Chapter 339

Seeing Luosen say this, Beilu Dandi only thought her father's threat had taken effect.

She then believed she could soon regain freedom, and instantly felt elated.

"As you wish, Your Majesty Luosen."

Her saint La De Rui Ya was still near the War Temple, so he let her meet her father again to inform Luosen of his intention.

About ten minutes later, she said to Luosen: "My father agreed, but the meeting place is not at the War Temple, but on a desolate island at the edge of the War Continent."

She then reported the exact phase‑shift coordinates.

Luosen couldn't help teasing as he listened: "You don't dare to meet me in the Temple, afraid I'll unleash solar fire on the Temple?"

Beilu Dandi's spirit had recovered a lot, and she snorted coldly: "Don't get all talky, Your Majesty Luosen."

She silently resolved that once she regained her freedom, she would immediately lead an army to the natural plane for revenge! Using the soul imprint, Luosen clearly saw Beilu Dandi's thoughts and thought to himself with a hidden smile.

"What a resolute female general, recovering her vigor so quickly."

Without further words, a thought sparked; he controlled a puppet double, used phase‑shift, and sent it to the island coordinates designated by Haigelit.

Upon arriving on the ground, he found that this was no deserted island at all, but merely a reef jutting out of the sea.

Its radius was no more than a hundred meters, surrounded on all sides by endless ocean, and before him stood a legendary mortal warrior—the war saint An Jielu he had just dealt with.

Unlike before, this saint's eyes blazed with a molten‑lava intensity, indicating that his body was being controlled by the Lord of War.

Seeing Luosen, Haigelit sized him up from head to toe and snorted: "Being able to teleport a single elemental puppet over here—your phase‑shift technique isn't bad."

Luosen replied with a grin: "That trick is child's play; when needed, I could even teleport a battleship here."

In fact, with the current elemental projection ability, moving a hundred tons in one go is already arduous.

But against an enemy, one naturally boasts; if the foe believes even a little, it's a profit.

Haigelit, of course, wasn't so easily fooled; he sneered: "If you truly possessed such skill, you wouldn't be standing here negotiating with me."

His true form resides in the Abyss of Pain, one of the three great abysses, which was formerly called the Boundless Power Divine Realm.

According to what he knows, even at the peak of divine realm power, trans‑dimensional transport of a ten‑thousand‑ton warship is extremely taxing.

Let alone a mortal empire that has just brushed the high‑energy domain and has yet to perfect its planar sigils.

But returning to the point, the fact that the other side can say that shows they have already begun mastering cross‑planar elemental transmission.

After another hundred or so years of development, they may truly ascend to become a divine realm.

'It seems my daughter's view was correct. I indeed underestimated this mortal empire.'

He now feels some regret; had he known it would turn out this way, he should have gone all‑out from the start instead of sending his daughter alone.

Now that his daughter is captured, he instantly becomes highly passive.

In fact, if anyone else were captured, Haigelit wouldn't be this upset, but not his daughter Beilu Dandi.

It is a supreme treasure bestowed by the Creator, the key for him to completely break free from the Abyss's control.

Unless absolutely forced, he would never abandon it.

On the other side, because the opponent controls a saint's proxy, Luosen finds it hard to use telepathy to read their thoughts.

Since he can't read them, he'll negotiate by ordinary means.

He chuckled and said, "Haigelit, I heard the message you had Beilu Dandi convey."

Haigelit stared at Luosen: "Since you heard it, release my daughter, and from now on our two planes will not interfere with each other."

Hearing that, Luosen felt a slight stir in his heart and smiled inwardly.

'Well then, this guy still fears my nuclear bomb, and indeed values Beilu Dandi highly.'

According to Navat's "Void Life Encyclopedia," the Lord of War Haigelit is a great being with an explosively volatile temper; any matter that can be settled by force of war, he never bothers to reason about.

Now this fellow voluntarily brings up the soft phrase 'non‑interference,' indicating he believes war tactics are unlikely to overcome the Natural Empire.

Since the opponent showed timidity, Luosen knows how to negotiate.

He smiled: "Clearly that's impossible. Only by holding your daughter in my hands can I truly guarantee my own safety."

"But I also know you certainly wish your daughter to regain her freedom."

"Thus, an irreconcilable conflict exists between us, making war inevitable."

Haigelit inhaled deeply: "Since you want war, then let's war!"

His voice was deep and devoid of any superfluous emotion.

Yet the content grew increasingly timid, making Luosen laugh more as he listened.

Because it was the war deity race that first intervened in the natural plane, Haigelit's words made it seem as if he were the victim, while Luosen appeared as an unrelenting war‑madman.

This also shows that his nuclear bomb has already exerted an extremely strong deterrent effect on Haigelit.

It turned that 'violent‑loving lion' into a 'bullied rabbit.'

The opponent's continual soft talk shows he has no desire for open conflict, but only persists out of face‑saving.

'It just so happens I don't want to fight right now, so I'll give you a stepping stone.'

Thus Luosen continued: "Hold on, hold on, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Haigelit squinted, waiting for Luosen to go on.

Luosen's expression hardened as he said seriously: "Obviously, the Solar War is a war of annihilation. If we truly unleash a full‑scale battle, it will be disaster for both sides."

Haigelit immediately corrected: "Wrong! It's a disaster for you mortals, but not for my war deity race."

"We retreat into the void; your elemental sun cannot threaten us at all."

Luosen promptly said: "But I can torment your daughter."

Haigelit gritted his teeth: "Despicable mortal!"

Luosen added: "Moreover, you still underestimate my capabilities."

"Our elemental beings can also enter the Star Realm, and we have already mastered the method to enter the Star Realm's void."

"Therefore, wherever your solar deity race hides, I have the power to let you taste the flame of the sun."

This statement is half true, half false.

Indeed, for Luosen, who possesses a divine body and a solar heart, developing a personal-use star realm aircraft, entering the star realm void to hunt void gods, is entirely feasible.

Perhaps a mass-scale entry for all people would be very difficult, but for Luosen it is extremely simple.

All that's needed is a set of spacesuits that can guarantee breath circulation. There's no need to worry about danger; if the situation goes wrong, a direct phase shift to escape will do.

The false part is that reliable spacesuits haven't been made yet, and even if they were, given the heavy bodies of elemental lifeforms, it would be very hard to chase down void beings determined to flee in the void.

Haige Lite naturally had no idea; he gave a humming cold snort: "You're talking big!"

Luosen hehehed a smile: "Whether it's big talk, you can give it a try."

Haige Lite momentarily stalled.

He really didn't dare to bet, just as Luosen wouldn't dare bet that he had no nuclear bomb in his hand.

Because if this were false it would be fine, but if it were true it would be deadly.

After a long silence, Haige Lite spoke again: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Only then did Luosen throw out the prepared steps.

"My idea is to conduct a limited war."

"Limited war? How would it be limited?"

Luosen had already thought it through, and immediately said: "We'll just draw a battlefield in the mortal world and fight with conventional weapons not powered by solar energy."

"If you win, I'll release the person. If you lose, Beilu Dandi will serve me."

Haige Lite fell silent for several seconds, then slowly nodded: "Not a bad plan. So, where is the battlefield?"

Luosen continued: "In our natural plane there are two habitable continents, one of which is called the Storm Continent."

"In the northwest corner of this continent lies a tract of land about 14 million square kilometers, occupied by the demon Ba Ke, servant of the great devouring demon Norma, and named the Fusion Empire."

"If you agree, then all the land held by the Fusion Empire will be handed over to you."

"At the same time, I'll give you ten years of preparation time."

"To ensure you can develop in peace, I will also leave you a 1,000‑kilometer strategic buffer zone."

"If you feel the time isn't enough for development, twenty years, thirty years are all possible."

"Once you're ready, we'll fight a conventional‑weapon battle on the Storm Continent, with victory or defeat deciding Beilu Dandi's fate—how does that sound?"

Haige Lite fell silent again.

This time, he remained silent for a full minute.

Then he nodded: "This isn't fair to me, after all that's your plane, and your war potential far exceeds mine."

Luosen laughed: "Then tell me your conditions."

Haige Lite had indeed thought it through carefully, and immediately stated the specific terms.

"Not only must the battlefield be limited, but also the number of troops each side commits to the war."

"Each side will contribute 3 million soldiers and 10 million reserve personnel. At the same time, all war materiel must be prepared by these 13 million people themselves, with no external resources allowed."

"Finally, I need twenty years of preparation time."

"After the war begins, the victory condition will be the total annihilation of one side's war command headquarters."

Luosen, with a serious expression, pondered for a while, then said: "Is twenty years enough? Or should I give you another ten?"

"If you're willing to give it, I don't care."

Luosen added: "Since it's a limited war, it's essentially a bet. Mobilizing 13 million people is really too troublesome; I think 3 million will suffice."

Haige Lite never really hoped to use this wager to rescue his daughter.

This is merely a show he puts on for outsiders, so no one will say the War God Clan are cowards who don't even know how to fight back when their daughter is captured.

Since it's a show, making too big a fuss is pure waste of resources.

Thus, he immediately agreed.

"Okay!"

Luosen probed: "Then shall we settle on that?"

Haige Lite's Holy Disciple An Jielu, with a solemn and serious expression, answered.

"Then it's settled!"

Luosen immediately controlled his puppet substitute to leave the War God Realm.

As soon as the substitute returned, Luosen's true body instantly performed a phase shift, quietly going to the War God Realm.

Of course, it wasn't to the previous uninhabited deserted island; instead, relying on earlier observations by the puppet substitute, he calculated a whole new set of transfer coordinates.

What for? Naturally, to conduct on‑site inspection and confirm the true level of mystical arts development in the War God Realm.

Hearing others say it ten thousand times is no substitute for seeing it yourself once.

Luosen repeatedly carried out rapid phase shifts within the War God Realm.

At each location, he used Laifu's massive computing power to expand a void view with an 800‑kilometer radius, carefully observing the development of the mortal world.

Each stop lasted only ten minutes; after a hundred consecutive shifts, his footsteps practically covered the entire War Continent.

In less than a day total, he gained an extremely thorough understanding of the mortal world within the War God Realm.

"Beilu Dandi is right; overall they're still at the stage of burning Black Stone, with no detectable nuclear industry facilities."

"But abnormal high‑energy radiation has indeed been detected in some mountain ranges, though not much."

"So Haige Lite probably can really build nuclear bombs, but they would be extremely low‑level fission dirty bombs, and their numbers are very limited."

In other words, Haige Lite fundamentally lacks the capacity to wage a large‑scale solar war against him, so it's no wonder he feels guilty and timid.

But having said that, if a solar war truly broke out, the dead would all be mortals.

With Luosen's current abilities, it's indeed very difficult to harm the War God Clan.

So, since he is willing to compromise in disguise by means of a limited war, he might as well cooperate.

But after all, it's my own daughter who was captured; although I gave him a step, Haigelite also went down the slope. But he definitely won't just let it go.

I also happen to want his divine artifact. What should I do?

Ah~, I happen to need to make a trip to the Lost Plane; might as well go high-profile, lure him to take the initiative to act against me.

That way, there will be an opportunity to seize the divine artifact.

(End of chapter)