Deep Sea Hunter, but Deep Sea Titan

Moreover, this salvage worker had personally witnessed the sea monster's hatred back then.

"The situation is not optimistic. How did Iberia end up in such a sorry state?"

The doctor looked at the map of Iberia hanging in the parking lot of the checkpoint and showed a troubled expression.

The occupied territories marked on the map were a terrifyingly large area, and the Doctor was amazed that Iberia was still able to keep the country running without collapsing.

"Compared to 1097, much more areas have become occupied territories..."

Skadi still keeps the Iberian map she bought in the safe zone.

"That's right. The outposts were destroyed, the land was polluted, and countless brave soldiers died tragically."

"I'd like to know first, where should our cooperation begin, and what goal does it point to?"

Dario had limited authority, so he could only try to understand the other party's intentions first.

"Our goal... Grand Inquisitor, I believe that making these sea monsters no longer a threat is undoubtedly our common goal."

“Iberia can reclaim every inch of its lost and polluted territory, build fortresses against the monsters of the sea, and establish bridges for cooperation with Agor.”

The brass giant knight's fingers swept across the marked fallen territories: Tidestone Town, Saltwind City, and Granfalo.

"So, how many Punishment Army soldiers are you planning to sacrifice for such a grand plan?"

"Or, to put it another way, salvage workers."

"Your strength is worth several legions of the Punishing Army."

A powerful, aged voice reached everyone's ears. It belonged to a burly old man named Li Boli, whose white hair was still incredibly resolute.

Saint Carmen shared the same surname as the Iberians.

“I will let the tectonic plates crush those beasts and the corrupt. I will let the seabed rise and let drought weaken those beasts. I will bless your army with the warhammer [Shipbreaker], making them incredibly resilient.”

It takes time for large groups to adapt to the arid land, especially when their fighting spirit, "Isamara," is inactive.

“If necessary, I will have the Sarkaz and Kuranta, and even a few of the colossal beasts that are attached to this world, join this great undertaking of killing the sea.”

“Saint Carmen, that is my answer.”

"Reclaiming the lost Iberian territories is only the first step."

“We will reach the lair of those beasts’ ‘gods’, crush their fighting spirit, and end their path of evolution.”

The ethereal rhythm of the bronze chimes began to resound, and the bronze colossus replaced the salvage workers in brass diving suits, continuing to stand before the saints.

"How about we use Yanfeng City as a pilot city?"

Bronze-carved fingers touched the small dot on the map, Saltwind City, marked as a high-risk area inhabited by the Fallen.

A yellowed scroll unfurled in the air, and a bronze colossus hundreds of meters tall stood upon the land, its anchor planted into the ground, marking the beginning of another shaping of mountains and seas.

"Was there an earthquake?"

Elena was clearly still confused about what was happening; she only felt a violent vibration beneath her feet, as if the ground was no longer solid.

The continental shelf is rising. This is the first time Loting has performed such a large-scale terrain manipulation since acquiring the [Mountain and Sea Scroll] skin. In an instant, his mana is fluctuating wildly like a roller coaster.

The entire Iberian coastline is expanding outwards, cities submerged by the Great Stillness are now emerging from the water, and countless nests on the continental shelf are being crushed by the friction of the changing terrain.

Even though Lotin's mana is quite powerful, it seems he still can't directly turn the entire ocean into lava, since the Terra Ocean is much larger than the entire landmass.

"This is really..."

Reiwa-shu witnessed this scene in the Mountain and Sea Scroll.

"What on earth is he obsessed with?"

Ling chose to take a sip of wine to calm his nerves, but it seemed that he couldn't quite calm down.

"Maybe it was just a drunken fantasy..."

"He entrusted me with dealing with these strange things, didn't he?"

"Shu, what do you think?"

"Millet?"

Ling looked at Shu, who had been silent. She had recently cultivated a field in the Scroll of Mountains and Seas and was living a fulfilling life.

"What a pity, so much land, all wasted..."

The focus is on the astonishing extent of the saline land in Iberia.

There are many more lands even more barren than saline-alkali land—she doesn't know it's because herds have drained every last bit of biomass from these places.

"Forget it, let's just wait for him to give orders."

He felt a sense of unease, something he hadn't felt in a long time. These deformed monsters were far too bizarre, even more so than evil spirits and demons.

Saint Carmen was unable to grasp the situation as quickly as the other two, and it wasn't until the Meteorological Court sent an emergency report that Carmen understood what had happened.

Is this a force that can be measured in terms of a punitive legion?

Carmen asked herself this question.

"How much do you know about those monstrous creatures?"

"I think we don't need to waste any more time on pilot programs."

"Iberia will regroup its troops."

Like seeing a lighthouse piercing through the fog, Carmen saw a glimmer of hope amidst her long sacrifices and struggles.

Chapter 222: Providing Shields for Our Warriors

“I know everything, Saints of Iberia, I know everything about these sea monsters.”

“I understand their true nature. I will provide you with the necessary intelligence to help you fight these abominations more effectively,”

"That's what he said."

Laurentina remained in a praying posture and relayed Lotin's answer to Saint Carmen.

"All actions must be swift and ruthless, extinguishing these abominations as quickly as possible, before they learn how to deal with Your Majesty's power."

The swarm spent 60 years trying to figure out how to deal with Lotin, but their understanding was not enough to comprehend the existence of systems and templates.

Even so, Lotin chose to minimize the opportunities for large-scale learning and evolution.

"Prepare to assemble your army, saints of Iberia."

"While those marine creatures are weakened and disoriented because of the coastline I created."

Helping the Iberians reclaim their territory was partly due to the objective need to contact Agor, and partly to repay a favor to the Grand Inquisitor Dario.

Carmen had no time to verify the source of Lotin's power. With Kal'tsit's assurance, he could confirm that the other party hated those sea monsters, and that was enough. Iberia had already overdrawn too much of its life and future, and a miracle powerful enough to change the entire coastline was happening right before his eyes.

Carmen had no choice but to try; for Iberia today, an overly conservative and cautious strategy would be tantamount to a slow death.

“Even if the land is reclaimed, it will be quite difficult to reuse the contaminated land. We must take the lead.”

"Nautilus...how much tithe will you demand from Iberia for this?"

Carmen was certainly aware of the terrifying tales about deep-sea titans told by the Iberian sailors. The young Alfonso often told him these stories that the sailors loved to tell to pass the time during their voyages.

"You mean we should discuss these things later, Saint?"

"Iberia's future is far more important than this little bargaining."

Taking into account the suffering on the Fool, Lotin is determined to make Iberia another promising source of tax revenue.

The two tax-generating regions, plus the mana potions provided by Yan Kingdom (which is considered 0.8 tax-generating regions) and the mana restoration provided by the [Imperial Order], are enough for the gigantic Lodin to perform national-level terrain manipulation. It's just a pity that it is still slightly inferior in the face of the vast ocean.

"I will organize the Inquisition to assemble the Punishing Army as quickly as possible. How resilient can your blessing make our warriors?"

Having witnessed firsthand how the uplift of the continental shelf could alter the coastline, Carmen felt he had no reason to hesitate or doubt any further. However, he still wanted to ascertain the extent to which Lotin had promised to "bless your army."

“Even an old farmer from Yan Kingdom who has never received combat training is able to defend his farmland from materialized evil spirits and demons with my blessing.”

"【Shipbreaker】, this warhammer is enough to make the Punishers difficult to harm from the weak scum on land, both mentally and physically."

The bronze colossus wielded a warhammer as large as a small, high-speed warship, and Carmen indeed felt a vortex-like power surrounding him.

The bargaining chips that Lotin brought far exceeded Carmen's initial expectations when negotiating with Kal'tsit. A colossal entity capable of moving mountains and filling seas was now on Iberia's side, allowing Carmen to attempt to overturn Iberia's old policies and seize this opportunity.

Eleanor learned later that the uplift of the continental shelf had caused changes in the coastline. She thought she would no longer be afraid of the bronze giant, but the towering behemoth in front of her was clearly beyond her comprehension once again.

Unfortunately, the slightly more mature little bird could not escape the giant who had once given her nightmares. Because of the past interactions between Dalio and Lotin, the Inquisition sent her teacher, Dalio, to represent the Inquisition in maintaining communication with the other side.

The poor little bird could only grit its teeth and choose to face the fear it had once dared not confront.

From this moment forward, regardless of anything else, Iberia's last strength is beginning to gather. In the dark years following the Golden Age, Iberia has not been able to muster such an offensive for a long time.

Meanwhile, in Saltwind, one of the Fallen's strongholds and an abandoned fishing city, the uplift of the continental shelf caused the original mudflats to dry up rapidly, turning the place where the sea and land met into complete cliffs.

"Such an unusual phenomenon..."

Dark green priest's robes, long hair that was wet and spread like seaweed, revealing only one gloomy, single eye.

The members of the Deep Sea Church who infiltrated post-disaster Iberia were typical self-righteous fallen men. They fanatically and sincerely altered the laws of Iberia based on their own understanding of the Great Multitude, spreading their fallen doctrines centered in Saltwind City.

Saltwind City is surrounded by the expanding ocean after the Great Tranquility, which allows him to "communicate conveniently with the messengers of the sea."

However, Lotin's raising of the seabed made it even more difficult to meet the "messenger of the sea".

"Evil power! It must be the corrupt Iberians who sacrificed themselves to an evil god to obtain evil power!"

He raised his arms and proclaimed to the remaining forces and his supporters his conclusion: the land had turned against the sea, something that had never happened since the Great Stillness.

"Those vile Iberians still refuse to relinquish their oppression of their fellow citizens..."

"Brothers and sisters, they have long been awed by the vision of the new world we have created, and they will stop at nothing to crush the utopia that the gods of the sea promised us—a utopia where everyone is equal and everyone is a brother!"

"The seabed has turned into cliffs; how abhorrent is the evil force that twists nature!"

"But those Iberians who still cling to false laws and have abandoned us cannot frighten us; life always finds a way..."

His voice was low and angry.

"The cliffs cannot sever our connection with the ocean, and dryness can only temporarily weaken the ocean's messengers and spirits."

"Could it be that those Iberians, who have already reached the end of their rope, can make a comeback and set their sights on our sacred sea?"

"I, Quintus, assure my brothers and sisters, this is absolutely impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Only the green-robed monks who venerated him as bishop were willing to echo his speech, while the sallow-faced, emaciated residents remained unmoved, struggling on the verge of starvation, their eyes lifeless like marionettes.

The mental damage inflicted by Hai Si robbed them of their former vitality, and they became indifferent to whether their compatriots would actually return to Saltwind City to rescue them.

“Bishop, we have lost contact with several of our outposts.”

The church, which had become quite heavily corrosive, served as a biosensor, helping Quintus contact believers in the surrounding strongholds as they crawled back into the moldy church.

"I saw a lot of drones!"

He uses his mucous membranes to make sounds, so few people besides Quintus can understand what he is saying.

Upon hearing this news, Quintus staggered back a few steps, immediately sensing that something terrible was about to happen.

Damn it, did the Punishing Army really fight their way back?

Chapter 223: I Have Too Many Cards in My Hand

For the punitive forces trapped in the Iberian security zone, the mobilization order issued by the tribunal was perplexing, and there were also dissenting voices among the other high tribunals.

Many people believe that this was a purely military gamble, and that if the other eight saints were still alive, they would never have agreed to Lord Carmen's willful actions as they are today.

"It is precisely because the other eight saints have already perished on the long journey that Lady Carmen has chosen to seize this opportunity."

"Upholding the secrets of Heaven above and protecting the virtuous path below, if one desires to gain its power, a decisive battle is ultimately necessary."

The high command of the Inquisition, feeling that they could no longer delay due to the fall of the other eight saints, stated that Carmen's choice was the right one to prevent Iberia from heading towards a slow death.

Carmen y Iberia, as the only saint currently walking the earth, wields considerable influence within the Inquisition. He has chosen to launch a counter-offensive to reclaim lost territory with the assistance of Nautilus, and overall, he enjoys the majority of support.

This was enough for him to make a decisive decision: rather than let Iberia die in sinking and silence, he should fight for it.

The Punishing Army's legions are assembling, the factories in the safe zone are operating non-stop, new maps have been drawn after the continental shelf rose, and Iberia's high-speed warships, based on Agor Islander technology, are beginning to assemble.

At the heart of the marching array of numerous punitive legions, a magnificent hill was moving with the advance of the Iberian counter-offensive. The extra magic resistance meant that the mental damage caused by the sea monsters would be greatly reduced, and the crowded sanatoriums would no longer be overwhelmed with treating countless mentally broken soldiers.

“I can feel His restlessness. After being silent for so long, He has begun to struggle again.”