Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 296 The City Where the Twilight of the Vajra Wrathful Empire is About to Shine

The Kingdom of Dongwu is a Buddhist country.

More accurately, they practice Theravada Buddhism, also known as Southern Buddhism or Theravada Buddhism.

The pervasive sandalwood incense, the monks in their robes, and the murmuring chanting of sutras are all visible and audible here!

In the southern part of Dongxia, Buddhism was very popular. This had little to do with Dongxia itself, but rather was due to the profound influence of the ancient Ganges Federation on this region – Pali scriptures, Tantric Buddhism, and pessimism were its typical characteristics.

The locals committed murder and arson, and were utterly wicked, but this did not affect their faith in Buddha.

The saying "Heads of men are held in the hands, Buddha sits in the heart" is probably quite apt.

Now, these ferocious gods who stormed in had short hair, almost like they had been ordained, their bodies covered in dragon scales, their tiger eyes wide open, and a faint light swirling around them.

More importantly, he is impervious to swords and spears, and he can land a punch without making a sound. What else could he be but a Buddhist Vajra?
Someone took the lead, and a whole bunch of them knelt down in a flash.

Of course, there were a few who didn't believe in superstition, but they were quickly exorcised and put to rest.

This situation was also far beyond the expectations of the special operations team.

Lu Kai, number 002, was the first to react. He calmly raised one palm to his chest, adopting the posture of a Buddhist monk, gave the others a wink, and then had the translator relay the message.

Soon, half a day later, a strange message spread like wildfire throughout the northern part of the Buddhist kingdom of Udon.

A unit of the Double-Blade Independent Army, due to some heinous acts, attracted the attention of a venerable one under the Buddha, the Four Pillars Vajra.

As for what this heinous act was, opinions vary, but a small number of "insiders" believe it is very likely related to Dongxia!

This is, after all, an era of highly developed social media. No matter what kind of evil event happens, there will always be someone secretly recording it, and this time is no exception.

A video secretly filmed from a low angle with a mobile phone, resembling an action blockbuster, quickly spread online. The menacing figures in the video, seemingly invulnerable to weapons and capable of killing with a single gesture, looked exactly like those from the Xia Kingdom.

hordes of believers flocked to this "slaughterhouse" to worship, but neither Vajra nor the Venerable One had long since vanished.

Where is the special operations team now that they have completed their mission?

They were already surrounded by some believers and entered the Lotus Ganges Federation from the northernmost part of the Twin Blades Independent Army's territory.

Here lies a vast, disputed territory, currently under the control of the Ganges Federation.

Entering this place was due to a peculiar accident. On that day in the Udon military camp, among the crowd kneeling in worship, the one who shouted "Acala" was a junior officer who believed in a branch of Buddhism, the Tibetan Tantric sect.

The officer regarded these divine beings as true gods descended to earth and immediately pleaded with them to save the Tantric people from their suffering.

The followers of Tantric Buddhism in Ganges Federation faced severe religious persecution.

In the Lotus Ganges Federation, many former sects have declined, and the Ganges Church is now the dominant force, carrying out brutal exclusion and suppression of other sects in all aspects without discrimination.

The lower castes of the Lotus are as lowly as livestock when facing those in power, but as ferocious as beasts when dealing with other races.

Well, livestock and birds seem to be two sides of the same coin.

Those Tibetans who practiced Tibetan Buddhism were naturally not spared either. They were already considered outsiders by the Lotus Ganges River, and now, with their different beliefs, various conflicts, large and small, broke out one after another, and bloody and violent incidents were repeatedly staged.

The first Buddhist temple the special operations team passed was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder. Rotting Bodhi leaves and charred prayer flags were mixed together. Outside the collapsed Tibetan Tantric temple, Ganges mercenaries were clearing the wreckage with flames, and several Ganges men wielding machetes were chasing Tantric monks wearing robes.

The officers and soldiers leading the group prostrated themselves on the ground, pleading, "We beg the King of Light to save us! We beg the King of Light to save us!"

Of course, because this involves red-line secrets, I cannot elaborate on this part; I can only vaguely know some local events.

For example, for a long period afterward, various Vajras such as Yamantaka, Kalachakra, and Guhyasamaja, as well as many Bodhisattvas such as Dharmadhatu, Ratna-prabha, and Padma-prabha, and various Vidyarajas such as Acala, Trayastrimsa, and Kundali, appeared in the Shannan region in various forms, stirring up a great deal of trouble.

Most critically, the appearance of these "real-world gods" not only allowed Tantric Buddhism to regain its footing, but also fundamentally shook the Ganges faith in the region.

After all, your temple only has Mahant and Stoddal who defiled the saintess, while the one coming from the other side is a true god's agent who is invulnerable to swords and spears and saves all living beings.

With divine protection, divine punishment is possible; possessing divine magic, one can display divine grace!
A single, violent, bloodthirsty attack can even make a paralyzed person stand up and walk with incredible speed. Although the effect is limited in duration, it is far more terrifying than any pure deception.

Suddenly, a large number of Ganges believers appeared in this area, and even the soldiers sent to suppress them mutinied.

With the help of a few shamans and warriors, and at minimal cost and without damaging their international reputation, they effectively neutralized the trouble caused by the bald eagle on the southern and western borders, leaving their opponents in a state of utter chaos.

Okay, that's enough, let's look east.

The focus of the dispute between the two superpowers remains on two issues: the lunar surface in space and the Sea of ​​Tranquility in the west.

Both sides launched rockets at the moon one after another, at the most intense period, as many as once a week, a frequency that even exceeded that of many middle-aged couples.

Dongxia launched rockets to transport various materials, machines, and undead with the help of the teleportation array, aiming to build the lunar cave base as soon as possible. The bald eagle was also willing to go to such lengths, naturally because it always yielded tangible results.

This time it was a small piece of the skeleton of an unidentified creature, the next time it was half a limb resembling biological tissue. Each time, they were able to extract a small amount of a substance of unknown composition but with miraculous effects from these extraterrestrial samples. Scientists in the White Eagle Empire named it "Light of God," which is said to have the potential to reverse aging and repair genes.

The only problem is that the quantity is too small; each time, the extract is only enough for about one cockroach.

This drove the bald eagles into an increasingly frantic state. In order to reap the rewards, they had to continue to increase the frequency of moon landings, and the higher the frequency of moon landings, the worse the empire's financial situation became.

This is also the core reason why they are unwilling to have a large-scale conflict with Dongxia; at this stage, they are too short of funds.

What they can do is, firstly, continue to bleed their underlings and loyal dogs dry to alleviate the crumbling economy, and secondly, instigate regional wars and create turmoil to attract capital back and complete their own financial money-making cycle.

The empire's bigwigs have wrinkles piled up on their foreheads like the Great Rift Valley of the East!
"Gentlemen, I think we must make a choice!"

"Under the leadership of our great leader, we have achieved our 3,080th and 3,081st victories in the past two days, continuing our winning streak. However, we now need to address a real problem: our funds have dried up."

Director of the Imperial Investigation Bureau, Kelder Nick, was instructed to speak.

"The encirclement of Dongxia has cost a lot of money. As you know, it's not just those despicable countries that are greedy and insatiable, but also the imperial agencies responsible for carrying it out. They always manage to use the most money to do the least amount of work!"

Clearly, the Director of the Investigation Bureau was somewhat resentful. This job should have been done by him, but it was snatched away by some guys who only knew how to flatter the President. As a result, those guys obviously didn't have the ability; they spent more money than anyone else but did less work!
The green paper was scattered like water, with almost no effect. No fire broke out on the border of Dongxia, but smoke was billowing from the homes of these allies and underlings.

"Another huge expense is the naval operation to capture the 'multi-clawed monster.' In the past six months, apart from getting half a claw from the sea serpent, they have gained nothing else. But with so many ships and submarines, the cost is simply astronomical!"

This angered Robert, the head of the Navy.

"We've tracked that guy down at least three times. It's a strict order from the Pentagon and the War Department that forbids us from using heavy weapons and orders us to capture him alive!"

"That's the deep sea! That's a monster that can go over 28 knots underwater and change direction nimbly. How am I supposed to catch it if we can't use weapons?"

Those present chose to remain silent.

That wasn't all. With lunar exploration and military standoffs added to the mix, the empire's wealth was poured out like water, but the gains from each endeavor were far from enough to cover the enormous expenses.

Kelder Nick concluded, "Once again, thank you to our great President. If it weren't for the President's charisma and the generous contributions of wealthy merchants from all over the country who funded the construction of the national park, the nation's finances would be in even greater dire straits!"

Let us applaud our great leader once again!

Walker, the director of the Imperial Space Agency and head of the Cynthia Project, clapped his hands with great effort, but his hands were trembling with anger.

But he couldn't refute it, since the other side had invoked the President's name, and judging from the President's beaming face, he was clearly quite pleased.

But Executive Officer Alvis, who was standing next to Walker, stood up firmly and tried to explain from a technical point of view that we had saved the Empire a lot of wealth!
We need to continue unmanned lunar exploration, and we also need to advance the research and development of manned lunar landings. We are building lunar rovers from scratch. We don't even have spacesuits yet, and we are developing them from the ground up. We are also considering energy supply systems on the lunar surface, striving to enable longer stays in the future...

But it's no use.

No one cared about these practical issues, and in the long argument, no consensus could be reached on any other issue except for praising the president.

How to do?
What should the empire do?
As Alvis Dyson, this elite of the Empire, stepped out of the gray-white house, his heart filled with sorrow. Several chief engineers who had been waiting outside anxiously surrounded him.

"Dyson CEO, how's it going? Has our plan been approved?"

Alvis slowly shook his head, without saying a word.

General Robert, who was passing through the corridor at that moment, heard their conversation, walked over slowly, and stood side by side with Alvis.

These two, one diligently exploring the lunar surface and the other desperately searching the deep sea, are among the few within the Empire's system who are still persisting in their work.

So much so that some people call them—"the last conscience of the empire!"

Robert took off his military cap, rubbed his eyes, and gazed at the setting sun slowly sinking in the distance.

Dusk was approaching, and night was about to fall.

"The empire has plenty of money, astronomical sums of money."

Robert spoke in a low voice, as if talking to himself, or perhaps confiding in Alvis.

"The money is there, in the accounts of every wealthy merchant and in the pockets of every powerful family, but they are unwilling to part with a single penny."

"They would rather donate their money to the president to build gardens because that would bring them greater returns, but they would never use it for anything worthwhile because the affairs of the country are not their affairs."

"This is absolutely absurd!"

Alvis nodded deeply, his words filled with sighs.

"The consensus of the empire is being broken, and the rules and laws have vanished. This reminds me of the vast Red Lion Empire that collapsed long ago in its confrontation with us!"

"At that time, there was also a group of people who were known as the last conscience of the Red Lion Empire."

"They tried to save the country, but failed without any significant impact."

"Red Lion's last shred of conscience cannot save Red Lion!"

"Even the last vestige of the white eagle's conscience couldn't save it."

"This is a great era, but all greatness must eventually come to an end!"

On the eaves of the gray house, the two shook hands, said goodbye, and headed back to their respective battlefields.

They all understood that this was a systemic collapse, and individual efforts were futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

They can only do their best!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Two days later, the Eagle Fleet, which had been authorized to attack, once again spotted "Afu" along the coast of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent.

As a stubborn undead, Afu's rigid behavior was too predictable, gradually losing its mystery. Driven by the concentrated fire of depth charges and cannons, Afu, already in the shallow waters near the coast, was forced onto land.

The entire leadership of Bai Diao immediately erupted in excitement!
You can't catch it in the sea, but you can't escape it on land!
Tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters, fully armed White Eagle soldiers, and the urgently deployed Sea Serpent Guard quickly surrounded the area.

Undead creatures don't panic, but they do have the instinct to flee.

Although its enormous size makes "Afu" too conspicuous on land, its agility makes up for this shortcoming. Its remaining five and a half short limbs move at an unexpectedly fast speed on land, with a strange, slippery, sticky and elastic posture, speeding between the mountains and fields.

After several unsuccessful attempts to capture the suspect using large net guns, tranquilizers, and magnetic locks, the on-site commander received instructions from headquarters.

"Go ahead and attack! We've already done some research, so killing this guy won't affect the magical substances inside it!"

"The Minister of War has spoken: no matter what, we must first get a usable medicine for the President."

"It's already spreading in Washington. God whispered in the President's ear that this is a gift He gave to the President. We must not let it slip away again, or we will all be going to meet God!"

"Do it!"

The armed helicopter attack team, arranged in a triangular formation, was the first to approach the target.

Because "Afu" had previously demonstrated the power of its "human body" to withstand bullets, this time the bald eagle directly used machine guns, and a long chain of fire descended from the sky, covering Afu in the process.

Although most of the bullets hit the open ground, a few stray bullets still managed to strike "Afu's" body accurately. The power of the large-caliber armor-piercing rounds was far beyond that of ordinary bullets, quickly tearing open wounds on "Afu's" skin.

When the metal entered the body, "A-Fu" was stressed.

It rolled several times on the ground, turned around to close the distance, and then swung a segmented limb towards the sky.

The dark limbs flew like arrows, covering hundreds of meters in a flash. Before the helicopter at the front could react, it pierced the windshield with a "bang," pinning the pilot and his seat to the rear wall of the cockpit!
The out-of-control helicopter spun around, howled, and crashed to the ground, turning into a huge fireball.

The other two helicopters were terrified and quickly pulled up and turned around.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, "Afu" tried to dive back into the sea, but Robert's fleet had firmly controlled the coastal defenses. After two failed attempts and losing several body parts, "Afu" seemed to have finally figured it out and stopped trying to get closer to the sea. Instead, it plunged into the dense forest.

The bald eagle stationed at the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent Command immediately launched a general mobilization.

Such a large area could not be completely sealed off by the bald eagles alone, so a large number of four-clawed sea serpent soldiers who were dragged over took on the guard duty.

Just as the encirclement was shrinking, "Afu" launched an unexpected breakout.

It dug a shallow pit and buried itself in the soil.

When undead creatures cannot be seen with the naked eye, infrared thermal imaging will have no effect. When the first rank of the search troops passed the location of "Afu" and the second rank's guard line became sparse, "Afu" sprang out from underground and rushed directly towards the second line of defense.

Braving the hastily organized artillery fire, "Afu" managed to create a phantom with its remaining short legs, and with its explosive speed, it crashed headfirst into the armored vehicle that had taken over the core control point.

With a deafening roar, Afu, at the cost of losing another limb, overturned the armored vehicle, then ignored the incoming rifle bullets and sped away.

They escaped, but shaking off the pursuers won't be so easy.

Afu seemed to realize that it was too easy for the enemy to track and capture him in the unprotected mountains. So after observing for a while, Afu changed direction and stopped hiding from people. Instead, he headed straight for the nearest city and sneaked into the city of more than three million people under the cover of night.

This is a city called Shinya, located at the foot of the most famous peak of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent, the White-Headed Snow Mountain. It boasts beautiful scenery, numerous hot springs, and is adjacent to a port, making it a renowned tourist destination.

However, the deeper memory the Dongxia people have of this place is probably that there was a tall tower and a statue of Guanyin.

The tower is called the One-Yu Tower, and the statue is called the Blood Guanyin.

(PS: Please provide some background information if you are a reader)

The fact that these two items were preserved suggests that too few of the war profiteers from the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's era died.

When "Afu's" eerie figure finally disappeared into the intricate complex of buildings in New Tooth City, the Bald Eagle's command post was completely dumbfounded.

This is a port city. In order to prevent "Afu" from entering the water again, the White Eagle Navy had to mobilize almost all of its forces to deploy along the coastline inch by inch, blocking "Afu" from going to sea at all costs.

If the remaining army forces were to conduct a thorough urban search, fighting such a terrifyingly fast and invulnerable monster in this steel jungle of towering buildings and intricate alleyways, it would be tantamount to suicide.

After a series of intensive discussions, and under the repeated urging of the Grand Commander, the Bald Eagle issued a "relocation order" to the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent!
Residents of New Tooth City are ordered to evacuate within 24 hours. Subsequently, the Bald Eagle Air Force will deploy bombers to indiscriminately bomb areas where the "Octopus Monster" may be hiding.

The goal is to protect the sea snake inhabitants and "completely eliminate the danger"!
It is said that this strategy was suggested and inspired by the bald eagle's close ally, the country known as its godfather.

Father and son, bound by a common thread, share the same logic in their actions; truly, their reputation is well-deserved!

(End of this chapter)