CHAPTER 601: CHAPTER 537: MOBILIZATION

"Beep—"

The dull blast of the military horn resounded over the Crolock Kingdom. Within the 1-3 military industrial blocks, six royal family-controlled legions almost simultaneously received orders to mobilize. As for the target...

"Besiege the royal palace?!"

Upon hearing the target of this operation from the Messenger, the Legion Commander of the Crolock Kingdom’s First Army widened his eyes in disbelief and said:

"You want us to assemble troops to blockade the royal palace, then set up a large amount of hot weaponry and prepare to completely demolish Administrative Zone 1? Are you sure this is an order from His Majesty Fein?"

"I’m sure."

The Messenger nodded, then handed over the command order and mechanical signal token, with a slight twitch of his cheek:

"Though it’s a bit hard to understand, both the command order and the signal token are real. Check them out, and if there’s no issue, you can move out as soon as possible."

"..."

The Legion Commander, looking shocked, took the command order and signal token, quickly identified the marks on the command order, and then pointed the signal token at his hand to verify the encrypted code. Upon confirming everything was in order, he fell silent for a few seconds and then, still skeptical, asked:

"Though everything seems correct, are you certain this command order was personally issued by His Majesty Fein?"

Upon hearing the Legion Commander’s question, the Messenger’s expression turned slightly cold.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is there a chance the broadcast abruptly cut off this morning was real?"

Looking at the hostile look of the Messenger, the Legion Commander narrowed his eyes slightly, then gestured to the guards behind him to circle around and restrain the Messenger, refusing bluntly:

"Although we, the one to six legions, are direct royal family legions and should unconditionally obey orders, I now have reason to suspect that His Highness Fein has been... ah!"

With a scream, the Legion Commander seemed to be bitten by something, flailing desperately, though the signal token clutched in his hand seemed magnetized and firmly stuck to his hand, bursting instantly into a dazzling purple-white arc.

"Legion Commander!"

In sudden alarm, the surrounding guards were shocked, some reaching to assist the fallen Legion Commander, while others continued towards the static Messenger, however...

"Zzzt..."

The purple-white arc seemed to expand instantaneously, enveloping everyone within a fifteen-meter radius except for the Messenger.

In less than a twentieth of a second, everyone within the arc fell to the ground. Though not unconscious, they were unable to get up, lying on their backs, staring fearfully at the sky.

"This is a micro-current explosive from Research Zone 3, originally scheduled for your official equipment listing next June, currently still in the experimental stage."

Raising his arm and pointing to the angry Legion Commander, showing the porcelain piece on his wrist, the Messenger informed matter-of-factly:

"Without the insulating patch, your nervous system will be disrupted by the bomb’s electric field, causing loss of bodily control. The effect lasts about 1 minute and 30 seconds, so you have 1 minute and 2 seconds left to decide whether to follow this command."

"You... damn it..."

Trying to open his numb jaw, the Legion Commander angrily replied with slurred tongue:

"So... the broadcast... did you really... the Majesty..."

"There are 29 seconds remaining."

"I... will never..."

"Then I consider you have given up."

After hearing the Legion Commander’s words, the Messenger’s expression stiffened slightly. He turned the Legion Commander over, removed the hat to expose the back of his head, and then reached into his pocket, pulled out a spider-like object with six legs, and pressed it against the back of the Legion Commander’s head.

"You... did you... something to my mind..."

"Don’t worry, it’s just a basic soul encoder, it won’t kill you."

Adjusting the position of the ’spider’ and ensuring the six legs penetrated the Legion Commander’s scalp and contacted the embedded information chip, the Messenger touched the back of his own head, then woodenly responded:

"This is a product from Zone 1. It can perform basic coding on a living soul, forcibly adding several high-priority commands. As long as the special energy inside isn’t depleted, it ensures your loyalty to the Kingdom."

"I refuse... you..."

"Once your body resumes movement and the paralysis wears off, remember to wear your hat to hide the encoder and have these guards watched closely, then mobilize according to orders and prepare to destroy the royal palace."

"..."

"Did you hear me?"

"..."

"Do you accept the order?"

"Yes!"

...

"Beep—"

After multiple similar scenes, the Crolock Kingdom, already in turmoil from a morning broadcast, was thrown into greater chaos.

Though there were still doubts in their hearts, upon receiving orders from above, the soldiers of the six royal family legions eventually obeyed out of habit, assembling quickly and moving to surround the six districts around the royal palace.

The Kingdom’s dirigible-less airships, mecha walkers of armored legions, all-terrain vehicles equipped with large-caliber cannons, and steam tanks covered in strange rivets also arrived earlier, sealing the royal palace tightly.

"How could they be so quick?!"

Peeking out of Leon’s belly and glancing at the airships adjusting their positions to aim their side cannons at the palace, the Cleaner Mona’s weak soul was shocked and horrified.

"Wasn’t Alger attacking the signal station? How could so many soldiers be mobilized?"

"Because Senior Alger only blocked the signal station, not the entire Zone 1."

Narrowing his eyes and looking far away, Leon, newly arrived at the palace gates, shook his head:

"Even without transmitting signals directly, they can still send people out. If not for Senior Alger, these soldiers might have arrived even faster."

"Then did we not do all this in vain?"

Hearing Leon’s words, Ruben’s soul also emerged, weakly asking:

"We went to all that trouble attacking the broadcast building to stop him from mobilizing troops, yet here they are now!"

"This outcome is not too bad."

Hearing this, Leon smiled:

"This is their territory, after all. Just a broadcast only causes some disorder; it can’t pull him down entirely. Prince Andre isn’t foolish; if he didn’t have control over the army, he would’ve been ousted before we arrived.

But that’s in the past. Now, by ordering the army to besiege the palace, he’s essentially digging up his own roots to catch a mouse, wagering everything on the table. So long as we can endure this wave, he will be secure."