The sound of gunfire erupted in rapid succession.
Crisp and deadly.
With each gunshot, the Holy City's makeshift air force began to plummet from the sky.
They knew this was the enemy's attackâthey even knew what kind of weapon was being usedâyet they simply couldn't defend against it.
Because it was too fast. Too powerful. Before they could react, the bullets had already pierced the vital parts of their mounts.
Yes, these bulletsâfired from unknown firearmsârarely targeted the riders themselves. Instead, they focused almost entirely on the flying creatures.
At first, many of the Holy City's air force soldiers had assumed that the initial gunshot was just an accidentâan isolated case. Based on their post-apocalyptic experience, firearms capable of hitting them at such heights had such stringent requirements that they couldn't possibly exist in large numbers!
Unfortunately for them, they had encountered Cloud Peak. Even more unfortunately, they had no idea what kind of person the King of Cloud Peak truly was.
If this had happened in the Chinese regionâespecially among those familiar with Cloud Peakâno one would have made such a foolish mistake.
The Holy City's air force wasn't entirely wrong in their assumptions. Weapons capable of hitting them at such altitudes with lethal precision had to be of extremely high grade, and the ammunition had to be top-tier. The only thing they miscalculated was that Cloud Peak's firearms didn't even require specialized gun skills.
Because these guns were of a higher grade than they had imagined. The bullets were even better than they expected.
These firearms were all blue-grade. The bullets? Green-grade.
This unit was a unique and specialized force within Cloud Peak, led by a man named Li Qiang.
After Ye Zhongming evolved to level nine, his improvements manifested in multiple areasâincluding his crafting jobs.
As mentioned before, Ye Zhongming's smith job had already reached its peak. To advance further, he needed to evolve himself.
Now that he had become a level-nine evolved, his Glory Smith job had truly reached its pinnacle.
This didnât mean there was no room for further improvementâjust that it would be extremely difficult, requiring exceptionally rare and specialized items.
In the days following his ascension to level nine, Ye Zhongming and Cloud Peak had formulated the Western Offensive plan. But they didnât launch it immediatelyâpreparation was key.
Strictly speaking, this was Cloud Peakâs first large-scale assault on a heavily fortified human stronghold. The King of Cloud Peak wanted victory, but he also wanted minimal losses.
These firearms, these bulletsâthey were just one part of the preparations.
As Sister Hong, who had watched Ye Zhongming craft for a while, put it: "That Little Ye is basically a human-shaped manufacturing machine."
Not only was his speed terrifying, but his success rate was also absurdly high. For blue-grade equipment, his failure rate didnât exceed 10%.
That was a statistic that became more horrifying the longer you thought about it.
Thus, Li Qiang and his ranged assault unit became one of the biggest beneficiaries.
The Holy City's air force had randomly chosen the western side as their main attack direction. Their luck couldnât have been worse.
This was where Li Qiang was stationed.
His current force of 3,000 was divided among the four gates, with only 300+ here. But precisely because the numbers were smaller, this group had no archers or other ranged-weapon specialistsâonly elite marksmen.
Every one of them wielded a blue-grade sniper rifle personally crafted by Ye Zhongming.
The design philosophy was derived from Ye Zhongmingâs beloved firearm. The bullets were either made by Ye Zhongming himself or precision-engineered micro-engraved rounds produced by Le Dayuanâs lab after his modifications.
With 300+ blue-grade firearms and green-grade bullets, how could they possibly miss?
While Cloud Peakâs air force was still in the process of being fully assembled, these few hundred marksmen were the core of their mobile anti-air defense.
Each of them fired only a few shots before the Holy Cityâs air force completely collapsed.
Screaming, they yanked their mounts into sharp turns, climbed desperately for altitudeâsome even leaped off outright, using whatever abilities they had to flee the battlefield as fast as possible.
Their only goal? Get away from these flying creatures.
This kind of disorderly assault posed no threat to Cloud Peakâthey were nothing but live targets. The retreat was no different. None of Cloud Peakâs other units even needed to act. Li Qiang and his few hundred marksmen alone had shattered the Holy Cityâs most renowned aerial force in mere minutes.
A handful managed to escape, but their numbers were pitiful. When they landed at the base they had taken off from just moments ago, the survivors knew one thing for certain:
The Holy Cityâs air force was finished.
Even if they ultimately won this siege, rebuilding the air force to its former strength would take at least two to three years.
When City Lord Ahmad received this news, his face darkened to the point that it seemed like water could be wrung from it. He had never imagined that what should have been a guaranteed victory would instead result in a devastating defeat.
"Your Majesty, theyâre attacking again!"
Outside, the roar of missiles and rockets resumed. The Thousand Defender shouted while rotating the square barrel in his hands, continuously launching those firework-like interceptors. Beads of sweat had already begun forming on his forehead.
"Prepare mental energy potions and stamina potions. Administer them to him soon."
Even in his fury, Ahmad hadnât neglected the Thousand Defender. Noticing his exhaustion, he immediately ordered potions prepared.
"The west gate, Your Majesty! Theyâre focusing their attack on the west gate!"
Many in the room stiffened in alarm.
They all realized why Cloud Peak was concentrating their assault thereâbecause the air force had just suffered a crushing defeat. The chaos and plummeting morale among the defenders made it the perfect opportunity to strike.
"Dispatch the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Royal Guard to reinforce that position."
Ahmad issued the command calmly.
"Your Majesty, isnât it too early to deploy the Royal Guard?" A subordinate voiced concern.
Compared to their previous humiliating defeat against Cloud Peak, the Holy City had made significant progress. Though there were still only two Royal Guards, the 1st Royal Guardâtasked with protecting the royal familyânumbered around 10,000. The 2nd Royal Guard was even larger, second only to the city defense forces and the slave army, with over 50,000 members divided into five brigades of 10,000 each.
In other words, the City Lord was sending a full 10,000 troops to counter a single enemy assault.
This would give many in the Holy City the impression that the situation was dire.
But was it really?
No. Not even close.
Ahmad smiled. "Itâs fine. At dawn, weâll have 150,000 slave troops ready for deploymentâplus Sayyid. So what if we use the 2nd Royal Guard tonight? Hell, even if we deploy the 1st Royal Guard, what does it matter?"
His gaze swept past the cityâs structures, settling on the towering walls in the distance.
"Though⊠I suppose they must be feeling quite pleased with themselves right now. That displeases me."
Ahmadâs eyes shifted back, landing on Suhail.
"Suhail. Go personally. Tell my child⊠to visit the west gate."
The subordinates in the room collectively stiffened.
Your Majesty⊠youâre deploying that already?!