifeform, fooling players everywhere and starting to explore major regions. It is perfectly normal for him to have an avatar start fighting Chaos. But the main force must be hunting demons on the northern Chaos Snowfield, not directly mobilizing an army in the south to charge the Magic Domain Rift.

The reason is simple: although it is also killing Chaos, why would you leave the Chaos Army in the north alone and insist on running to the south to project an army for an assault? That would prove there is definitely a problem.

And projecting an observation like this is acceptable to the great enemies of Chaos.

Who doesn't have a few avatars running around? "Fine, I admit it might be a bit awkward right now. The players' power doesn't seem sufficient to hold out until our teams arrive, and they have no way to give us a strategic advantage here. But I still have a way, one that can neither attract the attention of Chaos nor allow the front line to be pushed."

Looking at Oliver and several other Pale Army members who had appeared out of nowhere to watch, Li Ang quickly projected a series of data and began to explain his plan to these Star-Bearers.

Yes, although they have lost their Souls, who says the body cannot have its own thoughts? Rather, according to Li Ang's understanding in another world, the Soul was never a thing that existed; the body is the fundamental everything. So, like now, a group of soulless ones starting to watch Li Ang learn and rediscover their own personalities and lives is quite common among the Star-Bearers today.

Everything that happened in the past is irredeemable; the Pale Army of the Elves was truly one heavyweight after another, but now that they have been cleansed, they are pure and need to learn. And Li Ang is their role model.

"The players' advantage lies in the fact that although their physique is very weak and they can only revive to a limited extent, their advantage is that they are really good at collecting all kinds of data and are adept at using their economic advantage to invest. So what we need to do is, we fight a messy war with those demons."

On the projected map, with the Dengludian as the axis, Li Ang drew one circle after another, like some kind of ant gnawing at the map, drawing toward the direction of the Magic Domain Rift.

In the arcs he drew, one castle after another rose from the ground, launching an offensive toward the core area.

"With the coordination of my invincible turrets, we can help the players conduct a messy positional war."

Li Ang looked at the surrounding Pale Army and explained his combat strategy very seriously.

"Our population quality is insufficient, and the players' psychological quality and related morality are not exactly great either, so I plan to outsource my series of blueprints and construction requirements; these places will exist as the players' private plots. Then, use these castles as fulcrums to attack outward."

"The players' defensive power is insufficient, so we will make up for it with our Runes and the power of destruction. And for the sake of their own castles and villages, players are often able to burst out with astonishing power. They will hysterically attack all living things around them for the sake of their own territory. We have already seen this at Hope City; even when facing the blade of the World-Ending Warband, they never thought of giving up."

"Therefore, once the player fulcrums are established, we will accept them under the guise of defense outsourcing, and then step by step advance our strategic position toward the inner ring in accordance with the players' territorial planning."

"By then, we can also sell land to the outside under the name of land sales to recover the Gold Coins we have distributed."

"After all, as of now, the only organization in the world that can truly launch an offensive against Antarctica, succeed, and keep its promises is us, the Star-Bearers. Those players will help us work, pay us money at the same time, and use their own items to secure the fulcrums leading to the Magic Domain Rift for us."

"This is my survival strategy, and also our hidden true strategic intent."

Looking at the people around him, Li Ang calmly drew an 'X' over the location of the Magic Domain Rift. The fate of this place being destroyed was sealed.

"I intend to spend three months gradually conquering the outer layer of the Antarctic Continent; this Wonder in the outside world will be one of the core points I pull out. In this way, we will not trigger a large-scale counterattack from Chaos, and at the same time, we can advance our plan to a deeper level."

"A deeper level plan?"

"Yes. I require you to connect these players' settlements and Defense Matrices every few zones, and use the Psychic Tower to control all Runes. If necessary, the Defense Matrix can be turned outward."

"……?"

Hearing this request, everyone was stunned.

Outward? Wouldn't that be facing the Antarctic Ocean? Why guard against our own people? But Li Ang did not explain further; he only looked at his team and nodded very seriously, as if he had already decided what the next step of the future would be.

"What we are doing is an unprecedented, great feat. Therefore, this step is necessary. I cannot just stop at the periphery, because I have realized some more long-term things that need to be planned, so this outward-facing defense line is essential. You must do it well."

Let's secretly update a chapter, four thousand words to ease things up; tomorrow afternoon, I will officially resume daily updates of ten thousand to fifteen thousand words.

(End of this chapter)