Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 283
Major General Lin Feng Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Sea Front
The sky over the eastern coastline of Shenzhou no longer possessed its familiar azure hue, instead shrouded in a thick, sticky, and death-laden shade of leaden gray. Layers of storm clouds thousands of meters thick churned and pressed down upon the surface of the sea as if eager to crush the entire prosperous coastal strip. Gales shrieked with gust speeds exceeding level fifteen, carrying stinging saltwater and blood-stained crimson froth that whipped viciously against the earth.
Beneath the violent, howling tempest, the hundreds-of-miles-long defensive breakwaters constructed of magical alloys and granite groaned beneath the continuous pounding of bloody tides. Crimson-level air-raid sirens wailed incessantly across the coastal cities, blending with the deafening cracks of thunder that tore the night sky asunder.
“Whoosh——! BOOM!”
Suddenly, from the pitch-black clouds in the stratosphere, a streak of silver radiance tore through the dense atmosphere, plunging downward at three times the speed of sound. It was the supersonic military command aircraft designated “Soaring Dragon-09,” its fuselage wrapped in a majestic, indigo lightning aura that cleaved the wall of the gale in two and plunged straight toward the front-line defensive peninsula.
The immensely powerful magical jet thrust erupting from the aircraft’s stern blew away swirling sheets of rainwater, causing the makeshift field ground outside the Eastern Sea Front-line General Headquarters to vibrate violently. The heavy landing gear slammed hard onto the reinforced concrete runway, emitting a piercing, screeching metallic wail accompanied by blazing trails of friction fire.
The hydraulic cabin door slowly lowered, venting a piercingly cold vapor.
Amidst the howling wind and rain that raged as though desperate to swallow all creation, a tall, imposing figure stepped out with resolute steadiness. He wore a pitch-black Shenzhou Major General’s uniform sharply lined with golden trim, his epaulets bearing a radiant golden star that shone brilliantly despite the stormy night. The military cloak at his back billowed fiercely in the gale, yet his physique stood rock-solid like an ancient precipice, not a single raindrop or gust able to shift him so much as half a step.
It was none other than Lin Feng!
Striding immediately behind him was Ye Qingwan clad in a form-fitting jade-green tactical armor, her long hair neatly tied up in a high ponytail behind her nape, the magical sword at her hip exuding a bone-chilling frost. Following her were twelve of the elite warriors from the Rapid Response Division, each bearing an ice-cold expression, their personal magical energies rolling in steady equilibrium, exuding the reeking scent of fire and blood belonging to veterans who had stepped through a thousand trials of life and death.
“Major General, the frontline situation is far more critical than the initial reports suggested.” Ye Qingwan raised a hand to gently brush away a few damp locks of hair clinging to her rain-slicked face, her gaze fixing upon the distant horizon out at sea. There, towering columns of water dozens of meters high continuously smashed offshore magical observation posts, the illumination of the defensive barriers flickering like candles in the wind.
Lin Feng did not reply immediately. Standing on the makeshift field helipad, he gently closed his eyes.
His sea of consciousness had just undergone an earth-shattering breakthrough, with his Lightning Star Sea and Fire Star Sea reaching the peak of the Third Grade Advanced realm, surging and circulating furiously. Lin Feng’s spiritual perception was now vast as an ocean, released outward ten miles in a single blink to engulf the entire coastal trench line.
The stench of blood. The rotting stench of tens of thousands of slain aquatic beasts. The wailing and groaning of injured border mages. And above all, the utter chaos and disorientation spreading rampant through every single trench and watchtower.
“A complete mess.” Lin Feng opened his eyes, a bone-piercing cold light flashing within his obsidian pupils. “The commanders are losing their morale, the soldiers are panicking, the defense line is on the verge of shattering, yet the man in charge is still huddled away in his bunker.”
“Let’s go! To the underground command center!”
Lin Feng stepped forward, his boots crushing into puddles of crimson rainwater, yet strangely enough, not a single speck of muddy water could soil his military leather boots. An invisible force field around his body repelled all wind and rain three inches away.
Inside the Eastern Sea Front-line General Headquarters, located thirty meters underground beneath layers of heavily fortified magic-proof bomb shelters.
The atmosphere was so suffocating that a single stray spark seemed enough to detonate the entire room. Crimson warning lights spun frantically across the ceiling, their emergency klaxons ringing with a shattering, ear-splitting shriek. The three-dimensional magical sand table at the center of the command room flashed incessantly with dense clusters of red dots—each red dot representing a swarm of deep-sea demons tearing through the coastal defense layers and spilling inland.
“Fall back! We must immediately order all forces to retreat to the secondary defense line at Lingnan and Ningbo!”
A middle-aged general bearing the rank of Brigadier General, his face deathly pale and sweat drenching his forehead, slammed his hand down onto the table and roared: “Breakwaters number seven and number nine have completely collapsed! Tens of thousands of Shark Demons and Armored Giant Crabs are swarming ashore, and our anti-aircraft magic artillery units have completely depleted their energy magic crystals! Holding our ground here is a suicide mission! Sign the retreat order at once!”
“Brigadier General Qian, have you lost your mind?!” A defense colonel whose left arm was wrapped in blood-soaked gauze bellowed in furious rage: “Fall back to the secondary defense line? Behind defense line number one lie more than three million civilians from Ninghai City who have not yet been fully evacuated! If we run, those aquatic monsters will turn every residential sector into a slaughterhouse! We are soldiers; our duty is to use our own bodies to plug the breach!”
“Use our bodies to plug the breach? Plug it with what?!” Brigadier General Qian shrieked shrilly, his voice trembling with terror: “Do you have any idea what is out there on the open sea? We aren’t just talking about Servant-class or Warrior-class demons! The magical radar array has detected peak Commander-level magical fluctuations, and even... even traces of a Mutated Giant Whale! A single flick of its tail is enough to crush this base into dust! Commander Wang has collapsed from exhaustion after the initial assault; now I am the highest-ranking officer here, and everyone must obey my orders! Prepare the armored vehicles and retreat immediately!”
“You dare desert?!”
“This isn’t desertion, this is preserving strategic forces!”
Shouts, arguments, table-pounding, and curses erupted in utter pandemonium. The staff officers looked completely bloodless; some hurriedly packed confidential documents, while others frantically telephoned the rear. The entire command brain of the Eastern Sea front had fallen into a state of total paralysis. Morale had plummeted to the abyss.
“BOOM——!”
Suddenly, the half-meter-thick alloy steel door of the command room was blown wide open by an earth-shattering force!
The heavy metallic block weighing dozens of tons flew wildly through the air and slammed squarely into the reinforced concrete back wall, creating spiderweb-like cracks spreading in every direction. Stone dust and an immensely powerful shockwave swept across the room, scattering countless files and documents fluttering wildly through the air.
All shouting, bickering, and screaming instantly fell silent as if an invisible hand had choked off every throat.
Every pair of astonished, dumbfounded eyes turned uniformly toward the entrance.
Amidst the swirling haze of dust and flickering red lights, an imposing figure strode in. His black cloak billowed, his gaze as sharp as a blade just unsheathed, carrying a chilling pressure that pierced straight to the soul.
Lin Feng slowly walked straight toward the center of the command room. Every footstep he planted upon the metal floor emitted a dull, heavy echo, like a battle drum beating directly against the chest of everyone present. Behind him, Ye Qingwan and the Rapid Response Division warriors quickly fanned out, sealing off all exits with a posture of supreme combat readiness.
“You... Who the hell are you?!” Brigadier General Qian recovered from his momentary shock, turning furious as he pointed a trembling finger at Lin Feng and snapped: “Who gave you unauthorized permission to barge into the frontline command center? And how dare you destroy military installations?! Do you know this is an act of treason punishable by immediate execution on the spot?!”
Lin Feng walked up to the magical sand table, completely ignoring Brigadier General Qian’s trembling finger. He cast a glance over the battlefield situation on the three-dimensional screen before slowly raising his eyes to stare straight at the cowardly, aged general.
“Execution on the spot?” The corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into an icy arc: “That phrase is far more fitting for yourself.”
“Insolent! You are nothing more than an arrogant brat—” Brigadier General Qian’s face turned purple with rage, and just as he prepared to summon the guards, Lin Feng moved.
“SLAP!”
Lin Feng flicked his hand, delivering a palm strike imbued with invisible kinetic force straight across Brigadier General Qian’s face!
The chubby body of the Brigadier General flew backward over five meters, crashing heavily into a magical weapon rack before tumbling to the floor, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood along with two broken teeth.
“Protect the Brigadier General!” Several of Qian’s trusted staff officers panicked, reaching for the magic firearms at their hips.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Yet before their sidearms could clear their holsters, twelve sharp blade-glints and Ye Qingwan’s freezing sword qi were already pressed directly against the throats of each officer. The bone-numbing frost of the magic sword made the goosebumps on their necks stand on end, freezing every single one of them in place without daring to twitch even a fraction of an inch.
Lin Feng leisurely stepped forward to the monolithic steel command table, raised his right hand, and slammed it heavily onto the surface!
“BOOM——!”
The ten-centimeter-thick steel tabletop instantly indented deeply into the clear imprint of a palm, while twisting arches of dark purple lightning crackled and sputtered outward, scorching a corner of the table black.
At the exact same moment, Lin Feng retrieved from his military tunic a metallic box inlaid with ancient dragon-patterned jade and a red leather-bound dossier sealed with the triple-layered stamp of the Shenzhou Central Military Commission.
He popped the box open.
Inside, a medal forged from ancient profound gold, carved with the image of a five-clawed giant dragon soaring and coiling around a map of Shenzhou, burst into brilliant illumination. The supreme golden radiance flooded the command room, exuding a divine majesty that caused any Shenzhou soldier who beheld it to tremble to the very depths of their soul.
It was the “Supreme First-Class Shenzhou Medal” — the ultimate honor reserved exclusively for national heroes or those who held the destiny of the nation in their hands!
Right beside the medal, Lin Feng tossed the red leather-bound dossier forcefully onto the cracked tabletop.
On the front cover, bright red seal-script characters struck the eyes of every staff officer:
“SUPREME COMMAND-LEVEL SPECIAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT DECREE — UNILATERAL TAKEOVER OF THE EASTERN SEA FRONT.”
At the bottom corner of the document was the vermilion handwritten signature of the Grand Elder of the Forbidden Curse Association and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission himself!
“Good heavens... A Supreme Command-Level Decree?!”
“The First-Class Shenzhou Medal... Could he be the youngest Major General in history... Lin Feng?!”
Shocked whispers erupted like a disturbed hive of bees. The injured colonel widened his eyes, his chest heaving violently with overwhelming emotion. As for Brigadier General Qian sprawled on the floor, his entire body shook uncontrollably, his face completely drained of color. He knew all too well what this decree meant: supreme authority, the power to execute first and report later, with life and death entirely in one’s hands!
“Open your eyes wide and look closely!”
Lin Feng’s voice was not loud, yet it harbored formidable magical energy combined with ancient dragon breath, rumbling like thunder exploding directly in the ears of everyone inside the underground chamber:
“From this second onward, all military forces, border mages, mobile response divisions, and the Eastern Sea coastal defense system are officially placed under the sole command of myself—Major General Lin Feng!”
He swept his gaze in a circle, his eyes as sharp as a razor blade sweeping across every horrified face:
“I declare: The highest level of Martial Law is activated across the entire front! Regardless of what rank someone holds, or what prestigious family background they come from, if anyone dares to desert without authorization, retreat without military orders, shake troop morale, or defy combat directives...”
Lin Feng paused for half a beat, his voice dropping lower while radiating towering killing intent:
“... Beheaded on the spot! Executed to the third degree of kindred!”
The four words “Beheaded on the spot” caused the temperature in the command room to plummet below freezing. Brigadier General Qian was so terrified he wet himself, collapsing flat against the floor, shaking too violently to utter a single plea for mercy. The officers who had previously contemplated fleeing bowed their heads in submission, cold sweat pouring off them like rain.
With a swift, thunderous blow, Lin Feng had thoroughly shattered all undercurrents of resistance, swept away the weak and cowardly atmosphere, and re-established ironclad discipline in under three minutes!
“Colonel!” Lin Feng suddenly pointed toward the officer wrapped in blood-soaked bandages.
“Reporting to the General!” The colonel instantly snapped to attention, raising his hand in a crisp military salute, a blaze of fierce hope igniting in his eyes.
“What is your name? What is your current post?”
“Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief! This subordinate is Colonel Lü Zhen, Commander of the 3rd Coastal Defense Regiment!”
“Good! From now on, you will temporarily assume the post of Frontline Chief of Staff, stripping Brigadier General Qian of his command, and detain him in the military brig awaiting trial after the battle!” Lin Feng commanded decisively: “Now report immediately on the defensive deployment of the three dike lines!”
“Sir!” Lü Zhen barked crisply, feeling the grievances of the past several hours completely washed away. He strode swiftly to the sand table, pointing at the blinking glowing zones:
“Reporting, Major General! Currently, the entire one-hundred-and-twenty-kilometer coastal strip is divided into three main sectors. Dike sections number seven and number nine bore the brunt of the first tsunami wave, and the alloy breakwater has been torn open by sea demons over a length of four hundred meters. Over six thousand Mudfish Demons and Armored Crabs are spilling through the trench into the lowlands. Our defensive lightning towers are positioned behind the breakwater, but their line of sight is blocked by sandstorms and heavy rain, while the magical artillery keeps short-circuiting its magic arrays due to flooding from seawater!”
Lin Feng stared intently at the three-dimensional sand table. The mind of a comprehensive magic master rapidly analyzed the terrain, tidal currents, wind directions, and elemental properties.
After merely ten seconds of reflection, Lin Feng spotted every single fatal flaw in the foolish deployment strategy of the former command staff.
“Deploying forces like this is no different than serving meat to tigers!” Lin Feng cold-pointedly stated: “Sea demons belong to the water element, and seawater carries exceptionally high electrical conductivity. Yet you positioned the lightning towers in the low-lying terrain behind the breakwater; not only does that restrict coverage, but once the seawater floods in, your own soldiers will be electrocuted to death before they even touch the demons!”
“And the magical artillery—why use ordinary fire-element crystals in the middle of a level-fifteen storm? Rainwater extinguishing magical flames is a matter of course!”
The staff officers were stunned upon hearing this. Every word Lin Feng spoke hit the bullseye so precisely that none could utter a single word in rebuttal.
“Hear my order!” Lin Feng struck the sand table firmly, his resolute voice ringing out with systematic directives:
“First: Order the Magic Engineering Battalion to immediately relocate all forty-eight Lightning Tower clusters up to the thirty-meter-high Granite Ridge along the left flank. Install expanded magical lightning rods to extend discharge range. Do not target individual demons; discharge the entire electrical charge directly into the narrow sea inlet where the tides converge!”
Lü Zhen blinked, instantly comprehending: “You mean... use the seawater itself as a wide-area electrical conductor?!”
“Precisely!” The corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into a sharp smile: “Salty seawater mixed with the bloody stench of those sharks is the absolute best magical conductor! A single lightning strike from above will trigger a Chain Reaction Thunderstorm, roasting every single minor monster swimming within a three-mile radius without wasting a single magical shell!”
“Brilliant! Utterly brilliant!” The surrounding staff officers could not suppress their admiration. Such a simple tactical move completely reversed the weather’s disadvantage into a weapon of mass destruction!
“Second!” Lin Feng continued issuing orders, his finger pointing at dike sections number seven and number nine: “Mobilize all five Earth-element regiments to coordinate with Water-element Regiment Number 2, abandoning scattered defensive positions and massing directly at the breakwater breach. Do not use loose stones to build ramparts; combine Earth and Water magic to cast the ‘Magma-Ice Sea-Suppressing’ formation!”
“Magma-Ice Sea-Suppressing?” Lü Zhen looked blank: “Major General, that’s an ancient forbidden curse array of the Forbidden Curse Association, how could we—”
“Qingwan!” Lin Feng turned around.
Ye Qingwan stepped forward immediately, withdrawing an ancient sheepskin scroll from her spatial ring and tossing it onto the table: “This is the detailed formation diagram personally revised and simplified by Major General Lin Feng in adapting runic inscriptions. It only requires thirty Intermediate Earth mages and ten Ice mages to activate, capable of erecting a solidified lava wall ten times sturdier than an alloy breakwater within fifteen minutes!”
The entire command room fell utterly dead silent before this extraordinary preparation. This young Major General seemed to have anticipated every single wartime scenario before ever setting foot here!
“Third!” Lin Feng’s gaze flared with burning combat intent: “The Rapid Response Division will take the twelve sets of Shadow Magic Armor personally reinforced by me, dispersing along the coastal subterranean channels. Your mission is to hunt down and eliminate all Commander-level demons lurking beneath the water before they can approach the breakwater!”
“Understood!” The twelve bodyguards roared in unison, their shouts vibrating with overwhelming slaughterous momentum.
“Final order!” Lin Feng strode toward the microphone of the supreme magical broadcasting system—the microphone directly linked to magical loudspeakers spanning the entire one-hundred-and-twenty-kilometer battle line:
“Open all frontline communication channels! Connect to every single trench and defensive bunker!”
The communications technician tremblingly flipped the central control switch: “Reporting... All lines connected!”
Lin Feng took a deep breath. The Dragon God energy within his chest surged turbulently, his voice amplified tens of thousands of times through the sound matrix, roaring like thunder through the storm and echoing directly in the ears of over one hundred thousand soldiers drenched in mud and cold blood:
“Hear me, frontline soldiers of the Eastern Sea! I am Lin Feng, your new Commander-in-Chief!”
Across the entire coastal trench line, tens of thousands of soldiers exhausted, trembling from the cold and injuries, suddenly raised their heads in unison. The wailing sirens seemed to be drowned out by the deep, resonant voice sounding like a bronze bell descending from the heavens:
“I know you are weary! I know you have just witnessed your comrades fall beneath the claws of these deep-sea beasts! I know some cowards have contemplated running away, abandoning our homeland behind us!”
Every word from Lin Feng struck like arrows straight into the souls of every soldier.
“But look behind you! Behind us lies Ninghai City, prosperous Shenzhou, our parents, wives, children, and millions of flesh-and-blood compatriots waiting for our news of victory! If we retreat one step, three million compatriots will sink into a sea of blood! If we fall, our ancestors’ millennia-old territory will be trampled by aquatic monsters!”
“Shenzhou soldiers can only die on the trenches facing the enemy; there is never any justification for turning our backs and fleeing!”
“Today, I, Lin Feng, stand right here, shedding blood with you, fighting to the death with you! Anyone who dares violate an inch of Shenzhou soil will be shown no mercy! If gods block us, slaughter the gods! If demons block us, slaughter the demons!”
“All forces... Prepare for battle!”
“BOOM——!”
Accompanied by Lin Feng’s earth-shaking roar, a brilliant gold-and-purple pillar of light erupted from the summit of the General Headquarters straight into the nine heavens, tearing the gloomy night apart! It was the supreme combat signal of the God of War!
“KILL——! DEFEND SHENZHOU!”
“FIGHT TO THE DEATH! NOT ONE STEP BACK!”
From breakwater number one to breakwater number twelve, from muddy fortifications to flooded turret towers, the unified roar of one hundred thousand Shenzhou soldiers suddenly erupted like a volcanic eruption! Fear, panic, and despair were instantly incinerated, replaced by burning fury and a sky-reaching will to fight to the death!
The entire Eastern Sea defense line functioned like a colossal war machine freshly greased with oil, instantly shifting into frenzied motion. Lightning towers were hauled up the stone hills amidst roars, magical artillery flared back to life, and thousands of Earth mages linked their star patterns to erect towering ramparts hundreds of meters high.
At that exact moment, ten miles out at sea, the ocean surface suddenly split open into a bottomless trench thousands of zhang long.
A pitch-black column of water carrying a suffocating stench surged into the high heavens. From deep within the dark ocean abyss, a colossal dark silhouette over three hundred meters long, its back covered in rows of stark white bone spikes and pitch-black scales shimmering like metal, slowly rose to the surface.
Its eyes, glowing red like dual pools of bloody moonlight, swept across the coastal breakwaters, emitting a deep roar that shook the entire deep ocean floor:
“Ooo... Roar... RAAAGH——!”
The Mutated Eight-Desolations Giant Whale!
And behind it, millions of black fish-fins tore through the raging waves, charging frantically toward the land. The bloodthirsty Night Shark army, the fiercest of the ocean, had officially launched its total offensive to flatten the coast!
On the highest observation deck of the General Headquarters, Lin Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his black cloak fluttering in the storm, his cold gaze fixed unwaveringly upon the giant beast far out at sea.
The life-and-death decisive battle to defend the territory of Shenzhou had officially begun!