Steel torrents pioneering a different world.

Chapter 304 The Elf's Espionage: Disdain and Fear! (Bonus Chapter)

"Gah~"

Several black crows flew low through the woods, their movements exuding an innate air of cunning.

Unlike ordinary wild beasts, they were not noisy. Their bright green eyes darted around as they carefully pecked at a few nuts unique to this other world. After filling their bellies, they silently flew to a treetop with a wide view.

We are about to enter the forbidden zone of death ahead.

If they're not careful, the ravens they're controlling will probably die.

Human things are truly awful!

Beams of laser light, invisible to the naked eye, weave a net across the sky, instantly turning any unauthorized bird into a charred corpse.

In the early stages of the war, the elves dispatched a large number of birds to conduct intelligence gathering.

Unfortunately, feathers and bits of flesh fell like a light rain, and the number of birds of all kinds that died under the anti-aircraft fire was at least eight or ten thousand.

Humanity has used this simplest and most brutal method to build an absolutely secure information barrier in this land where magic prevails.

The elves had only intended to test the waters, but now they discovered that the deadly net seemed to have vanished.

The bird, controlled by the elf, carefully observed, looking for an opportunity to sneak in and scout.

However, their caution was unnecessary.

With Tranquil Harbor now completely under control, the Corruptors have been largely wiped out, the Dwarves have won over by Gazul, and humanity has adjusted its strategy accordingly.

Now is the time for humanity to reveal some non-classified information.

Simply covering it up will only invite endless prying and suspicion.

Sometimes, showing your strength can actually make those petty people realize their own limitations.

Nothing is more exciting than capturing Tranquil Harbor and Pomgrup Fortress.

Of course, the truly core locations, such as the military bases, air force bases, and armories under the responsibility of Time Cube, remain airtight.

That place is the root of humanity's rule in another world, a trump card that must never be exposed.

As long as the time portal opened by the Time Cube remains open, even if the pioneering teams infiltrating outwards encounter problems, humanity can always make a comeback.

Making potential enemies guess, worry, and lose sleep over the unfathomable power of humanity is itself a more advanced form of strategic deterrence.

If it weren't for the month-long cooldown period of the Time-Space Cube, Li Weiguo and his staff would have packed their bags and moved the dwarves to Tranquil Harbor long ago. Harbor cities are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and resupply is relatively easy. Moreover, they could accomplish many tasks with the help of the dwarves.

Unfortunately, the Time Cube still has more than twenty days of cooldown.

At this moment, humanity is forced to fight on multiple fronts.

However, this doesn't require too much effort.

There's no way around it; various weapons specifically developed for modern warfare can enable traditional human division-level units to operate at a range of tens of kilometers.

The number of troops transferred here has reached 20,000, so there is no need to worry about insufficient troops.

At this moment, a black raven, under the remote control of an elven mage, mustered its courage, flapped its wings, and soared over the last ridgeline, taking in the edge of Tranquil Harbor.

The next second, the elven mage, more than a hundred miles away, saw a sight through the eyes of this black raven that she would never forget.

The anticipated scenes of war and ruins, wailing and enslavement, and even bloody killings and disposal of corpses were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there was a huge construction site that looked bustling with activity!

Dozens of unnamed steel behemoths roared deafeningly, their massive mechanical arms moving mountains of earth and rocks with each swing.

"Captain, that raven is too brazen. It's circling right above our heads. Should we shoot it down?" On one side of the port, near the former dwarven military base, a young soldier asked in a low voice from an air defense network outpost, holding up binoculars.

"Screw that." A veteran who was filling in data didn't even look up. "Didn't you read the orders? The higher-ups said that starting today, we're sending a few eyes over there so they can broaden their horizons and gain some experience."

The young soldier paused for a moment, then asked, "We're just going to let them look like that?"

"Let them see, let them see. If they're dumbfounded and scared, they won't dare to have any crooked thoughts." The old soldier chuckled and spat out the grass root in his mouth.

Just then, Wang Kaixuan happened to pass by the door of this temporary office converted from a shipping container.

A simple wooden sign hung at the entrance, which read: "Ningjing Port Joint Military-Civilian Affairs Management Office"

O

He was about to knock on the door when he heard the conversation inside, and he paused in his tracks.

Mischief?

Who knows what kind of conflicts and challenges will arise in the future!

He took a deep breath, straightened his work clothes, and knocked on the door.

"Report!"

"Enter."

The office was very simple, with several folding tables pushed together. Bi Shengli was sitting behind the table, and only got up after seeing Wang Kaixuan!

"Reporting to Commander-in-Chief Bi, my name is Wang Kaixuan."

"President Li told me about your situation! Alright, have a seat." Bi Shengli pointed to the stool next to him, his attitude neither warm nor cold. "I've read your appointment document. Your theoretical knowledge is very solid, and you're a top student."

Wang Kaixuan sensed the sarcasm in the other person's words, and his face flushed slightly, but he still stood up straight: "President Bi, I'm mainly here to learn."

"Study?" Bi Shengli laughed, pointing to the dried corpses still hanging in the square outside the window. "See those? Your job these next few days is to follow the Constitutional Corps to try, execute, and display those who committed theft, murder, and other crimes in Tranquil Harbor."

"Put away what you've learned in the modern world for now; this is wartime control!"

Wang Kaixuan nodded. He understood all of this; there were countless similar cases in the books.

"Observe more, communicate more," Bi Shengli handed the other party a cigarette, which Wang Kaixuan quickly accepted with both hands. "President Li said you have learned well, but what you learn from books is never enough. The books don't tell you how complex fear and the human nature of intelligent beings really are."

Wang Kaixuan pursed his lips and listened patiently.

Bi Shengli took a thick stack of forms out of the drawer and placed them on the table.

"Your mind is full of national affairs and grand plans. I don't have that many important matters for you to manage." He picked up the top sheet of paper and handed it to Wang Kaixuan.

"Here's your first task."

Wang Kaixuan took it and was immediately stunned.

The table is titled "Preliminary Plan on Improving Personal Hygiene and Preventing Skin Diseases among the Pygmy People of Tranquil Harbor".

"Uh, what is this—?"

Bi Shengli leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said leisurely, "Yes, that's exactly what you mean! The logistics warehouse will be issuing 10,000 bars of soap! Your task is to find a way to get a large number of dwarves to voluntarily use this stuff for bathing within three days."

"The premise is that you can't force them; you have to help them develop a love for cleanliness and good hygiene."

He grinned as he looked at Wang Kaixuan, who was completely bewildered.

"Go for it, you high achiever!"

The raven controlled by the elven mage looked at the steel creation manipulated by humans, stretched out its enormous metal arm, and lightly...

They easily grabbed those cargo boxes that looked incredibly heavy.

What chilled her to the bone most were those monsters that were over ten meters tall, wielding enormous metal shovels. With a single shovel, they would carve a deep pit in the earth large enough to hold a dozen elves; the soil and rubble were as fragile as sand before them.

The crow, completely unaware that death had almost befallen it, blinked, its face full of confusion.

It initially thought that these were all people busy at work.

Unable to hear the dwarven muskets' resistance or hear the familiar battle cries, it still felt contempt for these cave-dwelling half-humans who were so easily defeated, completely surrendering without even a proper resistance.

But when it risked descending again, everything before it completely overturned its understanding.

The cave-dwelling half-humans, whom the elves loathe but have no choice but to cooperate with—those pitiful creatures whom the elves should have enslaved in their eyes—are now happily operating small machines or laying large pipes and cables under the guidance of human technicians.

When a huge truck loaded with food drove into the construction site, and the dwarves lined up in neat rows, scooping steaming hot meals from huge insulated containers, their satisfaction almost burned the distant elven mages through the eyes of crows.

How...how is this possible?!

"Is this an illusion?"

The raven was incredulous. After thinking for a moment, it moved closer to observe.

More clues have been discovered!

They were not in shackles, nor did their faces show the humiliation of being enslaved.

A group of dwarves were using tools to skillfully bind together thick iron wires that humans had bent by machines, forming a complex skeleton.

Another group of dwarves were even clumsily operating small machines to lower huge "steel cages" into the excavated pits.

Immediately afterwards, an even larger mechanical behemoth slowly approached, opened its massive maw, and poured out a grayish-brown viscous fluid, filling the deep pits and skeletons.

The elven mage, observing all of this from the raven's perspective, almost stopped breathing.

He didn't know that it was called an excavator, or a crane, and he certainly didn't know that the flowing grayish-brown liquid was concrete strong enough to support a skyscraper.

All it knew was that this was fucking weird.

"What are they doing?" a young elven scout asked, his voice trembling.

"Build—some kind of fortress?"

"But didn't Le Bon say that the dwarves are being destroyed?"

"Humans seem to be just as they say!"

"Look at those cave-dwelling half-humans!"

The sprite controlling the raven looked into the distance.

He noticed that the humans did not use whips to drive the dwarves away.

After finishing their work, many dwarves gathered in twos and threes in the shade to rest, and some even took water bags from the humans and drank water in large gulps.

Further away, a human engineer-looking person was unfolding a huge blueprint and pointing it out to several dwarf craftsmen.

The dwarves huddled together, sometimes shaking their heads, sometimes nodding, and one of the bolder ones even pointed directly to a certain spot on the map, excitedly gesturing something like "name".

Instead of getting angry, the human patted the dwarf on the shoulder and gave him an approving smile.

This isn't about conquerors and the enslaved; they're clearly in cahoots!

More than a hundred miles away, in a relatively secluded place, several elven mages, controlling birds, watched all this unfold, feeling only a deep chill.

"This is bad!" The elven mage sensed something was wrong. "Could it be that the cave-dwelling half-humans have defected to humans? They've reached some kind of agreement we don't know about!"

"Damn it! These dwarfs who have betrayed their honor!"

"No, what's even more terrifying is—" an elven companion said with extreme fear, "humans—are teaching them how to use those things! I have a feeling that half-humans and humans have some unspeakable secret."

"Do you believe the previous claims by humans that the dwarves were corrupted were false, and that they were trying to lure and destroy our army, are true?"

"Well, what's the dwarf's point then?"

One of the elves fell silent.

"I think we need to get the news of the cooperation between the cave-dwelling half-humans and humans to the kingdom as soon as possible!"

"Um!"

Although the various races on the continent of God's Abandonment have fought each other to the death and have many grudges and affections, they sometimes depend on each other.

Unfortunately, even though the once-a-year celestial convergence event was extremely dangerous, the survival of the races on the God-Abandoned Continent was already very difficult. Their populations frequently faced various threats.

Even in the south, the population is the same.

The harsh environment, the protracted war, and the potential for massive losses after the complete annihilation of the enemy.

This ensured that each ethnic group would not completely exterminate the other.

Of course, the most crucial factor is that the God-Abandoned Continent is too vast.

Even if you combine South America and North America, the total land area of ​​this place is still less than that of the God-Forsaken Continent.

From the far north to the south, the land area spans tens of millions of square kilometers. However, due to the special existence of the Sacred Star and the desire to maintain the celestial convergence, spacetime cannot be completely sealed off.

This has made the God-Forsaken Continent a super stage, where all sorts of races have arrived due to the convergence of the heavens, making it a battleground for the Holy Star.

The dwarves and elves who remained here were able to survive for a reason: they had another responsibility—to guard against extremely dangerous spacetime rifts, or perhaps new and dangerous ones.

Although the gods of the Forsaken Continent left behind many self-repairing mechanisms that could quickly dissipate some spacetime rifts, many things would become chaotic when a large celestial convergence occurred.

This requires the participation and joint efforts of the Sentinel forces of the Magical Continent.

This is why the human kingdoms in the south look down on the harsh, cold lands of the north. The humans and dwarves in the north band together for warmth, yet they are hostile to each other because of their past history.

Sometimes, bloodshed and even extremely brutal massacres have occurred.

However, everyone is just getting by!

The elf's gaze remained fixed on the raven as it continued flying deeper into the harbor.

She soon discovered more things that were not right.

I had never seen these people's clothing styles, weapons, or even the shapes of those steel creations before.

However, she had seen clues through the eyes of other elves by sharing memories.

This was the first time I had ever seen something so close up, and what I saw were cold, metallic lines and a pure, utilitarian feel.

"Alas, the more I watch, the more terrifying it becomes!"

The raven flapped its wings and swept across a cleared area.

That was a temporary place to store corpses.

She saw many dwarves collecting the corpses of their kin, wrapping them in white cloth, their expressions solemn.

"So many people died? Were they all burned?"

"Did the half-humans really fight against humans?"

"Heh heh, the cave-dwelling demigods have lost! They're such spineless cowards! We'll laugh at them for a thousand years to come!"

The elf pondered, but a feeling of contempt welled up within him.

"Logically, even if they're corrupted, they should still be the dwarves' lovers! So many of their own kind have died; the cave-dwelling half-humans have a blood feud with humans! Yet they're cooperating now!"

"Heh heh, spineless cowards. Half-humans are indeed all spineless cowards. They have truly disgraced their half-human ancestors."

However, this mutual mockery and shared disdain for dwarfs didn't last long, as it was quickly replaced by anxiety.

The elves hated the dwarves and often wished for their deaths.

But the elves also understood the dwarves' strength and character!

From the attack on Tranquil Harbor to the end of the battle, and now to the dwarves starting to work for humans, how long has it all been?

How did humans manage to subdue stubborn, foul-mouthed, and vicious dwarves in such a short time, even to the point of making them willingly risk their lives for them?

Dwarfs have many minor problems.

Dwarves have a well-developed, stocky physique, a clever mind, a high degree of vigilance, and a voracious appetite for food.

But dwarves have one very good problem – their individual combat prowess and willpower are exceptional.

Dwarves who become warriors often become incredibly stubborn and unyielding.

"These humans are truly terrifying!"

"The High Priest previously stated that the humans of the north are a formidable enemy, and if not handled carefully, the Elf Kingdom risks being destroyed—"

The high priest's warning echoed in the elf's mind, prompting him to control the raven and continue investigating the situation.

As she gathered more information, her expression grew serious.

These humans from the north are far more terrifying than we imagine.

The raven flew over several streets, and what it saw next caused the elf's pupils to shrink abruptly.

A patrol team is walking past the street corner.

Leading the group was a tall human soldier wearing a dark green combat uniform and carrying a strangely shaped black long pole.

Beside him, a dwarf warrior carrying a battle axe followed steadily. The two walked along, gesturing and talking to each other, looking relaxed.

This is not how victors and vanquished should behave!

"Have they started patrolling together yet?"

"Even when we're working with the cavemen, those guys won't let our military police patrols into their port!"

"Damn it, something's wrong, this is completely wrong!"

The elf felt that his understanding had been severely impacted.

"That old stubborn Le Bon Ironhammer, he swore before that dwarves and humans were irreconcilable enemies, and that he would never bow down to humans, even if it meant death!"

"It seems there's a really big problem within the dwarves."

Looking at the two patrol teams mingling harmoniously before him, the elven mage sighed, "The dwarven kingdom is probably going to suffer a huge financial blow!"

"Heh heh, a bunch of idiots who don't understand pollution at high latitudes."

She made a dismissive remark, and then brazenly controlled the raven, flying towards the once most heavily defended military base of the dwarves.

She wanted to see just how the dwarves' last armed force fared.

However, before the raven could arrive, it was swept by a beam of light.

The raven is dead!

The elven mage controlling the raven frowned immediately.

"Control the raven and check out the Pomgrelle base!"

Soon, much like what they had discovered at Tranquil Harbor, the Pangula base also partially lifted its blockade.

However, some areas remain highly confidential.

Several ravens died in succession, and the elven mage meditated in anguish. It took him quite a while to recover.

Each time the possession magic is used, making the raven an extension of one's power and vision, the birds and beasts that die will suffer severe side effects.

It was a feeling of soul being torn apart and trembling.

If too many ravens are lost, the mage might even become completely wooden.

"Humans deliberately showed us the situation at Serenity Harbor and the Pomgruesome Base!"

"It seems that the northern humans are not only powerful, but also possess the strength to destroy most of the dwarf kingdom."

"By Mother Goddess, how should we respond?"

"Captain, Le Bon's scout team is nearby! Should we make contact with them?"

"Let's get in touch. We need to determine what happened to those two places that collapsed."

The elf nodded, then closed his eyes and meditated, trying to heal the mental trauma caused by the magical backlash.