Steel torrents pioneering a different world.

Chapter 288 The Various Forces of the Sacred Star! A Planet with a Land Area 2.5 Times Larger Than Earth (Bonus Chapter)

The battle cries at Panguler Fortress gradually subsided over time.

Instead, there was the rhythmic, metallic footsteps characteristic of human troops, along with the deep hum of various engineering machines.

Flames burned the walls, and various energy devices used for purification were frequently consumed as consumables.

Outside the fortress, in the frontline command center, several officers and staff officers were gathered around an electronic map screen.

This is the complete structure of this fortress that has existed for thousands of years.

However, the group didn't discuss these things; instead, they talked about the clues given by the dwarf earlier!

"Based on the previous clues, the dwarves are really unlucky!"

"Stubborn obsessions became a breeding ground for corruption. These things were recorded as things to be aware of when staying here for a long time."

This is similar to how some public order regulations can hide some criminals.

Anyway, we need to be careful and vigilant.

"After the dwarves had eaten and drunk their fill, they began to return with the butcher and his men. Together with the more than two thousand people we rescued earlier, we have saved more than 3400 people in total! The results are good."

"The materials here in the armory have all been processed. Apart from leaving some weapons and equipment for the dwarves, the elderly, the weak, women and children, we are going to recycle all the other equipment."

"By the way, we discovered some slave prisoners of various races at Pangula Fortress. These people were previously responsible for assisting the dwarven craftsmen in forging and repairing equipment. They were almost sacrificed, but we saved them. Although their forging techniques are very crude, they can help us deduce the secrets of the dwarven rune forging!"

One of the staff officers smiled and said, "Besides this, our biggest gain in the warehouses is all sorts of materials. These materials can not only make up for our losses this time, but also allow the rear to harvest a lot of urgently needed rare metal materials."

Commander Bi Sheng, seated in the main seat, nodded, his gaze never leaving the map: "What about the wounded and the remains of the fallen soldiers?"

"The wounded and the remains of the fallen soldiers have all been evacuated back to the Blue Star base through the space-time portal. The treatment was quite timely. It's just those fallen soldiers—" a combat staff officer reported, his voice tinged with regret.

"We will not forget the sacrifice of our warriors! They will receive the honor they deserve!" Bi Shengli rubbed his temples. "We haven't received any news from the portal yet, and the attitudes of the dwarves and elves are still uncertain. We need to clear all the dwarves from inside the fortress as soon as possible. Then we'll see what plan to implement next!"

"Hmm! What do you think the dwarves will do after they hear the fortress has been captured?"

"What if they turn around and make us pay the price?"

In fact, the interior of the fortress has now been largely cleared out, and they have confirmed that the dwarves have no super weapons or backup plans left.

The remaining troops are carrying out comprehensive disinfection and, at the same time, relying on the existing structure, are building a safe position for what may be a major war between humanity and the world.

If the elves and dwarves fight against humans in the future, then everyone will definitely have to fight again.

Destroying Pomgrand Fortress is easy, but the subsequent actions by humans are difficult!

Although the humans destroyed Pangolier Fortress, the main force of the dwarven kingdom did not suffer any real damage.

Given the dwarves' stubborn nature, they would never admit to such a huge scandal within their ranks.

Most of the advisors speculated that it wouldn't be long before the dwarves' messengers, or rather, their army, would appear before us, demanding that humanity pay the price for the invasion.

"cost?"

An intelligence officer next to Bi Shengli sneered, "They want us to pay the price? We haven't even settled accounts with them yet! Right now, the dwarves are leaderless. If they attack us, we'll have—cough cough—we can directly wipe out the dwarves' corruption problem."

Based on the interrogation of those corrupted dwarven priests, it is highly likely that King Ironhammer, who had been missing for several months, and the elite royal guard he had taken with him, were also involved in breaking the seal.

They didn't go missing; they probably went off to break the seal!

Upon hearing this, many people in the command room wore strange expressions.

Some people were even coughing.

The teacher is famous.

Every campaign must be righteous.

This is the core principle that pioneering teams must adhere to.

The problem with the dwarves has never been the corruption of a single dwarf clan, but rather the corruption of a portion of the upper echelons of the entire dwarf kingdom.

If it were a decaying eagle-like structure, the pioneering team would likely have made various preparations behind the scenes, waiting for the enemy to collapse, and then they would have to bear the corresponding chain of losses.

Since a major hot war is unlikely to occur, they can sit back and relax.

But that doesn't work for the dwarves.

After the dwarves become corrupted, it will not only be a problem for the dwarves themselves, but will also affect the safety of all races on the Forsaken Continent.

Because the existence behind the spacetime rift is in a higher dimension, and the indescribable existence is far beyond the norm.

If the other side cannot be completely sealed off, then once they establish themselves, civilization will be destroyed.

This kind of cost is something that pioneering teams cannot afford.

Based on the previous dwarf operation, the General Staff ultimately decided to use this operation as an opportunity to go all the way.

The pioneering team had no way out. They had to thoroughly eradicate the dwarves' corrupt festering wounds.

If the head rots, cut off the head; if the body rots, cut off the body.

We must eradicate the root of the problem and never allow corruption to spread to higher latitudes.

"I hope there won't be a full-scale war!" a staff officer said slowly, his voice low.

"The war was chosen by the enemy, but its end is up to us!" Staff Officer Sven declared resolutely. "This time, we must fight with might and momentum! We must eliminate all our threats, we must make the dwarves feel the pain, and we must also make those onlookers, like those mysterious elves, see our fangs clearly!"

Everyone present nodded in agreement.

The ultimate goal of the pioneering team coming here is not just to eliminate potential hazards.

They have an even bigger strategic plan.

While eliminating potential threats, we should also open up trade routes and establish a sound and peaceful trade mechanism.

At the same time, humanity needs to open up and engage in free trade.

Why would humans go through all this trouble to come to another world? They're not doing charity work!

The tense atmosphere in the command room eased considerably. Several officers smiled.

A gentleman judges by actions, not by intentions.

Their initial purpose in coming here to fight was to reclaim wasteland.

Peace and justice sound nice.

But what they truly value is what they can put in their pockets and what benefits future generations.

"Compile and package the message, then send it to the two command centers at the Time-Space Gate!"

"OK!"

The command center behind the time portal where Su Mingjin was staying had now become a high-speed strategic and tactical simulation and analysis center.

Battle reports, interrogation records, and battlefield footage from Pangula Fortress flooded in. The reports were organized by the staff and battlefield I, and then quickly disassembled, analyzed, and compared.

After humans confirmed their complete capture of Pangula Fortress, another carefully worded and subtly sharp letter was drafted and sent to the Dwarven Kingdom.

In fact, many such messages had already been sent, but the dwarves either ignored them or immediately lost their temper and started cursing.

Humans ignored it and just kept sending messages.

The other world mainly focuses on strategic and tactical details, while the Zhuhe Command Center is responsible for strategic planning, reviewing the operational plans submitted by various departments, identifying and addressing any shortcomings, and utilizing the massive computing resources here to conduct more advanced wargame simulations.

At the same time, the most important thing is to ensure that the gun barrel is always pointing in the correct direction.

At this moment, in the Zhuhe Command Post, in the highest command room where Li Weiguo was located, the atmosphere was slightly strange.

In addition to the battle report from Pangula Fortress, a huge electronic projection was displaying a newly compiled intelligence report about this world.

The sources of intelligence were diverse, including rough oral accounts from survivors of various races who were rescued at Pangula Fortress, as well as data compiled and organized from exchanges among the dwarves.

Of course, although the dwarven fortress of Pangule was full of warriors and had very few books, some historical military mobilization documents that were not completely burned could at least be used as clues to understand the intelligence of the dwarves of the High Mountain Kingdom.

"I thought the God-Forsaken Continent was big enough before, but I never expected it to be so big—" A young staff officer looked at the rough but enormous world on the projection and exclaimed in amazement.

Li Weiguo gripped the pen tightly, silently staring at the object before him.

Because of the harsh, possibly even man-made, weather of this other world, and the strange energy seals that shroud the planet, human exploration of its upper atmosphere has always been fraught with difficulties.

The exploration of other worlds is not even as significant as that of the lava planets that produced a large amount of superconducting material during the celestial convergence.

Although the lava planet was enormous, some of the high-speed spacecraft deployed by humans managed to ascend to an altitude of 10,000 meters, transmitting a wealth of useful information.

In contrast, the other world has far too many problems, and humans are completely unable to understand the strange mechanisms in the sky.

The Devil's Sea is unique and almost unpredictable, with storms containing violent magical energy that are extremely troublesome.

The dwarves and elves, on the other hand, have a very vague understanding of geographical boundaries.

For example, Annies, this elf, although skilled in basic magic, agronomy, botany, and archery, knows very little about common sense and needs to improve her scientific thinking.

Annies said that before she was captured, she could consult the Sacred Tree Network for a lot of knowledge.

This is probably because your brain is connected to the Internet. If you don't know, immediately consult the Magic Internet.

But after being blocked, you can't get anything, not even the strange mind magic.

Some knowledge downloaded from the Holy Tree Network will also be quickly eliminated or faded.

To regain this knowledge, the only option is to rejoin the Elf's Sacred Tree Internet.

The knowledge of dwarves, on the other hand, is artificially divided and blocked.

Dwarfs are crude and uncouth, not because they are by nature, but because their environment forces them to be savage.

Dwarves possess extremely high combat capabilities, personal intelligence, and dexterity.

Pangolier Fortress saved many dwarves. The humans only gave the dwarf children some educational toys, and they were able to learn them quickly. This suggests that what the dwarves said before was probably true—that the dwarves were once wealthy and glorious.

Perhaps due to the selfishness of the dwarven ruling class, or perhaps due to factors such as population and environment, countless pieces of knowledge were monopolized by the dwarven elites and nobles.

What is most disheartening is the monopoly of knowledge under the power of the superhuman, coupled with the extremely harsh external environment, which makes it difficult for the dwarves to self-correct internally and rebel.

In any case, humans obtained very limited clues from the dwarves and elves.

Prior to this, astronomers and geographers, based on the dwarves' rough descriptions, assumed that this planet, codenamed the Sacred Star, was at most ten percent larger than Earth.

After all, its gravity is only 0.3 times heavier than Earth's, and it only takes 24.5 hours to revolve around the sun in one day.

It conforms to physics, it conforms to mathematics, everything makes perfect sense.

But now, the information obtained from the other races—humans, beastmen, fox people, lizard people, and others—that Pangaea saved completely overturned their arrogance based on scientific speculation.

The latest cross-verification of testimonies indicates that the actual volume of the Sacred Star is at least twice that of Earth, and its land area is more than 2.5 times that of Earth!

In some places, there are even "Gates of the Sky" that permanently connect to other worlds!

The so-called Gate of the Sky is another feature of the convergence of the heavens.

The celestial convergence is not simply an invasion of alien creatures; it will connect two completely different universes to this world.

The Gate to the Sky is a spacetime rift that, through spacetime energy and incredibly powerful technology, allows two worlds to connect completely, enabling the exchange of resources, population, and other aspects.

It can be said that the celestial gate, solidified after the convergence of the heavens, can facilitate cross-world communication and cooperation through anchor points connecting to other worlds.

The other world is the current "Sacred Star," which is a combination of the golden pirates on Earth, the "Malacca," the "Suez Canal," and the "Panama Canal."

This world is something that some powerful civilizations absolutely must control!

If it weren't for the fact that the vanished gods had sealed the Abandoned Continent separately, as others had told us, the problem of the celestial convergence here would have been too serious, and there might have been other dangerous situations. It's likely that powerful civilizations from other universes would have occupied this place.

Even so, the dwarves of the Forsaken Continent, and the kingdom in the south composed of humans, fallen elves, fallen dwarves, orcs, and dragons, also have several races that descended from another world.

These races may have had wealthy and powerful ancestors, or possessed unique racial talents. For example, some orc races in the orc kingdoms further south, such as the lizardmen encountered by humans, are incredibly prolific, omnivorous, ferocious, and bloodthirsty. They are not highly intelligent, but extremely loyal.

Fox-eared and cat-eared beastmen possess characteristics of both races, but both men and women are very beautiful and have strong genes. Most of their children are cat-eared girls, while a very small number show signs of atavism.

Well, these things are all about changes in race and culture, and many are even just gossip and satire passed down by word of mouth, but they all prove that the world is far more complex than they guessed.

The people in the command room looked at the rough map prepared by the geographers, and the room was very quiet.

The otherworldly continent of the Forsaken Gods is relatively simple. After crossing the Great Wall of Magical Desolation, one can reach a kingdom ruled by humans. However, a rebellion has recently occurred, and a new united kingdom has been established after a new usurper took power.

The other parts of the Forsaken Continent, that is, the other forces on the Sacred Star, are what truly fascinate everyone.

[Dragon Empire], [Blood Empire], [Free Trade Federation], [Vareia Free Fortress], [Arabi United Kingdom], [Land of Dragons and Elves, Ulthuan], [Evil Ogre Empire], [Indaya Kingdom], [Demon Continent], [Bretonia], [Southern Continent Chaotic Wasteland], [Northern Continent Chaotic Wasteland], [Northern Continent Paradise of the Dead] ————

The Holy Star, as described by the rescued prisoners, is vast. World travel is hampered by various seals and restrictions, as well as terrifying energy storms, and is not achieved through traditional methods but through other magical means.

For example, magical teleportation, or super-large transport devices.

These slaves were captured from places like the Vast Ocean and the Land of Death by the Slave Federation, one of the nine free trade federations, and then trained and sold to the dwarves.

During this time, they said they transported themselves to the border of the Forsaken Continent via a super magic airship, and then transported them back to the Dwarf Kingdom via a safe route.

The Holy Star is so vast, and the various factions make the human pioneering team feel that they are difficult to deal with.

Among these, the most powerful, located 20,000 kilometers away in the Eastern Dragon Empire, boasts an incredibly large population.

They also control nine [Gates of the Sky].

It's important to understand that behind a solidified celestial gate lies an entire planet.

In other words, the Dragon Empire controls ten worlds!

Fortunately, the [Gate of the Sky] cannot be opened without limit like the human space-time portal; it can only connect to the multiverse when the celestial realms converge.

Fortunately, in the last few centuries, they have been fighting against many forces in the north, such as the Chaos Enemy, the Ogre Empire, and the Indaya Kingdom. They have also been engaged in power struggles between the upper and lower classes. They have probably expanded their territory long ago.

Getting back to the main topic...

Under the blurry new world map, this continent, which they fought for so long and paid with blood and sacrifice to gain a foothold, appeared to be—a little small—and very barren.

Some people thought about the excitement they once felt when they were exploring other worlds, and then they realized that the territory they now occupied was not even a fraction of a percent.

Many people's faces turned red.

The intelligence officer paused, swallowed hard, and continued, "By the way, according to descriptions from several rescued intelligent races, although the Forsaken Continent has been romanticized by the dwarves and elves, it also has another name among some orc races."

"What's your name?" Li Weiguo finally spoke, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"A barren and chaotic place of exile."

The intelligence officer's voice wasn't loud, but everyone who heard the news was astonished.

"They say this is a prison specially created by the gods! A continent that seals away endless sins! A corner despised by the gods and their retinue! A natural prison and garbage dump for all powerful races! No respectable intelligent race, except for desperate criminals and exiles, would want to set foot on this barren, chaotic, accident-prone, and extremely desolate continent."

"Yeah, many people call the Forsaken Continent a country where even divine light can't reach! A land of garbage."

"Wait a minute—" One of the strategists adjusted his glasses, feeling his brain wasn't quite processing it. "You mean, we—we've fought to the death, fallen into corruption, been subjected to the descent of evil gods, and gone through all this trouble for so long—"

He pointed to a piece of land on the map that they knew intimately, a land they had even planned to cultivate and conquer for decades to come.

The rough map of the abandoned continent of free trade has even distorted the tone of the voice.

"What we stole—was a fucking junkyard?"

"Ha, don't compare them like that!"

"Ha ha----"

"puff!"

I don't know who couldn't help but laugh out loud first.

Then, suppressed laughter began to spread throughout the command room.

This is not mockery, but a kind of self-mockery that is hard to suppress after extreme absurdity.

Li Weiguo smiled as well.

He walked up to the huge map and stared intently at the area marked as the Forsaken Continent.

Without thinking, he reached out his hand.

The warm touch of the electronic screen reached my fingertips.

They embarked on an expedition to another world, expecting to expand their territory, but instead they plunged into a barren land that the other side looked down on the most.

What is this?

"Is that outrageous?" Li Weiguo shook his head and laughed. "Gentlemen, isn't this actually a kind of luck?"

The laughter in the command room gradually subsided, and everyone looked at Li Weiguo, waiting for his words.

Everyone knew that there must be some deeper meaning in President Li's words.

Sure enough, the smile on Li Weiguo's face slowly faded, replaced by a look that made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"Gentlemen, as the saying goes, one should only take on responsibilities according to one's abilities!"

"What's trash to others is just what we need!"

"Besides, we're too greedy. We can't bite off more than we can chew, which can lead to indigestion and even illness! Hehe—the garbage dump—even the garbage here is garbage that can benefit us."

"Not to mention that we have discovered so many valuable resources here that can enhance our overall strength."

'

He spoke slowly, his finger emphatically tapping the map.

"Is the massive amount of superconducting material inside the lava planet that appeared at the intersection of the celestial spheres just junk?"

"The Devil's Sea, a place where the sky seems to converge with otherworldly seas, teems with abundant marine life. While many are inedible, most of the seafood is incredibly sweet!"

"We're the pioneers of culinary exploration!"

"The Elf Forest contains vast expanses of fertile, uncultivated land. Even if the forests here are protected by magic, it still represents at least a third of South America's arable soil, doesn't it?"

"In the Dwarven Mountain Kingdom, near Pangule Fortress, we've discovered a large quantity of high-quality iron ore, rich in at least 50% iron!"

"That's high-quality iron ore, rich in 50% iron."

"Even the numerous large oil fields near the time portal! And—uranium ore reserves that have been confirmed to be at least 15 percent of Earth's total." Li Weiguo took a sip of tea, "...and countless rare materials that can upgrade our new equipment—no—several generations of upgrades!"

"You're saying this is a garbage dump?"

"No!" everyone answered in unison.

"Yes, now that the portal has opened here, and this place has become our territory, let's transform this continent, which other races consider incredibly barren, into fertile land where our race can thrive in the future!"

With a sudden flick of his finger, he swept across the Forsaken Continent, across the vast ocean, and pointed to other continents on the map that were shrouded in mist but whose outlines were clearly more abundant and larger.

"Of course! People without lasting ambition will inevitably become lazy and complacent."

"From today onward, our goal, besides clearing land, farming, and patiently developing here, is to also purge corruption and establish free trade routes with the elves, dwarves, and then with the human kingdoms further south!"

Li Weiguo's voice was resolute, echoing in the quiet command room.

"One day, we will bring the world a peace as bright as the sun, and our most sublime dream of a world united in harmony!"

Everyone was greatly encouraged by what Li Weiguo said and applauded enthusiastically!

The message was reported, and then a new message came in: "Focus your efforts on building a solid foundation. We will support you from behind."

In the information age, many things can be traced by clues.

Fish that have been raised remotely for countless years may not be started for many years.

But once it's started, good news is sure to follow.

Federal, a separate office within an office building!

Peter looked at the information report in his hand and silently lit a cigar.

"An unexpected product!" Peter exhaled a smoke ring.

Long ago, he was not a smoker; in fact, he was a very disciplined Puritan who strictly adhered to the rules and regulations. He only started drinking alcohol after he became an adult.

However, after being a member of the Federation for a long time, some of my bottom lines and habits have gradually changed.

It's not that he changed, but rather that his surroundings shaped him into the kind of person he used to hate, even despise, when he was a child.

The clues he had were some relatively unimportant, but very useful, pieces of information.

Peter silently lit a cigar.

The thick smoke swirled in his lungs before being slowly exhaled, twisting and dissipating under the light, much like his long-blurred principles and bottom lines.

Within the Federation, many things are beyond one's control.

Long ago, he never drank alcohol and would go to pray every week.

But now, cigars and whiskey, things he once despised, have become the only solace he can use to numb his senses.

The environment can change people, and even more so, shape them.

They molded him into the person he is now, a person even he finds unfamiliar with.

Although the data in this report made his eyelids twitch, once he looked past it, he was thinking about how to bring him benefits.

[Competitors have recently seen a surge in orders for industrial products, with multiple batches being diverted to civilian production lines —]

[Products include: standardized load-bearing structural components, quick-assembly modules, and high-strength, high-temperature resistant, heat-insulating cement blocks —]

The report was very detailed, but it can be summarized in one sentence: the other party is producing seemingly ordinary industrial products on an outrageous scale.

The most crucial factor is cost.

By integrating civilian production lines and adopting mature technologies, the cost of those products was reduced to an unbelievable level.

If the other party is willing, the price can be reduced by another 10%.

Well, compared to their exorbitantly priced products, the cost ratio between the two has soared to 120:1.

It's roughly the same as the federal government producing one set of products, while their competitors can produce 120 sets.

This is terrible.

What are we going to use to fight?

"Producing a few dozen sets is enough to equip their secret units," Peter muttered, a cigar dangling from his lips. "But even if we produce thousands, we still need to subject them to intense wear and tear and training tests—"

He turned to the appendix of the report, which contained the analysis department's conclusions.

"Is this really just regular training?"

"Hmm, daily consumption."

"Otherwise I'll feel uneasy!"

Peter chuckled and flicked the ashes into the ashtray.

Producing so many things is naturally for daily consumption.

Otherwise, how can you tell yourself that?

Should I throw it at myself?

Men don't like to hear this kind of nonsense.

All the men need to do is find a new reason to ask for money.

He picked up a pen and started scribbling on the draft. Soon, a first draft of a report, which conveyed a sense of crisis and emphasized the threat of competitors' overcapacity, was completed.

"That should be about right."

He sent an electronic summary of the report to Jensen.

The other end immediately replied with a system-generated message: "Email received, will reply as soon as possible."

A few minutes later, Jason called.

"Peter." The voice on the other end of the phone was calm and strong, devoid of any emotion. "I've read the report. It's well-written, but not enough."

"Not enough?" Peter's heart skipped a beat.

"We need to be even more aware of the crisis, and the budget needs to be even more aggressive." Jason paused for a moment, "Also, add these companies to the recommended procurement list."

A list was sent over.

Peter's gaze swept across the company name on the computer screen, and his eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

Sure enough, it was the same old faces; behind each of these families, there was the shadow of Jason or his friends.

What a greedy boss, but one who's just my type!

"Yes, Mr. Jensen." Peter's tone was ambiguous, neither flattering nor sarcastic. "Anything else you require?"

"This information is urgent; I need to see the finished product tonight."

"Uh, I understand, I'll work overtime."

"very good."

Communication was cut off.

Peter leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

He picked up his personal phone and sent a message to his wife, whom he had married not long ago.

"Honey, we have to work overtime again tonight."

His wife replied quickly: "It's okay, take care of yourself. I won't be home until a little later today either. I'll take a nice shower and wait for you to come back~"

Peter smiled as he looked at the warm words, then felt a pang of guilt.

"Okay! Get ready tonight, I'm busy!"

Seeing the expectant emoji sent from the other end, he swiped away the chat box and clicked on another profile picture.

A blonde, adorable person with a sunny smile.

However, it was a message sent to me by the other party.

I was busy and didn't reply to the message earlier.

"Want to come to the party tonight?"

"I just finished working and saw this now, and I still have to work overtime! Mr. Jensen assigned me an important task."

"Then you definitely need to come! That old man is probably exploiting you again!"

The other party replied to his message almost instantly, with a hint of consideration for him.

Peter's finger hovered over the screen. The boy was Jason's only son and had some—unspeakable little hobbies.

"Thank you, little princess, but work is more important!"

As he spent more time with him, he truly got to know the other person.

He initially thought the other person was only interested in him, but after getting to know them better, he realized that he was just a convenient name on their open list.

"Tch~ That's boring!"

"Sorry, I have to work overtime tonight."

Peter carefully chose his words before replying, "But I get off my early shift another day, how about we go play games together then?"

"Oh? That's perfect, then bring plenty of oil with you."

The other party sent a link to a brand. Peter involuntarily stepped back and then subconsciously rubbed his lower back.

Why----

"no problem."

After sighing, Peter replied expressionlessly and then turned off his phone.

He turned around and faced the report that needed "polishing" again, adding the list of companies that Jason had sent him one by one. At the same time, he also successfully added the companies of some of his close friends.

"Mr. Jensen, this is a company that's just doing the bidding!"

Subsequently, the budget figure was increased by a full 100%.

After doing all this, he looked at the final, overstated document on the screen and suddenly realized that he and that document were actually no different.