What was war?

Su Shi didn’t seem to understand Qianye’s words very well, and the latter was in no mood to explain. Conflicts between the Attawa couldn’t be considered war.

The objective of a war was the final victory and not the life or death of a single person.

The Masefield Clan Lord had suffered a serious injury from Qianye’s shot and would not be able to return to the battlefield for some time. Qianye himself did not know just how bad the damage was. Great dark monarchs like him would possess powerful life-saving measures. Not to mention Qianye, even Zhang Boqian or Lin Xitang might not be able to take him down.

Rather than chase after Progia in vain, it was better to kill the Evernight experts who were the pillars of this operation. This would be more effective in weakening the enemy fighting power and make the council truly feel some pain.

The Attawa had paved the way for this single opportunity with their lives, and Su Wen had self-detonated in the end. Su Shi’s hatred for Progia was bone-deep by now, but Qianye had no time to take care of his emotions. This was war, after all.

The Attawa man remained on his knees, sobbing quietly as he pondered whether to blame Qianye or himself. In the end, he picked up his emotions and said, “I’ll be heading back now. There are too many of my tribesmen here, I need to bring more people to clean up their remains.”

Qianye understood his mood. He said with a sigh, “Evernight has more than one such monster.”

Su Shi’s body trembled, but he eventually nodded and disappeared into the forest.

Qianye walked around the battlefield once and did a simple cleanup. He had just killed eight Evernight experts: a duke, three marquises, and four counts. These experts added a fair bit to Qianye’s net worth. This was especially true of their contribution to combat supplies and ammunition.

Su Shi’s departure was within Qianye’s expectations. The Attawa tribe would have to seek him out again pretty soon. The number of great dark monarchs from Evernight was far beyond the natives’ imagination.

Both great dark monarchs or heavenly monarchs would cause great destruction whenever they battled. The scars Progia had left in this world were proof of that. Even with the living origin power negating the effects, it would take centuries for the land to recover.

In the past battles between the Empire and Evernight, these powerful experts would always pay attention to the damage they were doing and would take care so that it wasn't irreversible. They would be careful even when they were fighting in enemy territory for fear of retaliation.

Both factions viewed the other party’s land as their own, so they naturally wouldn’t want to scorch the earth. After all, the Evernight World was only so big, and the number of habitable continents was even smaller.

Things were different in the inner world. This incomparably vast and mysterious world possessed a regenerative power far surpassing that of the Evernight world. And the native Attawa here were fairly primitive in their technology. The great dark monarchs and heavenly monarchs hardly felt any sympathy for them. Even if they wanted to subdue these people, they would have to kill a good portion of them as an example and make them abandon all thoughts of resistance.

After leaving the battlefield, Qianye ran in the direction of the tall tower. This time, he didn’t hold back in terms of speed and ran with all his might. The tower was within sight by the time night started to fall.

Qianye concealed himself as he approached the area, quietly killing two counts who had been posted as sentries. Looking at the armor on the deceased counts and their face-covering helmets, a bold idea came to Qianye.

He removed all armor from one of the counts that possessed a similar body frame to his. He then donned the gear and continued toward the tower.

An orderly base had already popped up around the tower at this point. One could see a neat formation of counts standing guard at the gates, and the lights had been lit all around the compound.

When Qianye walked through the gates, the nearby counts only shot him a glance without asking further questions. All the counts in this expedition were assigned the same mass-produced armor, so everyone looked the same.

Qianye felt that the armor wasn’t a great fit, and its isolation effects weren’t that great. Ordinary counts would still find themselves tormented by the living origin power and feel quite uncomfortable. Add to that the fact that no one knew when they would be able to return to Evernight, the general morale was quite low. Be it the guards outside or the other counts inside the base, everyone looked rather depressed.

Qianye strolled through the camp at a steady pace, neither rushed nor slow.

This base was constructed with wood from the inner world. The barracks were fairly spacious and rather extravagant considering this was a military expedition.

That did make sense after some thought. The weakest among those who had entered were counts, and they weren’t the ordinary ones; instead, the top experts were within their ranks. They were important characters back in their homeworld, so why would they live poorly?

In addition to the residential barracks, there were warehouses, defensive structures, and entertainment facilities as well. Some of the rooms even had equipment that could isolate the interior from the origin power outside, allowing the experts to rest undisturbed.

There was a row of workshops at the edge of the camp. These workshops were all assembled from mobile equipment, so their value was ten times higher than stationary workshops. This row of workshops alone was more valuable than all of Qianye’s factories on the Fort Continent.

The tower had been fully completed, and only a handful of technicians were left to do the final adjustments.

One of them came down from the tower and entered one of the residential tents. Having gotten a sudden idea, Qianye slowly “strolled” over to that tent.

The technician finished showering and changed into casual attire, then walked toward a building located in a corner of the encampment. The marquis was no longer wearing a mask at this point.

A marquis-rank technician… Pondering on this matter, Qianye changed his route nonchalantly and followed the man. After watching the target enter the building, he then went and knocked on the door.

The marquis emerged moments later. Seeing a count at his door, he rebuked impatiently, “Haven’t I finished all my work for today? I told you guys not to disturb me if there’s nothing important! Mm… Mmmm…”

He looked down to find that a pistol had appeared out of nowhere and was now pressed against his chest. His face went pale as he said, “Red Spider Lily?”

“Good eyesight, won’t you invite me in?”

The marquis made way for Qianye to enter, then closed the door cautiously.

Qianye walked around the room. “Not bad.”

The living quarters included a bedroom, a kitchen, and an independent living room. There was even a study. The living conditions here were rather good, to say the least, not at all like a temporary abode used for an expedition. Comparatively, the Imperial quarters were much simpler. Qianye himself had been sleeping out in the wild, not even bothering to pitch a tent.

The marquis technician seemed somewhat restless. “Lord Qianye, I will cooperate with whatever you need me to do. However, I must remind you that Lord Progia will be returning soon.”

Qianye said indifferently, “He was badly injured in my hands and won’t be returning anytime soon. There’s no need to wait for him.”

The marquis trembled all over. He was somewhat skeptical, but he didn’t dare question the claim. All he could do was sit down obediently in the chair across from Qianye.

Qianye said calmly, “Answer my questions and I won’t make it difficult for you. What is this tower for?”

The technician seemed a bit hesitant. “Actually, I’m not too sure, either.”

Qianye laughed. “It’s fine if you don’t know. The one thing you should know is that I can kill you and retreat easily. There’s really no one here apart from Progia who dares to stand in front of me.”

The marquis laughed wryly. “You have Spatial Flash, the Shot of Inception, and the Red Spider Lily. Whoever stops you will die, how can I not know that? It’s just that I don’t know what the real purpose of this tower is.”

“Your cultivation is among the highest in the group, and you’re telling me you don’t know?”

“To be frank, the tower was designed by Master Predica. All we learned was how to construct and assemble it. The core equipment used in the tower was shipped over from the Evernight World. They were all premade and sealed. Those with damaged seals will be discarded immediately. All I can do is guess some of the tower’s functions based on my experience.”

“Very well, what is your guess?” Qianye asked.

“I believe that the purpose of this tower is to measure and analyze origin power fluctuations of a certain frequency. It emits extremely high-frequency waves and thus consumes vast amounts of energy.”

“Who’s in charge of operating it?”

“His Majesty Progia himself. Its activation requires his aura.”

Qianye said after some thought, “What’s the progress?”

“The equipment has been installed, and most of the individual tests have been completed. Everything will be done in half a day’s time. The final step will require His Majesty to activate.”

Qianye switched postures and tapped lightly on the armrest. “How many of these do you need to build?”

“At least one and at most three. The current project was a smooth sail, so we’ve already sent out parties to look for the next construction site.”

“One final question, how do you plan to return to Evernight?”

The marquis shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know.”

“You really don’t know?”

“Perhaps the Demon King and Progia might know. At the very least, my friend Grand Duke Rolando doesn’t know how to go back.”

“Then are you in contact with the other side?”

“We can use the tower to communicate, we just tested the function. The information we can send and receive is fairly limited, however.”

Qianye said, “That’s not right, the inner and outer worlds are connected by a passage. It shouldn’t be that difficult to transfer messages. Don’t tell me this place is just like the Great Maelstrom.”

The marquis said, “I found it strange as well. The signals were unexpectedly difficult to transmit, almost as though someone was intentionally interfering with them. It’s not like we can’t establish a connection, but we can’t hear clearly what the other side is saying. The transmitted information and diagrams come out as incomprehensible gibberish.”

Qianye walked over to the window and gazed at the nearby tower. “Where is the tower’s core component located?”