Chapter 198: The Heart-Digging Tactic

Chapter 198: The Heart-Digging Tactic

At this moment, who could remain unmoved besides Yarman?

As the flames of war gradually subsided, amidst the billowing smoke, countless prisoners of the Empire of Infer on the Osston Defense Line were horrified to discover that the terrifying Steel Torrent, which had descended like divine soldiers straight into the heart of enemy territory, was actually their own people!

To be precise, they were soldiers of the Infer Workers' Republic under the banner of Aji De!

Now, in the name of their homeland, Infer, they were inviting them to join the charge against the Farlay Dynasty.

In an instant, the prisoners of the Empire of Infer erupted in fervor.

Countless prisoners surged out of the trenches, picking up enemy weapons, sweeping through the remnants alongside the tanks.

"Long live Infer!"

"Long live Aji De!"

The deafening cheers pierced the heavens, roaring like dragons and tigers!

Yet, compared to the thunderous clamor on the battlefield, the military headquarters in the distant Infer capital was deathly silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

The high-ranking officials of Infer stared dumbfounded at the live streaming on the virtual screen. The shock and thoughts racing through Yarman's mind were mirrored in every one of them.

Yes, this entirely new mode of warfare had completely shattered their limited imaginations.

"This is... simply unbelievable!"

"Dropping steam cars from thousands of meters in the air? That's impossible! Forget steam cars—even a solid iron ball would be flattened!"

"Exactly!"

"Dropping tanks directly into the heart of enemy territory? This tactic is utterly inconceivable! Only a madman could think of it!"

"Why can't the rapid-fire cannons penetrate the tank armor? According to the data, the armor is only 6 millimeters thick. That shouldn't be possible!"

"Tracked armored combat vehicles? This is absolutely a stroke of genius!!! Who said wheels have to be round? Look at this design—it puts the engineers of steam cars to shame! With this weapon, trenches, barbed wire, and barricades will all become irrelevant!"

When one high-ranking officer couldn't help but exclaim, the silence in the headquarters was completely shattered.

Heated discussions erupted, nearly lifting the roof.

The high-ranking officials of Infer were all stunned by this revolutionary combat model.

Some slammed the table in admiration, while others wore expressions of bewilderment.

Some cried out, "Madmen!"

Others praised, "Geniuses!"

Major Neil even rushed to Ben Keming's side, his face flushed with both shame and excitement, and blurted out, "Mr. Ben Keming, I apologize! I shouldn’t have doubted Mr. Aji De. Thank goodness he didn’t hand command of the troops to us—otherwise, we’d have foolishly ordered them to march thousands of miles!"

"True. I’d have done the same. Who knows if the tanks would even have any fuel left by the time they reached the enemy lines? Hahaha..." Ben Keming also laughed at himself.

"Yes, this is an entirely new mode of warfare!"

"With these tanks, we can drive the Farlay Dynasty out of our lands!"

"Absolutely!"

The headquarters buzzed with fervor.

"No!"

Suddenly, Ben Keming shook his head with a grave expression.

Hmm?

The room quieted, and countless eyes turned to him.

Had something gone wrong?

Or was this new mode of warfare too costly?

Under the gaze of the crowd, Ben Keming declared, "Mr. Aji De's strategic vision has never been petty. His true target is..."

His eyes swept across the assembly, and under their grave yet expectant stares, his blood pressure and the corners of his lips rose in unison: "To annex the Farlay Dynasty!"

"Wha—"

The headquarters was utterly dumbfounded. After a breath of stunned silence, the room erupted once more.

The roaring clamor startled the sentries outside, who exchanged bewildered glances, their curiosity clawing at them like a cat's relentless scratch.

……

……

Meanwhile, on a desolate island in the deep sea of the Primary Domain of Azerai, the Mechanical Steam God's furious roars shook the entire landmass.

Countless schools of fish fled in terror from the depths!

"Deserves to die! Deserves to die! Deserves to die! The Internet God has already violated the contract! We must intervene in the war!"

By now, the Four Primordial Gods had long used their Divine Perspective to witness the entire Battle of Osden.

The tank forces dispatched by the Internet God had not only shocked the high command of the Empire of Infer—how could they not have shaken the gods themselves?

At the square table, facing the Mechanical Steam God's outburst, the three gods seated at the other sides remained silent.

They knew full well that while the Internet God had indirectly intervened in the war, he had not technically breached the contract.

Otherwise, the Battle of Osden wouldn't have been waged with mere artillery fire and billowing smoke—it would have taken on an entirely different form of warfare.

"Among the gods of the multiverse, rumors abound of the Internet God's cunning and resourcefulness. Yet now, it seems the gods have underestimated him. He is not merely cunning—his wisdom is what is most terrifying."

The Night Goddess's eyes flickered with emotion as she sighed.

What moved her, naturally, was the emergence of the tanks.

In the multiverse, the mechanical constructs of the Vilia domain stood in a league of their own.

The Four Primordial Gods should have been the ones most familiar with these metal creations.

After all, they had witnessed firsthand how these constructs evolved from simple rivets, pistons, steam, iron plates, levers, and hydraulics into the complex machinery of today.

Yet now, in the very field they excelled in, they had been surpassed by an Outer God!

How could she not feel fear?

"Fear my ass! Are you one of the Four Primordial Gods or the Seven Righteous Gods? Since when do we undermine our own morale and inflate others' prestige?" the Mechanical Steam God sneered.

The moment the taunt left his lips, the Night Goddess narrowed her eyes.

"Oh? In my eyes, the Internet God is more suited to be the Mechanical Steam God than you are," she retorted without hesitation.

"You—" The Mechanical Steam God's veins bulged with rage.

"Enough! With a formidable enemy at our doorstep, you still bicker like this? At this rate, the Four Primordial Gods might as well disband!" the Storm Lord bellowed in fury.

The Night Goddess scoffed coldly but said nothing more.

The Mechanical Steam God seethed with anger but ultimately took a deep breath and fell silent.

The only one who hadn't spoken yet, the Space God, wore a bitter smile.

"My fellow gods, ever since the Internet God rose to prominence in the multiverse, the four of us have been mired in suspicion. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared, why must we prolong this distrust?"

His words gave the other three gods pause, leaving them momentarily dazed.

Indeed, the Four Primordial Gods of the past were not like this.

Even when they quarreled over the distribution of Source Essence, their disputes had never been this bitter.

But it hadn't reached the point of such sarcastic mockery as now.

The initial deterioration of their relationship began precisely with the rise of the Internet God.

As the Internet God's prayer chants revealed keywords like "Azure Star," followed by the sudden emergence of weapons production lines and countless other details—each one confirming his origins in the Primary Domain of Azerai—the Four Primordial Gods grew suspicious of one another, probing and testing, their unity crumbling.

Yet even when the misunderstandings were cleared, their relationship did not mend.

Because in their mutual distrust, they were shocked to discover that each of them had been conducting secret schemes across the multiverse.

It made sense—how could they, who ruled over the Primary Domain of Azerai, possibly remain content and stable, merely enjoying the Source Essence here?

Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and gods would never put all their eggs in one basket.

Thus, the Four Primordial Gods had long been spreading their faith across the multiverse, albeit under different guises.

Now, with existing tensions and the added pressure from an external threat, their once-unbreakable alliance naturally became unstable.

"What are your thoughts on the current situation?"

The Space God broke the silence.

"Withdraw our forces!"

"Are we just going to hand the Empire of Infer over to the Internet God so easily?"

"What else can we do?"

"What you all should be considering now isn’t just the Internet God swallowing the Empire of Infer—it’s the Farlay Dynasty! Don’t forget his most infamous heart-digging tactic. If I’m not mistaken, his airships are probably already heading for the capital of the Farlay Dynasty."

"Wh-what?!"