The job change is a bizarre and calamity; the nation begs me to tone it down.

"My passionate horse! These elves are truly damn arrogant!"

"Gemstones are used for decoration!"

"How much does this cost?"

Upon seeing this, Gu Xu was completely excited, his eyes practically brimming with light. The next moment, he stretched out his little hand.

However, before he could speak, Jiang Shu interjected, "Yes, Commander, I've got it!"

……

Gu Xu was busy marking locations, but the soldiers of the Calamity Army were extremely busy.

After entering the city, each battalion and company quickly launched operations according to the pre-arranged plan, with the reconnaissance battalion leading the bomb disposal team to conduct a thorough search of every corner of the city.

The earth-elemental mages of the engineering battalion used their detection skills close to the ground to thoroughly investigate the situation beneath the city's foundation.

This is to eliminate potential safety hazards.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the bomb disposal team to discover more than a dozen interconnected giant magical nodes beneath the city's foundation.

Each node was infused with a large amount of unstable, high-concentration magical artifacts, and they were connected to each other by intricate magical circuits.

Once a single node is detonated, it will trigger a chain reaction, turning the entire city into a giant crater.

It took the engineers nearly an hour to completely dismantle all these magical nodes.

Before long, Su Qiong, holding the bomb disposal report, strode into an elven teahouse that Gu Xu had temporarily requisitioned.

The second floor of the teahouse offers a panoramic view overlooking most of the city.

Gu Xu was sitting in a rattan chair by the window, legs crossed, holding a cup of fairy flower tea that he had found somewhere, drinking it with great relish.

"Commander."

Su Qiong placed the report on the table, her tone tinged with lingering fear: "That was really close. That old bastard buried sixteen magic nodes under the city foundation, all of them fully loaded."

"If these things detonate simultaneously, the blast radius can cover the entire Luoyun City plus a surrounding area of ​​fifty kilometers. Eighty percent of our troops are within this range."

"If that guy manages to self-destruct, our zero-casualty record in this battle will be completely nullified, and the casualties might even exceed ten thousand."

At this point, her voice lowered, tinged with self-reproach: "In the end, it was our carelessness. Three of us ganged up on him, yet we still couldn't subdue him in time."

"It also gave him an opportunity to self-destruct."

However, upon hearing this, Gu Xu didn't seem particularly nervous. Instead, he put down his teacup and glanced at Su Qiong, saying, "Sister Qiong, don't take it to heart."

"That old man is a saint. When he's fighting desperately, he can use any move. No one else might be able to react in time."

As he spoke, he grinned at Su Qiong: "Besides, I'm here, aren't I?"

"As long as I'm here, this kind of thing won't get out of hand."

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Su Qiong felt much of her displeasure dissipate.

I couldn't help but feel a little moved.

"Alright then, thank you for your magnanimity, Commander."

She sighed, then changed the subject, her gaze becoming serious: "By the way, I heard everything you said to that old elf."

"Are you really planning to break through the entire elven defenses and march straight to the Emerald Palace?"

Gu Xu picked up his teacup, took another sip, and didn't rush to answer.

Outside the window, the sun had already sunk below the horizon, and the last vestiges of orange-red on the horizon were fading rapidly.

Magical lights left behind by the elves lit up various parts of the city, bathing the entire city in a soft glow.

"That's right."

A moment later, he put down his teacup, his tone quite serious: "Until we have enough Source-level professionals, the gaps in our Divine Shepherd's defenses are too large!"

"Faced with these alien races, we can only passively defend and patch up the holes everywhere."

At this point, he stood up and walked to the window, his gaze sweeping over the city skyline and towards the endless depths of the forest in the distance.

"But things are different now."

"We already have enough resources to train high-level professionals; we don't need to put up with this kind of humiliation anymore!"

"Therefore, the blood debts owed to us by those alien races must be settled one by one."

Su Qiong looked into his eyes, remained silent for two seconds, and then nodded.

She is a professional who has long dealt with people of different ethnicities.

Naturally, she could understand Gu Xu's thoughts very well.

After all, in the past, alien races from various planes, as well as the elves, had frequently sent troops through the rifts to harass the borders of Shenxia.

Countless Sheikh soldiers died in those raids, and countless families were torn apart as a result.

These debts cannot be ignored.

"OK."

Without hesitation, Su Qiong replied, "Since you've made up your mind, I'll have the General Staff prepare a follow-up plan as soon as possible."

"But between Falling Cloud City and Emerald Palace, there are still thousands of kilometers of the Elf Forest in the heart of the land."

"We can't use the Elven teleportation array, so if we rely entirely on mechanical propulsion, the journey will be quite long."

"Supply lines, marching routes, and possible resistance along the way—all of these must be planned in advance."

After saying that, she remembered something and added, "By the way, the battle report from here also needs to be sent back to the Supreme Command as soon as possible. The capture of Luoyun City is such a big deal, the old men should be informed. Otherwise, they will be anxiously waiting in the rear."

Gu Xu nodded: "Of course. Sister Qiong, you can arrange it. You're better at these things than I am."

Su Qiong responded and turned to leave.

Just as he reached the door, he bumped right into Li Tiezhu, who was striding in.

"Hey, Lao Su, where are you rushing off to?"

Li Tiezhu stepped aside, followed by Lin Yuan, who had no expression on his face.

Su Qiong rolled her eyes at him: "Then of course we should get down to business."

After saying that, she went downstairs and disappeared into the teahouse.

Li Tiezhu didn't care and walked into the teahouse with a swagger, plopping down in the chair opposite Gu Xu.

The elven rattan chair groaned under his weight.

It looked rather precarious.

"Commander, the brothers' rest area has been arranged." He leaned back in his chair and stretched. "It's around the class change temple in the city center. That area is spacious and has many houses, so it'll be enough for us to squeeze in."

Lin Yuan also walked in, leaned against the door frame, put his hands in his pockets, and nodded to confirm.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Gu Xu picked up the teapot from the table, poured himself a cup, and then poured a cup of tea for Li Tiezhu and Lin Yuan, pushing it towards them.

However, before he could even drink it, Jiang Shu came running up with her short legs, carrying her ever-present tablet.

As he ran, he shouted, "Commander, something terrible has happened!!!"