After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

At Federico's First Regiment's garrison, soldiers on guard duty sweated profusely in the cold wind.

Good news: His Highness the Duke and Lady Elene have come to visit them; bad news: their commander is up in the watchtower, doing nothing but waving his fist and fighting with his own sentries for binoculars.

The long journey had taken its toll on even Elena, so she ignored the farce and turned to leave after getting off the carriage to help the Duke prepare his accommodations.

But Oswald stood still, raising his head with a smile, his riding crop rhythmically tapping against his boots, his eyes, which seemed to be smiling but weren't, leisurely surveying the watchtower 500 meters away.

Amidst the wind, the soldiers could also hear their commander laughing and joking.

"That feels so good! Let's fuck him! Yeah, turn him over and pin him down, oh ho ho!"

People's joys and sorrows are all different. The soldiers on guard were almost breathless with fear from the Duke's imposing presence, while Federico was still engrossed in watching the monsters' affectionate interactions.

The monsters, busy repairing the city walls, did not choose to simply retreat; instead, they sent out a rather large army to garrison outside the city.

These monsters, who still retain a degree of human organization, are extremely difficult opponents. However, they seem to prefer pleasure to war, and this applies to both genders.

The monsters' daily, indispensable mass intercourse became an unavoidable part of Federico's experience as a frontline commander.

The military camp had become quiet at some point. In any case, Federico, who had jumped down from the watchtower in a panic, slid all the way down the snow to Oswald and knelt down in perfect kneeling position.

Oswald's smile remained unchanged. "Commander Federico, could you tell me what valuable intelligence you just obtained?"

The cracking of the whip was like a death knell; the pressure didn't disappear, it only manifested as beads of sweat the size of soybeans on my face.

Even with the gentlest tone, Federico was absolutely certain that the Duke was angry, after all, the Duke had never addressed him as "Commander Federico" before...

"Your subordinate knows he was wrong."

Federico, who admitted his mistake at lightning speed, dared not make excuses. After all, judging from the snow under the Duke's feet, the Duke must have heard his loud, bull-like roar.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Federico proved his judgment.

"Get up! Look at yourself! What kind of state are you in now!"

Oswald raised his whip and lashed Federico three times, neither too hard nor too soft, and then his anger subsided.

He admitted that the thing was indeed interesting, but it was one thing for a commander to go and see it every day, but he also insisted on fighting with the sentries to see it. Also, what does "oh ho ho ho" mean?

When you bark, you sound like a brooding donkey. If you don't make some noise, how will anyone know if you're watching a show or gathering intelligence?!

"Get in here and talk. You're a commander now, what kind of behavior is this, kneeling here?"

Oswald put away his riding whip, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the tent. Federico got up, brushed the snow off his knees, peeked out for a while, and then quickly followed.

Sure enough, he remained the Duke's favorite general.

After flipping through hand-drawn military maps and war simulation reports, Oswald sat cross-legged in the main seat and glanced at Federico, who was inexplicably proud.

"Tell me, what have you discovered recently?"

Federico immediately bowed and said, "Your Excellency, we have not yet investigated the specific details of the anomaly, but we are certain that, firstly, there are still normal humans in the royal city. Our scouts have observed hunting activities among them, and on a very frequent basis."

"Therefore, we speculate that this pollution is not insurmountable, but we are unable to break into the city to obtain more information, and we also cannot get effective advice because of Lady Jane's coma."

When the topic turned to business, Federico quickly became serious and respectfully handed over a series of intelligence reports.

"Secondly, the mutated monsters retain their sanity, and apart from exhibiting excessive indulgence, they are no different from humans. However, according to the latest investigation, they seem to be able to obtain energy through light and water."

Oswald's fingers trembled as he opened the file. He frowned and looked up. This enhanced warrior possessed rationality and did not need to eat. What kind of chosen warrior was this?

Not only him, but even the leader reacted after hearing those words.

[The Spiral of Desire, the Circle of Rules, the Boundary of Natural Selection, the Thread of Blood... Host, do you think these things might represent a path of evolution?]

Oswald gestured to Federico to wait a moment, speaking silently in his mind.

(Evolution? What are your thoughts?)

[We already know that the Spiral of Desire represents the power of the God of Lust; the Circle of Rules conforms to the authority of the Goddess of Law; the Realm of Natural Selection, a world of survival of the fittest, is, as the name suggests, related to the Goddess of Nature; we have encountered the Blood-Woven Thread many times, and almost every incarnation of the curse has similar abilities.]

[Just as magicians have been born among all the different races in this world without exception, we can understand this as a result of the Circle of Laws of the Goddess of Laws. In essence, it is no different from the corruption of humanity by the Spiral of Desire; both involve the transformation of living beings.]

[The Goddess of Laws is relatively picky, strictly controlling the number of mages, but the Goddess of Lust welcomes all, though she cannot corrupt all living beings.]

Oswald looked enlightened; he understood the concept quite well. For example, before becoming a citizen of a country, you face a set of uniform selection criteria, and after obtaining citizenship, you must also assume corresponding responsibilities and obligations.

(You mean we can find a way to combat corruption from this?)

Oswald thought about it carefully. Both of them were facing the spiral of desire, but Paul was far less corrupted than him. Could it be because... he wasn't as upright as Paul?

Yes, this is a very valuable research direction.

[No, host, let me remind you, of the four gods, only the Goddess of Life still exists in this world. This system means that we might also be able to obtain these powers from them, and the First Light is our best breakthrough point.]

[Considering the mysterious power within Janice, it might very well be related to the evolutionary power of these gods.]

Oswald suddenly realized something and frowned. (The chessboard is already chaotic enough, Master. I can't turn my soldiers into another monster just to defeat one.)

[But you can turn them into magicians. Aren't magicians monsters too, host?]

(Let's talk about it later. I can't make a decision lightly. There are already enough stories of time travelers doing good deeds but ending up destroying a world...)

Having ended his conversation with the system, Oswald recalled the chilling cry of an infant before the Spiral of Desire was activated, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

If possible, he still hoped that the soldiers could defeat the powerful enemy in their original human form.

He rubbed his temples, the information about evolution lingering in his mind. "Fedric, as a frontline commander, what do you think is the best way to eliminate these monsters?"

Instantly roused, Federico quickly stepped forward to report: "Your Grace, based on my own experience, the monsters in the royal city, although large in size and strong in melee combat, are slow in movement and extremely afraid of fire."

"I believe that the troops should be equipped with a large number of heavy crossbows and oil, with Molotov cocktails as a means of close combat, and then the heavy crossbows should be used to kill a large number of enemy personnel."

"Furthermore, light cavalry should be very effective in open terrain warfare, while catapults paired with alchemical bombs are the most suitable weapons for a large army to launch a frontal assault on a city."

Upon hearing Federico's excited mention of the alchemical bomb, Oswald was reminded of two neglected deities.

The god of corruption and the god of machinery.

Those guys from the Cult of Machines are always clamoring for evolution, but all they do is engage in self-destructive behavior that gets no response from the gods.

The God of Corruption has been confirmed not to be a deity of this world, but an ancient evil god who has invaded multiple worlds and projected his power everywhere.

Could it be that the demons, who are suspected of being associated with the God of Corruption, have already obtained some kind of evolutionary path?