Chapter 377: The First Battle of the Shenmo Dalu

The Magpie Bridge makes transporting supplies convenient and fast.

When Lin Bai used the Magpie Bridge to connect the Eastern Continent and the Xianxia World, the United States of the West had already prepared for an invasion.

Of course, they did not intend to start a war immediately.

There were too many things to prepare for war; the United States planned to use Lin Bai's deterrence and the Magpie Bridge to quickly occupy all strategic nodes in the Shenmo Dalu, build a front line, deter first, negotiate later, and only fight if negotiations failed.

……

The Shenmo Dalu had been running for nearly a year, and players from the Western Continent had conducted detailed research on the skills in the game.

This world did not have Lin Bai, and the game's progress had been developing step by step.

The highest-level game characters players had encountered were at the level of Cardinals and Great Mages.

Just like in the Xianxia World, the natives of the Shenmo Dalu had also received warnings from the Game Company; they were wary of divine punishment and dared not take excessive action against the players, but they had always remained on guard against them.

After all, Magic and Battle Qi could be easily mastered, and with the Undying Body, any normal native would place restrictions on them.

For over a year, only a small number of lucky players had come into contact with natives at the level of the Pope or Liches.

And these lucky ones spent most of their time cultivating; they had not seen the high-level figures take action, let alone disturb the gods.

The United States military's reference for combat power was Lin Bai's combat videos, as well as the combat power of the Knight Order when Shenmo Dalu players were being hunted down.

After analyzing all the battles, the United States wartime command believed that Earth's existing weapons were sufficient to deal with the other world.

Moreover, the Real World still possessed powerful nuclear weapons; the power of a nuclear explosion could cover a range of at least ten-plus kilometers, and high-yield nuclear bombs could even destroy an area of fifty to one hundred kilometers in radius.

Such terrifying lethality was enough to slaughter gods.

Perhaps even Lin Bai could not survive at the center of a nuclear explosion.

The other world did not restrict them from using nuclear weapons, so the confidence of the United States military was sufficiently inflated.

They even transported a large group of scientists to the Shenmo Dalu to research and measure parameters such as the climate, geology, and gravity of the Shenmo Dalu, planning to send a few satellites into the sky and, ultimately, turn the Shenmo Dalu into their backyard.

After all.

War in the Real World is fought with technology; the more meticulously deployed, the greater their chances of winning……

……

But the situation in the Shenmo Dalu was different from the Xianxia World.

Lin Bai had taken Garnett to experience the prosperity of the myriad worlds, letting him witness the truth of the world.

However, for most natives of the Shenmo World, what Garnett told them was too distant.

What Game Company? It had nothing to do with them; they only knew that their world had been invaded.

Facing invaders, the best way was naturally to eliminate or expel them; they had always done this, and without Lin Bai's intervention, the players in the Shenmo Dalu would actually have already faced a desperate situation.

Outside Free City, the Fazhe Zhidao displayed by Lin Bai was indeed shocking, but he restrained himself from killing, so the deterrent effect was limited.

The Shenmo Dalu had its own native gods; whether they were followers of the Holy Light Sect or the Light Sect, they all possessed their own Faith, and it was completely impossible to change their minds with just a single battle.

In the hearts of the natives, their own gods were equally powerful; as long as the gods descended, Lin Bai would not be an opponent at all.

Therefore, there was no such thing as surrendering before a fight.

The most critical point was that the world was so large that news could not spread that quickly for a while.

The Third Knight Legion in Free City had been scared out of their wits by Lin Bai and dared not act rashly, but the Priest Legion that had rushed over to reinforce them did not care about that.

Moreover, there were "guides" among the players of the Shenmo Dalu, players who feared nothing but chaos, players from the Xianxia World looking for fun, and lucky players who thought they were the protagonists of destiny; these people did not care about the big picture or national interests, they just did whatever made them happy in the game, inciting and agitating in various ways……

It was impossible for the war to develop as the high-level officials of the Western Continent expected.

……

Each side wanted to seek the maximization of their own interests, so the final outcome would inevitably be a mess.

When the Third Priest Legion arrived at Free City, the four-winged angel leading the team, Claudia, did not take Garnett's persuasion to heart at all; she killed all the players and negotiation experts from the Real World in Free City, shot down the drones circling above Free City, and brazenly launched an attack on the United States military stationed outside Red Wolf Valley.

……

The one leading the Western Continent military was Joseph; he was an old general experienced in many battles. The other world lacked modern equipment like satellites to oversee the overall situation, but the players spread all over the world were their eyes.

The moment the players in Free City were wiped out, Joseph struck first, using firepower coverage against the Priest Legion stationed outside Free City……

Ten thousand cannons fired at once.

The shells whistled, like meteors streaking across the sky.

The knights and priests of the Shenmo Dalu had never seen such a way of fighting; it was not that players hadn't told them about modern warfare, but hearing about it and seeing it were two different things.

By the time the priests realized something was wrong and hurriedly cast blessing auras for the knights and swordsmen, it was already too late.

The shells fell to the ground, hitting the knight formations and emitting huge roars. The blessing, agility, and defense magic that the priests had added to the soldiers only lasted for a moment before being exhausted by the shrapnel carrying massive kinetic energy. The spinning shrapnel tore through the knights' heavy armor, pierced their bodies, and the sound waves shattered their eardrums……

In an instant, nearly forty percent of the ten-thousand-strong Priest Legion were killed or injured; the battlefield was filled with pits several meters deep and mangled limbs.

The combat power of the legion's knights was comparable to the Golden Core and Nascent Soul of the Xianxia World, and some were not even as good as Golden Core. If Lin Bai had really wanted to kill them, a single shout could have killed a large group; their strength was greater than ordinary people, but they still could not withstand the fierce and dense artillery barrage.

Moreover, the knights had no experience in dealing with modern warfare; when the shells fell, they had no idea how to dodge.

Many flew into the sky, and then they died even more miserably.

The remaining people were still in a daze when the second round of shelling arrived.

This time.

Except for the leading four-winged angel, the bishops, and the knight captains, the Third Priest Legion was nearly wiped out, either dead or wounded……

……

"How could it be like this?" The four-winged angel leading the team, Claudia, looked down at the devastated battlefield from the air, the shock on her face lingering for a long time. "Is this the technological weapon of another world? Such power is actually comparable to a Forbidden Spell……"

"Archangel, please avenge us." The Cardinal of the Priest Legion was named Kumo; his priest robe had been torn open by shrapnel, his body was stained with blood, and bits of mangled flesh were vaguely visible. At this moment, his face was ferocious, like a demon god.

"Very well, because of my wrong decision, the Third Priest Legion has been wiped out; I will avenge them." Claudia looked toward the direction of Red Wolf Valley, watching the Magpie Bridge that spanned the sky with no end in sight, and drew the long sword in her hand. "Bishop Kumo, you stay behind to treat the wounded of the Priest Legion. If I do not return, you and Bishop Garnett must report the course of this battle truthfully to the Pope, and have him petition the Holy God to dispatch the Divine Guard and the Angel Army to wipe out these invaders from the other world. The Holy Light must not be blasphemed."

"The Holy Light must not be blasphemed." Kumo looked at Claudia and solemnly saluted him.

Claudia took one last look at the battlefield, flapped her wings, turned into a streak of light, and flew toward Red Wolf Valley.

She went with a heart prepared for death; although she was a four-winged angel, she had no confidence in dealing with Forbidden Spell-level magic.

Red Wolf Valley is not far from Free City, and Croatia is moving at high speed.

But not long after he took flight, the United States Legion's radar captured the rapidly approaching target; determining it was a four-winged angel, radar-guided missiles were launched immediately to intercept Croatia.

Once a war begins, one must establish prestige and shock the enemy in one go.

Moreover, this is also a practical test of whether technology or Magic is superior; winning this battle would mean their journey to the other world has gotten off to a good start.

……

Croatia saw the warheads flying toward him.

Having witnessed the lethality of the warheads, he naturally did not want to collide head-on with these warheads that looked so cheap.

With Holy Light protecting his body, he chose to dodge at the first opportunity.

But this time, things did not go as he wished; more than ten warheads turned in the air and chased after him, and their speed seemed faster than his.

He had no choice.

Croatia could only turn his body around, raise the Angel Sword in his hand, and slash at the warheads flying toward him.

Holy Light streaked across the sky.

Boom!

A series of loud bangs followed.

More than ten high-explosive shells exploded one after another at a distance of more than thirty meters from Croatia.

The protective Holy Light only held for a moment before being pierced by the successive shrapnel; his wings were torn to shreds, and his body was riddled with fine shrapnel.

Many pieces of shrapnel even pierced into his internal organs.

Pure white feathers fell from the sky like cotton stained with blood.

The massive shockwave blew Clodia away for several hundred meters.

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Clodia's mouth, and a look of horror appeared on his face; as expected, those people from the other world had even stronger weapons.

However.

He only hesitated for a moment before dragging his heavily wounded body to continue flying toward Red Wolf Valley.

He possessed his own Faith and would not allow himself to take a single step back.

Previously, Clodia had ordered the slaughter of the players and people from the other world in Free City, knowing their bodies were fragile; charging into their position might still offer a chance to turn the tide.

The Priest Legion must not be sacrificed in vain.

Holy Light brooks no blasphemy.

The United States Legion also knew their own weaknesses and naturally dared not let Clodia get close; tracking missiles flew out one after another, and anti-aircraft shells were fired at Clodia as if they cost nothing, forming a net in the air to intercept him...

In the dense net of shells, the four-winged angel was like a small bird in a storm; despite making every effort to perform evasive maneuvers, he was still hit repeatedly.

Finally.

Relying on the defense of the Holy Light, Clodia managed to charge into the Red Wolf Valley position, but the closer he got to Red Wolf Valley, the denser the ammunition became...

Looking at the steel battle formation below, hatred radiated from Clodia's eyes; filled with resentment, he used all his remaining strength to slash a streak of Holy Light toward the ground.

The Holy Light formed a massive cross and fell toward the ground.

The United States' ground troops had no way to resist energy attacks; the defensive formation composed of players was as fragile as a soap bubble in the face of Clodia's final strike of burning life, shattering in a single blow.

The cross-slash landed in the middle of the artillery and tanks, emitting a loud bang; the giant armored vehicle at the center was split open by the Holy Light, and the soldiers inside were torn to pieces and vaporized by the Holy Light...

The cross-slash carved a rift several kilometers long and wide into the ground, destroying at least thirty artillery pieces and causing countless soldier casualties.

The battlefield fell silent in an instant.

All artillery fire ceased.

Every soldier from the Western Continent looked in despair at the broken angel in the sky, forgetting to attack; some devout believers even knelt on the ground involuntarily, hands clasped together, muttering prayers for God's forgiveness.

Just as their shells had wiped out the Priest Legion, Clodia's strike had likewise destroyed the confidence of these ordinary soldiers.

Looking at his battle record, Clodia suddenly understood their weakness: these people were indeed vulnerable.

But it was all too late; having resisted the shells fired at him along the way and mobilized the Spiritual Power within his body to unleash his final strike, his life force was completely exhausted, and he could not even move, let alone launch a second attack.

If he had even three-tenths of his strength left, he alone would have been enough to destroy the legion before him.

With a trace of unwillingness and despair, Clodia closed his eyes, spiraled, and fell from the sky, crashing onto the ground with a boom; the Angel Sword in his hand stood straight, stuck in the ground before him like a small tombstone.

……

The above is everything Lin Wubai saw through the live broadcast.

The moment Clodia fell.

The screen was filled with winding letters; those Western Continent citizens who did not like to post bullet comments were now excitedly using them to express their inner emotions.

"My God, we killed a four-winged angel."

"This is humanity's first victory against the other world, enough to be recorded as a milestone in the war."

"We killed an angel; will we anger the gods?"

"May God forgive those foolish mortals!"

"Killing an angel is destined to bring disaster to the world."

"Damn the Council President; this is only the first war, and we've already lost so many poor soldiers. This isn't a game for normal people like us to participate in. Wouldn't it be better to leave the game to the players? Our families don't have an Undying Body; I can't imagine what we should do if we encounter even stronger angels. Fill the gaps with our lives?"

"This is indeed an irrational war; the authorities of the United States are a nest of idiots, they are treating human lives like grass."

"People from the Eastern Continent help the people of the other world build in exchange for resources, while we are crossing swords with the people of the other world. This is the difference between us and the Eastern Continent; I hate this stupid country."

"It cannot be denied that Lin Bai is the culprit behind this disaster. If not for his Magpie Bridge, that world would just be a joyful game for us; it was his Magpie Bridge that gave those foolish officials ambition."

"We don't need this kind of war; we must demand that Lin Bai close the Magpie Bridge and end this damn war."

"That's right, even if we are to invade the game world, it should be done by those players who possess an Undying Body."

"What we should be doing is negotiating with the Eastern Continent and going to the Xianxia World there to help the natives of the other world with construction in exchange for resources."

"Lin Bai incited this war; why hasn't he appeared in the war? If he were here, we wouldn't have died in such large numbers."

……

It is unknown how many people were injured by the final strike from Claudia.

The lost lives stung the hearts of the people of the Western Continent, and a massive amount of Negative Emotion surged into Lin Bai's mind.

Of course, the joys and sorrows of humans are not shared; Lin Bai also received more Positive Emotion from the Eastern Continent, as they were happy to see this war initiated by the Western Continent...

With a "not my business, keep it high and dry" attitude, the people of the Eastern Continent were much more rational; their assessment of this war was that if Lin Bai did not participate, the United States would definitely lose.

Only Magic can deal with Magic; technology will not work.

At this moment, they still did not know that the mission Lin Bai gave them was to use modern weapons to attack the even more powerful Immortal World.

(End of this chapter)