The Earth Dragon Legion, the Great Empire's trump card, had only the finest equipment. The Great Empire was simply too rich and powerful; everything was armed to the teeth.

Their mounts, though not purebred Earth Dragons, were mixed breeds, but their height of nearly two meters and thick limbs were far superior to any horse.

Their inherent toughness was already beyond what ordinary longswords could pierce, and the Great Empire had even custom-made armor for these beasts. As expected, high load capacity meant doing whatever you wanted.

"I wonder what Her Majesty the Queen is thinking. This is a war that could have been avoided!"

Yar glanced sideways at his deputy, his fingers twitching slightly.

"You don't really think the Great Empire are good people, do you?"

"..." The deputy was silent, seemingly disagreeing with Yar's view.

"This is an inevitable battle. Whether the Queen killed Duke Vidlin or not, this war was inevitable. But the Great Empire won't occupy this area."

To occupy this place, they would need those minerals. Rather than painstakingly acquire them, it's better to cripple the Baiyue Kingdom! Cripple it to the point of regime change.

That way, war reparations would be much easier than taking it themselves. So many people wouldn't accept the Great Empire's rule, especially one of slavery. After all, mining requires labor, and people will die constantly.

With small riots every few days, the mining efficiency would be too low. But if the Great Empire increased its manpower to manage it, the costs would rise.

But if the Great Empire didn't occupy, but allowed the Baiyue Kingdom to govern itself, the people wouldn't riot as much. At least it was their own people. Even if there was oppression, it was the Baiyue Kingdom's own affair, and what did it have to do with the Great Empire?

Not only could they get the minerals, but the Baiyue people wouldn't particularly like their own king. Yet the Great Empire could get the minerals and free labor it wanted.

They could even acquire the talent of the Baiyue people. After all, no one would have a good impression of a government that oppressed its people.

But this was a cycle. As time went on, the Baiyue Kingdom would eventually want to resist. So Baiyue was bound to be beaten, not just to pay reparations, but also to warn the king to be a good local governor, or else he wouldn't even be king.

"Sigh, there's no point in saying all this to you. Just follow orders."

"...Yes!"

The ground vibrated rhythmically.

Yar watched the legion rushing towards him, stopping his thoughts. Everything was fine, except it wasn't his... That was the fatal flaw.

Looking at the opponents with specially made metal masks covering their faces.

Then looking at himself, even he, the legion commander, didn't have such full-body armor...

Sigh, comparison is the thief of joy.

"Worthy of being the Great Empire's most powerful force..."

After the lament, Yar mounted his horse, drew the longsword from his waist with a clang, and waved his hand. Taking a deep breath, his powerful voice, imbued with magic, instantly spread throughout the legion.

Specialist Art, Encouragement.

"For Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Ooh!"

Clang—

Against cavalry, the best course of action was to plant the specially made metal spears, nearly ten meters long, into the ground, with the tips pointing towards the Great Empire's army.

Although the effect was mediocre, it was the most efficient way.

The Earth Dragons were too large. Digging pits could only stop a few at a time, and they would soon be filled. Stepping on corpses, they would quickly break through the line. This was the so-called using corpses as a bridge.

The trenches were filled, the spears planted.

The charging Earth Dragons didn't care about obstacles in their path; they only knew how to charge!

Contact.

Even the specially made metal couldn't pierce the Great Empire's armor. Although it was expected, Yar's expression was still grim.

The foundation of war was population, but the role of technology was also important. Even the spears personally made by the Grand Tutor seemed so inadequate.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals. Yar's stomach churned at the thought of the Great Empire constantly attracting elite blacksmiths and forgers with various incentives.

How much more was there that he hadn't seen?

The killing power was too low. Fortunately, the Great Empire only had 20,000 troops like this. Otherwise, this continent would all be called the Great Empire...

Although the spears couldn't effectively pierce the chest, they could still inflict effective damage on the arms, legs, or head, which needed to move.

Each swing of the Earth Dragons' claws took many lives. There was no stopping them; the difference in strength was too great.

This wasn't something mere morale could overcome.

"Yo, isn't that Yar? Long time no see... Hahaha!" A man in black armor said. Even with a mask, he couldn't hide the arrogance in his tone.

"Prinser!" The usually steady Yar suddenly pounced on his opponent like a madman, raising the heavy sword in his hand.

Without any preamble, he attacked with a deadly move.

Clang—

The Earth Dragon's claw slammed heavily into the heavy sword.

Sparks flew.

"Haha, so angry? That angry? Isn't it just a woman?"

"Prinser!"

"Haha, you废物(feiwu) [good-for-nothing], as a warrior of the Empire, being fascinated by a woman, don't you think that's too dangerous? Like...that woman is actually a spy?" The black-armored man continued to laugh, seemingly not taking Yar seriously at all.

In fact, that was indeed the case. The Earth Dragon clad in black armor unleashed an incredible fighting power.

"Haha, haven't seen you in years, and you've become so weak? Can't even beat a beast? Haha, or has our Lord Yar found new love and his legs have no strength? Huh?!"

As the last word fell heavily, the black-armored man suddenly dropped down, kicking Yar in the chest. Rolling, the only chest armor fell off, and the longsword in his hand slashed bloody wounds across his chest.

However, he still didn't let go of the heavy sword in his hand.

Although he had also been modified, because he ate only the most ordinary parasitic larvae, he had basically no increase in strength.

Or...he could choose to accept the power of the larvae, truly becoming a Zerg (alien insect race)眷属 (juanshu) [dependent], becoming the kind of monster with its mouth full of the Overmind.

"Haha, no way, Yar, how did you become so weak? Did you really just come off a woman's belly? Then I'm really sorry, disturbing your elegance."

He kept mocking him verbally, but physically he didn't relax at all, staring intently at Yar, afraid that he would suddenly do something strange.

He could be ridiculed, suppressed, but not underestimated! This was the lesson learned with their lives by countless legion commanders of the Great Empire.

"...Bah!" Yar wiped his mouth, spitting out a dislodged tooth.

"Come!"

"Good!"

Apparently at the black-armored man's command, as the two fought, the surrounding Earth Dragon Knights deliberately cleared a space, giving the two room to fight.