Chapter 131: A New Mode of Warfare

Chapter 131: A New Mode of Warfare

Yu Sheng'an's fury sent an inexplicable chill down Aphnora's spine.

She instinctively took half a step back, a flicker of trepidation flashing in her eyes.

"My apologies, I lost my composure," Yu Sheng'an said, taking a slight breath to steady himself.

"It's fine. I understand. You... really intend to attack Kazad-dûm?" Aphnora shook her head, her expression troubled.

Phoebus, hearing this, also turned a grave gaze toward them.

"Exactly!" Yu Sheng'an nodded.

"But..." Aphnora hesitated. "This isn’t a good idea. Kazad-dûm is easy to defend and hard to attack. Even if we pour all our resources into taking it, it would be meaningless."

"The underground world here is only habitable for a few races like dwarves and goblins. Most races can’t survive there long-term. The surface environment is also extremely harsh, unsuitable for migration. Even if we conquer it, it’s just a barren wasteland—utterly worthless."

The Prophecy God Phoebus added, "Aphnora is right. It’s not that the Five Great Righteous Gods couldn’t take Kazad-dûm—it’s that the cost was too high, and there was no benefit. That’s why they withdrew decisively."

Faced with Aphnora and Phoebus’s dissuasion, Yu Sheng'an swept his Divine Perspective across the devastated surroundings and sneered:

"I admit the dwarves are an exceptional race. For that reason, I even actively helped Dwarven King Kaut steal the production line."

"I thought the dwarves, upon obtaining the production line, would be awed by industrial manufacturing. Even if they wouldn’t submit to me, they should at least have shown some reverence."

At this point, Yu Sheng'an wore a self-mocking expression. "As it turns out, I was wrong!"

"The dwarves are too proud. Thousands of years of monopolizing smelting and forging have made them utterly arrogant, incapable of acknowledging the excellence of other races."

"Repelling the invasions of the Five Great Righteous Gods and the beastmen has made them delusional, thinking that with Kazad-dûm as their stronghold, no one can touch them. Hah! How ignorant and laughable."

"To be honest, I originally just wanted to spread the internet, maybe have them serve as subcontractors at most. But they didn’t even give me a chance to speak."

"Since they’re so determined to seek death, then they can’t blame me."

"I know why you’re reluctant to wage war. War is merely a means, not an end. A war without profit is indeed meaningless."

"I admit, the Dwarven King’s arrogance angered me, but I’m not so irrational as to act solely on that."

Yu Sheng'an spoke with confidence.

A true general considers defeat before victory—only then can he fight a hundred battles without peril!

From the moment he encountered the Dwarven King, Yu Sheng'an had already prepared two options—subjugation or war.

However, he left the choice to the dwarves.

Now, the dwarves had made their choice—war!

The two gods fell into contemplation upon hearing this.

Phoebus instinctively used his Prophecy Godhood to divine the outcome.

Aphnora, meanwhile, asked directly, "Are you saying that waging war on the dwarves is profitable?"

Yu Sheng'an smiled. "Of course it’s profitable—and the benefits are substantial!"

Aphnora was stunned.

The dwarves were famously stubborn—hard to crack and offering no meat.

How could Yu Sheng'an see so many benefits in attacking them?

Not to mention Aphnora, even Phoebus, who had used his Prophecy Godhood to deduce the outcome of "wealth," wore a look of astonishment.

"First, you've overlooked the dwarves' wealth! Dwarves are famously as greedy as dragons. The riches accumulated over thousands of years of weapons trade, with only a small portion spent on alcohol and almost nothing else—where did all that wealth go?"

Was it even a question?

Undoubtedly, like dragons, it was piled up in the countless sunless caverns of Kazad-dûm.

"And what else?"

Aphnora remained unmoved.

To gods, gold and stones were fundamentally no different. They cared only for Believers.

If not for Believers valuing gold, they wouldn’t have given wealth a second thought.

Phoebus instinctively held his breath.

Even the Prophecy Godhood had only deduced "wealth" as the outcome.

He couldn’t fathom where the "many more benefits" the Internet God spoke of lay.

"Second, war is the greatest catalyst for industrialization."

"It doesn’t just mean plundering gains from war—it can rapidly stimulate domestic demand, creating a positive feedback loop where military and industrial capabilities grow in tandem."

"Simply put, war requires weapons, such as firearms, which will drive industrialists to frantically expand, optimize, and upgrade their industries."

"Domestic populations will also feast on War Dividends due to the overwhelming demand for wartime orders. When the people grow prosperous, they naturally have the means to universalize basic education, expand the Internet’s user base, and even nurture more and mightier mages!"

"Of course, war is always a means, not an end. What is our goal? Truly annihilation? No. We can frame this war as wealth plunder."

"And the plundered wealth can precisely serve as capital to fund factories, creating a virtuous cycle."

"Thanks to this war, our industrial production capacity will rapidly expand and upgrade, leaving all potential competitors in the dust."

"All of this, in turn, will create a third benefit: the market!"

"Do you know the greatest advantage of industry?"

"Scale! The larger the scale, the lower the cost. When our scale reaches unimaginable heights, our weapon costs will become unbelievably cheap. This not only strengthens our war potential but also allows us to gradually erode the multiverse through weapons!"

As his words fell, Aphnora and Phoebus were stunned.

To be honest, they couldn’t fully comprehend Yu Sheng'an’s reasoning—only parts of it.

No helping it. Even gods were limited by their knowledge and experience.

But even that partial understanding was enough to shock them!

"Honestly, if the dwarves submitted to us, it would be the best outcome. Not only would we gain a Source Essence spring with a population of at least hundreds of millions, but we could also leverage the dwarves’ forging expertise to develop them into the largest industrial production base. A pity..."

Yu Sheng’an shook his head regretfully.

This was the fundamental reason he had noticed the Dwarven King hadn’t challenged him but instead deliberately gifted him the production line.

Originally, he had intended to use the production line’s complex craftsmanship and the pretext of theft to subjugate the dwarves.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the pride and stubbornness of a race that had endured for millennia through countless wars.

He had also underestimated the dwarves’ arrogance.

Exactly, do you think this is some cliché drama plot where a bottle of cheap liquor can easily win over an entire race?

What a joke.

Since that’s the case, he couldn’t be bothered to grovel for their favor. War it is.

Beat them until their wealth is gone, their market collapses, and they’re reduced to such destitution that they’d resort to trading children for food. Even if they aren’t annihilated, their suffering will be worse than annihilation!

A thousand times more agonizing!

By then, even if the dwarves beg the Outer Gods for refuge, few gods would dare take them in.

Otherwise, who’d still want to buy weapons from them?

Wait, why even sell weapons? Use that as an excuse to launch the next war—wouldn’t that be perfect?

"But how do we actually execute this? Kazad-dûm is a medium-sized domain—high-tier forces can’t intervene directly, and its labyrinthine tunnels will scatter large forces. Small squads sent in would just be picked off one by one by the dwarves."

Aphnora raised practical concerns with sharp insight.

"Moreover, establishing a stronghold will be difficult. Kazad-dûm is the dwarves’ world—whether we build on the surface or underground, we’ll face constant harassment. Logistics will also be a major issue."

"If we deploy portals, the mana consumption would be too high, likely outweighing the gains."

"Finally, which army do we deploy? The Fourth Calamity is inexhaustible, but it consumes vast amounts of mana. The Undying Demon Army is too chaotic and unlikely to achieve your goal of wealth plundering. As for deploying mages… the cost would be astronomical."

Aphnora laid out all their challenges in one breath.

Reality isn’t theater—many decisions can’t be made on a whim.

War sounds simple, but in truth, it involves countless interconnected problems. A single misstep could unravel everything.

"That’s precisely what I wanted to address. To overcome these drawbacks, I’m introducing a brand-new combat strategy."

Yu Sheng’an’s smile faded as he spoke with solemn gravity:

"—Airborne operations!"