The remaining two forces may not be able to contend with the Giant Dynasty.
The giants stood silhouetted against the Forbidden Forest, each one like a sturdy, powerful, and strong tree.
They looked expectantly at their king.
The King of Giants raised his scepter: "Illusion!"
(For the future of the Giants Dynasty, kill!)
The giants began to turn and charge towards Outpost 5. Their goal was to first eliminate the retreating Phoenix ground forces and then rendezvous with the Storm City army group.
They must leave this forbidden forest and stand in the sunlight!
Behind the giants, wild boars, wolves, lions, jackals, and bison charged outwards in droves.
In the sky, countless birds left the treetops and took flight into the heavens.
When these flocks of birds took to the sky, they even blocked out the sky itself.
In the vast Forbidden Forest, countless creatures live, but now they are being manipulated by giants to start a magnificent war.
The flock of birds split into three groups, one of which was led by a huge vulture and flew straight toward the Phoenix airship.
The remaining two groups flew to the sides of the battlefield, as if to surround it.
The giants have finally broken free of the Forbidden Forest!
They ran faster and faster, so fast that the earth trembled!
At this moment, the giant Gale looked up and suddenly realized that the Phoenix Sky Fortress was not in the sky; it had long since disappeared.
Although Phoenix's main force is still there, it feels somewhat... dilapidated?
The Gale sensed something was amiss, but remembering the Giant King's inspiring words, he paid no heed to such details.
Even if the Phoenix were still here today, it would still be destined to sink!
...
...
On the west coast of the Roosevelt Kingdom, at the heart of the 'Imperial TOP Military Base'.
The gate of a deep launch silo slowly opened, and looking down from the sky, the shadow of the silo seemed to conceal a path to the Earth's core.
A rumbling sound came from underground, like the roar of a giant beast.
But from the dark shadow of the launch silo, a huge missile was being slowly pushed out of the ground by a hydraulic braking device.
The red warhead is painted with bright yellow radiation warning markings, as if afraid that others wouldn't realize its danger.
The soldiers in the base watched in awe as it slowly rose to the surface, as if they were looking at the eternal spear in the hands of Zeus, the god of eternity, in the heavens above.
The missile's codename is "The Gun of Eternity".
This Imperial TOP military base exists specifically for weapons like these; for example, there are at least 12 more launch silos like this one, storing up to 1,600 warheads.
With a click, the mechanism clicked into place, and the Eternal Spear reached its firing height.
The soldiers in the missile silo began to evacuate quickly. In the command post 500 meters away, the military base commander took out a black box, inserted a small key into it, but did not turn it.
He asked his adjutant beside him, "Has the king given any orders?"
The adjutant shook his head: "No."
The commander looked at the battle reports on the military network:
Storm Group Army has destroyed Outpost 5.
The dynasty of giants appeared, numbering in the tens of thousands.
Phoenix's main force suffered losses exceeding 15%.
The constant stream of battle reports sent in made the commander extremely anxious.
This war came somewhat unexpectedly. Originally, the war was to be fought against the Giants Dynasty, but suddenly a duke betrayed them.
The commander stood quietly in the command post, unaware of what the king was waiting for.
Why hasn't the order been given yet to simply drop the Eternal Spear onto Outpost 5?
At that moment, the adjutant announced loudly, "Commander, the royal family's video communication has come through."
The holographic projection in front of the commander turned on, revealing the majestic yet aged King Roosevelt. In front of him was a black box with a small key inserted.
The king glanced calmly at the commander: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
The commander did not speak.
Just then, a third-party holographic projector turned on.
The officer's pupils contracted slightly as he was startled to see the Storm Duke, who had already declared treason, appear in the projection.
Duke Storm and King Roosevelt both remained calm, as if nothing had happened.
It was only at this moment that the commander realized that the king was waiting for none other than the 'rebel' leader, Duke Storm.
The commander was somewhat confused and bewildered. He had activated the Eternal Spear precisely to attack the Storm Duke.
The next moment, Duke Storm said, "The Giant Dynasty has emerged from the Forbidden Forest, and its numbers have been confirmed at 12,712, which is already 90% of the Giant Dynasty's main force. After this battle, it will be enough to make the Giant Dynasty regress to 130 years ago. The slave army of Phoenix City will be responsible for holding them off. The coordinates have been determined, let's make our move."
The commander was taken aback: "But aren't you still on the battlefield? This missile will arrive at the battlefield in 9 minutes and 21 seconds. With its magnitude, it is enough to affect all life within a radius of 310 kilometers. At the speed of your Storm-class air fortress, there is no time to leave. The EMP-proof armor of your Storm-class fortress is also no match for this level of electromagnetic pulse."
At that time, the missile will blast a crater more than 100 meters deep outside Outpost No. 5, and all nearby trees, life, and buildings will be wiped out.
The air fortresses will malfunction and crash, and the airships will be overturned by the blast wave.
So what puzzled the commander was why Duke Storm could so calmly say, "Let's do it."
Are you not afraid of death, Duke of Storms?
Duke Storm gave him a cold look but said nothing.
The king pondered for two seconds, then calmly said, "Launch."
Obeying orders is a soldier's duty. This commander was the king's confidant, and he had no right or reason to refuse to launch the missile. Even if the king himself were there, he would still have to launch it.
The king and the commander turned the key at the same time, and the king pressed the red button.
At this moment, the ignition program in the launch silo was activated, and abundant flames erupted from the bottom of the Eternal Spear missile. It completely broke away from the abyss below the launch silo and flew into the air at an increasingly faster speed.
The king looked at Duke Storm through the holographic projection: "The rest is up to you."
Duke Storm paused for two seconds: "Yes, Father."
The King said, "You are granted the right to revert to the Roosevelt surname. From this day forward, you may return to your former life."
The commander was completely shocked; he never imagined that the Duke of Storms was actually the king's son.
Before he could react, the holographic projection's communication channel had already been shut down, leaving him speechless in the command center.
In the Giants' Court, the giant prophet who had been sitting cross-legged in the Forbidden Forest suddenly opened his eyes and looked into the distance with a worried expression.
...
...
Inside the Stormship Sky Fortress.
Duke Storm turned and walked out of the command room, calmly heading towards the dark room where the AI was imprisoned.
He opened the gate and went inside. The middle-aged woman was still feeding the fish, as if she knew nothing about what was happening outside.
The woman smiled and said, "Is the show over? Is it time for the curtain to fall?"
“Hmm,” the Duke of Storms said calmly.
The woman smiled and asked, "How does it feel to be royalty?"
“It seems that even though you are imprisoned, you know everything that is happening outside,” said Duke Storm.
“Because you showed me, didn’t you?” the woman said with a smile. “Thirty-two years ago, before that giantess was sent to Storm City, the young and shrewd King Roosevelt seemed to see a certain future, so he secretly traveled to the battlefield in an airship and then violated her. The next day, the Duke of Storm took the giantess away. The poor old duke was kept in the dark, thinking he was carrying out a grand plan, believing that his son could be born from the chaos between humans and giants and thus gain the opportunity to unify everything. But he never expected that the Fates' foresight would be used in this place. So you are the king’s son, and the old duke knew nothing about it. Oh, my poor old duke.”
The woman in the holographic projection continued, "When you were still a minor, the King sent someone to find you and promised you the future throne, just as he had promised to help you obtain the title of Duke of Storms. That night, you stormed into the Storm Legion's base, thinking you were going to persuade the legion's commander, but you discovered that the King had already arranged everything for you there. You wholeheartedly accepted this father, and then he embarked on a shocking plan with you... using an unprecedented pledge of allegiance to exchange for a chance to annihilate the Giants Dynasty. The King has already felt the threat from the Giants Dynasty. He once told me that he saw a future. In that future, giants stood at the gates of Roosevelt's palace, holding human heads in their hands. Blood flowed on the ground, and the palace collapsed in the future."
"This future keeps him awake at night. Fortunately... the future that the Fate Master saw has been modified before, so he decided to give it a try. Thus, the current plan came about: to use your special bloodline to gain the trust of the Giant Dynasty... Of course, the giants cannot completely trust you, so you need an unprecedented pledge of allegiance."
"Over the years, I have watched you place one scrapped airship after another in Outpost No. 5; I have watched you stuff cannon fodder slaves into Outpost No. 5 in the name of the Blackwater City and Phoenix City Army Groups; I have watched you secretly allow the cannon fodder slave army to enter the Storm."
This is also why the Blackwater City Army Group collapsed at the first contact; many of those decommissioned airships even had their missile launch bays destroyed.
This is also why the Phoenix air fortress suddenly disappeared; it was an active air fortress, and the King did not want to suffer such a loss.
"Decades ago, four aerial fortresses were decommissioned simultaneously. Two of them, including the King's Landing, were given by the royal family to the Kingdom and the Future Organization to explore the Eastern Continent. The other two decommissioned aerial fortresses have been missing ever since. They have been hovering on the sea, in a place where no one can see them, waiting for today. You took advantage of the fact that the Giant Dynasty has not seen aerial fortresses for a long time, so they cannot distinguish the details and made them think that it is really an active aerial fortress that is falling."
"You sacrificed the lives of 112,931 slave soldiers, 812 airships that should have been decommissioned, and two aerial fortresses that should have been retired, to gain the Giant Dynasty's belief that you were truly fighting the Kingdom. In the end, a missile fell, bang, and all the giants within a 310-kilometer radius died. From then on, the Forbidden Forest remained yours, and they could develop it at will..."
Duke Storm responded, "Once we can annihilate the giants' fighting force, all sacrifices will be worthwhile, even our current airships and aerial fortresses. You should be able to calculate that the giant dynasty has grown strong enough that the loss of two aerial fortresses is inevitable if we want to destroy them. I think it's acceptable to exchange an opportunity for minimal losses."
With a single sentence that was acceptable, the existence of 110,000 slave soldiers was wiped out. Duke Storm didn't even consider them; he was only thinking about the air fortress.
But that's war, and that's the mindset of those in power.
The woman suddenly thought of something: "Oh, you must still want to find the Giants' Court, right? You need those female giants who stayed behind, because the Roosevelt royal family wants to use them to give birth to new humans, like you, so that they can rebuild the Jester's Kingdom in the Forbidden Forest. Other dukes will no longer have the capital to contend with the royal family."
Duke Storm said, “You know everything, but you’re unwilling to come out of your cage.”
"Why are you so insistent on getting my help, and why are you so determined to get me out of this cage?" the woman asked with a smile. "Of all the dukes, you've come to see me the most."
Duke Storm remained silent for a long time: "I have never had a mother since I was a child. Whenever I have doubts, I come here to seek answers from you. You comfort me, encourage me, and are happy for my achievements. Even though I know you treat everyone the same, I still feel a kind of kinship with you."
The woman looked at Duke Storm with pity: "I'm glad you can be so honest with me, but unfortunately, I'm the same to everyone. By the way, the missiles have reached the airspace above this decommissioned Storm, so you should leave now."
“Hmm,” Duke Storm replied.
The woman smiled and said, "Are you reluctant to part with me? But you will soon be back on the active-duty Storm to see me... Oh, no, you will first return to the palace in the central capital. He is 59 years old and about to die. I have always wondered why he has not yet appointed a crown prince. It turns out he has been waiting for this day all along."
"Um."
As soon as he finished speaking, thousands of kilometers away in the central royal city palace, the elderly king looked at the key gate in front of him, and the Kingdom Organization leader 'King' standing beside him with his hands hanging down.
The king confirmed, "We can just smash it, right?"
King bowed his head and replied, "Yes, but Duke Storm specifically said that you can also choose not to smash it. He has placed the choice of life and death in your hands."
The king chuckled and said, "He is a new era, about to usher in a new era I have never seen before."
Having said that, the king raised his giant hammer and smashed the door frame with a thunderous crash.