Boom!!!
The explosion obliterated and swallowed vast swathes of mountain rock and forest trees. The dazzling flames, monitored by the Shadow, were simultaneously relayed to Guan Tong's eyes far away.
"It really is a long-range bombardment."
Guan Tong had long anticipated this scenario, which was precisely why his physical body had remained separated from the fragment.
Otherwise, if the fragment was on his person and he suddenly suffered a long-range missile strike, even if he didn't die, he'd be severely injured.
Which side would it be?
Guan Tong wanted to know whether this long-range bombing was the work of the Suroma Empire or Sakura Prayer Country.
He didn't need to investigate; he would get the result soon enough.
Because no matter how long-range the bombing was, after it finished, ground personnel would inevitably be dispatched to recover the fragment.
All he had to do was wait for those people to appear.
After this round of bombing ended, the Commander immediately gave the order: "Move out."
The special forces team immediately rushed quickly towards the blast zone.
The Commander was now convinced that the fragment holder was most likely already dead from the explosion.
Because choosing this moment to launch the surprise attack was the result of Mu Tiancheng's long-planned scheme.
Regarding the fragment's location, the higher-ups had already grasped it. For days, Mu Tiancheng, the instructor of the Chosen Team, had been studying how to seize it.
Considering the holder was likely the Shadow, this powerful Ascendant who had just single-handedly destroyed a small warlord's lair, rashly sending a team to deal with him might not succeed.
Once they failed, alerting the enemy would make subsequent targeting much more difficult.
After his research, Mu Tiancheng made a decision.
He first communicated with the higher-ups of Andai State through diplomatic channels, explaining that Sakura Prayer Country was willing to help them eliminate the enemy known as the Shadow.
The Andai State higher-ups were initially shocked to learn the Shadow was still within their country's borders.
They had all assumed the Shadow had left, but according to Mu Tiancheng, the Shadow hadn't left, he had just hidden deep within a certain rainforest.
This made the Andai State higher-ups extremely worried, fearing the Shadow would continue causing destruction. Thus, they readily agreed to Mu Tiancheng's proposal.
After all, although Sakura Prayer Country's national power wasn't on par with Beixing or Suroma, it was still a world power. Eliminating one Shadow was more than sufficient.
After negotiations, Andai State agreed to allow Sakura Prayer Country's warships into its territorial waters and the special forces team into its capital to carry out the operation.
Thus, in Mu Tiancheng's battle plan, he first moved the warships into Andai State's territorial waters, then deployed the special forces team at the edge of the rainforest.
The time of the attack was set for the moment the tenth rule took effect.
He believed the Shadow would then be focused on one of the eliminated Five Senses, thereby relaxing his guard to some extent.
At that moment, suddenly suffering a missile bombardment... even if it was the Shadow, this so-called world's number one Ascendant, without any defense, he would only have one path: death.
Then the special forces team would go recover the fragment and bring it back to Sakura Prayer Country. That way, they could obtain three fragments and gain the advantage.
As for Suroma's two fragments, they would find a way to get those later.
At this moment, Mu Tiancheng was aboard the warship, his vision pitch black. Unlike the special forces team, he hadn't taken drugs to blind himself first. Because he wasn't sure if the drugs had side effects and couldn't afford the risk.
And merely being blind for fifteen days was something he could completely accept.
After the long-range bombing ended, he immediately, with the Adjutant's assistance, used a phone to contact the fragment holder in Sakura Prayer Country, the Chosen Team's Yamata no Orochi.
"Orochi, has the fragment's location changed?"
"No."
"Good!" Mu Tiancheng clenched his fist fiercely. "This means the Shadow was likely killed in the blast! And the fragment, due to its 'indestructible' property, was left behind at the original location."
"..."
After a few seconds of silence on the other end, the call disconnected. Mu Tiancheng wasn't surprised; Yamata no Orochi had always been rather taciturn.
He put down the phone. Although his vision was pitch black, he seemed to see a bright future waving to him.
"Next, we just wait for the special forces team to bring back the fragment!"
...
The special forces team quickly entered the blast zone area. What met their eyes were vast stretches of fallen trees and craters blasted into the ground.
They dispersed into a defensive formation, carefully scouting this area, wanting to find the Shadow's corpse killed by the explosion.
But after a thorough search, they found no corpse. Not even a corpse, they didn't even find severed limbs or blood.
Similarly, they also didn't find the fragment.
The Commander frowned, reporting remotely to Mu Tiancheng: "Lord Mu Tiancheng, we—"
"Ahhh!!!"
A team member's scream of agony interrupted his report. He whipped his head around to see a team member being impaled through the torso by a black spike emerging from the ground!
It's the Shadow! The Shadow isn't dead!
The moment this signature attack method of the Shadow appeared, the Commander's face was filled with shock and disbelief.
After suffering so many missile strikes, how could the Shadow possibly still be alive?!
"Ah!"
"Ratatatat!"
"Don't break formation!"
The attacks from the black spikes kept appearing. The roughly twenty-strong special forces team soon lost seven or eight members.
Hearing the screams coming through the communicator, Mu Tiancheng also sensed something was wrong: "The Shadow isn't dead?!"
"Yes! That guy is manipulating shadows to attack us!" the Commander shouted. "We can't locate his position!"
Mu Tiancheng was silent for two seconds: "Use your lives to delay him. The Divine Child will remember your sacrifice."
"Yes!"
Mu Tiancheng cut the communication and immediately ordered the other soldiers on the warship: "Immediately launch another long-range attack on the target area! The enemy is currently fighting our people; this time we will definitely succeed!"
The warship soldiers hesitated upon hearing this: "But then our people would..."
"Being able to sacrifice for the country, for the Divine Child, is their honor! Fire immediately!"
"Yes!"
A new wave of missiles shot out from the warship again, blanketing the target location with bombardment.
The Commander, having hung up, already knew this outcome. He shouted loudly: "Long live the Divine Child!"
Boom boom boom!!!
The new wave of missile bombardment hit that area. The few special forces team members, including the Commander, who hadn't yet been killed by the Shadow, were all blown to pieces by the missiles.
Witnessing this scene remotely, Guan Tong couldn't help but frown and curse under his breath: "Heartless bastards."
He had actually had a faint premonition about this situation, which was why he hadn't used Body Swap to go over immediately.
But when that faint premonition became reality, and he saw the remaining soldiers being blown up, he was still somewhat shocked by the cruelty of the one who gave the order behind the scenes.
However, based on these people's appearances, and the Sakura Prayer language that the suspected Commander guy shouted before dying, Guan Tong could determine that the ones who planned this operation were indeed Sakura Prayer Country.
Moreover, Sakura Prayer Country's fragment holder wasn't a lone individual but affiliated with the government. Otherwise, without official support, where would these special forces soldiers and the missiles for long-range bombing come from?
...Fine.
Guan Tong thought to himself. He had originally planned to take advantage of this rule's opportunity to go obtain other fragments. Now that Sakura Prayer Country had actively come looking for trouble with him, it actually gave him a clear target.
After the second round of bombing ended, another team of soldiers soon headed to the area, attempting to recover the fragment.
But neither they nor Mu Tiancheng knew that although the fragment's location hadn't changed, it was wrapped in shadow and located deep underground. Unless they plowed the ground three feet deep with missiles, they simply couldn't find it.
And this second team of soldiers met a fate no different from the first, quickly dying at the hands of the Shadow remotely controlled by Guan Tong.
After failing to contact the second team, Mu Tiancheng understood that this operation had probably gone awry.
He couldn't understand how the Shadow could evade the missile attacks. Even if he had defensive-type items, how could he possibly survive two rounds of bombardment?
But the facts were right before his eyes, undeniable.
Unwilling to accept it, he ordered: "Bomb it again! This time, try expanding the range!"
A soldier reported: "Apologies, Lord Mu Tiancheng, the missiles loaded on the warship have been exhausted."
"...Damn it!" Mu Tiancheng cursed, then shook his head helplessly after a moment. "Operation concluded. Return!"
"Yes."
Sakura Prayer Country's warships quickly departed. Not long after, Andai State also dispatched official soldiers to the bombing area to investigate.
Apart from discovering some mangled corpses of Sakura Prayer soldiers, they found nothing else.
The Andai State soldiers looked at the scene and couldn't help but glance at each other.
"They bombed their own people?"
"It looks that way."
"Really don't know what the Prince was thinking, actually allowing Sakura Prayer people to bomb our territory."
"It was all to eliminate the Shadow... wonder if they succeeded or not."
Listening to these Andai State soldiers' conversation, Guan Tong roughly inferred that Andai State and Sakura Prayer Country had reached an agreement.
Andai State wanted to kill him but worried about retaliation or lacked the capability, so they borrowed a knife, allowing Sakura Prayer Country to enter and bomb... As for Sakura Prayer Country's goal, it was naturally to take the puzzle fragment.
"Very good."
Since that was the case, Guan Tong also had a clear plan.
He would definitely make a trip to Sakura Prayer Country. But before going, he felt it necessary to make the Andai State government pay some price for targeting him.
If a person is killed, they die. Even those in the highest positions of power and authority, can they escape this natural law?
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