You want me to take out a loan to practice cultivation? I'll just pay off the debt physically.

Chapter 216 The Red Heart World's Principles of Stealing Food: Absolute Concealment! Small, Frequent Meals!

In December of the 136th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, the massive war machine of the Human Empire burned simultaneously on both the northern and southern fronts, turning the frigid world of Sophia a fiery red.

Like an iron torrent, the Imperial Northern Expeditionary Army, aided by the Redheart Society's advanced technology, finally breached the sacred site symbolizing the last backbone of the Orcish Empire—Gerohowl Fortress—after paying a certain price.

Deep within the fortress, the orcish royal guard was annihilated by the combined assault of the human war beasts' lava torrents and the soul links of the beastmasters.

Almost simultaneously, the Imperial Southern Legion annihilated the Dawnguard, a force the High Elves had painstakingly built at great cost, on a battlefield covered in scorched wood and broken branches.

The once lush, emerald-green forest is now reduced to charred tree stumps and fragments of the elven's magnificent armor and runic longbow.

Even the mighty Elf Queen was forced to urgently relocate to the more ancient and sacred Emerald Garden Council deep within the forest.

[This symbolizes the foundation of the Elven Empire's millennia-long rule over the surrounding races, which, with each defeat in war, began to falter fundamentally.]

Although the human empire was very powerful, this war shattered the invincible aura of the elven empire.

For the various races subservient to the Elven Empire, the seeds of resistance will be sown in their hearts as long as the Elven Empire can be defeated.

From the moment the blood of God was shed, the myth of invincibility became a joke.

If humans can do it, why can't they?

[In this process, the human empire conquered far and wide, winning every battle!]

The wings of the empire have obscured the vast skies of the world of Sofia.

Its controlled territory expanded rapidly in a short period of time, reaching an unprecedented scale.

Vast resource-rich areas, strategic strongholds, and regions inhabited by other races have all been adorned with the banners of the human empire, surrounded by a crimson glow.

When the most elite armies of the Orcish and Elf Empires fell one after another to the Human Empire, and when the Human Empire even unleashed power comparable to that of demigods, the powerful forces of the Sophia world finally regarded the Human Empire as an equal.

Despite the humiliation and unease that this equality brought, the cold reality forced them to lower their proud heads.

[Still won't back down?]

If we don't abandon that ridiculous pride, the iron hooves of the human empire and its terrifying blows, capable of annihilating demigod projections, will truly push the war to the abyss of genocide.

Even the dragon kingdom, possessing the strongest individual power and perched atop the clouds overlooking all living beings, was ultimately forced, under immense pressure from reality, to include for the first time a clause regarding a "threat assessment and minimum contact agreement for the human empire" in its ancient and desolate dragon laws.

Even the sacred dragons of the world of Sofia had to acknowledge the irresistible force unleashed by the human empire.

[And with this terrifying combat power as a backing, the chilling order for blood feuds that the Human Empire had previously issued to the world was truly regarded by other forces as an insurmountable taboo and ironclad rule.]

The fate of the Elven Empire became a nightmare for all other powers.

[Simply because of so-called arrogance, the massacre of human slaves who should have been freed provoked a reckless two-front war by the human empire.]

[This even led to the loss of two core magical groves and provinces that had been cultivated for generations. Those two lost lands not only contained abundant magical plant resources, but were also part of the spiritual symbolism of elven civilization.]

Are they even stronger than the Elf Empire?

[Even more durable than the Orc Empire?]

The answer is self-evident!

Under the overwhelming authority of the human empire, the human slave markets that once dotted Sofia shrank rapidly, like poisonous insects exposed to the scorching sun.

Countless hidden human slaves were released as quickly as possible, even with a hint of appeasement, and escorted out of the country with the utmost courtesy.

For the first time, the crimson emblem of the Human Empire became a more intimidating force than the dragon's mark.

However, the Orcish Empire and the Elven Empire were not without the ability to retaliate, and they did not sit idly by and wait for their doom.

While each licking their wounds from the immense war and shrinking their defenses, they discovered a deadly weapon against the human empire: the noble cause of saving the world!

After private discussions and reaching an agreement, the two empires set aside their past grievances and, each with their own objectives, joined forces to head to the front lines of the abyssal rift.

Here stands the frontline command headquarters, jointly constructed by the world's top powers in Sofia.

[The command center is not only populated by powerful individuals from various races, but also by many powerful life forms whose races had long since perished in the course of world development.]

The Orc Empire and the Elf Empire jointly stated that, at a time of crisis for the world of Sophia, such a powerful racial force still exists within the world.

The world is in such dire straits!

Demons from the abyss surge like a tidal wave against the barriers of the Wailing World!

If such power does not fight for the survival of the entire world, it will become a more terrifying threat than the demons of the abyss.

The frontline command has the responsibility and the authority to integrate this newly formed and powerful force into the unified frontline command system.

All living beings in Sofia should fight to protect their home!

The Human Empire must immediately cease its civil war and join the war effort!

[After a brief, urgent deliberation, and with the help of connections between the demigod-level powerhouses of the Orcish Empire and the Elven Empire, a resolution codenamed "Forge Tempering" was swiftly passed.] [Immediately afterwards, a high-ranking special envoy delegation from the frontline command, composed entirely of ninth-level powerhouses, arrived aboard a void throne symbolizing the highest authority on the front lines, tearing through space and descending like angels of judgment upon the central square of the human empire's core capital.]

The leader of the special envoy delegation, a Soren commander known for his unwavering impartiality, looked down at the high-ranking officials of the human empire, led by the Red Heart Society, who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news. In an arrogant tone, almost like reciting a divine oracle, he conveyed the highest orders from the frontline command.

[Human Empire, heed my command!]

[Effective immediately, cease all hostile military operations against the Orc Empire, the Elf Empire, or any other Sofia-native forces!]

[The Empire's military forces and all strategic resources are immediately placed on a state of maximum mobilization, ready to be deployed to the world's front lines to participate in the war.]

Those who violate this rule will be punished for the sin of betraying the world!

The powerful members of the Red Heart Society looked at the arrogant command representative with disdain.

[A bunch of trash, and they think they can boss them around?]

【court death!】

[Especially when the delegation stated that a powerful lava demon had recently infiltrated the world of Sofia.]

This lava demon isn't particularly strong, but its army is incredibly troublesome.

Therefore, the frontline command issued a top-level order to the Human Empire to immediately mobilize forces and encircle and kill this troublesome lava demon!

Otherwise, the frontline command will carry out the most brutal extermination of the Human Empire.

The human empire was deeply dissatisfied with the frontline command's blatant bias.

[Frontline command post?]

Where are they?

Where were they when humans were driven, slaughtered, and enslaved like cattle and sheep?!

When the elven nobles openly massacred slaves to cover up their crimes, why did they never unleash a righteous purge?

Now, humanity, through its own struggle and after the sacrifice of countless warriors, has finally stood tall and prepared to settle the blood debts of a thousand years ago, yet it is accused of dividing the world and wasting resources?

[They might even need to allocate resources to prioritize the hunt for a elusive lava demon?]

What an absurd double standard!

What a hypocritical banner of righteousness!

[Are these the so-called guardians of world order?]

[Are you protecting your mom?]

Therefore, when the Red Heart Ordered the Human Empire to continue its offensive and seize the widest possible territory for the Empire as quickly as possible, the Empire's soldiers were incredibly excited.

The empire has risen!

【Now! 】

[Including the future!]

No one will ever make the Empire kneel again!

[Amidst the chaos and clamor of war, a final, clandestine operation, undetected by anyone—not even the frontline command or the will of the Sophia world itself—was silently unfolding under the meticulous manipulation of the Red Heart Society.]

[Countless interdimensional magic arrays, hidden inscription arrays, energy-level confusion runes, and spatial stability beacons, secretly established by the Red Heart Society in strategic locations, energy nodes, and even beneath battlefield ruins throughout Sofia.]

This series of arrangements quietly began to operate, concealed by the chaotic atmosphere generated by the human empire's frenzied war and the immense discord in the world's rules caused by the abyss's constant impact on the front lines.

They are like countless tiny blood vessels lurking beneath the skin, forming an invisible network.

The core purpose of this network is to open a secret passage across the crystal barrier for the will of the Red Heart World!

You sit at the very center of the Crimson Heart World, at the vortex of the beginning and end of all things, surrounded by billions of streams of information like stars, like a lofty, majestic, and powerful ancient deity.

As the supreme architect of this world-devouring strategy and the ultimate operator of the Red Heart World, your will is like the most intricate core of a demonic nexus, driving the meshing of every gear in the plan.

You guide the will of a world with a pure heart, like the most skillful thief.

Within the vast body of the world of Sophia, it locates those rule nodes that have become fragile due to war, conflict, and the erosion of the abyss, then opens its invisible mouth and carefully draws in primordial energy.

[Especially near the breaches in the world barrier caused by the abyss invasion, while the world's giants were fully engaged in resisting their main enemy, they greedily and covertly devoured the dissipated essence of the world.]

Your instructions were cold and clear: Absolute stealth! Small, frequent meals!

In the early stages of development, the highest guiding principle should be to play it safe and survive!

[Before the world's will in Sofia fully awakens and the Abyss Frontline Command understands our true intentions, let's accumulate enough power to shake the world!]

(End of this chapter)